Realizations Are Always The Result Of An Equation
Click
A painter in Michigan is working on a warm Saturday afternoon. A ninja linocut on an advertisement from 1870. The painter in Michigan pauses as he does the math and then exclaims, "Holy mackeral that is 139 years old!" Extra care is then taken with the orange watercolor to not rip through the old paper. It dries on a table in the backyard under the afternoon sun... Enjoy!
It Is Ok To Sit And Be Fine With It
Click
It was a beautiful day yesterday and it was Sunday and we hung around the house and the ladies were reading outside on a blanket in the grass and I had taken the paper and paints out to the table and the ice cubes melted in no time and it was hard to believe it was Michigan that we were laying around in and there where big clouds in the big sky and I looked over and the way she was laying looked like there was grass sprouting out of her hair and I was trying to come up with things to paint and it seemed like a good choice and everything seemed like a good choice then and the pen hit the paper and then the paint and then it was complete...Enjoy!
Two Original Keemo Linocut Paintings
Click
Well, it was time for a change. I am one of those people who genuinely believes that change is good. That isn't to say there isn't value in tradition or patterns but embracing change will lead to much more than the comfort that you get from the predictability of doing the same things over and over and over. From experience, I can guess exactly what a brush will do when I cover it in orange and move it across the paper. You do something enough and you just know. This is what lead me to the new linocuts series. I just needed something new. Carving the linolium blocks for these prints was something I had not done in years (15 maybe?) and it was nice to not really know what the outcome was going to be and it was just fine to be satisfied with whatever the outcome was because during the process it IS ALWAYS about the process and never about the product and the value in that process is never translated into the value of the finished piece and like usual I guess I am starting to write about more than just painting and the creative process but also about our days and nights and the time we have to move around this place and we all have the choice to stick with what we know or try a new path. Here is to trying the new path... Enjoy!
Where You Are And Where You Have Been Are Not Always Different Places #1
Click
This painting has been staring at me right in the face and I didn't even see it. (Lots of things are right in front our faces all the time and we don't see them, I suppose.) Anyway, I spend alot of time painting on stuff that I find or that is on its way the recycle bin or just has special meaning or any number of other reasons and it just made sense that my own postcards would eventually be given the same treatment. So, with that, here is the first of the series... Enjoy!
Not So Old Time Sake
Click
Wednesday night, listening to Pandora, painting some ACEOs for (not so) old time sake. Listening to a Ratatat station with others like Dosh, The Octopus Project, Mute Math and others sliding through the playlist. This all stemmed from a discussion earlier with 16 year olds after hearing "Blue Monday" and they said, "Who is that?" and I felt old once again and this seems to be happening more and more. The good thing is it was a question of real interest and not one of disgust as in what is this old fogey crap. (I must be doing something right as a parent, right) Anyway, just good fun and good music and a little painting to go along with it all...Enjoy!
Not So Old Time Sake
Click
Wednesday night, listening to Pandora, painting some ACEOs for (not so) old time sake. Listening to a Ratatat station with others like Dosh, The Octopus Project, Mute Math and others sliding through the playlist. This all stemmed from a discussion earlier with 16 year olds after hearing "Blue Monday" and they said, "Who is that?" and I felt old once again and this seems to be happening more and more. The good thing is it was a question of real interest and not one of disgust as in what is this old fogey crap. (I must be doing something right as a parent, right) Anyway, just good fun and good music and a little painting to go along with it all...Enjoy!
I Was Late Again Tonight
Click
I was late again tonight. I was late last night too. Dinner had already been eaten and dishes were put away and mail had been opened and everyone was already caught up on their days activities and then I stroll in and everyone is winding down and I sit at the counter in the kitchen and eat leftovers and page through a magazine that came in the mail today and I notice there are only a couple lights on and I appear to be the only one making noise around the house. It's now 11:30 and it's quiet and this bright yellow paper was on my desk and it just seemed perfect in the dimly lit house. While drawing on these yellow stripes, I thought how I was not going to be late tomorrow and miss out on the life that was going on while I was away. I guess, with that...Enjoy!
When Rain Is Not The Only Reason You Stand So Close
Click
We were downtown caught in the rain. Standing on the sidewalk under an awning out front of a deli. It was cold. Her pink hood was pulled up over her head and we stood with shoulders pulled up like you do when you are cold. You know what I mean. We talked and stood close and the rain went on and on and talked and it was just fine and I wouldn't trade that moment for anything... Enjoy!
www.KeemoGallery.com
Stay Updated! Get the Keemo Newsletter
I Aint What I Used To Be
Click
When I was looking at music selections for a painting and I read the lyrics to this old childrens song, I knew it was perfect for tonight, for this painting. To be honest I don't know how the melody to this one goes. I suppose I could google it and find out how it sounds but for some reason that doesn't seem relevant to where my mind is at right now. Maybe it's the recent birthday or another case of self-doubt that has come around like it does every few months and makes me think that I should leave the painting for those who are truly masters of thier craft or maybe it is just late and I am tired and I know I need to keep working away because somewhere in here is a dream and I don't want to end up like that group of people that has given up their dream because there was always something more pressing and I guess that I could ramble on and on and on about this but when I pause a second and reread these lyrics, I am pretty sure that at this moment, these words say it best:
The old gray mare,
She ain't what she used to be
Ain't what she used to be,
Ain't what she used to be
The old gray mare,
She ain't what she used to be
Many long years ago.
With that...Enjoy!
www.KeemoGallery.com
Stay Updated! Get the Keemo Newsletter
To My Left On The Desk And The Paint Is Still Wet
Click
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!
