Creativity | The Direction of Intention

Have Wings [on DR Thursday]

Posted on July 12, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

This painting jumped to the canvas fully formed. It announced itself and I simply opened the door. It was not what I’d intended to paint when I entered the studio. I had a wholly different idea In Mind. I’ve learned that the best work has very little to do with what I have In Mind. The best work comes from the other place, the place available when Mind steps out of the way.

Meditation, prayer, inner reaching….is a theme I loop back to again and again. Lately, I’ve been pondering what happens when we cease searching for peace and instead simply bring it. What if prayer/meditation was not a quest for center, a search for inner peace or quiet mind? What if there was no separation? What if prayer/meditation was a bringing to the surface of the peace that already exists? What if you need not search for it because it is already here? What if, like this painting, that place is available when we stop listening to a Mind that tells us the center is lost, that peace is somewhere over there?

I suspect my pondering produced this painting. Kerri calls it Winged.

Winged, 27 x 20 IN acrylic on canvas

read Kerri’s blog post on WINGED

www.kerrianddavid.com

winged ©️ david robinson & kerri sherwood

Filed under: Art, Creativity, DR Thursday, Uncategorized | Tagged: artistry, balance, center, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, inner peace, intuition, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, meditation, mind, peace, prayer, quiet mind, society6.com/davidrobinson, studio melange, the melange, wings | Leave a comment »

Trust [on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on July 10, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

When Kerri spontaneously smacked out this design, it was a case of process/design alignment. She simply trusted where she was going. “Hmmm,” she said, and moved on.

In improvisational theatre, it’s called ‘yes, and.’ Say yes to what you are given. Deal with what is there, not what you’ve decided should be there. Spontaneity, the freedom of movement and expression, is born of the kind of trust that ‘yes, and’ engenders. In trust, just as in ‘yes, and,’ there is no resistance. Artistry is pure relationship and requires giving up the illusions of control.

The word trust always brings me to the caterpillar (metaphors permeate my noggin). In cocooning, going to mush to be reborn as something utterly brilliant and unrecognizable, there is inevitability. In emerging from the cocoon, discovering wings, stepping to the edge of the branch, and leaping for the first time, there is trust.

read Kerri’s blog post about TRUST WHERE YOU’RE GOING

www.kerrianddavid.com

trust where you’re going ©️ 2016 kerri sherwood & david robinson

Filed under: Art, Creativity, Two Artists Tuesday, Uncategorized | Tagged: artistry, butterfly, caterpillar, control, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, improv, improvisational theatre, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, metaphor, non resitance, rebirth, society6.com/twoartists, spontaneity, studio melange, the melange, trust, Two Artists Tuesday, yes and | Leave a comment »

Make Time For Clouds [on Chicken Marsala Monday]

Posted on July 9, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

It seems almost too obvious: in clouds possibilities can be found. Castles take shape, cartoon characters roll into horses racing, dragons and dinosaurs. Loved ones whisper. Memories shimmer. Imagination beckons, intuition taps at the door. Ideas take shape.

Some might say that making time for clouds is a waste of time. Most likely those are people blind to the necessity of clouds. They are caught in a steely net, believing they have to make all the trains run on time. They believe wholeheartedly that they don’t have enough time to get it all done. Don’t tell them, but time is not concerned with train schedules or daily achievements. Time passes with no investment in our loss or gain. Time requires no management, middle, upper, or otherwise. Time is made of soft stuff, fluffy and relational, modifying according to the needs of its audience.

Time given to clouds makes Chicken wax poetic. It refreshes him. It quiets him. It reminds him that he, too, is as temporary as a cloud, ever moving, shape shifting through his passage, tickled when someone makes time to notice all the possibilities he inspires.

read Kerri’s blog post about MAKING TIME FOR CLOUDS

www.kerrianddavid.com

make time for clouds ©️ 2016 david robinson & kerri sherwood

Filed under: Chicken Marsala Monday, Creativity, Uncategorized | Tagged: chicken marsala, Chicken Marsala Monday, Chicken nugget, cloud watching, clouds, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, daydream, ideas, imagination, intuition, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, life, life lessons, life purpose, Life time, memory, possibilities, society6.com/chickenmarsala, time, timeless | Leave a comment »

Complete The Trilogy [on DR Thursday]

