Mixing it Up

I have always been an avid "journal-er."
 [At this point I automatically recall a conversation between two TV characters:
"Do you mean your old diary?"
"Mike, it was a journal."
"Ed, Lewis and Clark had a journal.  You, my friend, had a diary." Digression ended]
I have written down my thoughts since the concept was first proposed to me in high school.  While some might tease me about the diaries I have kept, even if I were forced to call them that name I would still be glad to have them.  It's both fascinating and entertaining to look back at events and feelings from 15 years ago.

But sometimes I like to mix it up.  On days such as this I record my thoughts straight to the blog.  It's a bit more public, so some content is not appropriate, but for general updates and more amusing anecdotes it is great.  I have also been known to post completed paintings on my blog.  However...nothing has been completed for a long time.

The painting you see here is one that I did finish recently.  Only it's not mine.  I mean, the execution is mine, but the concept is that of Charlie Harper.

 Such work reflects a love that I have for good design, mathematical precision, and the beauty of simplified forms.

It reminds me a great deal of another fantastic designer you should check out.

This painting now hangs in my kitchen.  I love to see the still night, the autumn leaves (which match with orange walls within the house), the birches...it's a brilliant image.  But again...not mine.

Painting is hard work.  Of all my "hobbies" or "pastimes" it is by far the most taxing.  My friend Jon used to say that good painting is like brain surgery, and he's right.  It's extremely difficult to simultaneously monitor form, value, color, composition and all the little things that go into making them perfect (paint mixing, brush control, etc.).  If only I were an abstract expressionist like Pollock who believed in Jung's collective unconsciousness and the need to tap into it!

So although I find myself (periodically) with a bit more time on my hands, I find other ways to fill it.  I am just exhausted, so it's easier to work on tiny, mindless projects.  I'm sure that someday soon I will return to the place I was at the end of the summer and just paint for hours on end each afternoon and evening.  But imagine going to work, caring for the kids...and doing it all while feeling completely spent--could you paint?