motherhood | The Direction of Intention

Travel Here [on saturday morning smack-dab.]

Posted on January 29, 2022 by davidrobinsoncreative

One of the cruelties of multiple daily zoom meetings is that, in addition to seeing other faces, you also stare at your own. “OMG!” I think to myself (of course- who else would I think to), “I look old!” The picture that I see on the screen does not match the picture in my mind. In my mind, I am much younger. “Some old guy stole my voice!” I shout to myself.

Here’s a strange bit of phraseology: I did not know our kids when they were kids. I came into their lives when they were already adults so I don’t have the memories of footie pajamas, bath time or back yard swing sets. During a recent visit with Craig, I realized that Kerri measures her time on earth relative to her children. She’s constantly reconciling the adult son/daughter sitting across the table with the infant son/daughter that she remembers like it was yesterday. “Where did the time go?” she asks, looking at her hands.

We’re all adults now. Well, even staring into the eyes of that dude who stole my voice, I’m cautious about claiming adulthood. I feel as if I stepped into a time machine that thrust me forward in time. I remember myself in footie pajamas as if it was yesterday. It’s ironic, isn’t it, that it’s in the last few laps that you understand the race is all in your mind and the real juice of life is in enjoying a body that can run. Or feel. Or sense. Or love. Or dance. Or hold the hand of the one you adore.

The advice I’d give to our children is the same advice I’d give to myself (and I’d do it, too, if that rat-bastard hadn’t stolen my voice!), “There’s no hurry. This race is not run on a line. It’s a circle. You’re not really getting anywhere more important than where you already are.” It’s a time machine to now.

read Kerri’s blog post about TIME MACHINES

Filed under: Family, Love, smack-dab | Tagged: aarp, advice, aging, artistry, changing faces, dance, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, empty nest, enjoy life, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, life, live, love, memories, motherhood, now, parenthood, presence, saturday morning smack-dab, second chances, senses, smack-dab, story, studio melange, the melange, time, time machine, two artists, youth | Leave a comment »

Know How It Feels [on saturday morning smack-dab.]

Posted on December 25, 2021 by davidrobinsoncreative

Love. It spans the full spectrum, doesn’t it? That’s how we know it’s the real deal: it hurts so good. It’s so good it hurts. It’s not a bad reminder on this day of gathering together or missing out. Love where you are because, chances are, where you are is full immersion in the love-spectrum-of-experiences.

Happy Holidays from two-artists-on-the-road.

read Kerri’s blog post about NOW I KNOW.

Filed under: Love, smack-dab | Tagged: aarp, artistry, children, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, empty nest, empty nesters, family, feeling, feelings, full spectrum, gatheirng, holiday, holidays, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, love, missing, motherhood, second chances, spectrum of emotion, story, studio melange, the melange, two artists | Leave a comment »

Climb The Mountain [on DR Thursday]

Posted on October 15, 2020 by davidrobinsoncreative

motherdaughter, mixed media, 20 x 25.5IN

Double – Haiku from the road:

A mother daughter

relationship is complex.

It’s Push-me/Pull-you.

Steep hike up a hill,

She extends her hand, support.

High mountains of love.

The era of roadtrip hotel posts is almost at an end. You will miss these moments of brevity. Thanks to my ‘given’ daughter Kirsten for taking us on a high mountain hike to Lower Lost Man Lake. I’m still shaking my head at the beauty, and the care you gave your mother (and me) during the ascent.

read Kerri’s blog post about MOTHERDAUGHTER

motherdaughter ©️ 2019 david robinson

Filed under: Art, DR Thursday, Family, Gratitude | Tagged: daughter, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, haiku, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, motherhood, mountains, mountian climbing, relationship | Leave a comment »

Reach The Moon [on KS Friday]

Posted on May 15, 2020 by davidrobinsoncreative

and goodnight copy

Today is Kirsten’s birthday. “My daughter is turning 30 today…” Kerri said, disbelief washing over her. In non-pandemic times we’d most likely have driven to Colorado to see Kirsten – even if it was only for a day or a meal. I’ve learned that motherhood knows no limits where love for a child is concerned. “She might as well be on the moon,” Kerri whispered.

Not being able to see Kirsten, Kerri hatched a plot that involved over 60 people, a kind of virtual surprise party. For weeks she’d secretly collected love and birthday wishes from friends and family from all over the country. She spent the entire day yesterday assembling the wishes into a slideshow. There was a second slideshow with virtual gifts. They were the perfect projects for a mom trying to reach the moon.

