diving in

It was a wonderful vacation week at the beach… no rain, not too hot, good food, lots of family, and I played my one round of golf for the year without getting hurt.  I particularly enjoyed staying away from Facebook.  As an addictive sort of personality, I tend to check in with FB much more than would seem rational, and I consider myself quite rational.  The absence from FB created much more fulfillment in the reality that surrounded me, and I am quite sure that I didn’t miss anything of great value on FB.  Now, as I get back to business here in Nashville, I will attempt to maintain a healthy distance from the undertow of FB, as to not get sucked back into the deep.

At the end of the vacation, as I began to look towards the next half of the year, I projected a plan to successfully complete the project that I am working on for my show at the Parthenon next January.  It is an ambitious schedule, and the Work will undoubtedly challenge me in the most professional and fulfilling ways… in other words, it will likely kick my ass at least once a week.  Today, was one of those days, but I kicked back.  As I haven’t painted on the figurative paintings in about two weeks, the task at hand today was diving head first back into those paintings.  Gilbert Hunter (the second of the figures), has been on the back burner for a while, resting easy in that place of “looks pretty good,” but I can’t allow him to remain there, according to my schedule and principles.  So, we spent the day together, pushing each other around, and now, he is further along than “looks pretty good”… and I am feeling better about this part of the painting process.  I have decided that the next figurative pieces will display a new variation on my “style,” and this notion both energizes and frightens me.  It will be unchartered territory of sorts, with failure monsters around each corner, but I believe that it will add a necessary dynamic to this series, and, I could surely use a bit of adventure.  Thanks for stopping by the blog.