by Marty Coleman | Sep 21, 2010 | Art, Free Will - 2010, Willem de Kooning |
Day #2 of Free Will week at The Napkin Dad Daily
I taught college level drawing for 9 years back in the 80s and 90s. My first question to my students was this: What is the job description of an artist?
I always got a number of interesting answers, and I didn’t consider any of them wrong. But I had my own answer as well. It is this: To do whatever they want to do.
It sounds like I am being flippant, but I am completely serious about it. An artist is the one entity in the human world whose sole job it is to do whatever they want to do. It is what being an artist is all about. My contribution to the world is just that. The society I am in has asked the artists that inhabit it to be free. It’s asked me to give them my vision, not someone else’s. I have been ‘hired’ by the world to express whatever it is I feel like expressing. If I take on the job of artist, then that is my job description.
By the way, I am not talking about commercial artists who are hired to fulfill someone else’s vision. That is a completely legitimate thing and I often do that. I am talking about ‘fine’ artists whose is not hired by others, but does something then may or may not find a person willing to show it, buy it, publicize it, etc. All that comes after not before the creation in other words.
If this were a quote I made up I would have used the word ‘commanded’ instead of ‘forced’ but you get the idea.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Willem de Kooning, 1904-1997, Dutch born American painter, (one of the leaders of the Abstract Expressionist style)
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| Willem de Kooning – 1949, untitled |
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 18, 2010 | Gandhi |
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Two vintage napkins given on successive days to my daughters in the school lunches. They were in Middle and Senior High at the time.
What ‘sins’ would you add to this list? Would these make your list of sins? How would you alter or change them?
Marty
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 17, 2010 | Road Trip, Seattle Road Trip, William Cowper |
Whether it is lack of knowledge or lack of character we are all dunces in some way. But get yourself out the door (or be sent by someone else) and you will be a better dunce. And if there is one thing I bet we can all agree on, the world needs a better quality of dunces.
I am a better dunce after my grand road trip adventure with my daughter to Seattle. Here are a few reasons why:
Meeting new people: A wonderfully engaging woman, Robin, in a little teeny coffee shack in the middle of Montana. She talked with Chelsea all about Seattle and all the fun opportunities there, the connections she has, the music, art, etc. It got Chelsea excited. It got Robin excited. She was animated on the high plains and it was great.
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| Bozeman Barista |
Old Friends: When we lived in San Jose from 1981-1994 we were good friends with the Savages. They had 2 daughters about the ages of our daughters and they were all great friends. They now live in Spokane and we stayed the night at their home. Being with them brought back wonderfully fun memories, including watching a video of their daughter’s 6th birthday party with all my daughters and me in it. It was a lot of fun.
More than those memories though was the present day experience of being with 2 of the most incredibly wonderful people you would ever want to meet. Martha, talkative and funny, understanding and kind. A better bed and breakfast hostess there has never been. Bob, quiet and stoic, insightful and probing. He is animated when the right topic comes along but always retains an thoughtful way of engaging in conversation. He was a fantastic tour guide to the amazing city of Spokane for us.
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| The Savage family in Spokane, Washington |
Their older daughter, Elizabeth, came to dinner and what an amazing thing to see childhood friends of my daughter all grown up. She has her parent’s great qualities in her. Their younger daughter, Sharon, one of Chelsea’s closest childhood friends live in, of all places, Seattle. So, right there bonus score for Chelsea and her hopes of connecting to people in Washington.
All this makes me want to get back out on the road again soon because I always want to be a better dunce!
Drawing, photos and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by William Cowper, 1731-1800, English poet
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 4, 2010 | W. H. Auden |
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A Vintage Napkin from 2002 that I put in my daughters’ lunches.
So now you know why you are here. Next question.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by W. H. Auden, 1907-1973, American poet
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 3, 2010 | Ogden Nash |
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Don’t I know you?
The other thing that happens is when you actually do meet up with a person you know from your past, from years or decades before. This is especially true now that we have social media. I find new people virtually every single day. I like that.
