Module 6

By now you all should know that I am in school again. My masters degree is in illustration as it was for my bachelors degree. I am currently in a painting class called 'situation and environment'. Which is a great class. This post is for the 6th module or assignment. I have been about 2 weeks late as of the last two weeks. Getting the loan money it, paying bills that were 3 months due in some cases, and signing a new 3 month lease (EXPENSIVE) and otherwise expanding my office to accommodate more of a studio capability. That means expanding so it fits more than just my computer work. Plus I really like having floor space to breathe in. Anyway, here is the assignment which emphasized fabric and fur. Enjoy, later.

Lemons

So, here is an old Lemon I painted back in 2004. I learned in this assignment that what we paint is its own color as well as the color of what is around it. In this case, the Lemon is also orange and blue, or 'yellow-orange' and 'green' you could say. It was a fascinating study for me. Enjoy.

(P.S., this lemon was a plaster sculpture painted pure yellow...so real lemons would have even more nuances of color to handle. But this was simplified)

Finished Late

Well, this one is finished, but I didn't get it finalized until 4 hours after the deadline.....which is still sad honestly. However, I feel really good about this one. The professor commented about the left calf being off, but otherwise I got a B+ after being late. Not bad. But I love fabrics like this. The assignment reminds me of artists painting snow or even lemons. Most people think of a white sheet as being just white and black, or of a lemon  being yellow and black. The truth is, that sure white is used for the sheet, but I didn't use any black at all, only reds, browns, blues, greens, and yellows. Snow is the same. A lemon on the other hand...well, I'll post the lemon after this, and you can look and see for yourself if a lemon is just yellow....or also many colors. :D Enjoy everyone. Later.

late and unfinished is sad

So, this is the example of what happens when I don't get my homework done on time. a good start, but lots of correction needed and a finish obviously.

And here we have the latest homework assignment for my masters program finished. Wait, I forgot the Signature!!! Yeah, I'll be getting that on there soon :D 12x16 canvas. Enjoy

And here we see the latest photograph I have of the Triptych. It will be shipped up to Calgary Canada within the week. I'm hoping for a good return and a foot in the door of the market. Again, 3 24x36 canvas's.

 

 This is my most recent adventure. Forgive the tacky office setting...and the bad lighting. 3 24x36 gallery depth windsor and newton canvas's using M. Graham acrylic paint with a 4"and 2" brush as well as a palette knife for application and texture. The second image exemplifies the photoshop study I did to get the design and color. 

Thanks everyone. Call if you want one of these. :D And my apologies to Tommy for posting this a day late. Later.

Limited Pallete

 

These are the first two paintings completed for school this fall semester at the Academy of Art University which I am attending online. The only colors used in these assignments are a 4 color limited pallet of: Ivory Black, Titanium White, Yellow Ochre, and Terra Rosa. The canvases are 12x16 and I primarily used a 1/4 inch flat brush. Life is busy. School, web design and graphic design work, fine art painting,  family, and the occasional social visit. Enjoy.

Artplay?

From today...I thought to myself, what is artwork if it doesn't afford the artist anything more than a presence which he approves of? I was wrapped up in the ending of Kung Fu Panda and wanted to redesign my Signature into the style of the movie somewhat. The image above is the work from that time. However, I wonder if I should call it artplay since work earns money, and play is just free work...right?
I am talented? Well, I don't want to dispute against many compliments to that word...Talented. I guess it comes down to spending my time on that which is of little worth. Yet this was worth a great deal to me...so what is the deal? As an artist I feel too self serving. What most people want me to do for them I am either incapable of, they are too poor for me to do, or I just don't do that kind of thing. And other things I'm sure. Is that why artists have such an extended period of time "finding themselves"? Searching for Balance...Peace, and Confidence...even proficiency? For what is Talent without these things?

