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

After Three Days There Is More Than Emptiness

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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. 6.10. To My Left On The Desk And The Paint Is Still Wet.

To My Left On The Desk And The Paint Is Still Wet
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Every year there is a big arts festival held downtown and every year I don't participate in any capacity other than walking around sampling the food from the food booths, walking through the galleries and different art exhibits, stopping at the different stages and listening to the different music and every year I think, maybe I'll submit something to the show this year and then every year I think I am just not cut out for juried art shows and I am pretty sure that my art is not either and I know that it isn't about the show because it never has been. So, as soon as I am done writing this, we are off to downtown to do all of the above while my own artwork lays to my left on the desk and the paint is still wet and sometime next week this painting will be shipped a long way from the exibits and the food booths and the stages and the people and my desk and into a home that I will probably never see and as I write this I realize... that is exactly how it should be... Enjoy!

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Daily Keemo. 4.22. The Business Is More Of An Art Than The Art Is A Business.

The Business Is More Of An Art Than The Art Is A Business
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There once was an art gallery in the empty store front that we are standing in front of. It was only last summer we went in and looked at the artwork and talked with the owner who was a nice lady and was trying to bring more high priced abstract artwork to the little town. She had some small sugar cookies on a white plate and I had one and it was good and we made small talk about art and the weather and business and I never did mention that I was a painter and lived right around the corner, although I did mention that the cookies where very good and the weather was perfect and that the business well...was more of an art than the art is a business and I remember walking out thinking that I hoped that she could make it in this little town and somewhere in the back of my mind I knew it would be tough but who was I too say. Well, here is to her and the sugar cookies and the empty store front and everything that happened between then and now...Enjoy!

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Daily Keemo 12.22 - Old Friend

Talking Over The Dull Sound Of People



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We ran into each other as I was walking out of the pub. This was the second time I had bumped into someone that I knew walking out of that bar in as many times as I had been there. It was good to see him again. We hadn't seen each other in a couple of years. He looked a little older as I am sure I did too. We talked for a long time even though it was cold and the snow was falling but I was warm with beer and he appeared warm with his hat and scarf and gloves (Classic Michigan attire) and we just kept talking over the dull sound of people laughing and talking from inside the bar. We finally parted ways. He went inside the bar and I walked down the sidewalk toward my car and the voices faded away behind me until it was just the sound of my feet and the hot air coming from my mouth and nose and the thought that it is nights like these that are perfect for coming together with old friends. Well, here is to him and to old friends and to the time and distance that separates. With that... Enjoy!

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Daily Keemo 12.18 - Botched Interview

She Kept Wanting Me To Think Like Her About My Art
9" x 12" x 1.5" - Acrylic and Ink on Canvas



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The lady who was interviewing me said thought that most traditional galleries would never take on my work because it relies too much on the words to complete the piece of artwork. I couldn't think of anything else to say, so I said, “I think it is because I'm not a very good painter.” trying to joke my way out of going through this conversation again. “I don't think that is true. I just think the words can interfere with the viewing experience.” She said. “Well, I'm not worried too much about the galleries. If I was to write a list of reasons why I paint day in and day out, you would not find the words, “Get Into A Gallery” anywhere on that list.” I replied. There was an awkward silence. This conversation always ends up this way. I never get why some people have such a hard time with the words. “I guess I like to think that I am not just making a painting. I hope it is more than that. I hope that it all helps create a relationship with the viewer, the subject and myself.” “ Do you think it works?” she asked. This went on for another 10 minutes or so and we weren't getting anywhere and I could tell she was not happy with how this was going and after we hung up the phone I sat quietly for a minute and thought again why I am doing all this with the paints and the words and long hours and the tired mornings and realized I should probably get back to the paints and finish this painting and just keep doing what I do.... Enjoy!

(Note: I never did hear from her again and the interview never got published.)

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Daily Keemo 12.17 - Ninja 1 of 8 - Japanese Series

Ninja 1 - Japanese Series

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I have said many times over the years that to many people take thier artwork way to seriously. That is not to say that artwork does not have an important role in our lives or in our day to day meandering but when it comes down to it I just remind myself that there is a reason why the brain surgeon gets paid the big bucks. Enter the Ninja. Those of you who follow my work are familiar with this idea. Every art collection, no matter how serious, needs one. Shoot the more serious the better. Sitting there in your art collection, just waiting for the moment to unleash it's fury, the ninja will strike when the time is right. Be careful. Respect the ninja and respect is what you will be given in return... it is the ninja way...Enjoy you art!

