Kerri Sherwood | The Direction of Intention

Serve Your Customer [on Flawed Cartoon Wednesday]

Posted on June 20, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

This one is for Master Marsh. He said it best: these days customer service is a firewall against serving the customer.

At Flawed Cartoon, we want you to know that your question is important to us. If you’d like to speak to a representative, press one. If you’d like technical assistance, press two. Press three if you want to return to the list of options. For billing, press 4. Please hold for the next available customer service team member. We’re sorry, all our lines are busy. Please call back at a later date. Thank you.

read Kerri’s blog post about Customer Taser

www.kerrianddavid.com

customer taser ©️ 2016 david robinson & kerri sherwood

Filed under: Flawed Cartoon Wednesday, Perspective, Uncategorized | Tagged: complaints, customer service, customer taser, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, firewalls, flawed cartoon, Flawed Cartoon Wednesday, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, society6.com/flawedcartoon, studio melange, the melange | Leave a comment »

Find Love Everywhere [on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on June 19, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

In a former life I had an office and on the wall of the office was a poster with the English alphabet as found on butterfly wings. Sometimes I think our only real purpose on this earth is to appreciate the utter beauty of it all. We do a shoddy job of it mostly but everyone has their moments of recognition. A sunset. A mountain top. The color of a cardinal. I loved my poster and put it on the wall to remind me that nature is infinitely more beautiful, expansive and powerful than I can contain. My job is to open my eyes. To see. When I needed a reminder of natural order in the midst of my square-taupe-office-with-grey-metal-desk, I’d look at those glorious wings.

Kerri and I walk almost every day. We find peace in walking and have favorite trails, some for the morning walks and some for the end of the day. When we travel to new places, we always find and explore the trails. We have been known to walk late at night. We have ventured into the silence of a midnight snow. On our walks, Kerri is famous for finding treasures. My job is to tote them home. Most of the treasures are hearts. Heart rocks, heart leaves, heart shaped knots, or, like this treasure, the heart found in an acorn. Our house is filled with heart-treasure. Each, like the wings, is a reminder to open my eyes and see the wonder, the love of it all.

read Kerri’s blog post on FIND LOVE EVERYWHERE

www.kerrianddavid.com

find love everywhere ©️ 2018 kerri sherwood & david robinson

Filed under: Love, Two Artists Tuesday, Uncategorized | Tagged: david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, heart, inner peace, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, love, nature, peace, society6.com/twoartists, studio melange, symbol, the melange, the power of nature, Two Artists Tuesday | Leave a comment »

Don’t Wait [on Chicken Marsala Monday]

Posted on June 18, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

We just bought chocolate covered almonds from Trader Joes. The kind with turbinado sugar and sea salt. We stood in the store and debated whether we should get them or not. We’ve been staying away from most things with sugar and neither of us has much fortitude in the face of a chocolate covered almond. We bought them.

On the way home we had a lengthy discussion about how many we could have at one sitting. Three seemed to be a puritanically reasonable number. Our reasoning was very complex and thorough. We felt absolutely superior when we arrived at our number.

At home we made coffee, set up our computers to work, and carefully portioned out six of the almonds and put them in a bowl. Three for Kerri. Three for me. We sat with our bowl to work and before taking the first sip of coffee, the bowl was empty.

“Are you sure we counted three?” I asked.

“We must have miscounted,” Kerri agreed.

Four more almonds went into the bowl. I think. They were gone before I could double check that our count was accurate. So, we had to start over. Three and three. I’m certain we imagined the first three and since we arrived at such a specific number through such thorough reasoning, it seemed only right that we follow the rule. But, then, the bowl was empty.

“Wait. Are you sure we counted three? I asked.

“Hmmm. We must have done something wrong,” Kerri said.

read Kerri’s blog post about DON’T WAIT

www.kerrianddavid.com

don’t wait ©️ 2016 david robinson & kerri sherwood

Filed under: Chicken Marsala Monday, Pattern, Uncategorized | Tagged: chicken marsala, Chicken Marsala Monday, Chicken nugget, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, don't wait, enjoyment, impulse, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, no impulse control, pleasure, reindeer games, society6.com/chickenmarsala, studio melange, the melange | Leave a comment »

Say Goodbye [on KS Friday]

Posted on June 15, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

Sometimes I ask myself how many of my days in this very finite life have I lost just trying to get through. How many times have I looked forward to the end of the day, to the escape of sleep and the hope of a better day tomorrow. How many times have I reminded myself to BE IN my moments, to live them fully regardless of their pleasure or pain. What’s the rush?

Lately, after life handed me a second chance, rather than getting through or looking for an end, I am relearning. I ask myself, not to yearn for sleep, not to hold my days and moments so blithely but to live all of it so when I at last crawl into bed at night, I can honestly say, “I hate to say goodbye.”

HATE TO SAY GOODBYE on the album BLUEPRINT FOR MY SOUL is available on iTunes & CDBaby

read Kerri’s blog post on HATE TO SAY GOODBYE

www.kerrianddavid.com

hate to say goodbye/blueprint for my soul ©️ 1997 kerri sherwood

Filed under: Gratitude, KS Friday, Uncategorized | Tagged: alive, blueprint for my soul, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, embrace your moments, Gratitude, hate to say goodbye, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, live life, presence, second chances, society6.com/kerrisherwood, studio melange, the melange | Leave a comment »

Share Fatherhood [on DR Thursday]

Posted on June 14, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

MASTERshared fatherhood II close up copy

a morsel of Shared Fatherhood II

This is what I believe:

People write words and books.

