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The Art Of Losing It — It’s A Good Thing

April 30, 2019 by Lonnie Lardner

Confession time. The last thing I do before I go to sleep at night, is think about what kind of treat I’m going to have in the morning. And after breakfast, it’s when can I have my next sweet morsel. I am in fact, much like Winnie the Pooh. Here’s a quote from the star of A.A. Milne beloved’s books.

“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,” said Piglet at last, “what’s the first thing you say to yourself?”

 “What’s for breakfast?” said Pooh. “What do you say, Piglet?”

  “I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today” said Piglet. 

   Pooh nodded thoughtfully, ”It’s the same thing” he said.

But every once in awhile, I am presented with a reminder that the thrill I get feeding my face, is nothing to the one I get when I feed my soul.

 Last weekend we did a video shoot for my new website. We needed some closeup shots of someone painting. That would be me. We had specific needs for the video: which brushes to stack, what colors to put on the palette.  But a funny thing happened once we were rolling. I forgot all about the shoot, and lost myself. When the shoot was over, I found myself still messing around with paint on canvas. It was a better high than the best chocolate I’ve ever inhaled. (Sorry about that, Teuscher.)

So, for the 1,765th time, I am reminded that I shouldn’t wait for a “reason” to do what I love. It’s not expensive, it’s not unhealthy, it doesn’t make you fat. My goal tonight, is to go to bed thinking about what art I can create in the morning — before breakfast.

Filed Under: Creative Zone Tagged With: art for art’s sake, art making, creative expression, feeding your soul, making time, painting, Winnie the Pooh

Which Wolf Are You Feeding?

February 28, 2018 by Lonnie Lardner

(Pic #1) Digitally “defacing” the Modoc overpass in Santa Barbara. Photo by Josh Kaplan.

A Cherokee parable awakens the need to feed my soul.

Sometimes my husband makes me feel like a fraud. It’s one of the reasons I love him.  We went to visit friends in Santa Barbara last weekend, and on the way back we stopped at an overpass where I had noticed some cool graffiti. We took a few pictures, then I had this idea about digitally vandalizing one of the overpass supports. I posed with brush in hand, and later put in the words “Art is All.” (Pic #1)

Later, he asked me why I chose those words. I gave him a look that said “I married a moron.” But he pushed for an answer. I said, “It has a double meaning for me. Back to front, and front to back. I believe you can find art in anything (All is Art), and art is the thing that animates me, it’s even at times, my deity (Art is All). He liked that, and congratulated me on my world view. Then he added, that to be more accurate, shouldn’t it be, “Art is All — when I make the time for it, or when I’m not intimidated by it, or when I’m not busy doubting my artistic vision or skills?”  Then he asked me how long it had been since I had painted. A**hole.

It had been two weeks. Quite a big deal, considering I preach, lecture, stand up for, and maybe even proselytize about consistent creative output. Naturally I got defensive, reminded him that tending to my corporate duties was more important. He immediately apologized. I piled on with all the administrative work I’ve been doing for our non-profit. He threw up his hands and said he was sorry again. Game over, I win.

Except… later in the day he was talking about this Netflix Series called “Ozark,” which he told me about last week. (I’m up to Episode 7 and It’s a phenomenal series.) We talked about the twists and turns of the plot, and the amazing performances.  I awoke the next morning to see this in my inbox.  Double A**HOLE.

So now to the old parable, attributed to an old Cherokee grandfather….a sobering story that makes me firmly take sides:

Point taken. What my dear, immensely annoying husband was pointing out was that lately, I have been feeding the wrong wolf. So my somewhat tardy New Year’s resolution: feed the right wolf. For me that starts with picking up a paint brush — which, if you will excuse me, I am going to do right now.

Filed Under: Creative Zone Tagged With: art and soul, Cherokee parable, daily creative expression, feeding the wolf, feeding your soul, unleashing creativity

Tunes From Trash: Making Music For A Song

February 15, 2013 by Lonnie Lardner

Landfill provides inspiration for children with a dream

The next time you find yourself whining about not having the right mans health materials, instruments, or equipment for your current project, watch the video above.

Don’t be a brat. Get creative.

 

Filed Under: Newsmakers Tagged With: children and music, creativity, feeding your soul, finding inspiration, harmonic landfill, instruments from trash, music from trash

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