Transcendence - Artists and Higher Consciousness

Does the artists mind transcend to a higher level of consciousness when they are creating?

This is a question I've thought about for many years. It is a question that many artists refuse to even consider or acknowledge. Its almost like they are afraid to admit that their mind goes to another place while they work.

But time and time again there are indications that we reach into a special place within ourselves when we are in the act of creating. A place that disappears instantly when we return to the daily dynamics of life

It is often like being on a roller coaster. We can lose ourselves in the highs and the lows and the only way we can control it is by distancing ourselves it occurs. We refuse to be labeled lunatics or new-agers so we stay silent about what might be going on within our brains and our spirits.

But it does occur. Whether its strictly a mind place that we go when we seek deeply into ourselves for that creative energy, or something more transcending to our spirits, I cannot say. But when we can admit that it does happen, I think it opens up new doorways for our art.

I do not think that artists have a monopoly on this. I think anyone who uses their creative talents in a very deep way allow themselves to open up to this ability. But each of us, whether painter, musician, or writer also face the pitfalls of being brought flailing back to earth to deal with the wall of life that involves survival of both ourselves and our creativity. It can be very frustrating.

To reach as high as the Gods, and to be cast down to the depths of the Devils is both our greatest joy and darkest nightmare.

That is a depressing thought I know, but face it, the rate of suicide within the artistic community is high. There must be a correlation that causes this to be.

The thing is, if used properly, it can also bring a person out of depression and create stability from mental instability. Believe me, I am one of them. My mother was also. But I've seen how art changed her life in her later years and allowed her a focus that she did not possess in the 60 years prior. I've always fought with depression but I found this early and I've used it to the maximum to keep myself stable and directed.

But it is also a fine edged sword that can come to bite you if your not prepared.

Its easy to listen to the voices around you that tell you that the world has no transcendence. We are grounded in this world and the rest is just our imagination. But I think artists know better. They sense they are touching something much more infinite in their work that they cannot even begin to describe to those who haven't been there.

So why am I so caught up in this tonight? Because my mind focuses on my own mortality right now. Some know that a year or so ago I was very sick with HIV. Not just HIV, but over the edge into AIDS. This is something that is a bit rarer now that medicine has become better, but my immune system reacted poorly and crashed and burned quickly. It is not something I hide although I don't often talk about it either. In fact I am sure it was the best thing that could have happened because it allowed me to face some other health problems I probably would not have known about for quite some time.

I've recovered well over the past year and I am perhaps more healthy than I've ever been. But unfortunately my immune system is still in perilous shape. It takes years to build back to a healthy level. And while it is ever a concern and I sometimes tire easily, I've come back from this even more determined to create and grow as an artist and to share those abilities with others so that my own skills are not lost.

So why worry about transcendence if all is going well? Because I've just come away from my first real battle against a very poor immune system. What I thought was a cold quickly decided it would become pneumonia and placed me in the hospital. And I found this distressing. I ask myself whether this will continue to occur and weaken me more and eventually destroy me.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not depressed. In fact my art gives me stability to at least consider that this is not something I will totally bounce back from without fearing the idea. But after having been told countless times in the past days that I had to stop working and stick to bed rest, I still find myself back in my studio, slightly out of breath and not working at nearly the stellar speed of light I would usually work at. But working nonetheless. And feeling better for it, despite doctors telling me I had to lay around and do nothing.

So I come full circle back to the transcendence issue. Am I doing myself more harm by working or am I doing myself a service because in transcending through my art I am in turn healing myself? There is some evidence to support this. Coming from near total disability a year ago, I forced myself into my studio to work non-stop and I can't help but think that this in turn made me stronger, quicker. And even if it hasn't, has it not made me a happier person and a stronger spirit for it?

So are artists healthier in body, mind and spirit because of the work they do? Have their been studies regarding this? I do not know. What I do know though is that spending my second evening after having been in the hospital working slowly but diligently in my studio has been better for me than all the medicine they gave me to take. And my mind can't help but focus on these things even as I practice them.

So I ask again, does the artists mind transcend to a higher level of consciousness when creating? We may never know for sure.

Art Activists Don't have to be Dicks

activism
[ak-tuh-viz-uh m] 

the doctrine or practice of vigorous action or involvement as a means of achieving political or other goals, sometimes by demonstrations, protests, etc.


Recently the street artist known as Sabo spoke at the annual CPAC conference last year. I vaguely remembered something about him and some posters that he'd illegally put up a year or two back. Frankly, I'd missed this fellow on my "art radar".

Since he stands for almost everything that I stand against, its funny that I'd never become more acquainted with his work till now.

After some research I realized that most don't seem take him seriously and that his inflated ego seemed to deflate any message he puts out there. But probably to the surprise of most who know me, I don't condemn him. In fact he represents much of what I say about the artist also being the activist. I cannot in good conscious condemn someone for doing exactly what I do, even if I abhor the message he presents in his art.

I've honestly had to do some soul searching over this fellow though because in many ways he's taken what it means to be an art activist and twisted it into something so angry that it no longer resembles what we call art.

I recently wrote an article regarding veiling the activist message in abstract beauty. (click here for the original article). It is clear to me that in order to be an artist and an advocate that you can't just throw your message out their angrily and hope that anyone except other really angry people will grasp it.

Sabo says that leftists have hijacked the art world and that its his job to stand against this and proclaim a conservative voice back to the world in his art. I really have no problem with this. But Sabo, as artist to artist I say to you, your message is lost in your madness. I know you are working to stop liberal artists, but I suggest that you also learn from those liberal artists.

