10.04.2007

I'm not really superstitious, I'm just plain stitious.

so i'm in the middle of what may turn out to be an all nighter.

right now i'm literally watching paint dry.

i feel like i'm back in college again.

a couple of weeks ago i was asked to do a painting of a father and son walking down a path together. i thought i was feeling artsy this past weekend, but i looked at what my painting session had created and i was really frustrated. it looked like a weak attempt at a norman rockwell painting, which really isn't my style. i was pretty frustrated because the more i painted the more i didn't like what i saw. so i took a step back and painted over what i had. i started over with a fresh (dry) canvas and thought about what i would like to see. still stumped. so i went over to my stack of art(nerd) books and started looking through pictures i hadn't sen in a long time. and just like that the inspiration was back. i found this old surfer magazine that david carson had designed and remembered how i used to love his style back in the day. so i looked at the blank canvas and started putting stencils together with my painting in mind.

(break to spray another layer of stencils)

so instead of a father and son walking down a path i found a great pic my friend had taken of him and his dad walking at the beach towards the ocean. i photoshopped it out to get it stencil-ready, and started throwing down paint on the canvas. then i put together some cool one-off stencils for the youth group name and off i went.

i'm watching my canvas dry right now, and i'm feeling very in touch with God. it's been so long since i've done a painting like this, and it's something i enjoy so much. the problem with me and art is that i really have to be in a zone to put something together, and it's been so long since i've been in that zone. but looking at this painting and thinking of God listening to my cry for inspiration, it reminds me that i really need to cry out to God sooner for so many things. i sit here and wait for inspiration to hit, and God is right there waiting for me to cry out for help.

i just realized that i only closed the screen door and now my apartment smells like spraypaint. the cuz should get a kick out of that in the morning.

(breaking to clean up)

anyways, now that i've got all the stencil shavings cleaned up, i'm kind of ready to just sit back and enjoy what i've created. it's weird to think that in a few hours i have to hand this giant canvas off to someone else. i really don't like selling my paintings. maybe that's why i gravitate to stencil work? hmmm. either way, i'm smiling because i know tomorrow when i hand this off to my friend i can stand tall knowing that i like what i created.

what else...

the past few days have been a little rough. i found out that one of my best friends from jr high was killed in a motorcycle wreck back in 02. i had tried to get a hold of him ever since i've moved out here, and now i know why i haven't been able to. he was the only other white guy on the bus when i was in jr high, and although he was a couple of years older than me, he let me hang with his friends until i found my own group to be a part of. i never really fit in, but he always stuck up for me. i remember he used to give me a lot of grief about not acting like a christian too. i also remember very distinctly one time he told me that if i was a christian i should act like it. yeah, that still rings pretty clearly. i wish i could find out more about the events around his death, but the obituary records are a hassle and his parents don't speak a lot of english. but for the time being i have a mission. i'm going to track down his family and let them know he had an impact.

well, the sound of the keyboard is starting to get to me, so i think i'm going to call off the all-nighter and get some rest. i feel better having written all of this out anyways. thanks for joining in on my cheap alternative to therapy.

and because i don't want to leave on a downer note, be sure to check out my new favorite website dedicated to swedish rock bands from the 70's: www.omodern.com

i'll post a pic of the latest artwork soon.

****update****



one love, one heart.

1 comment:

OK Chick said...

You should take a picture of the painting and put it on your blog...please. Or send it to me on myspace or facebook. I would like to see it.