Have we ever met?
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Ogden Nash, 1902-1971, American Poet
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 2, 2010 | Vilhelm Ekelund |
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FIND THE UNFAMILIAR BEAUTY: A Challenge
Of course, for this to happen, one must recognize beauty when it crosses our path.
It’s not hard to find the familiar beauty. Everyone knows what that is for them. What I love to practice is finding the unfamiliar beauty. The beauty of the thin lips, pale skin and elongated face. The beauty of the odd cracks in my driveway. The beauty of the shed snake skin in my garden. The beauty of the sweat on someone’s back as they run. The beauty of the dress that is panned on the red carpet. They all tell me something. The all become my thoughts.
Here is your assignment for the day: Find the unfamiliar beauty. Report back in the comments. Include a link to a photo of this unfamiliar beauty if you have one.
The key to finding beauty where you don’t think it exists is in minimizing the judgment and maximizing the exploration.
Drawing by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Vilhelm Ekelund, 1880-1949, Swedish poet and aphorist
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 1, 2010 | Jack Handy |
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Don’t forget, next week is Road Trip week!
I am driving almost 2,000 miles across a broad swath of the US (Tulsa to Seattle). Stay tuned for my drawings on whatever napkins I happen to find on the way, with photos as well.
The funny and the serious are both true in this drawing.
- It’s good to have some distance from a conflict.
- It’s good to think about what that person is going through from their perspective, not from yours.
- It’s good to have an extra pair of shoes.
- It’s good to understand.
- It’s good to get out of the way of difficult things, especially if they really don’t concern you.
- It’s good to have friends who have the same shoe size as you do.
- It’s good to have a pair of shoes you can walk a mile in.
- It’s good to not assume.
(The shoes are drawn from Alaia Pumps as seen on The Blonde Salad blog)
Drawing by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Jack Handey, 1949 – not dead yet, American Humorist. Yes, he is a real person.
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 31, 2010 | Lord Halifax, Road Trip |
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NEWS!
Next week I will be on a road trip from Tulsa, OK to Seattle, WA then flying to San Diego, Ca. I will be doing commissioned photographic portraits (and drawing napkins) all along the way. If you are on the path, in either of those city areas, or know someone who is then drop me a note. I would love to take your photo! You can check out my work here to see what it is like and if you would be interested in hiring me.
Once in the Seattle or San Diego area I am open to giving a public presentation about the napkins, life lessons and the Napkin Dad story (with pictures of course). If you think you might have an audience, let me know!
In spite of appearances I am not very good at promoting myself. Fear of failure and rejection and all that rubbish, you know. So, I am going out on a limb and trying to make something happen on this road trip. Wish me luck and better yet, help me make something happen!
Drawing by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Lord Halifax
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 30, 2010 | Euripides |
The key thing to understand about misfortune is that once you recognize it, it becomes useless. What I mean is you can’t move forward contemplating the misfortune. You can recognize it, know that it has happened, but to actually take action you must focus elsewhere. Focusing on the actual misfortune is focusing on history.
That doesn’t mean you don’t work to comprehend the ‘why’ behind the misfortune. That is an evaluation to help your future. You realize your misfortune stems from not having a compass in the woods for example, and thus you are lost. If you are interested in getting out of the woods you must not think of the fact you don’t have a compass but maybe how you can make a new compass, or read the sun trail across the sky, or watch the shadows.
You must move forward.
Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Euripides, 480 BCE – 406 BCE, Greek playwright
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by Marty Coleman | Aug 28, 2010 | Theodore Roosevelt |
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A vintage napkin from 2004. I put this in the lunch of my daughter in her last year of High School.
Of course, what morals is the question. Morality to me is about doing those things that help you and/or others to remove unnecessary pain and suffering on one hand, and to build up love, sustenance and care on the other. If you teach how to do those two things to people, you will have taught the basics of morality, no matter what your religion or creed is.
Drawing by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily
Quote by Theodore Roosevelt, 1858-1919, 26th President of the United States
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