On the left is the original from a point and shoot camera, the middle is just filtering and adding a bit of saturation to colors and shadows and the final is just playing with colors and saturation.

I remember just starting to use Photoshop, every week I  would discover a new filter to use. One specific filter I remember and definitely have witnessed its overuse is the lens flare tool. So why not use the tools you have? Why not go crazy with colors and effects, throw in some multiple fonts and maybe some shapes and you have a work of art right? Here is my problem with filters, they can often make the simple pure act of capturing an inspiration contrived or overdone.

lens flare versus same filters with more subtle effects.

I have spoken recently about an image having just enough, nothing more or less, a complete and final inspiration stands on its own and the viewer enjoys the piece as a whole. A poorly or overused filter can cause more of a distraction than an improvement on a work. I am impressed when the viewer who knows how to use filters and is aware of their effects can not pinpoint what filter was used but the image is cohesive There is a beauty to purity and capturing something the way you actually envision it and even more amazing is subtlety especially when creativity tends to strive for all the bells and whistles.

A well used filter will allow just the right amount of highlight or low light to a scene or work and allow the over processing or under processing of an original, it gives the creative professional an opportunity to push an effect or allow more options to the original image. Of course this is all subjective and my idea of overuse or contrived is anothers’ masterpiece so allow for opinion and personal style to dictate what is too much. I happen to love subtlety and I believe there is not much that we can improve on  images of nature which are to me, pretty amazing and perfect in their own way. For the abstracts and non-representational creatives, of course you decide what is perfect and what is too much but we have all seen the overuse and cheesy effects it is up to creatives and their own vision to decide what is over the top and where cheese becomes genius.

I have had the chance to see much photography and art over the recent years and have come to the point where I don’t necessarily see what I inspires me to create, instead I realize what I don’t want to create. I have tried in the past, especially with black and white, to capture the artsy shapes and patterns that seem interesting to me but not necessarily to others and I would think on most times I have failed to capture the inspiration that begged to be photographed. I have just recently admitted to myself that the inspiration might never have been there and logically I was thinking that the shape or pattern would be seen as that iconic image-enter the realm of artsy.

Inspiration is very intangible, you don’t create because you think it will be seen as deep or interesting, you create because the image practically jumps in your lap. The painting or photograph that is truly inspired becomes the image in its time, it naturally appears from out of chaos and is obvious to the artist eye, it does not attempt to be interesting or dramatic, it just is.

The creative process has stops and starts, the flow is not controlled by the artist although it can be easier digested if the creative has time and silence to be open and aware. Inspiration comes suddenly and dramatically but it is also somewhat like a puzzle that gives up its secrets with subtle cues. Being creative is a rapidly changing point of view that speaks of pictures in words and words in pictures. I believe the most amazing creative endeavors are those that speak from some supernatural place where the viewer or reader takes something from the piece that is not clearly written or executed. The feeling of sadness from a pastoral scene that invokes a feeling of ones’ childhood, the realization of ones’ own qualities or weakness only unlocked from a piece that speaks nothing specific or tangible; these are those supernatural moments where art speaks beyond its medium.

In the realm of photography I seek images that haunt me, if it is a portrait, I want the person to be saying something to me without a sound. I want to feel haunted by the subject and feel as if I have just interrupted an important moment in someones’ life. I would rather the viewer hate my painting or photograph than leave it empty, it is all about feeling something, anything really.

Another difference between the artsy and the true inspiration is that the feeling of artsy fades very quickly, inspiration is not hampered by time or style and fashion of the day. You see that which is inspired and it grows and changes every time you see it or remember it. Inspiration has depth much like a complex wine that gives up its qualities and flavors only over time and nothing is constant, everything changes, grows and lasts the test of time. You remember and go back to an inspired piece and the artist or writer doesn’t have to explain what they were thinking or feeling.

True inspiration becomes less of the artists’ and more of the viewers’, the creative gives up ownership of the piece as the viewer creates their own idea or feeling, an inspired work can be explained and dissected by many and the artist never has to say a word because there are no right or wrong answers. The viewer is left to discover the piece and it changes and grows depending on the viewers’ point of view.

This is so subjective and would love to have others opinions, this is my opinion, how I see art and the creative process but just as I mentioned-it is the viewer who describes it for themselves and this writing only attempts to lead the reader to make their own decision on what is artsy and what is true inspiration.

Upcoming painting of Turner Falls Oklahoma

I have usually worked on paintings that have been on a list of paintings to do for often years before they actually see paint. I always think of this as the fermentation of an idea or inspiration, probably the reason why the edges are often soft and the thought is open for the viewers’ interpretation instead of the realistic, straight forward landscape. Recently, I was able to finish many of the paintings that had been on the list for a long time and now the work that is being created are fresh and most of the inspiration is very recent and still very clear in memory.

