I wanted to let everyone know that I’m going to be doing some live painting at 11.11.11 One Dream NYC this Friday into Saturday. I’ve never tried to paint in front of a bunch of people but I’m banking on having everyone get occupied doing other things so I’ll be able to have a little bit of peace. Either way it shouldn’t matter too much once I get going. Things kind fade out when I’m connected to what I’m creating. I’m still playing around with some ideas about what I actually want to create. Almost there I think. Hopefully I can come with something already fleshed out so I can just go at it when I get there. I’m hoping to paint the whole 24 hours. I love the excuse to stay up and do awesome stuff and meet great people!
I will also be selling my world famous Astral Snacks Popcorn the whole time. The folks from Golden Drum and my friends KA will also be there representing as they bring in the dawn Saturday morning. Stick around for the whole thing and check it out. Peace!
Write to your grandmother. Write to your parents. Write to a sister or brother. Write to a friend. Call, draw, sing, dance, create for others. Do it for yourself. Show love. Always.
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I made this a few months ago when I was in the Dominican Republic. It was a very relaxing trip. The land is so lush and beautiful and it really seemed like people had a sense of responsibility when it came to their relationship to nature. That meaning that they actually wanted to take care of it. For a while now the heart has been a big thing for me. At the moment it seems like it probably will be for a long time. At times I feel as though my heart is on fire spiritually as I continue to do the things that I love. It has empowered me to keep moving forward. Its drawings like these that help me connect back to that feeling.
It’s nice when the universe gifts you a model right when you sit down to draw. This one laid right down to sleep just as I sat down to doodle something at the kitchen table today. Its also nice when the model gets up as you’re drawing them and then a little creative liberty gets thrown into the mix. Keeps me on my toes.
All I can really say is that I’m consistently creating things that leave me scratching my head and I like it. In a sense I really have been here. After meditating about the piece for a little while, I really feel like this is place where I’ve been. The longer I worked on it, the more I felt this to be true. A place from my imagination perhaps, but when I was working on it I knew where everything was spatially and the sensations around me. I pictured being under one of the large leaves laying on the cool pavement while the telephone wires buzzed above. I was in the backseat of the car looking through the front window at the legs of a big yellow floating monstrosity. He seemed harmless enough. The way I see it, this place that I’ve made is real in the same way that my dreams are real. Yes, I don’t experience either with my physical body but when I’m in the act of dreaming or painting I am having the experience of being there in that moment. It’s been a great project for me. I can’t wait to go somewhere else!
Yeah it’s definitely one of my more disturbing ones. This is the second edition to my continuing series of shadow images. I am still hesitant to put this stuff out there into the world but I came across a quote yesterday from the Gospel of Thomas that reinforced the idea that I should be expressing my shadow. I don’t consider myself a religious person, but I definitely believe that there is a lot that can be learned from the religious traditions that exist today.
If you bring forth what is within you, what is within you will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what is within you will destroy you.
So even if the thoughts and images that I have in my mind are gruesome at times, it seems like it’s better for me to express them creatively instead of holding onto them. Kind of like a fart I guess. You could hold onto it but when you smell it after it comes out, would you ever even think about welcoming it back into your body? I think not. Some things just feel better when you let go of them. Don’t worry. This doesn’t encourage me to fart in a crowded subway car. I try to do it right before I get in.
While I’ve been working on Green Bus Tour, it has been mentioned several times that this type of thing has been done before. People have gone on buses before spreading the word of peace, love, and sustainability. To my surprise, the answer again and again was, “Yeah! Isn’t it great?!” It kinda made me scratch my head at first. Then I realized that it is great. If we can get the bossy part our ego out of the way and stop worrying about being original we can contribute to a larger cause. I think it’s important to make a differentiation between copying an idea for personal gain and then copying an idea to bring more energy for something you believe in. One of the things that is making me hopeful is that we already have more people who are doing the same thing and they want to meet up and travel together! They’re not on the phone calling about copyright infringement.
I think one of my biggest obstacles creatively is trying to be original. When I create something I obviously don’t want to feel like I’m ripping someone off. If I am working off of something I want to make it better. I feel that when more people come to collaborate on an old idea, chances are that it’s going to become better. If we just left these ideas alone out of fear of not being original, they would have less of a chance of growing or improving. What we’re saying is the more the merrier. This isn’t our idea. But as we put more heart and soul into it, it will become our own thing. It will transform into something else and then it will become original again. Then hopefully, some one will come along and say, “Hey that seems like a great way to create a positive change in my community!” That person will go and get their own bus and join us or do their own thing. Hopefully we can all collaborate and share ideas and grow as a movement together.
It’s not your ordinary corporate scheme. It’s not about squashing the competition, because there is no competition. How can we be against people doing something that we believe in? If they can prosper from it and help other people prosper as well, fantastic! It’s not just about the I, it’s about the we. Together we can accomplish so much more then if we stay isolated and think we can do it by ourselves. Viva la Green Bus revolution!
