The Daily Keemo

Featured Keemo. 1.12.12. It Is Easy When You Do Not Know That Your Days Are Finite #1

2012-01-13T12:09:00.001-08:00

It Is Easy When You Do Not Know That Your Days Are Finite #1

The Story
I was driving down the highway, in the middle of nowhere and I was thinking about everything that I shouldn't be wasting time thinking about. You know, the silly stuff that fights for your attention. What needs to be done, what isn't done yet, what should be done, who needs what, the car needs tires, the fridge needs food, the house needs heat, the kids needs a college education and all that stuff. I could go on and on and on but I know most of you know exactly what I am talking about. Anyway, I am driving down the highway, thinking about these things and then traffic slows to a halt and there is a big line of us sitting on the highway and I stare to my right and into the field and there cows right up near the fence just staring at us all sitting in our cars, growing impatient for not moving and thinking all our silly things and they are calm and their movements are deliberate and I can't help but think that there is something to be learned here. The traffic starts to inch forward and I soon leave the cows behind and I leave all those silly stresses behind there with them and drive on to another day where all things seem possible. ... Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 12.30.11. There Are 10 Visions And Each One Is Connected To The Last

2011-12-30T10:52:00.000-08:00

There Are 10 Visions And Each One Is Connected To The Last

Click to view more details

The Story
This year ends in ten days and there are ten days before we start it all over and you can fill each day with ten reasons why each breath should mean more than the last and we have ten days to know that we are not starting anything over but that with each of those days it is possible to watch the continuation of the last. ... Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 11.15.11. Beauty Is Always Found In The Stillness

2011-11-15T06:53:00.001-08:00

Beauty Is Always Found In The Stillness

Click to view more details

The Story
Tchaikovsky.
Is in the room with me.
Tonight.
His notes are words in a conversation that I having with myself, alone.
With Tchaikovsky.
Across the room I raise my glass to him. He says, it is all found in the number 20 in C sharp minor. I disagree and mention that all truths and self discovery are found in Sonata 14 in C sharp minor (Beethoven). It is the gentle notes and spaces where your reflection is the clearest. It is the spaces between the notes where the haunting takes place. it is the notes that bring you back to this world.
Tchaikovsky is in the room with me tonight and he motions to the black keys and then to the white ones and points out how they make no noise on their own but beauty is always found in the stillness and that there is always music with or without the keys. ...Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 10.10.11. A Beard By Any Other Name Is Still A Beard

2011-10-10T12:25:00.001-07:00

A Beard By Any Other Name Is Still A Beard

Click to view more details

The Story
We were talking about beards from some reason and as can you can imagine there is not much to note from that conversation. However, I am fairly certain that I had never drew or painted a beard. (At least that I can remember) There was the "mustache" series from a few years ago but no beards. Anyway, I figured it's about time I give it a try.

... Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 10.1. The Intersection Of Then And Now. A Series.

2011-10-01T07:43:00.001-07:00

The Intersection Of Then And Now. A Series.
Click To View Details

The Story

I lay on the floor and think of
the past and
doubt my place
in the present and
wish that there were
answers written in
the cracks across the ceiling.

Self doubt is change
dressed up in
the clothes of yesterday.
.
I lay on the floor and think of
my flight that leaves soon and
wonder what really happens in the open air
up that high.

Self worth is self doubt
dressed up as
someone else.

... Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 9.30.11. May My Judges Remember That I Am Made Of Bone

2011-09-30T06:31:00.001-07:00

May My Judges Remember That I Am Made Of Bone

Click to view more details

The Story
I think the title says it all with this one. Don't you?

.... Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 9.26.11. When You Think Your Way Through To Morning On Silence And Darkness And Hope

2011-09-26T07:09:00.001-07:00

When You Think Your Way Through To Morning On Silence And Darkness And Hope
Click to view more details
The StoryI think the title says it all with this one. Don't you?
.... Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 9.22.11. I Wait For Some Kind Of Sign (A painting at 3:47 AM)

2011-09-22T06:06:00.001-07:00

I Wait For Some Kind Of Sign (A painting at 3:47 AM)
Click to view more details
It was late. I mean real late. Like 3:47 AM kind of late. The morning alarm was less than 4 hours away and I was at the desk pushing the paints and there was no sign laying down the brushes and packing it in. Like most insomniacs, I was just getting started, I suppose. The best ideas and best words and most peaceful moments all come when the rest of the world is sleeping. Maybe it is that simple idea that keeps me awake. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I'm leading myself astray at the times. I will walk out into the yard at these hours and look up and down the street and hope to see some kind of sign that there is someone else at that moment that shares this idea. It never happens. I listen to the silence for a moment, then always walk back in and sit back in front of the paints and push them around until they speak to me no more and the room goes dark.
.... Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 9.15.11. I Have Four Dreams And In Each One

2011-09-15T11:59:00.001-07:00

l Have Four Dreams And In Each One
Click to view more details
I have four dreams and
in each one
you are there.

There is a dream for the
past
present
future
and
each moment in between
where there are
no words or
colors
or
line
to express
it all.

I have four dreams and
in each one
you are there.

Daily Keemo. 9.12.11. ln Nature We Can Find Ourselves. In Ourselves We Can Find Nature.

2011-09-12T10:11:00.001-07:00

ln Nature We Can Find Ourselves. In Ourselves We Can Find Nature.
Click to view more details
This is one of those that doesn't need a story to go along with it. There is enough here for us all to make up our own.... Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 9.8.11. It Is Us And We Are Here #1

2011-09-08T06:02:00.001-07:00

It Is Us And We Are Here #1
Click to view more details
This is the first of the 99 Series. This number refers to the rest of us who do not make up the top 1% of the world who own the majority of the wealth. I know that number may or may not be accurate but for the purpose of my point it is just fine. This series is to meant celebrate those of us who work every day, doing what we do, carving out our own piece of this whole mess. I can really care less about the other 1%. It's the 99% that matters to me. … Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 8.30. Four Thoughts While Lying On The Floor

2011-08-30T06:49:00.000-07:00

Four Thoughts While Lying On The Floor
Click To View Details

The Story

I lay on the floor and think of
the past and
doubt my place
in the present and
wish that there were
answers written in
the cracks across the ceiling.

... Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 8.22.11. The Intersection Of Then And Now. A Series.

2011-08-22T09:58:00.001-07:00

The Intersection Of Then And Now. A Series. #5

Click to view more details

This is the fifth painting in a new series that resurrects forgotten, old photos and brings them back to life with painting. These photos are of complete strangers and have been discarded by their owners and are likely to get passed on to a place where they will be gone forever. Looking at these photos I can't help but think about the people and how some have now passed on or are very old but in all cases they have been disconnected from this particular piece of their past. It is these paintings that are meant to give them a place in the present as well into the future as they take on new lives in a new context. At the very least, these are meant to honor the people in the photos and the time that spans from the photo to now... Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 8.8.11. Everything Else Was Covered In Dust

2011-08-08T06:32:00.001-07:00

Everything Else Was Covered In Dust

Click to view more details

This was her music. She took piano lessons as a young girl. She told me that the long, pasty white fingers of the old woman teacher scared her as she would point to notes on the page in front of them. She told me how she smelled like powder on the bench next to her and her makeup caked a bit in the wrinkles in her face. She told me that over the piano where big wooden utensils that were carved out of wood and they were covered in a layer of dust and that everything else was covered in dust. She told me the piano teachers husband had died long before her piano lessons and you could tell that other than teaching the kids she was very alone. I picture her as a little girl in the late seventies sitting on the piano bench and soaking all this in and filing it away as her teacher wrote "Good" on the top of the page or the "1 & 2 & 1 & 2 &" under the notes. I see her in her childhood handwriting, "Circle all of the F#" and then it scribbled out and makes feel like I am there and we are all there somehow because I know we all have some memory that isnt too far from this one. (maybe just replace the piano lessons for something else) Either way, as she discovered this old book from her childhood and she gave it to me asking, "is this something you can use?" "I would be honored," I said.... So, with that...Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 8.3.11. It Is Us And We Are Here

2011-08-03T09:46:00.001-07:00

It Is Us And We Are Here

Click to view more details

This is the first of the 99 Series. This number refers to the rest of us who do not make up the top 1% of the world who own the majority of the wealth. I know that number may or may not be accurate but for the purpose of my point it is just fine. This series is to meant celebrate those of us who work every day, doing what we do, carving out our own piece of this whole mess. I can really care less about the other 1%. It’s the 99% that matters to me. … Enjoy!

... Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 7.25.11. Only The Words That Swirl Around While The Roots Take Hold

2011-07-25T07:54:00.001-07:00

Only The Words That Swirl Around While The Roots Take Hold

Click to view more details

Outside the studio
there are trees.
Not people
not cars
not slot machines
not sounds
of these things
or reasons
to need these things.

Only trees and
the light that filters
through the leaves
and
the words that
swirl around while
the roots
take hold.

... Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 7.14.11. For A Fine Job Of Helping

2011-07-14T10:18:00.001-07:00

For A Fine Job Of Helping

Click to view more details

I do have to say that I have to come to appreciate small town life. When I was younger I always thought the city was the only place to be. Then there are times when I am travelling and I stop in some small town and go to some small diner and have a cup of coffee and I look out the window and daydream and the world slowly spins to a halt right in front of me and I get it.

This is a page from a 1959 pamphlet promoting a canoe race from Grayling (one small northern Michigan town) to Oscoda. (another small northern Michigan town) These are both small towns that I am familiar with in my travels through Michigan and I can picture the canoes and the people and the pace and it is the pace of many small towns throughout the world and I am going to pause a minute before I hit the final period on this sentence before I get back to my life in the city.

... Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 7.7.11. Seven Dreams

2011-07-07T12:59:00.000-07:00

7 Dreams

Click to view more details

This is one of those that doesn't have a story of it. It's better if you come up with your own for this one. ... Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 7.6.11. It Is Out Here Where I Hear The Music

2011-07-06T09:43:00.001-07:00

It Is Out Here Where I Hear The Music

Click to view more details

This is one of those that doesn't have a story of it. It's better if you come up with your own for this one. ... Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 7.1.11. Not Wish There Was Another

2011-07-01T08:48:00.000-07:00

Not Wish There Was Another

Click to view more details

I will take this moment and
keep it to myself and
not wish there was another
moment like this one
because there will never be and
closing my eyes
I wait
for the next
moment to come.

... Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 6.29.11. Only The Parts Of The Body

2011-06-29T12:03:00.001-07:00

Only The Parts Of The Body

Click to view more details

The small light
lit up only the
parts of the body
that I was
talking to and
her eyes and
lips and
nose and
cheeks where
all there and
the rest melted into
nothing.and
I melted into
her..

... Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 6.20.11. Nothing But The Sound of Nothing

2011-06-20T10:00:00.001-07:00

Nothing But The Sound of Nothing

Click to view more details

This is one of those that doesn't have a story that goes along with it. A painting, a late night and out the window there is nothing but the sound of nothing.

... Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 6.9.11. This Is Where I Hope To Begin Again

2011-06-09T07:13:00.001-07:00

This Is Where I Hope To Begin Again

Click to view more details

The house is still mainly in boxes littered around the rooms and I type at a borrowed folding table and this is the first painting in weeks and it worked it's way out at 2:30 this morning, when I couldn't sleep, laying there thinking about these paints all boxed up and locked up and going nowhere and I was starting to feel like I was going nowhere and I was boxed up and I got my sleepy you know what out of bed and cleared a spot in the basement and laid out a few color and a blank piece of hard stock and went to work and when I awoke this morning this is what sat on the table and this is where I hope to begin again....Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 5.16.11. After Three Days There Is More Than Emptiness

2011-05-16T10:15:00.001-07:00

After Three Days There Is More Than Emptiness

Click to view more details

I am sorry. The words just aren't here tonight. For the last three days I have been painting non-stop for an upcoming show at The Richard App Gallery. I got the details Saturday and for the three days that followed it was nothing but eating, sleeping and hunching over 12 canvases. My brain and eyes are spent. So, after finishing up all 12 peices, I took a moment to work on this one. Just to change the speed and just to remind myself why I paint in the first place ...Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 5.5.11. In Waking Moments I Wish These Were The Only Two Choices

2011-05-05T07:04:00.001-07:00

In Waking Moments I Wish These Were The Only Two Choices

Click to view more details

The Story:

Life is simple.

