IdeaJones

Tag: artist

  • Creating While Distracted

    Gingeroo and Moby, a puppy & her (adopted) dad.

    We have a new family member, Gingeroo, who joined us almost two months ago. She’s an adorable little girl and before anyone asks, she is 100% Pure Yorgess… “your guess is as good as ours!”  She’s a mixed breed, some sort of hound/terrier mix. We’re thinking she’s part Basenji, as Abby was (always miss you, Princess Hound!).  Gingeroo does a lot of things Abby did, from trying to climb on everything (including people –we’re working on it) to holding things with her paws like a raccoon. She even has the Basenji speaking voice, which sounds, so Mark’s mom used to say, like something from The Exorcist (think someone talking in a very raspy, growly voice).

    Moby loves his little baby (she’s almost five months old now). He lets her take tennis balls, roll in the grass with him, even cuddle up to his tummy.  And when she gets out of control, he gently but firmly corrects her. She’s a spitfire, lots of energy and focus, but once she settles down, very sweet and cuddly.

    We’re trying to work with a puppy in the house, and for other reasons, it’s been pretty stressful here.  There are a few things we’ve figured out:

    * When it’s not normal times, don’t try to pretend it is. Acknowledge whatever challenges there are and plan accordingly. You don’t have to let things stop you — but if there’s a hill in your path, it doesn’t help to pretend there isn’t. Make plans to climb the hill.

    * If a situation isn’t likely to resolve itself quickly, adjust your expectations. A friend said, “If it’s a marathon, not a sprint, train for a marathon.” She went on to say that you have to get your rest, drink plenty of water, exercise, eat a healthy diet, all that stuff, just as if you were going to run an actual marathon. This may be the smartest advice we’ve gotten in years.

    * “If the straight path is blocked, get creative about going where you need to go. Other paths may still get you there.” Great advice from another friend. Right now, my schedule revolves around little Gingeroo, who is learning to go outside to potty, but has to go outside about every other hour. Plus, I don’t want her to think if she goes, that’s it, back in the house, fun’s over, so after she goes, we play for a while. This is seriously cutting into my productivity, but will pay off in the future. So I take her out to play, bring her in, get her settled with a toy, and get some work done until we do it all again in 90 minutes. Which means that if I’m not as productive as I’d like, at least I’m productive, so I don’t lose patience with her, and she’s getting really good about housetraining, since it’s a positive experience.

    We’ve had other times when life was challenging, sometimes very challenging, and it was frustrating, on top of what was going on, not to be getting anywhere creatively. Fortunately, now we know how to navigate the rough patches in the road until they smooth out, which brings me to the other best advice I ever got:

    “The universe doesn’t recognize stasis. Things can grow or decay quickly or slowly, but they can’t stay the same.” This was our doctor and once we really understood it, we realized it meant that change is part of the system. Enjoy the good and survive the bad knowing it won’t last forever.

    “Better is always coming. The trick is to hang on until it gets there.”  Mom, who lived through The Great Depression, told me that.

    Hope your good stretches are longer than your bad.

    Gingeroo and Moby enjoy the summer.

  • A Piece of Peace

    Peace Square Tie Dye IdeaJonesHi — I guess it’s current events that have me working on peace symbols. Here are some events from 1966:

    • Sniper atop the tower at the University of Texas kills 12 and wounds 31.
    • Riots in Watts, Cleveland and Atlanta
    • Civil rights marcher James Meredith shot.

    Sound familiar? Here’s the good news — while it feels as though current events are unique, each generation laments how the world it going to ruin. We remember the past through filters of our own youth. Looking back, we’re always younger, probably fitter, definitely less aware of mortality. I told Mark the other day that what I really want is to move to Santa Cruz circa 1966. He said that Santa Cruz might be doable, but 1966 wasn’t. Would I really want to return the world to 1966, with the same social problems we have now but less progress on them?

    With pollution but less being done about it? People I have come to care about shoved back into their closets, or kicked off the bus? No, of course not.

    The world is always what we make of it. ItPeace Neon Peace IdeaJones’s as good as we decide to be. Which means there’s hope. So I keep making peace symbols and giving my pennies to charities helping people and pets in need, and hoping.

    Look at Opening Doors, a small charity helping refugees resettle in the Sacramento area. Just as we’re hearing a lot about how we should just boot anyone who comes here back, there are people helping those who have fled violence and hunger to start over in America.

    “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. ” That’s from our Declaration of Independence. We’ve spent all the time since trying to decide who is included in “all.” Does it mean dark people? Women?

    Like the Biblical commandment, “Thou shalt not kill,” it’s hardly ambiguous, yet we argue over the meaning. Both are ideals to strive towards, and imperfect human beings fall short of them, but they give us a goal. Like the idea of peace. We may never achieve perfect peace. We’re not even sure what it would look like if we did. But it gives us something to reach for, a destination to head toward. It gives us hope.

    I hope that for today at least you are at peace.

    By the way, these designs are available on jewelry at Zazzle.com, and on bags, clothing, and more at our Redbubble shop, where a portion of each sale goes to charities helping people or pets in need.

