Ecuador

'

Manta...The Capital of Tuna!

Big boats built by hand.

Paul took me to see this amazing boatyard in Manta. Huge vessels that go out for a month at a time. Just looking at the hulls you can see it's an intense fishing trip. What an artform!

Spring has Sprung!

Had a really good day yesterday starting off on the right foot for the Spring Equinox.

Been talking about doing this forever and I finally did it. After learning a bit of photoshop, I made some of my paintings into cards. Walked down to the Garden Cottage store on Southard to show the owner and she loved them which was so great. She liked them so much she bought them all on the spot and handed me a check which I couldn't have been happier about.

I keep flashing back to my junior high art class where we got to make screen printed cards. I remember looking at one I made thinking this was really cool. Can't wait to experiment some more...

Friday

The big slowdown. Lovin' it. Having time to process things really helps get it all done, ya know?

Started today with yoga and that's a good way to start the day. Last week I decided to dump my very expensive health care and use the funds toward WELLNESS. Things I actually could use like yoga, massage and accupuncture instead of watching it go down an empty hole. I can't stand how the whole healthcare system is set up and it makes me sick to support it. A wise investment so far.

In the midst of getting a painting framed a day ago, I found a much needed web designer. Funny how that works. Saw an ad that this woman had created and liked the style, even had the owner of such ad ask me what I thought. It was exactly what I wanted for my client. Got to meet her today and am very excited to start implementing the next wave of ideas this fall. Maybe even start learning how to design for myself. That's the next season plan, at least one of them.

Space. We all need it. You tend to feel a bit wary opening it up cause we're taught to fill, fill, fill. If you have space that means time to think. Oh, the horror! But the thing I've noticed is if there isn't any space created, no new things can come in.

Had a burst of inspiration last night and drew out a piece that I have been thinking about for 6 months. It came out so easily and I really like it. Kinda starts the new phase I'm going to take with my art. Something I feel this upcoming trip is going to help kick into gear.

Went up the keys yesterday for a quick spin and the beast started howling. Oil light came on with a death warning siren which scared the crap out of me. Stopped in at the nearest gas station to check it and my car manual out. Popped the lid and kept it open while I ran in to get some oil.

Something I find incredible is guys have a honing device for this stuff. Guess it's just the way they're wired, God love 'em. Even if there's no one around for miles, some guy always pops up to ask if I need any help or if I'm ok. It happens right as I start to unscrew the cap. It's quite nice and kind. After I assure him I'm ok, I start to thinking...

What an amazing pick up technique. Not for him..for ME. I mean I could just sit outside some bar in a dress with drink in hand and the car hood open. It'd be like shooting fish in a barrel. My mind quickly flashed on that image outside the Green Parrot complete with an umbrella accessorized drink and I start laughing.

After reading in the manual that incorrectly screwing the oil cap back on could cause a fire, I start having images of the car becoming a giant fireball while driving. It's of Arnold Schwarzenegger movie proportions. I have an active imagination that can sometimes be immobilizing.

In order to combat the exploding car image and not stopping to run from the car screaming, I start to tell the car why I appreciate it so much. Have fond memories doing it while carefully driving down US 1. Wonder if this is it for the little sucker? It's still leaking oil so next stop, mechanic.

Normally we all cringe at the thought of rolling our cars into a garage for repairs. I do too, but found a way to neutralize it. Have a cute mechanic. That way, when you have to go in, at least it's enjoyable. You can get past all the money you're going to spend when you see a cute guy greet you at the garage. I start to look forward to our visits and it's not hard to get rides from your friends who want to check him out too. Besides the cuteness, he's a good mechanic, honest and nice. It's a neat little package.

I have always liked guys who work with their hands. It's the first thing I check out - hands and forearms. Mechanics have nice fat, meaty hands with amazing forearms so it's my version of heading to a strip club. I will be starting tomorrow morning out right when I take the beast in for a check-up.

Maybe follow up the hand peep show with a little paddle boarding afterwards. Like I said, space is nice.

A Midsummer's Night Dream

Sunday is Funday

Why you ask?? Well, There are several reasons...



1.) Got to eat yummy food and drink Sangria as well as...



2.) see some cool art at Azur.



3.) Got to watch the sky turn pink, yellow and purple in the span of 30 minutes.



4.) Got to see Seava and hear Cricket read an excerpt from her new children's book at Studios of Key West.



5.) Got to hear the Barack Obama polka

Taking the Path

"Often people attempt to live their lives backwards: they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want so they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then do what you love to do, in order to have what you want." -- Margaret Young

Full moon madness. It's really intense down here and got me thinking the past few days. Well actually not thinking as much as doing. 

I got the strong urge to finish out things I had been putting on the backburner. It was so strong I couldn't do anything but and had to see it through. A finishing touch on the magical 2008. Things that included sending a much needed care package to my relatives in Spain to say hello and thanks for the trip of a lifetime. Is sending a 92 year old salt water taffy wrong? 

The other I have been putting off in anxiety and just plain old stubborn habit. I took three of my paintings in to Stone Soup gallery to get framed so I could hang them for sale at a local gallery. I gave every excuse not to take them in - money, time, exhaustion - but ultimately it's fear. As soon as I saw it, I recognized it. I had taken this path before and I didn't want it anymore.

