love | The Direction of Intention

Fly Between The Poles [on DR Thursday]

Posted on September 27, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

a morsel from ‘angel.’ kerri calls it ‘you can’t hold the sun’

Icarus‘ wings were made of wax and feathers. His father, Daedalus, made them so he and Icarus could escape their imprisonment. Before taking flight, Daedalus warned Icarus not to fly too low nor too high. Icarus flew too close to the sun, the wax melted and his wings fell apart. He fell from the sky and drowned.

We see most of the Greek stories sifted through a post-Greek moralistic lens. Fly to high, hubris. Fly too low, complacency. The world as defined by polarities. Heaven, hell. Good, bad. Right, wrong. There’s another possibility.

Quinn used to tell me that the point of all the world’s religions, the message in all the great stories, is to find the middle way. To live in the center. This world, he said, will try its best to tug you to the extremes. It will dose you with propaganda, half truths. It will glorify US and demonize THEM. It will bamboozle you into twisted notions like ‘the dehumanization of others is okay.’ It is the lucky person that realizes that it is impossible to strip others of their humanity without also losing their own. Polarities are like that.

So, seek balance. Walk between the tug of the poles. It is the point of presence – live here, not in the scary future nor the regrettable past. Fly, not too close to either pole, but through the middle. Now. It’s possibly the point of the story.

This morsel is called You Can’t Hold The Sun. It’s true. You can’t stop time. No moth can withstand the flame. The sun will melt your waxy wings. The sea will make your feathers heavy with dew. Either way, you fall.

In the face of too much moralizing, Kerri will say, “If it’s not about kindness or joy, it’s not about anything.” That’s a statement from the center. I like to think that this center place, this middle way that Quinn told me about, is what we call love.

angel, acrylic on 2 panels, 48 x 24IN

icarus, acrylic on canvas, 30.5 x 59.5IN

www.kerrianddavid.com

you can’t hold the sun/angel ©️ 2018/2004 David Robinson

Filed under: Art, Creativity, DR Thursday, Love, Uncategorized | Tagged: balance, center, daedalus, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, icarus, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, love, middle way, presence, religion, society6.com/davidrobinson, stories, sun, wings | Leave a comment »

Bring It [on KS Friday]

Posted on September 14, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

It happened again today. Taking a walk in our neighborhood this morning a woman stopped us to tell us that we make her smile. We always walk arm in arm or holding hands. “You make me feel happy,” she said.

At first we were surprised by the people that stopped us. It’s been a curiosity in our relationship since the beginning that people are compelled to stop us to tell us that we make them smile. On the street, in airports, at restaurants, in hotel lobbies, farmer’s markets. Once, a shopkeeper came out of his store to tell us, “You two are a cute couple! It’s good!” he said, giving us a thumbs up. Another time, we were at the grumbling end of a heated debate and a woman, wrestling with her English, said, “You walk together! Same stride. It’s beautiful!” She clasped her hands to her heart and walked on. Suddenly, our disgruntled debate seemed…stupid. We laughed.

It makes us smile. They make us smile. Every time. These people who think that we bring a bit of light into their day are actually bringing a warm joy-feel into ours. It’s a loop. Or a mirror. Either way, it is a reminder of how love works in this big old world. Bring it and it will come looking for you.

SAME SWEET LOVE on the album AS SURE AS THE SUN available on iTunes & CDBaby

ends September 16

read Kerri’s blog post about SAME SWEET LOVE

www.kerrianddavid.com

same sweet love/as sure as the sun ©️ 2002 kerri sherwood

Filed under: KS Friday, Love, Uncategorized | Tagged: album as sure as the sun, arm in arm, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, feedback loop, hand in hand, joy feels, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, love, relationship, same sweet love, society6.com/kerrisherwood | Leave a comment »

Love The Cover [on KS Friday]

Posted on August 31, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

andgoodnight song box copy

What’s in an album cover?

The tiny shoes hang on a door knob just outside of Kerri’s studio. They’re hers! She wore them. Now they hang next to the shoes her babies wore. The soft pastel blanket is downstairs in a safe place. She wrapped her babies in that blanket. And the piano, well, it lives in the room I call Kerri’s studio but once served as the nursery to her children. It is a special room and no wonder so many amazing compositions have been born there. She gave life to this lullaby in that room, sitting at the piano that occupies the space where her rocker once sat next to the cradle.

