Damn My Memory

   I had a great idea for a blog post. I didn't write it down though. I write everything else down, why didn't I write that idea down? I'm sure it will come to me again, but no idea how long that will take. It has been a good week. I did some character sketches for the animation project my friends are working on. I finished a commission. I photographed my newest paintings. I am having trouble taking a picture of one of them. I've tried four times but I can't get a good image. No idea why. Something supernatural? Just bad luck? Karma? I couldn't say. I'm gonna try again today. I have a few others to take care of and the sun is shining. That always helps. Anyway, sorry you missed out on the great blog. Keep checking back and maybe it will be here soon. Here's a painting:

"Sneaked Not Snuck"

So, That's What It Looks Like Inside Your Head

  I've finished my first batch of geometrically enhance paintings. (I've got to come up with a name for this style. Or my previous style. Or the one before that. Well, any of them) I mentioned that one of them was really falling in to place. It turned out pretty good, but one of the others really turned out like I intended this experiment to look.I'm not sure why it came through better than the others, and in my defence I still have two others I'm working on, but it turned out to be really cool. In my eyes any way. Here it is:

"Elegant Planes"

This Just In

    Nothing really exciting going on. Working on a commission, trying to seal the deal on two or three more. My studio is de-cluttered. I can find my supplies and walk all the way through it (more or less, there's really nothing I need to walk to in the very back corner). I've been doing some free for all painting. Paint on canvas, swish it around, add some colors, black, go with white; just having some abstract fun. It's good for my soul. I also started on four paintings of people. Shocking, right? I thought I'd try some more geometric abstraction. Some are coming along pretty good. One of them has surprised me. I wasn't expecting much out of it. I'm not sure if it's done (probably not though) or what I'll do next. It does look pretty cool, if I do say so myself. Here's a picture of it, decide for yourself. Let me know what you think, if you feel like it:

Sometimes The Journey Is Better Than The Destination

  I finished the painting I've been telling you about. Adding some geometry to my style. Muddying the waters a bit more. Making it more difficult for people to pigeon hole my art. Mostly just to see if I could pull it off. Sometimes I set some limits on my tools to make things interesting. I once wanted to see if I could make flesh tones with just one yellow, one red, and one blue. I did three or four paintings that way. Three of them have slipped into the recesses of my mind. I have no idea what they were. One did make the cut though:

     It's called "Karen" and it's one of my favorites. It currently hangs over the fireplace of one of my biggest collectors.  And it looks great. I can usually pull something good out of these exercises. Sometimes I pull something great.
   So, back to the story. I've been working this painting for probably two weeks, maybe even a bit more. Paintings faces. Adding shapes. Working shadows in. A touch of color here, a bit more there. Lines. Shading. Letting it talk to me, telling me where to go next and what to do. Finally, it talked no more. I couldn't see anywhere else to go. I decided it must be done. I wasn't sure if I liked it. I waited three days before I would even show my wife. She really likes it. She told me stories about every face in the painting. A bit about their lives. It was really cool. For me it was the best part of the experience. I've been looking at it for a bit now. It's growing on me. It did give me an idea for my next step in my artistic progression. I'll keep it to myself for now, but I'm kinda stoked about it. Anyhow, here's the painting:

"Everyone Has A Prison"

A Trip Down Memory Lane

   I've had more studio time recently. I've got most of the rearranging done and the clutter sorted. I've been painting a lot, drawing a lot, feeling much better about my plan to be an artist first, a waiter second. I've picked up a new commission, made significant progress on my geometry-plus-my-style experiment (still no pictures, but trust me, it's looking good), and picked up a gig doing character design and backgrounds for an animation project. I'm getting my business plans simplified and my marketing plan solidified. What I haven't done is photograph new paintings. Sorry. I'll get to them. Here's some classics from the vault:

  

  This one is titled "First Painting". It seems like I had a better name for this at one time, but I have no idea what it was. It is the first painting I did in this style. I had no idea how it would work out when I started it. This is also the first painting I sold in this style.

  This is "Brainstorm". It was one of the first times I got really abstract with the black and white style, around 2000 I'd say. I thought then (and still do) that it was one of the best I've ever done. Yet it remains unsold. It does class up my house a lot though.

