I’m learning the fruit of my creative effort often ripens instantly. I’ll sit down and get thousands of words, but then a week later, working with the same discipline, will have nothing. But my job is not to make the words come. Who am I to make the words come?My job is no different than a farmer. I till the land. I fertilize the soil. I plant the seeds. Unlike the farmer, though, I am surprised when the green shoots sprout in the spring. I think perhaps it is magic, and it will never happen for me again. But the farmer knows if he tills the land, and is blessed enough to get rain, the harvest will come.
15Feb, 2011
Ever wonder why the manmade world is getting uglier? They are going to build a bridge in my neighborhood to span the Wilamette. There are proposed pictures floating around on flyers and we are to log on to such and such a website and voice our opinions. They are all bad, in my opinion. They are all very functional and they will work well to flow traffic. But none of them are attractive. The ancient cathedrals, indeed, the ancient bridges and government buildings, the ancient piazza’s were extensions of the city, were the clothes the city wore on a day designed to impress. These monuments were also extensions of their creators. Michelangelo and Da Vinci were sought after to create buildings and bridges both. A great creator does not see his work as something apart from himself. What the creator makes is a statement about the creator, and a manifestation of their sensibilities, which is one with their experiences. Our modern buildings, our strip malls and stripped down buildings say of our culture we are one with efficiency, with selling goods and services. Was God being efficient when he created a woman, or was He being extravagant? Is a cloud [...]
14Feb, 2011
Today is ST. Valentines Day, so if you haven’t sent a loving sentiment to your mate, you can thank me for the reminder. The holiday was first created to honor Christian Martyrs, and you can thank the Catholic church for that. It’s unknown which of the St. Valentines it is intended to honor, as there are many and the holiday dates back to 500AD. The honor was removed by the Catholic church some time later, though it was still celebrated unofficially after. Valentines day, however, was not a romantic holiday. It had nothing to do with love or lovers or intimacy or any of that until a poet borrowed the holiday and made up a little line to honor King Richard II on his first anniversary with Anne of Bohemia. It was Chaucer who said it: For this was seynt Volantnys day Whan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make. (For this was Saint Valentine’s Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate.) It is doubtful birds go anywhere to choose their mates on February 14th, but greeting card companies owe Geoffrey Chaucer a debt of gratitude for giving us a notion as to where and why [...]
13Feb, 2011
I started listening to Bob Schneider about ten years ago. I saw him in concert with about 20k other people in Austin, then caught him later that year here in portland with about 20 people, and only a handful knew his music. He’s certainly bigger than Austin, but I can’t think of very many artists who are that big, and yet that regional. Regardless, he put out a new record last year and this song was on it. It’s a good one. Most of them are. A bit of a love song for Valentines day. I hope you feel loved today. Enjoy Bob Schneider:
11Feb, 2011
I’ve probably led you astray in the last month with all my talk about working. The act of creating is more than work. There is also the process of creating art, which is mysterious. Anybody who says that there is no mystery in creating art is no artist. This can be proven when you ask to see their art and they can’t show you anything. A creator must learn to work and must learn a work ethic. If she does not show up at her desk, at her canvass, at her block of marble every day, she will never succeed as an artist. And this is what I mean by work and work ethic. But if she uses the same steel determination to then create her art, she will fail. the violinist Stephen Nachmanovitch says that to create you must disappear and I agree with him. What he means by this is the force must stop and the play must begin. When we play we disappear, we are not really aware of ourselves, we are not thinking too much about our existence or our problems. If you have a bowl of water, filled to the brim, and walk it across [...]
