DATE: 12/29/2007 13:11:46 / MOOD: full of life

2007 is fading into history and will soon only be memories. It seems as though it was only a week or two a go that I was pondering the end of 2006. When I was a young boy (something else that feels it was only a few weeks ago) I worked with my dad at his service station. I can remember him saying to one of the guys that worked for him. That once you hit 21 that the clock starts running faster and faster. Now I was 11 or 12 then and because I was so old I was much wiser than my dad. I remember thinking has he gone crazy? A minute is a minute and an hour is and will always be an hour. Well there was a wise man there but it wasn’t me. Time we think of it as something that will always be there. We know it has an end in the lives of us humans. But some how we fool ourselves into thinking it’s a long way off.  We get all wrapped up in our day to day events.  Then one day you are setting there and thinking about all the things that your trip through life has taken you. The weddings and the friends, all the jobs, all those dreams places you have gone. The things you say to yourself that you wanted to do before you pack it in. The loves you had and the loves you lost. The things that if you had the chance to do over you would do differently and the things you wouldn’t change a thing. That maybe the reason we as humans mark time with new years. 365 days and then ask ourselves what did we do right and what did we not like and would change about ourselves.  All in all not a bad thing we by doing this don’t let ourselves get to far off track. Time, I think I will try to spend it by loving more and helping more the people that are part of my life. I will worry less about making it as an artist and just be an artist. I will create and paint and if I end up with to many painting I will give them a way so I will have more room to paint more. I am an artist and to paint is to live.  

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DATE: 12/21/2007 14:22:22 / MOOD: don't know

I received an interesting email the other day. I had put an ad in our local web site here in the Sonora area called www.myMotherlode.com.  This woman saw my ad and emailed me. Not to ask about oil paintings but to ask if I was the guy that live across the street when we were kids. I turned out that she was and her brother and I were best friends. I hadn’t seen them for 44 years. The really neat thing was that when Dirk (that’s her brothers name) and I were (9) him and 10 (me) made plans. He was going to become an actor or rock and roll singer and I was going to become an artist. Its 50 years later and he is a singer his fan base is in Italy I am an artist. I don’t make my living as an artist but I do sell a painting every now and then. If you want to check my friend out you can Google Dirk Hamilton. I am still looking for a market for my artwork. May be next year I will find it.

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DATE: 12/02/2007 15:43:55 / MOOD: full of life

As a baby boomer and getting close to retirement I have been trying to market my talents as an artist that works in oils. I have been an artist all of my life but only realized it in the last 3 or 4 years. I started painting with oils when I was 9 or 10 years old. First with paint by numbers then I thought I don't need the numbers. I taught my self with now to art books and some training in 7th to 9th grade. I didn't realize it but when I first picked up that first brush I was an artist. When I say an artist I mean creating art is what I am, not what I do. To paint is to live and every thing I see I paint in my mind. I have those times when I get frustrated and want to fine something else to do. I try so hard and put so much of me into my art as all artist do. With life's everyday stress a long with this passion to create fine art and not being able to sell what you want to. Makes an artist wonder why am I putting myself through all this, I don't need to I could go back to racing or take up collecting bugs or baseball cards. I spend hour after hour creating paintings after paintings and all this after working at my full time job for 12 hours and taking care of all the things here at home. Why do I do that? Why not just take a nap? Remember that word I used a few sentence's a go PASSION. It's passion that allows an artist to take a beating and get frustrated and get mad and question their self and the next day or even a few minutes later find themselfs in the studio. It's because art is what you are not what you do. It's passion the drives you and makes you push yourself far beyond anything you could ever of imagined. I have sat looking at a blank canvas and a photo of a subject thinking can I do this one? I have looked at a canvas and wondered if I realy want to paint this? Maybe I should go fishing. I like to fish. I will just do the drawing on the canvas and then I will go fishing. Ok the drawing looks pretty good I will just put one or two colors to the canvas. I haven't been fishing in two years and I like to fish. So passion : is it a blessing or a cruse? Thats the question. For me both but mostly a blessing. Now if only I could get someone, anyone to buy my paintings. Then I could go fishing or (I would have more room) maybe I could do just one more painting or two or three.

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