If your art turns the stomach of the viewer, whether its a liberal or a conservative message, then there is little chance that anyone will learn anything from it or change their minds by what you create. In the end the reason that liberal artists are successful is because the art they create is appealing. It speaks to the heart and the soul, rather than to the anger and hatred of the human race.

Yes liberal artists make the same mistake. In fact some of them I count as friends even if I don't condone the way they put their message out there. But I appeal to you Sabo to set the anger aside and let the true message within you flow. If you claim to be an artist then you have a trust and responsibility to the world to not just sling shit out at your opponents, but to truly think about how the world will respond to what you do. If all you want to do is appeal to the anger of the right, then I guess I wish you well on your journey. But you can be so much more.

Art Activists DON'T have to be dicks. We can still get our message out there and yes even create the shock value that our message presents if we think seriously about what we are creating. Hell, we are artists, we have the whole world at our fingertips to craft our messages. Nothing is beyond us if we put our creativity to the task.

Art can change the world and it can change the minds of the viewer. This has been proven over and over again throughout history. But it has also been proven that anger just creates more anger and madness more madness. It serves little purpose if we forget the art and only focus on the activism. Then we are just another voice on the wind instead of a guiding star in the heavens.

We are often the lone angel trying to steer the world. But if the light stays on us, there is little we cannot do.

I wish you all the best,
~Grey~

What the Hell Do I Have to Share? Artists Encouraging Artists

Sometimes artists have blinders on. Because we often work in a solitary environment we forget to take time to help others.

Many of us are over protective of our techniques. We don't want to share anything that might make us a buck or give us an edge over other artists.

We don't want to waste our time when we could be creating. Let others learn as they may.

And most important I think we feel that we have nothing to share with any other creative. Why would anyone want to listen to what I say? Our confidence is shot.

I know I may be oversimplifying each artists situation, but can you honestly say that absolutely none of this applies to you?

Believe me when I say I see both sides of the situation. I'd be much happier pushing the rest of the world aside and just being left to create. But then what kind of a person would I be? I would merely be making money off my art without giving anything back. Perhaps this works for you. It does not work for me.

I have a partner who is a very talented artist and feels exactly the opposite to my own views. So I do see the other side of it and I understand where he and others are coming from. And more power to those who wish to stay hidden.

But for those of you who may wish to give something back of your talents and skills, here are some simple guidelines I use to do so. Keep in mind these guidelines apply mostly to relationships online and through social networks. There are three levels to mentoring:

• Informal Social Mentoring
• Formal Social Mentoring
• In Studio Mentoring

I am only going to discuss "informal mentoring" this time. Formal mentoring is more in keeping with what a tutor does for a student, while "in studio" mentoring is another whole universe that involves direct one-on-one interaction in a studio. I'll take up the other two types in later blog posts.

By "Informal" I mean a very basic relationship with another artist, where you share occasional ideas and swap moral support. We form these kinds of relationships all the time with others. But typically the closer relationships are left for family members and close friends.

We often hit the "like" or "retweet" button to symbolize our admiration for another artists work, but how often do you stop for a moment and send that artist a message telling them how much you liked what they did?

Yes an argument can be made that there just isn't enough time in the day to do this with all the artists we might come across. But wouldn't it be cool if we each just did it once a day? How much more encouraging would that make someones day?

This is where mentoring begins, with encouragement. Its quite simple really.

Where it goes from there is strictly up to you. For me, its about taking a little longer to look at an artists work. Its remembering the steps I went through as a new artist and watching for the same mistakes and missteps that I made when starting out and gently discussing better ways to be a professional artist. Its about seriously critiquing a piece of art to honestly help the person, without being a total dick and saying "that sucks". Diplomacy and mentoring go hand in hand. Even the worst artists can someday be the best.

I think a lot of people are under the impression that when you say "support a fellow artist" that it means providing them with funds or buying their work. Wow that would be nice, then we wouldn't have to deal with anyone else except fellow artists. But we all know that is not reality. "Support" means being honest about an artists works, ideas and chances of success. But doing so with care to not destroy their dreams either.

So the Informal process of mentoring is not terribly hard. I guess that's why I encourage more artists to do so. Each of us deserves more than to be immortalized with a "like" button. We crave substance. We want to know why someone liked us.

So those are the basics and what I consider the most important of the three types of mentoring. I find that beginning an informal relationship with another artist, often leads to Formal Mentoring and in some rare occasions has brought the artist directly to the studio. But it has to begin somewhere. If we don't take the steps to establish that relationship, then what we know and what we have learned, dies with us. And that's a bloody shame. You owe your own skills more than that.

I say in closing that this article is not aimed at new artists starting out. I am speaking to seasoned artists who have learned the pros and cons of their business. It is you who have the ability to mold and shape the artists of the future.

Art should always outlive the Artist, but so should their life lessons and skills.

~Grey~

Taking the Long View - Artists Looking Beyond the Now

Its interesting how the mind wanders when in the act of creation. You would think that an artist would be single minded to the task, always focused. But I find the opposite often applies.

When I am truly in "The Zone", I go into an autopilot mode. I've done all my thinking about what I am working on prior to beginning the nights work. I know what and how I need to accomplish the task and suddenly my mind is released to think about other things and wander the universe of my mind.

