Hold Up

Back home again. Stopped in my tracks. Arrested. No more flying. No more driving. What a luxury to be still once again.

Whoa

People move at different speeds, don't they?

It is a shame that . . .

I just returned from the wonderful Mint Museum in Charlotte. I overheard a woman say, "it is a shame that you can't touch it." Thoughts raced through my head of what I should say to her. I thought in my head how successful the artist had been to create the desire to touch.

Our plane was broke . . .

Our plane was broke
so they r going 2
put us
on a
non-broke plane so we
can fly in the sky.

Impermanent Fish

We came home to find our beloved koi no longer swimming. Someone had left the hose running in their pond. It was sad and we are bummed.

Thrifty

We thought we'd save a little money, so we went to LaDirt Inn, only to find it filthy (we didn't want to step off the elevator!). Then we went to our old standby (usually more expensive). And they were having a holiday sale!!! We learned not to change things that work.

Touchpad Couple

Decide to see if I could make an entire drawing with the MacBook's touchpad. I like the results.

Mowed Elec Trick

So I borrowed my daughter's electric lawnmower. It was a saga... First I tried to sharpen the blade with my only Texas very small file. Then I went to buy a better blade, but they didn't have one. After that I left the blade in a shopping card and had to retrace my steps to find it. Etc. etc.

But the lawn is cut and Linda filled 17 bags with trimmings from the plants.

What will tomorrow bring?

Waiting for Texas Driver's License #2

The mother and her little daughter sat on the floor reading books. The mother's head seemed 4 times larger than her daughter's. Lots of people waiting to be called were reading books.

I just made drawings, and read some newspapers left in the chair next to me.

No Longer 2 Skinny 4 My Friend

Waiting 4 Texas Driver's License #1

Our daughter told us to go to the office in the downtown area because it doesn't take as long. We didn't listen to her.

Linda couldn't get a license because her birth certificate was only a souvenir from the hospital.

I made two drawings (maybe #2 will be posted tomorrow) and then walked around an asphalt track 4 or 5 times in 100 degree weather. The breeze felt good. I think it took two or three hours before my number (87) was called. The clerk was very nice.

You have to hand over your old license to get a new one. The woman from Kansas sitting a couple of seats down from me didn't like that. I didn't care.

Austin Ladie

I asked my daughter if I could draw just a little on this card she received in the mail. She said "yes."

Lost in Austin

Today, in our new home, I kept walking into a closet looking for a bathroom. I think I should paint arrows on the floor.

. . . looking @ the artwork.

We ate at one of our favorite lunch places in Austin. Linda noticed that there was a woman looking at the artwork on the wall.

Art Secret

So my daughter and my friend both liked the straight picture. I thought the idea of photographing a drawing askew (6/23/08) was such a good idea. Maybe I just need to do it better.

Afraid to Paint

I was afraid to paint in our motel room because I thought that I might get some paint on the carpet. Then I remembered that my paint was in one of many unlabeled boxes in our car three floors down, and I was too tired to try to find it anyway.

Luckily Linda had a pencil, and there was one scrap of paper that wasn't too slick to draw on. I tried to draw on the side with the type, but the pencil had thin leads and I couldn't compete with the dark type, so I drew on the other side.

Then I photographed the drawing...first straight on, and then at an angle. Yea, my figure seemed to come to life. Magic!

Joint Statement

A Recent Incarnation

Careful

Creme Savers

Brains 25 cents

Thanks to William Stage.

Winner! Tony Award

Two Into One

So here's the painting that had such a tortured creation.

The Pantheon

Worked more on the painting. It is still terrible.

Here's a quicky on the Pantheon.

Another "Work-in-Progress"

I've had a dozen blank canvasses for about a year, all 8" x 10"— the size of Edward Weston's negatives.

Today I made a genuine mess of one of them, so I did a quicky on a postcard in order to have something to post. I think it works pretty good.

Tomorrow I'll go make to the canvas and try to breathe a little life into it.

Kim

Apology for a Bad Painting

In 1964 I dropped out of college to read a stack of books. I started to paint and never read the books. A painter lived down the hall (another basement room in an old building) and taught me a few things, none of which I remember.

In 2007, 43 years later, I dropped out of college again (this time as a dean rather than a freshman) to read books and paint. I ended up writing poems, drawing, and learning a little about Buddhism. I stopped the writing when I discovered that I didn't know anything.

Now it is time to paint. Sometimes, like today, the paintings won't be very good. I beg your indulgence (is that the right expression?). I suspect that many good things come from failed attempts. I remember seeing a movie on the Wright brothers last week. They had some disasters until they improved their plane...and figured out how to fly it.

William Blake said that practice is art. My hope is that if I paint everyday I'll get better at it.

Big Man, Little Gremlin

Man Faces Death

Hudson River School Painting
Frederic Edwin Church (American, 1826-1900)
View of Quebec, 1846
Oil on canvas, 22 3/16" x 30 1/6"
Alteration on postcard

Einstein Visits 1927

Collaboration with Thomas Cole (American, 1801-1848)
View on Lake Winnipiseogee, 1827 (100 years before the Babe hit 60)
Original: oil on panel, 19 1/4" x 26 1/8"
Alteration: acrylic and ink on postcard, 4 3/4" x 6 1/2"
Made for the 82nd birthday of Lennie Kesl

I was lost . . .