So you would think this recent series would be so quick and easy but that is just not the case with creativity. One canvas that you see on Tuesday is often completely a different canvas when you look at it on the following Tuesday or even the next day for that matter. No, there is no magical change of the actual form and no, there is no magical metamorphosis of the image over time but the eye of the artist is always changing and can often be extremely critical. When you start a painting often the excitement of the direction you are going become almost intoxicating and after the initial rush you are left to a painting that it seems like some one else started and you like it enough not to want to damage the essence that make it attractive to you and yet as the artist, I feel incapable of moving forward.

View of the autumn foliage from Tucker Tower

This series started quickly and with great enthusiasm and yet it stopped just as suddenly. I have several large and small paintings in different stages of completion but they are all suddenly like a train wreck that I can’t seem to find the path through the execution. Even the feeling of the entire piece is barely discernible and yet it started out so clearly. I believe you take the image out of memory when you start the work and than there is the insecurity and doubt that follow and often haunt the artist through the creative process.

My theory on this whole process is don’t ever get attached to any single painting and realize that you can recreate the same painting over and over again and each time you will see it differently. Be bold with color and welcome failure, every process of painting is a learning process and only after getting past the original fear and insecurity does the true beauty of the piece become true to itself. The next two days I have off and plan on working somewhat furiously on the paintings and while I am in the process of painting the landscapes that are in process, another group of paintings have appeared on the list. One painting is of the waterfalls at Turner Falls and another looking down from the tower at Tucker Tower on Lake Murray, with this season comes the cold atmospheric breeze and the perfect atmosphere for the kind of landscapes that seem to haunt my imagination.

In recent years we suddenly discovered a new species of people-the bully. Schools create dances and songs and processes to defeat this unfortunate foe as if we have only just realized that they exist. Bullies have existed in one way or another for centuries as long as there have been differences in strength differences in skin color, looks, egos and tolerances there have been and always will be bullies. The government can not legislate their extinction no more than dances and songs can wish them away.

I have a theory about marriage and divorce-not the impulsive, never should have done that marriage instead the marriage where both are best friends and over time find they can’t make things work. Speaking from being divorced myself, all I can say is knowing the problem doesn’t always fix the situation. My theory is the missing ingredient. When you meet some one for the first time there is something both of you bring to the relationship and there are ingredients that each possess that make the relationship special. I equate the relationship with making an amazing cake for years and than over the years leaving out certain ingredients-the cake is still average but not amazing and over time it becomes a bland flavor that never satisfies. A marriage is much the same and that missing ingredient will one day change a wonderful relationship to a stale flavorless affair.

This post is not about marriage though nor baking a cake, this post is about business as the missing ingredient still applies. Starting a business is a beautiful thing, doing a service or creating a product that one is passionate about and allowing others to share in the success and passion of creating and selling that product or service. These days success and profit seem to be synonymous with greed and the evils of a capitalist society which I believe is quite sad and agenda driven but my post is not about politics its business; the good the bad and the ugly.

I miss the day of the small town merchant where everyone knows each other and goods and services can be bartered and conducted over a handshake and an IOU. I miss the days when a workers passion for a product or service amounted to a lifetime of loyalty and a company that returns the favor in assisting with the inevitable retirement of the employee. Instead, now a company uses up its employees as tools and squeezes all the passion and creativity out of them until the bottom line says the employees services are no longer cost effective. On the other side of the coin the dispassionate employee that takes advantage of a companies’ small favors and than expects that the employer owes them something. We have replaced honor and honesty with lawyers and contracts, the confidence in a pension with the instability of a 401k run by a stock market that is only interested in its own interests. No one can trust anyone, the company share holders are out to protect its shareholders, the employee is out the protect themselves and their family and the government is desperate to take as much from all of the above as it can. The bottom line has replaced common sense and loyalty, the small company that once could rely on its workers is now a hostage to its share holders, greed is a necessary evil to keep the entire network of people that all have their hands in the pot reaching for whatever is deserved or deemed deserved.

I think the problem is the fact that things get too big, too quickly and the common sense of keeping the margin down and the profits up leaves any hope for compassion or humanity as an unsustainable cost that must be managed. The small business becomes the organism that is comprised of its pieces, it can only feed itself to keep all of its pieces alive without any concern for any individual element. The competition of business motivates the company to get larger and larger and the small business is devoured until the cold unfeeling conglomerate is the only option and the small ma and pa business is not a sustainable luxury. Although honesty and integrity are beautiful things they can not compete with the bottom line which keeps the whole structure alive and although we all want these virtues to enjoy them risks losing that which we all need to live the lives we have forged which again seem too large and sustainable to support with the smaller profits and honesty of the small town business.

