studio melange | The Direction of Intention

Contrast [on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on September 10, 2019 by davidrobinsoncreative

contrast principle copy

It is the ultimate cliche’: we only know light because of dark. 20 calls this the contrast principle. Images juxtaposed illuminate. It’s how stories are told in film. Once. Upon. A. Time. It is how images pop off the canvas, blue next to orange, green meets purple. Contrast makes the eye move. Contrast makes shapes emerge. Movement has no meaning without stillness.

It’s relative. Related. Relationship. Without relativity, without contrast, nothing makes sense. Or, more to the point, nothing is sensed. Difference, in fact, is the secret sauce necessary for knowing anything. Category. Class. Classification. Group. What is like what? What is related? What is unrelated? Cubicle. Caste. Lines on a map.

Contrast can be wielded like a sword. They are not us. Division.

Or, contrast can be used to unify. A crossroads of diverse perspectives, innovation.

Nature is dynamic at its edges. Water meets beach. Earth meets water. Air breathes fire. Hot meets cold. Convection current. Contrast. Changing energies. Creative movement.

Kerri stopped during our walk. “Look!” she exclaimed. Her eye was drawn to the lone daisy in the midst of the sea of black-eyed susans. “Beautiful,” she whispered as she approached with her camera. “Look at the contrast.”

So similar. So different. Yellow meets white. Black meets yellow.

read Kerri’s blog post about CONTRAST

daisy in the black-eyed susans ©️ 2019 kerri sherwood

Filed under: Art, Creativity, Edges, Identity, Two Artists Tuesday, Uncategorized | Tagged: contrast, contrast principle, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, difference, Diversity, division, innovation, juxtaposition, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, relationship, relativity, sense making, studio melange | Leave a comment »

Drive [on KS Friday]

Posted on September 6, 2019 by davidrobinsoncreative

all you can songbox copy

Very early in my career I drove from Kentucky to California, an epic drive that the current version of me is utterly incapable of considering. The younger version of me reveled in the drive. Windows down, music roaring, sunrise to sunset, I passed through thunderous storms, coasted down the western slope, the temperature rising as I descended. Snow, salt flats and canyon lands. I’ve rarely felt more alive and carefree.

I’m certain Kerri wrote All You Can as the soundtrack of my drive. The miles of adventure, the wildly varied landscapes rich with color and transcendent. Plains to mountain to high desert. Farm land, ranch land, no-man’s land. And the epic and endless sky! Mostly, the joy of the drive. All you can feel. All you can experience. All you can see. All you can live. It’s all there in her joyous composition. Listen. Discover the magic place, memory or not, where All You Can transports you.

ALL YOU CAN on the album AS IT IS available on iTunes & CDBaby

read Kerri’s blog post about ALL YOU CAN

all you can/as it is ©️ 2004 kerri sherwood

Filed under: KS Friday, Transcendence, Uncategorized | Tagged: alive, all you can, AS IT IS, carefree, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, road trip, studio melange | Leave a comment »

Give Over [on DR Thursday]

Posted on September 5, 2019 by davidrobinsoncreative

#8 Held In Grace -Surrender Now copy 2

It’s called Surrender Now.

I chose it for this week’s Melange because, from this vantage point, surrender seems the only path forward. Giving over rather than giving in. Nonresistance to the forces fighting all around us.

Nonresistance is a scary word. In modern parlance is presupposes tyranny. Unjust authority run amok. It is a path of exposing suppression en route to peace. Ghandi and Martin Luther King.

The surrender in the painting, the surrender of which I write, is a much more personal variety. It is the surrender of aging. It is the surrender of pushing for outcomes and achievements, the release of long-held loss and disappointment. Giving up old stories. giving over to unknown paths and definitions.

Surrender the push-away of life as it comes. Rather, embrace the day with all its surprises. Held in grace. Surrender now.

read Kerri’s blog post about SURRENDER NOW

SurrenderNow framed copy

held in grace: surrender now ©️ 2016 david robinson

Filed under: DR Thursday, Identity, Perspective, Story, Uncategorized | Tagged: david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, disappointment, ghandi, held in grace, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, loss, martin luther king, story, studio melange, surprise, surrender, Surrender Now | Leave a comment »

Get This [on DR Thursday}

Posted on August 29, 2019 by davidrobinsoncreative

Pinochio BIGcopy copy 2

I loved writing and drawing Flawed Cartoon in collaboration with our dear 20. We had fun. It predated the current occupant of the White House and, this one, seems especially prescient.

Maybe Geppetto could whittle us something different or maybe that good fairy in the story could hurry up and turn the puppet into a real boy. Those are worthy cartoon ideas!

