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Many writers have preconceived ideas about what literature is supposed to be, and their ideas seem to exclude that which makes them most charming in private conversation.
-- Allen Ginsberg
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I've redone a bit of the ArtByBrett web site. On the suggestion of Kelly, I increased the size of the card images so that more detail is seen. I don't want them too large or people might just use the image that's there and try to print them on their own printer. But he was right, and so I did that. I also reworked the home page so that it's the latest top three paintings that appear there. No one is going to read my text anyway, so it doesn't matter much. I like this better - a picture is worth a thousand words, you know? I've noticed that most of my cards are horizontal rather than vertical, which has me thinking that I need to buy racks that support both orientations. Such a rack is only $6 more, so I'll do that, but it also sports 24 slots, so I'll need more cards. Paint, paint, paint... I have the next paintings queued up. Pirates, Baby Laughing, In The Hole, Joy, Wedding Kiss, Yes!, Birthday Balloons, and Boy In Water. That's eight, and hopefully, that's March. I've sent an email to a bunch of people (if I excluded you, I apologize... but send me an email, and I'll include you). I'm asking that they go to ArtByBrett and rank the paintings I have thus far. I'll use their input to determine which paintings go to the printer in March. Getting ready to open shop... here we go! |
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Those who know me know that it's rare that I get sick. I honestly can't recall the last time that I got sick with a cold or a flu - and that's despite having five kids. So what's the secret? At the very first sign of a tickle in the throat, gargle with whiskey. I use Jim Beam. No, I'm not kidding. This is not an excuse to drink at odd hours... those who know me also know that I don't drink, except for an occasional glass of merlot or a whimsical dark beer. So there it is, and it works brilliantly. To hell with zinc, vitamin C, echinacea, and Airborne... this treatment prevents a cold. Stops it dead. And it works every time. ETC: After posting this, I thought that I might have to eat crow - what everyone I know had, I felt trying to get me in the form of a scratchy throat and a tickle. So, in a record nine whiskey treatments over a two day period, it's gone. Yep - it works. |
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 That's finishes the second row.  Off to Kinko's... |
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Morning Tree - Starting Out |
 ETC: And later...  Gotta wait for it to dry a bit before I can continue... |
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As I did last year, I recorded a late night ride while Nick was on the computer filling out his Best Buy application to get a job. You can click on the picture to view the three-minute clip.  The ride takes me along Jordan Creek Parkway toward one of the buildings that Wells Fargo uses on Vista Drive. Tried painting tonight, but frankly, it's the source picture, and that's the last time that I use a source picture that employed a flashbulb. It washes all of the color out and scares away the shadows. The kids and I are unanimous: NOT THIS! I have a wall of shame on my wall behind my computer.  You can see where the painting was going, but it was dull and lifeless and looked like I drew it with a crayon. Yes, I can paint, but I can also paint poorly. On to the next one... |
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On this bonny day, I left work a bit early to grab the steed from the shop and take it for a spin. When at the bike shop, I learned that the grinding sound that emanated from my bike last year when applying great torque was, in fact, a broken axle. It's been replaced and it rides as good as new. Yes! Since it's fixed, that's now my transportation to and from work again.  Got home with it and Nick and I went on a good half hour ride for about 8 or so miles. He's been in kickboxing classes for the past two months, so we kept pace with one another pretty well. Got home and had grapes and water for dinner. The weight can't help but come off me. I'll make Aaron chicken-something. Nick is eating at Ali's before his kickboxing class. Last night, I took Austin and Cub and I went exploring and found our way to the park. Bat and ball in hand, we played until we couldn't see any more and then came home in the dark. It was wonderful.   We came back home and goofed around some more. Aaron showed off his new haircut...  And Cub hammed for the camera.  I love spring. Painting-wise, I've been slacking off. I need to finish the painting I'm on and get going with the next. I did learn through a random survey of people that the most popular card I've done thus far is the Beach Kite. I need more children and more fun. I have a few ideas. I open in April. I ought to be able to have 16 cards by then. |