Anyway, I like this little exercise. Even though it comes at the price of most of a days work. Probono for myself I guess. :( Art for arts sake? One way or the other way...I haven't been able to find fulfillment with my art. Either I fall short on the hand of providence, or I fall short on the hand of the will to do it at all. What is an artist like me to do? lol...well, I'm sure I'll manage. After this long, I hope I have at least learned to persevere under this stress. I just wish my family didn't' have to suffer with me. :(

For those of you out there that Love to do art and have figured out a better way...and I mean that in the sense that you have learned how to survive and not go crazy...I commend you for your skill, your talent, your balance, and your happiness. I hope I find that...soon. Soon would be nice. Am I just being selfish again? :)

P.S. I had to change the 's' on Williams around. I was horizontally backwards before. Now the curve is going the same direction as the S on Shaun. Thanks Nadia for seeing that. I love my wife. :D

The Touch of the Masters Hand

Sunday always has good experiences and stories for me...good lessons of life if nothing else. Today in church, one of the speakers (who amazingly also teaches my son in first grade) quoted the words below.

'Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
Thought it scarcely worth his while
To waste much time on the old violin,
But held it up with a smile: "What am I bidden, good folks," he cried,
"Who'll start the bidding for me?"
"A dollar, a dollar"; then, "Two!" "Only two?
Two dollars, and who'll make it three?
Three dollars, once; three dollars, twice;
Going for three—" But no,
From the room, far back, a gray-haired man
Came forward and picked up the bow;
Then, wiping the dust from the old violin,
And tightening the loose strings,
He played a melody pure and sweet
As a caroling angel sings.
The music ceased, and the auctioneer,
With a voice that was quiet and low,
Said, "What am I bid for the old violin?"
And he held it up with the bow.
"A thousand dollars, and who'll make it two?
Two thousand! And who'll make it three?
Three thousand, once, three thousand, twice,
And going, and gone!" said he.
The people cheered, but some of them cried,
"We do not quite understand
What changed its worth." Swift came the reply:
"The touch of a master's hand."
And many a man with life out of tune,
And battered and scarred with sin,
Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd,
Much like the old violin.
A "mess of pottage," a glass of wine,
A game—and he travels on.
He's "going" once, and "going" twice,
He's "going" and almost "gone."
But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd
Never can quite understand
The worth of a soul and the change that's wrought
By the touch of the Master's hand.

What more can I say? As an artist, I think of how my skill is like an old violin sometimes...and I wonder what my artistic ability is worth. I ponder my worth on more personal levels too...and wonder if I have too often heeded the thoughtless crowd. How important it is to learn of our worth as the Master knows it, and to never auction ourselves cheap...though battered, scarred, covered in dust, and out of tune, how great our worth in the Masters hands!
May we all look to Him...and let all other opinions wash away...even if necessary, our own.  Happy Sabbath.

(Quoted from talk given by Pres. Boyd K. Packer
at: http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-183-10,00.html)

Hospital Sink

The Demand for Breakneck Proficiency

Today I was over at my folks helping out with a few things. Sitting down to take a break, I commented that I don't think people are necessarily Lazy, or even undisciplined....instead I think people leave work undone because most work that needs to be done doesn't pay enough. Sadly I believe there are many jobs that need to be done which earn little or no money. Because of this, often they are cast aside in favor of paying work. My problem is that I tend to do those poor paying, or non-paying, jobs anyway. This is of course to the detriment of my ability to keep up financially. Is this the trouble with the delicate balance of disaster management? I will also admit that I am somewhat slow and methodical. I'm a perfectionist to some degree. What I've seen in my short 31 years, is hard working people who get into hard times, drop their dreams because they are "financially worthless", and also get frustrated that jobs which need to be done get left behind...leading to burdens of guilt throughout their lives. Should I call this problem: The Demand For Breakneck Proficiency? Just understanding what needs to be done is a task which takes time. Then building up the skills to accomplish those tasks is time consuming. And this year alone, I have had more Pro-Bono work than ever before. I have work coming out of my ears. I have ideas flowing torrentially through my mind and heart that I would love to enact, or put into motion save for the income stopping me.....but....maybe this all comes down to the hard work it takes to get one's life in order, to subdue all things, and regain control of one's life.  Things can get out of hand pretty quickly these days. And there are many places "eager" to take advantage of one slip up from me or anyone really.

