We have been away. Not physically away, but far off. For me there has been a struggle to find the boundaries. What do I share here? This venue is about publishing the art fast...the learning curve on some of the web tools is steep, and I have not had the the time (or focus) to tweak each line of HTML in the way I want. Now I remember a conversation I had couple of months ago with my father. The business end of our art needed attention and I was consulting him about how to manage it best. He listened to all of my analysis, my endless myriad of options, leaning back on the chair at his computer. At the end of my detailed explanations he quietly urged me to "keep it simple".
That may seem like common sense, knowledge I should have acquired already. But those who know me understand this is my greatest challenge. I made a collage a 15 years ago that included and image of Thoreau's "simplify, simplify, simplify". I had read an article about a man managing his property and one piece of it had an outbuilding. He carved Thoreau's words into a rugged slice of granite, kept in a building next to his pond. In spite of this man's wealth the outbuilding was spare. The interior was painted completely white and every wall had an attached bench, nothing more. There were no doors to close, just sizable openings, so I imagined perching quietly inside, observing every detail of the teaming life surrounding the shed. The stone was perched on the bench inside, and its bold presence seemed noble to me. I transfered a photo of it in the middle of my chaotic collage and always kept it where I could see it while I worked. I put it away when it seemed I would never make another piece of art again.
Just now, as I ponder all of these VERY serious philosophical questions, baring my soul, Donna has been playing games on her computer...a game we are both addicted to. She was sure she had leaped over the last hurdle, completing the final puzzle. But NO! She had been betrayed! I was having a sip of soda and sure enough I could not contain my laughter...I spewed a mouthful soda all over my desk, keyboard and monitor. I walked into her office with soda still dripping from my face. These are the laughs that save me. Donna frequently laughs in her sleep. How can life be any better? Well, my monitor could be cleaner.
So there is the boundary, the outer reaches of what is real. Some higher power intervened and I was rightly pulled back to what is real, what is not barren, what will never be barren.
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