Spontaneous creations

This image was drawn almost completely without a concept of what was being created.  After the image was almost completely completed upside down I rotated it to gain access to the lower portion of the image, a samurai had appeared.  It's a wonderful feeling to experience something greater and more creative than I could possibly conceive come through me.  I'm not sure if I should have presented this image from the perspective that I originally drew it,  but decided to present it from the perspective from when I first witness the wonder of spontaneous creation.

Originality

In the attempt to work completely in the moment, it seems common to forget the original creative inspiration. 
I feel conflicted in using an image that is possible to duplicate.  Overcoming the misconception that there is anything original is difficult especially when I'm continually trying to create something where each line, each movement, and every decision is as spontaneous and free as possible.

Johnny Cash

It's amazing when something recognizable jumps from the page out of the shapes and lines,  it's also equally enjoyable when nothing but pattern and repetition are present in the end.  While I'm not convinced this or any piece is done,  I do enjoy looking through it's folds and shadows. 

Names

There is a lot of power in names.  The bugs, flowers, and shapes in this image I do not know how to identify.  My attempt to capture a piece of there essence is similar in our attempt to label and categorize each other.  A swarm of insects are unique in the swarm that they occupy, unique in their individual biology,  and are unique in there constant state of change. 
As soon as we learn someone's name, we immediately begin looking for labels to identify and categorize them.  We then go about looking to explain our labels to others in an attempt to fortify and confirm their legitimacy. 
In reality are we anything more than a swarm of molecules and atoms gathering together in a specific pattern for a very short time?  Are we any greater or better than a swarm of insects?

Layers of importance

I really appreciate the opportunity to witness the way in which color changes over time.  It's a great reminder of the temporary nature of everything.  This moment is so precious and without witnessing loss it's so easy to forget how beautiful it is. In the moments where these images are being created, I'm amazed and thrilled by what emerges from the shapes that are created. 
As much as I originally was trying to keep myself removed from the work that I felt was coming through me,  I realized that is impossible.  In recognizing the personal mark that the work has left on me, I feel like I am admitting the unifying similarly between us all. 

Tools

I am drawn to the concept of constant creation.  It is an interesting feeling to be able to draw something that nobody else has or will probably ever draw.  I love being able to immediately draw what is in front of me, or whatever in this moment that catches my eye.  While I have forgotten what the initial moment was that caught my eye,  there is something about getting lost in the moments of creating that is equally beautiful.
Just as tools are useless without someone to use them,  so are drawings that are not able to connect with the viewer or the artist in the moment that they are occupying.  There is nothing more important than this moment and anything that brings us to a greater sense of awareness of this moment is priceless. 

Progression of a moment

I often have a problem recognizing faces and I've almost always been surprised at the face looking back at me in the mirror.  This has been a lifetime pursuit to discover what my face is.  This is my attempt to capture my first impressions when I first see myself in a mirror. 
Every portrait I've done always surprises me in the end.  While drawing yourself is convenient and interesting,  there are few things more narcissistic.  My hope is that in my lack of facial recognition,  there is something universal communicated. 

Life after a rose

After spending some time of focused attention on drawing something it is very hard to destroy it.  While it's not as devastating as destroying a part of yourself to create something,  there is still a sense of loss in destroying the flower that was the inspiration for the drawing in the first place.  In destroying the flower it is able to be transformed into something that can last longer than its original form.  The story of destroying the rose has taught me a lot about the legacy that each of us leaves once we are gone. 
In appreciation of summer and the beauty that surrounds me,  I fee it's necessary to spend a few moments barefoot in the new grass that is growing as fast as it can.  It reminds you of you own frailty and the general fleeting nature of everything in nature.

Pure joy

I think most people at some point have been surprised at the images that randomly appear in the most unexpected places.  Whether it's Wallpaper patterns, clouds, or tree bark our brains are always looking for the familiar.  In spectacular to witness something transform from the paint that is there.  In the moments where thoughts stop and you're able to be present is where I believe all art lives.  In the expression of our souls connectedness to this moment is a wonderful thing that is often overlooked and replaced instead with the future story or past histories.  In these moments of creation,  I feel like a honored spectator witnessing the present moment as it happens and recording my interpretation of it. 