Well...I've lost my train of thought for now. Plus I don't want to get too excited :) . Mostly I hope we manage with the one thing we all have the same of: 24 hours of every day of out lives. No one can claim any different. (and I am not going to delve into how handicaps of all sorts changes the value of one day's worth of time)

Take care. Sharpen your blade occasionally. A dull blade may as well be a sledgehammer to cut down a tree.

I wish you all the best!

New Art Blog

So, I decided to make a more dedicated art blog. This blog then will end up being more dedicated to the ins and outs of life. Plus the new blog is named after my website which makes more sense. See it at: http://brushdragon.blogspot.com/ to get all of the good artwork. :D I am hoping to update it quit often with new images...well, I will be getting a lot of old art that I simply haven't posted.

I need a place to keep people posted and also a place to show my work when I take my Brushdragon.com website and recreate it. Mainly, I felt I needed a blog that was uncluttered by long text entries...more about the art if you understand me. So, here goes. Visit both. Maybe this Blog will evolve into more of the fine art, while the other becomes the illustration art...or it may be that one is more of the calm work, and brushdragon can be the one for the Sci-fi and Fantasy. We'll see.

Anyway, I will hopefully see some of you there. :D
Enjoy.

Loose Landscape

So, I spend a few minutes...well, a half hour is more like it...and did this simple landscape with Photoshop. I wanted to be loose and imaginative. Seeing as I did not have any reference, it struggles yet. There are also some design elements that are odd. But I enjoyed it.  I hope you all enjoy it too.

The baby is here

Check out the Williamszoo family blog for details, or photos. :D Daddy x4 now. ...sigh. :)

Note

A couple of things...
The hands were technically from last semester in the fall when we had to move. I dropped the classes. Earlier posts will explain the 'Hell' we went through last fall. Anyway, onward. For  the most part these drawings were done with Carbothello charcoal pencils, a white and a sienna or sanguine. Each drawing is roughly 18"x24" on Strathmore Velvet Grey. Hands, eyes, nose, mouth, ear, and sphere are smaller. The color 'drawings' are such because they are done in soft pastels. The exception is the 3rd one which is a painting due to the fact that the medium is Oil, only meant to look like it was done in pastel. Color is weak on that one though. First time doing that technique with oils. :D Well, it was a first in soft pastels too! Anyway, A lot of work now that I see it up there. 
Enjoy!  :D

Semester Assignment Rundown

FINALLY! Today, or last night, was the final day of school for spring 2010 semester at the Academy of Art. I have been enrolled there online to earn my Masters degree. It's been a tough semester even after getting a little settled down after last semester...which was HELL. I did ok in this class though. I did miss the final though. I didn't realize it was a week prior to the last day. But hey, I was with my wife in the Hospital waiting for the nurse to tell us the baby wasn't coming yet....and then we were sent home. Nothing yet. Any time now though. I figure my brain took a vacation....but the FINAL...AH, I could have nearly aced it! Sigh. Well, now I get to see what Grade I get in the class. If it is satisfactory, I get to go back in the fall. If not, then I do not know what I will be doing. I will have more time now to focus on work at least. It is just waiting to see if enough work comes to pay bills. Lots of bills...you know, like everybody else who is scraping the bottom of the barrel. Good luck to all of us. I'll post pics of the baby when she comes. We think we have the name picked out as Sarah Rachel Williams. We'll let you know if the name sticks when she arrives. :D Take care everyone. Enjoy!!!

Burn-out ?

I need a Eu-catastrophe...and for those of you who don't know what that is, go look up the word. In essence, the word is a description of the sudden turn of events in a story to good. The opposite of Catastrophe then. Because catastrophe is that sudden turn of events to evil...or simply to great sorrow and unhappiness. Both extremes are part of long planning which are in motion all around us. Many things are in place from outside our view to bring both to our door. Choice is a pivotal element on our part as well. Attitude also. But regarding this eu-catastrophe, I would be well pleased to meet with victory my battles that seem worn down to a doomed defeat. It may be easier understood in the sense, that in life we meet with wounds. And thus we need healing. Healing is not a delusional idea in life, yet events, systems, ideas, plans, and otherwise would pose it as a foolish idea. Defeat is not the TRUTH...save it would make truth an engine for our destruction. TRUTH is Light, and Light is healing.

