To Have confidence or Not

If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has imaged for himself, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.- Thoreau

My confidence in myself has wained in the past several weeks due to not being able to have a “normal” life.  Fortunately most of normal has returned but it still had my confidence in my ability to provide and other areas as well.

The question here for the creative me is what does this confidence shake up do to my art,  I haven’t  done much photography or drawing or anything else creative for weeks.

It is time to ponder, push, sweat, contemplate and regain a new confidence that will hopefully take my art to the next level.

Adversity and Art

Can we apply the old adage of what doesn’t kill you will make you stronger to our art? I think we can with a little tweeking the adversity we go through will make our art deeper. I am looking forward to how this will apply to my art and my life. 2008 ended horribly for me. After an injury @ work kept me out of work for almost 3 months I found a second job to try and catch up. It worked into a full time position with no increase in pay but a job where I could sit down which I needed due to the knee injury. Like a good person I gave a 2 week notice to the first job which I needed to work to keep catching up. This wonderfully kind Christian based employer promptly took me off the schedule leaving me short since the other job didn’t start full time until Jan 5th. Now my car which I must have to get to work is having major issues causing me to miss 2 days of work this week. Not sure how I am going to pay the bills for it or for the month but I do believe that my art and my photography will have more depth.

2009: A (re)New(ed) Point of View

On the other side of darkness far away there shines a light.

A new year always brings new and renewed hopes and dreams.  It also pushes us to make resolutions, those sometimes wacky knee jerk declarations that we will change or make better our life in the new year.  I don’t usually do resolutions because I learned early on I didn’t stick to them, but I do want to share some things I plan to pursue and hopefully accomplish in 2009.

Look at things from a different angle.

My first example of this is the above photo which paid off.  As I wandered around the dark, fogged in playground of the State Park I searched for a different view a different angle a different perspective.  Were they all good no but was I enlighted, stretched and challenged yes.  Was my art taken to another level, did it gain freshness yes.   Did it cause me to comtemplate who I am what I do and how I interact with others yes.  That is the point of looking at things from a different angle or perspectiv. . . it might not always be the best but it challenges and changes you!!!!

Expand my art.

I have shown you my photography but I am an artist in many other mediums so it is my goal to begin an additional page to share my other art.

Positively Impact my world

I want to make people stop, contemplate and grow.  It may be my art, it may be my actions, it may be my inaction’s but I want to have a positive impact on my world.

So have a creative, artistic and successful 2009 it will be what you make it.

Another year draws to a close

“Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning, but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us.” Hal Borland

Experience has taught me that working 64 hours a week (13 hour days between 2 jobs) is really exhausting, then doing that just after knee surgery and you can also add insane!!!!  I am grateful for 2 jobs in such a bad economy!!!  Experience has taught me that persistence pays off as the part time job that involves using my photography and art skills is going full time as of Jan 2009!!!!  Experience has also taught me that time for my  kids is more important than anything!!!!

In the coming year I will get to return to writing on this blog daily and I will be adding a second page to track my one drawing a week challenge to myself.

As the year draws to a close take time to reflect back and see what experience has taught and brought you to take into the continuance of next year!!!  Have a wonderful, creative and art filled holiday.

Waiting for the world

Gazing into the future I see many possibilities as I am waiting for the world to come to me.

As artist we must take time to stop and let the world come to us.  Does that sound like a strange concept to you?  Artist are observers but we must be patient and consistent observers.  As a photographer it is routine for me to photograph the same scene more than once.  Most people would say sure because landscapes change with the seasons and interiors change with lighting.  Those are true statements but that is not always the purpose of photographing the same scene more than once.  There are times when I stare at a scene or a photo of a scene and I know there is something more there it just hasn’t revealed itself yet and therefore I have to be patient and let it come to me rather than trying to create it or force it.  Creating art is a journey and some masterpieces are long journeys.   Today be an observer gaze into the future and let the world come to you!!!

Shades of bittersweet

Autumns colors are so incredible in all the varying hues and tints a wonderful palette for every artist. Here lovely leaves in shades of bittersweet reach out their fingers of tangerine and mango to embrace the coming winter. Drink in the depth of all the shades of all the crimson, bittersweet and marigold before we are bathed in a sea of mahogany, ice blue and charcoal.

Autumns Wonder

Autumns wonder brings in a season of splendor, a harbinger of the winters chill to come, but for a few brief moments sit and drink in the blaze of crimison and gold and enjoy the last warm moments before the icy grip of winters restoration takes hold.

Autumn’s Journey

Autumn is the transition from the bright and productive summer to the bleak but restorative winter. I hope that autumns journey will bring you the gift of joyful insight, deep clear feeling, perceptive awareness, conceptual and creative perspective, and artistic all encompassing inspiration.  Enjoy natures masterful art.

The glory of autumn 3

Autumn blazes for a short while then becomes past days glory left to dissolve on the path of memory lane.

The glory of autumn 2

The autumn wind is cold enough to whispers into the air with every breath, but as the day ages the whispers turn to vapor in sunlight and float away unspoken.