So what is this missing ingredient, through this whole process I have been trying to articulate in my mind and the obvious virtues of honesty, integrity and compassion are not the actual structure but more the beams that create something we have lost as our small towns turn into large cities; community. The community was the organism that could maintain its pieces and each piece gave back to the organism so the organism could keep its loyalty and compassion to its individual elements. The stock market, the corporate machine and all of the trappings of business have replaced the community, to keep this new community alive compassion and loyalty are unsustainable costs. Everything we gain we lose something and one of the most crucial products that allow people to be people is the community and I think we all need to find a way to resurrect this vital missing ingredient.

I have forgotten the last time I really took the time to enjoy a sunrise. This past weekend we camped at Lake Murray near Ardmore Oklahoma, right across from Tucker Tower as we usually do but this time there were so few people it seemed we had the lake and the campground to ourselves. I took a break from my self-induced change of eating habit and enjoyed the all american cuisine; the hotdog. My son grilled them and we did a taste test of two brands and we both agreed that mine was far superior and yet at the same time-your camping so it doesn’t really matter how good your dogs are-your camping so everything tastes better. I am partial to Nathans and Hebrew National-I’m just sayin.

We got to watch deer from across the lake and I wasn’t sure who was watching who-except for the fact that we had flash lights and they didn’t. The night was the perfect start to fall although the moon was so bright it felt like it was daylight all night. I actually slept even if the wind was gusting at  a ridiculous rate and we were wondering if the tent was going to fly off without us-it was pretty perfect all in all.

The next morning, I got to enjoy the sunrise, kayak for three hours and enjoy my sons sausage and eggs-my change of diet habits start again on Monday. After kayaking we went to a place that I have visited many times but I felt like I was seeing it for the first time, Tucker Tower. A long walk from the parking lot to the upper deck gave me quite a workout but by the time I got to the top I was ready for more. The gold, amber and red leaves were perfect complements to the deep blue green lake. I think I have only been up during the later winter months and never got the full beauty of the autumn foliage. My son had been up once before but it was so long ago it was all new to him. One interesting thing about the top of the tower-the overabundance of lady bugs and millipedes, we split our visit between looking at the amazing lake and checking out the busy lady bugs as they swarmed us.

 Our next stop was Turner Falls in Davis Oklahoma, another place I had visited many times before but for some reason it was particularly beautiful that afternoon and the light was at the perfect angle. I have painted the waterfall before and I have already started sketching a new one because the light and color were so amazing. I was already a bit  tired from climbing to the top of the tower and kayaking against the wind-did I mention the wind was still strong during the afternoon and directly in the opposite direction as we were kayaking. So I wasn’t planning on doing the hiking to the top of the falls, so instead we hiked over the falls and to the other side of the mountain, again by the time I was done I was ready for more exercise, nothing like adrenalin to give you lots of energy.

On the other side of the falls you can look over the river that feeds the falls and explore a second cave that I had never seen before. I had visited the falls many times and never had a chance to the see this side of the falls. The fall foliage was breathtaking against the mountains surrounding the river. I still am eager to explore the other miles of trails around the falls and feel like I had just discovered Turner Falls after so many years of just fishing for trout and taking pictures of the falls, there is a whole other area of this park I am eager to explore.

It was just a weekend but the fact that we did so much made it feel more like a full vacation. We got home early in the afternoon, tired but refreshed and ready for the week. I think it is not just what we choose to do on our vacations it’s how open we are to nuances and find new aspects of places we’ve been before.

California-Big Basin State Park Californias’ oldest state park and an amazing place so close to Redwood City

Our sixth trip is in the works, and we have finally decided where we will be going-Kentucky of all places. To recap, first we were on our way to Wisconsin with my brother and his family when my son came down with a fateful stomach bug, enter a father’s answer to a crisis. We planned and executed a trip down to the Texas Hill Country to see the caves-first stop Inner space caverns and all caves, waterfalls, zoos, rock collecting and other destinations to follow.

First lesson in a great vacation plan-be flexible, meet change and crisis with alternatives and possibilities and don’t be afraid to get out there. This first trip was a bit uncomfortable for me because I have a tendency to get sleepy at the wheel on long trips but it all worked out perfect-my confidence sparks the next idea and next years’ trip begins its preplanned stage. The best word or essence of this trip I could describe is freedom-the feeling that our world is out there and all we have to do is go find it, both of us were addicted to the road trip.