There were two CD's of stories of the mind that was done in the early 90's. Unfortunately the name of them escapes me after so many years. But one was of a man who would sit each day on cliff overlooking the ocean in Maine and his mind would leave his body and he would traverse the universe and go far away from his physical form. That's the nearest description I've ever heard to the almost out of body experience that truly immersing yourself in your art sometimes brings.

Sitting on my desk is a book called The Art of the Long View. I've read it many times and I consider it one of the essential parts of my studio, as important as my paints and supplies.

I think that especially in art, taking a long view of the world is crucial. What I mean by this is that sometimes we can become very myopic as artists, focusing on the brush stroke and the canvas but losing the perspective and meaning of being a creator.

I often say that "art should outlive the artist". I believe this because I believe in taking a "long view" of my work. When I create something, I want it to far outlast who I am. I want it to speak to someone 500 years from now and not just the moment I create it.

When I was first starting out as an artist, I took a very short view of each thing I created. I got frustrated easily when no one would hit the damned "like button" on facebook or say anything about what I'd made. Then I started taking the Long View and with it, I would like to think my work changed. It went from being simply a painting to being a creation. If you don't think there is a difference between these two things, then your not taking a Long View yet.

I'm not saying that an artist has to be an activist. That is a different thing. What I am saying is that if we don't take the time realize that what we do at this moment may and can impact someone years from now, then we are short sighted to the power our art contains. For example, I have a painting in my bathroom (yes my bathroom) of an Indian done in water colors. You can't see his face. He is facing away in the painting. Everytime I see him, I think of many things. I wonder what he's looking at. I wonder what the artist was thinking when she painted him. I think about my mother, who owned the painting before passing it on to me.

This painting has no political statement within it. But I think it is a simple fact that this painting has outlasted its creator who passed many years ago (yes I researched her just to find out more). It still speaks to those who view it, long after its creator has passed.

I ask you then. Does your art speak to the future? Do you take a Long View of your work?

Live in the moment to be sure. That is crucial as it freezes time around us. But live in the future also. Take the Long View and consider what your work says to those who come after you. Whether you are an artist, a writer, a musician or any other creative talent. Is your work fleeting? Or does it move on through time and make you eternal even if your body is not?

~Grey~

Of Inspiration and Frustration - The Artists Fight With Highs and Lows

I am often asked where I get my inspiration from. I think for most artists its a hard question to answer. I know for me, I see inspiration in everything. Sometimes this includes some pretty surprising places. But it all adds up to ideas, and cosmic beauty that the artist see’s and then tries to mold into something he can show others.I understand that it is a question asked in order for the viewer to understand my work better and I try to answer it gracefully and honestly.

The question I never get asked though is what destroys my inspiration and stops it from flowing. No one wants to hear about what frustrates an artist, what removes his/her ability to create. But truly it is more common that we face frustrations daily that cause us to mentally and spiritually black out for a time. I think its important to know not only what inspires an artist but what takes away from that inspiration, because there lies between the two, that amazing place where artist can cross the barriers of time and space and touch the universe for a moment in their work.

I can say truly that I use my art as my drug of preference. Depression and mania has always been a part of my makeup. My mother was a nut of the highest degree, my father not too far off that mark either. I loved and cared about them both though and tried to learn something about avoiding the pitfalls that I saw them suffer from.

I've made a study for many years of watching others who suffer from depression and other clinically psychological problems and I've seen for sure that creativity helps overcome many ailments of the mind. If I just force myself into my creative mode (no matter how hard it might be to do so), within an hour or so I can usually work myself back to a level balance and rediscover that inspiration needed to create good art. For years I've been able to keep myself fine tuned this way.

So again, I say its important to know an artists story of both inspiration and loss in order to really grasp their work in a deeper way. I’m not suggesting that you go around asking every artist you meet “why they are frustrated and lacking inspiration”. That will get you answers you probably would rather not know! But if you want to understand the deeper meaning behind a truly great artist, take the time to learn their history and you may find some pretty amazing stories behind their creations.

The Elements of Touch - An Artists Senses

Touch has always been the most important of senses for me. For as long as I can remember, the ability to reach out and touch a thing, was what made it real for me.

When I was young, my mother constantly scolded me in the stores for having to run my hands across every single thing I came in contact with. In a grocery store the feel of a bag of beans, or the cool sensation of fresh meat through a plastic wrapper was total amazement to me.

Later as I grew (and learned what I should and SHOULDN'T touch), I realized that this was an essential element of who I was.

I can’t wear watches, I rarely where bracelets of any kind, and gloves are the ultimate atrocity. Anything that impedes my hands from both touching and creating is anathema to me.

As an adult, my first foray into my creativity was to write books. I loved the flow of words and I loved the emotional reactions from readers. But without realizing it at the time, there was little to the sensation of touch involved in the art of writing. It satisfied the creative part of me, but still there was something missing (as well as the fact that writing barely put food on the table most of the time).

Later I began the serious pursuit of becoming a professional photographer. Again the creativity was satisfied, and I found, that part of my need to touch was more satisfied than in writing. I could touch some of the things that I photographed and to me that made them deeper and richer. In turn, my work as a photographer often focused on the dimensionality of a subject, the grain, the texture, the interplay of light and color and shadow. For me, they were all the things that were essential items to focus on. And I admit that when I viewed other photographers work, there was and is always part of me that thinks “geeze, they missed the most dynamic part of that subject”.

But as happy as photography made me, there was still something missing.

Then there came a day when I got tired of being told that photographers were simply photoshoppers and not truly artists and that photography had died with the dark room as a true art form, I finally lost my temper. Now it was personal. Now it wasn't just about satisfying the creative passion within me, but it was about proving I was a real artist, and like all other things in life, I went rather overboard with it.

