Can You?

Can you post a blog without using the word "I"?  I (easy to do and difficult to omit!) have been looking over my blogs for the past three years and realize they are an autobiography of sorts.  I have taken through my life from my grade school years, through my cancer battle, my years of construction and my introduction to the world of art up until the present.  I have even described my morning bath.
My blogs (a sneaky way to omit "I"!!!) are becoming repetitive, my daily journal being much the same, all pretty much routine.  I did this!  I did that!  Look at "me"! The true state of affairs is my today is much like it was yesterday and I am running out of stories!
    I have tried, with much criticism I will admit, to get the discussion away from me, with the introduction of politics, god forbid!  Many of my "followers" totally misunderstood my position and what I was attempting to do and some went by the wayside.  My idea of politics is simply WHY do we believe what we do?  What historical accident makes us think the way we do?  Clearly if we were Eskimos we would like seal eyeballs and consider them a delicacy.  There are reasons one believes what they believe.  I was just trying to discover what they were.  Sort of trying to find out how I got here before I can figure out where I am going!  Well, that discussion went nowhere and I will try to figure out another one.
   For some reason I have a lot of "followers" from Russia and I have many who check up on me from all over the world.   I am curious?  What did you eat for breakfast and what will be for dinner?  How much money do you make and what do you do?  What are your worst fears and happiest times?  What are you really good at cooking?  I love to share recipes!  How much is a quart of milk where you live?
How much is the rent?  What do you want that you don't have?
   I don't use this blog to sell my wares, I have Websites for that.  So, I am hunting for other topics, besides "me" and other than politics.  ... So I will tell you what happened yesterday!
  The Mercedes needed a front end alignment and I took it to the shop at eight in the morning for the scheduled appointment. I arrive at ten minutes before eight and only the boss was there.  He told me that people over 50 arrive early and people in their 40's arrive on time and younger people always arrive late.  So we had a discussion on the ruin of youth and how difficult it is to find good help these days!
While the car was being fixed I walked about two blocks away to find a cup of coffee and was accosted by a prostitute!  A very pretty girl in her 20's wanting a "date".  Or what was once a pretty girl, someones daughter.  She had maybe forty open sores on her face, red and pussy, the mark of
meth users, wide open eyes, dark and dilated and scary.  In a parallel universe she would be in school, dancing and happy, curious and investigation life.  She will be dead soon and I can't stop thinking about her. There was nothing I could do, no power to help her.  It still bothers me.  Meth is the devil's drug for sure and I wonder how it could have been different?  We don't teach much art in school anymore, not much literature or music or theater.  Even physical education is taught less and less.  I wonder when there is not a reasonable method of escape people sometimes will choose the unreasonable.
    One day I will write a blog post without a single "I" but it may be difficult!

Saxaphone for Barbra!

Here is the Sax Barbra! I never got a really good photo and the original is long gone! This was the second in the series and I am still learning and discovering all the colors I can get from a torch. No paint, no stain, do dyes, only the torch,

heat on stainless steel is providing all the color. The whole series sold pretty fast, one day I'll make another! A series on musical instruments in pencil would be great too, don't ya think?

Color of Metal

I once did a series on musical instruments, this piano, a guitar, a saxaphone, some drums and

a violin. These were steel framed sheets of stainless steel. The image is scratched out and created with grinders and sanders. All the color comes from a torch! I took the finished pieces to the local paint shop and had them powder coated clear. Heavy Metal, for sure! These were my first attempts at painting before I ever discovered acrylics or a paint brush.

More Garden Party

So, just a little more about my garden party. The recession we are in hurts all artists and we have to constantly look for new ways to expose our art to the public. For me this garden art walk was an incredible way to meet a lot of new people and I had a captive audience. They came to me and saw my studio, the tools of my trade, my beautiful garden and the art pieces I had all over the place. Far more than I had ever put into a gallery. Reminds me of the baseball diamond, "if you build it they will come"! And they did! Local television and radio people, lots of photographers and someone who is writing a book on outdoor structures, rich people, poor people and curious people. and Edwin Root with his guitars (he is googleable!) and Jimmy Torres (who knew he lives in Eugene!) just shows up! The music in the garden was special and captivating in itself. The reason I am telling this story is when you have trouble getting your work into a gallery you can create a gallery in your own environment and bring the people to you!