11.29.2011

//Counting all different ideas drifting away
Past and present, they don't matter now the future's sorted out
Watch her move in elliptical patterns
Think it's not what you say, what you say is way too complicated
For a minute, though, I couldn't tell how to fall out//




11.27.2011

And all that Jazz.

I watched the moon climb up  the buildings across the street, the taxis moving like yellow fish. A hustle in the air. People scurrying along, quickly and efficiently. Different languages fill my sound waves.  My ears seep them all in, leaving me wondering what they are saying and astonished. It's not the only noise I hear on the busy street full of honking, laughter and shouts. There's also the sound of crumpled newspapers, wrappers, and garbage on the sidewalk being tossed violently like a sad, abandoned ship on swirling seas. A passer-by fills the air around me with puffs of smoke, and flicks the remainder of his cigarette on the cool, slate grey ground. The ashes scatter. The orange sparks of fury dim into nothingness. But still, a ringing fills my ever-pounding ear drums. Beautiful music plays in the distance. I continue to walk to find it. Up the corner, on a frigid slab of pavement he stands. His brass instrument is cool to the touch, and behind the musicians puffy cheeks his breath turns into fog in the freezing March air. Yet he has a warmth about him. Kindness fills his eyes. His cheeks are rosy with colour. His saxophone spurts out peppy songs of jazz that make me want to dance. I throw the crumpled dollar bills in my coat pockets into the case of his instrument. There they fall and join a few scattered coins, Abraham Lincolns, and a cheeseburger.  He nods to me kindly. With my back against a brick wall, I slide down to the cool concrete. I become his company for hours on end. He continues to play. I tap my feet to the beats, and my head dances. More money seeps in his music case from people walking by. My heart fills and soars with the music. I pull out my camera and begin to shoot him. He does not mind, and still plays beautiful music. I notice his burly coat. Thick and warm for the torturous winter ahead of him. His long, black beard is beginning to grey. No hat is needed for the top of his head--his thick afro keeps him warm. Lilac Wine begins to play. I stand up. When he has finished I take a picture with him. His bright smile lights up the lens. I shake his hand, and begin to walk away. The music starts up again,  filling the air with colour around me. I found a gem. Something beautiful. A diamond in the rough. A homeless man shedding light on the corner in downtown Chicago.   

11.25.2011

The Sketchbook Project

I have been doing this project for awhile now. ALMOST DONE!!! I have 6 pages left to fill! Hopefully I can finish it sometime in the next couple weeks. I can't say how happy I am I decided to do it this year. It's taken a lot of time and effort, but has giving me something to do. It's allowed me to use my "creative juices" on those days when I am feeling extra artsy, or, have some of that stuff they call free time....or in other words, on those nights when I can't fall asleep until 4 in the morning. So, yes, I am painting when I am half asleep, but hey, better that than a haze while painting, right? ^_^ Anyhoot, here are the pieces I have finished thus far. I'd like some feedback on what you think! Thanks!




























The 33 Series.

I still have so much to learn. Emotions get the better of me too often.

Pretty soon my hair will do that again!

     Are words needed?
                                                                                  
                                                     

All this talk about hunting....



                                                                         
                                               Who are you when no one is looking?
Say I'm a bird!!!!




                                                        ^Something my friend would say








                                              Ernest Hemingway, Love. What else?









Don't let your eyes fool you.



Random photos of the day. I love them all.