Daily Keemo - Saturday

These Are The Days That Most People Forget

Click

It is Saturday today. A quiet day. One of those days where you stay around the house and everyone is a bit quiet and you watch movies and you grab a snack from the fridge because you're a bit melancholy but not really that hungry and someone is off in another room reading and the sound of someone talking on the phone fills the whole house and you lay ink down on pink and blue paint samples and you swear you can hear the pen tip slide across the paper. These are days that I enjoy. We are all here. We are all here...Enjoy!




www.KeemoGallery.com

Stay Updated! Get the Keemo Newsletter

Daily Keemo 11.25 - Germany

From Germany. With Love.

Click

Recently, I have been working on some "mail art" projects with artists from other countries. These recent mail projects made me remember the "old days" when you actually took time to sit down and write letters and put effort and thought and creativity into postcards and letters. Now it is all just email and texting and IMing and that jazz and while I am huge proponent of all those things, I still like to see real words on real paper written by a real hand. So, with all that in mind, I decided I'm going to try something a little different with this series. This is a postcard. A real hand made postcard that will be sent just like a real postcard with a real message. This one will not come wrapped up with nicely in an envelope but will travel like nature had intended it. Postage stamp, weather and all! So, with that... Enjoy!

www.KeemoGallery.com
Stay Updated! Get the Keemo Newsletter

Daily Keemo 11.24 - Tattoo

Never Judge A Man By The Tattoo On His Neck

Click

I think for this one I am just going to leave the story up to you. This is one of those people that everyone who meets him probably walks away with a slightly different impression. I suppose it should be that way for his portrait as well. With that... Enjoy!

www.KeemoGallery.com
Stay Updated! Get the Keemo Newsletter

Daily Keemo 11.22 - Drinking For The Wrong Reasons

A Vague Story About The Effect Others Can Have On Your Heart

or (I drank a little more and probably for the wrong reasons)


Click

I remember when he left I walked around with a heavy heart for about a year. I am pretty sure that during this time I drank a little more and probably for the wrong reasons. I am pretty sure many of those sleepless nights where because of him leaving. I am pretty sure that I caught myself at times just staring out of window a long way from that moment. However, it wasn't depression, it wasn't sadness, it was simply this strange void inside in the spot where he used to reside. As time passed though, I realized that in a way I was free from him now and lugging my heavy heart around was no real way to exist as a human being. I also realized that all those things he had said had no truth and I could begin living the life that I wanted to live. Who "he" is in this story, is not important. What is important, is I suppose many of us have a "he" in our lives and we just need to see that life is good all around and we all have value and the tricky part is just seeing our own value when we look at the mirror into ourselves and no longer see something in us that really doesnt exist. With that, here is to learning that life opens up when you walk without a heavy heart ... Enjoy!



www.KeemoGallery.com

Stay Updated! Get the Keemo Newsletter

Daily Keemo 11.21 - WWKeemoD

The Bible Has Trouble Proving Something

Click

This is the 13th in the "Book of Facts" series. I was going through a bunch of books that were stored away in boxes. I ran across this old book of facts. It is just page after page of wierd facts. After about 2 pages, I thought, "this is perfect!" On the others in this series, I would highlight two or three facts on the page but for this one, there seemed to be just one fact that was worth pointing out. Fact: "It cannot be proved by the bible that Jesus Christ ever smiled." I'm not sure what to make of it... but you know that is what makes this fact a good one. So, with that...Enjoy!

www.KeemoGallery.com
Stay Updated! Get the Keemo Newsletter

Daily Keemo 11.18 - Loss

Too Sterile For Moments Like These

Click

I was 25 when he died. He died laying there in bed while all of us sat around looking at him. The sound fell out of the air and the air fell out of the room. It seems silly but I knew it was now time to buy my first suit. I remember the light in the room was very white and bright and cold and I thought to myself that it was too sterile in there for a moment like this. I suppose when you have moments like this there are no right ways for them to happen. They happen. And that is how it works. My mother sat on the bed next to him. All five of us kids were scattered around the room. I remember my sister had her arm around me. We sat quietly and all looked at him for a long time. I learned a lot about him in those quiet moments right then.

www.KeemoGallery.com
Stay Updated! Get the Keemo Newsletter

Daily Keemo 11.17 - Pretty In Pink

Isn't She?
Click

Those of you who follow my work, know that I occassionally (well a little more than occassionally) get emails from people who suggest subject matter for a painting. I try do do my best to accommodate. It is a good way to not get in a rut of doing the same thing over and over. That leads to this email that read, "What about doing an all pink painting?" (for some reason, I always think of the Psychedelic Furs song when I think of Pink. Who hasn't sung along with that song at one time or another?) Anyway, here is to all of you who keep sending me great ideas. As long as you keep sending, I will keep painting them. With that ... Enjoy!

