Daily Keemo. 3.31. Some Simple Slight Of Hand.

Some Simple Slight Of Hand
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With the line of: "NOW... for the FIRST TIME... as if by MAGIC!" you would think that you are really in for something great. With the number of illustrations, photos and the amount of text, this product must be unbelievable. Then as you start to get the big picture you see that what you are really in for is not magic at all but some simple slight of hand. (I might not even go that far. Maybe magic in 1957 was a little different than it is now) All you really end up getting is some paper with a hole cut out with hairdos on them. You hold them up to your face and you can have a hairstyle by Flavio. ("the hair stylist to the stars"). It also seems odd to me that this is the "first time" that this product was available. Wow. 1957. The year that brought you the first frisbee, Ginsberg's Howl printed in England, Lennon and McCartney first meet, the Little Rock Nine, Machinac Bridge opens, the first Boeing 707 flies and last but not least, Card Board cutouts that have hairdos on them that you can hold up to your face and see what you would look like with that hairdo... as if by MAGIC!... Enjoy!

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Daily Keemo. 3.27. If We All Saw With Young Eyes We Might Not Be So Old.

If We All Saw With Young Eyes We Might Not Be So Old #3
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I was recently commissioned to do a small series of "animal like" paintings / drawings for someone. (Hi R.!) They were going to go in the kids room with the toys and games and clothes and dirty socks and books and all the other good stuff that you find in a kids room. I never ever imagined that a Keemo would be in admist all that stuff. I have to tell you that I am very honered to be there. So anyway, I really enjoyed doing them so I thought I would do another just for kicks. I know this probably doesn't look like any bird that you or I have seen but if the kids can imagine what it is then it is just fine by me...Enjoy!

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Daily Keemo. 3.29. I Suppose I Could Enjoy That, If I Was Poor.

"I Suppose I Could Enjoy That, If I Was Poor"(and other things to say to further distance yourself from reality)
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I found myself sitting in the waiting room at the dentist today for an hour and half. I will skip all the stuff about why I was there because it really isn't important to the story. While waiting for so long I skimmed through magazine after magazine partially reading headlines and skimming through articles until I came across an article about the changes that the art world is going through now that people are spending less money on artwork. The article focused on the "serious" artworld in New York and Los Angeles and dropped names of famous living artists and talked about how just like other areas of investment, the artworld has been a little over inflated as well. One art patron was quoted as saying the following after viewing a painting priced at $150,000. "I suppose I could enjoy that, if I was poor." Anyway, I am getting a little off track here. All the artwork that they were showing and talking about where these over sized "important" pieces of art. It all made me a bit ill to be honest. I enjoy art. Art of all kinds. However, the idea of "importance" throws me a bit. As I sat there, I thought back the stack of small paintings back on my desk and the thousands of paintings sent out to mailboxes around the world and I couldn't help think that what I deemed as "important" and what the art critics deemed as "important" are two completely different things all together. I kept on daydreaming after I finished the article and put the magazine down and I told myself that when I got home that I was going to sit down and make a simple painting, with simple colors and no pretention and just be who I am and just make the artwork that I make and not worry about what is "important" or not. For me, art is about something completely different and when it gets down to it, there is only one person who can decide what art actually is... And that is you...Enjoy!

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Daily Keemo. 3.27. When Flowers In Your Pocket Are Expected.

When Flowers In Your Pocket Are Expected
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This is another one of those stories in which I have started over three times now. Each time I have set out to write this story, it takes me in a direction that I hadn't intended on going with the words. I do the same thing with the painting as well. I set out in one direction and end up in another. I suppose it has to do with expectations and maybe just not having them can free up enough space in your life that in those moments when you are taken to places you had not intended on going, everything can be just fine. I suppose I could try to bring this story back around to why there are flowers growing out of this person front pocket but I'm going to leave that part up to your imagination and bring it all back to expectations and how we will just leave them behind us for the remainder of this story and for the time viewing this painting. With that,...Enjoy!

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Daily Keemo. 3.24. If We All Saw With Young Eyes We Might Not Be So Old.