Posted on July 5, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

Just before she passed away, Kerri and I rushed to illustrate and publish a trilogy of children’s books that Beaky had written years earlier. Beaky saw the first of her books published, Shayne. We held a release party and author reading of the first book. She was a rock star. Her first sale was to someone in The Netherlands and I teased her about being an international author. Beaky was both thrilled and ever humble. She died 18 days later while we were racing to lay out the pages of the second book in the trilogy. We published it, Shayne & The Yellow Dragon, soon after, for what would have been her 94th birthday.

the author

It’s been three years. Today would have been Beaky’s 97th birthday and we are certain she is tapping her foot wondering what is taking so long. So, we decided that it was time to complete the trilogy. The illustrations and scans are back on the table. In short order, someday very soon, we look forward to announcing the publication of Beaky’s third book, Shayne & The New Baby.

read Kerri’s blog post on Shayne

the creative team

www.kerrianddavid.com

shayne/shayne & the yellow dragon ©️ 2015 david robinson & kerri sherwood

Filed under: Art, Creativity, DR Thursday, Family, Heroes, Love, Possibility, Uncategorized | Tagged: Beaky, Beaky's Books, beakysbooks.com, children's books, dachsund, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, heart projects, illustrations, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, shayne, shayne trilogy, society6.com/davidrobinson, studio melange, the melange | Leave a comment »

Become Inspired [on Chicken Marsala Monday]

Posted on July 2, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

Brad asked a great question. What is it in us that needs to climb the highest mountain, run a faster mile, touch the moon, cure the disease, develop better and better widgets, sail toward the edge?

It is in our nature. Or, better, it IS our nature. Insatiable curiosity, the yearning to know en route to the next unknown. We are storytellers all! What’s next?

Boredom and apathy are learned skills. They are unnatural. It takes years of sitting in a desk to blunt a spirit. It takes 10,000 hours to grow deaf to the call of your soul.

The next time you tell yourself that “you don’t like change” or that “tomorrow will be just like today,” stop. Take a long slow breath and then do the dangerous thing: doubt what you think. It might just happen that you will hear the deeper call, the natural voice, inviting you out to play.

read Kerri’s blog post about Become Inspired

www.kerrianddavid.com

be careful you just might become inspired ©️ 2016 david robinson & kerri sherwood

Filed under: Art, Chicken Marsala Monday, Creativity, Edges, Uncategorized | Tagged: change, chicken marsala, Chicken Marsala Monday, Chicken nugget, creativity, curiosity, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, exploration, human nature, inspiration, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, society6.com/chickenmarsala, studio melange, the melange | Leave a comment »

Hold On. Let Go. [on KS Friday]

Posted on June 29, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

Holding on. Letting go. The creative tension that describes life. Unlike other tensions, tug-of-war tensions, the creative kind is circular, a cycle as winter is to summer. It is a deep, slow moving river capable of carrying you away.

Give yourself a treat. Let go of the task at hand. Step into the river and let Kerri take you away.

HOLDING ON/LETTING GO on the album RIGHT NOW available in iTunes & CDBaby

read Kerri’s post on HOLDING ON/LETTING GO

www.kerrianddavid.com

holding on/letting go – right now ©️ 2010 kerri sherwood

Filed under: Creativity, KS Friday, Uncategorized | Tagged: creative tension, creativity, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, energy, holding on/letting go, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, right now, society6.com/kerrisherwood, studio melange, the melange | Leave a comment »

Get Ready To Bowl [on DR Thursday]

Posted on June 28, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

Kerri laughed when she made this morsel. “It looks like a bowling ball, doesn’t it?” she giggled. It is a slice from one of her favorite paintings, Joy. “I can’t believe I’m seeing a bowling ball!” her snicker bursting into a full laughter blossom. “Do you hate that I’m seeing a bowling ball?” she asked, struggling to stifle her chortle.

Before I could answer she had already launched into designing products. “Oh my god! It makes a cool pillow!” she turned her computer to show me but before I could see the pillow she spun the computer back around and was already dropping the image into the next design possibility. “This is fantastic!” she declared. “This cracks me up!” Her chuckle was infectious and I began to laugh. “It’s a great tote bag!” she howled.

I love watching her design.

The painting is called Joy. It is one of her favorites. Watching her do this design work is pure joy. It is magic. It is one of my favorites.

