Huh???

Huh??? "Idea headquarters"???

I found my blog through a friend's blog today and discovered it's only been 9 months since I actually BLOGGED anything here. Pathetic!

And I like this blog–when I blog! HA! Go figure.

When I saw my blog linked in his and read "Idea Headquarters" I did the Homer Simpson slap on the forehead and said, "DOH!"

I hope that all of you faithful readers haven't been just sitting there for 9 months, twiddling your thumbs, waiting for a new idea at the Idea Headquarters. If you have, well, here are a few ideas that will be well worth your nine-month wait.

1) Get a drink of water and a meal - it's been nine months. Give your thumbs a rest, too.

2) Create your own blog. Don't criticize mine until you've tried to keep up with one of these.

3) Go exercise. You've been sitting there for nine months. Your legs have probably already atrophied. You may need to call 9-1-1.

4) Get some new reading material. Really. There's some great reading material out there these days. One of the books that have recently changed my life is "Ultimate Intention" by Devern F. Fromke. If I had any really good ideas, this is a one of them.

5) Check out my friend's blog: http://www.claytonmiller.net
He has some really good ideas, too. He's been talking alot about art and creativity. I've been wanting to jump in and make a few comment's myself, but I can't seem to find the time. I could have probably done it now, but I had this blog to update.

Well, that's enough ideas for now. Well worth the nine month wait I'd say.

For those who've been keeping up with me faithfully, just sitting there staring at your computer screen twiddling your thumbs for the past nine months, here's the latest:

I've been painting, reading, working on several different projects. I'm excited about a number of things going on.

One of the more recents projects I've been doing involves a good friend of mine. You can check out his website and weekly podcast here:

http://www.jonnydominoes.com

Of course, 2008 has been a year of new beginnings for me. Things that have been going on for a year are wrapping up this month in fact. February has been "finishing" month and March is going to be "New Marching Orders" month. Don't ask me, I just tell you as I get it. It's going to be a month of new assignments and I'm really pretty stoked about it. I love new things.

I've lost 35 lbs (again) and been on the mean elliptical machine. I crank out almost 400 calories in 30 minutes. That's the equivalent of running 4 miles for me. If you run a 10 minute mile, then the elliptical is really saving me 10 minutes of exercise. If you've ever been on an elliptical, believe me, that extra 10 minutes can seem like an eternity.

I've read probably more this past year than the past 5 years combined. My reading material has consisted of a lot of spiritual reading including the Bible for one. I've been reading a lot of Watchman Nee. He really grates on my nerves. Why read him? Because he really grates on my nerves.

My paintings have taken several different directions technically-not compositionally. Yes, I'm still painting reflections. I've just tried several different techniques. I painted my first oil painting in 30 years entitled, "Blue Moon". Check it out at: http://www.farleygraphics.com/fineart.htm

Thanks for sitting there all this time waiting. I know I haven't given you a new idea like how to get an extra 10 miles to the gallon out of your car or the like, but perhaps there's enough here to start.

I would say I'm going to try to be better about keeping up with this blog, but we've all heard that song and dance.

I would like to say thank you for taking the time to read today's blog. Hopefully, another posting will be soon. I'll leave it at that.

Have a great day,

Kevin

Update

I can't believe it's been over a year since I've posted a blog here. Sorry about that. I've been posting elsewhere. Let me try to bring you up-to-date with Farley Graphics.

In March of last year, as you'll read in my blog archives, I started painting again. And in April, I communicated to you that I had a desire to write, illustrate and have published a children's book.

Much has happened since then!

I painted my first painting in many, many years last March. I dragged a good friend of mine, Jess Coleman, who is an art professor down to the Colorado river and set up a pleine aire painting of the river. That's all it seemed to take to ignite a rather dormant creative side of me that I haven't seen in over 20 years.

So, in May of last year, I completed my 2nd painting of Lake Buchanan. That acrylic painting took a little over 8 hours to paint. After I finished that one, I started on the bridge painting that took over 35 hours.

I entered the Bridge into the Austin County Fair and won 1st place Grand Champion best of show. I was so pleased and encouraged, I wanted to paint more.

So I started a 4th painting of a pond I photographed at a local retreat center. I spent over 70 hours on this 16x20 acrylic painting. UGH! That painting seemed to last forever. I kept thinking I wasn't ever going to get finished with it.

Finally, I finished it and just this month entered it into a juried art show. The Live Oak Art Center in Columbus, Texas sent out invitations for artists to enter the show. The artists were required to reside within a 150 mile radius of the gallery (which includes Austin, Houston, and San Antonio).

This past Saturday, May 19, the show had a reception and announced the winners of the show. Melissa Miller is a University of Texas art professor and renowned painter who has permanent displays at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston and in several other major museums throughout the country. She was the "Jury" (and single Judge) of the show.

The winners of the show were mostly the abstract artists who are very good indeed and well-deserving of their accolades. The Ken Turner/ Mark Chapman gallery also sponsored several monetary awards also of whom were mostly abstract artists.

The show had a great turnout and many people visited on Saturday. Those that visited also had an opportunity to vote on their favorite work. They called it the "People's Choice" award.

Ms. Pat Johnson, the proprietor of the gallery, gathered everyone together in the main exhibit hall and announced that my painting had one the People's Choice award! I almost fell backwards from shock! I was just so honored to even have been selected for the show. Over 150 slides of work had been submitted to the judge of which only chose 39 works to be in the show. I was so blessed! God is good!

If you are in the Columbus, Texas area between now and July 14, please stop by the Live Oak Art Center and you will see what I mean about some great artists. It's a wonderful show that really goes across the board from abstract to super realism. You will really enjoy it.

So, as you can see, although I still keep my hands in the "commercial graphics" work, my main focus lately has been painting and as they say, "finer art".

Even more recently, I've been dabbling in watercolors. You can see my latest work (Chateau Chillon) at

http://www.farleygraphics.com/fineart.htm

And for my last update: I'm working in collaboration with a friend of mine who has written a children's book and has asked me to illustrate it. I have over 21 illustration to do in 8 weeks plus a full-color book cover.

Thanks for reading today. Hopefully, it won't take as long for my next blog update.

Kevin

A New Project in the Works...

Have I told you I've been considering writing a children's book? Well, I want to not only write it, but illustrate it also.

So for the past few months, I've been gathering all the information I can about writing, illustrating, and publishing children's books.

Truly, it is amazing how much is involved with a project like this. I have a greater appreciation for children's literary works - both illustrated and non-illustrated.

I'm starting to realize why most books have a separate author and illustrator. I am quite challenged by the thought of doing both. I want to do an illustrated format for ages 5-7. I have a storyline, but there's lots of work in the illustration concept to be done.

At first, I was headed a particular way with the story line when I decided to do a search for similar themed books. I found a book with almost the exact storyline I originally planned. I was shocked that someone actually had the same story concept!! HA! Imagine that! How rude!

So, I had to start from scratch and re-think it. After a few weeks of regrouping, I am re-ignited now and hope to start on the sketches soon.

Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers on this project. I need all the help I can get! Right now I'm like the Little Red Engine....I think I can! I think I can! So, don't try to talk me out of it. It has to happen or I'll bust!

I'll try to keep you posted on the progress. If you have any suggestions, please comment!

Thanks for reading today!

Back to the basics

Ever heard the old adage: "If all else fails, read the instructions"? Recently, I've had a renewed passion for fine art–not graphic design; not photography or photo manipulation; not even anything remotely resembling computer design–just fine art.

There's much to be said about the work of the masters–Rembrant, Michelangelo,Da Vinci, even Picasso, Van Gogh, and Monet, among all the great painters. They presented life in a unique way, as unique as we all are as individuals. No one will ever see a starry night the way Van Gogh saw it. No one will ever see Mona Lisa the way Da Vinci saw her. No one will ever see three musicians the way Picasso saw them. Yet, there will be volumes written about the interpretations these artists conveyed to the world through the basic medium of paint and canvas.

I've been a graphic designer for 30 years now. Yes, that's right, even before there was such a thing called a "Mac" or a "PC". Why I remember when I was a kid, we did our lettering with "rub-off" letters and outlined boxes with "chartpak" tape. I even used a Leroy lettering machine and a compuserve disc for typesetting. After walking uphill in the snow barefoot to work, we designers had to use a thing called a "light table" to do all of our work on. I remember many-a-time I burned myself on the "waxer" which was a roller of hot melted wax laid on the back of our typeset strips to adhere them to the layout paper to get ads ready for the camera.

I don't know why I just pig-trailed with all that other than to say things weren't so easy before the computer age.

I recently purchased a book called "An Introduction to Art Techniques" by DK publishing. It lists for $15 bucks at Amazon.com. I have loved going back to the basics reading this book! It goes over just about everything I ever learned in my high school and college art classes - book wise, that is. The experience of doing it is a whole other ball game. It's one thing to read about painting, it's a whole 'nother subject actually doing it.

That has been the challenge of this book. It goes back to the WHY we do art by explaining how to do it. I highly recommend it to those who have lost the passion to be creative.

Have a great day and thanks for keeping up with this blog!

Kevin

Extreme Teamwork

This afternoon, ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" will be handing over the keys to a deserving family, the Kubena's in East Bernard, Texas (pop. 2,000). It's a little town I drive through every day on the way to work. Someone in that town mailed ABC about a family with 2 small girls, both of which have been diagnosed with leukemia and have mounting medical costs from M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

That one small act of kindness has turned that town and all the local communities upside down. Over 1,000 people volunteered in less than 24 hours to help. Dozens and dozens of businesses, both locally and nationally donated time and materials to the building of this house in less than 5 days.

It has truly been an amazing and inspiring process to see their mobile home moved away and the construction of this 4,000 + sq. ft. home be raised in that time frame. Driving by one day, I saw a sea of blue shirts and white hardhats. My son exclaimed, "Look! There's Eduardo!" seeing him from a distance mingling with the sea of blue shirts.

The most amazing part was knowing that what is viewed on TV weekly really does take place somewhere and that this show really does bring the best out in communities, businesses, and individuals. The teamwork of all those involved is truly an inspiration.

It is phenomenal to think that this family from a small Texas town will be touching the lives of millions in just a few weeks as their episode will be viewed in February. Already, $39,000 + has been raised to help offset their medical cost, and that's before the airing of the episode. If you would like to see more about this, go to www.extremeroycebuilders.com Royce builders are the home builders that donated a huge portion of the construction.

When you see this house, you can't help but believe that dreams still come true. It's definitely EXTREME!

Happy New Year!

Hi faithful readers! I know I've been pretty lousy at keeping this blog up, but I have a new resolution to try to do better this year!

Last year was an exciting year for Farley Graphics receving new clients and new projects for the year. I'm looking forward to 2006 to do at least twice as much this year. In fact, I have graphic designers on standby as the orders for new projects continue to come in. It is exciting!

Also, I just received news that I have been awarded 3 GOLD 2005 Medallion awards from The National Council of Marketing and Public Relations for my designs in the categories of Student Handbook, Annual Report, and College Viewbook! Yay!! I consider it an omen for this year!

For those of you who keep up with FG, here's a nifty little link I'm going to add to our links page that helps provide a little extra creative inspiration should you ever be in need. http://www.veer.com/ideas/

I hope each of you have a wonderful new year!!

Waves

Ahh, the ebb and tides of life. Never a dull moment. And just when you think you're about to have a dull moment...the tide changes.

My seven-year-old son currently is working on a lunar science project where he has to draw the phases of the moon each night for 28 consecutive days. Of course, I love working with him on the project as he learns about things we adults take for granted sometimes.

His second grade class is studying also about the Sun, the Earth, and the Earth's moon. Their main focus is on the orbits of these celestial wonders.

I tried to explain to him how the gravitational pull of the moon's orbit causes us to have high tides and low tides. He looked interested anyways.

Those high tides and low tides also seem to effect other areas of our planet. I know statistics show that hospital emergency rooms and 911 calls increase with each full moon. Ask any nurse or cop and they'll all verify those conclusions.

Even though we don't actually "feel" them, we are constanty being inundated with all kinds of waves: radio waves, gamma waves, solar waves, mold spore waves, barometric "waves", so forth and so on.

Any business owner, especially in the print industry, will tell you that business comes in waves. In fact, I can just about guarantee that 99% of the time when I get a phone call about doing a new project, within 24 hours, either other current clients or brand new clients call in with their new projects! It's really amazing how predictable it is!

Of course, my business philosophy is each client is important and will get the same attention and quality work as if they were my only client. That's right–kind of like the Jerry McGuire/Rod Tidwell type of attention. In fact, I have said to one of my client's before, "Help me help you", but it wasn't in a shower room.

So, in the ebb and tides of life with oceans of invisible waves - there remains the constant anchor of hope: that today we'll get to experience the swells of life all over again and know it's just a part of life.

Enjoying the journey,

Kevin