What does it matter?

As we embark on Election Day, November 4th, 2008, I am compelled to speak for a moment on the "art of what matters."

What does it matter if you vote or not?

This country has been through hell and back – again and again. From its very inception, blood has been spilt and drastic compromises have been made by real, live men and women in order to insure that we can live a life based on the noble concepts laid out in our Declaration of Independence. Read it if you haven't lately.

I say "real, live men and women" because it is easy to think of them as fictional characters in a book or movie, they are so far removed from our daily life today. Progress and technology has put us in a figurative science fiction flick compared to the grim and gritty reality our forefathers were trudging through. What do you think it mattered to them if they could vote or not? What were they consumed with every day? Do you think they were worried about how much holiday shopping they could do at Wal-Mart? Are you ready to die for your right to shop at Wal-Mart?

We have soldiers overseas right now who are doing just that. Maybe on the surface it seems they are just fighting so that Dick Cheney can fill his pockets full of dollars whose value is based on you borrowing money to buy a bigger house, but on the inside each soldier is fighting for our freedom. They are killing and dying - real lives are being lost - so you can afford video games and have the time to play them. They are blowing up people - men, women, children - so you can buy a bigger car and drive it wherever you want whenever you want. You can bet your ass the soldiers are voting from wherever they are.

As you go about your day, swimming in an ocean of convenient abundance, take note of that urges you get to complain and the tinges of fear that you feel. Why is gas so expensive? If only I could afford the medicine, I would feel better. I am so tired of working this schedule at a job I don't like but can't afford to quit. What if I can't scrape together another mortgage payment in time? Why does so much of the world hate us? Will my children have plenty of clean water? What the hell happened to health insurance anyway? Where are my taxes going? Are these student loans ever going away? How am I supposed to support myself when I'm too old and tired to work?

You might think it doesn't matter, you might think you don't care or that you can't make a difference, but listen to yourself and your concerns and complaints. You do care. Rest easy, you don't have to kill anyone to make a difference like our forefathers or present day soldiers. Just go vote.

PS – if you need a reminder about all of the REAL people (past and present) who have suffered, persevered, fought, died, invented, stood strong, loved and moved people to change life for the better – go check out a movie. How about: PT 109, Amazing Grace, Rendition, John Adams, Apollo 13, Good Night and Good Luck, The Last of the Mohecans, Hotel Rwanda, Christopher Columbus, Martin Luther, To Kill a King, Amistad.............oh there are hundreds, name a few I've missed. Then, GO VOTE.

In the Twilight of 2007

It's almost over. 2007 is one of the shortest-feeling years I can remember. I've been so busy, it has just flown by! I have done more than ever before, and I feel great for it.

Paintings... I suddenly wish I had kept a list as I finished paintings, including the date, just so I could track my progress. I do know that over the past 2 years I have painted more than in my whole life before that. This year has carried its share (offhand I can count 12), and I'm not done yet! Hopefully I will begin "Kiss IX" during the next several days, in-between Christmas and my son's birthday.

The first painting I finished in 2007 was "Kiss VI" – it is a portrait of a friend with his infant son.




The last painting I finished is "Penguin Family," which has been done for over a month now, I really love them. It's so fun to explore and evolve, with the pengins, my colors and blending became much subtler than most of what I've painted this year. If you can see the background in this, it's got blue in it, but is almost white. I will take a better picture when I get it back from the show in Brooksville, it'll be hanging there until February 12th. Unless, of course, it sells!


Life inbetween "Kiss VI" and "Penguin Family" has been jam-packed. I joined the new art-marketing salon, OoHA, which has been instrumental in keeping me motivated with painting as well as helped me learn the art business in leaps. I took the seat of President for the Greater Ocala Advertising Federation. So far besides managing the month-to-month operations and growing the club, I have gone to three district conferences and a leadership retreat. I have also had visits to Fort Lauderdale, Titusville, Tampa, Jacksonville, Orlando... so I've been traversing Florida. My kids both started new schools and have daily homework added to our routine. I've continued working at Ocala Magazine as the full-time base to all of that. Somewhere between all of that and a fairly active social life, my house hasn't fallen apart. Thanks for the small miracles!

This is a good beginning to what will be a longer exploration of my 2007 progress that I will make before setting goals for 2008. Cheers to everyone, I'm looking forward to more success, more art, more fun!