navigating hope ...

a new month - and another batch of 'infinite possibilities' to choose from - the academic holiday is over - i'm excited to see what will manifest - my 'to do' list keeps growing and these days are becoming noticeably shorter - time to begin to acclimate to the changes - time to package the 'fruits'. in talking to james carroll yesterday i realize that i have a sufficient amount of new paintings for a couple of one- person exhibitions, around 100 new musical compositions, a few performances choreographed, 3 books in the process, and plenty to say about 'the state of the arts'. all i need now is the willingness to go public again. the bush administration, the war machine, the conservative 'right', and a sense that the majority of america's population has a wanting proclivity toward the banality of 'pop' culture and instant gratification has left me with a "what's the point?" attitude (futility). sometimes i think that the most difficult thing about being an artist is not the effort expended in navigating concepts, production, marketing, finance, or notoriety but the ability to remain hopeful and optimistic - to believe in the future and to have faith ...
the color of the blue-grey sky peaking through the old walnut trees this morning (along with my mood) reminds me of a great schnabel painting i saw years ago called "circum-navigating through a sea of sh-t". as i stood in front of it at the boone gallery (on w. broadway at that time) a small shard of pottery (part of the 'sea') fell to the floor. i've carried it with me for more than twenty years. [ still sorry about the early morning coffee visit julian ].
noodling near 'fission' - another 7' x 9' painting from this summer.