www.KeemoGallery.com
Stay Updated! Get the Keemo Newsletter

Daily Keemo 11.15 - Mail Art

I Can See Lots Of Reasons To Start Praying
Click

Recently, I have been working on some "mail art" projects with artists from other countries. These recent mail projects made me remember the "old days" when you actually took time to sit down and write letters and put effort and thought and creativity into postcards and letters. Now it is all just email and texting and IMing and that jazz and while I am huge proponent of all those things, I still like to see real words on real paper written by a real hand. So, with all that in mind, I decided I'm going to try something a little different with this one. This is actually a postcard. A real hand made postcard that will be sent just like a real postcard with a real message. This one will not come wrapped up with nicely in an envelope but will travel like nature had intended it. Postage stamp, weather and all! So, with that... Enjoy!


www.KeemoGallery.com

Stay Updated! Get the Keemo Newsletter

Daily Keemo 11.13 - The Economy

10 More Reminders That Creativity Is Not Linked To The Economy
Click

This is the second set in this series. The first set was with penny rolls but I figured that since things to appear to only be getting worse I thought I would up the ante a bit and move on to nickles. Thats right. Nickles. The way things are going, it sounds like it is going to be necessary to move up to the dimes. Don't even get me going on the quarters. Well, with that... Enjoy!

www.KeemoGallery.com
Stay Updated! Get the Keemo Newsletter

Daily Keemo 11.12 - Sore Head

Moments Are Strung Together With Other Moments
Click

I often think that life is made up of small moments that exist independently from the moment before or after them. My paintings are always about these brief moments. However, all of us know that this is really not the truth. Moments are really strung together with other moments almost like christmas tree lights. Let me try to explain using my life last night. It is important to understand that there was a number of things that had to get done last night. (I'll save explaining why) Anyway, there was lot that needed to get done. So, in my typical fashion I started working on something that wasn't on the "need to get done" list and started on the "want to get done" list. So, I started with replacing the clutch lever on my motorcycle. It was getting cold out in the garage, so I was hurrying. It wasn't working out like I had planned. The thing stalls when I kick into first gear. Ugh.. So, that ends up taking longer than I had planned and now I am behind on getting the other stuff done. So, I hurriedly, go about other things on the list. Then I reach the item on the list that reads "pick up bed from moms house". So, my daughter volunteers to drive and I'm still hurrying around. She goes and starts the truck. Its dark and cold and rainy now. So, I see that the garage door is still open. So, I hit the garage door and it starts to close. Just then I think. "I should probably bring some tools to take the bed apart. So, I hit the garage door button again, stopping the door just about face level. I duck under the half open garage door and rush into the garage gathering up my tools that were all spread around from working on my motorcycle earlier. (Did I mention it is cold and rainy and I am hurrying?) So, I gather up the tools I need, turn and make a beeline out of the garage, looking down at the tools in my hand and completely forgetting that the garage door is not open all the way. With a fast paced walk, I walked directly into the lowhanging garage door with it catching me right across the eyebrows and forehead. It literally knocked me right to the ground. I got up still in a hurry and went to the truck only to see my daughter laughing hysterically (I mean hysterically) because she thougth I was joking around. We proceeded to get the bed and now my forehead has some nice scratches directly between my eyes. As I was riding along in the truck, feeling the ache in my skull and feeling a little dizzy, I couldnt help to think how all the moments prior to hitting my head, were actually leading me directly to that moment. So, with that very, very long story, here is a portait of the scratches on my forehead and a portrait of life when you try to fit more into a day than you have time to do so... Enjoy!

(Sidenote: My daughter told me later that I was laying on the ground for about one minute. I thought it was 5 seconds. Yikes!)

www.KeemoGallery.com
Stay Updated! Get the Keemo Newsletter

Daily Keemo 11.11

The Songs Ended And Started And Ended And Started
Click

I am tired. It was one of those long days. My eyes are a bit dark and a bit swollen and I am feeling like I just want to go to sleep. I got home late. The house is already quiet. I grabbed a Leinenkugel out of the fridge, opened it, and took a swig. I walked up to the desk and looked at the half finished paintings spread out and turned to my right and put some music on. (The Postal Service if you are wondering) It was perfect. I grabbed a new sheet of paper and worked on this painting. The Leinenkugel went down well and the songs ended and started and ended and started and the work for today is finally complete. It's time to turn off the lights and go upstairs... Enjoy!


