Mark Jarman, center

Rhina Espaillat right and Sandy Van Doren.

The first evening's dinner setting.

Michael Cantor

Sam Gwynn and Lyle Shaw, right.

Dave Mason on left.

Susan McLean

Dick Davis & Kate Light

Ten Million Things

There are ten million things that can get in the way of a little creativity, and half the days work involves blocking the 10 million things that take one's time.

Today I managed to paint two hours. (I also wrote for three hours.)

Today's thought is this; an artist must be so careful as to what he says: anyone who listens to an artist's thinking usually listens with ears packed full of ego. It is a sad slow truth that any creative person must talk like a bunny. Say what you think, say what you feel, say what you mean, and you are immediately chastised. This is what I call the Borg Effect. The group energy rules. Whosoever sounds like they could be above anyone, is torn down. It is also the 'king of the hill' game.

So the rule is you can do anything you want, just don't say anything. Your art won't get you in trouble, your talking will.

Sunlight

I have been working on a painting, a very complicated painting, in two aspects: imagine putting two colors next to each other with a little brush, one side green, one side yellow, for a thousand feet--yet the line curves and squiggles. Take this edge, overlap it with another one, overlap both over a background picture of form, contrasting colors, keep depth and color working, so it doesn't turn into a wall of mud, and one might ask, why is one doing this? It sounds like work, meanial, torturous. Which brings us to the next aspect.

Imagine, somewhere right now there is an artist standing out in a field, and he is concentrating on a canvas, he has the pallette mixed with colors. It is what is to be done. The artist slows down time and sees the world. Any painting is nothing more than a cute view into the thin layer of atmosphere we all live in.

Here is a photo of sunlight on the wall.

The Drawing

It's the drawing, it's the sentence. It is the color, too, but all the artists have the color now, right in the tubes.

It is the same with people. It is easy to love different personalities, but it is hard to love someone who lacks integrity.

Three billion people later, are there any more Van Gogh's?

Almost Every Day

Almost every day, this is the scene half a mile from the house. Driving is a big part of modern life now, something you know already. I could live the rest of my life and never drive again. What good does it do anyone? If you are not writing or painting or doing exactly what you want, you are not doing anything.

Yesterday

Yesterday, not the picture, I went through the process of stretching canvas, like artists of yore. I added four braces to the four stretcher bars for each canvas. The size of the canvas is 50 x 40. The time cost for two canvas's is in total, about five hours. It is not cheaper to stretch your own; you only get the size you want.

The Golden Rectangle

Artists, I imagine, are quite familiar with the mysteries of---canvas size. What proportions to make the canvas, length and height, etc. Interesting forces come to play, and the easiest way to begin is to think of a portrait proportion as, possibly, different from a landscape proportion. And there you have it. And neither size is the golden rectangle.

What does this have to do with traffic? 99% of drivers drive too fast and 99% of paintings are the wrong size.

Another Beautiful Day in Texas

Another beautiful day in Texas. I think I did see some sun yesterday. But what difference does it make? Maybe the lack of sun can depress people, but if the wife is happy and the kid takes four minutes to explain how the batmobile has five 'shooter-rockets' to get the bad guys, the only thing to worry about is whether the roof is leaking.

I worked up a phrase to explain what baffles me about many poets writing these days; They write poetry to write poetry. Although there is absolutely nothing poetical, no poetry in the poem, they call it poetry and write it--and, I guess, as if it is poetry...to them. And I think they believe it. Non-poetry has the effect of the mob-effect. As the poet says,

The power is in numbers, not the truth.

What Do You See?

What do you see when you look at manikins in a store window? The one on the left looks pretty well self obsorbed and the one on the right looks fairly pretentious. What kind of men are they looking for, do you think?

I know! I know! They are looking for extremely complicated, thoughtful and creative types who are poor and troubled, but highly concerned with the arts and beauty and truth!

Time-Branches

I see people. People rushing this way and that, parts of time-branches, all reaching upward for light and freedom. Then again, it could be shrubbery between the drycleaners and the video store.

Sky-Watcher

Did early man have nick-names for each other? Mine would be sky-watcher, since I am always watching the sky. And I see reflections all the time. I often see things as spots of bright light and then shapes around.

What would your nick-name be?

What's This?

What's this? What's a piece of furniture doing here on a blog about art and poetry. Well, there is a story. I often go to estate sales for fun. Estate sales satisfy curiosity and discovery--cousins to gambling, which I deplore.

So Friday of last week I walk in and see the above table, and I say, hey, that's a good piece, and in three seconds I take the tag off, deciding to buy it. I bet it is the only good thing in the estate sale, I say to myself. I was right; a look around and there was nothing else of value, nothing else of value with heart.

The table is English, circa 1900, a scratch on top and repaired legs where they join the underside, but all the legs themselves are perfectly fine. A piece of thin early plywood has been attached to the underside beneath the drawers, of which there are two with two original brass handles. The drawers pull easily and the fine dove-tailing is very tight and hand done. The top is leather in the center. The claw feet are the heavy type (I'm not a real expert) and not to everyone's taste, and they have a technical name but I don't know it.

So, if you put a painting in a gallery window, it should stop traffic, immediately and from a distance, and if you write a poem, people want to read it over and over.

The Gates of San Antonio

The Gates of San Antonio.

Ok. That just about does it for humor for me.