Last week, in the art section at Half Price Books, I found and have since been reading The Philosophy of Andy Warhol. It’s full of quotes and short essays on a variety of subjects — love, fame, beauty, work, time, success, art — to name a few. It’s surprising to discover that much of his philosophy makes sense…to me.

If someone has a conviction about how to live and doesn’t live that way, their life becomes one of hypocrisy. Or as Andy Warhol so aptly states:

“It’s not that my philosophy is failing me, it’s that I’m failing my own philosophy. I breach what I preach more than I practice it.”

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about one of my guiding philosophies.

Reese and I hold this truth to be self evident, that all people at all times are more important than stuff, or doing stuff.

If this is not true, if accomplishing things is more important than attending to people, then I’m screwed. And yet, twice last week, one of my sweet neighbors invited me over and I was “too busy” to go. So like Andy, at times like that, I’m failing my own philosophy.

It’s only an issue these days, though, because a portrait commission is in the works, needs to get finished, and instead of diligently working on it, I’m (mostly) philosophically living.

Based on a true story….watch this short film when you have an uninterrupted ten minutes and fourteen seconds. I first saw it on The Jam Jar back in June….and can’t get the clever cuteness (or cute cleverness) out of my head.

“I happen to be one of the few people who can see micro expressions without slow motion video.”

Something Left, Something Taken- Full Version from Tiny Inventions on Vimeo.

Do you ever have one of those days where you can’t think straight because you have so much to do? I’m pretty sure that I even forgot to wash my hair this morning.

Life is full, wonderful, and beautiful — super busy, but wonderful.

The portrait commission is finally coming along nicely. It’s a complete do-over, it’s not finished, but for the first time, I feel confident that it will be something wonderful.

And, in honor of Joy‘s birthday, there’s fresh cheesecake in the fridge. Yum.

The following is excerpted with permission from correspondence received from a reader and new friend, Tami Merrick. She and I met while enjoying some live blues at The Big Easy. In our “getting to know you” chat, I was delighted to discover that one of her works is in the Big Show at Lawndale this year.

Tami adequately and eloquently explains what so many of us in the art viewing public want to know. Namely, what makes THAT art?

Tami’s credentials include having curated shows herself and spending a number of years studying (mostly) painting at the Art League, and at Glassell. Although her college degree is in architecture, she also took art classes in under graduate school.

She also mentions that getting in the Big Show eluded her for a number of years.

“I read your blog about the Big Show.

As far as the content of the work, the Big Show has long been considered a survey of Texas artists and the work ranges from amazing to even bad, but is truly a survey.

Art is a very opinionated topic. If I had to explain to someone what the art world thinks is great work, it would be to say that the work needs to speak about the time period it is in. In other words….to only paint what has been painted isn’t enough….but how does it change and evolve to make it unique? Or what way is a painting made that says it is specific to 2010….and not 10 years ago. That makes it very tough call how to make and for the curator to select great innovative art.

I don’t think I have the answer….but I do know that I have spent a lot of time experimenting in my studio and that has become my topic of work..more than painting itself.”

Fascinating. I can’t wait to visit her studio and see just what she means by that last statement, which, good for her, is probably the very reason her work is in the Big Show this year.

Misunderstood + underestimated = misunderestimated. It’s not a real word, but should be. For instance, I misunderestimated the amount of time and effort required for my latest portrait commission. At this point, I’m seriously considering starting over as it’s not going well.

Also, even though I’ve lived in Houston for 25 years, I misunderestimated the heat this summer. The suburban has been unreliable transportation so the bike has played an important role in mobility. It’s hot out there folks.

But what’s to be done when society misunderestimates their fellow man? When they misunderestimate the love and compassion of a husband? Or when they misunderestimate the commitment of a wife? When people groups and ideas collide, who’s misunderestimating whom?

It’s not that the day was bad per se, it’s just the few things that did happen this afternoon were amplified by the fact that so many things have been going wrong lately. And honestly, even of those things going wrong, it has all been just stuff. Who really cares if a car is broken or if ones a/c isn’t working or if someone has a leaky house? Those things aren’t eternally significant. It’s just more stuff to navigate.

And today it was the same thing — not really important, but it was on the heels of all these other things and some other crap (sorry for the crappy language, dad.) Because opening night was so crowded for the Salon des Refusés exhibit a few weeks ago and because I hadn’t seen the Big Show at Lawndale yet, and because both shows are closing on August 7th which I just this moment realized wasn’t this weekend but next, my neighbor Fran and I planned an outing to see both exhibits this afternoon. First Lawndale — because the Refusés exhibit was born out of the Big Show rejects and we wanted to see what “made it” first. Maybe it’s obvious from the type of art I paint, maybe not, but some of the more “out there” art works aren’t really my cup of tea. Fran, on the other hand, is much more receptive to the avant garde than I am. Neither of us was wholly impressed with the Big Show.