Resting in gray

For as much as I'm told I see life in black and white I'm surprised how much gray this recent work has in it.  It's a completely different approach then any stencil designs where everything is reduced to it's most simplistic shapes and shadows.  While I believe that god interacts with us in the moments in between the extremes of inhaling and exhaling, humans try to navigate through somehow the muddled existence of gray.  Here is a moment napping in the gray area. 

Spontaneous decisions

The world is incredible when you don't know what to expect.  While carrots are a regular part of my life, I'd never taken the time before to draw them before.  They are now consumed and gone.  It's amazing how the briefest connections between 2 things can be so important and so easily overlooked.  In this state of openness is where the whales live and the birds converse in DISNEY land.  Everything is already spoken in a brush stoke or the life of a carrots and that is why it's so incredible to witness the birth of these creations.  By following where the paint chooses to go,  I get to witness amazingly entertaining things. 

Sections.

Today I was able to touch and contribute to a good majority of my work.  It feels great to feel life being represented and expressed through my hands.  This is the feeling of joy.  Creating and creation are incredible things to be apart of.

Creating Frustration

It's difficult to have something that so closely represents you that is not accepted by others.  I  keep reminding myself that this too shall pass.  Even if in expressing myself causes friction, this struggle even if not beneficial to me plays a purpose in something larger. 

Entertaining uncertainty

There is a great amount of amazement and excitement as I watch these pieces progress.  It takes me completely by surprise the way in which they progress.  It is the simplest things that are so routine and always overlooked that are the most wonderful.  There are few things better than taking a nap with your dog.   By listening to the vibrations from the blood pumping through the content heart of a dog you feel your own life pulsing through you and the purpose that is driving you forward and dictating not only the movements of the pen or brush but everything.  It is comforting to rest in this knowledge. 

Oil conversations with myself

Speaking for or attempting to explain the language of art I feel is an injustice to it's ability to speak for itself.  While sometimes I use the canvases to speak into,  mostly I feel like it is a dialogue between the two of us. 

Progress of summer

I came across a baby bunny that had recently died.  With the explosion of life right I was asking myself a lot about the meaning of life and death.  Does the shortness of life decrease it's value?  Even if the life is shorter than that of the rest of it's species,  was it still able to accomplish it's purpose.  Maybe in the moments of its death it was fulfilling someone else's life purpose.  Within each line that is put onto paper, I hope that it captures the immediacy of right now.  The duality of everything in life is what makes it so beautiful.  The gross,  the violent,  the obtuse, is what makes available the possibility for beauty

5 hours of lines

There is a lot of comfort in being able to continuously do something uninterrupted.  Having 3 separate pages to move between allows for a great and continuous sense of urgency to be expressed.  Allowing the marks and lines to dictate the pattern and to not have to worry about anything allows the experience to be observed from the perspective of the First Spectator.  It is a spontaneous performance that I get to conduct while I observe.  The experience of allowing something to flow through you gives you a much grander perspective in your relationship with the universe and that there is a specific role or purpose that everyone plays.  Being capable of continuous creative expression is a good test of life's fulfilling purpose.  I witnessed the gathering of nats, mosquitoes, or some kind insects as the sun was setting and the sweet honey/ jasmine smelling tree that began to release it's smells into the world.  I was intrigued by the correlation between the intensifying smells coming from the tree and the gathering clouds of the bugs.  The uncertainty of their movements,  gathering patterns, or the smells lingering beyond tonight from the tree is similar in my excitement in discovering the next unknown paths that will be apart of each journey that is destined for these pieces of paper. 

Incomplete

There is a continuous struggle for finding the end in any of these pieces.  The maze work is comforting in its inherent completeness.  Finding a central point to work out from is simple,  but knowing when the end has arrived is always more challenging.  The essence of anything can so easily be lost when a strong irrelevant message is overplayed on top.  The act of creating anything I feel is like the growth of so many plants.  The culmination of a lifetime of work is expressed in a simple flower or fruit.  Too much or too little of anything and the moment is lost forever.  Walking that delicate line is what I feel like is one's life purpose,  except you never when you are going to bloom,  for how long it will last, or even what the blooming process will look like. 

Moments of imperfections

I often feel like my dog works as my spiritual guru.  I continually learn so much from her.  Her ability to be present in this exact moment is extremely touching.  She lives her life without asking for anything and amazingly grateful for everything that she is given.  Her contentment is contagious.  She continually reminds me to focus on the important things in life.