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Life is Beautiful

Here is a collection of some more photos of the beautiful California that I live in. It is truly a wonderful part of the world to live in. Most people only get to visit.

The New Studio Easel

Today I got a new studio easel. It is by “BEST” and its the “O’Connell” model. I took a nice drive out to Continental Art Supplies on Reseda Blvd. in the VW Beetle. I was only planning on getting a couple of new brushes and some of new tubes of paint that is missing on my palate. I ended up with this beauty. The only problem was that it would NO WAY fit in my little car. Steve Aufhäuser, the owner, was giving me a tour of the store, and showing me this easel, when he discovered that it would not fit. Hmmm… I said “Do you deliver?” he smiled and said… “I’ll do anything for a beer” we laughed and I told him that I had a couple of bottles in the fridge waiting for him. So, he said he could stop and deliver it to my home in Camarillo on his “way home.” I can’t suggest that he would do it again to anyone that asked, but I was sure grateful that I got to start working on it tonight.

He ended up staying around for about an hour while we talked about brushes, gesso and what is best to use to clean out your oil brush… his suggestion… boiled linseed oil that you can get at any hardware store. Just make sure to rag out as much of it as you can when its all cleaned out. Solvents are much too harsh.

I also picked up a couple of new smallish filberts from a brand I never even heard of… Escoda, from Spain. They have been around for 75 years. Steve says that they are one of his favorites. I got a couple #8’s and #2’s of the no-frills model “Natural” a non nickel-plated brass ferrule.

I will be testing them out this week. {smiling} I will be in a three-day plein air workshop with Ryan Wurmser. I am so looking forward to this. We will be talking about composing light and natural form outdoors. Looks like we have three beautiful days in a row, all sun and about 70 degrees. I hope to come home with a few new paintings from Malibu Creek Canyon, El Matador State Beach, and one other location.

Sailing

So, this is me on my first day of being un-employed by Amgen…

(Thanks Charles and Katrin!)

I think I could like this… :D

I’m Free

So, after four and a half years of working for the world’s largest bio-tech company, Amgen… I have been set free from their employment. In another restructure, a few of us have been “reduced” and we will find our way forward. I am glad for my tenure there. I learned much about the corporate business world and about myself. I have many plans of what to do next, but as for today… I might just go to the beach and walk along the shore in this time of transition. Then, do the next thing next.

As I rode my motorcycle out of the parking structure this morning, I could hear Roger Daltrey singing to me…

I’m free – I’m free,
And freedom tastes of reality,
I’m free -I’m free,
And I’m waiting for you to follow me.

If I told you what it takes
to reach the highest high,
You’d laugh and say ‘nothing’s that simple’
But you’ve been told many times before
Messiahs pointed to the door
And no one had the guts to leave the temple!

High Studio

So, many have asked what I have been working on. I started a commission painting of High Studio in Moorpark, CA … a portrait really … of the outside of the building. Its a night scene. Still to come, people enjoying art in the left half windows… and a whole lot of fussing around with the rest. Click the first image to pop up full size, or scroll down to see the progress.

High Studio (state 1)

High Studio (state 1)

High Studio (state 2)

High Studio (state 2)

High Studio (state 3)

High Studio (state 3)

High Studio (state 4)

Without Shelter Update

I have been making a  lot of progress on the documentary Without Shelter this past two weeks. The story begins with a memorial service for the 28 homeless that died in Ventura last year. I followed up with Carlton yesterday to see how he is doing after 2 months. He’s not on the streets at the moment, but that is liable to change any time. I will probably get with him one more time to follow up. I filmed a lot this weekend and have started to collect some characters that I will use in the final film. Below is a 75 second trailer. Please take a look at it to see the direction I am going with the look of it.

Straight to the Heart

Thanks to Brother Will for pointing out this quote on his blog:

The most important things are the hardest things to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them—words shrink things that seemed limitless when they were in your head to no more living size when they’re brought out. But it’s more than that, isn’t it? The most important things lie too close to wherever your secret heart is buried, like landmarks to a treasure your enemies would love to steal away. And you can make revelations that cost you dearly only to have people look at you in a funny way, not understanding what you’ve said at all, or why you thought is was so important that you almost cried while you were saying it. That’s the worst, I think. When the secret stays locked within not for want of a teller but for want of an understanding ear. ~Stephen King, The Body (which the movie Stand By Me was based on)

Like a dart… here’s truth that pierces to the heart of the matter. It is true that our secret heart is like a landmark to a treasure. If I don’t trust someone with the information, I usually just keep it guarded. When we… over and over and over… expose our heart to someone, only to be broken, criticized, misunderstood, bruised or laughed at, it is hard to keep going there with that person. But, sometimes, I just can’t help myself. I am compelled… driven to find common ground.