But to my surprise I found something I’d never found in any other thing I’d pursued. It was love at first swoosh of the brush. I realized one day that I could be the happiest person in the world left alone in my studio with my supplies. Till then, while I was happy creating, I’d never felt quite this fire and passion that I was finding as an artist. I literally felt like a blind man that could suddenly see. And much to my delight, at the same time in this beginning journey, I found my life partner Billy and found a kindred soul! I was no longer alone in the pursuit of my art, but found another whom I could bother endlessly with tales of what I learned in the studio tonight stories and who actually understood when I walked past a trash can and my eyes got wide thinking about how a used board, or a bit of sparkly paper could be used to create something new.

Yet even then, it still hadn't dawned on me what was satisfying me about being an artist. It was a slow revelation as my work developed that everything I was doing had a commonality of touch. Subconsciously I was doing exactly what I’d always done. I wasn't just painting a picture to hang on a wall and be admired. What I was doing was creating something to be TOUCHED. It needed to be something that the viewer could walk up to and feel the texture of.

Before I even stumbled on this new reality, I had already been doing it in each and every piece I created. If the piece was too one dimensional, it frustrated the hell out of me. In the case of one canvas, it hung unloved in my living room for two months before I pulled it back into the studio and added dimension to it.

But it wasn't really dimension I was seeking; it was an element of touch. It was an element that made you want to reach out and get feel the energy flowing through it and the ridges and whorls. Before I even really understood the basics of painting, I was already exploring mediums to create texture. I've used grout, and silicon, and a variety of texture products. In one case I even used sheets of Kleenex (not the kind with the aloe, just plain old Kleenex).

So in the end my art (with very few exceptions) is meant to be felt up. I want people to reach out and add their energy to the energy already flowing through the elements of the piece.

The next time you’re in a store, don’t hesitate to feel those dried beans, or touch a rime of frost on the ice-cream case. No matter where you are (if your allowed), reach out and touch and see what new dimensions it opens for you. You may be surprised. 

Stealth Art - Creating Beautiful Art With a Message

Some artists consider themselves to be activists also. They create art that is often angry and full of loathing. It hurts the eyes and the heart in its harshness and in that harshness it gets its message past our biases and occasionally makes an impact on someones life. I have undying respect for these artists.

There is no doubt that I am both artists and activist. I believe that some art is created to each us something in a way that words cannot always do. But since I began as an artist, I started creating art in a distinctly different way from most activists.

I call this "stealth art". I've seen the term before, but I've not seen it applied in quite the same way I use it. Basically Stealth Art is the ability to create a piece of art which is beautiful and engaging, but which holds a deeper message often masked by that beauty.

I often talk about the theory of abstraction versus purpose. The same rule of thumb applies here. Engage them with abstraction, beauty, eloquence, but shock them by the revelation that behind the beauty lies more sinister"purpose". And sometimes that purpose can be ripe with multiple meanings.

In my studio is the completed "Mark of the Beast" sculpture (seen below)

During this past Mardi Gras season, there have been a lot of casual visitors to the studio who just see the place from the road and want to come closer. The 8 foot canvas on one side the room always catches their attention. The reactions are much the same. First there is awe by its shear size. They see the abstraction first. The colors and layout remind some of a circuit board found in a computer. Then they look closer and they realize "woah, there is a whole city in front of them". They sometimes take a step backwards. You can tell by their body language that something just clicked into place for them. They want to touch it. They follow the streets with their eyes and look at the wide variety of buildings and structures. And they shake their heads in amazement. The abstraction has them in its grasp, but for most, that's where it ends. They move on to the next sculpture, asking polite questions about how things were made and whether I show my work in a gallery. But most totally miss that their is another message staring them in the face. They miss the giant cross in the center, black and menacing. They miss the buildings at the core which are dark with the exception of a few tiny twinkles of light coming from a few windows.

At first I would let it pass. It was easier to avoid and let them just think it was a cool abstract piece of art. But others, you can tell will stop for a moment in confusion. Its subtle and its fleeting, but something else caught their attention. Its those folk I pay attention to the most. I casually mention the cross and they turn back and gaze it further. I try to explain to them that the cross represents extremism. When they seem receptive to that message, I go on to explain the whole story of what the piece represents and the concept came about. For those of you not familiar with it, I wont detail it now, but if you'd like to know the full story, check out the piece and its narrative here sometime (THE MARK OF THE BEAST)

Its then, and only then that the giant cross and the name of the piece merge together and snap into perspective for them. Most walk away, decidedly concerned. A slight frown on their face. Others shake their heads and thank me and ask if they can see more of my work online. A few even asked me to send them links regarding the historic data behind the theme.

The point is, they were caught by the abstraction and for most that was all it will ever be. But for a few, the purpose slammed home and made an impact on them. Stealth Art.

Mark of the Beast is subtle. Its easy to miss the message without some kind of information to explain what the artist intended. They make up their own stories and that is fine. Art is about making stories. But for those few, I hope it changes them in some subtle way.

Another piece that often gets attention is called "A Hell of Their Own Making". This is a monster piece, stretching 6 feet across and 6 feet high. It is 36 feet in surface area and I've had it described back to me as if the person viewing it could walk straight into hell through it.

The wax work flames and distant volcanoes catch the eye and hold it. The ghoulish faces surrounding it are like a haunted house.  The figure in the center seems inexplicable. Most think its just some Gothic horror painting. They smile politely while at the same time feeling vaguely disturbed deep down inside. Their is a message here. Its more direct than Mark of the Beast. It climbs out and taps you on the shoulder but most just ignore it. But this one is harder to ignore. There are things within it that make a person just have to ask about. Why is there a man in one corner without a head? Why are their skeletons on crosses? What is this?

Then I explain, simply and gently so they do not run off in horror, that the faces staring out number 12 and represent the twelve apostles who were with Jesus at the last supper. For some, this is enough to clue them into the bleeding reclining form in the center. The stiffened corpse who they suddenly realize come complete with a penis stiffened also in death. They blood is coming from hands and feet and drips slowly down the sculpture. I often leave the narrative at that point, especially if the viewer seems particularly disturbed. A few ask quietly "But whats it mean?" And I remind them of the title of the peace and how we all have the ability to create a hell of our own making, even twelve men and a wise prophet. They usually walk away at that point. I'd love to know what they are thinking and whether they ever thought about it again, or more pointedly decided to stay far away from the heretical artist who would subvert what so many believe. Again...Stealth Art.

I could give many more examples. but I think these two serve to make my point for me.

Sometimes beauty can serve a greater purpose and message. Angry art that is immediately shocking can turn a person away far before they ever learn anything from it. I prefer to lure them in with a bit of honey before I spike their art experience with Tabasco sauce.

You can view "A Hell of Their Own Making" and many others at the following link. I'd love your opinions on this, so feel free to tell me I'm full of crap. We'll get on famously!

CLICK TO SEE THE ART OF GREY CROSS

Two New Works

A few notes at the closing of two major projects.

This week saw the completion of two new sculptures, one of which took about 3 months to complete. Both have distinctly different meanings, both of which are close to my heart. Each piece standing alone without any explanation (in my opinion) is only half complete. Some pieces are better left to the complete interpretation of the viewer, but with others, I think its important to know where the artist was going with them.

I find it a great challenge to place a message within what I create. It makes it more real for me in a sense. Almost like I am placing a part of my own spirit in the work that goes beyond the act of creation.

When I first began my career as an artist, I put behind me a long career as a photographer. I needed something more in my life. Photography helped me be creative, but it wasn't quite enough for me and I plunged headlong into art and made it my life. Unfortunately a few of my associates saw this as a bad move and why was I throwing away a career as a photographer. My art would never be good enough starting  this late in life.

One of those people (who is still a  friend) used to call my early work "fun" and this made me cringe with revulsion. I didn't want FUN art. I wanted art of substance and meaning. And I admit that it molded my early development and turned me into a bit of a fanatic about placing meaning in my art.

There are some pieces I just do for fun, casting meaning aside just for the aesthetics of a particular design. But I admit that somewhere deep down inside of me I still cringe at creating "fun" art.

More and more, especially after having been so ill last year, I focus on message as much as aesthetics. I wrote awhile back on the importance of both abstraction and purpose in a piece of art (click here to see original article) and that is apparent in a major way in these two new sculptures. I hope you find meaning.

Click the photos below to view the complete portfolios & descriptions

The Mark of the Beast

The Secrets of My Youth

The Talented Young Artist - Zen and the Creative

Quandary of Life


Student:  "I want to be a successful artist so bad. I want to study with you.

Mentor: You’re not ready.

Student: I am! I have the skills.

Mentor: It’s not about skills. It’s about mindset.

Student: My mind wants it!

Mentor: Your mind wants it. But your mind also wants that new house you just bought and your friends and your family and all your toys and gadgets and weekends on the beach. When you can release all those things for a while then you’re ready.

Student: But I like those things!

Mentor: And those things tie you down and don’t allow you to go to that next level. Those things mean you work 12 hours a day and sleep and have no time for your art. It’s OK to have nice things, but when you allow them to tie you down then accomplishing what you really want out of your life become secondary.

Student: Then I’ll never be an artist!

Mentor: You’re already an artist. But will you be an accomplished artist who makes creating your life? Perhaps you will in 30 years when the two car garage and 4 kids that will eventually come are grown and on their own life path. But not now, not unless YOU make it happen.


Could It Be Magic


Student: I want to paint magic. I want people to be in awe of my art. How do I do it? What do I need to learn?

Mentor: These things you don't learn from technique. These things you learn from experience and placing your emotions and those experiences into your work.

Student: But I don't have any experiences yet.

Mentor: Then you need to seek those experiences while your learning the fundamentals. Art isn't just about painting. Its about making your art speak. When we share our unique life view with others then we give them a chance to experience also.

Student: I don't get it.

Mentor: Have you ever been to a museum where you passed 20 paintings and only gave them a glance, then you suddenly saw that one painting that spoke to your soul? You grasped it. You saw something totally new and it made you look at the world just a little differently.

Student: Yes, I've had that happen several times.

Mentor: That's the magic. That's the artists life experience reaching out and touching you for just a moment in time and made you consider something you'd never thought about before.

Student: So I should visit more art museums?

Mentor: No and yes. Let the experiences of other artists guide your hand to create your own experiences to pass on to others but seek your own experiences. Challenge life.

Student: This sounds like Star Wars.

Mentor: In  a way it is because you yield a powerful force in your creativity. You hold in your hands the ability to touch others and change their lives. That's where the true magic is.

Student: That sounds impossible to achieve.

Mentor: If it was easy, it would have no value. Its a responsibility not to be taken lightly.

Student: I didn't learn any of this in my college art courses.

