Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity!

I had a wonderful day at the Blackwoods' yesterday. They are such generous people....so inspirational as well. David is a real renaissance man, a true artist whose discipline and skill feed my mind with ideas and renewed vigor about my work and my path as an artist. I am truly so very fortunate to know them and to have them in my corner. They helped provide me with information and advice on the Newfoundland trip. The trip is now 14 days, which will provide opportunities to stay in bed and breakfasts on the east and west coasts. I will be able to get to Gros Morne National Park...a true highlight of the trip for sure.

I continue reading Walden and being moved by Thoreau's parsimonious approach to life..to live frugally and with minimalism in all respects is a truly admirable quality. I am thinking of going through boxes that languish in the other room and just purging what I have not used within the past six months. Fortunately, with a few moves in my lifetime, I have not accumulated much...just baggage that can't be seen...just kidding.

I watched Reservation Road tonight. Very tepid and quite disappointing. Great cast of actors whose talent was wasted on a film that was over-directed and lacking in depth. The characters were not developed enough for me to care for them when they shed tears and were going through chaos....save your money and time and steer clear of this one.

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practice resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life".
~Thoreau, Walden

Thoreau has such a great philosophy here. The schism between need and want really has narrowed until it is indiscernible sometimes...through clever advertising and the Jones's next door...we covet what we think is better. Perhaps we equate what we see as "better" with happiness. "I will be happier if I have "x" or "y"", rather than looking inside, and seeing that we already have everything that we need to be happy. I really do want to try my best to eliminate excess in my life...it will be challenging but where there's a will there's a way.

Today's creative conundrum is how to effectively make the seemingly mundane interesting. I am about to start a small portrait, and, while the subject does interest me, I want to avoid painting it in an ordinary fashion. I want to create interest through the application of the paint. I look at Freud's portraits and am just amazed. A simple head study that has such wondrous magic within it...the paint seems almost capriciously applied and yet, when examined carefully, is very thoughtfully executed...he is amazing. I have heard that his latest painting may well fetch the largest sum ever for a living artist...excellent...we don't yet have to be dead to make a living in this crazy, ear-chopping field!

Listening to: Your Ex-Lover Is Dead by Stars.