Some Joy and Happiness would be welcome. Breaking my familiarity with the opposite would be nice...because I have been cynical for far too long. I wish everyone the best. Victory may come out of apparent defeat. Hold on, and pray a little longer. :)

Frustrating or Sad?

Too often we ask too little of the Lord.....and then too much of the world. Is it any wonder that we are disappointed so often with progress? Is it any wonder that we are often taken advantage of? Perhaps it is most disappointing that we do not believe the Lord is capable of providing. Who is He that we can rely on Him we might ask. Sad indeed.
I say this mostly because things in life get out of hand quickly. Capable as we are, there is so much in the world today that is designed to take advantage of our time, our work, our effort....and leave us abandoned. The world is merciless. I imagine that is why the Lord admonished us to trust in His arm... and not in the arm of flesh.

Progress?

This week is catch up week for school. I have lots of assignments to adjust and turn in. This post is one of many. It is the most recent however. Soft Pastels are difficult to use, but more than that, I still need to work on my color theory...this pastel painting was supposed to be an analogous color painting. Something I still need to learn...sigh. Anyway, Enjoy!!!

Wishing

I really wish I had time to post more. I finally got some carpet installed into the studio/office today. And that was with everything still in the office mostly. You see, I made the office in the garage out of 1.5 in blue styrofoam. Why you ask?  Because we are renting this home and I couldn't build anything permanent. So after 5 or so rolls of Duck Tape...a 12x13 studio/office. I had spare chunks of carpet on the floor, but after talking to a friend who had some extra carpet, he gave me exactly a size I needed for the office. I have rearranged it too, but still have final touches to put together, like putting the computer back in there. I had to take it into the kitchen while this mess happened because I still have a lot of work to do. On other notes, I have completely left one of my classes for dead. When we found out the Landlords wanted us to move a month and a half ago...I kinda panicked like most people do. Now, we didn't have to move, but we looked for new places and stressed. Also, the class I am loving, head drawing, is suffering right now. I keep falling behind. So, I really need to finish the adjustments to a job I have tonight, finish the office tomorrow, and then POUNCE on my homework like a cat on a bird. Otherwise, this class will take flight and I will never see it again. I'm reminded of a little kid who gets a helium balloon, and accidentally lets go of it. There is no retrieving that thing! My professor commented on my poor status with the perfect chastisement. I appreciate his directness, honesty, and the reality he laid out, but I ended up feeling the grand scale of life....that it was the balloon and I had just lost it to the skies. Drama, drama, drama, I know. A hundred bucks every day I'm positive and you would be really poor. :) Fortunately for me, my dear wife senses these moments of my life somehow and supports me and reassures me. After all, the sayings about  being close to victory while feeling you've reached a total dead end....well, endure a little more, one more sand dune, and there will be the ocean. Hard work is NEVER a bad idea no matter you circumstance. Just be wise what work you choose to do. :) I'm really hoping a company hires me that I have been doing little spot jobs for. I could really use the stability after all these years of scraping along. If anything, I am just glad that finally I had a day that was not as plagued by my coughing fits that started two weeks ago. Word of advice: avoid sweets late at night. You might wake up with a very sore throat! Then there is the fact that I have had Bronchitis before and have to be careful about that. I think that is why my coughs are so bad sometimes. Well, here is hoping that the forecast of snow tonight doesn't come true. You never know. This is Idaho, and it has to snow at least once every month! :D

Take care everybody.

Private Show

Shaun asked me to post these pictures for him. Not exactly sure what he wants said about them, but here goes. He got a call from an old professor who wanted to put some of Shaun's artwork on display at a local nursing home (The Homestead assisted living on West Main in Rexburg). I'm not sure if the public can come and look at it or not, but it's at the Homestead on Main St. in Rexburg. He placed about 31 images for display. Oh, the painting above the piano is not his.

Dark again?

Well, this is the dark background applied again. Maybe it is the contrast in the lighter one. I could make the overlaying elements less pronounced...what do you all think? :D

Background lightened

So, this is the lightened version of the same background. Now that I see it in a different light, :D I wonder now about the contrast and readability of the text. Anyway, you can see the design much better. :)

Background

A new background? What do you think? Is it too dark? My screen is pretty bright, so let me know if it is too dark and nothing shows up. :D

Will we?