Life is complex.

...Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 3.23. So Long, Cowboy

2011-04-23T06:13:00.000-07:00

So Long, Cowboy
Click To View Details

The Story

This is the next painting in the cowboy series. To be honest I wrestled with even selling this painting. It is the first one in a while that I really wanted to keep. I even know right where I would hang it. However, I have long thought that holding on to my own artwork prevents me from moving forward and trying new things as painter. So, dang it, it has to go. I know that may sound silly but it seems to work for me and as a painter it is usually more about the process of painting than where the painting stops but this falling cowboy has it's hooks in me. So long, Cowboy. With that... Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 3.22 I Don't Mean The Flowery, Head-In-The Clouds Kind Of Dreamer

2011-04-21T20:46:00.001-07:00

I Don't Mean The Flowery, Head-In-The Clouds Kind Of Dreamer
Click To View Details

The Story

My entire life I have been an insane dreamer. I don't mean like a flowery, head in the clouds kind of dreamer but I mean real sleeping dreams. The kind you have when you have a fever but I have them all of the time. They rarely make sense and often I am aware that I am dreaming or everything is so real in my dream I think I am awake. I won't bore you with the details of last night's dream because frankly if I tried to write about it, it wouldn't make a bit of sense to anyone. There was one thing or person however that stuck with me long after I awoke and that was the man who was really a reptile but was really a man and at different times he would become more of one or the other and we would have conversations and in the dream I did not think it was odd that he was like this, it was normal and our conversations where normal and I learned things from. I am going to stop there because if I go on it will make less and less sense and really the important part as far as this portrait is concerned is that it is him or it or the words we shared that is this portrait and everything else will fall into the void of nowhere only to resurrect itself on some other evening while the rest of the world is asleep...Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 4.13.11. The Is A Heart Where The Hole Used To Be

2011-04-13T06:11:00.001-07:00

The Is A Heart Where The Hole Used To Be

Click to view more details

The Story:

Simply, just as the title suggests.

Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 4.5.11. There Are Words And These Are Not His

2011-04-05T06:42:00.001-07:00

There Are Words And These Are Not His

Click to view more details

There is a man and
this is his portrait and
there are words and
these are
not his.

It is late and
in daydream
I see his face and
wonder where
he went and
what world he travels in and
I bet the hole in his
heart is much bigger than it is in mine and
this is his portrait and
these words are
not his.

Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 3.30.11. Facing Morning I Find Nothing

2011-03-30T06:55:00.001-07:00

Facing Morning I Find Nothing

Click to view more details

There are late nights
when I find myself
walking the sidewalks and
there is no poem or paint to
be found there
but
only the visible exhale of
a person momentarily lost
in it all.

Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 3.15 In His Eyes And He Talked

2011-03-15T07:31:00.000-07:00

In His Eyes And He Talked
Click To View Details

The Story

There words are nothing more than just that. Words. There is no music in the air tonight. Only the sound of these keystrokes on this paper and the dog scratching on the floor by my feet and papers rustling as she goes through a drawer looking for something. I am looking for something but it is not found in the drawer. I know because I have already looked in there.

There is still only the sound of these keys and nothing more.

I think of the man in the wheelchair who asked us to get the cup out of his wheel and he had to be cold going around the city in just a t-shirt. You could see the drink in his eyes as he talked to us. As I think of him I am certain that he has forgotten about me and the cup and the cold and the talk and it all.

...Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 3.14.11 162 Eyes And Still Only A Fraction Of The Ways To See

2011-03-14T06:32:00.001-07:00

162 Eyes And Still Only A Fraction Of The Ways To See

Click to view more details

The next painting from the "ways to see" series. No story with this one because I think the painting and title say it all.

...Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 3.11.11 Taking Up Roots

2011-03-11T06:12:00.001-08:00

Taking Up Roots

Click to view more details

This is one of those that I don’t think a story is really necessary. I think this one does a good job on it’s own.

Daily Keemo. 3.9.11 There Are Words And These Are Not His

2011-03-09T09:33:00.000-08:00

There Are Words And These Are Not His

Click to view more details

There is a man and
this is his portrait and
there are words and
these are
not his.

Daily Keemo. 3.6 There Are Days

2011-03-06T12:05:00.000-08:00

There Are Days
Click To View Details

The Story

There are days
that I want to be more than
I am
and
at the end
of those days
I never feel good
about
wanting such things.

There are days
that I want to open up
the top of my head
and peer down in there
and see if
there are answers
to my questions.

There are days
that I simply
am
and everything is in
balance and it
is these days that
make the others
days
just memories.

Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 2.28.11 OK, I Will

2011-02-28T07:33:00.000-08:00

OK, I Will

Click to view more details

He was a bit of a jerk and I could tell he didn't take too kindly to "those artist types" (whatever that meant) and then he found out I was one of them "artist types" and asked me what I painted and I said "people, mainly" and then he said, "paint this!" and he opened his mouth wide and made a really ugly face at me thought he was really funny and then I said,

"OK, I will."

Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 2.25 And Then There Is Us

2011-02-25T18:14:00.000-08:00

And Then There Is Us
Click To View Details

The Story

There is one and
there is one and
there is two and
there is us and
then there is one and

we cast a shadow on where
we have been and

then there is
us.

Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 2.20 The Adventures of Baron M

2011-02-20T17:44:00.000-08:00

The Adventures of Baron M
Click To View Details

The Story

I am reminded of a movie I saw
when I was much
younger and
lively and
the imagery is vivid but
the people and
the words and
the sounds and
everything else
is almost
gone
forever.

... Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 2.18.11 All Your Steps Become

2011-02-18T05:49:00.000-08:00

All Your Steps Become

Click to view more details

There are moments when time bends towards you and all your steps become effortless.

... Enjoy!

Daily Keemo. 2.14.11 A Place In The World

2011-02-14T07:53:00.001-08:00

A Place In The World

The Daily Keemo

Featured Keemo. 1.12.12. It Is Easy When You Do Not Know That Your Days Are Finite #1

Daily Keemo. 12.30.11. There Are 10 Visions And Each One Is Connected To The Last

Daily Keemo. 11.15.11. Beauty Is Always Found In The Stillness

Daily Keemo. 10.10.11. A Beard By Any Other Name Is Still A Beard

Daily Keemo. 10.1. The Intersection Of Then And Now. A Series.

Daily Keemo. 9.30.11. May My Judges Remember That I Am Made Of Bone

Daily Keemo. 9.26.11. When You Think Your Way Through To Morning On Silence And Darkness And Hope

Daily Keemo. 9.22.11. I Wait For Some Kind Of Sign (A painting at 3:47 AM)

Daily Keemo. 9.15.11. I Have Four Dreams And In Each One

Daily Keemo. 9.12.11. ln Nature We Can Find Ourselves. In Ourselves We Can Find Nature.

Daily Keemo. 9.8.11. It Is Us And We Are Here #1

Daily Keemo. 8.30. Four Thoughts While Lying On The Floor

Daily Keemo. 8.22.11. The Intersection Of Then And Now. A Series.