People make distinctions, create borders, build walls.

People make rules and laws.

People make judgments and justifications.

People make agendas. People make politics.

People exploit other people.

‘God,’ like ‘love,’ is a word we use to point to something boundless. Love, like all the Gods, is beyond comprehension. That is why the two words, God and Love, are often synonymous. They point to that which cannot be defined, contained or limited.

If you hear that ‘God has written’ or that God has ‘placed boundaries’, like gender distinctions, on ‘love’ then you can be certain of one thing: someone has either confused the writings of people for the unfathomable expression of love or there is an agenda in play. Either way, the limit has nothing to do with Love or God.

read Kerri’s blog post on SHARED FATHERHOOD

www.kerrianddavid.com

Shared Fatherhood II, 25.25 x 40.25IN, mixed media on panel

shared fatherhood II: close ©️ 2018 david robinson and kerri sherwood

shared fatherhood II ©️ 2017 david robinson

Filed under: DR Thursday, Identity, Love, Uncategorized | Tagged: agendas, boundless, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, fatherhood, gods, judgments, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, laws, limits, love, Rules, shared fatherhood, society6.com/davidrobinson, studio melange, the melange | Leave a comment »

Deny! [on Flawed Cartoon Wednesday]

Posted on June 13, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

I am in denial. I had perfect eyesight for the first 45 years of my life. And then things went blurry. I understand they invented this cool thing called glasses – and I even own a pair – but I lost the instruction manual and have no idea how to operate them so they remain untouched on my shelf. Despite the progressive blur I maintain that my eyesight is perfect and merely on an extended hiatus. It’ll be back.

read Kerri’s blog post on BIG NOSE/SMALL HEAD

www.kerrianddavid.com

Filed under: Edges, Flawed Cartoon Wednesday, Uncategorized | Tagged: aging, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, denial, eyesight, flawed cartoon, Flawed Cartoon Wednesday, getting old, glasses, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, life changes, society6.com/flawedcartoon, studio melange, the melange | Leave a comment »

Be A Dandy [on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on June 12, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

I’ve noticed that my son, Craig, uses old fashioned words in his texts like, “indeed” and “certainly.” I delight in his collision of proper usage in a medium that regularly slays grammar and reduces communication to pre-written-language symbol (now known as an emoji).

Recently, Craig surprised me with a new pair of walking shoes. When they arrived on our doorstep I was painting so was wearing my paint-splattered-worn-to-death-grubby clothes when I tried on my cool new shoes. They immediately elevated my status and felt really good, too! I told Kerri that I was a dandy from the ankles down. “Don’t get carried away,” she said. She has grown accustomed to my usual unmade-bed style of dress.

I wrote Craig telling him that I loved my shoes. “Truly!” I added as a nod to his parlance.

“Ha!” he replied, “Happy random Monday.”

Ha, indeed! Now, it’s time for a proper walk!

read Kerri’s blog post about DANDY

www.kerrianddavid.com

dandy ©️ 2018 kerri sherwood & david robinson

Filed under: Language, Two Artists Tuesday, Uncategorized | Tagged: dandelion, dandy, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, language, language usage, power of language, society6.com/twoartists, studio melange, the melange, Two Artists Tuesday, walking shoes | 1 Comment »

Be A Pirate [on Chicken Marsala Monday]

Posted on June 11, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

When we were little, for our birthdays, my dad would disappear into the basement and make magical constructions from boxes. Squealing, we’d race down the stairs and jump into the airplanes and trains and mazes he created. When it was his night to cook, we feasted on fantastically shaped pancakes, the chef taking rowdy and enthusiastic requests from his diners. There were snowball fights and broken windows (“DAD DID IT!” we shouted to mom, throwing him under the bus). There were midnight raids with a squirt gun dubbed The Green Avenger.

Being a pirate came naturally to him. And, consequently, I and my brothers and sister have no doubt where our treasure is.

read Kerri’s blog post about BEING A PIRATE

www.kerrianddavid.com

Filed under: Chicken Marsala Monday, Heroes, Love, Uncategorized | Tagged: chicken marsala, Chicken Marsala Monday, Chicken nugget, childhood, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, father's day, fatherhood, fathers, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, memeories, play, society6.com/chickenmarsala, 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 »

Be In Serenity [on DR Thursday]

Posted on June 7, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

I flipped a page and came across the notes I jotted during my last call with Horatio. I can’t recount the entirety of the conversation – it was vast. But the few notes I captured seem to say it all: Art is about the unity place; it is meant to pop open that place in people, or remind them…. Artistry is the realization of one-ness. It is a walk to the center of compassion. And, it is dangerous. It challenges boundaries. Danger and compassion are linked.

Art is necessarily dangerous. It absolutely challenges boundaries. It asks hard questions. It won’t cotton a lie (propaganda is not art). It points to common ground, shared experience and universal understanding – all things that require border crossing. It brings audiences to shared breath, relationship, the place of compassion. It requires the artist to show up unprotected and the audience to reciprocate in kind. In that space serenity is possible.