The Mossletter 32
Hey Friends,
I know itās been many moons since Iāve fired off one of these missives, but I truly hope your Winter / Spring / Summer (and soon to be) / Fall have been the bees knees (minus the stings). š
PS: did you know that itās possible to be stung by a bee ā underwater? (I should know ā it happened to me in a pool this summer! š¬) So what did I takeaway from this experience?
Nature is heavy metal. šø
āļø Art Drop
Letās dive into it: hereās some āon locationā sketches I worked on not too long ago. Again, my goal with these sketches was not perfection, but to challenge myself to ācapture the essenceā of the subject. (Essentially, I gave myself some structure and limitations to see what I can come up with in about an hour or so, not in the comfort of a cushy studio, using good olā fashioned pencil and paper.)
Oh, and guess what? š
ā¦ yup itās true, for the first time in years ā Iām back in the (art) studio working on a series of paintings. Stay tuned!
š§ Spin It To Win It
My old buddy Wayne G Miller has put out some legit-infectious tunes lately, and I have to share āem ā¦
I can personally relate to this track (Bad Self Talk) for a couple reasons: Wayne and I both shared the experience of growing up in small-town Oregon, and well, sometimes I too fall prey to the titular affliction (alas, I am human). Good news is, this song isnāt a downer; itās a shimmering little ditty that rings in clear and bright.
If this song (Nantucket) doesnāt make you smile (or maybe even laugh), I canāt help you. This is (probably) more funny to people that live in Los Angeles, but on the flip side of āadultingā ā if youāve ever had the urge to just ditch the city and go back to simpler living in the country ā then this song is for you.
ā¦ and finally, hereās another earworm (Anchor) that youāll likely be singing along to the chorus by the time the second verse rolls around ā¦ Iām not exactly sure what compelled Wayne to write this song ā but these lyrics speak directly to me:
Let it out, let it out
If you never share
then youāll never know
Let it out, let it out
If you donāt let go
Then youāll never grow
ā¦ and honestly, that tracks perfectly with my own artistic journey at this moment (for me, itās the guts that Iām mustering to share my new series of visual artworks, because at the end of the day ā why just keep them to myself? That would be lame.)
TL;DR ā Wayne has gotten (really) good at crafting layered and polished pop pieces that still retain peculiar edges and contours and quirks to them (and thatās a tricky line to walk, but IMHO he aces it). ā ļø
PS: heās also an in-demand Producer over at Selma Studios (if you need help realizing your musical vision). š§ļø
š Take A Look, Itās In A Book
Speaking of prolific music producers (howās that for a segue?) Iāve been savoring The Creative Act: A Way Of Being by artistic soothsayer / beard aficionado Rick Rubin. š§
If you go into his book thinking youāre gonna hear sweet backstories from when he worked with the Beastie Boys or Johnny Cash, you may come up a tad disappointed. Instead, this is a zen-like meditation on the creative process itself. The chapters are small, yet mighty (making them the perfect snack to pop here and there when you need a dose of inspiration). While you may not ascribe to some of his more spirtually-charged language, one cannot help but read his deepest thoughts and find a connection to something ā¦ greater ā¦ than oneself (which could simply be the thrill and elation of releasing your creativity into the zeitgeist).
Iāve nicknamed this āThe Technicolor Dream Bookā because Iāve highlighted it in so many colors and on so many pages ā¦ Honestly, there are far too many nuggets of knowledge or mind-bending koans to list here, but Iāll drop a handful of my favorite quotes from the book:
āTuning Inā š»ļø
The best artists tend to be the ones with the most sensitive antennae to draw in the energy resonating at a particular moment. Many great artists first develop sensitive antennae not to create art but to protect themselves. They have to protect themselves because everything hurts more. They feel everything more deeply.
āThe Unseenā šļø
By conventional definition, the purpose of art is to create physical and digital artifacts. To fill shelves with pottery, books, and records.
Though artists generally arenāt aware of it, that end work is a by-product of a greater desire. We arenāt creating to produce or sell material products. The act of creation is an attempt to enter a mysterious realm. A longing to transcend. What we create allows us to share glimpses of an inner landscape, one that is beyond our understanding. Art is our portal to the unseen world.
āSelf-Doubtā š§
The making of art is not a competitive act. Our work is representative of the self. You would be amiss to say, āIām not up to the challenge.ā Yes, you may need to deepen your craft to fully realize your vision. If youāre not up to it, no one else can do it. Only you can. Youāre the only one with your voice.
āMake It Upā šŗ
In Japanese pottery, thereās an artful form of repair called kintsugi. When a piece of ceramic pottery breaks, rather than trying to restore it to its original condition, the artisan accentuates the fault by using gold to fill the crack. This beautifully draws attention to where the work was broken, creating a golden vein. Instead of the flaw diminishing the work, it becomes a focal point, an area of both physical and aesthetic strength. The scar also tells the story of the piece, chronicling its past experience.
We can apply this same technique to ourselves and embrace our imperfections. Whatever insecurities we have can be reframed as a guiding force in our creativity. They only become a hindrance when they prevent our ability to share whatās closest to our heart.
š³ļø Pulse Check
ā¦ and now for something completely different! I dabbled with this awhile back, but I recently remembered Substack (which powers this blog / newsletter) has the ability to integrate polls into it, so I thought, āHmmm yes ā¦ Why not?ā Seems like a fun way to add a bit of interactivity to this humble publication (āhumblicationā? Ā©ā¢ļø) š¤
On that note, Iāve recently been thinking about different methods of consuming content; by that I mean, how I find some mediums might be more convenient than others (like say, listening to a podcast while driving on your commute or doing dishes), or some may be more fun & engaging than others (i.e. short video content), etc. Each have their strengths and weaknesses, right? I thought Iād open up this discussion with a little poll here (and who knows? The results may inform directions I take when I create media!) With that in mind, I wanted to pose this question to you:
š Parting Words
You build on failure. You use it as a stepping-stone. Close the door on the past. You donāt try to forget the mistakes, but you donāt dwell on it. You donāt let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space. ā Johnny Cash