The Hula Hoop, and other tales.

Summers are different with my studio!  I can work through the hot weather, in sorta air-conditioned comfort.  And with my newly discovered hula hoop skills, I can exercise while I work.  The hula hoop is amazing!  With minimal effort, I keep in shape, might even dare to say that my back feels better than it has in years!  Plus, it's fun.  I made a video yesterday, "The Hula Hula Hoop....a video by me."  Received rave reviews on Facebook!  I can see this all working out quite well.

March, back from Puerto Vallarta.

I live often in Mexico, more and more each year, on the banks of the Rio Cuale in Puerto Vallarta. I have a home in Oklahoma City, on the curbside of the busy Western Avenue. Both are important in my existence, one because it holds my history, as an artist, a writer, a maker of music, a creative kind of guy, and the second because it holds my dreams, my joy of existence. I'm a lucky guy. I have reasons to look forward, to continue my journey, with no remorse from the past, no fear from the future. I'm doing just fine, thank you very much.

October is nice.

If there is a month that offers near perfect weather, in Oklahoma anyway, that month is now. October. My new studio is enjoying the attention it is receiving, the work being done within its walls, and from daybreak to late at night, the fine weather encourages productivity. New homemade screen door installed last week, plenty of fresh cool air at night, plenty of time on task to allow thoughtful splotching of oil paint on canvas. This could go on, wouldn't bother me a bit.

The very hot summer....

The heat seems to be losing its umpf. I might have survived. Time will tell. Certainly sapped my productive spirit, not a splotch of paint put on canvas for the past two months. I did get some work done on the new studio, still limping forward with that, still plenty of work to do, but right now, I'm being patient, and doing almost nothing. Recuperation exercises started today, so there is at least hope.

Kiss My Vulgar Lips!

Well, it's a very hot summer in this old town, which means once again I'm staying indoors. Which means I work at my desk. (Don't paint much indoors any more.) All this is leading to the fact that today, I completed what I believe to be the final version of "Kiss My Vulgar Lips", a novel by myself, probably under the name of Kaos Rose. This story is good. A simple love story, with simple characters, living simple existences in their slightly alternative world. I sure hope someday it will offend some people. That can't happen unless it gets published! (This makes number five, all sitting here, aging, ready for the viewing public.)

Hot Diggety....Life moves forward.

Well, my new existence is in full steam mode. Just spent eight days in Puerto Vallarta, after spending a month there early this year, got my new river-front studio in working order, incubated some very pleasant relationships that may just carry me through this storm. All seems good, which I guess is what it's all about. Art. Inspirational social interactions. And no requirement that I stifle my creative urges for the sake of acceptance. It ain't Oklahoma down there. It's much more personal. Rewarding. Cool.

Out of necessity.

I post because it needs to happen. Life evolves, in positive ways, and that demands my attention, inspires my creative energy. I just imagined Mama Iguana, to be created and displayed once the earth has spun a few more times. Been seeking that one for a while now. The earth is dry this spring, no rain, but that negative is probably the only one worth mentioning. I have a working studio, a working mind, a few nonworking things as well, but overall, I'm rolling along. Zoom zoom, as they say. Buenas tardes.

Christmas Eve, 2010...

Slow season, for a number of reasons. For one, it's cold. For two, I'm in a healing mode, healing from a detached retina that put me down for the past month or so. For three, I'm regrouping after a very interesting year, but one that has left me still right here. Nice place to be, but it is still right here. I put down my paint brush a couple of months ago to build a studio out back, and that was cool, except for the eye thing that resulted from my tumble off a ladder. The studio waits now, for the season to change, for a final push to put a roof on it and prepare it for my next reality. 20' x 20', with equal sized attic space, will nearly double my living space, make me feel like a serious human being. (We'll see that when it happens.) Preparing for a trip to Mexico, too, expecting much to come from that adventure. But for now, it's Christmas eve, so Merry Christmas to all.

Hmm. I'm still doing.

Another beautiful Fall season. Much going on, in my private world. Got a new studio in the works, a new barn. Concrete to be poured within a few days. Got art. Working at a leisurely pace, but working every day. "Father and Son" done recently, others on the way, seem to keep getting better, too. Maybe. The season, the weather, the lack of encumbrance, all quite nice. If it weren't for my bad back, I'd be rocking full steam. (After three months at Paseo Studio, I was ready to bring it all home, but Jeanene called tonight, wants me to leave some stuff on the walls for another month. I'll leave it up, but I do intend to enjoy the Walk this month, none of that party hosting stuff this time around.)