Rollercoaster...of Art

   It's been a pretty good week. I took an extra day off on Sunday; spent time with my family, did my chores, relaxed, hung out, all the things I never seem to have enough time for. (I'm not sure I punctuated that sentence correctly, but it is what it is. I'm an artist, not a writer). It made me feel like the art part of my week was longer. As I wrote that it occurred to me that it was probably because it was longer. What I meant was that Monday seemed like Tuesday, Tuesday seemed like Wednesday, you get the point. As those feelings crept in on me I would think 'Nope, I'm a day ahead, I have more time' and I would smile to myself.
  I've been working on the add-geometry-to-my-already-unusual-style project. I guess it's coming along. I really have no idea at this point. It is leading me somewhere I didn't expect. I suppose I won't know until it's either finished or I give up. I can prove it can be done by doing it, I can never prove it can't be done. I suppose it's art, geometry, and philosophy all in one. It'd probably make my head hurt if I thought about it. I hope to have a picture for you soon. In the mean time:

"Who Knows Why We Struggle"

I Have This Idea

   I had so much fun painting my last commission link that I've been inspired to try something new. I'm looking to add geometric abstraction to my realism-abstraction-drawing-painting style. I have no idea if it will work, how long it will take to get it to the point I can show someone, or if I will be sent in another direction while I'm painting it. I'm excited to try it. It really gets me motivated trying to get a vague idea from my (twisted) mind, define it and get it put on canvas (or paper, for that matter). I've never seen anything like what I'm imagining anywhere else. I'll definitely keep you posted on my progress. In the meantime, here's a picture of my latest:

"Life Is Good"

An Artist Walks In To A Bar

   I've been busy lately and seemingly accomplishing nothing. I've made the transition from my last job to my new job. It involved a streak of ten days without a day off. That's nothing more than a lot of people do, nowhere near my own personal record, but more than I've done in a long time. I sacrificed a lot of painting time, but I put in a lot more drawing time than I have in several years. I take a sketchbook with me to work and draw for about twenty minutes before I go in. Nothing in particular, just steady drawing. It probably shouldn't surprise you to learn that it's mostly faces. I patched our roof, hopefully for the last time. I rebuilt the floor under our toilet and reattached it. I don't mind being a handy man, but I hate plumbing projects. Or, they hate me. Never go as smoothly as I think they ought to. We've also been down to one car during my current three day 'artist week'. Oh, I also started revamping my studio. It's gonna be much better, but it's in a mid-stage clutter phase. I've been using every bit of my studio time putting paint on canvas. I finished a commission, which is always good news. It was an odd commission, at least for me. It was a black and white, abstract, featuring shapes. Wow! It seemed pretty far from what I've been doing, but I had taken the job. I started by sketching some rough shapes in black, then some white to bring it to a focus. ( I wanted to say 'to shape it up', but that seemed like too bad a pun, even for me). Paint dries, I go in with black, wait a while, go in with white, let it dry. All of a sudden I look at it and think 'cool, this is really coming together'. I showed it to the lady who asked me to paint it and she loves it. It has garnered some very positive responses from everyone who's seen it. This may take me down a whole new side street. Hopefull it won't be a dead end.

So new it doesn't even have a name yet.

Odd Problems

  Maybe it's just me. I don't claim to speak for every artist. I have some really strange problems at times. I started a painting last night. I had prepped several canvases, smearing them with paint to get rid of the oppressive white canvas and give me some colorful inspiration to get started. I had one canvas left. I had a lot of stress built up. I had a great reference photo. I needed to do some painting to get all of my inner planets aligned again. I put on some music, made myself comfortable in front of my easel, and sat the canvas in front of me. I sketched out the composition in black. (Inner voice: Hey, this is looking pretty good. Hell yeah!). I put on a bit of white to show the highlight areas. (Maybe I should mention here that I like to put paint on canvas and then use black and white as the highlight and lowlight. The color of the background becomes the midtone. I typically make adjustments after it's laid out). I was really happy with the way it looked. Very happy. Then it hit me: it was finished. I had spent more time getting set up than I did painting. Kind of frustrating. I had wanted to joust with this one a bit. Bend it to my will. Show it who was boss. Tweak each part of the face (you knew it was a face, didn't you?) until it looked perfect. But it already was perfect. There's never a commission that does this for me (to me?). Never a "you commissioned this yesterday and now it's finished and ready for you" . It only happens with my relaxation paintings. Maybe it's because I'm all stressed (which is relative, I'm not usually hanging by a mental thread, just hounded by daily life) and not paying as much attention to what I'm doing. Any way, it just struck me as oddly funny, the type of problem that (likely) only I have. Here's a picture of it (thanks to modern technology):

I had one last week that was about the same, only it did let me paint on it a little longer:

Probably not as good a painting as the top one, (certainly not as good in my opinion), but never the less it is finished. Thanks for stopping by to visit. I'm gonna go see what today brings me. More unique problems and challenges I'm sure.

