Before you cross the street”

That was the jingle I learned when I was growing up.

Today I use "Stop, Look, and Listen" as my intention for every day of my life.

Today it translates to:
Be Present, Be Aware,
and Be Open.

Being Open means open to receiving guidance in whatever forms it comes.

Sometimes it’s a whisper, a word that pops into your head.

Sometimes it’s an article in a magazine or newspaper — even the comic strip!

Sometimes it comes in the form of a dream, or a dream fragment.

Sometimes it’s something you see, or think that you see, out of the corner of you eye. Then it’s gone in a flash!

I like to think of these “nudges from the universe” as a game or a puzzle. It’s FUN!

It’s up to me to interpret what they mean and what I’m to do with them.

That’s how the “BlockHeads” came to be (btw: they desperately want a new name so if you have any ideas, please share them with me!)

The other day, as I lay down to take a ten-minute nap (I’ve been a “power-napper since high school), this phrase popped into my head:

I’ve got more than a few ideas of what to do with this, and I’m open to finding out more — and a bit excited about it too.

I must confess that all these ideas, coming so quickly, make me wonder how to squeeze more hours into each new day!

What a wonderful problem to have!

I drew this Octopus in my journal. That's when I saw a piece of coral on the lanai from a new angle, and it looked like an octopus. What fun!

I wouldn’t have this kind of fun if I weren’t aware of all the guidance surrounding me.

In the “olden days” (a.k.a Biblical/Torah/Koran times) people talked of angels appearing. Heck, Angels started to reappear in the 1970s too!

Intuition is another common word for guidance.

No matter what verbiage you use, I know you receive guidance too.

Remember: STOP, LOOK,
AND LISTEN!

It might take a while for you to be aware of all the guidance you’ve been receiving, but once you do, your excitement levels will soar!

Communication is tricky. Even when you know what you want to say, and you think you’re being clear, you can be misunderstood.

It’s harder when you’re not exactly sure what you’re trying to say.

Imagine trying to say something with pictures alone.

Can you feel the level of difficulty mounting?

Such is the case of my latest imagery, the BlockHeads.

The BlockHeads came to me in a dream. They woke me up and got me out of bed so I could sketch them.

On my way back to bed, I thought, “there is NO way I would have forgotten what they look like. I did NOT have to get out of bed for this!”

By morning, I’d completely forgotten them.

Three days later, out of the corner of my eye, I saw them peering at me from my midnight drawing.

I was smitten, but had no idea of what to do with them or why they’d chosen me as their artist. They don’t feel silly and frivolous, but what are they trying to tell me?

Two days before the entry date of the Hawaii Watercolor Society's Open Exhibit, I awoke “knowing" I was to create a 3-D pyramid featuring the BlockHeads.

I was psyched! I’d never thought of painting anything 3-D before and this was the first time I could enter something 3-D into an HWS Exhibit without breaking rules.

It took two days for me to finish and photograph it for entry.

To hedge my bets on getting something into the show, I entered two additional, paintings: “Anuenue Ali`i Wahine”, and a portrait of my artist friend Ron Kent titled, “Whole World”.

I was surprised when the pyramid was the only painting accepted.

Yes, it's a bit crude, yet it feels fresh and alive.

But what do the BlockHeads mean?

And why do they have six eyes?

I believe the BlockHeads represent all of us. When all of the eyes are all looking in the same direction, we are Hyper-focused on the task at hand.

Omni-focus happens when we’re “out of focus”, or focusing on more than one thing. This happens to all of us. We might be brushing our teeth, going to the bathroom, or even sleeping, when suddenly an idea pops into our head.

My artist friend Holly says the top set of eyes is for looking up to the heavens for guidance, the middle set of eyes sees this plane of existence, and the bottom set of eyes is for introspection.

Whatever their initial reason for entering my dreams, the BlockHeads are here to stay. They insert themselves into my journal and dreams weekly.

Please let me know if they show up in yours!

I would be happy to stop painting mermaids, except they keep showing up in my life.

This one came to me in the comics one Sunday last month. It's one of Chad Carpenter's Tundra Comics.

The caption reads: "If you ask me, that mermaid was a waste of money! I haven't seen her clean the tank yet!"

Too funny! For all the mermaids I've painted, I had never once thought of a real maid! DAH!

No, I haven't turned this idea into a painting, but she brought a smile to my face.

There are more reasons to paint than I can count. Certainly the joy of painting is big a enough reason for me!

PS My favorite comic of late, "Cul de Sac" by Richard Thomas recently ended. I've been saddened to be sure, but just recently learned that the comic was ended because of Richard Thomas' Parkinson's Disease has made it difficult to render his strip on a regular basis. 

No matter who we are, no matter what we do, let us all do our very best to create our dreams for as long as possible, and to support those who can no longer do so. I believe you can still  purchase Cul de Sac products on Richard's site; I encourage you to do so.

AND, sometimes it's Not Art If Everybody Likes It!

There seems to be a very fine line defining ART. I don't mean the distinction between art and craft.

There is art, "fine art", "suitcase art", representational art, abstract art, inspirational art, contemporary art, renaissance art, primitive art, -- it's ALL ART!

There is no a "one-size-fits-all" definition for art. Art is a form of human expression and we are at the same time all so similar to AND all so very different from one another. Thank Goodness!