society6.com/davidrobinson | The Direction of Intention

Walk To The Other Side [on DR Thursday]

Posted on December 27, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

BlowingWishes Morsel copy

There is a ping-pong table in my studio that is piled high with paintings that are not yet stretched. And, because these paintings are constantly moving, pulled and tacked to the wall to be shown then placed back in the pile, they are stored with no particular order. This process of random stacking and re-stacking allows us to see the pieces from many different points of view; what was top is now bottom. It affords new perspectives, it helps me see again as if for the first time.

Pile It is such a simple thing and yet so hard to do – to let go of what we think is right, allowing a new perspective of something that we think we understand. The word I’ve learned to pay attention to is “think.” The skill of an artist is to see beyond what they “think.” The gift of the artist is to help others see beyond what they think. To pop open new perspectives and make space for new possibilities.

It is easy to confuse thinking (interpretation) with ‘seeing.’ They are not the same thing. It is so easy to believe ‘stuck thinking’ is ‘being right.’ It’s a good practice – a healthy practice – to spin things around a bit. To doubt what you think so you might have a more direct experience. So that you might see. So that you might learn. So that you might experience today as different from yesterday.

Life, as they say, is always found in the direction of not knowing.

Kerri calls this morsel BLOWING WISHES. It’s what you see if walk to the other side of the ping-pong table.

GREET THE DAY, mixed media 48 x 48IN (or bigger)

read Kerri’s blog post about BLOWING WISHES

greet the day/blowing wishes ©️ 2011/2018 david robinson & kerri sherwood

Filed under: Art, Creativity, DR Thursday, Seeing, Uncategorized | Tagged: artist, artistry, blowing wishes, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, doubt, greet the day, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, perception, perspective, seeing, seeking, society6.com/davidrobinson, thinking | Leave a comment »

Use 1000 Words [on DR Thursday]

Posted on December 20, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

Horses Morsel copy

this may or may not be complete. 48″ x 48″ as yet untitled

read Kerri’s blog post about this PAINTING

Filed under: Art, Creativity, DR Thursday, Uncategorized | Tagged: artistry, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, new painting, painting, process, society6.com/davidrobinson | Leave a comment »

Give Optimism [on KS Friday]

Posted on December 14, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

this season song box copy

Margaret has always been an inspiration to me. She is an artist, a maker of quilts. She is one of those rare and gifted people who enter the room and immediately all hearts are flooded with sunshine. Even on my greyest day she has invoked lightheartedness in me. When I see her and I smile.

Yesterday we received her Christmas card and letter. I can’t wait for Kerri to meet Margaret. She is a bit like Kerri’s mother, Beaky. Bright light, teller of stories. In her letter, Margaret wrote of optimism and enthusiasm, of recognizing early in her life that she’d been given those two important gifts and how they had many times carried her through her challenges.

Kerri’s THIS SEASON could be Margaret’s theme song. It is a stroll of window shopping optimism. It is a quilter making a warm and giggle-inspiring quilt for her grandson. It is a mother’s anticipation of visiting her children. Listening to THIS SEASON I am warmed with a quiet enthusiasm. What could be better gifts to give or receive?

THIS SEASON on the album THIS SEASON available on iTunes and CDBaby. Better yet! Kerri is having an ABUNDANCE SALE of THIS SEASON. She is selling the CD for $5 to the first 100 people who order. Go here to grab your copy

read Kerri’s blog post about THIS SEASON

this season/this season ©️ 2005 kerri sherwood

Filed under: Gratitude, Heroes, KS Friday, Uncategorized | Tagged: christmas, christmas music, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, holiday music, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, margaret miller quilter, music, society6.com/davidrobinson, society6.com/kerrisherwood, this season, this season the album | Leave a comment »

Make Space [A SALE on DR Thursday]

Posted on December 13, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

What art offers is space — a certain breathing room for the spirit. ~John Updike

I feel most alive when I am painting. If I’m out of my center, upset, in despair, feeling blue, or swimming in a pool of self-pity, the quickest cure, the best medicine, is a trip to the studio. Life makes sense there. The conversations I have with canvas are not always easy but they are always generative. Love is like that.

And, like most artists, I love to paint but feel utterly inept when it comes to selling what I paint. Introverts are notoriously lousy salespeople. Inevitably, things stack up.

Give me a museum and I’ll fill it. ~Pablo Picasso

I am at least one museum short and need to clear some space. In the old days I would burn paintings, paint over them or give them away but nowadays Kerri would kill me if I tried any of those space-making strategies. Dying at my wife’s hands to create space seems counter-productive. She suggested A Sale.

The days you work are the best days. ~Georgia O’Keeffe

My best days are yet to come. A new wave of inspiration is rolling in.