We kind of have the option of signing a 3 month lease...but not a 6 month lease. That is if we "think we can do it" which is interesting. These are easily the best landlords we have ever had, albeit a tad bit overly concerned, and easily the best place we have ever lived. This last year has been a monster to most of the people I know. It has attacked our responsibility and our confidence through unemployment and tight pockets. Foremost in my frustration is the fact that in no way do people have less time than they ever did before...yet as it always happens "time = money" is a broken concept in these times. Time will forever and always end up meaning debt in some way much more strongly than meaning money. Sure it sounds negative and pessimistic...when we forget the part forgiveness plays in life. I'm not suggesting we become lazy and forgive all our debts. I am suggesting we are heavily bound to either some kind of debt far beyond our means, or bound to a system that takes advantage of our debts by compounding them. We have the time...we couldn't have any more (unless we worked together). Why is it compensation for our time is so low when the price for our needs are so high? We don't need compounding penalties to make it harder.

Well, remember folks...I'm an artist. You don't actually need me. I'm not a necessity of life. But the next time you go to the store to buy a product, the next time you go to get your car fixed, when you go on vacation....stop for a moment and imagine a world without the artists touch. This isn't to say that there isn't bad art. lol. I mean simply, that you are surrounded with our effort to make your life more meaningful hopefully. At least for my part. Book covers, tv designs, movies, furniture, phones, computers, clocks, shoes, clothes, glasses, wallets/purses, homes, cars, product packaging, even the dollar bill is designed by an artist. Many of you are artists in some way...its just that some of us do it exclusively and try to make ends meet with it.

Should I have written this? Not sure. Am I the perfect model of what an artist is?  Absolutely not. I may have typical characteristics, but I am unique I'm sure. And so, I may have spent this time and only accrued a debt to you for wasting your time, but I ask only that you forgive me if you disagree or do not understand. Otherwise, Take a moment to reflect on what made sense, and laugh at the rest. :) My latest influence has been in this quote about faith in Christ:
        "If you are helpless, He is not. If you are lost, He is not. If
        you don't know what to do next, He knows. It would take
        a miracle you say? Well, if it takes a miracle, why not?"
                                                                                                                   -Pres. Boyd K. Packer

The sun rose today beyond the winter clouds. My kids have given me hugs to let me know they love me. My wife has reassured me with the same, and I have a lot of work to do. I wish the best to all of you. I thank all of you who lift me up when I am down.

Bleh

"We're on the Island of Misfit Toys....Here we don't want to stay..."

:(

So....we have to move again. So don't ask me why I have a little black raincloud over my head...you might get struck by lightning.

Drawing and Reference

As you can see, this is an adjustment to the angle of my drawing to the orientation of the photo reference. I drew this tilted on my lap and if you look on the top of the drawing you can see the line I used to level the drawing for consistency. I didn't notice this early on an so just had to maintain consistency as it progressed. There is a great dynamic to the angle of his head, so I goofed up a great aesthetic to the assignment. Oh well, here is right orientation. :D Enjoy.

So, another semester of the Academy of Art University is in progress. Here you can see the second assignment, or module as they call them. The process is simple. From reference, lay in a gesture drawing with very few identifying marks...just get the gesture. No hard defined lines either, just be vague. Then place shadow shapes in of the eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and such to get the proportions down. Again, vaguely because they may need to be adjusted. So far only the red charcoal is being used. After that, harden the cast shadow edges further committing the shapes...notice I said shapes and not lines. :)  Leave the form shadows soft and darken in the darks now that proportion and placement is sure. (one could hope)  Once the values from the red charcoal (sanguine is its name) are established change over to the white charcoal to add highlights. The paper itself functions as the middle tone or value between light and dark. The trick is to avoid mixing any white and red charcoal leaving the toned paper to transition between...except for cast shadows. In the cast shadow, white and red can be flush. But again, they cannot blend in any way. :D  Find a happy place and sign your name. My signature is kinda lame this time, but oh well. Proof that I'm not a complete slacker...this is really hard to do, and I took like 6 hours or so (with interruptions throughout the day). My greatest disappointment is that I didn't get to it until today....and it is Sunday. Sorry folks. I'm trying to avoid that this semester from now on.  Well, I hope you enjoy! 

