But is it art?

These holidays the lines are blurry, and in a sober way, in regard to the art of making art. Baking, decorating the charlie brown tree with homemade decorations, or the dog...taking photos to post or working on illustration jobs. Its all art and all about art.
Challenging as it is to focus these days on the stuff that brings in an income, and with my studio rental turning over after the new year plus an assignment to work on, I created two image stamps for a clients website in between baking some Gluten free cookies, and uuhhh, decorating the dog.
My computer was just relocated -for the third time this year, and now sits closer to my kitchen, between the kitchen and the fireplace, and with a direct view of the television. Does it get any better than that?
It does, add Pandora radio into the mix and you have commercial free tunes for any musical taste. I love Pandora, (thanks Ruthie for turning me onto it).
http://www.pandora.com/
These days the Christmas tunes are worth dialing in and provide the perfect backdrop for making art, for clients or gluten intolerant b-friends.
I rented two videos this week, The Bucket List, and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. The Bucket List, was as contrived as Hollywood can pump out, yes I choked up at the end, but in the process I felt emotionally manipulated.
I read The Diving Bell and the Butterfly years ago, more than once, its a short read with a lasting impact and I was curiously excited to hear it was being made into a movie. Since its usually the case that the movie is nowhere near as good as the book, this was one I didn't want to see, but couldn't wait to see.
Its taken two years for the desire and the actual video to merge, and I have to say this movie was as good if not better than the book. Julian Schnabel, an eclectic artist and filmmaker was the director, the cinematography and the acting were fabulous, and the result was as artful as a film gets.
Weather wise we have been fortunate here in Southern Oregon to get a light version of the full on blizzard affecting the upper Pacific Northwest. Lori's husband Bill had the nail biting drive up from New Mexico this week, and we had a wonderful dinner together on Sunday evening between storms. Last week Lori landed her dream job teaching art at a fantastic school in Salem, Oregon. I'm sure she will be a tremendous creative asset to their staff. We will miss her spirit and cooking around the ranch!!