If We All Saw With Young Eyes We Might Not Be So Old
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I was recently commissioned to do a small series of "animal like" paintings / drawings for someone. (Hi R.!) They were going to go in the kids room with the toys and games and clothes and dirty socks and books and all the other good stuff that you find in a kids room. I never ever imagined that a Keemo would be in admist all that stuff. I have to tell you that I am very honered to be there. So anyway, I really enjoyed doing them so I thought I would do another just for kicks. Well, here is a bear with lips a bit like a human and to be honest with I suppose it doesn't matter too much. If the kids can imagine what it is then it is just fine by me...Enjoy!

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Daily Keemo. 3.23. It Isn't About The Time.

It Isn't About The Time. It Is About The Everything Else.
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I actually told myself yesterday that I wasn't going to work this evening. Well, guess what, it is now today and here I am working. I guess when I get down to it this really isnt working is it? It's what I enjoy doing. This isn't a factory line or a fast food counter or garbage route or any one of the other professions that could be classified as work. This is painting, drawing, designing, creating, meeting new people, making new friends, listening to music, this is not work at all when you shake things out. So, I guess I really kept my word with myself and all I did was sit down tonight and draw this picture and write this paragraph and continue to search for a way to turn all this into something less than the hours and minutes and into more than the color and the words...Enjoy!

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Daily Keemo. 3.22. When The Destination Is Irrelevant The Path To Get There Is Not

When The Destination Is Irrelevant The Path To Get There Is Not
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I was driving down the highway in the rental car with the windows down and it was 71 and my winter jacket was balled up in the passengers seat and I reached over and turned off the radio and just listened to the wind blow through the car and I was daydreaming like I always do when I am driving down the highway. The sky was a brilliant blue and the clouds where a brilliant white and everything seemed brilliant like they always do when I daydream. I drove like that for a while and then finally turned the radio back on and I skimmed through the channels and stopped at an old Kinks song and turned it up and just kept on driving...Enjoy!

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Daily Keemo. 3.20. If We All Saw With Young Eyes We Might Not Be So Old

If We All Saw With Young Eyes We Might Not Be So Old
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I was recently commissioned to do a small series of "animal like" paintings / drawings for someone. (Hi R.!) They were going to go in the kids room with the toys and games and clothes and dirty socks and books and all the other good stuff that you find in a kids room. I never ever imagined that a Keemo would be in admist all that stuff. I have to tell you that I am very honered to be there. So anyway, I really enjoyed doing them so I thought I would do another just for kicks. I suppose this one could be a cat or a rabbit but then again it has lips like a human and to be honest with I suppose it doesn't matter what it is. If the kids can imagine what it is then it is just fine by me...Enjoy!

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Daily Keemo. 3.18. Two Drinkers

The Two Drinkers. 1963.
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The Story: I am a history buff. I like it all from Ancient Rome to WWII to Dinosaurs to the 1960's. Someone once said to me that my love of history comes from my inability to connect with the present. I told him he was wrong. (He was). I just like history. Let's take these two fine folks for example. A party. 1963. It's evening. There are drinks. Good Drinks. A nice suit. A nice dress. An embrace. I'm sure there is swinging music. Everyone is happy. What is there not to love? It really is not about history at all. It's about all the things I just mentioned. With that...Enjoy!

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Daily Keemo. 3.16. The King

The King
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The King is the 4th in a 4 painting series that are going to be coming out in the next month or so. I was recently contacted by a German company about producing a "collectors" series of postcards that will be distributed through their 7,500 locations around Germany and in conjunction with the German postal service. Attached to the initial email was some of my past work that they would like to use for the series. I didn't want to just send off the hi-res scans of past work to be used for the cards. I wanted to create new pieces that could be used to represent where things are now. So, I thought it would be best to paint an updated version of the pieces they were requesting. So, with that in mind, here is the original painting for another of the upcoming cards. This particular painting is inspired by a series of King/Queen paintings from 2007. As one collector said to me, "Why get the print when you can get the original?" Good point. Anyway, thats it for this one...Enjoy!

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Daily Keemo. 3.12. Wine Is The Best Medicine

Wine Has Been Used In Medical Practice For More Than Two Thousand Years
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This is the 15th 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 facts. After about 2 pages, I thought, "this is perfect!" Well, on this page was one that I thought was worthy to note. "Wine Had Been Used In Medical Practice For More Than Two Thousand Years" With that said, I still have not had the good fortune of going to the doctor and having him send me home with a prescription for two bottles of Shiraz and maybe a Cabernet...Enjoy!

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Daily Keemo. 3.10. Two Devils.

