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life racing by. getting caught up in...stuff. and more stuff. clutter. getting rid of stuff. making more room for ART. because I need art more than it needs me. and that's ok.

life is now.

life is now mandala, acrylic on canvas, 2015

LOST: Artist

inspiration is everywhere. and yet... I sit here looking at 6 canvases that are primed with base colors and ready for action. ideas -- almost too many -- bottleneck at my minds-eye. I don't know which direction to take.

I feel lost at the starting line. could any of these ideas impact the world? make the world a better place? do they make any difference at all? do they need to? is this just my ego feeling sorry for itself? yes, probably so. what artist has no ego? I don't know. art expresses a perspective; one moment of one story from one angle as it appeared to one person. there is no right or wrong. no good or bad. just what one person believes they see. or maybe what they wish to see. and the question is -- why would anyone else care? does it help anyone get out of bed -- other than the artist? maybe all that matters is that I, the artist, gets to play God. my canvas being a glimpse into a world that I create. of course, there is no ego in that at all. none at all says the sarcastic mind. again, I am lost at the starting line where my heart and mind cannot find common ground. so I sit here with empty canvases, a heart that aches to paint, and a mind that cannot find a satisfying thought.

Deep Soul Diving

inside exit
acrylic, pen, and paper on canvas

This is one in a series of paintings based on sketches I did during cancer treatments -- chemotherapy and surgeries. This one -- titled inside exit -- is from a sketch done while recovering from a chemo infusion, on one of the better days. I was going inward in order to escape the present and look forward to better times.

Art. For art's sake

Now... where were we....

Spiral Lizard, earlier version is shown in the last post, and the final version here. 
Sold to a friend in Wyoming. Makes me happy!



This has been called psychedelic lizard on acid. It was just me needing art for art's sake -- without any deep-soul-diving. 

getting back to art....

It's been a crazy year. I've been blogging a lot about cancer and very little about art.

Here is a recent image completed a few days prior to my last surgery on September 18th. The surgery marked the tenth month in a breast cancer journey. I chose to paint this silly little colorful guy because it has nothing to do with anything serious! I was able to lose myself in the paint and colors. This guy was my pre-surgery art therapy!

Springing forward with hope and new artwork

Spring Forward,

2012, acrylic on canvas, 12x12

I hosted an art gathering yesterday. Invited some artists-girlfriends over for an evening of painting together. It's like having a "gym buddy"-- if someone else shows up, you can't talk yourself out of doing it.

I think this life-affirming piece is a result of the strength and energy and hope I am receiving right now from people in my life who care.

We are all connected.

The Road Ahead

From my sketchbook....

The Road Ahead
Ink drawing
2012

Sketched 7 days after surgery... holding an hourglass sand timer.... waiting to heal enough to continue to next treatment along the way.

This sketch will most likely end up in a final painting and/or mixedmedia piece.

New Art - January 2012

No one wants to join your fucking club

Acrylic on wood, 2012

From the beginning, it felt like being inducted to the Cancer Club.

A club no one chooses, no one knows how they end up there, and it's never short on new memberships.

Tonight, I needed some "in yo face" art therapy. There are no sophisticated subtleties in this one.

BTW, the "people" in the club are amazing and without them I would be lost. It's the "cancer" in the club that this piece is directed toward.


I'm documenting my journey from diagnosis to treatment and onward here: fleeting glances: a moment. a day. a year. a life.