Daily Keemo. 8.8.11. Everything Else Was Covered In Dust

Daily Keemo. 8.3.11. It Is Us And We Are Here

Daily Keemo. 7.25.11. Only The Words That Swirl Around While The Roots Take Hold

Daily Keemo. 7.14.11. For A Fine Job Of Helping

Daily Keemo. 7.7.11. Seven Dreams

Daily Keemo. 7.6.11. It Is Out Here Where I Hear The Music

Daily Keemo. 7.1.11. Not Wish There Was Another

Daily Keemo. 6.29.11. Only The Parts Of The Body

Daily Keemo. 6.20.11. Nothing But The Sound of Nothing

Daily Keemo. 6.9.11. This Is Where I Hope To Begin Again

Daily Keemo. 5.16.11. After Three Days There Is More Than Emptiness

Daily Keemo. 5.5.11. In Waking Moments I Wish These Were The Only Two Choices

Daily Keemo. 3.23. So Long, Cowboy

Daily Keemo. 3.22 I Don't Mean The Flowery, Head-In-The Clouds Kind Of Dreamer

Daily Keemo. 4.13.11. The Is A Heart Where The Hole Used To Be

Daily Keemo. 4.5.11. There Are Words And These Are Not His

Daily Keemo. 3.30.11. Facing Morning I Find Nothing

Daily Keemo. 3.15 In His Eyes And He Talked

Daily Keemo. 3.14.11 162 Eyes And Still Only A Fraction Of The Ways To See

Daily Keemo. 3.11.11 Taking Up Roots

Daily Keemo. 3.9.11 There Are Words And These Are Not His

Daily Keemo. 3.6 There Are Days

Daily Keemo. 2.28.11 OK, I Will

Daily Keemo. 2.25 And Then There Is Us

Daily Keemo. 2.20 The Adventures of Baron M

Daily Keemo. 2.18.11 All Your Steps Become

Daily Keemo. 2.14.11 A Place In The World

Daily Keemo. 2.7.11 My Place Here

Daily Keemo. 1.28.11 Wrapped His Neck Like A hug

Daily Keemo. 1.16 I'll Take The Hall Pass And Never Come Back

Daily Keemo. 1.10.11 The Details Are Not Important

Daily Keemo. 1.7.11 Most Of The Time

Daily Keemo. 1.5.11 For Now I Will Just Be

Daily Keemo. 1.2. Water Into Wine (on paper from 1870)

Daily Keemo. 12.25. It Probably Doesn't Matter Anyway

Daily Keemo. 12.22. The Dissection Of A Portrait

Daily Keemo. 12.20.10 Shadows On Faces On The Walls Of Memory

Daily Keemo. 12.19. Signs All Over The Place

Daily Keemo. 12.14. Have Art, Will Travel

Daily Keemo. 12.13. I Have Never Forgotten These Words

Daily Keemo. 12.11.10. The Devils Blue

Daily Keemo. 12.7. Better Than Ending Up In A Trash Pile Somewhere

Daily Keemo. 12.2. Portrait Of A Man Who

Daily Keemo. 11.26. Bend And Sway As They Move Around Your Head

Daily Keemo. 11.23. No. 2 in G Sharp Minor (the purple paint is still drying)

Daily Keemo. 11.23. Portrait Of The Devil In Blue

Daily Keemo. 11.17. In Our Hands We Hold More Than Our Own Existence

Daily Keemo. 11.13. The Actress In The Movie Collecting Dust

Daily Keemo. 11.6. All The Good Dead Composers

Daily Keemo. 11.3. And The Palette Is Ours

Daily Keemo. 10.30. The Sisters Diablo

Daily Keemo. 10.22. The Eight Dollar Ticket From Chicago

Daily Keemo. 10.19. It May Have Been Me

Daily Keemo. 10.15. I Am Drawing The Line Now #9

Daily Keemo. 10.13. Portrait Of The Devil With Head In Clouds

Daily Keemo. 10.10. All Found Outside The Perimeter

Daily Keemo. 10.7. The Altered Money Series #2

Daily Keemo. 9.30. There Are Times And Nights You Find Your Way To Another Place

Daily Keemo. 9.28. Three Conversations

Daily Keemo. 9.23. The Illusion of Years By The Minutes And Seconds

Daily Keemo. 9.21. I Am Drawing The Line Now #8

Daily Keemo. 9.16. And Now I See

Daily Keemo. 9.14. Portrait Of The Devil In The City

Daily Keemo. 9.13. I Suppose There Are Other Things Now

Daily Keemo. 9.9. It Is There That I Will Retreat

Daily Keemo. 9.7. Portrait Of The Devil With Flowers And The Apostle