September | 2018 | The Direction of Intention

Bring It [on KS Friday]

Posted on September 14, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

It happened again today. Taking a walk in our neighborhood this morning a woman stopped us to tell us that we make her smile. We always walk arm in arm or holding hands. “You make me feel happy,” she said.

At first we were surprised by the people that stopped us. It’s been a curiosity in our relationship since the beginning that people are compelled to stop us to tell us that we make them smile. On the street, in airports, at restaurants, in hotel lobbies, farmer’s markets. Once, a shopkeeper came out of his store to tell us, “You two are a cute couple! It’s good!” he said, giving us a thumbs up. Another time, we were at the grumbling end of a heated debate and a woman, wrestling with her English, said, “You walk together! Same stride. It’s beautiful!” She clasped her hands to her heart and walked on. Suddenly, our disgruntled debate seemed…stupid. We laughed.

It makes us smile. They make us smile. Every time. These people who think that we bring a bit of light into their day are actually bringing a warm joy-feel into ours. It’s a loop. Or a mirror. Either way, it is a reminder of how love works in this big old world. Bring it and it will come looking for you.

SAME SWEET LOVE on the album AS SURE AS THE SUN available on iTunes & CDBaby

ends September 16

read Kerri’s blog post about SAME SWEET LOVE

www.kerrianddavid.com

same sweet love/as sure as the sun ©️ 2002 kerri sherwood

Filed under: KS Friday, Love, Uncategorized | Tagged: album as sure as the sun, arm in arm, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, feedback loop, hand in hand, joy feels, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, love, relationship, same sweet love, society6.com/kerrisherwood | Leave a comment »

Stand Like An Aspen [on DR Thursday]

Posted on September 13, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

a morsel from ‘instrument of peace.’ kerri calls this one ‘aspen stand’

It’s a common misperception. The notion that with accurate information, with clear data, people will change their perceptions/behaviors accordingly. They won’t. They don’t. In my past-life-consulting I said (too often), “If it was true that information changed behavior then no one on planet earth would smoke cigarettes.” We are not as rational as we like to believe. Our investments have little or nothing to do with the accuracy or truth of information.

In the same vein, e-connectivity does not necessarily equate to relationship. Connectivity is not relationship. As we are learning these days, people can be hyper connected but share no common ground. The endless capacity for connection comes with no guarantee of substance or shared truth. Swipe left. Click ‘like.’ Connected, but connected to what?

Relationship, on the other hand, is a living, moving, breathing shared story. It is shared experience. It comes with varying points of view. It needs no explaining. In relationship, disparate viewpoints are aimed at a shared center.

And, so, a metaphor. A painting: Aspen trees, we’ve learned, grow in “large clonal colonies, derived from a single seedling, and spread by means of root suckers; new stems in the colony may appear at up to 30–40 m (98–131 ft) from the parent tree. Each individual tree can live for 40–150 years above ground, but the root system of the colony is long-lived.” The root system transcends the individuals. What a terrific metaphor for a healthy community. The individuals come and go but the root, the shared root system, lives on and on and on.”

How appropriate (to me) that Kerri chose this morsel from my painting Instrument of Peace. She gave it the title, Aspen Stand. Peace, like every real relationship, is an aspen stand.

instrument of peace

sale ends september 16

read Kerri’s blog post on Aspen Stand

www.kerrianddavid.com

aspen stand/instrument of peace ©️ 2018/2015 david robinson & kerri sherwood

Filed under: Art, Creativity, DR Thursday, Metaphor, Uncategorized | Tagged: aspen, aspen stand, connectivity, data, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, information, instrument of peace, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, peace, relationship, society6.com/davidrobinson | Leave a comment »

Dream A Little Dream [on Flawed Cartoon Wednesday]

Posted on September 12, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

when ants dream jpegBIG copy 2

empathy (noun): the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

Yet another insightful insight into the stellar thinking (or lack thereof) of the crack writing team at Flawed Cartoon. Happy Wednesday from our team to yours.

read Kerri’s blog post about WHEN ANTS DREAM

Sept 1 – 16

www.kerrianddavid.com

when ants dream ©️ 2016 david robinson & kerri sherwood

Filed under: Flawed Cartoon Wednesday, Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged: ant humor, ants, dare to tag, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, dreams, empathy, fantastic elastic, finis, flawed cartoon, Flawed Cartoon Wednesday, hairball, it's all about the horizon line, it's bester to laugh, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, laughter is the best, lower the bar, not what or where but..., other shoes, picnic panic, rant without the "r", reads like wine, ream with a "d", rhymes with team, society6.com/flawedcartoon, underachievers, what people do for a hotdog, whines like reeds, why do ants have hairy legs, why do stick figures have such big heads | Leave a comment »

Reach [on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on September 11, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

REACH copy

Someone snapped their fingers and it is fall. Less than a week ago we skirted the Des Plains river trail, hugging the shade. We’d underestimated the intensity of the heat-humidity combination punch. “Are you dying?” Kerri asked. I nodded my head, too hot to answer. This morning, the air is cool and we are pulling out our flannel shirts.