Jeanene called me the other day and asked me to show my work at her gallery, the Paseo Studio at Gallery One, 2927 Paseo. It will happen beginning the first Friday of the month, August 6, 2010. Cool. The show will last a couple of months.

Life is advancing...

The hot summer is not helping matters, but I suppose life goes forward, summer or not. The future is offering sharp images of quality adventures ahead, with art and discovery leading the way. I am always impressed by the negativity of the world in general but even more impressed with how I have learned to navigate the uglies and maintain my positive and creative disposition!

Whew, did I say that? :)

April is just about done...

Well, the art show was last month, all good, and this month has been productive, with art, with the garden, with the cardinals nesting in the bush just outside the barn (in full view from where I paint). Several new paintings in the past several weeks, including "Artist and Model," which I like, and which I feel is a big step in a new direction for my art. Cool stuff. I have also made the conversion from Nikes to Dr Marten sandals, and that's cool stuff too. New camera this spring is recording memorable images, and life as artist has fully replaced that old schoolteacher thing. Fully replaced it. FULLY. I am where I belong, finally!

Survived the winter...so far...

It's been the coldest snowiest winter we've had in decades, but it's hinting at Spring. Or maybe I'm just wishing. I'm thinking Art Show more than I'm thinking weather though. March 5, the end of a 16 month wait, not far off at all. I think I'm even going to be prepared once the evening arrives. Wine, song, art, a party for all. (Listening to the new Sade cd...Soldier of Love. Very hot.)

Speaking of Chaos...

Yesterday's truth was meaningful in its time.
Today's truth gives us reason to believe.
Tomorrow's truth will make us all feel like fools.
Musings from my nap ... 11/17/09 Sammy

The season draws to an end....

Well, the barn did good while the weather cooperated, but today things don't look good. It's getting chilly out there, and tomorrow promises possible flurries. I did the Omo celebration this past couple of weeks, knocked off a few interesting works, but my energies will soon be diverted ... to who knows where. It won't be the same indoors. Can't have six or eight works in progress like I did all summer and fall. I got the chainsaw out today, started the annual tree trim, dreaming of nailing together a new studio, a new air-conditionable barn, make this backyard a year-round art factory. LOL. I laugh, but it could happen! Got time to think about it now that the cold weather is settling in.

Hot Day in Costa Rica...

But it's not a hot day here. The chill is slowly moving in, but I'm still in the barn. Finished my sixth October painting today, not bad considering the weather. There's half a chance I'll finish a seventh tomorrow. Did this last painting using Lukas no.5 all the way through, thick faster-drying medium, good stuff I have decided. Just have to know what you're doing or it gums up on you. I've used it before, but this time I took note, planned ahead, and brought out just what I was hoping for. Sure speeds up the process, don't have to wait day after day for the stuff dry. It will be used again.

Autumn falls, the leaves are turning...

And the barn is a great place to be. Lots of work accomplished during September, lots of progress, then a little break to re-roof the garage, and now I'm back in the barn. Getting a bit chilly, not like last year's perfect fall season, but the work is flowing. I found that if I hang a tarp over the doorway at night, the resulting still air is much more manageable than the chilly night breeze, and I can work a couple of hours later. It's a good thing, painting outdoors at night. Even the mosquitos that pestered me all last month are gone now that the season has changed.

The Heat has Broken....

What a nice past few days....and what a lot of work done in the barn. Tonight I even took a couple of hours off to visit the Paseo Friday art walk. That was good. Met a very nice speech pathologist strolling down the sidewalk, not something that happens everyday. No telling what sort of creativity that might inspire.

Progress has slowed a bit....

Hot summers sure do have a negative effect on outdoor productivity. The weather did cool off somewhat for a week or so, and I did get some painting done, but the temp is back up towards 100 now, and I have not even ventured outside in a day and a half. I am doing some editing, Living and Dying at the Zoo being completely retyped, all 100,000 words of it, but even that project is just creeping along. (It will soon become completed manuscript #4 though, and that has a nice ring to it!) The paints? Well, time will tell when that starts rolling again.

Whew!!

106 today. Past week, much the same. Next week, much the same. Gives me a headache just thinking about it.