Uncategorized | The Direction of Intention

Tell The Story [on KS Friday]

Posted on October 14, 2022 by davidrobinsoncreative

The last time I saw Emily she was showing her simple watercolors in a coffee shop in West Seattle. She sat at a table, her head wrapped in a scarf. Emily was not shy. She was wildly alive and would have had no problem revealing her bald head, a result of the treatment. She wore the scarf because she loved it.

At the time, I was telling stories. At conferences. At facilitations. With symphonies. Pulling people together through a story into a shared metaphor. I did a full stop in front of Emily’s piece, The Storyteller. I knew it was coming home with me. Artists love it when one of their creations speak-out-loud to you. I told Emily about my full stop and she confessed that she loved The Storyteller, too.

After I paid for the small painting, we talked about her treatment. We talked of her hope for remission. Recovery. She was upbeat. Laughter-full. As always. In recounting this memory, I remember that she had no health insurance. It was years before the ACA. We talked about her path through experimental treatments, the only route open to her. She was selling her paintings, everything she had, to try and defer the bill collectors.

I left the coffeehouse art gallery with a new treasure and filled with Emily’s bright spirit. How could she be so vibrant against such a monumental wave of adversity? You already know the next chapter of this tale. Emily died less than a month later.

The Storyteller has lived in my studio. It reminds me of many, many things but mostly of Emily’s lesson: I am not my circumstance. Life is vibrant. This little watercolor is among my greatest treasures.

Dan recently gave me this do-rag: Snap-on, Socket-to-Breast-Cancer. It came at the perfect time as my sister-in-law was entering treatment. I wore it for her on the day of her first treatment but I also wore it for Emily. I wore it for Beaky. I wore it for Beth. I wore it as a wish for a someday cure, for anyone who has or will have to sit at a table and hear a doctor say, ‘You have breast cancer.”

This month is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Be a Storyteller and help pull people together.

This is a piece Kerri wrote and sang when she was working with oncologists raising awareness for Breast Cancer Research

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

read Kerri’s blogpost about BREAST CANCER AWARENESS

Filed under: KS Friday, Metaphor, Story, Uncategorized | Tagged: artistry, awareness, breast cancer, cancer, cancer treatment, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, i am alive by kerri sherwood, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, painting, raising awareness, remission, story, storying, storytelling, studio melange, the melange | 1 Comment »

Go With It [on DR Thursday]

Posted on October 13, 2022 by davidrobinsoncreative

If I was a hunter-gatherer, I’d have no choice. There is one option and it is called ‘flow.’ Going against the flow would mean a quick trip to join the ancestors.

Because I am a modern city dweller, I have ample opportunity to fret, to resist, to complain and yearn for another option. I can demonstrate my impatience with my lot and cut people off in traffic. I can scream at the top of my lungs “Me first! Me first! Me first!” as the central identifier of my culture. Fight rather than flow.

It is much more difficult to go with the flow when, standing in the grocery store, there are 17 different choices of stewed tomatoes. Which tomato can is best? Where is flow to be found when the national narrative mimics the National Enquirer? So much turmoil! So many choices. Amidst so many easy-reach stacks-of-food, you’d think we’d be awash in abundance, awash in a river of flow. Standing at the far end of the paper towel aisle, I giggled at the stacks towering above my head. I slow-walked through a canyon of paper towels, thinking, “The point of the fight is to stand atop the paper-towel-mountain.”

No wonder flow is an abstract concept, the topic of every self-help book and creativity-mantra, but nowhere to be found. “Improve thyself” is the heart of the conundrum. What chance do we have to go with the flow when we can’t possibly be good enough?

Sometime for kicks, try painting because it feels good. Achieve nothing. Sing loud like Charlie in the shower just because you can. Give a leg up to your neighbor and let them stand atop the paper-towel-mountain – just to have the experience of sharing, helping, thriving together. Float-all-boats is a good statement of flow.

After all, flow is ultimately an act of joining, of sharing, of giving over. Hold hands; find flow.

read Kerri’s blogpost about FLOW

A good yuck from our Flawed Cartoon archive. Paintings? Go here

Filed under: DR Thursday, Metaphor, Random, Rants, Uncategorized | Tagged: david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, flow, join, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, potlatch, reach, story, studio melange, support, the melange | 1 Comment »

Lose The Plan [on Not So Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on October 12, 2022 by davidrobinsoncreative

Plans are maps of territories that do not yet exist.