So, what does it take to find some of that common ground, a space where we can be open to our world? Also, a place where we can be human… generous… understanding… open. With some creativity, I know it can be done. Ready to take a ride? Straight to the Heart

47

I was thirsty - You gave me something to drink

Today is my birthday. I’m 47!! Check out my @mycharitywater campaign. Help me raise money for clean water. http://www.mycharitywater.org/richbrimer

Wander and Wonder

Wander and Wonder

Pardise Valley

Paradise Valley (Il Paradiso) near Assisi, Italy

One of my favorite things is to watch emerging “Aha!” moments. Whether it is a moment in myself or in another fellow human, being around when the “Aha!” hits is wonderful. It’s like turning a dark corner on a rainy country road, to suddenly see a bright green field lit by the low-lying sun. It takes me by surprise. Sometimes it takes going down a road less traveled. Perhaps it’s wandering around in a new city, or an unfamiliar part of your own hometown. J.R.R. Tolkien wrote, “…not all those who wander are lost…” and I would add; it is in my wandering that I sometimes find the most wonder.

Bringing it all home My middle hannahdaughter Hannah is a senior at Royal High School in Simi Valley. In a recent English assignment, she was asked to write a personal statement. In it, she talks about a week-long summer retreat that she went on to serve families affected by disabilities. The camper she was assigned to was a young boy with Down’s syndrome. She writes, “As the families began to arrive, I stood with my camera ready to capture the first glimpse of Brycen… I picked it up held it to my right eye, my pointer finger on the button, and I stood there in amazement with a new perspective.” She concludes with, “I hope that with my photography I can touch the lives of people who are uneducated on social matters around the world. If I can capture just one moment-in-time that others would not have seen, but that could change their outlook on life, it will be the accomplishment of a lifetime. I want my art to change lives as it has changed mine.” When I read that, it was my own “Aha!” moment – a moment that made me understand that both her upbringing and her education gave her the gift to want to make a difference – through art. Where am I going with this? OK, it’s actually all about the kids. Our schools are full of students with “the-sky’s-the-limit” potential. They are like the sculptures called “The Captives.” These unfinished works of Michelangelo are caught at a point where they are emerging from the stone that they have been encased in from the beginning of time. The sculptor saw in them something that no other did… he slowly revealed the figures, but stopped short of completing the task. Arms and legs emerge from rough marble. They are struggling to free themselves. Like Hannah’s photos, they are a snapshot frozen in time. We can see the potential of the now, and the yet-to-come. Michelangelo saw in them this potential. Each student in our schools is filled with this same potential that must be nurtured, lest they be left behind like Michelangelo’s unfinished works. Sadly, the photography program at Hannah’s school has been canceled this year due to budget cuts. We must continue to support the arts in our schools and help these emerging artists and musicians to be complete in their education. One of the things I am most proud of is ACCV’s sponsorship of the educational music programs in the Conejo Valley. We are working hard to continue funding for this program and to develop more. Please support the Arts Council of the Conejo Valley. We continue being the “Voice of the Arts”, so our emerging leaders – our poets, prophets, painters and performers – have their own “Aha!” moments. With our support, they are the change our community and our world needs.

accv

Peace,

Rich Brimer
President and CEO
Arts Council of the Conejo Valley

Do you see it? II

Craig Detwiler is film maker, professor, writer and promoter of the arts in the Church. In this video (re-posted from his website) he passionately offers a call to ALL artists in the Church to create and inspire the world by harnessing beauty and creating great art for the Kingdom. Let me know what you think in the comments section below, and… let’s do something about it. I am thinking of an “Arts Collaborative” or arts center in Ventura County (and beyond…) where we can create Kingdom art… music, sculpture, graphics, film, music, photos, paintings – all of it. There are SO many churches around with no creative teams or dreams. So many creatives that sit and watch each week, not being available for kingdom advancement. What if we all got together and made something new… collected a bunch of people together and made a difference in our community, our world. I know that *I* want to do this a lot more. I think that there is an avenue for it, one that will support an arts center… but there needs to be some organization in this dream.

I am still dreaming and scheming of a way to get Blue Sky Arts Center, and all that it can be, off the ground… perhaps it can me many things. A training ground, a catalyst, an arts incubator. What do you think? Wanna be part of it?

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