  I came across a YouTube video the other day titled "Is Your Red The Same As My Red"

 
     It's a question I've wondered about for a long time. It's also one that will likely never be answered. Your perception of what red is could be vastly different from mine. Yours could actually be a color that my brain can't even comprehend. I suppose that everyone could have their own unique perception of the color red (and every other color). I've also got a theory that everyone's favorite color, whether it's red, green, yellow, or whatever color, is the exact same. That the hue that my mind perceives for red, a favorite color of mine, could be the same hue that your mind perceives for the color green, which is your favorite color (for the sake of argument. I'm not gonna tell you what color to like). I'm fascinated by theories like this. Something that makes me think. Hopefully outside the box. I wonder if the colors black and white are in the same category. I suspect that a lot of artistic choices made by the great masters were influenced by their perceptions of color. Something to think about. Anyway, here's a new painting:

"Soon There Will Be Rain"

  It's kinda odd that the painting I chose to put on here happened to be an abstract-ish painting that started with a picture of a brain. Circle of life, or some such. My head's starting to hurt. I'm gonna go draw.

I Wonder What It Would Be Like

  It's been a kinda rough week. Money's tight, my gout is acting up again, my house is losing the battle against summer's last round of high temperatures, I haven't had nearly enough time in my studio. I was thinking how nice it would be if I didn't have to stress over bill paying, money earning, decision making, home repairs, all the little things that go in to my every day existence. Then I wondered how it would affect my art if I had no stress. If all the bad and/or uncomfortable things that have ever happened to me had never occurred. Could such a person create art that had any real meaning? I'm sure I would be a much different person. Could you even have a sense of humor if you'd never had to suffer? I find it odd how little things can have such a big effect. Sometimes I finish a painting and think "wow! that really came together!". I was thinking how many things have to come together, just right, for a great piece of art to be created. It depends on my mood, the subject, the colors I choose (which are probably influenced by my mood, although sometimes influenced by the quantity of paint that I have), whether or not the background is pure white, pure black, or some abstract combination of colors. Sometimes the music that put on plays an important part in the finished product. I suppose it's a wonder that all these things ever come together. Maybe that's what makes a great artist, the ability to channels all (or most) of these things together to create a masterpiece.

"View Renew"

   I started to paint over a painting that I just didn't think had what it needed. I had just smeared some color over it to get a new start. I could see the face peering out at me. I made a few adjustments to the nose, repainted the lips and eyes, and all of a sudden it was done. I'm not saying this is my best ever, but it is a good example of all the things that come together in my art. If I hadn't been so unhappy with the result the first time I would have never been able to get the finish result.

It Must Not Have Been Very Important

   I had a great idea for a blog post. A couple of them in fact. So great there's no way I could forget them. So you might think. I now have no idea what I was gonna say. I suppose that means another stream-of-conscience post. I had an outstanding week, art wise, last week. My hours were cut back at work and my wife and daughter had gone to Tennessee. All I had to do all week was make art and promote myself ( well, outside of the whole eat, sleep, repeat of the real world). I got a lot of my creative and marketing thoughts written down in their respective notebooks. Distilling all that I've learned and read down to a few lines in a notebook. it really helped me to focus on what I need to be doing. I also painted some really cool stuff, like this:

  I call this one "I Am A Stranger". I usually remove the frame before I paint , but I thought I'd try something new. I painted up onto the frame, making it part of the artwork. I also decided to paint over a painting that I wasn't ever really happy with. I started the paint over process and discovered that it was almost done. A few quick touches and I was very happy with it. It also inspired its new name "View Renew" :

  I had some great insights into my work and my process as well. Too bad i didn't think to write them down. Of course it's possible I did write them down and I don't remember where. Ah well, it'll all come back to me some day.

What Kind Of Organization IS This?