Prints

So, I decided yesterday to go and print off some images at the local university. My wife has an account since she is a student, and I found out I could print off a few images of my work. To my wonderous joy, a friend of mine decided to finally get some of my work for his own printed off. So, not only did I have a great idea, my friend financed several images to be printed. (Unfortunately until loans come in and I figure out more ways to earn money off of my artwork....this money goes to the late van payment.)  The prints are 17x22 max, and anything below.  I'm figuring a regular price for the largest at $150, 13x19 at $75, and negotiating on lower sizes. So, for those friends of mine, call in a little friendly price discount and email me. :) Get a killer deal from the regular price that you may not be able to afford right now. Limitations are to my works that I have high res versions of on file. Let me know what you would like and I will work on getting a good reproduction. I already have two in the works. My Great Dragon Bastion oil painting from my BFA, and my sunset painting from my BFA as well. I'll post some low res versions to show of them later.

Hope everyone is working hard, finding that ends meet, and keeping relationships strong regardless of difficult times. I truly hope we all work through our difficulties and help each other out when things do go wrong. And when we find ourselves on our knees...let us remember to show gratitude for what we do have. I believe we know best what to ask for when we have been truly thankful for what we have. Otherwise, nothing will satisfy in our search and we will devalue the greatest blessings that we do have....what is worse than losing everything is having almost all that is worth having and not being glad to have it. Well, buy a print if you can. And if you can't don't be afraid to say hello anyway. :D

War and LEGO...a favorite reposted

So, I did this image years ago for a Digital Illustration class at BYUI. The assignment was to do a still life digitally. Usually pieces were done from photos since we were already doing art on a computer, so it was a challenge to do a real still life with real colors and values. Amazingly, this image I did far exceeded the photo I took of the same setup! So, it is true. And I really like this piece. Done in Photoshop with Nagel Brush series 10 brush number 132 I believe at 70%. This is a fairly high res image. So give me credit folks. My first Desktop image for all of you out there I guess. (1600x1000 below the first one...its as big as I could get it for some reason) :) The reference here is to my childhood spent with LEGOs for countless hours and then my adult years spent assembling War Machine figures and painting them. Man meets boy sort of you know. So, the title is War and LEGO. I can't remember how long it took, but it was an assignment to do an image every week....so at least within one week. And yes, I painted the War Machine characters. They are my paint design. I have others I am still working on. I may never get to them, but the idea for them is to make them look like they are cooling from being extremely hot, or that they have an extremely hot core....like the way lava looks when it hardens and flows. Anyway, Enjoy this piece as much as I do. :D

A strange thought as I sat at my computer.

So, there was this fear that people would not use the internet when internet marketing and business presence first embarked on their voyage. So few were familiar with the methods of online purchasing and browsing, and the older generation was somewhat reluctant to try it out. The computer itself was still such a vast sea of learning without the internet. NOW, now what do we have?  Well, fears of that past are blown aside as the rising generation took to the web with a ferocity and hunger unexpected. Perhaps not. Older generations now have at least one member of the family who can help with almost all computer and internet problems. There is a a connection somewhere. Our entire socializing structure has been reinvented through this digital age. Phones and computers have merged. A corded land line is almost forgotten. Is there a downside to all of this evolution?  How have we changed the time we spend?  Lost data is the equivalent of what a fire taking hold of your filing cabinet used to be. And a power outage is crippling. What do I say?  Slow down a little. Visit your friends and family more often. Play a board game. Keep flashlights and even keep a few candles nearby. Take a night as friends or family and reenact a power outage to see what you would have to do. Then?  Well, of course Be Grateful for what surrounds you. And forget all the disappointment that you don't have the latest and greatest, but be HAPPY that you have more than any previous age could have ever imagined! In a deeply interconnected age, don't forget how to manage your individuality when you are separated from it all. Be patient. Some things were meant to take time. Find happiness in something more timeless than technology. As the unreal of previous years 'becomes real', do not let the real of past times become unreal! What was treasured before is still to be treasured today... and forever.  And now me and my son are going to watch Wall-E. :)

