Ok, well let's see. It has been a while since I wrote and quite honestly this blog thing is difficult for me. It is much easier to talk about a new design or about what inspired me to paint a particular painting but since I have been bone dry for what seems an eternity I thought I would comment on something I realized just recently. I guess the upcoming holidays and the loneliness of them got me to thinking about this.
Not too long ago I signed up for a Facebook account. The reason wasn't to find friends I have lost touch with but to get my name out there and to show my artwork. I never thought in a million years that anyone would even be looking for me but I was wrong, things have a way of coming full circle.
Now in high school I was not popular nor did I care to be, I always danced to the tune of my own trumpet for a drum was too normal for me. I had a few close friends that danced to their own instruments and together we had our own jam session, all of the notes just fit. I wasn't much for hanging out with people my age and most of my friends graduated a year or two before me or moved away which means I lost touch with them easily.
One day to my surprise I get an email through Facebook with no signature saying he liked my work, now the face looked awful familiar and after the shock wore off I knew exactly who it was. It was an old friend from school and we quickly got to catching up. Funny even after 20+ years it seemed like only minutes have gone by, still the same old Jim from school. After a while the old gang seemed to find their way back and almost all of us have reconnected. Athough there may be a country or an ocean between us, for we seem to be scattered all over the planet now, it feels like we never left each other and that can be comforting. Yes we have had our trials and tribulations, ups and downs, happy, sad and losses but it is nice to know that there are people out there who don't judge, who have seen you at your gawkiest yet like you anyway. Who no matter how far you get or how long you have been apart they are there for you. I didn't really know how much I missed everyone until that email.
I guess since this is the time of year we should be thankful that we actually think about the things we are thankful for no matter how small they may be or how far away they live. I am thankful for my friends both new an old, there may not be many of them but they are the best anyone could have and I am honored to know them.
to be continued...
Not too long ago I signed up for a Facebook account. The reason wasn't to find friends I have lost touch with but to get my name out there and to show my artwork. I never thought in a million years that anyone would even be looking for me but I was wrong, things have a way of coming full circle.
Now in high school I was not popular nor did I care to be, I always danced to the tune of my own trumpet for a drum was too normal for me. I had a few close friends that danced to their own instruments and together we had our own jam session, all of the notes just fit. I wasn't much for hanging out with people my age and most of my friends graduated a year or two before me or moved away which means I lost touch with them easily.
One day to my surprise I get an email through Facebook with no signature saying he liked my work, now the face looked awful familiar and after the shock wore off I knew exactly who it was. It was an old friend from school and we quickly got to catching up. Funny even after 20+ years it seemed like only minutes have gone by, still the same old Jim from school. After a while the old gang seemed to find their way back and almost all of us have reconnected. Athough there may be a country or an ocean between us, for we seem to be scattered all over the planet now, it feels like we never left each other and that can be comforting. Yes we have had our trials and tribulations, ups and downs, happy, sad and losses but it is nice to know that there are people out there who don't judge, who have seen you at your gawkiest yet like you anyway. Who no matter how far you get or how long you have been apart they are there for you. I didn't really know how much I missed everyone until that email.
I guess since this is the time of year we should be thankful that we actually think about the things we are thankful for no matter how small they may be or how far away they live. I am thankful for my friends both new an old, there may not be many of them but they are the best anyone could have and I am honored to know them.
to be continued...
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Ok so summer is barely over, kids are just getting back to school and the weather is still warm. Why then would I be working on snowmen? Well it is quite simple really, I love the winter time. I love the cold crisp air, and the way it stings your nose when you take a deep breath. I love the sound your feet make when you crunch through freshly fallen snow, the smell of fire in their fireplaces and most of all I love the quiet. No lawnmowers, no neighbors singing drunken songs into the wee hours of the night, no motorcycles racing up and down the streets and barely any people out and about, nothing but quiet and the songs of a distant chickadee or cardinal. While I am not a big fan of the holidays I do like the solitude of the seasons end, the purity of the white snow. With that in mind I started to design a few snowmen, after all they are easy enough, just a bunch of circles. I wanted to give them a warmness too, something that is not always associated with snow and the winter and a feeling of belonging and friendship. The original paintings you see here were in fact painted in very bright colors and it just didn't seem to convey the feeling I was going for so I scanned them into my computer. After doing this I opened them in Photoshop and copied the layer resulting in two of the same. I applied a sepia cast to the top layer and cut the opacity down to around 40% 