Caution! Construction Ahead!

Hello my friends! Thank you for stopping by. I've got a lot to talk to you about this blog, so let's start with the painting above. I named the painting "Klowny" based on the character from the short story "The Ten Klown-mandents" written by Mark McLaughlin and Michael McCarty for the book "Darc Karnivale" published by "The Evil Nerd Empire" This is a little off the usual path for me, but then again, what is the usual path for me? I love doing anything that takes imagination. I did spend a little more time working on this one though. This is what I call a thinking painting. To me that means I have a lot on my mind and I'll really bog myself down in it to think about things. An ever since my visit at the VA Hilton I have had a lot on my mind.

I mentioned before that while I was in the hospital, I stood face to face with death once again. It was the major wake up call that I needed in a lot of different ways, and that is what this blog post is about, in detail.

If you stopped right now and made a list of the 10 most important things in your life and then found yourself in the hospital on the verge of death and made the list again, I think you would find that the 2nd list would be very different from the first one, and my friends that is what happened to me.

No, I am not going to talk to you about what is important to me. Most of that is very personal. But I am going to talk to you about what is important to me as far as my art is concerned and what my ambitions are. An that might surprise you.

First and foremost, the doctors told me that I could not be working long and grueling days anymore. That I could not be pushing myself, over dosing on coffee or any of the bad habits that has got me through the years of working 14 to 16 hour days, every day. For me to have a life to look forward too, I must address my health issues which include high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease to name a few. The time has come that I must take care of myself, or I would die.

Well, I've worked a lot of years to get to where I am now, and to be honest life is just now getting really good, and I want to hang around for awhile. So I am doing everything the doctor is telling me to do, and we're seeing improvements everyday in my health. I am getting the sugar readings in control which I didn't think was going to happen for a while there. But even with that, I still will never be able to drink booze or eat sugar and that is just fine with me.

So what is going through my mind right now is that if I am going through all of this to just live then I want to make sure the things that I do in the time I have left to me are the things that I can look back and say, "Finally, I got something right!" With that being said, the only art I am going to do is the art that makes me happy and I have fun doing it.

Every Monday is going to be writing day for me. Right now, that means I am going to work on the book I have been talking about every Monday until it is done. And then I will write something else. Perhaps a novel of my own, or a screenplay. I don't know, but i will keep writing until the day I die, and hopefully I will be able to help others by doing that. This is really important to me and I know I am not getting it done as quick as some of you might like to see. But until I have that going, I will be sharing tips and tricks that will help you along your way. Also, if you want me to answer a question for you, just e-mail me here and unless I am out of town, I will respond within 24 hours.

The second thing to me art wise is giving my work "Life" and a "Voice" I started this entry last night close to bed time, and had to take it back up this morning, and during that time the darnest thing happened. Go here and read all the comments about the "Klowny" painting that was posted last night. According to what these kind folks are saying, I am getting there. As an artist, there is no greater feeling than that. No award can match it, no amount of money can make you feel that good. It is what every artist strives to do with their patrons, create an emotional response. After all these years of learning and working, I am finally reaching a life long goal.

It is late afternoon now. Cheryl is home and taking a nap on the couch. I tell you couch will suck you in. lol. If you lay down on it, you will go to sleep. It got me earlier, but i am coming down off of prednisone and I need naps. But my body is getting much better, which brings me back to where I left off earlier. Monday's I am going to spend on writing and Sundays will be Website day. I took the website down for now, and I am going to re-vamp it again, and I'm going to take my time about it and do everything just the way I want it to be. I am going to have video "How To" classes on there and podcast. I am also going to do something similar to what "Ralan" does on his website and make a market list for artist.

So that leaves me Tuesday through Saturday to do my art. Even if I don't feel good that week, I should be able to do at least a painting a week, depending on how much detail I decide to put in it. I enjoy doing commercial assignments, so as long as I don't have a "I need it tomorrow" deadline, I will be able to do it, and hopefully if I keep taking care of myself, my health will keep getting better. We shall see.

The whole point of this blog today is to let you know that I am gong through a growing stage, and if you hang around you will be part of it and see it happen. So I hope you do. Like I said before my priority's have changed and what comes next will be as much as a surprise to me as to you I am sure. lol

So for now I am signing off but I will be back in a couple of days with a new painting. Peace and Blessings all.