So you say you want a revolution? But what kind of revolution? Part of you is rooted in the present day environmental movement and wants to promote local farmers. There’s also a voice that wants to spread the word about energy healing and yoga. At the same time you’re looking for a celebration of culture and creativity. Well what if I said you can have your kombucha workshop, Reiki session, and your cross country music tour too? I’m guessing the response would be awesome if you’re anything like me. If that’s so, you’ll love Green Bus Tour. Green Bus Tour is a project based in Brooklyn that’s devoted to spreading the arts, and knowledge of sustainability and wellness nationwide. Start off by getting some amazing bands and going from music festival to music festival. Next, add in a grass roots network to help local farmers promote their produce. Then add in educators of yoga, energy healing, and meditation. I was lucky enough to meet Jordan Schachter, one of the founders of Green Bus Tour, last week at a friend’s workshop. I mentioned that I was designer and animator. Before I knew it I was brought onto the project and have been lending a hand to help things along visually. So far I’ve been working on the logo for the group in addition to helping design their website which is materializing day by day. We even have some T-shirt ideas in the works. For now, here’s a peak at the logo. Like the project itself, which is still in a state of conceptual evolution, the look and feel of the project will be changing as well. I think it’ll be nice to see the progression over time.
The vision of the project is growing exponentially. It started with one school bus and now it’s branching into a vision of a mobile city that travels from town to town spreading love, music, and ancient wisdom to the masses. We hope to eventually invite political leaders from all parties onto the bus to have discussions about sustainable living. All are welcome on the big green bus. Maybe even the president himself! The meetings have been video taped for the website’s blog which will be updated regularly. The ultimate plan is to film a reality TV series of the group’s adventures as they get the project off the ground and meet with people from all around the country. Sponsors are currently being sought out to fund this fantastic endeavor. If you or someone you know would be interested contributing to Green Bus Tour please contact Charlie at charlie.gonzalez@gmail.com. To follow the project, become a fan on facebook! Check to see where the bus is heading. See who’s coming along for the ride. Maybe you!
I find myself thinking about potential a lot recently. It is rather daunting to think about at times. The infinite amount of possibilities that are there silently waiting within every moment of experience. I looked at my hand the other day and wondered what might spring forth if I was in a dream and could manifest anything instantly. Or better yet, asked the dream to decide for me. It is hard to accept at times but our main limitation is that of our imagination. We can only push our creativity depending on how willing we are to plunge into the deep space that we have yet to venture. When I’m on the subway sometimes I think of how boring it is. People trapped in a habitual loop of staring at the ground day after day afraid to share even a glance with a stranger. Someone once said that humans are not machines but whenever given the opportunity will act like one. We are creatures of habit but these are all breakable habits but first we must recognize them as such. So I invite you to come back to that place of creativity. A place of joy. A place of potential.
I think this sketch is the beginning of something I can mess around with in Photoshop. Check back soon for the next progression!
Where can you talk to a guy pounding beers in Sacramento in his lazyboy, a bored history major at UNC with fine appreciation for pop art, a lot of erect penises, and a med school student from Caracas raving about Hugo Chavez in one evening? You guessed it: Chat Roulette. The first time I heard about it a person told me never to go on it. They explained that it was a site where people with web-cams get paired at random and that I would only see a lot of horny dudes trying to talk to hot chicks. Pretending to be a busy man, I stayed away and thought my friend had done me a favor by steering me away from a site that might take up some more of my time. A few days ago I realized that I was very wrong when I saw this video.
I’m usually not one to post popular youtube videos but I found this one to be important. It’s not only brilliant but I really think that this will begin to change the site in a good way. After seeing Merton, I think people will begin to notice that this medium has a potential for humor and creativity and not just creepy poorly lit attempts at human interaction. For an artist working on their craft, what’s better than an instant personal audience of anybody? How awesome is that!? Granted the site is still a long way off from being G rated and that will probably always be the case judging from the site’s limited site structure. Perhaps that X rated 1 in 10 viewing is all part of the game. Whether you approve or not, some people will act on their horny urges when given the chance. After all, webcams were popularized by porn sites. I’m sure some people are going to hold onto that association when joining the site and look some similar interaction.
The great thing about this video is that there’s a great possibility that the site will be filled with more people trying to share their own talent instead of what’s in their pants. Not to say that that can’t be a talent. What if days from now the site goes from 80% to 70% pervs? What if the rate of people skipping other people went from 95% to 92%? That would definitely mean something! A push towards the creative! A push toward a genuine interest in people wanting to talk and create with one another! What if it translated to people actually realizing that any random person has the ability to be interacted with on a personal level? What if people realized that they had something creative to share with others?
When you’re bored, it’s easy to get caught up in the lower energy of wanting sex all the time. As you can see from real-life interactions, it’s not fun or comfortable talking with someone who is only caught up with getting laid. But what if we took all the energy that we spend thinking about sex and occasionally put it towards our creative capacities? I imagine you might come up with something a lot more entertaining. I would like to say that I don’t think sex is bad. However, when you look at Chat Roulette and get skipped most of the time, you can’t help but wonder if there’s a more entertaining way for this site to function.
With this thought in mind I went on the site with the intention of talking to anyone who was willing to talk. I talked politics with a guy with Venezuela. I asked him what he thought of Hugo Chavez. I won’t quote him but lets say that it wasn’t anything nice. He told me I should go out with his sister in who lives in Brooklyn. How’s that for a personal interaction? A little later I bumped into an awesome mustache dude from UNC who was studying European history. He lifted his laptop up to show me the paintings in his dorm room of Michael Caine, and Joe Strummer. He also showed me his an electric cigarette that is apparently better for you and just as good. So I’m told. We even had a friendly discussion about the bible and abortion. Imagine that! I found it to be a worthwhile experience.
In closing, I think Merton has the answer. More fun! I’ve already got some ideas of things that I might do to help promote some more creative expression on the site. They will probably be shared here in the near future. Until then, check out the site. I’ll warn you like my friend did. There are a lot of people that you’re not going to want to talk to but maybe in a little while that will change.
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