Rich Sigberman Art & Illustration 90

So, it's been "interesting" in the proposasl, negotiations, lack thereof........things are definitely not "in flow" as we new ager types love to say. The jobs are not pouring in, nor are inquiries, and when there are a few, they have gone the way of the Titanic.....sinking fast. So, naturally, I take it personally, professionally, and wonder what I'm supposed to be doing.

On the other hand, I'm still doing inspired art for my poet friend/client, and I have a book to illustrate , as soon as some new material comes my way. I am staying optimistic, and taking my Photoshop course too, which will be the beginning of an increased skill set.

Still, I am 56 now......that seems a bit long in the tooth to be at this stage . Maybe I should forget that thought and just concentrate on all the good stuff, yes?

Sorry, I haven't posted in some time - I have had to re-assess what I want to say and how to say it. Just blathering on about the dificulites of the art biz was getting even me depressed, and there is too much good stuff to concentrate on only that. Yes, there are many prospects that don't get closed, but let's talk about the ones that I have.

At this moment, I'm working on illustrating a book, that has great mystery in its plot, and it is true. I am challenged to go beyond my whimsical style and make images that conjur up the right mood. My client is very nice, fun to work with, and work the extra time and effort I'm putting in.

The illustrated poetry continues to be inspiring, and I've got some 24 pages done. My client and I are both excited about it, and will keep working on it for the forseeable future. Each page is unique in the way its been designed, but many of the pages have been designed to work together too. It's going to be a great comic book.

I have some other wonderful prospects that I'm trying not to get too excited about unti they reach frutition. And, I'm working on a fine piece of pop art, that began when my then 11 year old step daughter threw her Mickey Mouse vinyl wallet in the garbage. Guess who fished it out and began a piece of art working around it?

As the pianist I met recently told me, "I bless every day I can play music for a living". So, i too , bless each day I create art for mine.

We've had a lot of rain here in Northern California lately, and any watercolor artist would be nuts to be transporting his or her art in this type of weather. Of course this means I will be doing exactly that Monday morning, as I'll be hanging some 10 originals in a local bank. At the moment, 3 of the pieces are already up and they look very good on the big, creamy off-white walls. Since I only have the month of February to showcase the art, by Monday, Feb 4th, I reallly have to get those babies up - whether it's raining, snowing, or we have an earthquake. I'll wrap them up like precioius babies and get them there, as I am determined.

The most inspired art I am creating these days is based on the poetry of my friend, and we both feel this is real special art that's coming out of her writing from years ago. The poems are full of imagery, emotion, quest, and self-awareness and I am honored to be illustrating them. Mixing word, image, and color has always been a major interest of mine, since I was given all those old comic books in 1960, and this work is bringing many of my best qualities as an artist to the fore. It's exciting to see them develop. As of this writing, we have 16 pages done, and the plan is to print them up in comic book format.

On the marketing front, I'll be showing my commercial art to an ad agency in Sausalito Monday morning, and I have many packages going out. One is to the CEO of "Target" who, I read, is quite interested in art, and lavishing money on it. He's my kind of guy.

At the Community Integral Transformative Practice grouop I'm a part of, this past Saturday's "assignment" was to bring in an artifact of some kind that spoke to your soul, or symbolized something important to you. Had I gone to the group, I would have brought a 1959 Action Comic that portrayed Superman on its cover in apparent self-exile, underwater in the ocean, but sill doing good deeds and fixing a floundering submarine. What a guy!

It wasn't the story that made the comic book significant to me. It was the fact that this was one of the "original comic books" that my Aunt gave me in 1960, ("Here! Take them all!") when she opened up a drawer in her basement and I was nearly blinded by primary colors. My mind was blown permanently, and I was on the road to becoming a cartoon artist. I can't tell you that I still have that comic book; I re-purchased it some 15 years ago, but its significance staggers me to this day. And, yes, I did subsequently thank her (she brushed it off).

We have now been invaded by ants, due to rain and colder weather. They're in the kitchen, and down in the basement. Now, every pepper corn, or coffee ground that has spilled on to the counter looks like an ant, but it's the ones that move that get my attention. I'm waging war on them, and, while I have the size, they definitely have the numbers. Maybe the 10 ant-traps that are supposed to poison them and their nests will discourage them from coming in. I'll keep y'all posted on this drama.

And, I've spent a few hours filling out cards to former clients who purchased art from me over the last few years. I'm taking a chance that a few of them will get their memories jogged and come to me again, for more art. It's all part of the marketing campaign.....Happy New Year!

Ok, so this "daily blog" has become "monthly". It's hard to explain, but I haven't much felt like writing, and haven't known just what to write about if I did. It's December 23, 2007, so summing up this year would seem to be timely.

