Stopping to Smell the Flowers

I've been busy doing things for a while. It can seem that being busy and being productive are the same things. But my definition of "productive" has changed of late. Productive in what sense?

I fight my mind for which direction I should be going, want to go or am going. All do not lead to happiness. As of late, programming / designing as not been my happiness trail. I'm sure it will be later, but my needs now are on a different path.

It being spring may be the motivator for this, but doing little jobs around the house, painting, performing fixes on my neglected car "rattles" and getting the garden ready has brought me pleasant rewards.

Sometimes you just need a break from all the media in our lives. The quick sound bites, images and headlines that never truly satisfy. In no field is this more true than in the software field. So much information, ideas and products that are just out of reach, for now. Time and energy can be filled up with just trying to keep up, only to discover that just like sugar, it's mostly empty calories.

I just came back from a quick trip to Tucson where my wife and I flew down but drove back with a car to sell. It's a long way from Tucson to Park City, but the time with good company, lots of desert and no (ok, very little) technology. It was refreshing. The noise quieted down and I felt like coming back to life. Ah, perspective.

Still have a few more chores to do this weekend before I feel "caught up" in this category. Then onward to ....

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My Current Desktop and Happy Vining.

It's been a big switch when I quit my old procession (Software Engineer) and ventured into the unknown. So this is my current desktop. First it's a REAL desktop and not a computer screen. Second, I've had to learn a whole new set of tools. You would think a pencil is just a pencil and a paint brush is just a paint brush, but noooooo, they are tools into you mind and that's what needs re-tooling. The tactual nature of these tools and operation as much more rewarding (and frustrating too) than typing code in an IDE. That had it's incentive but that well went dry and life changes, so I changed. The pleasure of creating colors (no RGB involved) ad hoc wise is interesting. Getting the technique to merge them on paper is very tough. You do not know what you're going to get, so you just have to go with it. I'm glad that I can do a lot of other things instead of Software, but I hope that others in my past procession work on other pa...

3rd Try is a Charm

I've been trying to draw / paint these barns for a couple of years but never felt or got them right. This time I think they turned out right. So What went wrong before and what's right now with this drawing? This time, the light was right. It's coming from the upper right and the shadows just looked right. The other thing is the corn field on the left had to "be in season", otherwise it's just a plowed field. I had taken other photos from different angles but they never felt right. This angle has the road, power lines, corn field, etc. all leading to the right. The shadows on the lower right helps fill in that corner (don't forget about the corners!). The last part is trying to draw (ink paint maybe) the trees in the background. Not so easy when they are kind of a blob is green shades. So yeah, it's composition that is king. Many times I just don't see it until the drawing / painting is finished and when it's right it feels goo...

A Trip Abroad

Just back from our trip abroad as Asheville continues to recover from the hurricane. This trip has been planned for a long time and we almost didn't make it because our dog sitting business will be closed for a while. But make it we did and now we are back. We love Amsterdam. What a fun place to visit. So many things to too and do there. The weather was not the best but it did not have an impact on our visit. Just bundle up. Got some quick painting in while on the boat (i.e., Viking) as we moved from port to port. This painting is of a garden at a heritage site of windmills. I thought it looked nice. Nice time on the trip to de-stress from what was happing back home. We were fine back home but not everything is well with many others.

A Person, Artist, Software Engineer, Geologist.

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