With fall comes a sweet melancholy that usually creeps in slowly but this year, absent of any transition, I awoke fully awash in the seasonal sorrows. It is, oddly, like a warm blanket. An old friend that calls, “Remember me?”

Kerri tells me this melancholy is the feeling of time passing. It is the season of standing still and remembering. It is a reach to the past when the past feels like the autumn sun on your face. Turning toward the warmth, eyes closed, basking.

Haven’t you heard your elders say that the older you get the faster time moves? This morning, pulling my flannel shirt around me, I know that it is true. Time races. Time is relative to “the long body,” the entire span of a lifetime. With so much time behind me, so many memories, the road traveled seems to have passed in a blink. Life happens in the blink of an eye.

There’s no better reason to stand still, eyes closed, and reach for the sun as its rays reach for me.

read Kerri’s blog post about REACH

Sept. 1 – 16

www.kerrianddavid.com

reach ©️ 2018 david robinson & kerri sherwood

Filed under: Metaphor, Two Artists Tuesday, Uncategorized | Tagged: autumn, change of seasons, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, fall melancholy, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, life, lifetime, long body, memory, seasons, society6.com/twoartists, studio melange, the melange, time, Two Artists Tuesday | Leave a comment »

Be The Storm [on Chicken Marsala Monday]

Posted on September 10, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

inspirationisa WITH EYES jpeg copy 2

“It is a sacred art that deals with revelation rather than observation.”~Jamake Highwater, The Language Of Vision

Tom used to say, “A writer writes and a painter paints.” Those are wise words grounded in the mechanics of art. Simply show up. Do the thing. Nuts and bolts. That’s the first step. Show up at the easel, on the dance floor, at the piano, at the writers desk and begin. Tom was a teacher and over his life heard an overabundance of excuses, reasons ‘why not.’ Said another way, he advised his students to stop thinking about it and do it. “Get out of your own way,” he’d counsel. That’s the second step. Horatio calls this step ‘trust-your-work.”

Show up. Do the thing. Get out of your own way. Trust your work.

And, what happens with trust? When the artist can get out of his/her own way, the sacred art, the art of revelation becomes possible. It’s a beautiful paradox. Show up and get out of the way. And, between those two actions, those crackling oppositions, a greater force, inspiration, gathers and releases like a storm.

September 1 – 16

read Kerri’s blog post about INSPIRATION IS A GATHERING STORM

www.kerrianddavid.com

inspiration is a gathering storm ©️ 2016/18 david robinson & kerri sherwood

Filed under: Art, Chicken Marsala Monday, Creativity, Metaphor, Uncategorized | Tagged: advice, artistry, chicken marsala, Chicken Marsala Monday, Chicken nugget, creativity, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, force, inspiration, Jamake Highwater, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, metaphor, myth, paradox, society6.com/chickenmarsala, story. sense making, studio melange, The Language of Vision, the melange, trust | Leave a comment »

Spend Time Together [on KS Friday]

Posted on September 7, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

In the fall of 2013, still new in our relationship yet already tired of making it work at a distance, Kerri and I flew to Seattle, packed my studio, my paintings, and my few worldly possessions into a Budget truck. We headed east over Snoqualmie Pass en route to Wisconsin. The trip took us five days. Five days of adventure. Five days of gorgeous scenery. Five days of uninterrupted time together. It served as the portal into our new life.

This piece, TIME TOGETHER, could be the soundtrack for our five day journey. It is hopeful, bright, and present in the way that people become when on a road trip, surrounded by a startling world, en route to the unknown new. On this KS Friday, sit back in your seat, close your eyes, and let Kerri’s TIME TOGETHER take you on the road. Marvel at the simple pleasure of companionship, of precious time shared with the person you love.

TIME TOGETHER on the album THIS PART OF THE JOURNEY is available on iTunes & CDBaby

read Kerri’s blog post about TIME TOGETHER

www.kerrianddavid.com

tolerate or like us on facebook

time together/this part of the journey ©️ 2000 kerri sherwood

Filed under: KS Friday, Love, Uncategorized | Tagged: album - this part of the journey, Budget truck, companionship, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, inspiration, Kenosha, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, relationships, road trip, Seattle, shared time, simple pleasure, society6.com/kerrisherwood, solo piano, this part of the journey, time together, travel | Leave a comment »

See Simply [on DR Thursday]

Posted on September 6, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

autumn hillside pair copy

Kerri’s morsel choice often surprises me but none more than this week. She took a close up photo of my painting We Watch The Setting Sun, flipped it over, made two copies, left one untouched and manipulated the other. “I want to use both!” she announced with THAT look in her eyes. “It reminds me of a hillside in the fall.”

I write this often, perhaps too often, but it matters: through the morsels I am discovering simplicity. In her Autumn Hillside set I see the freedom of my brushstrokes. I see the collision of thick paint and thin washes. I see simple color that, in its movement, serves as a suggestion. Less is more. Nothing else is needed. I understand Mark Rothko. I appreciate Ad Reinhardt. I am seeing their work through new eyes.

New eyes. Could there be a greater gift for an artist, for someone who has worked his entire life at ‘seeing?’