I worked all day in the studio (staying out of the way – it was perfect for me, too) and could hear the giggles, the gasps, and the curses of slideshow creation. Every so often I’d sneak a peak and watch her building the rocket ship to carry momma’s love through space and time. It’s a paradox, this gentle intensity. This thing called motherhood. Composer of lullabies. Protector of babes. Dedicated traveler through space and time.

AND GOODNIGHT on the album AND GOODNIGHT…A LULLABY ALBUM is available on iTunes

read Kerri’s blog post about AND GOODNIGHT

http://www.kerrianddavid.com

and goodnight/and goodnight…a lullaby album ©️ 2005 kerri sherwood

Filed under: Family, KS Friday, Love, Uncategorized | Tagged: and goodnight, and goodnight...a lullaby album, birthday, birthday in the time of pandemic, daughter, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, distance, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, lullaby album, motherhood, slideshow project | Leave a comment »

Count Six [on KS Friday]

Posted on April 10, 2020 by davidrobinsoncreative

“I am bound to everyone on this planet by a trail of six people.” ~John Guare, Six Degrees of Separation

Six degrees of separation: the notion that all people on earth are only six – or fewer – social connections away from each other. A swelling world population. A shrinking world. Has there ever been a time in which our interconnectivity was more apparent?

Six feet: the distance we are told is generally safe enough to keep my breath from entering your body and vice versa. Distance slows but in no way interrupts our interconnectivity.

The number six in numerology symbolizes the caretaker. It is also known as the motherhood number: caring, healing, sacrificing, protecting. I find it oddly comforting that distance and separation in measures of six are associated – at least symbolically – with caring, protecting, sacrificing for others. Six is other-focused. Six, I just read, is the glue that keeps a community together.

Last night we sat on the deck in silence. Listening. Earlier, during our walk, we spoke little. We mostly listened to the creaking of the trees, the sounds of the birds, the chorus of frogs. In a pandemic, we are learning, there is very little to say that isn’t rooted in fear. So, we say very little. We hold silence, a vigil of sorts. The silence turns our minds toward listening, toward living. Caring.

This is the warm quiet ripple that rolls through Kerri’s SILENT DAYS: caring. The number of motherhood. A symbolic six. A turn toward living. Inextricably bound together.

SILENT DAYS on the album BLUEPRINT FOR MY SOUL is available in iTunes

read Kerri’s blog post about SILENT DAYS

silent days/blueprint for my soul ©️ 1996 kerri sherwood

Filed under: KS Friday, Language, Metaphor, Uncategorized | Tagged: blueprint for my soul, caring, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, distance, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerri sherwood on itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, motherhood, numerology, protection, silence, silent days, six degrees of separation, six feet, six feet of separation, social distancing | Leave a comment »

Will Her Safe Passage [on DR Thursday]

Posted on April 18, 2019 by davidrobinsoncreative

a morsel: motherdaughter

Lately I am learning about parenthood. Actually, to be more specific, I am learning about the power of motherhood. Even though her children have flown the nest and are living vibrant lives a thousand miles in either direction, Kerri senses their movements. She feels their triumphs and their pains as if they were her own. We have a game: mention Kirsten’s name in casual conversation and she will almost certainly text or call within minutes. It is uncanny. The daughter and the mother are deeply connected.

This winter, Kirsten taught snowboarding lessons in Telluride and coached a team in Aspen. It required a four and a half hour drive on Friday night to Aspen and a Sunday night return trip to Telluride. Friday and Sunday evenings, Kerri tracked Kirsten’s travel path. Snowy roads. Ice. Avalanches. The mother’s eye casting a cloak of protection over the daughter, willing her safe passage. Holding her in a mother’s sheltering embrace.

Anyone who doubts the power of sympathetic magic has never been a parent, a mother willing the universe to keep her girl safe.

motherdaughter, mixed media, 20 x 25.5

read Kerri’s blog post about MOTHERDAUGHTER

motherdaughter ©️ 2019 david robinson

Filed under: DR Thursday, Love, Power, Uncategorized | Tagged: children, connectivity, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Embrace, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, magic, motherdaughter, motherhood, parenthood, protection, society6.com/davidrobinson, society6.com/kerrisherwood, studio melange, sympathetic magic | Leave a comment »

Recognize It [on Not-So-Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on November 14, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

beaky text copy

I love this text. It is from 93 year old Beaky to her daughter. The specific context is not important. What I love is the universality of this sentiment, a text every mother across the ages might have written to their children. It is a text Kerri could write to Kirsten or Craig. What mother does not know more than they say, think more than they speak, notice much more than their underestimating children realize?

I’ve learned, as I watch Kerri not-say things to her children, letting them make their own mistakes and untangle their own webs, that the effort involved in not-speaking is herculean.