There has been a re-definition in my own being of who I m, what I am. True, I'm still an artist, making his watercolor and ink work his life's work. The work still ranges from commercial collateral to pieces that are totally abstract. While this is still my work, as it has been full time since 1983, I somehow am not taking it so personally, and am no longer entirely defining myself by it. I have no idea if this is a good thing or not, but I suspect that it is good. There is a real danger in defining oneself by what one does for a living in that the work can be yanked out from under one in a flash. What does that leave if that happens? A person who is "nothing"? I don't think so.

So, for me, I have been more at ease in a pursuit of generating income via commercial art, and relegating my more adventurous art to the background and giving it less time. There is a sacrifice of a type, but it is my decision to go this way, rather than the old "starving artist as victim" cliche we've all come to know and love (as long as we're not it). I miss the excitement of creating something I believe is great and unique, but I don't miss seeing the finished piece languish here against a wall, never generating a penny of income. I believe that both are necessary for happiness and fulfillment: success on both levels, financial and creative. I think I come close often enough, and sure, I'd love to increase the frequency of both of those feelings in the coming year. I believe that I will, too.

Things that used to really get me riled up are not throwing me nearly as much, if at all. Something inside me has changed enough so, even when the impulses are there, I am able to avoid acting on them or giving in to them. This has not happened all on its own; I've been working on it. Call it what you will, "maturity", "being centered", "having a sense of perspective".....or "getting older". Whatever it is, it makes life a lot easier.

The sense of ease seems to be missing for many. I hear of so much inner suffering by friends who have so much materially. I feel sad for them, and know that life has many challenges. How we meet them defines who we are, a lot more than what we do for our living.

So, my wishes for counting one's blessings, good health, great moments of joy, and happiness for every living thing on this planet.

We went to Las Vegas to meet friends who had come in for a conference from Massachusetts. What is there to say about the place? Does it symbolize America for the rest of the world? If so, that's a pretty sad commentary.

The scale of the buildings and their symbols is BIG. In fact, everything on the strip of hotels and casinos that are the most famous parts of the place are BIG, giant in scale, and if some is good, more is better, or so the philosophy would seem to go. The signage is spectacular, the hotels and casinos mind-bendingly , overwhelmingly large and ostentatious, loud and filled with sensory overload. One goes into any of the interchangeable casinso and first one is nearly overcome by the smell of stale cigarette smoke. After one's eyes stop tearing, you see zombie-like people sitting and staring lifelessly at the slot machines they're lined up at, with only one arm moving to put in the money and pulll the lever, over and over again. Their eyes are dull, their skin pallor pasty.
The hotels have buffets with sumptious amounts of food, most of which is well prepared. To not overeat is a major accomplishment. To attend one of these without feeling vaugely guilty is another major accomplishment. Hedonism and excess rein in Las Vegas, and, for many, this place is as good as it gets. I found it utterly exhausting.
Our friends treated us to a show, Cirque d' Soleil's "O", which is all water-based. The skill and scale of the show is tremendous. The design is beautiful; the acrobatics at a high level. Good choreography. I had no idea what it was all about, and it evaporated into the night the moment it ended. It was great style with little substance to my way of observation.
The amount of money that gets spent in Las Vegas is nothing short of phenomenal. What this money could do, and who it could feed is something we all ought to think about. We Americans who have so much - what are we doing with it all? What do we think money is for? Why do we think it will all be here forever? It's no wonder this country is despised.

Since my Dad passed away on October 20th, 2007, I've had two quite vivid dreams with him in them. In the first one, I was walking along a country road and a car pulled up on my left. The passenger door opened, and when I looked in I saw my Father circa 1959, head of black hair and stocky of build, in the driver's seat. He put out his hand and said, "let me help you in", then pulled me by my arm in, gently and firmly. I noticed how strong his grip was and went in to the back seat of the car, and then we drove off. That's the dream. When I awoke, I felt like my Father was giving me support, the type of which I never felt in what we call "real life".

In the second dream, he is in his coffin buired in the ground. He stirs, looks at his watch, and say to himself, "Hey! I'm not dead yet." He then gets on a cell phone and calls his doctor, telling the latter that he made a mistake, and to come and get him out of this coffin. The doctor does that, and the last thing I saw is my Father standing on the sidewalk of a busy street, dusting himself off, chatting amiably to passers by. That's that dream. When I awoke, I had to first question whether he was really gone. When I realized that he was, in fact, dead, I then marvelled at these new qualities that I had never seen in my Father that I was now seeing in my dreams. He never chatted amiably with me, after all.

So, I guess there was more to Dad than I saw and experienced. I've seen it in the old photographs of him, before I was born. He looks happy and relaxed. Why he didn't show me that side of him, I'll never know. But, I guess it's a good thing to realize that he had those qualilties, as I have them now.

I've surpassed my Dad on many levels, but feel more connected to him now than I did while he was alive. Can you beat that?