Weekly Photo Challenge: Windows
Windows at Highwire Gallery – Island, Water, Bridge exhibit 1993….
What illumination, the light shinning through; creating the perfect ambience for the found art installation.
The windows at highwire gallery - the second street art building
Weekly Movie-Making Moments In Film: Napoleon Dynamite
Napoleon Dynamite
Nerds of the World Unite….
What a great film and one of the best original comedies to come along in quite some time. I’ve always loved films about high school angst, going back to those great John Hughes films of the 80’s. Not everyone can relate to a film like Napoleon Dynamite; many have found its charm to be wanting and distasteful. However, I can identify with its peculiar awkwardness, that I too shared with others in high school. And just like Napoleon, art was often my escape. It can be said that Napoleon’s nerdy demeanor is always just a moment away from giving you the side-splitting laugh you always dreamed of 🙂 – Walter Smith
http://youtu.be/H2Kh7umdOrk – Napoleon Dynamite Trailer
http://youtu.be/kr7djGY1fhA – Napoleon Dynamite Dance Scene
Synopsis: The directorial debut of filmmaker Jared Hess, who also co-wrote the screenplay, Napoleon Dynamite is a quirky, offbeat comedy set in the small Idaho town of Preston. Jon Heder stars in the titular role, a carrot-topped oddball with a decidedly eccentric family that includes his llama-loving, dune-buggy enthusiast grandmother. The story centers on the local high school’s race for class president. Using some nontraditional means, Napoleon is determined to help his pal Pedro (Efrem Ramirez) run a winning campaign and defeat popular girl Summer (Haylie Duff). Also starring The Drew Carey Show’s Diedrich Bader, Napoleon Dynamite premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival. …
Dancing to the song Forever Young
The Promise – Lyrics to the song, The Promise by When In Rome. The ending theme to Napoleon Dynamite. Enjoy the musical flashback to the 80’s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMZL9pd4Q8M
The Silence in Transformation
Towards the transformation that your Mind can see….
The act or process of transforming somebody or something.
Transformation 01
Transformation 02
One powerful way to evoke compassion, and to transform is to think of others as exactly the same as you.
“All human beings are the same—made of human flesh, bones, and blood. We all want happiness and want to avoid suffering. Further, we have an equal right to be happy. In other words, it is important to realize our sameness as human beings.” – Dalai Lama
Transformation 03
Transformation 04
when the View is constant
the flow of Rigpa unfailing
and the merging of the two luminosities continuous and spontaneous
all possible delusion is liberated at its very root
and your entire perception arises, without a break, as Rigpa – Sogyal Rinpoche
Transformation 05
Transformation 06
Do not make the mistake of imagining that the nature of mind is exclusive only to our minds. It is in fact the nature of everything. It can never be said too often that to realize the nature of mind is to realize the nature of all things. – Sogyal Rinpoche
Transformation 07
Transformation 08
Moving through the transformation that the Heart can feel….
Transformation 09: Heart
Finding My Way Back Home
Finding My Way Back Home….
the road I know
has left me behind
so I go
through the rain
that pours like shadows
driving to find my way back home
Gotta find my way back home
The New Colonialism
Searching for the freedom beyond the new colonialism….
The New Colonialism
There is the old colonialism and the new. In years past Empires were made by invading “primitive” third world or developing countries. In a brutal process of conquest, nations achieved their goals of domination via enslavement, government control and wars.
Today colonialism still exist, however it can be argued that it takes on another form—insidious in nature but with the same result i.e. the raping and pillaging of a countries wealth and resources while eliminating its ability to be self-sufficient.
Today’s colonialism is financial in nature and is developed as a means to rule the wealth of others. In the past 30 years here in America we have seen the shift from a manufacturing based economy to a financial one. The deregulation, the explosion of the commodities markets, and the Wall Street mentality of greed have all played a part in a global construct to create a new society of those who have and those who have not. The 1% and 99ers are what we are left with.
In the old form of colonialism it was understood that control came by the means of dominating the wealth, trade, language and freedom of the people. This principal in general has not changed, but today the emphasis is on domination through the control of wealth—through a corrupt identity we have come to know as Capitalism. This type of capitalism is based on a false economy; a paper economy.
True capitalism is when the people of different nations, societies, communities understand the importance of fair trade; where respect, common interest and gain are the goals. We see it everywhere, for example in America and developing countries with our community gardens and farmer markets; where the language and freedom of trade is a positive end shared by all.
The protests we see here in America and around the globe is a testimony to the people’s vision of a true form of capitalism. It is a struggle against economic tyranny of the most devastating kind.
