Daily Keemo. 8.30. From Mississippi, With Love

From Mississippi, With Love
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I received a letter today and
the letter was from Mississippi and
it was handwritten and
it said that many of my portraits have no gender and
they were not sure if that was a good thing and
it said my poems were not really poems and
it also said that the verdict was still out on me and
it went on to say other things and
then that was it.

I put the letter on the counter and
agreed with everything in it and
as I sat there in the stool thinking about what I just read,
I was glad to know
that the verdict was still out
on me.

... Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 8.23. Portrait of the Devil With Clouds, Sun and Tree

Portrait of the Devil With Clouds, Sun and Tree

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Another from the devil series. I know it is contrary to popular belief but I am sure the devil loves the sun and clouds and plants just like all the rest of us. Of course, I am just guessing but I figure if he was to sit for me while painting his portrait, it would be like this and it would be summer and we would be drinking lemonade with big ice cubes... Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 8.23. So Far Away From That Moment

So Far Away From That Moment

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I couldn't sleep last night. This is not unusual so I got up and went downstairs and the tiles on the floor in the kitchen were cold under my bare feet because it is winter and and it was 4:14 AM. Out the window I could see that snow was falling down in huge, slow flakes and standing at the window, in the blue light of the streetlamp, the street was silent and the house was silent and I was silent and I just looked out and went over things and thought about people and places and words and events and the past and the future and how sitting there in the dark looking at the reflection in the glass, I had no real connection to any of it. It all seemed so far away from that moment, in the dark. Eventually, the snow stopped and so did my daydreams at the window and I walked back up the stairs, still disconnected from everything. Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 8.21. I Imagine That There Will Be

I Imagine That There Will Be
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I imagine that there will be a time when
I don't bother with all this but
I dread that day because
it is then that I know
that I will have given up.

I imagine that there will be a time when
I will finally be able to find
the words to say what it is
I am trying to say and
she will finally truly understand
how I feel about her.

I imagine that there will be a time when
I let the world move beneath me and
not the other way around and
that will be
the day.

Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 8.18. No Words For The Moment

No Words For The Moment

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It is 4:00 AM and
the paint is still
wet and
there are no words
for this
moment.

...Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 8.15. I Am Drawing The Line Now #5

I Am Drawing The Line Now
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I have settled into this wonderful chair for the evening and I am hoping that the words that fall off my fingertips are better that the thoughts that are swirling around up top. The last six (or more) weeks have not been right. Where there was motivation, there is now apathy and where there is apathy there is not much else.

I am drawing the line here. I am drawing the line now.

Did I tell you that she bought me this chair? She has connections and knows people and snuck it into the house when I was away and everyone should be so lucky to write from chairs like this and without her I know I would have given up on all this long ago and it isn't just the chair but it is everything else over the years that kept the words and paints moving and it is because of her that I am drawing the line here and now and tomorrow when I awake she will be there and the apathy will be gone.

... Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 8.13. Portrait of the Devil With Tree

Portrait of the Devil With Tree

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Another devil. This time it is on a wood veneer wallcovering with a square pattern in it. I have to be honest. I love wood. Especially, acrylic paint on wood. I have to be honest about something else as well... I love the Devil linocut series. I know, I'm not supposed to say that about my own artwork but it's true. There is something fun about painting the devil like this with bright colors, blue lips and a solitary colorful tree and it reminds me that it a good place to be in life that you can do exactly what you feel like doing and it is OK and heck, maybe even someone smiles along the way. Can't beat it. So, with that, a portrait of the devil with blue lips, on wood veneer with a single, solitary tree that I would love to fall asleep under.

Daily Keemo. 8.11. I'm Not An Expert

I'm Not An Expert

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This painting has undergone three complete transformations. Under this painting is another painting and under that painting is another painting and if you look closely (it is hard to see in the scan) you can see hints of the underpainting showing through. I suppose the same thing could be said about each one of us, although, I would guess there are many more layers and I suppose each one of those layers still show though at different times. That is just my guess but I'm not an expert. I'm just a painter. Either way, there is a message in all of this and tonight it just seems sufficient to let it be what it is and for all of us to find our own reflection in it... Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 8.10. On A Pole Out By The Lake

On A Pole Out By The Lake
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I remember when I was young
my parents rented a cottage on a
small lake up North and
there was a pole in the back yard
out by the lake
that was covered in fish skulls and
I think the house was red or white but
I don't remember who was all there or
what was said or who did what or
where we all slept but
the only thing I remember
for certain
is
the tall pole covered in the
skulls of dead fish
down by the lake.

Daily Keemo. 8.5. It Was Before The Pedal Went Through The Floor #2

It Was Before The Pedal Went Through The Floor #2
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It was last year that he went off the deep end and drove his car, with the pedal to the floor, down the main street in town and he didn't stop at the lights or the stop signs and he just tried to ram his car into anything else on the road and I think someone may have died while he did this.

It seems strange now but I remember when I was in high school he was my friend and we were both in "art club" after school and we shot a movie on one of these 8mm cameras. It was called "Smoking" and if I remember it was very short and it was just footage of us smoking and we framed it oddly and put music to it that we wrote and played and we thought we were being pretty creative for living out there in those low rent suburbs with all those kids who wouldn't know art if it was smeared on the label of their jeans. There were only a few of us that got it and by "it" I mean the point to the movie and all the rest of the things we tried to pass off as art during those years.

Eventually, his driving rampage down Main St. came to a stop when his car finally could go on no further and the police got ahold of him and shipped him off to have his brain looked at and I am pretty sure that they are still looking at it. I haven't heard where he is locked up or if the walls have padding. I don't keep in touch with any of the people that would know something like that. I wonder if he still has the Super 8 movie that we made stashed in a box somewhere. I wonder if he even remembers it. I wonder if he was smoking while driving his car like an arrow down the road. I wonder...