Identity | The Direction of Intention

Like Freshly Fallen Snow [David’s blog on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on December 23, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

I wonder if you are having the same reaction that I am having? Each time I see an article or video about the year-in-review I slam closed my computer. I change the channel. I flee the room. I don’t want to review, revisit, reconsider, ruminate upon or attempt to make sense of what happened in this nation – to this nation – in the past 365 days.

People review the events of the year-gone-by so they might turn their eyes to the blank-page-hope for the future, just as it is common for people to slowly wander the rooms, touching walls and doorknobs – saying goodbye to their house before it is put onto market.

Mostly, the walk-through-the-past is meant to help us connect to who we are, reinforce what we value, to reaffirm what most matters before stepping into the unknown future and the forces of change. We touch the walls, not only to say goodbye, but to carry their spirit forward with us.

I’ve no need to touch the walls and doorknobs of the past 365 days. Through contrast, the events of the past year have already served to affirm what I believe and sharply clarify what I value. They have opened my eyes to both the deepest ugly and the brightest light in this democratic experiment, in human nature – and in my nature.

Lately, Kerri and I have been cleaning out the house. We’ve been discarding what is no longer useful. We’ve been re-imagining our space. We’ve been doing the same work in our relationship and with the people who populate our world. We are rounding the corner into the new year perhaps clearer than we’ve ever been. We know what side of the divide we stand on. As the nation soils itself and the communal nest, we are cleansing and simplifying our home, affirming our ideals and our sanctuary.

It’s been true our entire lives together: a new snow beckons us to strap on our boots and make a play-path in search of a bit of adventure and an opportunity to be surprised by beauty. It is this spirit that we carry forward into 2026. The blank-page-hope beckons like freshly fallen snow. Strapping on our boots we actively and intentionally step into the expansive white canvas eager to cultivate our capacity for surprise.

read Kerri’s blogpost about SNOW PATH

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Filed under: Identity, Navel Gazing, Two Artists Tuesday | Tagged: 2026, artistry, clarity, contrast, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, democracy, human nature, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, New Year, play, reflection, review, sanctuary, story, studio melange, surprise, the melange, values | 1 Comment »

The Full Promise [David’s blog on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on December 16, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

Our basement archeology has unearthed a bin of old world decorative plates dating back to the turn of the 20th century. All are hand painted. Some of the hands that did the painting are Kerri’s ancestors. We know this because the back of each plate sported a fading post-it note, written by Beaky, Kerri’s mom, tracing the lineage of the plate. For us, the notes are more precious than the plates.

“What do I do with these?” she asked. The notes are personal, immediate, while the plates are more complicated.

It is a poignant coincidence that while we are cleaning out our basement and discovering objects from the family tree, important messages from the past, the current leadership of the nation is tearing down the White House, otherwise known as soiling-the-symbol, while also disregarding the important notes from our ancestors, namely the lengthy note known as the Constitution. Our national legacy, our family tree, discarded.

It is hopeful to witness people like Mark Elias pull our legacy from the trash bin. It is heartening to see people take to the streets to protect their neighbors, to protect their rights, to demand respect for their inherent freedoms currently being dismissed; people actively protecting and stewarding their legacy.

The tug-of-war in our history is and always has been over who we mean when we say, “We the People.” Are “We the People” exclusive, white-male-Christian-landholders only? The wealthy few? Or, are “We the People” inclusive, all people equal under the law? Our post-it-note from the past, written by hand, more enduring than the building under assault, certainly more personal and directly connected to each of us, is very clear in the amendments we’ve made as the nation has matured. Our legacy is inclusive. Our laws apply equally to all or they are rendered meaningless.

Perhaps this current abomination of an administration is bringing to light the ugliness of exclusivity that has plagued our past and will once-and-for-all prompt us to clean our house of the scourge of white supremacy and male superiority. Perhaps we will have the courage to see and accept our history, all of it, the good, the bad and the ugly. Perhaps we will write into our sacred document, our post-it note from our ancestors, protections against The Epstein Class, the oligarchs who would (once again) attempt to place themselves above the law and rule like feudal kings.

Perhaps then we can write a note to our descendants, tracing our shared legacy, including a message about the battles we waged against our inner demons, finally purging ourselves of this schism, so that they might carry forward – without resistance – the full promise of democracy.

read Kerri’s blogpost about LEGACY

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Filed under: Identity, Perspective, Possibility, Two Artists Tuesday | Tagged: artistry, Constitution, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, exclusion, inclusion, inheritance, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, laws, legacy, Mark Elias, story, studio melange, The Epstein Class, the melange, We the People, white supremacy | 1 Comment »

Circulate The Good [David’s blog on Merely A Thought Monday]

Posted on December 15, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

The imaginary editorial board at Melange International is becoming impatient with me. They think that I have over-complicated the given assignment. What is so complex about focusing on the good?

