Death, Dumbledoore, and the Stage of Life

I just got back from taking Sara to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, excellent movie by the way, very well done, acting on the main character's parts leaves a little to be desired, but excellent performances by the others, perfect Horace Slughorn, the cinematography is beautiful, more than just great angles, the color and lighting is eye candy I love being an artist and looking at things from a very visual perspective. But that is not why I am writing, I had a though as I watched Dumbledoore die, and I wanted to type it out.

As we go through life there are a great many people who come in and out of our own life. I suppose our lives are each like a stage, we are always on our own stage, and other people drift on and off at various intervals, some leave and come back making many appearances. Each person who enters our stage, no matter how briefly, influences us in some small or large way, for good or bad, and we are the sum of our life experiences (what is played out on our stage) and the relationships with the actors on our stage. We sometimes we can choose who is on the stage, and other times we are forced into relationships with people, good or bad, but no matter the situation, we can choose whether to let that influence become a part of who we are, or to discard it, ultimately we are the masters of who we become.

I watched Dumbledoore hit with the killing curse by Snape, then fall off the tower to the courtyard below, and the thought occurred to me that Dumbledoore was now taking a permanent step off of the stage of Harry Potter. Then a step further, his own stage had just closed curtains, at least on this mortal existence. I realized that in my own life, my time on this earth is finite, I only have so many years to live, and so does everyone else, whether our lives rub against one anothers or not we all get on this earth and step off, and while I can have some influence in someone's life, for good or bad, I am ultimately only have control of my own life and the choices I make. My children, my wife, my mom, dad, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, friends, work associates, all have their own lives to live. The best I can do is to make sure that mine is a positive influence for whatever duration I am on their stages performing.

I can control the part I play on their stage, but I cannot control what they do with it.

We are each the sum of all of the parts being acted out on our own stages, let's make the most of each and every day, and work hard to act the good part.

Jeff

Taliman Bread

So, I found 5 rather pathetic, quite black looking bananas siting on my counter, perhaps they weren't really noticed because my counters are dark granite, and the bananas blended in, but whatever the case I found 5 very forlorn, forgotten rather over-ripe bananas.

Party Time! around here we get excited when we have old bananas because that means Taliman Bread Time! We have the greatest Banana bread recipe, it is perfectly moist, mouthwatering, and smells so good you can taste it while it is baking.

We have a great little 5 year old Son named Talon, who we nicknamed "Taliman" thanx to us having a luau party for our oldest daughter's 8th birthday/baptism party, at the time Talon was about 3 months old, and we made a luau sound track for the party which included Harry Belefonte's "Banana Boat Song". The "come Mr. Taliman, tali me bananas" caused us to start calling Talon "Taliman" and it has stuck every since. Even Talon's little brother Tristan knows him as "Taliman".

So, of course when we found the most amazing banana bread in the world (thanx to Sara finding it) we adjusted it slightly and named it "Taliman Bread".

This bread is so scintillating, you won't be able to resist and will be eagerly awaiting it's debut from the oven as it's aroma fills your house, believe me, this bread is not just a great banana bread, it is an experience. We made it last night and Talon aka: "Taliman" was jumping up and down in eager anticipation of having the bread for breakfast this morning.

So, here is the recipe:

Taliman Bread

1 1/4 c margarine

2 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

2 tsp coconut extract (optional, but really yummy, use in addition to the vanilla)

1 cup crushed pineapple

2 c mashed ripe bananas

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3 cups flour

2 cups chocolate chips

In a large bowl cream margarine and sugar, add bananas, vanilla, coconut extract, crushed pineapple, and eggs and mix. Next add the cinnamon, salt, and baking soda, mix. After that is well mixed, add the flour and mix thoroughly. Lastly, add the chocolate chips. Turn the batter into 2 greased (I use Pam, first because it works really well, second because it is easier than using Crisco, and third because I think of my Aunt Pam who I love dearly every time I use it) bread pans (8" x 4" x 2"). Bake at 350 degrees for 60-65 minutes (use the clean toothpick test to tell when they are ready, the toothpick won't come out completely clean tho, because even fully cooked this bread is very moist and full of yummy chocolate chips, so just go with mostly clean). Cool 10 minutes and turn out onto wire racks for slicing.

This bread is really good hot with melted butter, or cool with white vanilla frosting. Yum! so good!

Believe me, you are most welcome.

Jeff

Elephant Painting

I just started this new painting to enter into the Spring Salon here in Utah. It is a continuation of the "Journey" series, and has some cool twists which are not yet represented in this underpainting. 