One’s art goes as far and as deep as one’s love goes. ~Andrew Wyeth

When you visit my site, you’ll see that I’ve listed some minimum prices. If you see a painting you love, reach for it. Make an offer.

The chief enemy of creativity is ‘good’ sense. ~Pablo Picasso

And so. Love runs deep. It makes no sense. The best things in life never do.

The No Sense No Space Sale.

read Kerri’s blog post about THE SALE

Filed under: Art, Creativity, DR Thursday, Uncategorized | Tagged: art sale, artistry, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, need space, no sense, paintings, society6.com/davidrobinson | 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 »

Open Your Mind [on DR Thursday]

Posted on December 6, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

Peace on Earth is a nice seasonal phrase but I’m willing to bet that most folks think it is pie-in-the-sky. A utopian ideal. So, pondering what to write about Peace on Earth, I flipped open a book and the first phrase I saw was this: An Open Mind.

Horatio is wise. He once told me that in these United States we are divided because we have competing narratives. Narrative #1: Every man for himself. Narrative #2: I am my brothers’ keeper. I think he is right. Generally, you can toss every national debate into one of those buckets. This morning, for my Peace on Earth rumination, I’d redefine those two narratives this way #1: Closed Mind (every man for himself) or #2: Open Mind (I am my brother’s keeper).

The ‘every man for himself’ narrative is predicated on the notion that there is limited pie in this vast universe. The goal is to grab a big piece of the limited pie. It’s necessarily a fight because there’s not nearly enough pie to go around. It’s fear-based and fear closes minds. Every year people get trampled in the national-celebration-of-limited-pie known as Black Friday. Get yours. It’s true, through this dark lens Peace on Earth is nothing more than pie-in-the-sky.

The inverse narrative, ‘I am my brothers’ (and sisters’!) keeper’ is predicated on the notion that there is plenty of pie to go around. In fact, the goal is not to grab but to create and then to give. Not only to share our toys and our gifts but to cultivate the base layer of Maslow’s Hierarchy for everyone: security & safety. Communal self-actualization follows the same path as personal self-actualization. Morality, respect, and generosity are the blossoms of feeling secure. So is an Open Mind. Peace on Earth, through this lens, is like more pie in the oven.

The ‘every man for himself’ story is a great recipe for closing minds. With fear and studied ignorance at its center, this narrative begs us to ignore a simple truth: no one does this alone. We are, in fact, dependent upon each other for our survival, our identity and our esteem. In isolation, a human being cannot thrive. Withhold interaction and love an infant will not survive.

I have a theory (okay, a belief) that the ‘I am my brothers’ and sisters’ keeper’ narrative is the truth of us. When the chips are down, when another person in peril, firefighters run into the building, they don’t run away. Everyday people leap in harm’s way to save the life of another. It is their instinct. It is our nature.

Like everything, believe it or not, what we embrace is a choice. Narratives are powerful.

An Open Mind is a door into Peace on Earth. It’s possible there’s more pie in this vast universe, this abundant earth, than a closed mind wants you to see.

read Kerri’s blog post about PEACE ON EARTH

peace on earth products copy 2 click the link and scroll down to find all of the available designs & products

peace on earth design/products ©️ 2018 david robinson & kerri sherwood

Filed under: DR Thursday, Possibility, Seeing, Uncategorized | Tagged: abundance, brothers' keeper, choice, closed mind, community, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, human nature, instinct, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, narratives, nature, open mind, peace, peace on earth, pie theory, safety, self actualization, society6.com/davidrobinson, story, survival, the power of story | Leave a comment »

See The Hands [on DR Thursday]

Posted on November 29, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

morsel of Helping Hands

I just googled the phrase “helping hands.’ Depending upon your world view you may or may not be surprised by the extraordinary number of services that appear. People helping people. Food pantries, home caregivers, support for people with spinal cord injuries, disaster relief, charity donations, hunger relief…. It’s a lengthy list. For a moment, if you can imagine – or better yet, realize – the reality represented by the list, you might get a tiny view into that part of humanity that is not often reported. People helping people everyday. It’s everywhere, all year, everyday.

Feel good stories don’t generate the same size audience as the horror stories so they populate less space in the news cycle. It’s possible to see, if you look away from your many screens, that vastly more people are helping people than are people hurting people. It’s possible to see it.

In my town, there is a woman who feeds the hungry twice a day, winter-spring-summer-fall. She doesn’t stop feeding people after the giving season passes or when the cameras are gone. That is true of most of the people helping people on this earth. They help. There is no limelight. They help because they want to help. They help because they feel compelled to help. She is one of a legion of people in my community living life as helping hands. I am surrounded by givers and helpers. So are you.

Ann used to tell me to find a need and fill it. Sage advice. Deeply human. It is true that you will see what you decide to see. Where you place your focus does truly matter. Hands that help. Hands that hurt. Both are out there. One vastly out-populates the other. Can you see it? Do you want to see it?