To begin, I’d be a hypocrite to claim that I only focus on the good. I do not.

A quick read of my blog since inauguration day will provide ample evidence of my capacity to focus on the negative though I believe it is important, when the house is on fire, to alert others of the fire, to call out escape routes. It’s also helpful to try and put out the fire. Is that or is that not a focus on the good?

Isn’t it a relevant question – a good question – to ask, “Where can we focus our eyes and our energies to beat back and put out this fascist fire?” Sometimes a focus on the good seems dark.

Focus is a powerful thing. The power of focus is more than a cliché uttered by contemporary motivational speakers. It’s an age-old-concept. We will find what we seek. People who make gratitude a practice will end each day with a bucket of gratitude. People who make blaming a practice will end each day with a bucket of blame. People who make division their focus will live in – or more accurately – create divisive communities. People who make inclusion their focus will create inclusive supportive communities. People who focus on democracy will create (protect) democracy.

And then there’s the question, “To whom will we give our focus?” Our media makes it far easier to focus on The Arsonist. Ratings do not favor a focus on the Fire-fighters.

We are inundated with so many daily outrages that we are having a challenge sustaining a serious focus. Where do we focus with ICE kidnapping people off the streets, extrajudicial murders in the Caribbean, presidential grift, an inept and mostly absent congress, a Supreme Court that ignores the Constitution to expand presidential powers, the dismantling of education, collapse of healthcare, government protection of pedophiles…the dismantling of democracy. Sometimes it is hard to sustain a focus on the good through the forest of daily atrocity. It takes some effort, some dedication, to sustain a focus on the good.

Circulating the good is, of course, a team sport. It’s easier to sustain a focus on the good when surrounded by others who have the same dedication.

We check-in each night with Carl Blanchet. Last year he completed a hike of the Pacific Crest Trail (2650 miles) in less than 90 days. It was a personal challenge and a titanic effort. This year, he’s back again though this time he’s going slow. He’s enjoying the hike. We were drawn to follow him because of his positivity. Even in the worst circumstance, when confronted by an impossible obstacle, he finds the beauty in his day. He focuses on solutions or the kindness of trail angels, the generosity of other hikers, the awe of each sunset. And, although it might be possible to roll your eyes at such dedicated positivity, the truth is that he is a pragmatist. He is not denying the difficulties. He is dealing with them by focusing on the good. He’s done his research. He is prepared. He is not flying blind. He practices a focus on the opportunities, seeing the positive, choosing from the possibilities available in each moment.

He is a serious person and that is precisely why he doesn’t take any of it too seriously. He doesn’t get fixated on the problem or the pain. He intentionally circulates the good because he intentionally focuses on the good.

In these times, Carl serves as balm to clear our eyes from the smoke of rampant misinformation and preponderance of lies. He serves as a daily reminder that what we focus on is what we will, in fact, become. And what we become is what we will circulate.

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE GOOD

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Filed under: Gratitude, Identity, Merely A Thought Monday, Seeing | Tagged: artistry, beauty, challenge, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, democracy, do good, focus, focus placement, good, intention, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, service, story, studio melange, the melange | 1 Comment »

Holding On. Letting Go. [David’s blog on KS Friday]

Posted on December 12, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

The story of the BabyCat chair is the story of the tides of human emotional life. Holding on. Letting go. Holding on. Letting go.

After a titanic struggle with all that it represents to us, we let it go. We took it to the curb where it sat for a few days with no takers. We discussed chopping it up but couldn’t bring ourselves to do it so decided to wait. We decided to not-know what to do with it. We placed it in a spot beside the garage, like a memorial bench on a trail, it seemed an inviting place to sit and ponder the driveway.

And then the birds found the chair. We hadn’t considered the chair’s proximity to the bird feeder when we placed it by the garage so we were delighted when we looked out the window and discovered a score of birds enjoying the BabyCat chair. They were chattering, hopping armrest to armrest as if testing the comfort of their new chair.

“I guess the B-Cat chair has found a new life,” she said. “Perfect spot.” Keep in mind, we have a piano in our backyard so a chair in the driveway is not completely out of character.

The birds scattered when the workmen came up the driveway following the cable lines to the pole behind the garage. They had to move the chair to gain access to the pole. They were clearly puzzled by the chair since it was so obviously placed – rather than dumped – in that spot. They looked around before carefully moving the furniture-in-the-driveway.

