asymmetrical proportions

Once upon a time I had a degree in Civil Engineering and a desire to be an Architect.

I still like to think about building and structure design sometimes. Usually it involves a house implanted into a south-facing slope, looking over some water.

This is a transmutation of the shack near where I swim. Incidentally, it is on a south-facing slope looking over the ocean. Two nuns used to live in it, but they left and now there is an otter family in the basement.

The shack has a symmetrical peaked roof, which I didn't draw. I think it would look nice with an offset ridgeline and a long line of windows up there. And turn the covered porch into an extension on the main building, with lots of windows looking out over the water.

Anyways.

leaves and bubbles

I have a feeling this drawing is somewhat representative of some kind of animated thing I'm going to do in the near future.

This is my thought of the day:

The only way to be the best at something is by doing it according to your own rules. It's very difficult to perform at your highest level if the parameters are dictated by someone else. I believe that most people who are at the tops of their fields create their own methodologies, exercises, routines and philosophies to support their work - whether its athletics, sciences, art, business, or the ultimate goal of Living Life Happily.

I think the word "genius" is a misnomer for this very reason. I think everyone has the potential to be a genius at the things they love the most - but they don't end up pursuing those things, or get sucked into thinking they have to do it the way other people do it.

Einstein said: "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

In other words, fuck what everyone else thinks. You know what you do best. Have the courage to make it your own.

(I'm lecturing myself here - not anyone else.)

(And Singne - don't worry, this isn't a backlash about our genius talk last night. I already half-wrote this blog a couple days ago.) :)

in the brine

New place to live means new places to swim.

The problem with this island is that the coastline can be privately owned. I have to walk through 3-4 peoples' properties to get to the water, but you wouldn't know it - it's a steep mossy slope with huge stands of cedars and maples. No fences or markers or sign of human presence whatsoever.

I've decided to play it more like a deer, less like a person. I walk quietly down the slope, pausing occasionally to listen and watch for people. Sometimes I hear them and I stand still until I know they can't see me. I pick routes that are out of the line-of-sight of the houses, and make my way down to sheltered rocky cove where I'm invisible to everything but the three river otters who live in a nearby shack.

If I ever get caught, I'll apologize and plead ignorance and do a better job sneaking next time.

You can buy the oceanfront and say the forests are yours, but I'll be damned if you're going to keep me from enjoying the trees and the animals and the cold water every morning.

five pages

I have three crazy months ahead... deadlines almost every third week, and they're big deadlines for big projects, grant applications, scholarships, or project pitches. So much thinking and idea-refinement must happen alongside serious focussed worktime.

I can see that non-poetic words are already starting to infiltrate my morning sketchbook pages. My mind is having a hard time staying on big abstract thoughts and meditative observations. It keeps jumping to hard-and-fast plans, thoughts of the future, scheduling the day, etc. That stuff is important, but the non-thinking stuff is crucial. That's when my mind opens up, and the ideas and inspiration really start flowing.

Interesting concept: 'it's when the mind isn't thinking that the ideas come.'

stuff

random thoughts

I've been waking up at 4:00 am for the past few mornings with all kinds of ideas. Instead of going back to bed, I'm getting up and pulling out a notebook and writing down pages and pages of sketches and notes.

I have way too many ideas and not enough time to do it all. I need to focus them down. Right now I have three collaborative projects on the go at once. I'm doing those while drawing in the mornings, organizing my own projects and getting as much exercise as possible. My days are full to the teats!

I can now understand why some big name artists I know have assistants. It's like any business - you can only expand so much if you're creating product and marketing and seeking new projects and doing the other administrative stuff all on your own. Either you gotta slow down, which means you're creating less, or you gotta expand.

But I can only wrestle with the big picture for so long. What it comes down to is enjoying each day, working hard and doing what I love.

. . .

My last short film, The Perfect Detonator, got accepted into its first festival - The St. Louis International Film Fest. This year I wanted to hit all the festivals that the Academy looks at for feeders into their longlist for Best Animated Short Film. I don't expect to be nominated for an Academy Award, but I figure the Academy's list of festivals is probably a good list to go from. SLIFF is one of those festivals.

So that's another thing to do - keep submitting to festivals, update the Perfect Detonator website, etc etc.

Where's my goddamned assistant?

Bathing and Climbing

Here's where I've been bathing. The 'waterfall' changes flow depending on the rainfall of the previous few days. It better rain again soon or there's not going to be a shower tomorrow.

...

I've heard that learning happens in plateaus - we have long periods where we feel like we're not getting any better at a certain thing, but if we keep at it, we'll experience a sudden jump in understanding. Presumably this is the result of all the time taken in the previous plateau to gather experience, or maybe it's that we have been learning slowly, but just haven't noticed the incremental change.

Yesterday I had a sudden leap of understanding with deer trails.

I follow deer trails quite often, but all of a sudden I'm finding them everywhere - in places I've walked past dozens of times. On my last three bushwhacks, there has been zero wading through Salal, breaking through thorny vines or falling through rotten logs. Instead, I'm walking where deer walk. I still have to crouch and jump and push aside the undergrowth, but there is always a sure step for my feet.

This had led to a sudden leap in understanding how deer live. I stoop through the soft mossy hollows under big trees they use for shelter, pause at the cleared-out spots that give a great view of their surroundings, note the side-trails where they dip down to drink from a stream.

It seems that most ravines have two deer trails - one along the top of the ravine, and one cross-slope trail about halfway down. I would imagine the top one is the most used, and the halfway one is more sheltered from the weather, and a good hidden backup to run along if you spot a predator up above.

All the times I've walked along these streambeds I've looked for signs of deer and never found them. Now I realize they've been up above me the whole time, and probably watching me sometimes. (Most of the cross-slope deer trails give an excellent view down to the streams whenever possible.) This makes sense - since every animal needs to drink from the streams, it would be stupid to walk along them.

I also learned that deer can climb just like mountain goats. Seriously! It's ridiculous.

I followed a trail upslope from a river. It was steep, but doable. Then it turned into a cliff. I was pressed right against the earth, pulling myself up with roots and fern bases and salal steams. The dog and I took a lot of breaks, breathing heavily, sometimes pressed up next to each other against the base of a tiny cedar, figuring out how to manage the next route.

To imagine a deer climbing or descending this route blows my mind. They must run straight up or down at some points, because there's no way you could do it without some momentum, or opposable thumbs to grab things, or a man-friend to push you up by the bum (if you're a dog).

Much to learn!

At the top of the deer trail, looking almost straight back down to the river.

skies brighten to grey