October | 2023 | The Direction of Intention

Follow The Rules [David’s blog on saturday morning smack-dab.]

Posted on October 7, 2023 by davidrobinsoncreative

“Do you remember when you used to stand up without sound effects?” she asked. We burst out laughing at the truth of her question. A gathering of friends comparing the aches and pains of simple movement.

Kerri and I have initiated a few new roadtrip travel rules. First, we stop before the sun goes down. The days of seventeen hour long-hauls are over. Diminished night-sight made that rule necessary. Next, we stop every few hours to stretch our legs. We’ve found that if we don’t stop, the only way out of the car is to roll off the seat and crawl to the curb. Social grace and the aesthetics of aging made the stop-every-few-hours-rule essential. People at rest areas get nervous when our car door opens and I fall groaning to the ground, crawl with my elbows around the car, reach up to open Kerri’s door, and pull her moaning to the pavement.

Let’s face it. It’s not pretty. It’s always a better idea to stop while there’s still some feeling in our legs.

read Kerri’s blogpost about LONG DRIVES

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Filed under: smack-dab, Uncategorized | Tagged: aarp, aging, artistry, bloggers, cartoonists, composer, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, getting older, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, middle age, middle age cartoon, musician, night sight, painter, road trip, second chances, smack-dab, social grace, story, studio melange, the melange, travel, two artists | 2 Comments »

Choose The Shape [David’s blog on KS Friday]

Posted on October 6, 2023 by davidrobinsoncreative

Kurt Vonnegut posited that stories have shapes that can be graphed. According to his graphs, there are only eight story shapes. His story graphs work on a horizontal axis, from Beginning to End, and a vertical axis, Good Fortune to Ill Fortune.

Stories are journeys. Life is a journey. Over the course of every journey, fortune flips. Robert McKee writes that fortune flips are central to making a well-made screen play. What looks like a gift becomes a disaster and vice-versa. Just like life.

Kerri calls this photo of a mushroom A Table For Two. It reminds her of our pop-up table. We’ve celebrated anniversary dinners at the beach around our pop-up table. We’ve had pop-up snack time in the woods. The pop-up table was a great idea that came during pandemic isolation. For me it became a visible symbol of a fortune-flip. How to bring light into a dark time? Make a special meal pop-up in any location: a beach, the woods, a park, a trail…

There are circumstance-driven fortune-flips. There are fortune-flips brought through intention. When circumstance brings ill fortune, there is no better response than to pack a special meal and celebrate the day from a surprising location. Flip the circumstance through intention. Choose the shape of the story.

Disaster strikes? “A table for two, please.”

Kerri’s albums are available on iTunes and streaming on Pandora and iHeart Radio

read Kerri’s blogpost about A TABLE FOR TWO

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Filed under: Gratitude, KS Friday, Story | Tagged: artistry, celebration, circumstance, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, fortune, fortune flip, good fortune, ill fortune, intention, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, Kurt Vonnegut, robert mckee, story, story shape, story shapes, studio melange, the melange | 2 Comments »

Have Second Thoughts [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

Posted on October 5, 2023 by davidrobinsoncreative

A comment on how my brain works: I saw this photo and thought, “This is a record of a life path.” What? Where did that come from?

Note: I didn’t think “My life path.” My random reflection was in no way personal. Though, to be perfectly honest, I am only familiar with one life path and it is mine. This jumble of hose, running this way and that, lines running over and under, does vaguely resemble my movement in the world. Or a freeway interchange as seen from the air.

Note on the note: No life path is straight. Circumstance has a way of making lines into loops. Growth has a way of revealing side paths that surprisingly become main roads. Yes, I’m making the assertion that a straight life path indicates a boring-no-growth existence. It would be an excessively mean assertion except, to reiterate, no life path is straight. Loops and surprises. Forces beyond control, leading to the wild eye-and-heart-opening recognition that very little is under our control. Fantasies fall revealing a life that shimmers in its day-to-day-ness as it spirals uncontrollably through the universe.

My second thought: “This reminds me of a Jackson Pollock painting.”

Another comment on how my brain works like most other brains: Second thoughts usually make more sense than first thoughts. That’s the key to sense-making: second thoughts respond (or recoil) from the nonsense of first thoughts.

A note on first and second thoughts: It’s best not to give voice to first thoughts. Wait for the second, more sensical thought for show-and-tell. Editors are involved. You’ll have more friends that way. Also, the authorities won’t need to lock you up. So, forget what I said about life paths and selectively remember my second thought about Jackson Pollock.

Remember: I warned you. This is how my brain works.

[I wish you could see Kerri’s eye-roll as I read to her this post:-) ]

read Kerri’s blog post about THE HOSE

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Filed under: DR Thursday, Metaphor, Random | Tagged: artistry, control, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Jackson Pollock, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, nonsense, painter, Random, sense making, story, studio melange, the melange | 1 Comment »

See The Unseen [David’s blog on Not So Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on October 4, 2023 by davidrobinsoncreative

20’s collections are surprising and always thought-provoking. For instance, he has a rich collection of images from the world that he calls “It’s good enough.” Jobs done poorly. The least amount of effort necessary to address a big job. Solutions that merely shift the problem. Beneath his series is a potent observation: this is what the world looks like when no one cares. Good enough. He is an artist of subtle yet powerful statements.