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Daily Keemo 12.16 - Vodka Cranberry

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 those 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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2009 Keemo Calendars Are Here!

2009 Keemo Calendar - Limited Edition

On Ebay | In The KeemoStore

Once upon a time there once was a London design firm named Made In Earnest who was putting together a calendar for 2009. At this same time, many miles away, there was a painter named Keemo who was busily creating paintings. Magically, the sound of Keemo's brush strokes travelled across the ocean and landed into the ears of Made In Earnest. Made In Earnest decided to seek out the source of this sound for they knew it was this brush that they were destined to have for their calendar. It was only a matter of time before Made in Earnest was able to locate the source of that brush stroke and a friendship was made and a calendar was created and the world was saved. Oh wait, the saving the world part isn't true but all the rest is, I swear!


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Daily Keemo 12.02 - Music For The Masses

These Are The Things I Think About

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This is the fourth in the guitar chord series: C#M7. For some reason the # symbol and the number always seems out of place to me when I see it in music. It reminds me that music is very mathematical and systematic. It reminds me that underlying all music is order. (I guess that is why it is referred to as an "arrangement.") Without that order music falls apart. I guess, why it seems out of place is that I respond to all music on some emotional level and in that emotional response there is little room for order. However, with such order in music it makes me think that there must be some complimentary system of order that exists inside that processes music and organizes (for lack of a better word) into something that our emotions can connect with. Now, the more I write this the more it all just seems silly. The talk of order and emotions and the relationship between them. Im surely not qualified to write on this topic and I am pretty sure that this is not the forum. Either way... these are the things that I think about as I paint and listen to music and daydream about the chords and structure and color and sounds and in all of this is an answer to something I am sure...Enjoy!

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Daily Keemo 09.26 - Music

Down In The Valley

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I wish I could write words as good as these:

Down in the valley, valley so low

Hang your head over

And hear the wind blow



Can't you hear the wind blow, my love

Can't you hear the wind blow

Down in the valley, valley so low



Have you ever been lonely, lonely

Have you ever been sad

Did you ever really, really want some one

And really need them bad

Bad, bad, bad, bad



It was down in the valley

The valley so low

It was where I held you so tight

How could I ever let you go



I remember the first kiss

Oh, how it filled me so

Now all that I can feel right now

Is that cold wind blow

... Enjoy!

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Daily Keemo 09.25 - Bones

Like The Paints, The Night and The Quiet

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It's 3:19 AM. It is Friday night... oh wait, Saturday morning. The house is quiet. It has been quiet for a long time now. I listen to a book downloaded from itunes. I have arrived at this point in my life where there is no time to drop everything and lay on the couch and get lost in front of a long novel. (I miss those days) Somewhere along the way, I learned that I can listen to books and paint at the same time. They go well together. Like the paints and night and quiet. The story on the speakers is about Vampires and humans and love and life and death and all the other stuff in a good vampire story. As I paint and listen I think about the life and bones under my own skin. I am aware that all this flesh and bone really is temporary and I imagine to have a life like the vampires in the story. (Don't we all!) I grab another piece of paper and attempt to draw the bones under all this that move this body about. With that...Enjoy!

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Daily Keemo 09.24 - Throat

Words That Are More Than They Mean #1
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The story for this new series is simple. It also requires that I don't write a story to go along with it. Just as the title says, this series is of "Words That Are More Than They Mean". We all interpret things differently and all words carry different meaning with each of us. So, this is where you work your magic and stop a minute and allow yourself the luxury of slowing down a bit to think about what it can mean to you. With that... Enjoy!


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Daily Keemo 09.09 - Politics

Portrait Of Guy Who Was Telling Me All The Reasons Why My Political Views Were All Wrong
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Needless to say it was not a fun conversation. With that... Enjoy!


