I had the pleasure of having lunch with my grandmother yesterday. We usually go to a restaurant with paper and crayons on the tables. I always doodle something when I go there. The restaurant has picture frames all over the walls with drawings that customers make. When I was little I wanted to get my drawing up on the wall so badly. The manager would always come and tell me he would hang up my drawing but he never did and I never knew where all the drawings went. Now I just rip the drawings off the table and give them to my grandmother. I realize now that I should have been doing that anyway.
My grandmother doesn’t like getting her picture taken. Below is a representation of how much she doesn’t like having her picture taken. Peace.
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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.
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I had a headache today. So I did what heals my headaches. Food, harmonica, and drawing with no goal or image in mind. I only found out about this remedy recently but I stand by it completely. What’s your medicine?
I’ve been going on a little colored pencil kick lately. Learning some more limitations and strengths of the medium. Its a somewhat fun investigation for me. To be perfectly honest I’m glad to be done with this little guy. I have no attachment to this drawing what so ever. I don’t know how I finished it to be honest. I’m really sick of looking at it. With that said, it’ll probably be the last meticulous colored pencil imagining in a while. If anything I think I’ll be gravitating more towards the scribbles of my previous post. I feel like there’s a little movement to this but nothing like the other one. And seriously, what the hell is this thing? I have no idea. I think that’s why I’m not crazy about it. Anyway, Regardless of what I feel about it, I hope that you enjoy it on some level. Peace.
I was having drawing time with a friend of mine last week. We were about to get started when she told me about a therapy session that she had years ago. Her therapist asked to draw something on a piece of paper. She saw a lamp in the room and started drawing it very carefully. With great care she tried to capture it exactly how she saw it. The therapist asked if she was finished with her drawing. She thought a moment and said yes and gave her the piece of paper. Without hesitation the therapist proceeded to draw a smiley face over my friend’s drawing. Needless to say my friend was a little pissed about the latest revision to her masterpiece. At the same time it was liberating because at the same moment she was able to release the expectations about what she wanted the drawing to be.
As she told me the story she drew a smiley face on the piece of paper that I was about the draw on. With the same spirit in mind I kept the smiley face on the paper and scribbled over it and let that be the starting point for something unplanned. It kind brought me back to college a little. It has been a while since I’ve just let go a little. I gotta admit, its a nice space to create in.
These sculptures are so amazing. I love having them here around to look at for the time that they are here. They literally electrify the place with energy. It really has inspired me to use more color in my work. This is a little bit more controlled for the sake of trying to accurately depict the piece. Its currently still for sale and will be around till the end of the week. The work is really a symbol of these people. They know that they live in harmony with the earth and could very easily create a foundation that would reach out to people that care about their plight and send money to help their community. Instead they offer a service and heal themselves by creating beautiful art that can be given and sold to other people so the village can support itself. With focus and intention, a person’s art can support an entire group of people. That’s what I’m learning about with my own work. I need to know that its possible. I need to understand that this doodling has a purpose and all of this is going somewhere. I need to know that this is one of the gifts that I’ve been given and that the more I use that gift the more I heal others and the more I heal myself. This is my lesson.
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.
I love the Huichol people. Their art is so colorful and full of life. I’ve never seen art breathe like this. I think that there should probably be some law against representing their art without color but I guess I like the bend the rules. If anything, it just goes to show that it still does something special without the color. The next versions will have a little splash of the rainbow magic. If you’re interested in buying some of the art you can come to Golden Drum. We have the pleasure of having Don Jose Ramirez, a Huichol shaman from Mexico, staying with us for a couple of weeks and he has so many beautiful handmade pieces with him to sell. All of the profit goes to help his people. Below is a video of him talking about his mission to raise awareness about the water shortage that has hurt his people so much. Visit to learn more about what you can do to help. Peace.
Today I thought that I would do something novel by doing something that I use to do all the time. As you might have guessed that thing is drawing. I use to do it a lot but for reasons not consciously known or acknowledged in writing at the moment, I’m giving it another whirl to see what happens. If I had to take a guess I would say that part of it is the fear of spending time on something and not having it be any good. Command + Z also has a certain forgiveness that I’ve grown fond of.
The other sad part of the story is that as I peruse through job listings not once have I ever found anything about being able to draw. Maybe its suppose to be a given but I am more inclined to think that most studios don’t really give a damn any more. I can already hear myself sounding like an old man saying things like, “Back when I was a young man we use to draw things!” Then I would be met with a blank stare from my grand child as he turns back to his space age lap top that hovers in that air, creates and projects 3D holographic realities in seconds, and toasts bagels. I’m really banking on the bagels part.
As a graphic artist I know that there are certain things that I can only do inside a computer. On the other side of the coin is that a computer will never be a sketchbook. It will never account for the fine graphite haze over my drawings that my right hand always seems to create. Or how a pencil tip breaks unevenly and yet still seems to make a mark that still sings. There is a middle in there somewhere.
Most importantly, I just want to create. To sit down and then get back up with something to share with people. Even if its just a few lines on a napkin and not have it be a masterpiece. I invite you to do the same. Sometimes its just the simple intention to want to create something for others that makes something worthwhile. I feel deep inside that we are all here to create and share as a celebration of the ability that we’ve been given to do just that. I hope to do that a little bit more often!
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