Another series that always makes me laugh is his “found faces” series. Electric outlets, manhole covers, utility plates, door knobs, that, once seen, gaze back at the viewer and can never be unseen. Now, it’s become a group sport. Kerri will stop suddenly, saying, “Oh! A face for 20’s series!” She adds to his collection. He adds to her collections.

It’s what artists are supposed to do for each other and the world. Open each others eyes to the whimsy and worth that surrounds us. To make the unseen seen, the familiar new.

Recently, at a coffeehouse near Madison, I heard the scuffle. Kerri and 20 both saw the face in the door and leapt to capture it. “Did you see it, too?” they simultaneously chimed, snapping away, bobbing around each other to capture the found face.

They are like siblings, a brother and sister competing to get the first photo. Laughing and jabbing ribs. My job is to sit back and appreciate the beauty of being surrounded by so many artists’ eyes – wide open and helping each other – and me – see and fully experience this surprising and mysterious world.

read Kerri’s blogpost about FOUND FACES

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Filed under: Art, Creativity, Flawed Wednesday, Seeing | Tagged: appreciation, artistry, artists, artists life, beauty, collections, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, faces, found faces, good enough, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, observation, series, story, studio melange, the melange, themes, value, whimsy, wise eyes | 1 Comment »

Color It Vivid [David’s blog on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on October 3, 2023 by davidrobinsoncreative

These two beauties are Black Swallowtail butterflies in the making. Caterpillars that look as if some artist applied yellow and green paint pens, decorating their black bodies with line and dot. The pop of vibrant color drew our eyes and brought us to our knees to investigate. “Unbelievable!”

I felt the same way the day we saw the orchids at The Chicago Botanic Gardens. The shock and variance of vivid color challenged my dedication to the notion that mother earth paints exclusively in earth tones. She does not. Her palette extends from neon to neutral, her color combinations are as enthusiastic as they are subtle.

I am aware that the further I walk down this life-road, the more I see – or am able to see – the feisty mix of color calling from the hummingbird and cardinal, the caterpillar and coneflower, the sunset and sea foam. I know they’ve always been there. I’ve always appreciated them in a passing way. Now, they catch me in their color-nets and hold me captive. My eyes are willing prisoners. “Unbelievable,” is my patent sigh and I find myself grateful beyond words that I have access to a world that spins color beyond my tiny expectation, my limited belief.

read Kerri’s blogpost on COLORFUL CATERPILLARS

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buymeacoffee is an online “tip-jar” where you can support the continued work of the artists you appreciate.

Filed under: Art, Awakening, Creativity, Two Artists Tuesday | Tagged: artistry, belief, black swallowtail butterfly, butterfly, caterpillar, Chicago Botanical Gardens, color, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, earth tones, expectation, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, Mother Nature, orchids, seeing, story, studio melange, the melange | 1 Comment »

See The SISU [David’s blog on Merely A Thought Monday]

Posted on October 2, 2023 by davidrobinsoncreative

Sisu is a word that is often used in Kerri’s family. With Finnish roots braided through strands of Norwegian, for them it is more than a word. It’s an inheritance. It’s DNA.

It was new to me when I entered the clan. Innate strength of will. Determination. Perseverance. I’m told the full meaning of the word doesn’t translate well to English.

It was an abstract concept for me until these past few years. I have now been witness to Sisu and it is awesome.

Keep in mind that Kerri is a pianist, a recording artist, a composer. She is a Yamaha artist which means she is considered an acknowledged master of her instrument by people who make performance pianos. When, just prior to the pandemic, she fell and broke both her wrists, when we lost our co-managing directorship to the virus, when she was nearly fully recovered and fell again on a wet floor, re-injuring her wrist beyond the capacity to recover, and then her day-job popped like a soap bubble and disappeared, when she lost motion in her left shoulder…I discovered the full meaning of Sisu as the force of DNA arose in my wife.

It’s true. The full meaning doesn’t translate well into English.

We have words like Fortitude or Pluck. Grit. Mettle. They are good words and go far in describing what I’ve been witness to in Kerri to these past three years. They simply do not go far enough. Most people I know, myself included, would have thrown in the towel, lapsed into parties of pity, or simply admitted it was all too much and given up the fight. Most people do not have Sisu in their DNA.

Recently, Rob wrote to ask us if we could see light at the end of our tunnel. The short answer is no. The long answer is that it really doesn’t matter whether or not we see light. We have Sisu in our camp. If we don’t find light we will either create it or blow a hole in the tunnel. Or both.

There’s no way to describe it but there is a caution or two: I wouldn’t bet against Kerri-full-of-Sisu. She is full to overflowing with her inheritance. And, it’s probably best to stay out of her way.

read Kerri’s blogpost about SISU

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