Sisu sometimes requires silence. When every impulse in a mother’s body is to reach, Sisu sometimes demands stillness.

As a child who routinely underestimates his mother, Beaky’s text gives sends chills up my spine. I’ve certainly made a mess of things and I can only imagine the fortitude (unrecognized by me) my mother displayed – and continues to display – by letting me fall down. Sisu. Sisu. Sisu.

Of course, the flip side of the coin is that the interruption-of-the-reach, the silence-in-the-midst-of-knowing, comes from a deeper mom-like-faith. Mothers know that the great trip-and-fall-down moments come with some necessary pain but will always end with a return to standing, a re-entry to the game. It’s a cycle. It’s how moms everywhere awaken Sisu in their children. Like all good life cycles, it’s a paradox, to be sure.

The second thing I love about Beaky’s text? She signs her dope-slap to her daughter with ‘Mom.” This love-thing is tough!

read Kerri’s blog post about BEAKY’S TEXT

Filed under: Flawed Wednesday, Gratitude, Love, Uncategorized | Tagged: Beaky, children, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, life cycles, mom-faith, motherhood, mothers, silence, sisu, stillness, studio melange, texts, tough love | Leave a comment »

Give Them Dandelions [on KS Thursday]

Posted on May 11, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

a mother’s day gift from studio melange on ks friday.

jacketffodjpeg copy

Some things need no interpretation and this song, going into Mother’s Day, is one of those. So, from studio melange, a gift-song from a mom, Kerri, to mothers everywhere.

FISTFUL OF DANDELIONS available on iTunes and CDBaby

FISTFUL OF DANDELION gifts and cool products

read kerri’s blog post about FISTFUL OF DANDELIONS

www.kerrianddavid.com

Filed under: KS Friday, Love, Uncategorized | Tagged: david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, KS Friday, mother's day, mother's day songs, motherhood, parenthood, society6.com/kerrisherwood, studio melange, the melange | Leave a comment »

Hold Them Close [it’s DR Thursday]

Posted on May 10, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

a painting morsel for your DR Thursday from studio melange.

For the entire span of my artistic life I have painted mother’s holding their children. I don’t know why . Once, years ago, I set up the many mothers-and-children paintings that lived in my studio and sat for a long time pondering them. I liked them all. As Horatio has said about my work, they were/are motion in stillness. Beyond that, I have no words. Most of the important stuff, I’ve learned, lives beyond language.

Kerri chose this morsel in honor of the coming of Mother’s Day and calls this morsel, “Closely I Will Hold You.” From studio melange, a quiet nod of gratitude to moms everywhere.

I Will Hold You In The Storm, mixed media 29.75 x 39.25IN

CLOSELY I WILL HOLD YOU gifts & products

read kerri’s blog post about I WILL HOLD YOU CLOSE

www.kerrianddavid.com

Filed under: Art, Creativity, DR Thursday, Uncategorized | Tagged: acrylic paintings, Closely I will hold you, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, DR Thursday, I will hold you in the storm, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, mixed media paintings, mother and child, mother's day, motherhood, mothers, motion in stillness, paintings, parenthood, society6.com/davidrobinson, studio melange, the melange | 2 Comments »

Two Artists Tuesday

Posted on February 27, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

I knew from a very young age that I would never have children of my own. I knew. It was an intuitive knowing, not an intellectual resolve. My life, I knew, would be a wandering through the wasteland. I would tilt at windmills. I would seek for things that can never be found. Children, I believed (and still believe), needed the kind of stability that a restless seeker like me would never have been capable of providing.

Last night we went to the foreign film festival and saw an inspiring, funny and poignant Irish film called Sing Street. The ingenue explains to her suitor, an aspiring musician, that love is happy-sad. To love is to experience both.

I now have two amazing step-children. They were adults when I came into their lives and both live far away. I am slowly developing relationships with them, creating memories with them. I listen with fascination (and sometimes horror) as Kerri converses with her friends, mothers all, about their children. There is so much suffering, to want to be near their children and yet want them to fulfill their dreams and fly. They want to be present and available BUT not too present or available; those wacky offspring want full support AND they want mom to stay out of their business. Motherhood, I’m learning, is a bottomless yearning, a constant ache, and there is nothing better. There is nothing more fulfilling.

Fathers, I’m observing, are mostly confounded. They shake their heads, not so much in agreement, but in concession. Their spouses are capable of reconciling and celebrating the ambiguity of parenthood. Fatherhood, it seems, is a surrender to the unsolvable. A submission to the mystery. The ache is no less profound. The joy is no less intense.

Happy – sad. A full spectrum of living. Love. From studio melange on this Two Artists Tuesday.

CHILDREN ARE THE BEST THING merchandise