Making your mark. Making your marks.

The image for this post is of the great Cy Twombly in front of some of his work. While I am not someone who knows Mr. Twombly's work intimately, I have been inspired by his work for many years. His form of communication is base while being inherently beautiful and intriguing. It is a kind of art that is not accepted by the general populous. It is complex while remaining simple, and in this respect, it reminds me of Zen Buddhism.

Do this: make your mark. That is all. What does your mark look like? Our marks are all so very different while still being recognizable. When we think of making our mark, we think of legacy, but all legacies have a shelf life, but right now, this moment, expands indefinitely in all directions while feeling fleeting. Therefore, think of your mark as being an eternity each moment. As you birth your eternities, what will they be? This is very exciting.

Do this: make a mark. Take out a piece of paper or canvas, or anything. Make a mark on it. use whatever you want. A sharpie, a pencil, the finest oil paints, the cheapest chalk. What does a mark do once you've made it? It's a signifier. It's a stimulant. It's a code being broken. It's a magical spell. It is impetus. It is alchemy at work. After you've made that mark, will you follow it with more? Will you leave the room? All that follows is part of this dance.

We can slice pieces and have more than one piece of artwork that we produce for today, but it is all one. When you are finished with making your marks, feel free to be done with that wonderful moment of existence only to move on to the next and make another mark. 

Send me images of the marks you made today. Is it a smile on someone's face? Is it an essay you wrote? Is it helping someone tie their shoe? Is it a piece of art? No matter what it is, enjoy the moment, and if you can, let me know about it.

Today I've made a mark. I bent your ear. Thank you.

Then the trees will stand where I sit.

Here's a quick way to check to see if your speech writing is on track. If at any point during your speech or lecture, you absolutely had to stop for any reason, would the trees be able to pick up where you left off? What on God's green earth am I talking about? What on God's green earth am I not talking about? Thank you.

The Big Giveaway

I make a lot of art. I want you to have some. Let's make that easy. Purchase a piece and I'll send you one for free.

Art now!

Imagine this, you're sitting in a warmish cubicle in a large well manicured coporate building. You're really busy. Art is not on your mind. What is art and why would it be? It's asleep. In your belly. Where in the world is your muse? Where is that inspiration?

Stapler, ridiculous stapler. Your singlemindedness escapes not even the dullest of this crowd! Slightly padded walls feel appropriate on a Tuesday like today when the glories of nature are shrouded and hushed by man made metal and thousands of pounds of steel to separate you.

Separation. How hard it is. How difficult to be forced into this other shim and away from the beauty you remember, the outside. You know it's still there.

Paper products. Supposedly for note taking, you will combine with the metallic guts of that mad stapler to form a larger acid laden workspace so as to coax the dragon from sleep.

Pens. Just look at you. Mostly pathetic and homogenized sticks to be used and forgotten, abused and unremembered. Ah, but you, you Parker Jotter with gel refill. You are different! You are silver and light blue. A shining star in this murky maze. There are highlighters, but you could also say, "There is colored ether to use." and the meanings would be similar enough for this art. My art, right now.

Quietly, all around you, no matter where you are, there are pieces and parts waiting. They don't jump out at you and do your job for you. They wait for you to notice, find, rescue and work them into something that gives the rest of us some thing to chew on. Our brains and/or our eyes are waiting for you to jump in and do that thing you do. You artist. Art. Now. Art now! Find them, put them together. Make it a story of love so true that the wildest of uncaring winds can not budge such a mega force of myth and nurturing from it's mooring!

Please Comment

Robert Motherwell, Elegy to the Spanish RepublicComment on life, maybe yours, maybe someone else's. Comment on this existence. Comment on your breath and how very rarely you think of it, yet, there it is. Comment, but whatever you do, please comment.

Comment on this post, comment on the last bird you saw. Comment in the form of a painting. Comment in the form of a rabbit. Comment in the form of smoke from your hand made pipe lovingly made. Comment by making a mark on a page followed by another mark, joined by a small ocean of color and aqueous stuff, but whatever you do, please comment.

Comment on the quiet. Comment on the loud. Comment on the peace you've tucked neatly in your pocket for some other time when you need it. Comment in the form of a letter to an editor. Comment by letting someone ahead of you in traffic. Comment on a comment, but whatever you do, please comment.

Comment on Duchamp's fountain. Comment on a dog. Comment on a cat. Comment by feeding a dog or cat. Comment by talking or choosing not to talk. Comment by listening. Comment by making tea. Comment by making a kid's day. Comment by finally getting the canvas out and putting some thing on it. Comment by taking a deep breath before you draw, but whatever you do, please comment.

Comment with a short walk in the woods. Comment by appreciating your support staff. Did you know you had one? Comment by singing along. Comment by changing your mind and doing things differently this time. Comment with passion. Comment with precision. Comment in a messy haphazard way because you can. Comment with a pad of paper and two semi sharp pencils. Comment with a few stitches. Comment with a single word or none at all. Comment with a friend or stranger, but whatever you do, please comment.

Comment with a scotch. Neat please. Thank you. Time is a shifty salesman in a cheap jacket. Comment now.