www.KeemoGallery.com

Stay Updated! Get the Keemo Newsletter

Daily Keemo 11.10 - Ninja

Election Day Ninja
Click

I was standing in line at the polls this morning daydreaming and I was thinking about what I was going to paint tonight. The two people who were in front of me in line were perfect portrait candiates but that will have to wait until later. Then the person behind me commented on my ninja button I was wearing. (The first Keemo Ninja button Series 1 - Button #1. Sorry had to keep that one for myself.) So, we started talking about painting and art and she said I should do an election day painting. So, I have been thinking about it on and off all day and decided it was best to do an Election Day Ninja.(Im not one for painting flags, candidates, start and stripes, bald eagles all that jazz. It not that Im not necessarily patriotic. Im just not one to paint it). Now, while the Ninja doesnt show its colors while lurking around in the dark unnoticed you can bet that underneath that black outfit are his true colors reflecting in the stainless steel of his throwing stars... I have a feeling that tonight he will celebrate... With that... Enjoy!

www.KeemoGallery.com
Stay Updated! Get the Keemo Newsletter

Daily Keemo 11.06 - Friends

Chase Our Painting And Writing With Drink And More Drink

Click

I remember when we were back in school and we were close friends. His mom had just died from cancer that year and his dad was deep, deep, deep into the drink. He was raising himself at that point. It didn't help matters that I didnt have much supervision either. We leaned on each other that is for sure. A painting could be made about every night from those years and every morning was cloudy and hazy and there were blocks of time missing and we would start it all over again and we would chase our painting and writing with drink and more drink and other stuff that puts people in jail and with no supervision it was a life that was equal parts Bukowski and Henry Miller and I'm not sure how we made out on the other side in one peice. Well, maybe not in one piece but we made out and here is to him and for still being there even though there are miles and years between us and those days... Enjoy!

www.KeemoGallery.com
Stay Updated! Get the Keemo Newsletter

Daily Keemo 11.05 - Music To My Ears

Its Ok To Let The Notes Fall Off The Strings Like Leaves
Click

This is the third in the guitar chord series. I remember when I learned this chord (and all the other chords that require that you lay your finger across all the strings). I could barely do it. I would strum the chord and it sounded horrible. Those first few days I would strum and get to that last string and it would twang or thud or something. I must have been 14 or so and I think that at the age I was still driven by the idea I was going to be a rock star. The more I learned about the guitar and being in a band and gigs and MTV the less I believed my own illusion with myself as a musician. I was probably 17 or so. (I just don't have that "inner rockstar". It's not who I am) I am pretty sure that every kid who picks up a guitar at that age probably goes through the same progression. With that said, that was the best thing that I could have learned and I think about that often when I pick up the guitar and play it simple and easy with no big ideas and no big dreams and the notes fall off the strings like leaves and it just seem like the way music should be made. I'll leave the other stuff to the real rockstars. With that...Enjoy!

www.KeemoGallery.com
Stay Updated! Get the Keemo Newsletter

Daily Keemo 11.03 - Hope

At The Intersection of Money and Hope Series - #1 - 1948
Click

This is the first painting in a new series called "At The Intersection of Money and Hope". This particular painting is on 100 shares of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company that was purchased in 1948. (Yes, this is are real shares) Lets take a quick look at what happened with the PRR:

The Pennsylvania Railroad was an American railroad, founded in 1846. Commonly referred to as the "Pennsy," the PRR was headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The PRR was the largest railroad by traffic and revenue in the U.S. throughout the Twentieth Century and was at one time the largest publicly traded corporation in the world. At its peak, it controlled about 10,000 miles (16,000 km) of rail line. During its history, the PRR merged with or had an interest in at least 800 other rail lines and companies. The PRR corporation still holds the record for the longest continuous dividend history: it paid out annual dividends to shareholders for more than 100 years in a row. The budget for the PRR was larger than that of the U.S. government and they employed approximately 250,000 workers. In 1968, the Pennsylvania Railroad merged with its rival, the New York Central Railroad, to form Penn Central Transportation. The ICC required that the ailing New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad be added in 1969. A series of events including inflation, poor management, abnormally harsh weather and the withdrawal of a government-guaranteed 200-million-dollar operating loan forced the Penn Central to file for bankruptcy protection on June 21, 1970. The Penn Central rail lines were then divided between Conrail and Amtrak.

Normally, I would put my own comment or story on these peices but I think this story speaks for itself and probably speaks to all us to some degree.... Enjoy!

www.KeemoGallery.com
Stay Updated! Get the Keemo Newsletter