  Hello art fans, I'm back behind the keyboard again. I've been concentrating on organization lately. I recently switched over to Evernote when Springpad went under. I was always a fan of Springpad for keeping my online thoughts and cool websites organized, but I'm really starting to realize how cool Evernote is. I've spent a lot of time moving written notes to my Evernote account but I'm confident it will pay off. I've also revisited Cozi, makers of the family calendar. Once I figured out how to send the alerts it's been a big help to me and my family. Those two things were relatively easy. The organization of my art ideas and reference pictures...well, that's was another story. I've got hundreds of pictures that struck my fancy, perhaps even thousands. Some on paper, some digital, all worth keeping (at least to me). I'm also still working on organizing my mp3 files so I can listen to all my music in my studio. I realize I may never full get them under control. Of course I have over twenty five thousand songs on my computer. I'll probably never listen to all of them, but it is a good feeling to have 99% of all the songs I've ever loved a mouse click away. I may not be perfectly organized, but I'm miles ahead of where I was a month ago. And with all that going on, I still find time to actually do some art.

"Bow Down Before The Messenger"

Some Thoughs On Pablo

  I was reading an article link about how a lost Picasso was discovered underneath another painting of his. I saw this quote:
   "Picasso had hurriedly painted "The Blue Room" over another complete picture. "He could not afford to acquire new canvases every time he had an idea that he wanted to pursue. He worked sometimes on cardboard because canvas was so much more expensive."
 I had to smile when I read it, because if you substituted my name for Picasso's and any one of a number of my painting's titles for "The Blue Room" you could be talking about my situation for most of my career. I guess even as some things rapidly change in the art world, many others tend to remain the same. It did make me feel better about things. I had always pictured Pablo as never having to worry about art supplies, or anything along those lines. I assumed someone was taking care of his rent, food, clothes, etc. One thing is certain. Pablo Picasso was never called an asshole.

                    

Perhaps I Missed My Calling

   I'm still here. I'm still slogging ahead. I tell people (and myself) that things are better than they really are, and that they're getting better every day. I fancy that every one loves my artwork ( whether or not it's really true) and that no one could ever replace me. I hide my private life, never letting on when I encounter a setback. My public persona: always smiling, always positive, always expecting the best. I try to find ways to get others to finance my dreams. While thinking about all this today it occurred to me that I sound more like a politician than an artist. Then I thought, "what could I do to be more like an artist, other than creating art?". I suppose I could cut my ear off. Perhaps I could start wearing a black beret and smoking one of those skinny black cigarettes. I could squat in an abandoned warehouse in the crappy part of town. I could go on TV an act like a pretentious son-of-a-bitch (but now I'm drifting back to the politician-like behavour ). I really don't know what to do. Anyone have any ideas?

Plugging Along

  I'm finally posting again. It's been a while. I've patched the hole in my roof again. I've painted enough to keep my thoughts sane. I still have a day job I don't like. I still just put my head down and keep moving. Any progress is good progress. I do have a lead on a new commission which should make up for the one my benefactor let lapse. I always hear about flaky artists and creative types, but it find that I have more trouble with an Average Joe than with any artist I've ever dealt with. Some day it'll all be worth it. Someday I'll have the proper tools and equipment to get things done. I truly believe that. If I didn't I'd cash out now.

  

  Oh yeah. I have an iPad now. This is my first post on it. 

A Brief Musical Interlude

  Not much to say. Rain and clutter receding. A new painting started. Anyway, here's a couple of my favorite songs:








Bob Wills doesn't get nearly enough credit. Have a great day. I'm gonna go paint.

If I Had A Nickel For Every Time I Forgot This Part...

 I've been knocked down. A lot. Really hard sometimes. I scratch and claw and make some progress, only to be knocked back again. I've spent a considerable amount of time lying in a ditch, nursing my wounds, then struggling to rise again and get back on my way. One of my favorite quotes is:

Fight on, my men," says Sir Andrew Barton,
"I am hurt, but I am not slain;
I'll lay me down and bleed a while,
And then I'll rise and fight again.