What do you think? Is the path to solidarity in recognizing our common need? Can we, who are the true majority, find our common goal and live on this planet with harmony and love; and for that matter unselfishly?
How Do You Negotiate Your Time Between the Things You Love
Searching for that time, seeing it just beyond the window….
Finding the time for things we love
Do you ever feel like time is slipping by, and the things you love are being left behind? And do you find you must choose between one thing and the other because of the lack of time?
Well over the past year I have found that I must negotiate my time wisely if I am to achieve some of my goals as an artist and pursue my love of outdoor adventure. During this fall period when the weather is so nice, I long for those exciting treks up and around the mountains of South and North Carolina. Yes, the mountains are calling, but then too is the late nights in my studio—in front of my computer, creating art, developing ideas, and writing.
What is one to do? My work schedule provides me with very little time for my personal activities. If I stay up late until 3 or 4 a.m., I do not have the energy for early rising and working out. The choices we make because of limited time, energy, and work schedules all play an important part in how we approach the things we love. A solution that I have found is to break up these different interests into separate yearly periods. With one activity being the most dominate. The past year my personal emphasis has been on my art, website and art blog with a minor contribution to outdoor activities. Instead of the daily schedule of work-outs (that I was consistent with 2 years ago), I opted for the big one day adventures such as all day biking, caving, zip-lining, and long hikes. As I approach 2012 and the New Year, I hope to perhaps find a strong 50/50 mix that includes gym workouts, outdoor adventures such as rock climbing, kayaking and perhaps even sky diving, while simultaneously furthering my artistic endeavors.
Do you find it difficult to juggle the things you love? How do you negotiate your time? Have your thought about 2012 and how to get the most out the New Year?
What do you think?
After the Inward Journey – Discovery
The human mind cannot create anything. It produces nothing until after having been fertilized by experience and meditation; its acquisitions are the gems of its production. – George-Louis Leclerc de Buffon
Creation is such an elusive thing, for the more we think we are in control, the more we remove ourselves from the actual creation. –Betty Jean Billups
After the inward journey there is a world of discovery
Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way. – Edward de Bono
There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns. – Edward de Bono
Seeing Inward
There is no one definitive creative path. There are many ways to be creative – not only intuitive ways but organized, logical ways, too. – Theresa Bayer
Seeing inward - the path to creativity
I change many things, discard others, and try again and again until I am satisfied. Then, in my head, I begin to elaborate the work in its breadth, its narrowness, its height, its depth… I hear and see the image in front of me from every angle, as if it had been cast, and only the labour of writing it down remains. – Ludwig van Beethoven
Observing Art for the Near Future
The creative process is a cocktail of instinct, skill, culture and a highly creative feverishness. It is not like a drug; it is a particular state when everything happens very quickly, a mixture of consciousness and unconsciousness, of fear and pleasure; it’s a little like making love, the physical act of love. – Francis Bacon
Keeping the spirit of creativity alive, finding color everywhere
Creativity is a lifestyle, and ideas are the product and lifeblood of that lifestyle. – Miles G. Batt
Portrait of a Friend
memories of a friend
holds my life in place…
A friend for life and in the afterlife
Yet Another Change … A New Look 02
After some thought, and a critique from a fellow artist, who I respect highly, I came to the conclusion that I would move the look of my art blog, via the background design, to its most simplistic. Therefore, more attention is given to the writing and imagery without the possible background distraction. I seem to always like a lot of things happening in my art and its presentation, and have to at times remind myself to find the ambient space that allows for more contemplation.
Below is the art I selected for this change. The piece is from my Silence Series, and is entitled Silence 04.
Silence 04
A Thought About Meditation from Domo Geshe Rinpoche
meditation for love
Weekly Photo Challenge: Opportunity 03
Over the years, I have been awarded several artist’s fellowships for interdisciplinary pursuits. In 2004, I was awarded my second artist residency. It was with the South Carolina State Parks’ artist residency program. It was an opportunity that I truly looked forward to participating in. I was commissioned to showcase the lovely character of Barnwell State Park, located in the midlands of SC, in exchange for a week’s stay in one of their cabins. Barnwell is a natural resource park, quiet and remote, while featuring a beautiful lake for fishing and canoeing. The solitude of the landscape was fantastic and it provided great inspiration for the project.
In the photo I am standing with one of two images I completed for the project. The finished work is included in the South Carolina State Park Artist Collection.
Barnwell State Park, South Carolina
Weekly Photo Challenge: Opportunity 02
I took this photo during a 1993 lecture and art exhibit of my latest work at Atlantic Community College in Mays Landing, NJ. The lecture was a demonstration of various digital processing elements for the creation of digital art and video art. It was a great opportunity to talk with the students and introduce them to digital art. In 1993 digital art was just beginning to grow as a valid artist medium to many, and I was happy to share my knowledge, take questions, and inspire these would-be artists.
