hope | The Direction of Intention

Follow The Trail [on KS Friday]

Posted on May 31, 2019 by davidrobinsoncreative

bp box copy

I like the idea of a blueprint for souls. As if each life has an underlying design. As if each day of life was part of the overall construction.

When Kerri and I talk about our story we often talk about design. The impossible sequence of random coincidences that led to our paths crossing. Have you ever played that game: what if I left the house 2 minutes earlier? What if I’d decided not to go?

Lately, many people have been telling us their stories of things-that-were-meant-to-happen. “The pieces just fell into place,” they say. “That’s the sign it was supposed to be.” I’m not the only one who likes the notion of a blueprint. Ease is a sign.

We can only see the connected dots when looking backward. Sense-making is rarely a forward looking affair. Yet, Kerri’s BLUEPRINT FOR MY SOUL is like a popcorn trail through the woods. It is a kernel of hope that leads to another kernel of hope and, if you follow the hope-trail long enough, you come to a place where you can turn around and see with clear eyes the path, the unique life that was designed by you, just for you.

BLUEPRINT FOR MY SOUL on the album BLUEPRINT FOR MY SOUL is available on iTunes & CDBaby

read Kerri’s blog post about BLUEPRINT FOR MY SOUL

blueprint for my soul/blueprint for my soul ©️ 1997 kerri sherwood

Filed under: KS Friday, Seeing, Story, Uncategorized | Tagged: blueprint, blueprint for my soul, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, design, hope, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, sense making, signs, society6.com/kerrisherwood, soul, studio melange | Leave a comment »

Bring Peace [on DR Thursday]

Posted on March 14, 2019 by davidrobinsoncreative

a morsel of PAX

Coming out of a deep sleep I pass through the flotsam layer at the bottom of consciousness. I call it the ‘garbage layer;’ the place where fears fester and worries lurk. It is the monster layer, the place where Grendel lives. When passing through the garbage layer I’m careful not to hook any of those thought-demons and bring them to the surface with me. Give them light and they will eat your day.

Just as I broke through the garbage layer, feeling the pull of a new day, my eyes not yet open, I was warmed by this thought:

Bring peace to your day and you will experience a bit more peace. Bring joy to your day and you will experience a bit more joy. Bring anxiety to your day and you will experience a bit more anxiety. Bring fear to your day and you will experience a bit more fear. Bring hope to your day and you will experience a bit more hope. What will you bring to this day?

My eyes popped open and I was floating on a raft of hope. A raft of my own choosing. A raft I could share.

This painting is called PAX (the kiss of peace). Like the thought that awaited me above the garbage layer, it is a meditation on the power of what you bring to your day. It is a meditation on the raft you choose to create.

It’s a simplicity. Bring peace. Experience peace. Bring hope to your day. Experience a bit more hope in your day. Share a bit more hope in your life.

PAX, 24 x 24IN, mixed media

read Kerri’s blog post about PAX

PAX/PAX morsel ©️ 2015/18 david robinson

Filed under: Art, Awakening, Creativity, DR Thursday, Power, Uncategorized | Tagged: david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, focus, focus placement, Grendel, hope, inner peace, joy, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, kiss of peace, mediation, monsters, pax, peace, society6.com/davidrobinson, studio melange | Leave a comment »

Close Your Eyes And Unfold [on KS Friday]

Posted on January 18, 2019 by davidrobinsoncreative

unfolding song box copy

Hopeful. Playful. Lighthearted. A birthday surprise. DogDog romping through a new snowfall. Chasing the surf on a summer day. The discovery of a spring meadow in the middle of the forest. A good story told with an open heart. An evening of potluck dinner and laughter with friends.

Listen to UNFOLDING, as I do, with your eyes closed. Happy, life-giving memories and images will flood your being and lift your day. What could be a better gift to give yourself on this Friday.

UNFOLDING on the album AS IT IS available on iTunes & CDBaby

read Kerri’s blog post about UNFOLDING

unfolding/as it is ©️ 2004 kerri sherwood

Filed under: Awakening, Emergence, KS Friday, Play, Possibility, Uncategorized | Tagged: AS IT IS, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, good memories, good story, happy, hope, hopeful, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, lifegiving, light hearted, playful, society6.com/davidrobinson, society6.com/kerrisherwood, surprise, unfolding, unfolding on iTunes | Leave a comment »

Love The Melt [on Not So Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on December 12, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

snowman copy

This melty fellow reminded me of my favorite Flawed Cartoon. It was among the first in my Flawed Cartoon canon and makes me smile every time I revisit it. Becoming meets Being. Hopes and dreams always come with realities attached and they can be very funny (especially when the attachments are someone else’s).

Tis the season of existential pondering and life review. In the past month, I’ve repeatedly heard the old and wizened caution the young and ambitious that time passes quickly. Your kids will be grown before you know it. Be careful what you wish for. Appreciate your moments. You are your choices. One minute you are a snowflake with possibilities….

Winter solstice. This season when darkest night gives way to the slow return of light. Isn’t that the epicenter of hope? It’s good news for you and me. Not so much for those men and women made of snow. As is true with all things, humor is relative. It’s only funny when it happens to someone else. Of course, with enough cycles, the sun will make puddles of us all (just kidding. Well, okay, not really. But don’t you think this puddle thing would have made a very funny Flawed Cartoon? Why are my ears growing? I think the sunless days are making my mind sag…).

