so click "read more" if you wish to see all of it.
I truly believe that life is a miracle.
It seems so unlikely and precious that any of us are here at all.
In my short time of boogy-ing my booty under the sweet sun of existence
I have had a few realizations.
It is easy to sleep walk through life.
It is much more pleasureable and significant to be awake and present for life.
As far as we know, we only go through this Life once.
Something else may come next, but it is not clear what it will be
or if there will be anything at all.
So what we have is moments and glimpses of what makes this life amazing.
We also have a fair number of glimpses of how we and others
can choose to degrade or cheapen our experience of aliveness.
What I am trying to do in my life and my art are a few things.
I am calling attention to my experience of being alive.
I am calling out to others to invite them to a celebration of life.
When I walk with my camera,
whether I take a picture or not,
I am more in tune with my surroundings.
I am fully awake in my body and my senses,
in rapt awe of whatever forms happen to exist around me.
I am like the child I was,
when I would lie on my belly
and peer through blades of grass
to watch the mini-world of ants and bugs
in the warmth of the summer sun.
I am in love with my macro lens.
It allows me to pull in close
and look at forms for the sheer beauty of them.
The camera reminds me to pause
and enjoy the sheer pleasure of sight.
I stop my sleep-walking
and view the world with eyes open for every-day miracles.
Walking through this life,
it is easy to feel alone.
So many ideas and feelings bounce around inside me unspoken.
It is similar for us all.
Similar joys and fears unite our human family.
Though each of us experience and express them from our own perspective.
Art makes me feel less alone.
When I am immersed in creative expression
I am tapping into something huge.
I become a conduit.
And freeze moments,
so they can be shared with others.
When you look at a photograph I have taken,
You are stepping into my sensual experience of life.
Though you bring your own history and sensibilities
to your experience of my art,
for a moment you are looking with my eyes
and we are connected, however tenuously.
Our vision overlaps.
And we are not alone in that moment.
That is it in a nutshell.
The two main reasons I take photographs.
To wake me up to the sensory pleasure of being alive.
And to be a little less alone in the world,
by creating moments for our eyes and vision to overlap.
I believe Joseph Campbell suggested
that we are not here to find the meaning of life,
but to fully feel the experience of being alive.
Art helps me do that.
And I find life and beauty in unlikely places,
Like the sheen of oil
after a rain,
As the sun comes out
over a paved parking lot.
In my next entries,
I wll talk a bit more about why I paint.
I will tell you a bit more about the Street Art Works Mentorship Society.
And I will tell you about a few upcoming shows I am putting together
with some local cafes and galleries in Vancouver.
Take care
and feel free to leave comments here,
or e-mail me at:
