a period of flux
influences wax n wane
next friday the swedes fly home for good
today is a teacher strike
is that like a lightning strike
the kids are at home all day
was gonna take the little buggers swimming
but its kinda windy n chilly
(it is after all nearly winter)
have sent off all my paintings for exhi in ohio
i believe while im certainly no rembrandt
that a certain kilbeeish style continues to emerge
minna sat down n did some painting for me last nite
she painted over the top of some patterns i had
here i said getting up from my chair
you can paint in this quadrant of the painting
i’d done some pastel stuff
i thought shed fill in my lines
but she started to just paint white splodges on top
at first to my complete horror
then some blue splodges near the white ones
whether an act of bold genius
or just a half thinking response
minna had created something incredibly new within my painting
a new texture i never would have thought of by myself
you see i had locked myself out of that parameter
i hadnt even thought of superimposing something on my pattern
after all the pattern was there to be followed right?
the most simple thing
revolutionizing my painting in its own tiny way
these
these are the very things i was exhorting us towards the other day
she thought outside my narrow box
and in the most obvious way
she changed my approach to this thing
the thing itself isnt important
the important thing with your art n poetry n songs
is to question every single element n parameter that you have
why why why
why should a song have cymbals?
a poem twice as long or short than you normally write?
limit yourself to 2 or 3 colours
unlimit yourself by throwing everything in there
use archaic words
use technical terms
find the beauty in every day phrases
(deluxe locations just near completion)
play your guitar with a blowdrier
make all the white bits black
dont use adjectives
imitate somebody elses schtick
be the opposite of somebody you hate
use something youre not familiar with
remove something from the piece
take every other snare drum beat out
start singing in a different spot than you normally would
steal stuff n disguise it as your own
spend time on details
be rough n ready
enjoy and forget yourself
actively strive for excellence
say to yourself
this piece im working on is gonna be fucking amazing
and then actualize it
follow through all the way down the line
and if that means you gotta paint tiny dots for a week so be it
if it means erasing that lousy bass part that so n so did
and hes gonna get upset but the songs sounds bad..so be it
if it means refocussing re-energizing
if it means having a well deserved break from your work
if it means never overriding your hearts true voice
if it means concentrating with all your mind n losing yourself
suffer for your art?
ha ha
is that what it takes….
as long as your art dont make others suffer
are you any good, boy?
i think so sir…
then get out there son and do it!
yes sir!