Music: Osborne Brothers – Fair and Tender Ladies
I was listening to my Happy Traum – Relax Your Mind record, and his version of this song is so, so good. But I couldn’t find it on Youtube to post here, so here’s another that is really good too.
Cats Are Good Company, etc.
Major bummer that I can’t have a cat at my rental house. This young feller used to lay on my desk while I worked before I moved to my new abode. We still keep in close contact.
Trying to plow through my to-do list today ‘cus I’ve got a serious itch to make some artwork tomorrow. It’s been way too long.. too many to-do’s slowly but surely getting done.
My “Listen to the Rain” original paper cutting is on it’s way to its new home in North Carolina. I’ve also got a huge box of goods on it’s way to Collector Art Shop in Berkeley, CA, so any folks in that area can find lots of new prints & cards there in the coming days. I’ll be stocking up 1109 Gallery in Lawrence tomorrow. Dundee Gallery in Omaha and The Eclective in Topeka shall be stocked in the next week or so.
Music: Robbie Basho – Night Way
What You Have Tamed/ An old paper cutting
“‘Men have forgotten this truth,’ said the fox. ‘But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.'” -Antoine de Saint-Exupery
I was reading a little Antoine de Saint-Exupery earlier and remembered this paper cutting I did a very long time ago –sometime in 2008, I think. If you can’t tell, it’s supposed to be a fox jumping between two hands. The background was part cut paper, part coffee stains, part photoshop coloring. I wish I could achieve that look using only paper — maybe one of these days I’ll do some experimenting and figure it out. Anyway, “The Little Prince” is one of my all time favorite books. Even though I had my first copy when I was a kid, I didn’t ‘get it’ until I reread it a few years ago. Here’s a few more quotes from Saint-Exupery:
“A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”
“True love begins when nothing is looked for in return.”
“In giving you are throwing a bridge across the chasm of your solitude.”
“That is the hardest thing of all. It is much harder to judge yourself than to judge others. If you succeed in judging yourself, it’s because you’re truly a wise man.”
“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
“What he had yearned to embrace was not the flesh but a down spirit, a spark, the impalpable angel that inhabits the flesh.”
“Behind all seen things lies something vaster; everything is but a path, a portal or a window opening on something other than itself. ”
“I know but one freedom, and that is the freedom of the mind.”
And here’s one more quote, one of my very first paper cuttings that I made when I was still cutting on a piece of wood.. These old ones are some of the most meaningful to me. I still have them.
Light
Neal, St. Louis.
Today I…
Turned my heater on for the first time since last winter.
Sat down on the trail for a few minutes halfway through my morning run to take in the trees & birds (so many birds out this morning).
Did a whole bunch of reading.
Made vegetable split pea soup adding in chick peas, basmati rice, and a tiny bit of cinnamon, caradamom & geera. So thick I ate it with a fork.
Enjoyed visits from a squirrel and a praying mantis.
Fell asleep with my laptop on my lap while trying to write this blog post.
I try to keep the day following an art fair weekend as mellow as possible to regroup. Back to the grindage tomorrow.
Jim Henson’s Birthday
Jim Henson was born on this day (Sept. 24) in 1936. I’ve always enjoyed his work — especially Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas and Fraggle Rock. Takes me back.. or I should say, takes me somewhere else.. plus the music on these shows is almost always so good. Check the video above of Emmet Otter’s Jugband singing “Brothers”.
“The most sophisticated people I know–inside they’re all children. We never really lose a certain sense we had when we were kids.” – Jim Henson
Weekend Recap: Friends & Art & Antiques
I headed out dark and early Saturday morning for the Aaron Douglas Art Fair which went well. Thanks to you folks that came out! The weather was beautiful although I was pretty chilly at certain points of sun hiding behind the tree over me. Beats the summer heat. Autumn is the best. Speaking of which, yesterday was the first day of Autumn, so happy Autumn. The changing season is conjuring up some images in my head for new works. Looking forward to getting back to the cutting table.
After the art fair, I ate a late dinner (sadly, my first meal of the day yesterday) at the newly redesigned Esquina in Lawrence. The vegetable frittata and salad totally rocked. Go eat there, local yokals.
Today I headed to Kansas City to hit up the Plaza Art Fair and see a bunch of exhibiting friends that I’ve met over all my travels to different art shows. Before doing that, I delivered my large “Midnight Garden” paper cutting to it’s new owner in KC. This is my favorite paper cutting that I’ve been taking around with me lately, so I was glad to see it go to a good, appreciative home. Before I delivered that, I was killing some time wandering around the Westport area and accidently happened upon an antique store and picked up a few knick-knacks, including these groovy little Holt Howard salt & pepper shakers. Seriously love antique stores… I’ve been known to spend entire days perusing them. Plotting some autumn antiquing adventures.
Thanks again to all you folks and friends that graced me with your presence this weekend. Ending it in a quiet room with a cup of mint & chamomile tea. Til next time..
Creating Capacity
Tonight’s sunset.
“Everything comes to us that belongs to us if we create the capacity to receive it.” -Rabindranath Tagore