Mentor: And you never will.

Listening To Time - Those Perverts From the Future Can Here Me!

time
[tahym] 

The system of those sequential relations that any event has to any other, as past, present, or future; indefinite and continuous duration regarded as that in which events succeed one another.

Bleeding Time - Grey Cross Studios

I have a lot of time on my hands to think. As an artist my hands are in constant motion but sometimes there is not much for the mind to do. At other times there is too much for the mind and it overloads (but that's a different topic for another time). The simple fact is that I look at the world, its problems and its oddities through the eyes of an artist and I try to apply the same solutions that I would apply to a complex piece of art. Some may have read the blog post called "Lost in the Space of my Mind". if you haven't read it, it explains a lot about my thinking process and how brainstorming problems occurs.

With that in mind, I've recently been thinking some very odd thoughts. We as humans tend to shrug off the things we cannot comprehend. Quite awhile back I wrote a short article called "THE UFO PHENOMENON FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE". Since I think the original article is lost in the mists of time, I've added it to the bottom of this article for your perusal. While this isn't dealing with UFO's, the same logic applies of looking at something from a totally different angle to find a solution.

Now, regardless of what your views on time travel are (oh my god, he's going from UFO's to Time travelers, the boy is nuts), I started looking at it from a different perspective. It seems to me that if future civilizations could travel in time, someone, SOMEONE would have caught on by now. Other than a few odd random strange things like photos of Nicholas Cage in a Civil War uniform on an old tintype photo, there is very little in the way of an supporting oddities that might give hints of a future time traveling universe.

But, what if those in the future aren't "time travelers" but "time listeners"? What if, in order to get around the risk of paradox, we are at this very moment being listened to? (cue creepy Twilight Zone music). But think about it for a moment. Why risk moving a person in time, when you could just eavesdrop on every person who ever walked the earth?

Now you'll think me nuts, but the idea of this came while changing a tire with my dear partner one evening. Here we were, wrestling with this damned tire and griping at each other light heartedly. And I said "god I hope the future isn't listening to us right now, because they'd think we were nuts. Then I stopped and thought....hmmm what if they ARE listening? What if they fill in the blanks about historic figures from the past just by being a cosmic voyeur (the perverts)?

As nutty as it sounds, there would be logical reasons for doing this. First, I feel that the technology will inevitably get to the point where time travel is possible. If their morals and logic can keep them from tampering with the past, what a great way to still get what they want out of our ancient ancestors without effecting the time line?

Paradox is solved because there is no trace of these cosmic listeners. Or is there? Is that odd feeling your being watched perhaps something more? Are ghosts, not apparitions from the past but instead feedback from the future, much as a speaker system will create a screech when a microphone is not tuned right?

The possibilities are endless to speculate on things that go on around us when viewed from the lens of these listeners. Again, we shrug off the odd around us that has no explanation and we don't seek new ways to understand them. This gets back to the original article posted years ago regarding UFO's (below).

So, something to think about and freak out about in the middle of the night when your sure someone is there in the dark watching you. Maybe they are? Say hello for me and ask them if they ever found a successful vehicle for Ellen Cleghorne? (Yes that was a Family Guy reference for the three people the got the joke)

Think one odd thoughts everyday before breakfast and your life will be filled with wonder.

~Grey~

***********

THE UFO PHENOMENON FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE 
A Commentary by Grey A. Cross
December 13, 2011 at 11:31pm


Consider for a moment that we have the ability now to see other planets. Recently, a planet that they suspect has water (the first we've seen so far) was found 600 light years from the Earth.

It’s predicted that as our technology improves, our abilities to view alien worlds will become better and better. Yet with this great ability, we have no skills to travel to such planets at this time.

With this in mind, what if, space travel, as we perceive it, is impossible, not only for us, but for other worlds as well.

Just because we cannot travel to another planet does not indicate that other civilizations do not exist, merely that we cannot reach them.

So for a moment, reverse the ability to view an alien world. While we have not found a living civilization yet, what IF other civilizations have found us? Not traveled to us, but seen us, through their own scientific abilities.

We are a remarkable race. If we spotted another civilization out there amongst the stars, wouldn't our best minds be put to work on how to let them know we were here? What if the best minds of another world have already done so?

Now bring this thought back to earth and our past 50 years of UFO phenomena. We have been so caught up in thinking aliens are traveling here that we've lost perspective on other explanations. Doesn't it seem rather pointless to shoot around our skies watching us without saying a word?

Random waving lights in the skies?

Bright objects that hover and dart around without much reason?

Pulses?

Spirals?

Shafts of color that cut through the skies at odd moments?

Have you ever played with a laser pointer? Moving it in such a way that it gets the attention of someone a block away or in the next room or down a hallway? Intelligence moves it, but it’s a one-way communication. There is no way to respond to the point of light and say “Hey! Where are you from?” The laser light will not speak back. Its up to us to define it’s meaning.


What if this phenomenon is another world’s way of using the only ability they have to say “WE ARE HERE.”

I can envision the planet Earth 20 years in the future. We've found a suitable world a few hundred light years away. We can see it. We can see it’s inhabited. We can even see it’s intelligent life. How would we say “WE ARE HERE”? We can’t travel to them. But we can in our own random way perhaps send them a signal. But how do you send a signal hundreds of light years to a civilization that you can only see in the macro? You do not know the language. Hell, you don’t even know if they have eyes to see with. BUT you can pick up an amazing amount of information just by watching. You can see that they light their cities. So you know they see things in a spectrum that we can understand. So we create the world’s biggest laser pen and we decide to blink it in the sky above them a few times and see if we get their attention. Our aim isn't too good, so we just try to keep it steady in their skies and hope that someone sees it. Perhaps we develop something akin to holographs and hope that we are sending an image they grasp. But you’re still only sending a one-way communication until you can get them to respond in suit.

