Musings of an Artful Mind

Hello again friends, I have a new site which is providing a home for poetry and illustrations!! This blogspot site will continue to hold musings and art exhibit events and info. Please feel free to read my scribbles and ogle the drawings and why not start your own? Image of shell by me. Lovely thing about drawing shells and water you always get it right.  http://imagesfromthesea.net

It’s no surprise that many of the worker bees humming through the open air corridors of Honolulu Art Museum and Linekona School (now Honolulu Museum Art School) are in fact artistic in their own right. Having organized muse staff shows in past it never seizes to amaze me at what a range of imagery and sculpture the humble guard or fastidious development coordinator will decide to share. We are increasingly guarded in our corporate jobs with sterile cubicles and climate controlled responses. Moreover, museums tend to have a reputation of being cold calculated markets of zeitgeist, which at best define the cultural echelon achieved by few and refuted by many. About two hundred years ago the artistic academies organized official exhibitions called salons and if you wanted to procure patrons they were the only way to go. Now with the open market of the internet it easier for artists to have their work discovered and appreciated.

At long last, a new post! For the last six months or so, my artistic endeavors that have saved me from the dullness of urban living have been minor exercises in appreciation and experimentation. I began to carry an art journal around everywhere I went and forced myself to observe and capture the world around me in an effort to come out of my post-graduate under-employed shell. It is so easy to be lulled into the coma like state of endless movies, internet surfing, books, and playing with the cats that I could not ignore the need to express and create which ultimately brings me calm and a sense of completion. One such example was a drawing exchange I promoted on my FB, where I would create a one of a kind drawing 5x7” watercolor paper drawing and in exchange receive one in the mail as well. Twelve postcard sized watercolor and color pencil images of architecture, night & seascapes, space, sacred symbols, goldfish and cats where sent to three different states over the course ...

It’s t-minus three hours before the start of the 13th annual SomArts Dead of the Dead festival! This year there are 80 artists from all walks of life and cultural backgrounds. Yesterday, I had the pleasure of receiving my docent training for the event. Luckily, since it was the day before the opening, many artists were on site giving their installations, wall paintings, and altars some last minute loves. Please note, I tried to credit each picture with the artist and a brief description but apparently, I do not blog enough to wade through the HTML to make it look right. If you have any questions about specific pictures feel free to ask. I’d like to share with you some progress shots of the various embodiments of this year’s theme Illuminations. We are expecting quite the turn out this evening and this month of October with return patrons that have followed this event from infancy as well as, the fleet week crowd, all the new transplants to the bay area, (such as myself) and of course ...

4"x6"in watercolor drawing of two lovely gay mermen on arches watercolor paper. The development of this image has been influenced by the Japanese kuai cute pop culture style and western notions of mermaids and faeries. I've been thinking a lot lately about the influence of environment on our perceptions of self and others. The visible and unseen effects of culture and a how a person's psychological development is guided by the familial, all seem to still be peculating since finishing my degree. In the process of drawing, I seemed to be fighting a bit with the darker merman who's expression which came out more frightened and with a demur shyness than I had not expected. I like them and I was quite surprised by the end result. Clearly these two salty boys have colorful stories to tell my client in his dreams. I'm currently practicing making smaller works. This miniaturization of my current work is being off set by being part of an...

Hello there online art journal readers! It’s been a long while since I’ve updated my blogspot but I’m here to share with you my very first art project since moving to our new digs in the California bay area. First I must say the daily exposure to sunshine and vitamin D has done wonders for my naturally gloomy artistic temperament. Also having a simple low stress job at an art and framing store is not too shabby either. It really does feel like summer and I hope to ride this refreshing wave of creativity into the fall. The image was created with the invent to be donated to the Carlsbad ArtSplash which is an annual non-profit event who’s mission is to bring together the North County community to raise funds for arts, music and the North county schools. The cultural event hosts various artists with chalk art street paintings, live art, an art auction, musicians, street entertainers, and performing artists, and delectable food set in a spectacular venue overlooking the Pacific Oce...