My grandma died early Saturday morning. She was 96 years old. She lived a long, blessed life and for that I am grateful. But her departure is also a reminder: death is coming for us all. So when I find myself in a self-placed conditional constraint cycle, ruminating things like I’ll be happy when I… Continue reading I’ll Be Happy When
Tag: mindfulness
Take My Classes, Take My Workshops!
As spring screeches to a halt, it’s already a thousand degrees in the Houston area, so that means it’s time to retreat indoors and bask in the glory that is 21st century air conditioned living! Yeehaw! Don’t worry, friends, there is plenty to do indoors! In fact, I have several classes and workshops coming up… Continue reading Take My Classes, Take My Workshops!
The Work Is For Me
If you like it — if ANYONE likes it and WANTS it — and CARES enough to offer funds in order to INVITE it into his/her home… then that’s gravy, baby. That’s just gravy. You see, if I’m not paying attention, I find myself being led towards audience capture. I find myself making things that… Continue reading The Work Is For Me
Embrace Rejection
“Without suffering there cannot be happiness.” — Thich Nhat Hanh If you don’t know what pain feels like, how can you possibly know pleasure? One is the absence of the other. You have to experience both to know the difference. And trust me, I am very learned in the world of suffering. I know failure.… Continue reading Embrace Rejection
Memory Maker
One of the best parts of my job as an artist is evoking emotion from others. My favorite works of art often move me. They move me to tears, to smile, to roar! As a connoisseur, I am drawn to art that makes me feel something. So when I was recently contacted by an old… Continue reading Memory Maker
Gratitude
This time of year excels at turning my attention towards all of the things I am thankful for. And while listing those things and declaring one’s gratitude out into the internet may seem like a trite enterprise nowadays, I really don’t care. I am thankful for a lot, so I gotta shout it out. Completely… Continue reading Gratitude
Let’s Watch
It sounds corny, I know it. But I don’t care. It’s the truth: I miss cuddling. At the end of a long stressful day, one of my favorite things to do when I was married was to hold my wife in my arms and just breathe together. Our heartbeats and our respiratory rhythm would sync… Continue reading Let’s Watch
Feature Wall of the Madeley Gallery
During the month of November, ten brand new artworks of mine are on view and for sale at the Madeley Gallery of the Conroe Art League in Conroe, TX. This series, “Movement Over Calm,” is one that captures my fascination with athletic disposition over a base of calm centeredness. Two keys to my sanity are… Continue reading Feature Wall of the Madeley Gallery
The Journey Is the Reward
When I left Chicago and decided to start over in Texas, I knew I was in for some tough times. Creating something from nothing — in this case, an art career — that can sustain one’s life both monetarily and spiritually was a task full of hardships, many of which I couldn’t even conceive. And… Continue reading The Journey Is the Reward
Let Go
Let. Go. They are just two, simple words. And yet the action they call for still seems impossible. From the moment I wake each day my mind races with all of the things — the menial, the necessary, the dire, the clutter — and the anxiety associated with each one compounds into the next one… Continue reading Let Go