Weave (2014)

A new piece.  A little different for me.

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Cobblestone (2014)

A new piece.  I attempted to play with kind of a new dimensional feel on this one.

Network (2014)

I like trying new things.  I used a variation of the same tone throughout the painting.  The difference in color is subtle but noticeable.

Thread (2014)

My newest watercolor piece.  Love using an earth tone palette.

Watching Leaves Fall

Twirl and spin
like a little girl
showcasing her finest Easter dress.

Float in an ever so deliberative way,
defying time and gravity’s pull,
on your way to the ground.

Dart like a missile
zeroing in
on its target.

Noiseless you fall
absorbed into an ocean of predecessors
filling the forest’s floor.

Your journey undetected
by all but the most watchful eye
taking care to notice your descent.

Wooded Stream

Sing to me forest muse.
Your steady flow
ceaselessly trickling over leaves and rocks
delighting my ear.

 Nothing stands in your way.
Your path diverted
but never halted.

Tinkle, plop,
swish, swoosh
your way through the forest.

You have won my gaze;
My ear tuned to the sound
of your voice.

As sunlight breaks
through crowded sky
it’s reflection shines bright
on your rippled surface.

Bubble and foam
your force crescendos,
unmatched in strength and beauty.

I sit and listen
entranced by your endless song.
I beg you never stop,
may my ear never tire of your song.

Inertia (2014)

Newest piece.  Used a super fine (.0005) illustrator’s pen to do the gridding on the floating ball coming through the center of the piece.

Fall Day

Crickets hum a quiet and consistent song, an unnoticed backdrop blanketing the world with their familiar sound.

Leaves rattle and turn as the wind blows strong then settles as if under the control of a conductor’s baton.

Squirrel standing on a rock like the leader of a secret forest kingdom undiscovered by those whose eyes overlook that which is easily missed in favor of that which is easily observed.

Sky of gray overshadowing the colors of the season, muted by its overwhelming potency.

Bird chirps, alone at first then welcoming a chorus of sky voices not in unison but whose harmonious message bespeaks the glory of this day.

Pennon (2014)

A pen & ink/watercolor piece that I sketched recently and finished painting today.

So I’ve Been Thinking About Things…Money

Today I have been thinking about money.  Money is a thing we use to buy the goods & services we need to conduct our lives.  Money’s value is implied not implicit.  There is nothing inherently valuable about a dollar bill.  We ascribe value/worth to that piece of paper based on our monetary system.  Then we take that dollar bill to the market place and the market says a dollar bill can buy “x, y, & z.”

How we attain money is through work.  Work is an exchange of labor, time, talent, skill, and energy for money.  Some people work for employers who make things.  Some people work for employers that serve the needs of others.  Some people work for themselves, managing small businesses that either produce goods or provide services.  Money is due compensation for work that is carried out.

Keeping in mind that money is due compensation for work that is carried out, how then do those who either cannot work or will not work survive in a world where money is required to purchase the goods and services needed for survival?  It makes sense that we should arrive at a collective, socially agreed upon solution for addressing the issue of those who lack the physical and mental capacity to work.  It likewise makes sense that we should arrive at a collective, socially agreed upon solution for those whose working efforts do not provide adequate resources for survival at no fault of their own.

But it does not make sense, to me at least, to make provision for those who simply are not motivated to work.  At the risk of sounding dispassionate, those who don’t or won’t work should realize that their refusal to be productive is not an issue of urgent social importance (ie: they are not entitled to any social supports on the basis of their refusal or slothfulness).  Socially, those who won’t work are choosing to live lives of poverty that a logical remedy exists for-get a job and go to work.  If they lack the requisite skills for employment I am entirely in support of providing opportunities for education and vocational training to assist would be workers in finding adequate employment.

To provide easy access to publicly allocated emergency resources, to those who simply refuse to work, is an abuse of society’s trust and it creates an abusive political environment from which emerges a class of people who embrace a way of thinking about work and life born in generational social dependency, rather than encouraging people to aspire to their full potential as human beings.  To me this is an abusive political policy that devalues the essential dignity and worth of a person.  But at the same time, supporting monetary policies that widen the gap between rich in poor in our society is equally egregious.  Disproportionate wealth acquisition is no less an issue needing addressed in our culture than the issue of paying human beings not to work, not to use their minds and bodies to their greatest potential, and not to engage in meaningful work for a good and fair wage (for another interesting viewpoint read Norman Pollack’s article, Maintaining the American Underclass).

We need money for survival.  Simply put, to buy the things we need something is traded in order to acquire the thing of necessity (food, water, shelter, transportation, other services).  How we access money, how we use money, how we care for those not in a position to acquire money on their own, and how we address people groups who are accustomed to receiving money from government service providers without an exchange of labor, time, talent, skill, and energy are questions related to monetary policy that have very important implications.

This viewpoint is a work in progress.  It will be added to and expanded by the views of others and through meaningful conversations with others who embrace different viewpoints.  I encourage those reading this to take the time to thoughtfully engage this topic.