Miles Davis had it right: “Sometimes it takes a long time to learn how to play like yourself.” And with that, I’m right back in the jazz world. But Miles Davis knew whereof he spoke. And it applies to any creative work. Even to the woodcarvers who put their talent to work carving pumpkins for Halloween. I’m back but I’ve learned some things in the … Continue reading Learning to Play Like Myself
I’m ready to get back to work. I’ve been experimenting with my old collage materials on the small pieces of illustration board and trying some new tricks. But combining large areas of paint with the collage materials is a whole new adventure for me and results have been mixed. No, wrong. They’ve been bad. That’s why we experiment. Smaller works are not what I generally paint, so … Continue reading Floating on the Tide
Today, serendipity and a sidestep from jazz. Serendipity was finding a wonderful image of this lily, a cobra lily, and recognizing that I wanted to use it right away. This is how art happens. Consider the Lilies is a one-off. I am not planning a series about flowers. But it was the right thing at the right moment and tells the right story, so who … Continue reading Considering the Lilies
And so it begins. Plato is rumored to have said (who knows who really said what back in the day?) that “The beginning is the most important part of the work.” Whether he said this or not, I have long believed it. It’s the first stroke on the canvas, the first words in a piece of writing, the first notes of a new composition, the … Continue reading Plato Had It Right
Today was the day. The studio and the pop up Colors of Jazz gallery in the window on the street level of the building are history. I had a melancholy moment turning in the keys. But this is not the first time I’ve closed one door and opened another. My painting life is temporarily on hold, though not history. And my life as an … Continue reading Opening a New Window
Art and Tulips 