Look at that...

... I've got a new blog. Well, it's more like a book - but why not have a look?

Make them shine.

Do you receive messages, jokes, pictures and so on "to be forwarded? Some thoughts:

Some mails tell you to send them on "or else". You know, the ones that go: "Send this out to 75 people and you'll be doing great. Don't do it and be damned." That is blackmail, based in fear. Whenever such a thing is forwarded - for fear of catching bad luck - the responsibilty for standing up against such crap is dumped on the next person.

The less agressive version: "If you forward this to X people, you'll have Y good things coming to you. If you do not, no results for you." The content: "Do what I say or you'll be left out when God dishes out personal success." Is that so?

Other mails say: "If you don't forward this, then you have forgotten all your friends. And, hey, send it back to the one that sent this to you!" Yeah, right. Emotional blackmail wanting to make people feel guilty. The message: "Tell me that you love me or be a bad person." If you subscribe to that then you agree that love is a DEAL, to be given under the condition that one behaves in a certain way.

And how about mails just plainly asking you to forward them to all your friends? The more or less subtle connotation here, sometimes thinly veiled: Decent people DO forward mails like this. The others do not. Is this really what you want to gift the addressee with? And what is the value of forwarding something because someone ELSE tells you to do so? Should that not be your own decision?

Ooooh, best to forward no chain-mails, then? Not so. By all means, if it is your thing, please DO send on a good joke, a beautiful picture, a story, an inspiration, a message of hope or love, words to reflect on. But delete the attached threats, orders, pleas, suggestions, conditions. Clean these mails up. Make them shine.

I for one would be happy if the people - none of you regular readers among them, by the way - sending all that stuff to me would act in that way I just have made a plea for. I would consider myself fortunate to hear of them and no strings attached. Alas, they almost never send out chain-mails without chains.

Hence this post.

Walk in peace.

Life is an unfinished painting.

Looking forward
to a refining 2007
and wishing you all
Happy Holidays.

What the Bleep do we know?

Three weeks, no posts, much work, loads of work, Austria, England, your comments (Yeah!), spam comments (deeeeeeeeeeeeleted), a wonderful meeting with friends - and a new painting right afterwards:

Blues skies, Dec 5th

Besides that ... a heartfelt movie recommendation for: "What the bleep do we know?" That film has been around for some two or three years but I only very lately discovered it. If you want to see an entertaining, sometimes funny feature about quantum physics and the religious connotations and why even some serious scientists begin to stick with "You create your life yourself." Well... you may want to get the DVD.

Dragon Mountains.

You know, life as an artist would be much easier if I could stick to any one style. But as it seems this is (for now?) quite impossible. Galleries do not like that. They want to - at least as far as I have learned - basically know what a painter delivers. And no radical changes, please. The clients would be confused.

Anyhow, if there's one prevalent theme I'd say it's somewhere close to the world of Fantasy and Science Fiction. No wonder. Ever since I was a boy I loved books with spaceships, aliens, dragons, wizards and above all: protagonists prevailing on a quest in far away lands.

And while the fantasy worlds are something I dream up, my spiritual path and my becoming aware of a formerly unseen world is an absolute and by now physical reality to me. This creates another twist. Some might think that my love for storybook adventures muddles my brain and judge my reality by my fantasy. That cannot be helped although - again - it would of course be easier to just go and paint nothing but commercial expressions of spiritual bliss.

Sigh.

As it is, different aspects of me are webbed together and quite unpredictably find their way on canvas. It makes my being in the studio an adventure giving me great satisfaction. So here is my latest: Dragon Mountains. I did most of it in one evening and then I suddenly lost courage and did not touch it for a couple of days, going about my daily life, always knowing that there was this half-baked painting some 30 feet away from me, in the studio, just waiting to be finished with great care.

Today I got it right.

Love to you all

Ben

NB: And here's the same painting with different lighting. Upper one was "illuminated" with a 500W spot. This one's a daylight shot. Interesting difference, is it not?

Britney files for divorce.

But who cares?

In other news - here's the umpteenth commentary on the US elections:

Democrats won.

Everything.

Good. Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooood!

A chance for change.

Then again:

It is also a chance for the donkey - or is it a mule? - to make all the mistakes the Republicans have made. To block real development. To not deliver. To show they're just as corrupt as the other party.

But again: It IS a chance for change.

Let's see what happens

Interesting times we live in, don't you think?

NB (Nov 10): And would it not be nice if "bipartisan" would turn out to be more than a word but a solid basis for true progress in the interest of everyone everywhere?

A Galaxy far, far away.

In another galaxy I am a traveller.

Ships sail the heavens,
exploring the wonders of the universe.

Black holes are living colour portals.
Thriving communities gather at their fringes.

And I am the captain of a vessel that has seen much and
overcome many challenges on its voyage between worlds.

O

In that life, that place I am 12 years old as well as a 199.
And the world is mine.

Planetary sirens create music.

Ice and Fire come together
in a symphony of love for creation.

A thousand times I have died
and a thousand and one times I have been reborn.

o

And at the center of all lies
the metropolis that started interplanetary life as we know it.

O

Welcome to my home:

Welcome to Spyire.

Autumn again (enjoying a bottle of Argento Cabernet and some new CDs).

Some 12 months ago I moved up here. Which is relative. For one, we're at 2'500 feet above Sea level. Not very high. And secondly a part of me loves Cities and has left a suitcase there. Which is why I hit Munich, London and whatever Metropolis my purse hints at me I can get away to.

Still, this is the right place to be. Or ... one of them. Not a lot of traffic as the little road in front of the house ends about an hours walk further to the left and up the hills. From there on, you'll meet wanderers and bikers only. The village is about a 45 minutes walk to your right.

My flat is on that level where you can see the shutters closed on one window. Remember the winter pics I posted? They were taken from there. The painting studio is on the left, overhanging side of the building.

A balcony with afternoon sun is on the right side of the house. And if you're on for morning sun or the full moon you want to step out on the small elevated porch behind the building.

I don't see much of that morning glory, though - unless I have to get up early to finish some job for a client, like today. This time it was for a new US cigarette brand. Yesterday it was for a Credit Card. Two days before I spent the early hours on advertising an American SUV.

Wish I had one of those and soon. Lady de Winter is bound to greet us with her icy grace any day now.

But for now: dear Sun, dear bringer of light not quite eternal ... stay with me. The peperoni on the balcony need a couple more days before I can harvest them! And as I am speaking of harvest. Here's how they do it on Cassiopeia:

8 1/2 years ago.

My friends, what follows is not about the mood I am in today. I am quite happy with myself, with your comments, I'll check Belle's post, I like Lux's new name, I love Fair Mayden's smile, And of course, I am happy that all went well, K9! And Velvet, wherever you are, you are often on my mind.

Still...

Last night I did a painting that suddenly reminded me of a song from way back. And a love found and lost at that time. Deep emotion and a real heartbreak. Bittersweet and I can still feel it. Still love the girl (but then ... that goes for all the women I ever knew closely ... it's just who I am). No idea what happened to the lady except that she left the country and that we never truly finished what we started. And I will never understand why it had to be like this. So ... as I am a hopeless romantic and like a little melancholy now and then I'm going to share another key emotion of my past with you:

This is the painting, named after that song :

To the Moon and Back

created on October 18th 2006.

And these are the words to go with it
(lyrics by a band called Savage Garden):

She's taking her time making up the reasons
To justify all the hurt inside
Guess she knows from the smiles and the look in their eyes
Everyone's got a theory about the bitter one
They're saying, "Mama never loved her much"
And, "Daddy never keeps in touch
That's why she shies away from human affection"
But somewhere in a private place
She packs her bags for outer space
And now she's waiting for the right kind of pilot to come
And she'll say to him

I would fly to the moon and back if you'll be...
If you'll be my baby
Got a ticket for a world where we belong
So would you be my baby?

She can't remember a time when she felt needed
If love was red then she was color blind
All her friends they've been tried for treason
And crimes that were never defined
She's saying, "Love is like a barren place,
And reaching out for human faith
Is like a journey I just don't have a map for"
So baby's gonna take a dive and
Push the shift to overdrive
Send a signal that she's hanging
All her hopes on the stars
What a pleasant dream
She's sayin

I would fly to the moon and back if you'll be...
If you'll be my baby
Got a ticket for a world where we belong
So would you be my baby?

Mama never loved her much
And, Daddy never keeps in touch
That's why she shies away from human affection
But somewhere in a private place
She packs her bags for outer space
And now she's waiting for the right kind of pilot to come
And she'll say to him
She's sayin

I would fly to the moon and back if you'll be...
If you'll be my baby
Got a ticket for a world where we belong
So would you be my baby?

I would fly to the moon and back if you'll be...
If you'll be my baby
Got a ticket for a world where we belong
So would you be my baby?

Would like to give you something. Just something. Whatever. Want to make you feel good. Wish I could, you, the people, the beautiful. I bow to you as I have done before. Don't even know if I want you to react to this. You know what? Don't. Say hello When next I post. If you like. And take this as what it is. My signature of respect for you, those I love so much but I cannot show it in stride.

Peace.