SNOWMAN BIG COPY Master

read Kerri’s blog post about the SNOWMAN

Flawed Cartoons/products ©️ 2016 david robinson & kerri sherwood

Filed under: Flawed Cartoon Wednesday, Flawed Wednesday, Metaphor, Uncategorized | Tagged: becoming, cartoons, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, existence, flawed cartoon, hope, humor, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, snowman, society6.com/flawedcartoon, solstice, time | Leave a comment »

Hope [on KS Friday]

Posted on December 7, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

hope song box copy

Somewhere in my reading I came across this notion: discontent is the source of all creativity. Hope must be like that, too. Yearning. Expectation. Desire. To want something or someone who is not there. It is sweet and bitter.

Anyone who tells you that life cannot be simple and complex at the same time has not loved or aspired to dream. Don’t believe them. The simple desire to know never leads to a single answer but it does open greater and greater vistas. Ask a physicist. Or a mystic. Or someone in love.

Particle or wave?

Hope maybe despair re-imagined. It may be a left hand path calling. A dream that seems too big to consider. For a moment today, listen to Hope. Pull up the anchor and follow the wind. Listen. Close your eyes and see where Hope might take you.

HOPE on the album THIS SEASON available on iTunes, CDBaby. CD’s available at Kerri’s store.

read Kerri’s blog post about HOPE

hope/this season ©️ 2005 kerri sherwood

Filed under: Awakening, Emergence, KS Friday, Uncategorized | Tagged: complexity, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, desire, discontent, dreams, expectation, hope, hope on the album this season, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, simplicity, society6.com/davidrobinson, society6.com/kerrisherwood, studio melange, the melange, this season, yearning | Leave a comment »

Infuse Them With Hope [on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on October 16, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

THIS AsYouIs copy

Go to the AS YOU IS website and this is what you will find:

As You Is® was created to start conversations… to cause total strangers to smile… to make people think… to get others to feel so accepted they break out in impromptu dance… and to put a serious chink in the armor of racism.

Our hope is one day children can embrace being uniquely themselves, where they feel safe being different and where old people —like our founder Michael Fornwald — can age gracefully or ungracefully sans self-contempt.

Please join us by infecting others with hope one hella cool t-shirt or cap at a time.

It happened to us, just as Michael intended. Strolling down the aisle of the farmer’s market, we saw the shirts and stopped in our tracks. “What is that?” I asked Kerri. She smiled, and then laughed, and finally said, “Let’s go find out.” We talked with Michael for the next 20 minutes. He shared his story. We shared ours. We talked about acceptance of self and others. We talked of the need for hope in these ugly, divided times. And while we talked, others saw the shirts and stopped in their tracks.

We stepped aside and watched as people did double-takes. Some hovered and talked. Some danced and laughed. And talked. Some ventured into the center to talk, as we did, with Michael. The shirts started conversations.

Call it a brand or call it a mission, in Michael’s case, it is both. It’s genuine. It’s based on the premise that acceptance of others begins with acceptance of self. You’d be a fool to argue with the premise.

Amidst our divided national narrative it is a serious and legitimate question to ask: would you rather infect others with hatred or with hope? Michael’s answer is clear and he’s doing more than talking about it.

We are the proof that it’s working. We walked away infused with hope, stepping just a little bit lighter, and the conversation he inspired in us hasn’t stopped in the weeks since we happened upon his shirts.

GO HERE. BUY SHIRTS. SUPPORT THE INFUSION OF HOPE

read Kerri’s blog post about AS YOU IS

SHOP KERRI’S ‘Be Kind’ DESIGNS

Filed under: entrepreneur, Language, Possibility, Two Artists Tuesday, Uncategorized | Tagged: acceptance, as you is, be kind, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, hope, inclusion, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, racism, safety, self-love, smiles, society6.com/kerrisherwood, tolerance | Leave a comment »

Find The Doorway In [It’s DR Thursday]

Posted on April 12, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

A Doorway In for your Thursday from studio melange.

THISthedoorwayin FRAMED jpeg copy

You learn a lot about yourself combing through old sketchbooks. For instance, I am not a religious person but was gobsmacked to discover that in my life I’ve done hundreds of drawings on the theme of Jacob wrestling with the angel. Why? I had to research the story to have context for the images I’d drawn.

The other theme that populates my sketchbooks is much more conscious. It is… (wait for it…) Polynices and Eteocles. In Greek mythology they are the sons of Oedipus who, rather than share power, kill each other. It is my visual rumination on contemporary politics in America. Here’s the catch. Every time I attempt to translate my drawings of combat into a painting, the process leads me to a loving statement, Shared Fatherhood. I’ve made two runs at it. There are now two versions of my warring brothers turned to adoring parents. What!?

Kerri loves my Shared Fatherhood paintings. She has no idea of their sketchy origin. So, when she chose this week’s morsel from the first Shared Fatherhood painting, exclaiming, “I love this image! I think we should call it The Doorway In!” It jarred me a bit. The Doorway In. She is ever positive.

the first version of Shared Fatherhood, 39.5 x 51IN

I delight in the notion that in my visual meditation, through my hundreds of drawings on warring brothers, I am so incapable of arriving at a painting of mutual annihilation. It is a tired, old story. Rather, my muses, my sketchbooks, lead me to stories of hope for the future and images of quiet adoration. A doorway in.