With the snows, we’ve discovered that critters other than the birds have enjoyed a respite along their way. We’ve seen squirrels occupy the chair and found evidence of raccoons napping or at least pausing in their daily maraud.

Holding on. Letting go. Holding on.

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE CHAIR

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Filed under: Identity, KS Friday, Love | Tagged: artistry, attachment, BabyCat, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, holding on/letting go, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, new life, purpose, story, studio melange, the melange | 1 Comment »

The Principle Applies [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

Posted on December 11, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

Steve-across-the-street said that we’ve already had more snow than all of last year. “It’s not even the middle of December!” he exclaimed. I haven’t researched snow totals but it certainly feels like we’ve had more snow. I barely touched the snow shovel last year or, for that matter, the year before. This year the shovel and I are getting daily workouts. It’s possible that I could be snow-buff by the end of this season. It’s also possible that I could be snow-broken.

(note: Kerri tells me to “be careful” each time I lace on my boots and put on my gloves to go shovel. That is a relatively new development. During my last teeth cleaning the dental hygienist spoke to me in an extra loud voice; my greying beard led her to believe that I was hard of hearing. I admit that every time I look in the mirror I ask myself, “Who the hell are you and what have you done with my face?” But I don’t shout my question since I’m not having problems hearing my inner voice).

The excess of snow is producing an abundance of icicles. They are magical if you remember to appreciate them from a safe distance and not stand in awe beneath them. They are beautiful if you refuse to consider what they are capable of doing to your house. We have a special collection growing just outside our backdoor. I’ve learned not to smack them away as they will take the awning and any vinyl siding with them. Dan loaned us his heat gun and I am looking forward to melting them away between bouts of snow shoveling. Melting them is not a solution since I know that they will inevitably come back in a few days but I consider it akin to mowing the grass: I do not expect my mowing to be one-and-done since grass-grows and the same principle applies to the icicles. Plus, they are fun to melt.

Even at my age.

read Kerri’s blogpost about ICICLES

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Filed under: DR Thursday, Identity, Navel Gazing | Tagged: aging, artistry, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, December, icicles, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, musing, snow, story, studio melange, the melange, weather | 1 Comment »

Low Cost Hilarity[David’s blog on Not So Thawed Wednesday]

Posted on December 10, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

“The fear of appearances is the first symptom of impotence.” ~ Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment

“Never pay for car repairs again!” the spokesperson beamed. “Coverage is available on all vehicles less than 20 years old! Call now!”

“That leaves us out,” she said. “None of our vehicles is less than 20 years old.” Recently, she calculated that the combined age of our cars this year is exactly 100 years. We might not qualify for coverage but you may have noticed that we’re constantly whooping it up these days; our combined-car-centennial is reason to celebrate so we’re having 365 days of raucous festivities.

Craig once told us that LBS had “Milwaukee rims”. The faux chrome has long since peeled off and LBS now sports a mostly rusty-rim-look. “Are you staring at my car?” Kerri asked the young attendant at the recycle center who was clearly horrified with our rims. The poor guy sputtered. “We love our rims!” she smiled, putting LBS in gear and driving away.

In the late fall, when the sun sets early, if we time it just right, on the drive home from our trail, LBS casts a remarkable shadow on the road ahead: our silhouettes seated in a toaster-shape that seems to have enormous ears. Kerri always enthusiastically slaps my shoulder, “Can you see it? Can you see it?”

When I moved to the midwest I was amused by the ritual of the windshield wiper. When the storm is a’ brewin’ people run outside and stand-upright their windshield wipers. I learned the hard way that windshield wipers in the midwest, unlike windshield wipers in Colorado where I am from, freeze to the windshield. Now I have joined the custom. If you’re looking for me I have probably raced outside to spare the wipers from imminent freeze-ation. When LBS is covered with snow, the upright wipers make it look like a bug with cute antenna.

Milwaukee rims. Funny shadows. Winter bug cosplay. We might not have high priced insurance to protect against repairs, but we’ve mastered low cost hilarity and loyal love of our LBS, Big Red, and the ’71 Beetle nestled into the garage that will someday ride again.

read Kerri’s blogpost about UPRIGHT WIPERS

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Filed under: Flawed Wednesday, Identity, Random | Tagged: appearance, artistry, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, old vehicle, snow, story, studio melange, the melange | Leave a comment »

Take A Turn [David’s blog on DR Thursday]

Posted on December 4, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

W.B. Yeats, the poet, wrote a book called A Vision. I’m re-reading it. One synopsis read, “The work presents an intricate system that connects the human soul, history, and the cosmos through symbolic cycles and archetypes.” The system was transmitted through his wife during three years, 1917 – 20, of automatic writing sessions. I’m not sure why A Vision fell off the shelf and demanded another read. Perhaps, I am, like the rest of the thinking world, trying to find or make sense of the current national senselessness.

