The Story Of My Life

Last night on "House", Wilson asked House how he wanted the story of his life to go. It is in your control how you act, how you live. That is the free will we beings have. I've pondered before about whether we truly have free will or not, but it really came down to semantics, as philosophical ramblings usually do.

The bottom line is that we live as we live. Is as does, and it is by our actions that we are judged. The title of this post was just quoted by a friend and it, and something else big, got me thinking again about responsibility and how the story of our lives fit into the tapestry of humanity.

The Summit is so iconic, such a known part of our culture, because of their stories, their lives. I am sooooo humbled to have become a teency part of those stories as I shared in my first email newsletter. (If you haven't gotten that newsletter and want it, please email me and I'll send it to you.) I'm humbled because Frankie and Sammy are more than just entertainers in our culture. The way they lived changed our culture and did their part to change the way Americans live.

For me, big news is coming at the end of this month. Big. Life changing.


So please stay tuned.

Peace.

In Demand!

Well, I went from having no work to do for commission or consignment to having 5 in one day. Wild About Music in Austin sold my B.B. King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Led Zeppelin, and Roy Robbins in Pacific Palisades wants 2 Sinatras for my first repeat celebrity client! Woohoo! I'm also doing a few pieces for a show in September at Primitive Kool in San Diego.

Also, the Rage Against The Machine arrived safely fortunately. I'd thought it might have been lost between DHL and the USPS, but apparently because it didn't have very far to go, it got delivered before the tracking info got transfered, so it just never showed up as "delivered". Whew! My faith in delivery hasn't been broken.

I was asked to donate a piece to a local fundraiser for a team that's going to walk in the Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk. The silent auction is at a golf tournament, so I'm not sure who to paint. Maybe Olivia Newton-John or Carly Simon? Or Melissa Etheridge or Marianne Faithful?

What do you think?

Peace.

SOLD - Frank Sinatra 08/19/08

Break On Through

Ahh, the trials and tribulations of being a professional artist. I don't want to rant too much, but today was a stink-fest. eBay sellers dropping the ball, lying, and backtracking. DHL-to-USPS deliveries up in the air with possibly lost paintings. Trademark paperwork almost slipping through the cracks. Miscommunications with galleries leading to delays and maybe losing business. And don't get me started on people emailing me saying they want to commission work with specific requests and then seemingly vanishing.

This is hard, definitely. On days like this I give myself a philosophical head-fake to keep going. Randy Pausch put it that the walls you run into are there just to keep out the people who don't want it enough. A test of desire, basically. Am I passionate enough about my art to break through those walls?

As long as I get emails like the one I got a few minutes ago from another who is passionate about art and music, a director of a fine art gallery and a collector of music from an early age. He saw my work at the FMF 2008 Rock Walk in Orlando, really liked the Jim Morrison, reads this blog, and wants to connect. That's why I'm doing all this. It was nice to get a reminder of that. I don't know what'll come of it, but good things I expect.

Peace.

SOLD - Bruce Sprinsteen, Frank Sinatra 08/14/08

Rain? Here?

It's raining today. In Phoenix. Arizona.

Weird.

The Beatles and Bobby Darin are for my first high-profile client. Pretty cool. He bought my Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland from Roy Robbins in Pacific Palisades, CA. I hope he likes these too. Maybe he'll even contact me!

Peace.

SOLD - Bobby Darin 05/22/08