GTD update

This year I started organizing my life a little more (motivated by David Allen's "Getting Things Done" system), and I thought I'd post a quick update for anyone interested. I am still on track with it all - even though the geek-fueled, initial motivation has faded away, I am left with a daily system that consistantly satisfies the geek within. Perhaps this sytem wouldn't work with everyone, but surely many aspects of it are compatible with every personality type. The best part about it that I've observed is that when I procrastinate (yes, it still happens frequently), instead of wasting mindless hours of [insert favorite time wasting activity here], I tend to switch to another task on my list . . . busy work, perhaps, but something that needed to get done anyway (that's why I put it on the list, afterall).

Go figure: if throughout the day I find myself doing a lot of housework it's usually (ironically) because I'm being a slacker.

french quarter #2

French Quarter #2, acrylic, 12x12", $100

first dance

First Dance, acrylic 36x24", $400

cat-kat

Cat-Kat, acrylic 30x24", $350

under new management

It's January and I've been reorganizing the world around me. I've been easing into David Allen's GTD system of daily organization and I'm feeling empowered by it and all that, but the real test will be whether I'm still on the system a couple of months from now. We'll see. Meanwhile, I'm under new management - expect to see more regular updates here.

I've been focusing recently on figure paintings. Here are three that I recently dropped off at the Louisiana Furniture Gallery in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, where many of my paintings are sold.

More later. Here's a link to David Allen's website . . . davidco.com

Feeding the Gulls

(original photo left) Feeding the Gulls, acrylic, 18x24", $300

Merry Christmas!

Mason, acrylic, 14.5x11.5", not for sale

This is our four-month-old, Mason Douglas. He's the best baby in the world. I painted this for my wife for Christmas.

Garrison's Meet the Artist

Garrison's is a great little internet cafe with a wonderful atmosphere and wonderful people. Quite a number of people turned out to see the artwork and smile and shake my hand; and despite my introverted tendencies I could not help enjoying myself a little. [the compliments I received certainly helped]

I met many nice people [whose names escape me, now], and I sold a large painting [which is good great]. Also I was very impressed with the live music: Lilli Lewis; a one woman singer/songwriter/pianist whose artistry certainly surpasses my own [seriously, she has amazing musical/vocal talent and seemed like a good, sincere person to get to know in the short conversation we had].

meet the artist

On short notice, I will be appearing at Garrison's Cafe in Hammond, LA for an informal "meet the artist" from 5pm to 7pm next Thursday [Sept. 21st]. Several of my large paintings are hanging at Garrison's, and I will be bringing some new paintings for the evening. There have been some interest in my paintings there, so I'm hoping I will be meeting with some interested patrons. I'm excited/nervous - wish me luck!

"Everything in life is designed to wound me with the realization of the world's insufficiency, until I become so detached that I will be able to find God alone in everything. Only then can all things bring me joy."
--Thomas Merton

strange forecast

Strange Forecast, acrylic, 30x24", $400

strata #2

Strata #2, acrylic and china marker, 24x24", $300

dancing clover

Dancing Clover, acrylic, 28x24", $300

This painting went very quickly.

identity

Identity, acrylic, 24x24", $300

strata #1

Strata #1, acrylic, 24x24", $300

four acre spread

Four Acre Spread, acrylic, 24x24", $250

garbage in, gospel out

I've been experimenting recently with some nonobjective abstract painting, an area of painting I've shied away from until now [it's hard to get it right and if you do, you're left with something of questionable interest to others - to this I reason: if it interests me, it's bound to interest someone else out there]. Palpable texture and interesting shapes along with dark, inquisitive line [or at least the potential for these things] are what interest me most about abstract painting.

As for the title, it is a play on the phrase "Garbage in, garbage out" - this from wikipedia: "This phrase is a sardonic comment on the human tendency to accept the results from computer systems with unquestioning faith. An example of this blind-faith GIGO mentality is to believe that your work, stored in a computer, will be there whenever you need it even though you never perform data backup or virus scan."

Garbage in, Gospel out, acrylic and china marker, 34x30", $600

ubuntu

So I just thought I'd take a moment to show off my geeky side and talk about how much I've been enjoying playing around with ubuntu. I've been dual-booting along with XP, and I've just about got it configured to where it's quite usable on a daily basis [I'm typing this blog post from within ubuntu].

Backing up for a moment [and keeping things as simple as possible]: linux is an operating system [like MS Windows is an OS] and ubuntu is a distribution of linux [like Windows XP is a distribution of MS Windows]. Unlike Windows, most linux distributions are free to dowload and install [...and alter and customize and share with friends and even sell to others] - and so it is with ubuntu. Dual-booting means I've got both ubuntu and windows on my computer [on different partitions of my hard drive] and I can choose which one I want to use on boot-up.

Bottom line: I wouldn't hesitate to suggest this as a daily operating system for my mom [how's that for confidence?] - though she is fairly adept around computers... One caveat, however: I would need to spend a little extra configuration time upfront so that everything works as it should. That said, it's rock-solid, full-featured and open source.

cartoonwess

wessforeman.com version 1.7 is complete

I've finished the gallery portion of wessforeman.com, giving the website a much more polished look and making it easier to find, read about, and purchase paintings. Check it out and let me know what you think of it.