Working in a software start-up, Skip has taught me a new phrase: infinite regress. The next step is determined by the last step and there is both no end to the steps and no way of knowing a destination because there are so many possibilities. Every step is a plot twist. The Plan would go wrong on a daily basis – an hourly basis – if the expectation to follow it was rigid.

In infinite regress there is no arrival. There are decisions. There are choices. The plan is to take another step.

Taking another step is a good plan! Live another day.

Think of the stress reduction if plans were held lightly, in cupped hands. It’s great to have a destination in mind. It’s not so good to step over the treasure-of-the-moment en route to some imagined gain. Some idea of control or fortress-safety.

Today, as an exercise in reality, every step I take I intend to yell, “Plot Twist!” Kerri will quickly put an end to my yelling, so I’ll transform my exercise into a mental experience. I’ll keep it to myself. That’s the plan, anyway. A mental experience. Hey! It’s an infinite regress.

read Kerri’s blogpost about PLOT TWIST.

Filed under: Flawed Wednesday, Perspective, Possibility, Uncategorized | Tagged: artistry, choice, control, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, decision, destination, expectation, infinite regress, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, maps, plan, plot twist, possibility, presence, story, stress, studio melange, the melange | 1 Comment »

Mind The Monsters [on saturday morning smack-dab]

Posted on October 8, 2022 by davidrobinsoncreative

When you are a child, the monsters rustle around under the bed. When you are an adult, the monsters swim around in your mind when you can’t sleep. I much preferred the monsters under the bed. They were more direct in their threat. No one wants to be eaten.

Kerri has many more monster-mind nights than I do. She generally frets her way to dawn. Even though I know better, even though I already know the answer, each morning I ask, “How did you sleep?” She gives me that look, so I ask my standard follow-up question, “I wonder why you aren’t sleeping?”

I already know the answer to that question, too. I ask it anyway because she will respond, “I don’t know.” We chat about it. We make up excuses: wine, we ate too late,…

The real reason? Mind monsters.

read Kerri’s blogpost about MONSTERS

Filed under: smack-dab, Uncategorized | Tagged: aarp, artistry, cartoons, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, fret, fretting, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, middle age cartoon, mind monsters, monsters, restless, restless mind, second chances, sleep, sleepless nights, smack-dab, story, studio melange, the melange, two artists | 1 Comment »

Live It [on DR Thursday]

Posted on October 6, 2022 by davidrobinsoncreative

Paths cross. Spirits fed. Who knows when we will sit again at the same table, laugh and tell stories of our youthful foibles?

There is no better person on earth than Dwight. Every day he practices his belief and has, therefore, made his belief a practice – rather than an achievement or a trophy or a trumpet or a platform. Help others as you, yourself, have been helped. Be present for others as others have been present for you. Simple. Life as a meditation. How rare! He lives what he espouses.

We drove into Chicago to meet him for dinner. He was passing through. A conference. An opportunity to share a little bit of time. Our last face-to-face conversation was in 2018. As he said, “We easily picked up right where we left off.” We always have. We always will. That makes me a fortunate man.

Both our paths through life have known hot fire. Dwight is not a saint or an untouchable. Like me, he knows the chaos and the pain of a broken road. The loss of illusion. The long walk back to center. The discovery of self, not where you thought you’d find it. He is solid because he’s been forged. He’s sound because he has roots from experience. He’s present and available because he no longer requires armor.

Our conversation, among other things, was how to live well this chapter of life. We have less years in front of us than behind. How do we live them well and with intention? I had no clear answer but I did have a north star example: the man sitting across the table with laughter in his eyes.

read Kerri’s blogpost about DINNER

Filed under: DR Thursday, Gratitude, Heroes, Love, Uncategorized | Tagged: artistry, belief, broken road, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, experience, experiences, friendship, intention, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, laughter, life stories, long body, north star, practice, presence, roots, stories, story, studio melange, the melange | 1 Comment »

Renew [on Not So Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on October 5, 2022 by davidrobinsoncreative

I’m not sure why it hit me with such force. It’s a simple thing. It happens every day. A business fails. This business has been, for years, the place where I catalogued my paintings. Artmoi.com. It is the platform I use to publish my art website. The email notification suggested we export our work. It came with suggestions for other cataloguing options and sites. Generous in their exit. Responsible to their customers. It’s why I signed on in the first place.

