100 Posts.

This is my 100th post. Incredible.
Over the two years or so that I've maintained this blog, I've had a lot of incredible experiences. Part of that is due to my age... I know I'm at the age when most experiences are big or incredible or life changing. Recently I've had some that were particularly moving, and would be for anyone at any age. It's gotten me thinking a lot about the way I approach life, the way I make decisions about when, where and what I do, and how I do things. Reading through this blog, some of my earlier posts simply reinforce the conclusions, nee revelations, I've come to.

In honor of this 100th post, representing a lot of where I have been the last 2 years, I want to share something I've been working on that I hope will guide the next 100 posts :)

my bucket list. I hate this term (it has become a cliche) but for the sake of clarity, that is what it is. It is by no means complete, but I don't think it ever should be!
In no particular order:
#visit the great wall of china
#pray or meditate with Buddhist monks in Tibet
#See (and climb?) Mt Kilimanjaro
#touch my toes in every ocean
#visit every continent
#see the Aurora Borealis in the Yukon Territory
#stand on two continents at once (in Turkey!)
#Drive across the United States
#Have my art displayed in a real art gallery
#speak fluent french
#sleep under the stars, in a place where you can see all the stars
#have citizenship in another country
#see the sunrise from Mt Fuji
#buy tulips in Amsterdam
#grow a pumpkin patch
#jump out of a plane with B
#see Machu Pichu
#raise a pup
#give birth
#fall stupidly in love with someone who is stupidly in love with me
#see Denali and Denali National Park
#attend SF Pride
#eat real italian food in Italy
#drive the entire 101/Pacific Coast Highway
#see icebergs in Iceberg Alley in Newfoundland
#see the Laughing Buddha in Feilai Feng, at the Linyin Temple in Hangzhou, China
#see the terracotta warriors
#party at Oktoberfest in Munich
#fly first class
#go to Israel
#attend a gay wedding in Spain
#go to Cannes Film Festival
#go to Sundance Film Festival
#Visit Fiji
#visit the Taj Mahal
#get music recommendations from Tegan Quin
#talk with Rachel Maddow about political philosophy
#visit the grand canyon
#go horseback riding in Ireland
#go horseback riding in New Zealand
#see Brahminy Kites on the beach in Langkawi in Malaysia
#tour the Kimberly region of Australia
#visit Reykjavik
#see the Full Moon at Koh Phangan in Thailand with A
#visit the Louvre


I've already bought my tickets across the Mississippi. I'll be on the western half of the continent/country in 15 days. My big adventure is just (finally) beginning.

Thanks for reading. I hope you continue.

A Love-Type Thing

"You know what they say about art: If you hold it too close it's pornography, and if you hold it too far away it's criticism."


this is exactly how i feel about my paintings, and how i'm sure many other artists - painters, musicians, sculptors, etc. feel about their work. each piece is a horcrux .thanks jk rowling, for that perfect word - for you non-harrypotter fans: if you want to live forever you cast small pieces of your soul, an obviously nontangible object into worldly items. a shoe, a book, whatever. once you cast that piece of your soul into a worldly item, you can never fully get it back. that worldly item is a horcrux, in harry potter lore. anyway, i digress.
for me, each painting contains a part of me - it is the result of my emotions and my passions, and are so much a part of me that if you hang a vertical painting horizontally it makes me want to vomit.
so the concept of pornography as a metaphor to be used in terms of misinterpreting art seems quite appropriate and accurate in an almost revolutionary way for me. I mean, yes there are pieces of art portraying the human body that could be consider genuine pornography I guess. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the concept of pornography as a depiction and perspective that is so raw, vulnerable, and exposed that it incurs feelings of everything from disgust, discomfort, and even sheer terror to feelings of lust and love and obsession, out of those who view it.
when you look at a piece of art too closely, you invade the space of the piece. you have trespassed on the soul of the artist and as such you deserve whatever awkward, uncomfortable, sickening, or even heartwrenching and emotionally draining feeling you are overcome with.

when you look at a piece of art from too far away, you are not close enough to see it in it's truest form, in its reality, and therefore can be nothing other than critical and judgmental of the piece.
think about it.

for me, my artwork is part of me. i couldn't make it more a part of me if i cut the synapses out of my brain and pasted them on the wall for you to look at instead.

the next time you hear a musician say "i wrote this song, but i hate it. i can't listen to it because it means nothing to me." think about your reaction, and your perspective.
the next time you look at a painting (like Jake Berthot's Egypt) don't take it at face value. stop looking and start seeing.

there's more to art than meets the eye. there's more to people than meets the eye. there's more to life than meets the eye. maybe we shouldn't rely on our eyes so much :)





i've got a massive blog project that should be dropping soon. DO keep your eyes open for that.