As we live our lives we start to learn the freedom and the expense of owning obligation, permission and accepting the ownership of our choices. These are heady concepts because ultimately, we can sit back and be passive observers to life. When we do that, without taking part in obligation or permission; many of us choose to become victims. Are we? If we don’t take part, don’t we end up responsible for the choices we didn’t make? It gets confusing. It is a good thing we don’t get to take ownership of all of our choices until we are older.

You don’t have to be a national icon to create art. Thrift stores are filled to the brim with the bits and parts of peoples hobbies.  Scarves, pottery, stuffed animals, signs, silk flower arrangements, and art that people did just for the fun of it.  Michael’s and Hobby Lobby sell student and craft grade art supplies that you can use just to make art for you.  Maybe all you ever do is create art for the fun of it, and that is just fine.  Own your joy. 

Have you ever had to wait for something that you were excited for and a little bit afraid of at the same time? That is me, counting down the weeks and the days until I leave.

When doing shows, promoters and organizers put thought into the literature they distribute to their vendors. Whether it is sent through email, in the prospectus, listed on the website or handed to you when you arrive; there is a reason for what they have written. I will admit, I have been guilty of skimming over for the the things I am interested in and have had to redo my submission a time or two but for art shows….. I tend to take a few minutes and read the documents.

Some people think we need to take time to show our grief publicly to honor those who died. Victorian England perfected the ritual and drug it out for almost a year. Whether or not that is where those people got the idea that we can’t be happy and celebrate at the same time we live in times of despair, it isn’t healthy to stand in a negative emotion for extended periods of time. Our mental health is affected, and our physical health declines and I can’t say which is more important for a human being’s longevity but I know that they both hurt us. It isn’t appropriate for us to wallow in frustration, in anger, in fear and not embrace moments of joy. We need friends, not just for ourselves but for their well-being as well. If we can keep being kind to each other and to strangers, maybe we can swing things back the way they were before everything started going south.

When I moved to Spokane in 2018 I became depressed because I was lonely so I actively sought out ways to find social connections. In our world of computer networking, finding online connections is becoming easier and easier but getting out and finding real one on one connection can be a daunting task.

When you spend a majority of your career being someone’s right hand man and become a one man show of your own, you tend to subconsciously rely only on yourself. It isn’t that people aren’t smart enough to learn to do the job. It isn’t that they don’t care about your equipment or your art, you just have a hard time trusting. You have paid for all of the equipment and made your art with blood sweat and tears. You are on a shoe string budget and if something breaks, you have to figure out in that moment how to pivot to either make do or finance the replacement if you can find a replacement in the moment. It is one thing to be upset with a hire but when it is a friend or (gasp) a spouse?

We tend to open our mouth and speak what is on our mind without considering how we want to be heard. You can talk to someone, you can talk at someone or you can actually work to choose phrases that paint a complete picture for the person or people in front of you.

We must remember, change is normal and growth brings change. We want growth because growth means people are happy and are excited to do new things. Let’s take a deep breath and think positive thoughts about the future. Maybe, I’ll see you in a new town near you soon.

One place I went into had over 6 artists represented and they were all there. The artist in charge of the event brought in a DG who was pumping out a rhythmic beat like it was the source of life for the entire city. Artists were standing around talking to friends or each other, scrolling on phones or eating and none were watching to see who was looking at their art.

Being able to tell someone that the help they are giving you isn’t really helpful is also allowed. They might think that they are making it easier for you to accomplish something but in fact don’t realize that they are making more work for you down the road. You have the right to look at them and say, “Please stop. I have this; thank you.”

Style is something that emerges with time and familiarity with your own though process and creative drive. Another word for style is “Brand” and with enough time your work will become recognizable because of the way you apply your medium to your chosen surfaces. Your hands will always work the same way and barring catastrophic injury, that might never change.

Sometimes we will start over many times to accomplish something. Looking back, you know you tried something different each time. You might not be getting what you want but you will be gaining expertise which will be invaluable later on in life. I really just want to point out; starting over isn’t really at the very beginning again. Whether it is doing a piece of art, a new relationship, a reconciliation, sobriety, physical wellbeing, mental health; well you get it, Right?

you don’t have to like who is next to you but you can make a choice to be nice to each other. If everyone made an active choice to be nice, and worked to get along; things do go more smoothly.

Being nice doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t cost you anything but perhaps a bit of time. Sometimes it has nothing to do with interacting with someone else.

I have looked back on my life and how many times things have spun out of control and clutter was one of these areas. I found that I didn’t want to take an extra 5 steps to put things were they belong. I didn’t think about taking a half hour to pick up a pile and go through it, wouldn’t take half a day to clean a room or even spend a couple hours organizing my office. In my depression, I would look past the piles to the point that I wouldn’t even see the mess and it would blend Into the landscape of my life.

The one thing that I have learned is that nothing is truly permanent. There was asian metaphor about time, “As birds fly past this mountain, one in every generation will brush this mountain with its wing. In time, those wings will wear down that mountain to a mere hill.”

When I don’t get accepted to a show, I just move on to the next thing and look for something else to do. It is the way of things and you really can’t sweat it. Ultimately, the denials do tend to wear on anyone and having my friends say things like, “I can’t believe they wouldn’t accept you!” or “That doesn’t make any sense, you are so good”, really helps to bolster the bruised ego. That isn’t the only reason to have them around but, I will say it is a perk.

Being the youngster I was, stuff derailed a lot. I’ve blown car engines, had fires next door and in my house, animals injured, people injured; the main thing is to keep calm and look for options. You can’t always rely on people answering their phones and sometimes, most times; you are best if you can rescue yourself.

A few days ago, I came across a couple videos about historical and inexpensive ways to do things for a fraction of the cost. I love the idea of finding old ways of doing things and sharing the information.