I felt it as the end of an era. I wondered if it was the end. It would be a good time to pull it down. Let it go.

For a few years I’ve been writing about my struggles as a visual artist. The time of pandemic has also been the epic of water in our basement, my studio. The subsequent shuffling and reshuffling of boxes and crates and books and clothes and furniture has left my studio filled with our life-stuff. No where to stand. My easel sits above the high water mark.

The disruption came at a good time. I was becoming bored with my paintings. I was becoming disgruntled with the growing stack of paintings. Showing on the web has not proven very useful. I was primed for some productive disarray. And, when it came, it came with a vengeance. Pandemic. Broken wrists. Job loss. Economic free-fall. A curious series of water events; water falling from the ceiling, water rising from the floors, water line breaking through the walls. Water, water, everywhere. Full stop.

I sit on the stairs and look at the easel standing tall above the boxes and bags. There’s a canvas clamped in, ready. Waiting. It looks like an art installation entitled “Wreckage or Relegation?”

In the meantime, I’m drawing cartoons. We write every day. My work remains a thrilling creative challenge and requires full engagement of both sides of my brain. I’m lightly rehearsing for a performance in May. There’s no shortage of creative energy expenditure in our house.

On the trail yesterday, surrounded by flowers at the end of their season, I recognized that the end of Artmoi will become the beginning of renewal. An opportunity for a new site, a next-identity, is an opportunity for new eyes. A new approach. One that is much more appropriate to this chapter of my artist’s life, this season.

read Kerri’s blogpost about HIGHER GROUND

Filed under: Art, Creativity, Flawed Wednesday, Uncategorized | Tagged: artistry, artmoi.com, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, KnowNow, opportunity, painter, portland chamber orchestra, renewal, seasons, story, studio melange, the melange, transformation, transition | 1 Comment »

Ride The Message [on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on October 4, 2022 by davidrobinsoncreative

Among the many monumental events we experienced on our recent travels, none is more significant than the moment Little Baby Scion rolled over 260,000 miles. We were in Richmond, Kentucky on our last night of vacation en route to our final Airbnb of the trip. We hooted and hollered in celebration.

Like us, every little piece of LBS is worn by the miles. Yet, like us, LBS has a young heart and was going 80 miles an hour (with ease) at the moment she turned over 26 with four zeros.

True confessions: on the day Kerri and I met in O’Hare airport, when we spontaneously held hands and skipped out of baggage claim to the parking garage, I had no idea what kind of car she drove. When I first laid eyes on the little black shoebox car, I thought, “Perfect!” This woman was easily as quirky as I was. The car fit her like a glove. When we got into the younger version of LBS, she’d packed me a snack and had a bold cup of coffee awaiting in the cup holder. Little Baby Scion was more than a car. It was a message.

Almost ten years later and many more miles on the dial, many things have changed. Tires. Spark plugs. More than one muffler. There are scratches and dings and flaking chrome, but the essentials remain the same. Quirky, young-at-heart, a rolling feast of abundance, we’ll get “there” one way or the other. Together. We come honestly by our wear-and-tear, in our quirky reliable intrepid little shoebox car. Perfect. A rolling message, a life of quirk complete with road snacks.

“Where shall we go next?” she asks. “I’m ready.”

read Kerri’s blogpost about 260,000 MILES

Filed under: Gratitude, Two Artists Tuesday, Uncategorized | Tagged: abundance, artistry, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, intrepid, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, loyal car, reliable, resilient, Scion xb, story, studio melange, the melange, Toyota, two artists, young at heart | 1 Comment »

Flip And Flop [on saturday morning smack-dab.]

Posted on September 24, 2022 by davidrobinsoncreative

I admit it. We are both dedicated flip-flop wearers. We’d rather be barefoot and flip-flops are the closest-to-barefoot-shoe-option. We are surrounded by friends with fallen arches and riddled with warnings about proper-support-as-we-age. Yesterday, Yaki told me I was young-at-heart and I took his words as affirmation that Kerri and I have many flip-flop years ahead of us.