Getting the idea now? We are so ready to dismiss random points of light in our skies or bobbing and weaving balls of electricity as things crackpots see. But it sure seems like a lot of the world’s population is nuts then, because these phenomena seem to be on the increase. No, maybe you’re not seeing an alien spaceship where gray leathery-skinned beings will pop out and offer you a cure for cancer, but maybe, just maybe you’re seeing another world’s feeble attempt to say “Hi, we are here. Come find us.”

I welcome your comments.

~Grey~

Inspire Thee! Songs of Inspiration for Artists

inspiration
[in-spuh-rey-shuh n] 

Stimulation or arousal of the mind, feelings, etc, to special or unusual activity or creativity

I am a firm believer in the inspiration of music on an artists work. You never know what you might hear, or for that matter see, when you step into my studio. I let the music flow around me as if it were water, aiming my creativity with the rhythm and the beat around me.

Some artists can't do this. They need solitary quiet in which to compose their work. I need this when I write so I can hear the thoughts more clearly. But with art, its more than likely that I need the joy of sound around me.

It changes constantly. When I begin my work day, it may start with the sounds of Mardi Gras music (something heard more and more often during carnival season). An hour later their may be a Verdi opera playing. From each I gain a different insight and find my work influenced in a different way.

What is important is that the music inspires an emotion in me. With that emotion I translate it into art.

I began awhile back, posting onto my twitter account a song of inspiration for each night. I've been asked by several to start to compile this into a regular list on my website. So in thanks to those who also gain inspiration from the music, I present this list here. It will be updated daily to add the new tune of each day.

I try to match these tunes to YouTube so everyone can hear.

In Harmony,

~Grey~

• Sweet Baby James
• When Johnny Comes Marching Home
• Kostroma
• Bushido
• Surfing Drums
• Pastor Solitario
• Carnival
• The King of the Highlands
• The River Sings
• Kavkasiuri Balada
• Holiday Road Live
• The Land of Eternal Winter
• Gospel Plow
• I am a Rebel Soldier
• Samurai Battle March
• Jasmine Flower
• Dari Ka Es
• Suddenly
• Dudu
• The Ecstasy of Gold
• Jambo Bwana
• Gobind De Lal
• African Girl
• River of Dreams
• The Hunt for Red October
• Godfather Love Theme
• Cleopatra
• Yellow River
• Turkish Folk
• Silva Hakobyan
• Over the Rainbow
• Zooma Zooma
• Fields of Gold
• The Song of the Butterfly
• Tamally Maak
• Marco Polo
• Lioness Eye
• Didgeridoo Meets Orchestra
• Amazing Grace
• I Want You Back
• Abracadabra
• The Old Days Are Gone
• Engel
• Australian Aborigines
• Hi'ilawe
• Don't Dream its Over
• Island Style
• Fairies
• Tom Sawyer
• Jaws Theme
• Defying Gravity
• Historia de un Amor
• The Lady of Shalott
• Into the Mystic
• Taxi
• Complainte De La Butte
• Lives in Balance
• Voyage, Voyage
• Jurassic Park
• Dragonborn
• Acoustic Curves
• Perhaps Love
• Les Toreadors
• 1812 Overture
• Rocky Top
• Ob-la-di ob-la-da
• Blue Moon
• Salty Dog Blues
• I Walk the Line
• Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen)
• Rainbow Connection (Kenny Loggins)
• Through the Window
• Life & Death
• Fantasia on Greensleeves
• Into the West
• Waltzing Matilda (Tom Waits)
• Volare
• Hooked on a Feeling (Acapella)
• If I Only Had a Brain
• Itsasoari begira
• The Mountain Song
• Twister
• Seasons in the Sun
• Moonlight Sonata
• When the Saints go Marching In
• The Desolation of Smaug
• Vänner Och Fränder
• The Sick Note
• Shambo Mahadeva Deva
• Love's Been Rough on Me
• The Imperial March
• You Are the Sunshine of My Life
• Lawrence of Arabia
• Somewhere in Time
• Elven Woods
• I'll Be Seeing You
• Olympic Fanfare
• Call of the Champions
• Down to the River
• Dr Who - Gallifrey's Theme
• Forever Young
• Should've Been a Cowboy
• Major Tom
• Little Bird
• O Death
• Wabash Cannonball
• Wind on the Water
• Colonial Anthem
• Cheek to Cheek
• Godfather Theme
• Pavement Artist
• Give Me the Simple Life
• Vivaldi Techno
• Oh My Dear Rose
• The Morning After
• Hymn
• Tainted Love
• Only Breath
• Midnight Train to Georgia
• Tengger Cavalry
• The Hanging Tree
• Le Temps Des Fleurs
• Con Los Anos Que Me Quedan
• Deja
• La Vie En Rose
• Lookin' Out My Back Door
• Silbermond - Ich Bereue Nichts
• It's All Coming Back to Me Now
• Huun-Huur-Tu
• группа "ЯТ-ХА"
• Yat Kha - Kaa-Khem
• Simplesmente
• Fairytale of New York
• Habibi Ya Nour El Ein
• Sons of Somerled
• Bamboleo
• Uber den Wolken
• Love's Lines, Angles & Rhymes
• Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen
• Jump in the Line
• Enigma The Rhythm
• Elaborate Lives
• Llantera
• Enormous Penis
• Time of Your Life
• Brighter Side of Life
• Everybody's Talkin
• Ordinary Miracles
• The Mission
• Star Trek Suite
• It's Impossible
• Lagrimas Negras
• Live On My Warrior Son
• Daydream Believer
• Massed Pipes & Drums
• Time Warp
• Dances with Wolves (Dragoons)
• Say Hey
• Sri Yantra
• Średniowieczna pieśń
• Ain't no Sunshine
• You're My Best Friend
• Sailing to Philadelphia
• Ode to Joy
• Feels Like Home
• Only Time
• My Immortal
• Wild World
• Africa
• Walking in Memphis
• Nightshift
• I'm Yours
• The Rhythm
• Rhythm of the Night
• Song of the Golden Dragon
• The Gael
• The Sound of Silence
• Year of the Cat
• Why
• Rock the Boat
• In My Life
• Still Crazy After All These Years
• Like a River
• Battlestar Galactica
• Everyday
• Steampunk Spiders
• Sing, Sing, Sing
• Nothing Takes the Place of You
• Folsom Prison Blues
• Every Story
• Total Eclipse (French)
• Island
• A Thousand Beautiful Things
• Mi Tierra
• Strange Magic
• Twist of Fate
• Charlie on the MTA
• America
• Candyman
• Go to the Mardi Gras
• Diggin in the Dirt
• In The Summer Time
• Fanfare for the Common Man
• Always Tomorrow
• Sound of Silence - Gregorian
• Hallelujah
• Some Days are Diamonds
• Time
• Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes
• Hooked On a Feeling
• Learning to Fly
• The Secret of Life
• You Rascal You
• Old and Wise
• We Are the Champions
• Superman
• Dances With Wolves
• Soweto
• Movin Right Along
• Guantanamera
• Return to Pooh Corner
• Apollo 13 - All Systems Go
• Creeque Alley
• Galileo
• Traffic Jam
• Le Mer
• Fifth Element Diva Song
• Man of La Mancha
• Ave Maria
• In The End
• E Nomine Lucifer
• Feet of Flames Monks
• In The Air Tonight - Gregorian Masters of Chant
• John Williams in Session
• Mystery Oasis
• Albannach Ancestors
• Dreamin Again
• Schnappi
• Can You Read My Mind
• Dream a Little Dream
• Poems, Prayers & Promises
• Vincent
• Kyrie
• Dante's Prayer
• Bongo Bongo
• Good Ole Boys Like Me
• Kurti Feat
• Chanson Pour Les Petit Enfant
• Don't Go Back to Sleep
• The Lucky One
• Hurt
• Mad World
• Rainbow Connection
• Touched By the Sun
• Through the Window
• Follow the Flower
• Family
• The Cowboy In Me
• To Make you Feel My Love
• Anything But Mine
• Far Over the Misty Mountains Cold