In truth, my favorite part of the drawing is the push-puppet-pig doing a take to the audience. “Are you getting this?” Even a toy pig knows when it’s being sold a line. Maybe we need a national push-puppet-pig! “You are getting this, right?”

I guess 20 and I need to go back to the drawing board. A drawing board is nothing more than a world of possibilities waiting to be revealed and it seems that our current world is a drawing board or two shy of few good possibilities. Draw a cartoon! We will, too. Together, we’ll see what we can do.

read Kerri’s blog post about FLAWED CARTOON

flawedcartoon©️foreverbecausenoonereallycaresbydavidrobinsonandjohnkruse

Filed under: Flawed Cartoon Wednesday, Flawed Wednesday, Uncategorized | Tagged: cartoons, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, geppetto, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, lies, pinnochio, push puppet, studio melange, truth | Leave a comment »

Get There [on Not So Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on August 28, 2019 by davidrobinsoncreative

nonplussed definition copy

It is what I love about language: a single word can have two diametrically opposed meanings. I am nonplussed. Read that as you will.

If anyone tells you that communication between people is easy, they are either lying or trying to sell you something you do not need. Communication is hard. Sometimes it is impossible. Doubt me? Chuck the word ‘socialism’ into the public square and watch the fight. One word, a mass of angry or positive associations. Communication will always leave you nonplussed.

Language – words – are imprecise and malleable. They are never passive, that is, people us their words to get something (get understanding, get an idea across, get their way…). Language is a tool of intention. Language is a tool of story. The story raging inside your head or outside is intentional. Self-talk and Other-talk – both – are in hot pursuit of something (being right, being seen, being valued…). Achieving the intention or not will inevitably leave you nonplussed.

Nonplussed seems like a good intention to pursue. Either way you go, you get there.

read Kerri’s blog post about NONPLUSSED

Filed under: Flawed Wednesday, Language, Story, Uncategorized | Tagged: communication, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, language, nonplussed, power of language, studio melange | 1 Comment »

Project, And Swim Away! [on Two Artists Tuesday]

Posted on August 27, 2019 by davidrobinsoncreative

hand shadow copy

Sitting on schoolhouse beach, a brilliant clear day, Kerri began her shadow puppet play. Her characters struck poses. They shape-shifted into other characters. Like a kid watching clouds I’d say, “That one looks like a dinosaur!” And then there was a butterfly. And Mr. Magoo!

Making sense of shapes. Making stories of the shapes in motion. The shapes became powerful or meek, threatening or pleading (“You must pay the rent!” “I can’t pay the rent!”). The shadow players fulfilling their roles.

Shadow puppets, the wayang kulit. Stories told through shadow to remind us that what we see are shadows merely – and then we fill in the gaps with what we project onto those moving shapes. Projection thrown onto projection, an infinity mirror.

Kerri’s shadow puppet Loch Ness monster tried to eat the camera. The camera was too large to fit into its mouth and so Nessie swam away. A story of triumph for the camera (it celebrated wildly) and as for the monster, the hunt goes on.

read Kerri’s blog post on SHADOW PLAY

Filed under: Play, Story, Two Artists Tuesday, Uncategorized | Tagged: david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, infinity mirror, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, projection, shadow play, shadow puppet, studio melange, wayang kulit | Leave a comment »

Pollinate [on Not So Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on August 21, 2019 by davidrobinsoncreative

bee and thistle copy

“The Bee and Thistle sounds like a bar!” I quipped as Kerri knelt to take the shot. And, as we later discovered, it is! It is many bars! Pollination meets inebriation. Poetry or symbol or both. I can’t help but imagining little bees flitting from tap to tap, bees with beer bellies. Belching bees.

The US Department of Agriculture reports that pollinators are responsible for one in every three bites of food we take. Flowering crops need those pollen-drunk bees flitting about to fertilize the plants. Without them, the whole system breaks down. Such a little thing. Such a necessary thing. Bees are in decline.

It seems the theme emerging from this week’s studio melange is the power of the small thing, the small gesture, the small act of kindness, the small bee. The little things taken for granted that go largely unnoticed until they are gone. And then the loss is titanic.

Austin wants to keep bees. Well, truth be told, he already has a small number of hives. A few days ago he received some queen bees in the mail. He ordered them on Amazon [if you doubt that we live in a remarkably strange time, reread that last sentence]. One of his queens escaped from her little matchbox mailer and when Austin opened the package the queen flew away. She apparently had other plans.

He told me the story of the queen’s escape and I knew exactly where he could find his fleeing bee. “She’s in a bar,” I suggested. “The Bee & Thistle.”

