8.20.09 - 354/365

on the manhattan bridge
on my bike
on my way to work
and
it's pushing 90°

on days like this
i go into granny gear
for the uphill part of the bridge

8.6.09 - 340/365

because i have been trying to focus more on "studio"
and less on "vrtual"
and really less on "social"
i have not been participating in certain things as much as i normally would

this was taken in response to lauren mccarthy's 1stfans twitter project


and i finally posted this:

which i found so moving

7.21.09 - 324/365

on those days
when i don't do my watercolors today
until tomorrow
everything suffers a bit

7.17.09 - 320/365

the 3rd anniversary of buying the house
i know,
i could look a bit happier
but i was having a slow,
reorienting day
in the studio

6.17.09 - 290/365

finally
finally
finally
even though everything is most definitely not put away
it is off the studio floor
and i can actually experience
the full width of the room
it's a vast improvement
the space feels so much better;
i no longer feel as if i am painting in a corridor
we'll see what happens next...

the starting point of this video
is from a little "office" area that i have for my work station/scanner/printers/books/etc.
then one goes down 2 steps to the main part of the studio,
there's a slop sink to the left and to the right, beyond that railing
are steps to the basement where i have studio storage.

directly in front of the steps to the main part of the studio
is where i now do my daily watercolor project;
i used to have this set up towards the back
on the left wall
but that made the main studio space
way too narrow
putting it here is the only way i could get the full width of the studio to paint in.

ahead is oski on the floor
and my garden out the back
the very white paintings along the south wall
are no longer so white
but you never know
tomorrow they might be white again.

earlier this month

6.12.09 - 285/365

how do you take a picture
when there is nothing there?

6.10.09 - 283/365

this is a strangely significant photo...
always,
since i have been taking pictures
i see myself in a moment
and want to take a picture of it
meaning
i want to take a picture
where the subject is the moment

i remember this countless times,
like
being in the bath
with the water running over my feet
or seeing just the tips of my toes
floating above the water line...

somehow,
this is one of those pictures

4.30.09 - 242/365

i don't like it
when i don't have time to do my watercolors
before i go into work
and
oski doesn't like it
when i don't make time
for us to be in the garden

4.29.09 - 241/365

sometimes tears are all right
i had a very strong connection to the garden today
this feeling made me very, very happy
it also led to a vision about the little office space connected to my studio:
i think i need to paint it a deep, rich red,
i need to make a more womb-like space,
that is part of my studio
(i know my partner in crime will understand)
so i am all right with my todoist 4 2day

4.28.09 - 240/365

something about these too:

4.27.09 - 239/365

a bit of a lost day
sometimes the community stuff overtakes my life...
and the garden...
well,
i've finished preparing the beds,
now i have to figure out what to plant in them

4.26.09 - 238/365

a bit of a cop out of a self portrait
i don't see a truth here
i don't feel a connection to me
unless it's that i was trying too hard
to make up for something i missed...

at about 5
i went out into the garden to read.
it had been so hot
that it was the first time all day
that it was comfortable to sit in the sun

i was on the chairs from my mom
very cozy, with cushions
and oski came up
and was lying next to me
i would have given anything
to have had my cellphone
to take a self portrait at that moment
to capture the perfection of it

but maybe it is better
for that image to exist
just in my mind,
just in my heart,
and for me to have had the experience
as opposed to the reflective
(and revlexive) reaction.

4.24.09 - 236/365

proof positive that it's really just the way my face responds to the camera
i tried to make a "not unhappy" sp today...
out of about 10,
this is the ONLY one that doesn't look as if i am about to burst into tears...

and what a kind of wild day today was ...
i am still amazed by the power of social media;
last night,
i got an email from an acquaintance/friend
about 2 beagles that were rescued & needed a home
i decided to post them on flickr
by the time i got up this morning,
someone had read the post and was moved to post it on digg;
and my flickrmail & gmail were on fire.
let me first say, that i am thrilled that a tiny little effort on my part has gone such a long way to helping others, especially 4 legged others;
it seems as if the dogs have a new home
i'll keep updating the flickr page as i get more news.

but meta-me has to say
that if i didn't "get" "viral" before,
i sure do now:
in 24 hours that one photo got 18,000 hits
13,000 of which came from digg!

and interestingly
only 50 of those 18,000 explored further than that one page
says something about how people use the internet...

also today i received some books i had ordered -
i realized that i haven't been reading
and that has always an important part of my process:

party of one: the loners' manifesto: brings an attitude of "rightness" to needing to be alone
flow: almost a classic at this point, but never got around to it, i think it might wake something up in me
getting through the day: awful title, but deals with how having grown up in an abusive situation can extend into adulthood and how one can heal those issues. my therapist recommended it, it's not something i'll be bringing away with me on the upcoming family trip

an uneventful day in the studio,
but peaceful,
which is a major improvement
watercolors are getting ugly again
(btw that's not harsh, it's process)
but i really do
(surprisingly)
like this one


(no, not with my left hand)

(wow this post is all over the place)

4.23.09 - 235/365

blessings of the day:
i painted b4 work
it's really nice biking weather
i am going to go to bed instead of doing community work until 2AM

4.22.09 - 234/365

all in all
not a bad day
it was the first day
in a long time
that i was completely along
for a long stretch of time
and since i left the loft 3 years ago
i bet i can count days like this
on one hand
they used to be the norm...
missing piece to the puzzle?

so today's snap was taken while touring the studio
(outtake here)
it's all in the name of "listening"
and "rescuing"
and "discovery"

and this
i believe
is brilliant
if you use firefox
you can download an extension
and make this page your default page
when you open up a new tab

now,
you would think with an inspiration like that
i didn't spend too much time today surfing
but you'd be wrong
thought this was rather confirming since it kind of describes my process
(tho i know my partner in crime does not like "tricks")

and this is not a "trick" really
but just a way have acknowledging
all the activities that can be part of a "studio day"
aside from painting
since the process of making images
involves so much more
than just the act of applying paint to canvas

4.21.09 - 233/365

the end of a long day

4.20.09 - 232/365

i didn't mean for it to happen
but somehow the community
got another day out of me
maybe it's my way of taking a break

4.19.09 - 231/365

painting stuff out again
trying to see
trying to hear
trying to feel
trying to tolerate the intolerable
trying to tune in that signal but not even getting static
oh yea
just trying

4.18.09 - 230/365

so that was dark

4.17.09 - 229/365

oski makes me smile