What’s in this album cover? More life than you can possibly imagine. What’s gave rise to this lullaby? More love than one heart can possibly contain.

AND GOODNIGHT from the album AND GOODNIGHT, available on iTunes & CDBaby

www.kerrianddavid.com

like us on facebook

and goodnight/and goodnight ©️ 2005 kerri sherwood

Filed under: Family, KS Friday, Love, Story, Uncategorized | Tagged: and goodnight, and goodnight album, and goodnight cd, babies, children, cradle, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, love, lullaby, nursery, rocking chair, society6.com/kerrisherwood, studio melange, the melange | Leave a comment »

Touch An Angel [on KS Friday]

Posted on July 13, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

Kerri is thready. Important dates are always noticed and honored in our house. She is nearly Balinese in her attention to auspicious dates. Soon we will honor the life and loss of Wayne. Kerri’s brother Wayne passed away many years before I came into her life. I knew immediately about him. She adored him. He is certainly one of her good angels.

Through her stories and those memories warmly told by her family, I feel he is now one of my kindred spirits, too. Every once in a while, when I need a good bit of brotherly advice, I ask him questions – well, one question in particular (“What am I going to do with your sister?!! She’s out of control!”). He has yet to answer me but like all good angels I do hear him howling with laughter at her antics and my utter confusion.

On this KS Friday, reach for your good angels. Let Kerri’s song for Wayne put you on the back of his bike and take a ride into a special place and time with those you’ve loved and lost. Toast them with a good cup of java, as I do Wayne. From what I hear he was nearly as great a coffee lover as I am.

ANGEL YOU ARE on the album AS SURE AS THE SUN available on iTunes & CDBaby

read Kerri’s blog post about ANGEL YOU ARE

www.kerrianddavid.com

angel you are/as sure as the sun ©️ 2002 kerri sherwood

Filed under: Family, KS Friday, Uncategorized | Tagged: angel, angels, brother, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, family, good coffee, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, love, memories, society6.com/kerrisherwood, story, 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 »

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 »

In Beauty I Walk [it’s Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on May 15, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

flower experiment jpeg copy 3

“I am only so beautiful as the character of my relationships, only so rich as I enrich those around me, only so alive as I enliven those I greet.” ~ Derrick Jensen

I know many many artists who do what they do for love; their motivation is intrinsic. Their work is beautiful. I don’t mean their finished pieces (although they, too, are beautiful). I’m referencing their relationship to their work. It is lively, mysterious, expansive and generous. And, in order to stay healthy, they’ve long ago abandoned the notion that they might make a living through their artwork. Some do. Most do not.

I know many many artists who no longer do what they used to love to do. In the absence of an extrinsic reward (money), they began to see their love-work as worthless. They reduced themselves to a monetary equation and found themselves lacking. Considering their love without value, their well went dry. Their muse withered.

In our confused times it is the fortunate person who understands value as something greater than dollars and cents. Love, beauty, joy, family, generosity, learning, community, surprise, mystery…all words of relationship, all valuable beyond measure. All defy easy quantification.

From studio melange on Two Artists Tuesday, a gentle reminder to look to the space between, to value the process of living, the right-now-relationships where beauty is always to be found. Walk there.

IN BEAUTY I WALK gifts and cool stuff

read Kerri’s blog post about IN BEAUTY I WALK

www.kerrianddavid.com

‘in beauty i walk’ image & products ©️ 2018 kerri sherwood & david robinson

Filed under: Art, Creativity, Two Artists Tuesday, Uncategorized | Tagged: art, artistic life, beauty, community, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, family, generosity, health, in beauty i walk, intrinsic value, joy, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, love, meaning making, mystery, process, relationship, society6.com/twoartists, Two Artists Tuesday, value, worth | Leave a comment »

Root In Love [on Chicken Marsala Monday]

Posted on May 7, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

from studio melange, a quiet suggestion for the start of the new week.

For me, this Chicken Nugget falls into the category of what-more-needs-to-be-said. And then I hear the chorus of voices blaring from my past work-life that would call this Nugget idealistic pie-in-the-sky blather. “We live in a dog-eat-dog world!” they cry. “It’s survival of the fittest!” To that chorus I need to say more. Dog-eat-dog is a belief system, not an inevitability. Survival of the fittest is a harsh lens and there are, in fact, other lenses available. It’s possible to learn the distinction between human nature and acculturation. Through a different lens all of life is cooperative.