All I can say is that we are as capable of denial as anyone. Despite midnight calf cramps, sometimes aching knees and backs, we slip on our flip-flops and head out the door to walk the neighborhood. As counter measures, we eat bananas for potassium to ward off the leg cramps. We drink more water. We drink more wine. There is so much necessary-and-serious-strategy in our flip-flop dedication!

People identify through their footwear choices and, as people, we are no exception. Someday in the far distant future, we are going to get in trouble with Nurse Ratchet for continually taking off our shoes. “Flip-flops are a tripping hazard!” the good nurse will admonish as she reties our blocky sensible shoes onto our feet. We’ll wait for her to leave the room and say, “I never had much sense anyway,” as we kick off the clunkers and slip on our favorite tripping hazards. “It’ll give me a good reason to fall down,” I’ll wink and say, which will inspire Kerri’s favorite oldie-timey moniker for me: “Smartypants,” she’ll sigh, followed by, “Now, help me put on my flops.”

read Kerri’s blogpost on this saturday morning smack-dab.

Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Imagine The Shadow [on KS Friday]

Posted on September 23, 2022 by davidrobinsoncreative

“I look out the window sometimes to seek the color of the shadows and the different greens in the trees, but when I get ready to paint I just close my eyes and imagine a scene.” ~ Grandma Moses

Among the many reasons I love autumn is the color of the light. Looking out of the kitchen window this morning I was bowled over by plants resplendent in orange and pink. I was so taken by the color that I forgot I was cooking and nearly burned breakfast.

We hiked yesterday. The trail was steep and rocky but, thankfully, the trail wound under the canopy of the forest. It was a hot day and the shade made our path bearable. We stopped often to breathe and enjoy the remarkable shadows cast by the trees. The leaves glowed and waved, backlit by the sun.

Imagination. The capacity to make images in the mind. It is the most basic of human capacities. We spend our lives imaging ourselves in tragedy and in triumph. Yearning and fear are both shades of imagination. “What if…?” is a question borne of imagination.

“Wait!” Kerri suddenly instructs, stopping me in my tracks. When the sun is low in the sky and our shadows make us skinny giants, she likes to capture our distortion. Shadows do not resist the curvature of the earth. They do not try-to-be. They simply conform to the circumstance and, inevitably, moving through a festival of color changes, blend into the purple dusk.

While she focuses her camera on our shadow, I appreciate the glow of the negative spaces, the yellow-autumn warmth heightened by our grey-blue silhouette. I giggle imagining we are as skinny-tall as the shadows we cast. “Hold still,” she whispers, not realizing my giggle is making the shot impossible. While stilling my shadow, in my mind, we reach and pluck the reddest of leaves from the tippy top of the maple tree.

Waiting (from Joy)

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

read Kerri’s blogpost about SHADOWS

Filed under: Art, Creativity, KS Friday, Seeing, Uncategorized | Tagged: artistry, autumn, autumn light, color, composer, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, fear, Grandma Moses, imagination, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, musician, shadows, solo piano, story, studio melange, the melange, waiting by kerri sherwood, yearning | 1 Comment »

Chisel [on DR Thursday]

Posted on September 22, 2022 by davidrobinsoncreative

The conversation in the car was about astrology. I am an Aquarius. Confusingly, the water-bearer is an air sign. Kerri is Aries; fire. “Air is necessary for fire,” she laughed. As in most metaphors and models, each element transforms the others. It’s creation-in-motion. Life is a great shapeshifter. A single element is undefinable without the others.

The same is true with people. We only know who we are relative to the others in our lives. The heat of our relationships transform us. Transformation is a daily reality, a common experience, but so ubiquitous that it goes unseen. We only notice it when the volcano erupts or when we wake up one day and say to ourselves, “I am different now.”

The beautiful canyons in Utah were, over eons, carved by water. Zion. Arches. The Grand. Everyday, water meets earth. Heat and wind. Sculpture.

Long drives bring reminiscence. Something sparked our conversation about the canyons we’ve carved in our lives. Everyday, trickles of water. Relationship. Slow, almost imperceptible changes. One day, after years and years, you look in the mirror and see the colors revealed by erosion and time. The chiseled shape. Pieces and parts that felt essential, washed away. What remains?

Beautiful. Crucial. Elemental. Still transforming.

read Kerri’s blogpost about WATER