Sidetracked Charley

I am an introvert. I generally hang back like the does in a herd of deer. I survey the territory and gather information. My father, the pilot, often did the same. But he was able to access all possible outcomes in split seconds. Then again it took him almost a year of research to buy the perfect home stereo systems (components). We were not the first in our neighborhood to have a color TV but we had the best. Eventually. I like to think, from time to time, of how much fun he would have in this technological age. I wish I could channel him. He was an introvert too. And one who could pretend to be an extrovert. I copied that. He was the one who told me social events were like acting. But more exhausting I think because there is no script and no applause at the end to refresh your energy. That exhaustion was one of the reasons I gave up art fairs. I tell myself it was the heavy lifting. The put up and take down. But putting up was always fun. Taking down a contest to see how quick...

When the Rains Came 36 x 24 Mixed Media on Artists Canvas $1950 Since the first woman (yes, anthropologists now believe it was the females and not men) drew a bison on a cave walls of Chauvet-Pont D'Arc magic has played a large part for artists. And whether the figures of herds of bison and antelope were a shopping list or a charm for a successful hunt the artist was using their skill to call forth an image, or cast a spell, or make a wish. Charcoal figures or complex mandalas or prescribed sand paintings for healing all have an element of magic involved. Artists can be very superstitious individuals from having to have their favorite brushes or just the right color or pacing in front of the canvas waiting for the muse to visit them. Or panic they have somehow angered that muse. Ask an artist where they get their ideas and they may go into a song and dance about their first visit to Utah or seeing the work of Matisse as a youth. But secretly I think many of us believe we chan...

Clouds in My Coffee by J. Binford-Bell Respect yourself enough to walk away from anything which no longer  serves you, grows you or makes you happy. A year ago this month I made some tsunami like changes in my life. After more than 17 years deeply involved in art organizations in my valley I quit. Never one to do things half way I decided to no longer do art fairs (decision based on sound financial analysis), and to leave a gallery I had been involved in for nine years (decision based on independent market research - I talked to my customers). And I decided to take a break from painting to devote my energies to photography for a while. We all need a vacation. After winning several prizes for my photography and selling quite a few I am diving back into the shallow end of painting. By that I mean I have given up the "production" painting that doing fairs demands and working on  pieces that mean something to me. Some are from photographs that as always were a spri...