The noise of our airwaves, the chatter of our day is most certainly rooted in fear. It may not seem like a choice but the fear-root is an unnatural selection. People have to work hard to hate. Sadly, I admit, division sells, so the hard work of fear is routinely justified and rabidly defended.

Human nature rises through the noise and becomes visible when disaster strikes. Love is what we see when the hurricanes hit, when the forest fires rage. People running into fire to help. People risking their lives to save others because, in those moments, the truth is out: there is no separation. The political blather drops away. The moralistic chiming rings hollow. It is human nature to reach, not reject. To help, not to hurt.

It’s obvious and all around us if we take off the fear lens and look. Root in love. What-more-needs-to-be-said.

ROOT IN LOVE gifts & reminders

read kerri’s blog post about ROOT IN LOVE

www.kerrianddavid.com

Filed under: Chicken Marsala Monday, Love, Uncategorized | Tagged: acculturation, chicken marsala, Chicken Marsala Monday, Chicken nugget, cooperation, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, human nature, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, love, root in love, society6.com/chickenmarsala, studio melange, the melange | Leave a comment »

KS Friday

Posted on April 6, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.” ~Pablo Picasso

Every artist knows that technique is necessary but artistry is not the application of technique. Artistry is transcending technique. Technique is tangible. It is possible to practice scales and study color theory. It is possible to grasp that different brushes do different things. There are bottom lines in technique, reductions and rules and complications.

Artistry is intangible. It is flow. It is expansive. It is simplicity and simplicity is so hard to achieve. It is one of those paradoxes I love to write about, the zones where truth bubbles precisely because it cannot be contained.

The first night we met Kerri played her piano for me. I will never forget it. This slight woman stepped up to her piano (she rarely sits when playing) and all reality shifted. She grew. She filled the room. I swear I saw her send an energy-root into the earth and she opened. What came through was…enormous. What came through was simple.

This lullaby, Kerri’s original piece, I Will Hold You (Forever & Ever) from her album AND GOODNIGHT, could certainly be played by a technician and you would appreciate it. Now, for your KS Friday from the melange, listen to what an artist can do. Sit back and give over to the simplicity.

I WILL HOLD YOU (FOREVER & EVER) from AND GOODNIGHT (track 25) iTunes

also available on CDBaby

And because she couldn’t resist designing with this title for babies or weddings or anyone you love, I WILL HOLD YOU (FOREVER & EVER) products.

‘forever and ever’ leggings

read kerri’s blog post about I WILL HOLD YOU (FOREVER & EVER)

kerrianddavid.com

Filed under: Art, KS Friday, Uncategorized | Tagged: and goodnight, artistry, children, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, expansive, flow, forever and ever, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, love, lullaby, lullaby album, marriage, music, simplicity, society6.com/kerrisherwood, technique, the melange | Leave a comment »

Chicken Marsala Monday

Posted on March 26, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

A Chicken Marsala thought-nugget from the melange to help you start the new week

Faith is one of THOSE words. So, as is my practice when wading into one of THOSE words, I look it up before writing about it. And, as is always true when writing about one of THOSE words, I find beautiful ambiguity within the proffered definitions. 1) complete trust or confidence, 2) strong belief based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.

Complete trust. Spiritual apprehension.

My life has taught me that truth (another one of THOSE words) can only be found within the paradoxes. If you can reduce something to a singularity, a black or white concept, something graspable, then it may be a rule or law but is never a container of truth. THOSE words point to deep experiences, the mysteries that cannot be fully grasped or squeezed into a container. Love is one of THOSE words, too.

We designate the first week of spring by a heavenly marker known as the equinox. Equal night. We look to the sky to understand the happenings on this earth. I’m happy to report that my first sighting of tiny green shoots breaking through the crusty earth in my backyard happened this week. The first sign of spring. The resurgence of green life after months of root-resting hibernation.

I couldn’t help myself. For kicks I also looked up the definition of the word apprehension. It smacked to me of being yet another one of THOSE words. Yep. 1) anxiety or fear, 2) understanding, grasp. Anxiety. Understanding.

Standing before a blank canvas I often feel as Chicken Marsala. I tie on the blindfold and step. Sometimes I step boldly with complete trust. Sometimes I step timidly with great apprehension. It is a full spectrum of faith. And, because I can never know (another one of THOSE words) the best I can do is practice.

cool FAITH TAKE PRACTICE merchandise [wall art, gift cards, tote bags….]