I first heard this from Marv Levy, the great Buffalo Bills coach who took his team to four straight Super Bowls, only to have them lose each time. I think of this quote quite often. It makes me feel better to know others have faced similar struggles. I thought of this last night. I have worked hard to get my studio cleaned and organized, to make it into a warm, inviting place where I can forget all the crap that's weighing me down. Last night a big storm blew through and turned the leak in our roof (which I have fought for years with a budget of next to nothing) into a torrent. Water went down the hallway and crept around some of my paintings. The only place I could move them to save them was my studio, which sits cluttered and cold, denying me the least little bit of comfort. I'm knocked down again. I'll get up. Probably not today. Probably not tomorrow. Certainly not until the storm passes. I can hear water dripping as I type this. Even Robert Johnson can't drown it out. (Drown... see what I did there?) I get knocked down and get back up, then get knocked down and get back up, until I just can't get up again.

"Zen of Serenity"

It Gets Pretty Rough Sometimes

  Another art week is winding down. I go back to my day job tomorrow. I never get as much done as I'd like to, and I always seem to get ambushed by life. I understand that my art days also have to be the days I get errands done but lately it seems like more things pop up to sidetrack me. I finished a couple of projects that I've been dragging out. I also did some work in the organizational end of my life. I did get to paint. I just couldn't seem to get a big enough block of time cleared to devote to me being me. It seems  I was more stressed out this week than normal. Nothing that some time in lava lamp lit studio couldn't fix. I'm just not ready to go back to waiting on people yet. It gets harder every week. I tell myself that it won't be much longer, and in the grand scheme of the universe it won't be. It just seems to be harder mentally than before. It's mighty hard physically sometimes too. I've got the blues playing. I've got paintings on my easel. My brushes are close at hand. I'll be alright.

   This is a work in progress. I'm trying to open up my self to my fans, to let them see how my process works. It's not something I'm really comfortable with.

Sometimes It's A Burden

   The studio is looking good. The music is pumping. Everything is falling into place. I have plenty of paint. My brushes are lined up, ready to be sacrificed to the gods of art and creativity. I'm just running low on things to paint on. I've used up all my good sized canvas, even the canvas panels. I've been 'recycling' some of my lesser works. Call it culling the herd. Call it being green. It's really my last resort. I'd certainly rather have every painting I've ever done ready in case someone wants to look at it. I do have photographs of almost everything I've ever done. Except for a painting called "Hear No Evil" which was sold through the PAPA Gallery in Paducah, KY before I realized I didn't take a picture of it before I took it in to be exhibited. Mr. Organized blew it again. I guess it does add to the mystique. A painting ready to resurface in twenty years or so. A lost masterpiece. I guess. I really don't much remember what it looked like. Anyway, I pick a few paintings to be sacrificed and as I'm smearing paint and laying out the subjects I realize that these three are over almost before I've started. Minimalist abstracty gems ready to be posted on line. Well, as soon as I take their picture. Here's a little something special for those of you reading my blog. My newest painting:

  No idea on the title for this one. I'm open for suggestions if anything strikes you when you see it. Just remember you get to see it before anyone else on the web.

Damn, I Keep Forgetting To Fill This Line

  Seems I might have celebrated the end of winter a bit early. The crappy cold weather seems to be over, but there's enough rainy dreariness to keep the feeling going. It's been slow at work, so the money hasn't been optimum in a while. I still sell enough art to keep me from totally saying 'screw it', but supplies continue to be a problem. I haven't found any thrift store art to paint over, which means I've painted over a lot (well, a handful) of my old work. On one hand it does cull the herd, as it were, getting rid of all but the absolute best art. Judged by my opinion. It makes my oeuvre much more impressive. It does mean that every time I take a brush to a painting to start a new one that it's one more painting I didn't sell. It's painful to lose a painting like that. Worse than having art stolen (believe me I've had my fill of that). It does give me a chance to create something powerful. It keeps me sane. However it is an odd feeling to prep a painting and lay out the design, only to realize that it's done almost as soon as I get into the groove.
   I've been using most of my studio time the past week getting supplies sorted and organized. I'm always amazed at all the artsy things I've purchased and forgotten. I am loving knowing where all my things are. Plus I've got a big empty space in my studio, meaning I have room to walk and move around without stepping on anything. Well, except for the rug. The paint spattered rug. Maybe it'll be worth some money some day. Until then, I have art to create.