Helping Hands 53.5 x 15.25 acrylic on canvas

read Kerri’s blog post on HELPING HANDS

PILLOW WEEK CONTINUES!

‘helping hands’ in all it’s forms ©️ 2018/2015 david robinson & kerri sherwood

Filed under: DR Thursday, Gratitude, Heroes, Seeing, Uncategorized | Tagged: david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, focus, focus placement, giving, god's kitchen, helping hands, humanity, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, people helping people, seeing, service, society6.com/davidrobinson | 4 Comments »

Practice. [on DR Thursday]

Posted on November 15, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

a morsel from Waiting & Knowing

The quote is from Carlos Castaneda, A Separate Reality. In a nutshell, it is this: know that you are waiting. Know what you are waiting for. To me that seemed to be a kind of yoga. A practice. It is a practice that might be useful in the age of one-click fulfillment, twitter diplomacy, road rage, ubiquitous impatience. It is a practice with balance as its intention.

in process

It is also a practice that in many ways encapsulates the art of painting as I understand it. So, it seemed a useful spark for a painting in my yoga series. Waiting and knowing. Balance. Sisu. The practice of being where you are.

Waiting & Knowing, 48 x 48IN, mixed media

read Kerri’s blog post about WAITING & KNOWING

Filed under: Art, Creativity, DR Thursday, Uncategorized | Tagged: A Separate Reality, balance, carlos castaneda, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Don Juan, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, painting, practice, society6.com/davidrobinson, yoga | Leave a comment »

Let It Catch You [on DR Thursday]

Posted on November 8, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

a morsel of Earth Interrupted IV: shadow of division

Sometimes you have to stand still to let what you seek catch up to you. Kerri said that to me one day. Her words found their way into me and then became a poem and then the poem found its way into a painting, Earth Interrupted IV.

This week the painting found its way into a morsel for Studio Melange. A wisdom inspired a poem, became a painting, became a morsel called Shadow Of Division. Today, it becomes a post. Which, I am sure, will inspire another poem or a song (anything is possible in our house).

Art begets art. The well of possibilities is bottomless. And, rather than chase the possibilities as was once my strategy, I am learning to stand still. A wisdom, a poem, a painting, a morsel, a post about cycles and all things life giving.

Earth Interrupted IV, mixed media 48 x 36IN

read Kerri’s blog post about SHADOW OF DIVISION

My favorite thing about shadows? They blend divisions. They make cool new and surprising shapes out of seemingly separate things. Transformation is so simple and just a small shadow away.

Filed under: Art, Creativity, DR Thursday, Uncategorized | Tagged: art, art cycles, artists, creativity, cycles, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, earth interrupted, inspiration, Kerri Sherwood, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, life cycles, meaning making, peom, poetry, possibilities, shadow of division, shadows, society6.com/davidrobinson, stand still, studio melange, the melange, wisdom | Leave a comment »

Wait [on DR Thursday]

Posted on November 1, 2018 by davidrobinsoncreative

morsel of the painting They Wait

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” – Aristotle

My studio often serves as a retreat, a place to escape the noise and nonsense-of-the-day. It is a quiet place. A sanctuary. I recoup perspective when I step into it.

Lately, when I am painting, I find myself pondering the paradox of living in the time of Google. I rarely have a conversation these days that doesn’t include a quick dip into Google to check a fact, pull up a statistic, check spelling or a date or data. We rely on it. We can investigate or verify anything in an instant. Yet – and here’s the paradox – no amount of data or information seems to put a dent in people’s beliefs. In fact, we’ve learned, that confronting a belief with data that contradicts it will serve only to reinforce the belief. Information threatens, and so, is useless.

My dad once told me in a fit of frustration that I had educated myself into stupidity. I question everything. He grew up in a simpler time, in a smaller town. I understand the opposite to be true, the path out of stupidity IS education. The capacity to question, to doubt, to consider, to compare what is said with what is provable, is what makes us powerful. Propaganda is only useful in a society that does not or will not question what it is being told.

Collaboration, cooperation, the capacity to organize, to contemplate and pursue possibilities, to unify disparate points of view is only possible in a mind that doesn’t fear being wrong – in a mind that opens (chooses to open) and isn’t constrained by fear of what it doesn’t understand. Fear makes us stupid. To be educated doesn’t mean to be rigid or buried in knowledge. It means the willingness to question, the ability to look, experience, to see, to reach. To learn. Fear blinds. Curiosity illuminates.

This painting tumbled out of my Google meditation. It is a sketch, a quick gesture. I used to tell my students that daydreaming was an essential skill. Looking out the window and pondering, imagining,…daydreaming is the first step of invention. Waiting, too, is also an essential skill. It is invaluable when entertaining a thought….