A bunch of really interesting things have been sprouting up to show me the path I've created this last year. One that truly speaks to who I am and I have been forever grateful for it, bumpy road and all. Had my past show up before the year's end and I got a good look back at what I was when I was denying what I really wanted. It was an eye opener. 

Choices made that didn't speak to who I truly was and the results weren't pretty. It usually ended up in some demolition of my life to nudge me in the right direction when I begun the process to start over yet again. 

2008 began with a simple statement after another tough readjustment: "2008 is going to be my year." Boy was it. 

Once that statement was uttered, it began to lead me in so many directions that I felt like I had won the lottery. All it took was allowing the real me to start coming through. I've spent plenty of years trying to figure out who that was but it's always been there ever since the beginning and I just had to accept what I am - an artist. 

My grandmother had been such an influence in my life right from the start when she gave me a brush, a piece of paper and the invitation to join her in creating. We'd study things in her backyard and make from what we saw. She was simply magical. 

I'd constantly show her things I was doing and we'd examine it together. It happened all the way up through college until she died. One of the hardest things I had to go through and it affected my life in many different ways. I just couldn't cope with her death and the loss of my creative inspiration for she was who I thought of every time I drew. 

So I ran. Let my rational mind make up excuses like you can't make a living at this and a career in advertising was born. Still wanting to be a part of something artistic, I wound up doing something that was creative but chose the least creative part of it, the business side. Torturous, I can now see after one conversation with some artist friends about changing a piece of art in order to sell it to someone. I went off. 

A really strong emotion came up for me and I said it was compromising the artist's voice and tried to explain how horrible that is even for a small change. Still arguing with the nice gentleman who couldn't understand what I was saying since the goal he thought was to sell something, right? I tried to explain that I saw it daily in advertising and it used to get me really upset. 

We'd go off create something amazing and give it to the client who would pick things apart one by one. Make little changes until you didn't recognize it anymore and eventually thought it was a piece of crap. I continued to argue with the man: "Once you let someone change that, your vision,  you lose your sense of self and it's a hard way back."

A light bulb went on. Wow. 

One thing I realized was that I was a really bad advertising executive. The other is I was an artist all along, I just didn't want to see it. 

I used to argue with my clients all the time when they changed things - I fucking hated it. Not a good career move when you're an ad exec but really good when you're an artist. 

I realized the detour I took gave me conviction which I am now harnessing to put my works out there and not worry who thinks what about it. I like it. It's what I see. It's what I feel and that's all that matters. 

In finally accepting my path, I have chosen places and people that ultimately support me. I realize that the energy and love you put out is equal to what you get back. I love the places I work at. Whom I work for and with - all which feeds me and in turn feeds my art. Things can still be challenging but it's much easier when its in tune with what you care deeply about. Something I ponder as 2009 begins. 

I asked my co-workers what they thought 2009 would have in store for them. Most didn't know yet, hadn't really thought about it, something that happens when your daily life kicks in. 

Last night at work the guys asked me what I had been doing. I guess I had a look, a smell or something - they liked it. I shrugged as I said I didn't really know until I thought of it this morning. I just bought a travel book for my next trip - Australia. I read a bit on the pier before work last night and got really excited about all of the things I started seeing. The possibilities for the next adventure. What I saw really resonated with me and is probably the reason I started hearing Australia just as I was wrapping up Spain.

I've had a past co-worker say exactly the same thing to me once - that I looked different. That was the day I started drawing again. I guess I had a glow. Something that happens when you do what you love and let yourself shine through. 

So bring it on 2009. 

I gave my statement for what this year will be for me and got goosebumps the moment it came out of my mouth. 

What's the Happs?

Took a break from painting to take a quick jaunt to the water and see what kind of new stuff Ken has going on at his gallery. 

It was a nice overcast day and the weather was perfect. A light breeze and with a little water light show. Sometimes cloudy days are more interesting than the sunny ones. The water lights up into emerald, turquoise and jewel tones that pop out from the gray menacing skies. I just love it and have gotten caught in the rain many a time.

Ken is a local artist and has a ceramics gallery on White street called 7p7 Ceramics. He makes beautiful porcelain pieces that reflect the tones and textures of Key West. The one above reminds me of sand and sky. His studio is in the front of his house complete with kiln and wheel. It's a cool set up.

But really the star of this whole operation is Willie. Ken's lovable furry sidekick who barks like a madman when you scratch his butt the right way. Don't we all? 

WILLIE!!! WILBUR! or Williebear is what he likes to hear.

As we're chatting up about his new work, a stranger stops to offer flowers. Why that's so nice!  

He tells me to be careful cause the thorns are trying to start a war with him. I grab the beautiful flowers and give a very thankful thanks. That was a really kind thing and why I love living down here. 

He gives me very strict instructions to put it in the freezer at a very cold temperature so that it will live forever. "But nothing lives forever. And besides I have a very small, sad freezer that I don't want to shove this beautiful thing into." I try to tell him. 

He seems dismayed and gives me the instructions again and tells me "If you do this, you'll have it forever!!" I tell him I'll put it in some water when I get home and thank him once again.

After brief introductions, he tells me he'll be right back cause he's going to go pick me some more. "That's ok, James, I've got to be going anyway." I say. 

"Well next time I see you, I'll have some more flowers for you." he says as he rides off. 

Can't get better than that.