  • Reception Tonight — Time To Get Dragged Out From Under The Sofa

    Tonight’s the opening reception for one of the shows I’m in. If you can make it to Lincoln, CA, it should be a fun show. This is my second in this gallery and it’s a nice little gallery with welcoming people who really want things to be good for visitors.

    Writer Carol Terracina Hartman gave the show a mention in her Examiner.com column: http://www.examiner.com/article/nature-and-animals-art-show-opens-saturday-lincoln

    I’m a real introvert. I like people. It’s just that while extroverts gather energy from being around other people, introverts spend energy to be with others. I’m also shy, which isn’t the same thing. So I tend to either not say much or babble. Weirdly the fix for that seems to be accepting it and not caring much. People will like you or they won’t and there’s no predicting which way it will go, so you might as well relax.

    For past receptions, I’ve always been keyed up and tense. This time I’m just looking forward to it. The weather is beautiful (my gosh, it’s in the 80s in June in Sacramento. Usually it’s “how have we sinned, Lord?” hot. I’m couldn’t be more pleased and surprised if Oprah Winfrey showed up on our doorstep and yelled, “You get a car!”).

    So a short drive (it’s about thirty minutes away) with Mark on a beautiful day through the country to see what else is in the show (I’ve only seen a few of the other pieces). I don’t drink (well, I had a sip of Communion wine yesterday but I’m such a lightweight that almost put me on my butt), so finger foods, ice water and art. Should be a good evening. If you can make it introduce yourself — I promise not to hide under the furniture.

    On exhibit June 11 - July 1 at the Art League of Lincoln in Lincoln, CA.
    On exhibit June 11 – July 1 at the Art League of Lincoln in Lincoln, CA.

  • Birth of a (Painted) Owl

    Process is interesting to me — how someone makes a thing. I’m a sucker for factory tours (Jelly Belly in Fairfield, CA and the Budweiser plant nearby have fun tours), or watching someone create.

    The latest animal painting, “The Night Watch,” is the first in a planned trio of paintings featuring owls. I’d painted an owl before, in a hurry, for a charity fundraiser, and on a 9-foot market umbrella at that (first time for that, too):

    Detail from the beginning of a 9-foot painting of owls and their prey.
    Detail from the beginning of a 9-foot painting of owls and their prey.

    This is an early sketch for the finished painting, which featured owls and their prey catching sight of each other. At the time, I hadn’t planned to paint another owl, but then an idea started rolling around in my brain, an owl dancing.

    A painting and poem from our Redbubble.com shop.
    A painting and poem from our Redbubble.com shop.

    When i finished the painting, the poem came into my head while I was looking at it. I think most of us feel we have a secret self, and that self has the potential to do things very different from the things others expect.

    So that led to an image of that same owl, about to take flight.

    The moment just before takeoff. Ready to fly, but not yet in the air.
    The moment just before takeoff. Ready to fly, but not yet in the air.

    In the end, I liked the idea enough to create the full painting in color, that moment just before vaulting into the sky, one last look back before launching.

    The first in a trio of planned paintings featuring owls, here an owl pauses before taking flight.
    The first in a trio of planned paintings featuring owls, here an owl pauses before taking flight.

    Each owl informed the next. Now The Night Watch is set to be in a show, and over the summer I’ll complete the series. It’ll be interesting to see where my owls are by the time I complete the last one.

  • On Exhibit June 11 – July 9, 2016

    On Exhibit June 11 – July 9, 2016

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    Two of our paintings, Cross River Gorilla Blue and The Night Watch, are on exhibit at The Art League of Lincoln in Lincoln, CA (580 Sixth Street, Lincoln, CA).

    There’s a reception (free and open to the public) on Saturday, June 11, from 5-6:30 pm, and the show runs through July 9. If you get a chance, check it out — it’s a show of animal-themed art and promises to have some beautiful work. Beyond the reception, the gallery is open Wednesday through Saturday from 11 am to 3 pm, and admission is free.

    It’s a high when a work gets accepted into a show, and when more than one is accepted, it’s an amazing feeling. We’ve shown two other works in this space (a digital animated video and a digital painting) and it’s a lovely little gallery, tucked into the historic district in Lincoln.

    The first painting, Cross River Gorilla Blue, is part of the Meet The Neighbors series highlighting endangered species. The Cross-River Gorilla is highly endangered. All of the paintings in this series are confrontational. It’s a member of the species looking the viewer in the eye, making him acknowledge who and what is going to be lost, not a vague thing, “some sort of gorilla,” but this individual gorilla.

    The Night Watch is the first in a trio of planned paintings featuring owls. I love the symbolism of the owl, guardian, guide, keeper of wisdom and secrets. I also love the look of owls, wide-eyed, solid, both soft (those special feathers, designed for quiet flying) and sharp (beak, talons). Symbolically, they’re a reminder that knowledge and wisdom have opposing sides, dark and light, soft and sharp. Sometimes you learn things you’d rather not know, and the knowing, even if good for you, can be painful. Some information is beautiful, some is not. The duality of knowing is embodied in the owl.

    More information on the show is available at www.all4art.net.

    The first in a trio of planned paintings featuring owls, here an owl pauses before taking flight.
    The first in a trio of planned paintings featuring owls, here an owl pauses before taking flight.