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I love walking at night. My earliest memories of my first apartment here in West Des Moines are of streetlamps and occasional cars and my old walking stick, which had the nickname "Haldeman." If there's been a persistent ritual of my life, walking is it. It's what I did when I divorced Jamie. The three kids and I would walk nightly, taking turns at being the leader and at following the leader. Later, Jacob and I would refer to this as exploring. We would go where we would and just wander and explore. Spring's coming. Cub asked me the other day if we would go exploring again soon. "Exploring" is what he answered his teacher when she asked him what he most loved doing with his dad. Nick and I, beyond his youth, continued our walks, although today it has morphed into bike riding. I love both, but walking has been stronger. It's something about feeling my body move of its own accord and power, in the direction I choose, confident strides and wind in my face. It's perfect, really. Each day, I zig zag through the six floors of the building in which I work, from the sixth down to the first and up to the sixth. One mile. And if you've followed my web site at all, you know that this regimen of walking and biking and an abstinence from refined sugar has helped to lose a bunch of weight. As of today, 54 pounds. I'll drop permanently to below 300 pounds in the next two weeks. My bike, which has been in the shop, gets out tomorrow. Me and the steed, to work and back every day, will propel me to lose more. Health. More wind in my face. Freedom. There was a time when I wore suits and craved a nice car - and was miserable. The most poetic moment of my life came in a lunchtime bike ride in a $400 suit. Giddy with the air and the speed, I completely lost control and skidded into gravel and tore the suit to shreds. Aside from some killer road rash, I gained a permanent black hole in my right hand from it for the rock that pierced me bone deep. In fact, Cub's first sentence was, "Doctor fix hole in your hand." The hole is a reminder that I am who I am and that corporate ladders aren't for me. My days of suit were over not long after that. I've never looked back - though I do get tempted occasionally. But I'm too independent. I took Aaron to the stylist tonight to turn a sheepdog back into my son. While he waited for his name to be called, I went walking through and around the mall. Me, in my shorts and short-sleeved shirt, thrilling at the cool night air. I remembered all of the times that I had crossed Valley West Mall's parking lots at night back then. Lovely... and I'm very thankful that my body treats me well and moves much as it did twenty years ago. I came back in and went to the Hallmark store. I cruised their cards and noted that my line of cards will be unique. Almost nothing in Hallmark looks like what I plan to offer. That's a good thing. I've had trouble with this recent work, "Friends." But it's getting there, thin-lipped editor lady be damned. Just gotta keep going, one foot in front of the other... |
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 Just getting started with this one, but I'm having fun with big brushstrokes. Where the last painting felt like it had to be exquisitely detailed and just right, this one has a completely different feel. I'll title it friends when I'm done with it. Three girls, arm in arm, and best of friends. I'm listening to John Mayer for this painting, and that seems appropriate. More later... |
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Taking the day off to paint and get some errands done. I've been playing guitar a bit lately and my callouses are back, which means that the hamburger'ed performance of my little song from the other day wouldn't be so hamburger'ed today. Here's a little progression that I recorded. And so off to painting. Here's the rough background.  I'd like to get two cards done this weekend and be on the third row of the rack. One errand that I ran was to take my worn out bike to the shop. I should get it back by middle of next week, which means that I'll once again be able to bike to work every day - which means that the exercise and diet program are fully underway again. I lost 45 pounds last year and I expect to lose about that much this year, taking me to 265 - also known as the year 1992. I'm rewinding the clock to fit into my former and slender self. So about 25 or 30 pounds from now, I'll go the store and buy new clothes. Hello spring! |
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 | Quotes from Tom Peters' Slides |  |
From Tom Peters: "The 'surplus society' has a surplus of similar companies, employing similar people, with similar educational backgrounds, coming up with similar ideas, producing similar things, with similar prices and similar quality." - Kjell Nordström and Jonas Ridderstråle, "Funky Business" "If you worship at the throne of the voice of the customer, you’ll get only incremental advances." - Joseph Morone, President, Bentley College "How do dominant companies lose their position? Two-thirds of the time, they pick the wrong competitor to worry about." - Don Listwin, CEO, Openwave Systems/WSJ/06.01.2004 (commenting on Nokia) "The person who is a little less conceptual but is absolutely determined to succeed will usually find the right people and get them together to achieve objectives. I’m not knocking education or looking for dumb people. But if you have to choose between someone with a staggering IQ and an elite education who’s gliding along, and someone with a lower IQ but who is absolutely determined to succeed, you’ll always do better with the second person." - Larry Bossidy/Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done |
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