The circus

Can you imagine having the idea to start a circus. What a bizarre thing to come up with. Animals and acrobats and clowns and a tent. The first time a new idea comes up it seems foreign and unreasonable and crazy even.

But so many things that we are now used to were once a weird idea that someone had the guts to actually do.

Brent Blake who lives at Soap Lake, had one such idea. He wanted to install a three story lava lamp in the downtown area to bring tourists to soap Lake where he has his gallery. Talk about Pr stunts.

The town agreed and they found one such lamp in New York and bought it and now are waiting to install it. It works. The blob inside goes up and down like the ones in the 70's we all thought were so great.

He also want to create a stonehenge type of structure made of Lava Soap Bars. only real big. They are three stories too.

What a blessing he is to the town to make all those wild and wonderful and joyful ideas come true.

That is why you do your wild ideas, they might make everyone else feel the exhilaration of pure joy for a few minutes and they might be inspired to come up with their own wild ideas that might benefit everyone.

Follow those ideas . Even if you try 10 wild ideas and only one actually works- it will have been more than worth the effort.

Just ask Brent Blake

A gallery Idea

My Husband and I are opening an art gallery in our home that is very different from the usual experience/ We both think that art buying is such an important decision that you should be in an place that promotes good choices that will give back a lifetime of enrichment. We have an old 1914 house that would lend itself to this venture.

Creatively speaking we would make it a place where you want to be stimulated with as much beauty as possible and feel as comfortable as possible so you would be receptive to hearing what your true self is speaking. The most important thing is not to see too much art to get overloaded. You need to have different senses heightened to appreciate the art voice that is in you.

For that reason we would only show 10 paintings at a time.

The other thing we are going to do is serve food appropriate to the art that is being shown. Your taste buds can open up your art buds too.

That is why people say "I like your taste in ..."

The last thing is we will have only small showings. That way you are free to be with the work and listen to see if it is speaking to you.

And we have a wonderful name for it. "A Beautiful Line."

soap lake show

When you take a chance and do something a little different. sometimes it pays off. Having a show in a very small town has two big advantages. People are not expecting to see you and they are glad to.

That is what seemed to happen is soap lake.

which just goes to show you what you think about something will make it true. Does that sound new age , far out kind of thought. It is not it is just true.

I wish I had known this when I was 20.

WE acted like this was the biggest event of the century and it was. loads of people came and enjoyed themselves.

Brent Blake hired a band. Most openings do not have bands they have soft music and awful wine if you are lucky. Not soap lake. We had lovely spaces with fantastic music and equally fantastic beer and wine. No skimping on the libations here.

Brent was the graphic designer for the spokane worlds fair. He thinks big.

One person even drove over from Seattle for the event a mere three and a half hour drive. hum does that tell you something. If you build it and promote it they will come.

interview

I was interviewed by the Columbia Basin Herald yesterday. I should have seen these questions coming and had something prepared but I thought how hard can it be to answer questions about my work.

I found myself stammering and going on and on about all sorts of things.

This is a good learning experience. Talking and writing are left brain activities and you cant just rest on what you say off the top of your head.

Next time I will prepare with answers that are more to the point.

the poor interviewer was just trying to find out my motive for painting.

Sigh, I will have something better to say.

One of the ways to get better at thinking is blogging.

So this is just another way to get better/

the road from your brain to your mouth is a big one apparently.

A beautiful line

I am going to start commenting on worthwhile art that I find. The importance of art critics are only that they tell you what is out there. They usually do in in an extremely erudite manner to seem like they must know what they are talking about. I do not believe that you need to major in art theory to talk about art.

Most people do not have the time or inclination to study on the side/ But I do so I will share what I see with you.

I know a beautiful line when I see it and that is what I am searching for in my work and others.

great ideas

Ideas are meaningless unless you try them out, You dont know how to fight a war till you fight a war. You dont know if anything is true unless you try it out in reality.

All night long I get ideas and many times they slip away by morning. I have to write them down. I have to try them. It is a great feeling never running out of ideas for any problem. Each problem has more than one way to solve it.

The greatest hinderance to finding the best idea is to just take another one that has worked in the past and use it. We all do that constantly. Way less work that way. But it might not be the best way.

I have a problem. What does a different kind of gallery look like?? has everything been done. no only a few things have been done. What if there are fifty ways to run a gallery and have it be profitable. There are more than that.

This blows my mind when I think that I always stop at one or two ways.

why buy art

One of my creative group member said that the need I fulfill in painting is something to hang on the wall.

I was thinking about that and disagree. The art that you pick out and pay for and hang on your wall is a total reflection of you. Everyone who looks at it, will have the honor of seeing you in a way that is profound. It reflects to everyone your home soul.

Art is always made to be in home not a museum.

It is personal and intimate and life giving.

Galleries exist to just move them to the right home.

Sometimes paintings sit for quite a while in the gallery. There is nothing wrong with it, it just hasn't found its owner yet.

Art that you save for and buy will be the most important thing in your house because you will think long and hard about a piece before paying hard earned cash for it.

My gallerist says that when people struggle to pay for a painting and then actually get it, it changes them forever.

You will get joy and nourishment from your artwork for years and years. Nothing else you can buy will give back to much.

That is why you buy art.