And yes the elephant's legs are really long, that is on purpose. I love the elephants in Salvador Dali's elephant paintings which have really long legs (much longer than these) but I didn't want to exaggerate it as much for this painting because I am trying to teach a point with the imagery. I won't go into it here, you will just have to watch as it develops.

Imagination's Pathway

Ok, so I woke up at 3:00 in the morning last Sunday and couldn't sleep so I decided to come down to my studio and paint.

I had seen a landscape painting while browsing through online artist portfolios, and decided I would like to create a similar painting just to learn the use of color. The painting was quite loose and as I am on an "experiment with loose painting kick" I decided to try it, adding of course my own touches. I had this odd shaped strip of hardboard so I adapted the portion of the painting I most liked to fit the board.

I think the painting turned out rather successfully and it was a great learning experience as I copied the painting, putting together colors I normally would not have. I am learning that in order to make color vibrate and "sing" on canvas it is important to add color you normally wouldn't think to ad. Certain colors "vibrate" when placed next to each other, and this can create the effect of life and depth in a painting when simply using a color and it's tint and shade makes a painting look dull and lifeless.

Death Knight

I'm almost finished with my "Death Knight" painting. It sort of matches the other painting I (last post). I not sure what to think of this one, but it was fun to paint, I am learning to paint quickly, yet in some areas the paint looks really good, in others it just looks slopped on.

I did this painting of a scene from the Linkin Park video "Numb", I was trying to do a very quick painting going for recognition and emotion.

I guess the gist of this is that I am honing my painting skills and searching for a style I love and can call my own.

Dead End Princess?

I have finally finished this painting, it is a little odd, and I am not sure exactly why I painted it, but here are a few of the thoughts that went into it:

1. I wanted to paint something quickly, I get bogged down and creative energy doesn't flow when it takes too much time to paint something.

2. I wanted to do another "journey" piece based on the idea that on life's journey, sometimes God closes doors, but he always opens windows.

3. I wanted to paint a dead girl. However, my love of the macabre never goes farther than the "fun" level, I wouldn't paint an actual corpse, or something that would be considered "evil" it just isn't in my nature. I love Tim Burton's approach to death, he just adds that element of "fun" to it.

4. I wanted to paint more loosely, anyone who has followed my style up till know knows that I paint rather tightly. Yet I find that the paintings I really love are mostly rather loose, allowing the brush strokes and placement of paint colors that "vibrate" next to each other to really make the painting come to life.

5. I don't really like cats, especially the ones that are pooping in my kid's sandbox all the time now.

So while I find myself constantly wanting to be a fine artist, I think I am more naturally prone to illustration. I am interested to see where this direction takes me.

I have included the beginning of my next painting. I decided I wanted to paint a more masculine painting this time, yet have it continue the series, so I have drawn this knight, dead again of course. I love knights, and suits of armor, and swords. I also wanted the door to be larger and more imposing, it is closed to him, and he will now need to set out and find a new door or window, kind of like me right now, being forced to reinvent myself, hence the push to really paint and produce artwork, I have a goal to be a successful artist, and that means I have to get going on reaching that goal now.

I love harlequin, and usually carefully measure it out when I use it, but since I am on a "loose" kick I thought it would be fun to paint it on by hand letting it be very loose.

This is the sketch of my Knight

Step One

Step One is a journey piece.

I have been through  so much over the last few years, culminating in the literal hell I have experienced over the past months, a hell of the mind as I have struggled against things of which I have no experience.

As I have searched deeply my relationship with God through these trials, the saying which says "When the Lord closes a door, he always opens a window" has come to my mind repeatedly.

I asked many times over, as I watched the door closed, bolted, barred, chained, nailed, welded, and glued, "where is the window, where is the light, will I every find the abyss fleeing before the tiniest light of hope? God are you there?"

Sometimes God expects us to try our faith by allowing us to step into the dark for a few steps before he actually opens the window.

The bride is beginning her journey, she is not looking up at the window which is the goal for which she begins the journey, but rather she begins the ascent without her eyes fixed upon the goal, rather her heart set on achieving the goal, trusting that the steps will lead where she wants to go. This is like the faith I have discovered and strengthened over the last several months.

The Journey begins when we place our trust in the divine and take our first step into the darkness.

Jeff

Miracle of Creation

I have been commissioned to paint a mural for a friend, and have been working on it the last few days, here are some pics of the unfinished mural:

Believe it or not, I have never painted clouds using an airbrush before, I am not trying to brag, but as I stood back and looked at the sky I had just painted, I marveled at how easy it was for me, and how realistic it looks, I took a moment to thank God for the gift to be able to create like this. It seems that anything creative I do with my hands just comes naturally to me, such a contrast from when I try to do things like real estate, or accounting!