Every so often we walk our loop-trail in reverse. It never fails to amaze us how walking in the opposite direction transforms our well-known path into a completely different experience; it feels like an unknown trail. “Weird!” we exclaim each time we choose to travel in the opposite direction. It’s the mirror image of what I feel when I walk backwards through my life. Going forward each day feels like chaos while looking backward through memories seems like prescribed destiny. Weird.

When I was 20 I had a vision for my life. It wasn’t intricate and was absent of any consideration for the many forces – accidental and otherwise – that shape a life. I knew what I wanted to be. My vision at 20 mostly scared me while at this later juncture of the vision it mostly astounds me and fills me with wonder. I know who I am. I have, along the way, imagined my own symbolic cycles and entertained notions of guidance while also believing at times that I am without any form of support or trusty compass. Both/And. I can fill myself with doubt as readily as I fill myself with knowing. As it turns out, neither my doubt or my knowing is of much use.

Perception is a wondrous thing. In the end, staying open to new ideas and experiences, walking in the opposite direction or standing in another’s shoes is infinitely more useful than the comfort of walking through this life in a single-known-groove. If I’ve learned anything, it is to turn around or take a turn the moment I think I know what to expect.

Bubble Chasers, 33.25 x 48IN, mixed media

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE CURVE

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Filed under: DR Thursday, Identity | Tagged: A Vision, artistry, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, destiny, doubt, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, perception, sense making, story, studio melange, the melange, WB Yeats | Leave a comment »

An Evolutionary Line [David’s blog on KS Friday]

Posted on November 28, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

“Whenever men take the law into their own hands, the loser is the law. And when the law loses, freedom languishes.” Robert Kennedy (clearly not Jr.)

This handle is well worn. It comes from a time before electricity relieved muscle and hands of much of their day-to-day duties. As artists from-another-era, we are drawn to things worn smooth by human hands. I love my brushes precisely because they are well-worn; they fit my hand because my hand, unique in all the world, has worn-its-way into the handles. My brushes carry the record of my life’s work.

Because of a play that I’m writing I’ve been reading and rereading The Oresteia, a trilogy of plays by Aeschylus. “The trilogy explores the transition from personal vengeance to a more civilized, legal system of justice.” (A-I) The cycle of plays is a celebration of human evolution, progressing from the chaos of revenge and retribution to a society with a system of laws that maintain order. Aeschylus wrote the Oresteia because a society based on law was a relatively new idea, an evolutionary line drawn in the sand marking the transition from animal to human nature, from impulse-driven to rationality guided by complex moral systems. The law is the foundation stone of democracy and of our freedoms.

Currently, we are witnessing an all-out assault on the law. From a justice department driven by the retribution-fantasy of a single man to a Supreme Court undermining the Constitution it is sworn to protect, those in power would rather us devolve, step back across the line into animal revenge. They are literally taking the law into their own hands. Their revenge-imperative threatens our moral order. Our freedoms are in peril.

This is not the first time our foundation stone has been under assault, it is not the first time a privileged few deluded themselves into believing that they-and-they-alone ought to rule. The path to autocracy always begins by undermining the law, by twisting it, weaponizing it to serve the opposite of its intention.

Our system of laws is like that well-worn handle. It is our heritage, our inheritance. It fits in our hands because our hands have left our imprint upon the law and the law has left its imprint on us. We’ve worked for it, fought for it, died for it. It’s why we take to the streets. It’s why we boycott businesses that bow to authoritarianism. It’s why we run from our homes to blow whistles and record the abuses of ICE. It gives me hope.

In the final play of the cycle, the goddess Athena – yes, a goddess – establishes law and order, a legal system – better than bloody revenge – to resolve conflicts. Her new system ends a dark curse that reached back generations, a curse that had been plaguing humanity. With her system of laws and courts, her invention of a jury by peers, she opened the door for humanity to progress from primitive retribution to civil society. She laid the foundation stone for a new idea – democracy – to replace the animal-revenge-mentality perpetuated by autocrats and kings.