In the photo a Commodore Amiga 1000 computer, Super Gen video mixer, and a Panasonic camera for scanning photographs. Yes, times have changed, and now artists have access to more sophisticated hardware and software.
Artist lecture at Atlantic Community College 1993
Weekly Photo Challenge: Opportunity
This photo goes back to 1990 and the Highwire Gallery’s visit to Deventer, Holland. It was part of an exchange with the artist group of Deventer. We were exhibiting new work in their gallery and staying the summer. While cruising through the small, quaint, artist town, I happened to come across a small shop that had a poster of our exhibit in the window. The poster is just to the left of the woman standing in the doorway. Throughout the town, residents and shop owners, displayed posters announcing the upcoming exhibit. Going to the Netherlands via this exchange of artists and ideas, was a fantastic opportunity, and one I will never forget.
The poster in the window, Deventer Holland
Urban Contemplation 07: On Either Side of that Door It’s the Same
The city series….
Towards the open door….
caught in between
feeling things folding inward
there i stand
seeing things unknown
a future with no past
a past with no ending…
caught in between
magic and lost
a guiding light
a promised home
and there i stand…
with my intangible destiny
at the crossroad of life
before…
the uncertain door….
Featured video for this post … the artist “A Dancing Beggar” and the song “Returning” from the CD “Follow the Dark as if it Were Light”.
On either side of that door it's the same
The ambiguities of life are like the opening of a door. We never know for sure what we will discover on the other side.
But one thing is certain… on either side of that door it’s the same…there’s memory and hope.
What are your thoughts? When you arrive at that “uncertain door” what is your reaction? What is your hope?
Urban Contemplation: 06 – Dreams that Never Breach the Walls of Sleep
The city series….
Dreams that never breach the walls of sleep….
Urban decay a place of broken dreams
The dreams that search for the freedom from sleep….
Weekly Photo Challenge: Possibility 01
This is a very interesting challenge. The idea of conveying a possibility of something ultimately means it must change in one way or another. To find a representation of this theme, in a visual sense—is a challenge within itself, and presents many “possibilities” as well. As a visual artist, my first instinct is to explore how either my process as an artist creates various possibilities or how a “finished” piece often comes with many choices as to which one will be the final piece.
First up, the possibilities found in “A Work In Progress”.
When producing a “work in progress”, the objective is to explore various effects and allow the intuitive process to govern my decision-making. Within the parameters of this intuitive process is form, color, design and progression. In the slideshow below are only a few samples of the various “possibilities.”
Stop by my previous post: “It Only Takes a Moment to See the Things You Left Behind” to see the final result of this work in progress.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Possibility 02
The Weekly Photo Challenge: Possibility is again, a fascinating question from an artist’s point of view. In my previous post I reflected on the various possibilities innate to the “work in progress” as the image moves towards a final piece. In this post I am examining the different choices or possibilities one has to consider when deciding which piece conveys as an end result, the best concept and design.
To Illustrate this I have chosen a post created earlier in the year entitled: “The Narrow Way: Choosing a Path”.
Below are four examples of the final piece. Each image explores a different visual sensibility. In coming to a conclusion of which image I would use for the post, I took in consideration the design, what part of the image I wanted to emphasize, and what image intuitively drew me to it.
To find out what image became the final piece for the post, click on the link below and enjoy “The Narrow Way: Choosing a Path”.
The narrow way: choosing a path
The narrow way: choosing a path
The narrow way: choosing a path
The narrow way: choosing a path
What do you think? What image resonates best with you? How do you finalize the possibility found in a diverse choice?
It Only Takes a Moment to See the Things You Left Behind
Leave things to find happiness….
“Whatever you are feeling, leave it with the senses. Move from the senses to the mind. Then leave the mind. Go backward, not forward, go inward, not outward”. – Swami Parmanandji Maharaj
Leave the world with awareness
It Only Takes a Moment to Leave this Place
Contemplating the very thing that exist outside the corner of my eye….
There is no need to become free, for we are free already
It Only Takes a Moment to Find the Center
It only takes a moment to know that you always Exist….
Find the center of Awareness….
"Seeing nothing" is also an experience in which we can know we are present
It Only Takes a Moment
It only takes a moment to go beyond the noise…
Your experiences happen in you ... not in the world
Weekly Photo Challenge: Sunset 02
A creative moment on a bench during a slow sunset over time. It is a beautiful evening at Lake Greenwood in South Carolina. The shadows are long as the sun sets through the trees.
Sun setting at Lake Greenwood, SC
n e w d i g i t a l s c a p e s 