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Daily Keemo 09.08 - Red Eye

16 Minutes From Last Night


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I couldn't sleep again. This happens to me often. "I'm not the only one, I know it," I say to myself. I look at the clock and it shines back the numbers 3,0,8. I got up, went down stairs and opened the fridge and the light poured out lighting up the entire kitchen and standing there in my underwear I pulled out a container of grape juice and poured a glass. I leaned against the counter and drank it in the dark. The clock on the microwave shined the numbers 3,1,7. I finished my glass and put into the sink. The house was very quiet and dark and I stood there for a second thinking about them sleeping upstairs, dreaming, not seeing those shining numbers and then I walked up into the bathroom. I pulled my bottom eyelid down and exposed the underside of my eye into the mirror. I could see the red veins and in the reflection I could see there was life still in there. I turned off the light, went upstairs and laid down. The numbers on the clock shined 3,2,4. That was the last thing I remember... Enjoy!

Size/Description: This is an original piece of artwork

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Daily Keemo 08.19 - Not In The Bible

The Word Prejudice Is Not In The Bible

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This is the 12th in the "Book of Facts" series. I was going through a bunch of books that were stored away in boxes down in the basement. I ran across this old book of facts. It is just page after page of wierd, fun, interesting, not so interesting, silly facts. After about 2 pages, I thought, "this is perfect!" So, here are some of the interesting facts, you will find in this painting...Enjoy!
- (Most Importantly) The Word Prejudice Is Not In The Bible. ( I repeat, prejudice is NOT in the bible.)
- Often A duck swims while sleeping.
- from 1835 to 1837 the United States had no national debt.

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Daily Keemo 08.15 - Love Story

Its The Small Moments That Give You Away. Part 2.

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(You may recognize this story from a recent drawing. I liked the story and thought it was worth creating another drawing for it...Hope you enjoy it.) There are these little moments when I know that we are meant for each other. Many people think that this is shown with grand gestures, big things but I've come to learn it is always the small moments that give us away. They are little looks, light touches, maybe its just when you talk you look at each others eyes. Phrases like, " I thought of you when...." or "This reminded me of you..." or "You would have liked this..." always give you away. This was a "I thought that you could maybe use this in your art" moment and she handed me a stack of old design books that were going to be thrown away at her office. "Even if you can't use them, I thought you would like them" See its those moments. Those simple moments. So, with that here is a page from one of those books ...Enjoy!

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Daily Keemo 08.11 - Florida

Famous For It's Cleanliness

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An old flyer from a boat tour down in Florida. This has to be from the late 50's or early 60's. One of their many slogan was "Famous For Its Cleanliness" How great is that. Another was "The Best 2 Dollars You Can Spend". They even boast "Alligator Wrestling" Well, I suppose this speaks for itself...Enjoy! (Another great find from B&J. Thanks!)

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Daily Keemo 07.31 - He Man Body

Here Is The Kind Of He-Man Body You Could Have.
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I dont even know where to begin with this one, so I'll let it speak for itself. Starting with: "Here is the kind of He-Man body you could have." Or how about: "Develop A Strong He-Man Voice" or how about: "Investigate Accidents" or the ever popular: "$500.00 for your child's photo" and lastly: "Family Piano Lessons". Take your pick. It's all yours. Good fun from 1949!...Enjoy!

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Daily Keemo 07.28 - England

Wow Are You From England!

Many of my portraits start out to be one thing and end up as another. Sometimes they just end up as thier own thing all together. Not necessarily a portrait of anyone. (Like this one, where most of it ended up getting covered up in black) I originally set out to do a portrait of the guy who made our sandwiches at Subway this weekend when we were up in Mackinaw City. Im going to save the long version of the story for when I get his portrait right. However, here is the short version, since this really isnt a portrait of him anymore:

The important part of this story is that she is learning to speak Italian. So, needless to say she speaks Italian alot around the house. We go to subway and she orders the Italian bread for her sandwich. However, when she ordered it she, jokingly put on her best Italian accent for the kid behind counter. (I was impressed) The kid behind the counter looked up and very excited says, "Wow, are you from England?" True story. You can't write jokes that good. With that ... Enjoy!

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Daily Keemo 07.25 - Parish

Portrait On A Paris Postcard #14
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This is the 14th in the "Paris Postcard" series. I was looking over my bookshelf and there was a bunch of papers shoved between a couple books. Among other things there were about 15 postcards that were of different photos taken in Paris during the 1920's. This one in particular is called "Port St. Denis". All the postcards are very Paris and they make me want to travel and get out of the US for a while and see the other parts of the world where things are new and even simple things are filled with wonder. With that.. Enjoy!

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