paring it down

12 x 10, pastel on BFK

not going home

In the days before GPS, I have so confess, I enjoyed getting lost. I enjoyed making a right turn when I knew that a left was the "right" way to go to my destination. 

Sometimes I questioned whether arriving at the destination was really the point, or if the wandering was more what I was seeking. I followed neighborhoods lined with Crepe Myrtle trees, looked for curbs with rings for tying up horses, cheered homes that seemed to be lifted from children's story books. I turned around at dead ends, backed down driveways, and even (sometimes) went the wrong way down a one way street. Not on purpose!

With this idea of the lamp posts, I have driven off the main path, gotten lost, found something to explore for a while. When it no longer interests me, I can press the "Go Home" button and make my way back. 

But I will be different. I will be changed by the experience.

And so, I will once again argue with my GPS, that you can never really "Go Home." And I'm not even so sure that it matters.

rumination

Ask any overachiever. If you miss one question on a test, which is the one bit of information you will retain 25 years later? The correct answer to that question that you missed.

Likewise, when the lamp post painting tanked last week, it became a frustrating MISS for me. I sat with my sketchbook and put down some of my thoughts and ideas for a new lamp post painting. One that might be a HIT. I like hits. Oh, yeah. Hits are much better than misses.