Blue Screen of Death

Do you ever get really strange ideas that suddenly demand a visual explanation?  I had two ideas today. My second idea (first one not done yet) was this image of Death sitting in upon his throne (very generic) where he is waiting patiently. This is not new until you imagine him having a face of a blue screen!  Ha ha! Lol. I had a blue screen of Death today already which set me back about a half hour or more. Go figure. I had a third idea later as well, but again, I'll illustrate it before I tell you ;) So look for a second post on this subject....well, I hope. Since I have lagged on getting a solution together for selling my art online....well, doing art and not selling art eventually leads to doing less art- a lot less art!  There is a month or more in between my semesters in school, so often it gets really tight. On that note, I hope you enjoy the little stuff like this one. Best of luck to all our imaginations. Beware your dreams that their satisfaction does not exact all the energy you need for reality...Neither of them can live without the other. Especially for those of us who are inevitably creative at our core. :)

From here to there

Here is a quick sketch I was able to eek out during the holidays.
    I left the year with an excruciating trip out to visit family for Christmas. Fortunately the weather was good most of the 1300 miles. And the weather was a strange 40 degrees or more. This plummeted later with Christmas snow that no one can argue with... Well except that the locals there didn't know how to drive in snow and they don't have a polished plowing system. Nobody died during the crazy holiday with all of the cramped living space and home comings after long years past. Even the kids didn't get seriously hurt, although my son did ask when we were going home about 4 days before we did. The food was good and even in these meager times all of us had the chance to give a gift to everyone. The kids made a pretty good sum of candy and toys which only added to the pandemonium. New years eve was visited with an unusually difficult and funny game called "the wrong game". Go get it. It's a blast. By this time however I was in no mood to once again challenge my aging ability to traverse nearly half the continent with three children of ages 1, 4, and 5 also with my wife who can get motion sickness and who is just at the third part of her pregnancy with number 4. Whew. It's enough of A drain just to say that. But we made good time and fair weather most of the way through even though a serious snow storm chased us. We left later so that the kids could sleep through the night while I drove. We stopped for dinner that night for ..... Yes, when asking a child what their choice would be for dinner.... Pizza is on a very short list. Godfathers pizza and a good hour and a half later and we were on the road again. Unlike previous trips with one less child we drove strait through and didn't have any car sick children. We stopped at grandma and grandpas for a little 4 hour nap before the last 300 miles which was really nice. It was good to see them too. Finally Home. Yes we made it. Upon arrival in the cold homeland I sent the family to the other grandparents just down the street while I commenced shoveling the two weeks of snowfall. Two feet at the front of the house where it fell off the roof and 10 or 8 inches along the rest. It's amazing how different it is to shovel a massive amount of snow like that after a 22 hour drive than to do so from a fresh start in the middle of a leisurely day. But to pull into a clean driveway for the next week is priceless. School will start a month later than I anticipated and so will financial aid. A few side jobs on the table but with so short of a time to the start of school and literally thousands of students flooding into town at another school swooping up the job market..... This will be a tough month for sure. Wishing I could sell prints of my work but I don't have anything set up nor do I have an inventory. So the year is new and the circumstances are old and similar. Goals are just a continuation of past goals unfinished or unaccomplished. This year will see tremendous change in global and local attitudes with respect to events that are inevitable. Strange that the year ends with Christ and begins too often with a resolve that doesn't have his spirit in it... He having been left in the holiday past. Gifts have been received, coffers emptied, travels experienced, family remembered then left behind with promises to keep in touch more often, and we all return to the hum drum of what we were so enthusiastic to leave when the holiday began. I then. Can only say that we all be grateful we survived our adventure. That we be grateful we saw our loved ones and that we shared our wishes and fair share of emotional ups and downs. Work hard. Find time to play. And as for me...spring cleaning has already begun :) . Take care everyone. Remember Christ, and help someone out this week. Just because.

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