“Don’t you love it?” Kerri asked of the morsels. I smiled. Yes. I love it.

we watch the setting sun, acrylic on canvas, 24 x 36IN

september 1 – 16

read Kerri’s blog post about AUTUMN HILLSIDE

www.kerrianddavid.com

Filed under: Art, Creativity, DR Thursday, Uncategorized | Tagged: acrylic painting, Ad Reinhardt, autumn hillside, autumn hillside night, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, Mark Rothko, narrative series, painting, simplicity, society6.com/davidrobinson | Leave a comment »

Set An Alarm [on Flawed Cartoon Wednesday]

Posted on September 5, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

BirdsSouth BIGcopy copy 2

John took his car to the dealer for service and the mechanics plugged it into a diagnostic system. They didn’t bother to lift the hood. They told him all was fine. John knew it needed an oil change but pulling the stick to check the fluid level is oh, so 20th century.

We laugh at ourselves for looking at our weather app before lifting our eyes to the sky. “What’s the weather like?” I ask, opening my phone before stepping out the door onto the deck.

I thought it might be a bit early for bird migration humor but it’s never too early to poke fun at our dependence on all things abstract and technological. And, as if to prove a point, on a walk around the lake at Des Plains, I saw the Canadian geese pass over. They were on the move. The lead goose stared intently at Google maps. “This way!” it honked.

Just kidding. Well, not really.

read Kerri’s blog post about HOW BIRDS KNOW WHEN TO FLY SOUTH

www.kerrianddavid.com

Filed under: Flawed Cartoon Wednesday, Pattern, Uncategorized | Tagged: #birdwatch, bird migration, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, flawed cartoon, Flawed Cartoon Wednesday, flying south, geese in a diner, goose humor, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, society6.com/flawedcartoon, technology, too much coffee | Leave a comment »

Will It To Happen [on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on September 4, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

bcat summer with frame copy

This is the first face, the first thing I see each morning when I open my eyes. BabyCat, aka Sumo aka ONEBIGCAT aka Scrawny Cat. Let’s just say that he is a substantial kitty. And willful when hungry. The morning ritual goes like this (my eyes are closed): he mews up a storm with no result (eyes are still closed). He pulls books from shelves and then claws the back of the already-destroyed-chair (eyes still closed). He shreds the previous night’s crossword puzzle and any other loose paper on the floor. No movement from the human. The final stage is a cat-leap onto the bed (BabyCat landing on the bed feels like riding a rolling ocean wave in a small dinghy). And then he stares at me like some 19th century hypnotist, willing my eyes to open. No matter how long it takes. None of the ruckus produces results but the silent stare is a killer. It’s unnerving. It makes me open my eyes.

This morning the thunder and rain are at it again. The air is thick, sticky and humid. Wisconsin has gone tropical and, apparently, now has a monsoon season. When my eyes popped open this morning there was something extra in BabyCat’s stare. More than food, he wanted to know where summer had gone. Was it here at all or was is merely a B-Cat dream? A passing fancy?

Blinking my eyes, the best that I could offer was this: “I don’t know, BabyCat. I dreamed it was summer, too.” And then we finished the morning ritual with our customary promenade to the food bowl.

(the BabyCat coasters kill me! the travel mug is downright unnerving!)

read Kerri’s blog post about WHERETHEHECKDIDSUMMERGO?

SEPT 1 – 16

www.kerrianddavid.com

Filed under: Family, Random, Two Artists Tuesday, Uncategorized | Tagged: BabyCat, cat, cats, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, Morning ritual, society6.com/twoartists, studio melange, summer, Sumo, the melange, Wisconsin Monsoon | Leave a comment »

Believe In The Impossible [on Chicken Marsala Monday]

Posted on September 3, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

All of my life I’ve been surrounded by people who believed in the impossible. At a school for developmentally disabled children, there were therapists who believed against all odds that they could help a child catch a ball. And, one day, after ten thousand tries, extraordinary therapies on frozen muscles, endless encouragement for the child and for each other, those little hands closed around the ball at just the right moment. A catch. Cheers, celebration dances and tears erupted, this feat greater than winning a Super Bowl. The impossible became possible. And then, as if there was not a moment to waste, the next impossibility was named: ball catching could become routine!

Artists, who go day after day to the studio or the stage, their lives an impossibility of economic headwinds and community disinterest. They create. They find a way. They keep the doors of deep humanity open, mythology alive. In this age of dedicated differences and echo-chamber-information, they reinvigorate the experience of a shared story. The impossible becomes possible, even if only for a moment. And the next day, they do it all over again, refreshed with inspiration and improbability.

Teachers who walk into classrooms every single day, their budgets cut, their student load swelling, their hands tied with standardized-testing-madness, and yet they reach. They try. They inspire. Like icebreakers, they cut new paths through impossibly frozen circumstances to locate and nourish the minds and hearts of their students. To free them from disbelief. To embrace the challenge of an obstacle. To encourage discovery of self and other. The impossible becomes possible. And, the next day, they do it all over again.

Inspiration. It’s all around us. It makes people do crazy things.