Two Devils. (Are Better Than Uno)
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Two Devils is the 3rd of a 4 painting series. Those of you who follow my work are familiar with the story but let's just go through it one more time. I was recently contacted by a German company about producing a "collectors" series of cards/postcards that will be distributed through their 7,500 locations around Germany and in conjunction with the German postal service. Attached to the initial email was some of my past work that they thought would be good examples of what to use for the series. I didn't want to just send off the hi-res scans of past work to be used for the cards. I wanted to create new pieces that could be used to represent where things are now. So, I thought it would be best to paint an updated version of the pieces they were requesting. So, with that in mind, here is the original painting for another of the upcoming cards. This particular painting is inspired by a painting from 2007. As one collector said to me, "Why get the print when you can get the original?" Good point. Anyway, thats it for this one...Enjoy!

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Daily Keemo. 3.6. Music and Drink. Mmmmmmmmmm

A Night of Cranberry and Herbert
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I feel I have been tucked away at the desk for a long time tonight. I have been sipping on a vodka and cranberry and I'm sure that there is a real bartender name for that drink but it seems irrelevant as I listen to Gwyneth Herbert(Hi Gwyn!) on the computer speakers and think about how simple things can become when you are sitting alone in a room listening to good music and sipping a vodka and cranberry. I suppose sometimes it is just as easy to complicate things in these situations too. For now though, we will keep it simple. As I write this, my phone is ringing downstairs and I know I should answer it (everyone does don't they?) but for now the desk is just right, the cranberry is just right and the music is just right... Enjoy!

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Daily Keemo. 3.5. Kennedy. 1964.

I Remember Where I Was When...
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Somewhere along the way I picked up a newspaper from Iowa, dated September 28, 1964. The entire front section is devoted to the story of "the" Asssination. Paging through the paper, I found this copy of the Kennedy autopsy report. It reads, "Cause of Death: Gunshot wound, head.". I believe the Zapruder film had told the nation that already. This does lead me in a wierd way, to a converation we were having tonight. There are only a handful of events throughout our history where we can use the phrase, "I remember where I was when..." For example, I remember where I was on September 11. I remember where I was when the space shuttle blew up. (I was laying on the floor in the basement. The floor was carpeted with rainbow colored shag.) The Kennedy Assassination was another of those events for many people. (I am not one of those people as I was not born yet). In more recent events, I have already heard people say that about where they were when Obama got elected. (I was on the couch and it was late on election night). The conversation went on, "Do you remember where you were the first time when you told mom you loved her?" I thought to myself. I remembered exactly where it was, who was there, what music was playing, what time of day, the temperature. I remembered it all like it was this morning. The I answered... " I remember where I was when the first time I told her I loved her. We were at..." and I went on with the story and as I looked over at her it seemed like time has never passed...Enjoy!

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Daily Keemo. 3.4. Hold Something.

You Can't Hold Something Else If You're Busy Holding Your Heart
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I have been sitting for a while and looking at the screen and the blinking cursor and the keys have been under my fingers waiting to be put together into words that make sense of what is happening further up the arm, under the chest. There has been a lot going on but it is all stuff that has no place being talked about here. I suppose, the only fact that is important is that it is the kind of stuff that makes you hold your heart in your hand and ask yourself who you are, where you come from and how you fit into this whole mess. To be honest, I am fairly uncertain about all three at the moment. With that, there is this painting, the heart in my hand and thoughts of times long ago when the questions where different and so where the answers.... Enjoy!

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Daily Keemo. 3.2. Upcoming Collectors Cards, Germany

Lost In Crash. Saved by Hamburg.
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This is another one that is less about the content and more about the context. I was recently contacted by a German company about producing a "collectors" series of cards/postcards that will be distributed through their 7,500 locations around Germany and in conjunction with the German postal service. Attached to the initial email was some of my past work that they thought would be good examples of what to use for the series. I didn't want to just send off the hi-res scans of past work to be used for the cards. I wanted to create new pieces that could be used to represent where things are now. So, I thought it would be best to paint an updated version of the pieces they were requesting. So, with that in mind, here is the original painting for another of the upcoming cards. This particular painting is inspired by a painting from 2007. (I lost all the info about the 2007 painting in a computer crash.) As one collector said to me, "Why get the print when you can get the original?" Good point. Anyway, thats it for this one...Enjoy!

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