Back in the parking lot to go to Gallery 1724, the suburban wouldn’t start. We’ve been having “issues” with the suburban off and on for a while lately. Reese has replaced the fuel filter twice and we got a new battery and we drove it to Galveston and back with no trouble, but sitting in a parking lot for 30 minutes while we saw the Big Show apparently made the suburban unhappy. While we were both trying to call someone to come rescue us the suburban started. We came straight home….

And, though slightly fazed, we hopped in Fran’s car to see the Salon des Refusés exhibit at Gallery 1724. I had called ahead to make sure it was open, but when we got there the door was locked. The back door was locked, too. It was at this point that I became a performance artist. I won’t go into the details except to say that I have a four inch bruise on the back of my leg in memory of the performance — witnessed only by Fran, and she’s not talking. Fran? Not talking, right?

The Salon des Refusés exhibit was absolutely wonderful! Fran and I both reacted with delight and in praise of the art. And best of all, just as we were about to leave, I saw a piece of work that I instantly recognized. It was a beautifully rendered bronze statue by the artist John Nichols of our daughter, Anna. In May of 2007, John and I were both in The Glassell School of Art 2007 Studio School Student Exhibition, Museum of Fine Arts Houston. Our respective paintings were side by side in the gallery at Glassell. John was working on this statue as far back as 2007.

As soon as we got home, I composed a note to the artist…..

Hey John,

I was just today completely amazed by your bronze statue of Anna. On opening night at the Salon des Refuses exhibit, it was so crowded that I didn’t even see the statue. Had I known it was there, I wouldn’t have left without seeing it. You are incredible. It’s a beautiful piece of WORK, and I know how hard you worked on it. Thank you so much for sharing it with Houston in Gallery 1724. Seeing the quality of your bronze art work makes me all the more glad that my own painting is in such good company.

With admiration,
Sarah Hazel

I love Mexico.

A couple of years ago we went to Guadalajara on a mercy trip with some kids from our church. It was wonderful. Several paintings have been born from the trip, this being the latest.

This painting was started on once before but I was so disgusted with it that it ended up in flames in the Weber grill in the back yard. This is a do-over.

What if we could take the ugly parts of life and let them burn in a pit in the back yard and re-paint them beautifully someday? That would be nice.

Reese and I are always game for good barbecue. This last weekend, we stopped in Lockhart, Texas to try Chisholm Trail Bar-B-Q for the first time. It was delicious.

The other day I was whining to a long time friend about being repeatedly humbled by the art world. He very astutely replied,

“Don’t take humbling as without merit – those experiences happen every day and you dust off the knees and keep moving forward with what you enjoy. Don’t let ’em win!”

“Don’t take humbling as without merit.” It’s been a constant companion in my thoughts for several days. It’s easy to forget that being humbled has any redeeming value at all, but it does, and I know it, and it was a jolt in the right direction for me to be reminded of it.

Thanks, friend.

Now, time to be humbled (again) by this latest portrait commission.

So many people have been asking about my hair since my self induced home hair cut about a month ago. It’s short, frizzy, and uneven. People have been really kind about it in person, for which I am grateful. This photo is with the addition of fancy conditioner in my hair. See? Still frizzy.

Our downstairs a/c is on the blink again. It’s hot outside, therefore it’s hot inside. At least the upstairs a/c is working, and a tiny window unit that cools our 120 square foot study. When at home, most of the day is spent in the study.

The suburban isn’t working, either. We’ve run out of gas a few times lately, which apparently isn’t good for cars these days. It’s probably the battery; that, or a repeatedly clogged fuel line. At least Reese’s car is still going strong.

Thankfully, the Amazing Reese fixed my bicycle. It had been stuck in third gear. Because of the reluctance of the bike to move quickly when starting in third gear, life and potentially instantaneous death took on new meaning at every street crossing.

Fact: It is unpleasant to ride a bicycle to the grocery store in this heat.

The Salon des Refusés exhibit opening was packed Friday night. It was wall to wall people, inside and out. See the link for photos courtesy of Emily Sloan. I forgot to take pictures.

My newest portrait commission is in the works, but progress is very slow. It’ll get there…just taking a bit longer than expected.