Night Rider's Lament

There is an old Cowboy song made popular by Jerry Jeff Walker called Night Rider's Lament.  Lots of singers have a version out.  Nanci Griffin has an excellent version. This song sums up what it is to be an Artist in my mind.  A repeating theme goes something like this, "Why do you ride for your money?  Why do you rope for short pay?    You ain't getting nowhere and you are loosing your share.  Ah....You must have gone crazy out there."  Every word in this song represents my life long dedication to making things.  Again, Why?  You can't think about how much money you can make or whether you will be famous, well known,  etc.  You have these creative ideas in your head.  They float around and gain momentum.  Art is made when you put these ideas into motion.  You have to be fearless in your belief that this is the most important thing that you can do during your short visit to this planet.  The poetry of what you have to say becomes a fluid motion with a concrete end.  Practical problem solving is not what motivates art work.  It is the craftsmanship that must take over after the ideas have been hatched.  Problem solving has nothing to do with creativity... painting by numbers, connecting the dots.  Jump off the ledge.  There cannot be borders in art.  Move from one medium to the next........You have my permission to create...no borders.  Work from the neck up,and call the shots on your own terms.  Turn the music up loud, take the phone off the hook, close your studio door..................


AND get out there......see the hawk on the wing, the northern lights, meteor light shows at 2 am, yellow Paint Brush, Red Columbines, and drink some Bourbon by the fire after a good day of work.

Q

This was my last trip, Monday, to Indian Peaks Wilderness on the wild St. Vrain River with my riding partner, Reyna, and good horses Squish and Myrna.  August in the Colorado High Country cannot be surpassed.  I almost fell off my horse as the creative ideas flowed in one end and out the other....Ha.  Get up in the morning and make something.

Fire Season #1

Tonight is the opening of the Muse show in Durango at the Art Center.  I am very sad that I am missing it.  A friend of mine is on the board at the Museum and she said that the show is having a great response with the public.  There are so many wonderful pieces from the members of Front Range Creative Quilters.   My piece Fire Season #1 was inspired by a comment from a Quick Mart employee in Frisco, Colorado.  He said that it was very amusing that tourist in the area were coming in to buy gas and asking what variety the beautiful red fur trees were.  Of course they were the trees that were dying from the pine beetle disease.  The Veridian Green trees of the old forrest were such a contrast to the dying ones in their Rusty Red coloration.  The contrast of dark and light against the blue sky floated around in my brain for days.  The stark contrast with the lingering Winter snow brought out colors to their maximum contrast and texture.  Then the whole composition came to me in a flash.  It was late spring and the Aspen Green was so startling.  The colors are changing and will not go back to what I have grown up with for a very long time.  I may not see it return in my lifetime.  What I am embracing in this piece is "change".  You can't stop it:  you just have to move with it.

This is a detail of the stitching.