The next trip was a plan to take my son to the coast for a red fish trip, a hobby he had recently picked up-fishing. My initial idea was more the trip to the coast but it turned into a San Antonio/Rockport trip-the way to Rockport was a bit further than I had traveled before and again the nervous feeling of the long road did cross my mind-energy drinks bought and used as an emergency tool much like a tire iron and flares I guess. 

Fishing with Lanny Philips Rockport Texas

We went to San Antonio and he saw a pamphlet for ghost tours and the second lesson in our vacation process: the wild card-come up with an idea and don’t hesitate to say YES! In the next five minutes I was on the phone setting up a ghost tour for the evening. It is the diversity of our interests and the opportunity to do whatever comes up that makes our vacations so successful. Another lesson in vacationing-be open to new experiences and share interests that are common, this way no one is bored and no one feels slighted. When we are out on the road-there is nothing that is off limits.

Next lesson is to search for interests that are common and have the attitude that you will see everything you can-the road to the destination is the destination. A long ride to somewhere becomes  a bunch of short excursions to manageable trips. This lessens road fatigue and keeps the vacation unpredictable and exciting-you pretty much start the vacation the minute you get in the car.

The next trip was something I came up with as I had made some extra freelance money and was able to go out and purchase airplane tickets. Alcatraz here we come-we went to San Francisco and planned on caves, zoos and the pacific coast-my son had his first plane ride that he remembers and got acquainted with public transportation and the freedom of the rental car. Can I just say one of the best things he remembers is the food-we did not spare expense and I have since not missed one penny of what I spent.

Another lesson-don’t go broke on a vacation but don’t go halfway either-finding that balance is the hardest part. 

Another added interest on this trip was aquariums-Monterrey, Aquarium of the Bay-it was a great addition to our repertoire. This trip was I think, still our very best, we went from San Francisco to San Diego and back to Alcatraz-luckily we only stayed for an evening on the rock and the park system was nice enough to ferry us back to freedom. One outstanding element of this trip was as I mentioned-the food-Dungeness crab and Anchor steam beer for me. My recommendation would be the crab house on Pier 39. The best burger either of us have ever had was at Louis-another amazing restaurant I would highly recommend. In this trip my son who is quickly approaching his teens took the initiative to pick restaurants and hotels using his smartphone we recently invested in-he became a navigator, hotel reservations and arrangements for dinner and he did a really nice job of setting us up with great places to eat and navigating when we got off course. Another lesson in vacation-its both of your vacation and the more involved and interested your preteen is the more you both share the vacation and the excitement of the vacation-it’s not all about you!

How do you follow up a trip like our San Francisco/San Diego trip? Best thought I would give is don’t try-one does not compare to the other or you will quickly be disappointed. I decided that we would go somewhere I have been wanting to go for a long time-Mountain Home Arkansas and my main idea was to kayak and boat which the weather and chill in the air quickly changed-again be flexible and ready to change plans. Again we got to enjoy caves, amazing dinners and fishing for trout both with a guide and along the road-it wasn’t the California trip but it was amazing in its own way and both will remember all aspects fondly. 

Petit Jean State Park Arkansas

Our most recent trip was to Oklahoma-this was a wonderful trip but the least memorable probably and my explanation is that we brought our kayaks-this I believe limits your freedom to go see things and places and limits the trip to fewer options. We kayaked, camped, stayed in a cabin and stayed in the comfort of a hotel-all experiences were amazing including trout fishing and a trip to natural falls state park which we both enjoyed. We discovered the prettiest lake in Oklahoma-Ten Killer Lake and were able to fish where you can see the bottom of the lake in Broken Bow. We cooked salmon on the grill and watched bald eagles  fly across the immense sky-it was an amazing trip-probably on a scale of 1-10 a 9-the only difference with the other trips is that they all were twelves and thirteens-it’s all perspective.

Lake Murray State Park Oklahoma

Which brings me to my final lesson on the road trip-perspective-take everything as it comes, look for the challenges that bring wisdom and realize that the whole reason you are out there is to enjoy time together and feel the freedom of being open to all possibilities. Leave the phone and texting alone, talk about everything from nature, memory and everything in between. The trip, just as in life is what you make it, realize you’ll never get the money you spend back nor will you ever  miss it if you do it right. Go out there and gather memories much like the magnets you put on the fridge, every memory is a trinket that will never be anything less than priceless. Enjoy your freedom and realize its out there waiting to be explored so go explore. Next stop Kentucky, the Atlantic coast and everything between.