"If I'm Not Wrong"

When Life Knocks Me Down I Make Lemonade

  As spring arrives I stop and take stock of my position. I'm still standing. I'm still moving, forward I think. I made it through winter. It was a rough winter. My wife totaled her SUV. I sat with her in the hospital for four days before she was discharged. I then brought her home and tended to her until she was feeling good enough to go back to work ( about seven weeks I think). All the while our furnace was broken. I kept us warm with the strategic positioning of space heaters. My car broke down in three major occasions, leaving us with no means of transportation. ( I did learn how to repair my car myself. I went from knowing practically nothing to changing my radiator out in under two hours. ) I had a thriving airbrush business going, selling t-shirts and hoodies about as fast as I could paint them. Then both my airbrushes quit working. I'm sure it was my fault. I'm pretty rough on painting supplies. I didn't have enough money to buy new canvases. I've dug up every surface I could find to put paint on, just to help keep myself sane. It's been rough. It's almost over. It's almost spring. The time of renewal. Oh, I also let my blogging lapse. I hope this entry was worth the wait.

"You Are What You Love"

I Forgot I Needed A Title Up Here

  It's been a rough year so far. My wife totaled her SUV January 2nd and she's been laid up ever since. I had a rental car for thirty days, thanks to our insurance company. (That may be the last kind word I have for them, but that's neither here nor there.) I had my friend Chris come over to help me get my PT Cruiser up and running again. He's a very knowledgeable mechanic and even so it was a long process. I always appreciate my friends that know about cars, or heat, or electricity coming to our aide when needed. I just wish there was a time when someone would say, "Doug, I've got an art crisis. Is there any way you could help?" I feel like there's seldom a time when I can repay for all the favors.  Perhaps the universe is balancing out my debt in ways that I don't see. I just can't imagine any art emergencies. "Quick, my mother-in-law is coming over and I need you to touch up her portrait. I accidentally spilled marinara sauce on it." "I know it's four in the morning, but you can tell me how to clean baby puke off an oil painting?" Maybe I should just be thankful.
  Here's another thing that's on my mind. I always seem to fight the spell check when I'm writing these. I suppose it's because my phone has got me spoiled with auto-correct. When I write on here it just underlines the word that isn't spelled right. It doesn't automatically give me the right spelling or even change it for me. It reminds me of that grade school teacher everyone had that would say "that's not spelled right" over and over until you finally stumbled upon the correct spelling.
  Anyway, I did another hoodie today. One of two my friend Kelsey is buying. A portrait of wrestler John Cena. I'm pretty frickin happy with it:

Mr. Creative Can't Come Up With A Clever Title

 Another day. Another step forward. I made some progress this week. Lot's of things that needed to be done that I had been putting off. I sorted some of my art supplies. It's a necessary evil for someone like me who is pressed for space. Stash some things here, stack a few boxes there. Soon I've lost all track of what I have. Except for my acrylic paints. They, along with their corresponding brushes, are on my work bench. Next to my easel. All I've done for months is paint with acrylics, except for some airbrushed shirts and hoodies. I used to love watercolors. I haven't had them organized enough, nor enough space cleared off, to really do anything with them. I will have that taken care of soon. I also did some clutter removal in the rest of the house. Clearing all that out released a lot of energy, which I channeled in to two new large (36"x24") paintings. I'm still working on the second one. The first one looks pretty good. They were mighty fun to paint. And long over due. Maybe next week I can have a similar breakthrough on the business end of my art. Ah, a fella can dream.

  Sorry, no art to post this time. Instead, here's a picture of me and my dog Doc.I'll try to give you more next time. In case you're wondering, Doc is the one with all the hair. Son-of-a-bitch.

I Really Need A Holiday

  I didn't realize it had been so long since I've posted here. I figured with the holiday chaos that it would be a week or two, but I've been slacking too much on my artistic responsibilities. My wife totaled her truck two weeks ago and I've been taking care of her since. She's banged up, has a few cracked bones, and a lot of sore muscles. She's progressing nicely though. I hate that she's hurting so much, but it has been nice spending so much more time with her. I've also been dealing with doctors,  insurance, car rentals, car dealers, and other assorted corporate nuisances. I also sold quite a few custom t-shirts link and hoodies. The extra money came in handy, as it always does, but I'm always a bit stressed when I do custom artwork of any kind. I want to do a good job and it keeps me from relaxing and going with the flow. They were all very well received but I was very glad to find some time at the end of last week to do some artwork just for me. Some were more fun than others, but there was absolutely no pressure to create magnificent artwork. Oddly, some of them are pretty magnificent.