Post date: Mar 30, 2012 3:40:28 PM
Has been a few gorgeous few days here in Las Vegas. The hummingbirds are returning from their migration and Chef Nectar will have to be filling all the feeders, for I have discovered a small invitation announcing "Welcome Home Party At Ralph's". A few have already booked their rooms (staked out their territory) in the bushes and trees surrounding the pool area. They're a little frail now, but in a few weeks they should be fattened up enough and energized to start their Medieval jousting and fighter plane dog fight reenactments for me once again. They appear to be such warm little creatures, but they can be some of the nastiest little SOBs, when protecting their turf or their chow. Don't know if one of them is named Freddie Cruger, and if he was tapping on the sliding door to the pool to tell me "he's back" or that he was checking to see if I had any forwarded mail for him, since he had used my address while he was away. Just know that it is good to have them back.
Have completed eight (8) new pieces of art for this series. Think that will wrap it up for the time being or until another trauma or an overwhelming enlightenment forces me back on to the "artistic psychological couch". Also the dust bunnies, under the beds, furniture and abouts, are getting a bit perturbed because all the art is occupying their expansion territories. I wonder if hummingbirds and dust bunnies, and let's throw in spiders, are really not manic empire builders. Will also be turning 67 in a few days and need to hit the steam room to lose a few pounds and start working on my tan and sun-bleached blond hair, even though most of it is white. Oh, where did youth go? Know it isn't hiding with the dust bunnies, sitting in the unclaimed mail bin at the Post Office or going on sale, as a two for one special, at the local market. Just as face lifts and cosmetic surgery don't really work, neither do photographic masks of oneself at a younger age work. Someone always notices the elastic string holding them on or that your lips aren't moving when you talk. Guess you just have to accept getting older.
The new piece presented to you today is titled "Thru Them The Ship Sails On And Life Keeps Rolling Along". It is 15" long x 7" wide x 15" high. When I was still in architecture, there were two statements that were bantered about amongst the better design staffs. One was that "there is no such thing as an original thought or idea". What each produced was a result of what they had experienced throughout their life. The more you experienced, the more you had to show and say to the world. The other was "the difference between a so-so designer and a GREAT designer is that a GREAT designer knows what GOOD designs to steal and make them GREAT". Perhaps the same philosophies apply to life in general. When one is fortunate enough to be associated with, exposed to or tutored by the better individuals or aspects of life, every ones life gets better. It is not a static or momentary event, but rather a dynamic continuum. When one strives in life to expand his horizons or push his limits, it doesn't occur in a vacuum. Everything in life is under constant observation and scrutiny. The good, better and best will always be passed on and enhanced. The drek shall always get tagged with larger and larger caution labels. Is the process of how those GREAT life designers live on, even when they are no longer amongst us.
Keep those comments coming. Also, if a seven foot tall Croatian shows up at your front door, selling spandex gym wear, don't be fooled into believing it's me.
John Michael/Ralph/Rocko/Frank or Whoever?
(To see photos of the above art piece "Thru Them The Ship Sails On And Life Keeps Rolling Along", go to https://sites.google.com/site/jmdodigartphotos )