Austin wrinkled his nose and then laughed, “I guess I’ll have to order another queen and request one without a drinking problem.”

read Kerri’s blog post on BEES AND THISTLES

Filed under: Flawed Cartoon Wednesday, Random, Uncategorized | Tagged: bee and thistle, bees, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, queen bee, studio melange | 1 Comment »

UpLift [on Merely A Thought Monday]

Posted on August 19, 2019 by davidrobinsoncreative

cohesion copy

And, what is the opposite of cohesion? Incoherence. The lack of clarity or unity. Fracture.

For a period of time my work on this earth was essentially a meditation on power. Power with. Power over. After a while I understood that power-over was not really power at all; it was control. Control and power are two very different things. They are often confused.

Power is something created with others. Control is something done to others. The equation is simple: the more controlling a person is, the less powerful they actually are. A person who understands his/herself as powerful has no need to assert control over others.

A leader invested in control has only one sure route to controlling: to fracture. To divide. It is the way of the truly powerless. Incoherence and chaos are great tools if control is the aim. Destroy the unity. Play to the disgruntled. Feed the fire of those who are feeling powerless. Promise them control. Pushing others down to elevate the self can only end badly. Everyone drowns.

People secure in their power create cohesion. They unite. They uplift. Power is a force that grows between people. It cannot be owned by one. It is always the province of the community. A person secure in her/his power generates unity. What else? The power they feel within is an expression of the power they experience with.

Community is a word that implies cohesion. To commune. Common. And, what could be more common than a central focus, the intention to support and bring out the best in all.

What is the opposite of a powerful person?

read kerri’s blog post about COHESION

Filed under: Awakening, Possibility, Power, Uncategorized | Tagged: chaos, common center, common ground, communal, community, control, david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, division, empowerment, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, power, studio melange, support, the space between, unity | Leave a comment »

Taste The Dream [on KS Friday]

Posted on August 16, 2019 by davidrobinsoncreative

each new day songbox copy

I just finished reading The Hundred Year House by Rebecca Makkai. There is an image in the book that I adore. A fish dreaming of a root beer float. In fact, the root beer float is the fish’s greatest dream, a seemingly impossible one to achieve. A little girl offers a solution. The fish should be in the root beer float, eating the dream from the inside.

Living inside the dream rather than chasing it. Language matters. Dreams are notoriously ethereal, very difficult to grasp. Impossible to chase. Wrap your fingers around a dream and it changes shape.

But, to stand within the dream, to live inside it, savoring each moment lived as a bite from life. A taste of the dream. No chase necessary. A fish in a root beer float. Each new day a bite to be relished. Each new day a taste of the dream.

EACH NEW DAY on the album RIGHT NOW is available on iTunes & CDBaby

read Kerri’s blog post about EACH NEW DAY

Filed under: KS Friday, Metaphor, Uncategorized | Tagged: david robinson, davidrobinsoncreative.com, dreams, Kerri Sherwood, kerri sherwood itunes, kerrianddavid.com, kerrisherwood.com, language, moments, presence, rebecca makkai, studio melange, The Hundred Year House | 1 Comment »

Smell The Flowers [on Not So Flawed Wednesday]

Posted on August 14, 2019 by davidrobinsoncreative

ferdinand copy

Ferdinand is the story of a bull who would rather smell flowers than fight. In a moment of bad timing, Ferdinand sits on a bee and is mistaken for the most ferocious bull in his cadre. He is hauled off to be the main event at the bull fights, a high honor for most bulls! Needless to say, he disappoints. Through a mighty wave of provocation, matadors taunting and goading crowds, Ferdinand refuses to fight. He sits center ring and smells the roses. His dedication to peace is a disappointment to all. He is hauled back to his pasture where he lives out his days enjoying the flowers.

The book became a best seller when it was first published in the mid 1930’s. The world was busy readying itself for yet another world war. In the second year of it’s publication, 1938, Ferdinand was the best selling book in the United States.

A mixed metaphor. A big bull with a gentle heart. The greatest power in the arena impervious to the ugly taunts and goading. Ferdinand, you might say, didn’t take it personally.

As luck would have it this week, we enjoyed a children’s concert telling of Ferdinand and a few days later we saw a one-man show, a Winston Churchill impersonator. We left both events with the same impression: if history repeats itself then we are certainly cycling through the late 1930’s. The world seems dedicated to tweeting itself into greater and greater conflict. The arena is alive with screaming and taunting, accusations and blame. Wouldn’t it be refreshing if, into this blood-lust, a bull would enter, sit center stage, and smell the roses?

read Kerri’s blog post about FERDINAND