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

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE HANDLE

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Filed under: Identity, KS Friday, Metaphor, Perspective | Tagged: Aeschylus, artistry, authoritarianism, chaos, civil society, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, democracy, justice, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, law, Law and Order, moral order, retribution, revenge, story, studio melange, the melange, The Oresteia | 1 Comment »

One Brief Moment [David’s blog on KS Friday]

Posted on November 14, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

“But time has many dimensions and in the end, time opens to timelessness.” ~ Peter Brook, The Quality of Mercy

One day I realized that I was like a sand painting: a bit of unique beauty created in the moment and meant to blow away with the winds. That is not a despairing thought. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

Late at night we watched a short documentary about the scale of time. It was eye-opening. The filmmaker was so overcome with realization of time that his model revealed that be broke down and cried. We are but a blip, a blink of the eye. The enormity of life. The impossibility of life.

Those who wish to have monuments erected for themselves are missing the point entirely.

Barney, the piano in our backyard, is slowly, over time, returning to dust. That is also true of Kerri’s Yamaha piano in her studio, only a fraction slower. Breck the aspen tree that came home with us from Colorado in the back seat of our car is now taller than our garage. If typical, Breck will live approximately 200 years. Twice as long as me, though the measure of time, the comparison, is arbitrary at best.

Breck and I each have our one brief moment in the sun.

Kerri’s music is available on iTunes and streaming on Pandora

read Kerri’s blogpost about BRECK AND BARNEY

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Filed under: Identity, KS Friday, Perspective | Tagged: artistry, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, enormity of life, impossibility, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, life, Peter Brook, story, studio melange, the melange, The Quality of Mercy, time | 1 Comment »

Now We Must Ask [David’s blog on Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on November 5, 2025 by davidrobinsoncreative

“The more you know yourself, the more clarity there is. Self-knowledge has no end – you don’t achieve, you don’t come to a conclusion. It is an endless river.” ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

In these times it is difficult not to write about the ubiquitous inanity and daily horror show produced by the current administration. We are writing a few days ahead, so it has become our practice to acknowledge that we might have to dump our initial posts if the latest outrage, the intentional starving of citizens, the kidnapping of people off the streets, the dissolution of congress to protect pedophiles…is too much to ignore. In truth, it’s all too much to ignore and it’s too toxic to focus on all of the time. We look away to remind ourselves that the goodness in people far outweighs the malicious spirit that currently claims the national narrative.

To that end I have this paradoxical reflection to offer: to all of you out there who voted for this but now daily proclaim that this is not what you voted for, I want to 1) roll my eyes and shout, “While you were cheering and waving Mass Deportation signs, did you not read your sign?” Did you think this was a sitcom? Project 2025 explicitly articulated this horror show in minute detail; you have no excuse – other than laziness – to now claim that this is not what you voted for. Yet, 2) it is never too late to wake up. It is never too late to realize that you’ve been duped. Saying, “I made a mistake,” is a step on the path of self-knowledge.

In waking up ever so slightly, there are two questions to ask: 1) “How was I so easily duped?” And, 2) “What will I do with my new awareness?” Knowing that this is not what you voted for does not absolve you from responsibility. You opened the cage and let loose the monster. It is not enough to divest yourself of culpability. People in fishing boats are being murdered, people with brown skin are being beaten and disappeared, millions are losing their healthcare and it is estimated that 50,000 people will die each year because of this loss…Saying, “It’s not my fault,” is akin to sticking your head back into the sand. Saying, “I made a mistake,” needs to be followed with a second step: corrective action. Self-knowledge is a bit of a misnomer; self-knowledge is inert until activated when it becomes dynamic: responsibility.

This ugly white supremacy has been a part of our national identity since our inception. A few days ago I told Kerri that it is my belief that our national mask is slipping. This terror-face is not new, it is merely revealing itself (again). We are seeing this part of our national identity with renewed clarity. Past generations, having seen this part of our national face, have been successful at restoring the mask, suppressing but not eliminating the ugliness.

Now we see it. And the two questions to ask ourselves are akin to those who claim that this is not what they voted for. We see it. What will we do with our new awareness? We claim to be a democracy yet we are currently witness to our rabid inability to reconcile ourselves with our history of slavery, of the genocide of native peoples…We continue to entertain a political party that actively – and perpetually – suppresses the vote of people of color and of women. It is unmasked. It is in full view. It is fascism and has no place in a multi-cultural democracy. It is no longer enough to say, “We see it.” If we stop there the cycle will once again repeat itself. The ugly face will be driven underground until if pops up as the reincarnation of The Confederacy or Jim Crow or MAGA.

We see it. Now we must ask ourselves how we translate our seeing, our self-knowledge, into responsible action. We claim to be a democracy: how do we close the gap between our rhetoric – who we claim to be – and our lived actions as translated into policy and daily practice – and into history?

read Kerri’s blogpost about THE RIVER