Joy, mixed media 50 x 56IN

read Kerri’s blog post on READY TO BOWL

www.kerrianddavid.com

joy ©️ 2014 david robinson

ready to bowl designs/products ©️ 2018 david robinson & kerri sherwood

Filed under: Art, Creativity, DR Thursday, Uncategorized | Tagged: artist, artistry, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, design, joy, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, society6.com/davidrobinson, studio melange, the melange | Leave a comment »

Rise In The East [on DR Thursday]

Posted on June 21, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

When I first began writing this blog I wrote everyday. I did not identify myself as a writer. It seemed an outrageous commitment to write every day and I wondered if I would be able to sustain it. I quickly learned that the opposite was true. I found that I had too much to write about. I found that the act of writing required me to pay attention. There was something to write about everywhere I looked. I was not only learning to write. I was learning to see.

I have always been a painter. Seeing is central to any art form but especially useful in the art of painting. You’d be amazed at the multitude of colors in everything you see that your brain blends into a single color. Yellow. Blue. If you can open your eyes and see beyond the dullness of expectation, the numbing of your mind, you will gasp at the riches of it all. This life is complex, intimate, moving.

I’m working on the seventh painting of my earth interrupted series. Prussian blues and ochre, reds and sienna. I laugh each day that I step into the studio and begin work on this series. “What am I doing?” I silently ask and laugh. The answer is obvious. I am sailing toward the edge. I am trying to find what exists beyond my horizon, my comfort zone.

These morsels, snippets of my paintings, are doing what my blog challenge did for me so many years ago: opening my eyes to new and unexpected possibilities. They are asking me to see something new and unexpected in something known. Or something I thought I knew. Kerri calls this morsel The Sun Rises In The East. It is under-painting, a layer of Earth Interrupted VII, which may or may not ever be completed. Voyages of discovery are like that. We’ll see.

read Kerri’s blog post on THE SUN RISES IN THE EAST

www.kerrianddavid.com

Filed under: Art, Creativity, DR Thursday, Uncategorized | Tagged: artistry, color, creativity, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, discovery, earth interrupted, exploration, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, morsel, seeing, society6.com/davidrobinson, studio melange, the melange | Leave a comment »

Feel More [on KS Friday]

Posted on June 8, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

I’m sure that accountants never sit at their desks and review their accounting of the past 30 years. Lawyers, I suspect, may review a case here and there but I doubt that they ever sit in a room, surrounded by all their cases, and consider them as a body of work. Artists necessarily review their work all the time.

Because of our melange both Kerri and I have been sitting in our studios surrounded by our life’s work, revisiting every era. She listens, pours through old notebooks, tinkers with pieces that never made it to the recording studio. I pull out canvases, flip through old sketchbooks, and portfolios. We compare notes. We share our favorites. We disavow our least favorites (“Someone else painted that and stuck into my stack. That piece is awful!”)

It is much more emotional than you might imagine. Each piece comes thanks to a potent life experience, a funny story, a period of loss, lostness, foundness, utter ful-fill-ment, the vast and empty void. We stare at what we achieved, we face what we aimed for and missed. We stand on the edge of what next calls to be explored.

It is not an intellectual review, a study. It is a feeling pathway, a conscious opening to experience in all its many colors. There is no rational sense to be made in what we do or have done. “Making art” is a dedication to feeling more. It is a love song.

BUT I FEEL MORE on AS SURE AS THE SUN is available on iTunes & CDBaby

PURCHASE THE PHYSICAL CD

read Kerri’s blog post about BUT I FEEL MORE

www.kerrianddavid.com

Filed under: Art, Creativity, KS Friday, Uncategorized | Tagged: artistry, creativity, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, feeling path, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, life path, life review, sense making, society6.com/kerrisherwood, studio melange, the melange | Leave a comment »

Make Life Fun [on Chicken Marsala Monday]

Posted on June 4, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

It used to make me profoundly sad when students would look at me in resistance and fear, saying the double-whammy, “I can’t! I don’t know how!” My next question always remained unvoiced: what have we done to you?

Curiosity is human nature. We are born hard-wired to sail toward scary edges, tinker with inventions, and attempt to grasp the un-graspable. It takes a lot of work to blunt a child’s curiosity. It takes a concerted effort to transform vibrant imagination into fear of reprisal/shaming.

The good news is that curiosity might be contained but it never goes away. Chicken is here to remind us to step out of the cage, pick up the brush and splash the paint just to see what happens. His invitation is to to go do it – whatever it is – precisely because you don’t know how. The path to center leads directly through I Don’t Know How.