Memorial to Transgender suicide & Leelah Alcorn

transgender
[trans-jen-der]

Noting or relating to a person whose gender identity does not correspond to that person’s biological sex assigned at birth

This past week 17 year old Leelah Alcorn took her life. Leelah was transgender. Her body did not match her birth gender. Her life, especially in recent years was literally hell. Her parents refused to see the problem. She was told she was wrong to feel this way. She was told she was sick in the mind. Friends and family abandoned her and she stood alone with no support and no one to tell her they cared and it was OK to feel as she did.

Leelah threw herself in front of a semi-trailer truck in order to escape the despair her young life had become.

Leelah's death was tragic and in a few short days she has become the poster child for the world, opening eyes (hopefully) to see past our stereotypes and our misunderstandings of what transgender means.

Some who read my blog may ask, why does this mean anything to you? Your an artist, stick to your paints. I would like to think that this strikes home for me because my heart aches that Leelah was treated so poorly in life. I would like to think I understand because as a gay male, I've faced mental anguish about my own life path. But the simple fact is that the dearest and truest person in my life, who is my partner, my support and my inspiration, is also transgender.

I have seen him struggle with these very issues. I've heard his words about how the first 40 years of his life were hell because he knew for certain that he was a male trapped in a female body. I've been with him almost from the start that he began his courageous journey 4 years ago to make the changes necessary to bring his gender and his brain into sync.

I've seen him explode in a positive, creative amazing person since his journey began and I've been in awe of him every day because he has become the person he was meant to be.

And I tell you truly that I have said a prayer of thanks that he never became so desperate that he cast himself in front of a truck, because I know he's been close to that place of utter despair many times in his life.

With these things in mind, we are aware that there was a request for the weekend of January 2-4, 2015 to memorialize Leelah and honor her struggle and the struggles of all who have faced this situation. She is not the only one to take her life this past week alone. Sadly the other deaths were not so dramatic, therefore the news has greatly ignored them. But the simple fact is, each death has happened and our world has lost many great people because of it.

So with love and respect of both the living and those who have passed on who struggle with the transgender issue, we have placed an altar in front of our home until Sunday evening. We welcome anyone at anytime day or night who would wish to leave a prayer, or anything else they so desire, or merely pay their respects as we will be paying ours.

With love to all,
Grey

The New Orleans Memorial is located at:

1915 4th Street (Uptown between Daneel and Dryades)

Below are a few resource links that you may find of interest:

LEELAH ALCORN

PFLAG Transgender Support

Transgender 101