Love this point you make Duane: "Hope has always been flimsy. That's how it stays supple enough to rise through the cracks of the concrete." It's as though a thinnest sliver of hope is enough of a wedge to divide and split pessimism.
Thanks so much Rebecca! So glad you like it! Sorry for the delay in getting to your question, but thank goodness for @Gloria Horton-Young! Thanks again!
There’s a link in his article that you click on and you can buy his art. I bought one so far and it is truly gorgeous. I will be buying many more pieces in the future.
No worries at all. Glad you found it. I try to update my shop with the new work from every newsletter. At some point I’ll add teh back catalog, there’s never enough hours in the day, lol.
I love this SO much Duane! I always say this on your page, because I truly mean it. Again and again, I am moved by the beauty of your words and art. I also love the flimsy image of hope. I have much hope these days, not for the physical world, but for the spirit world, which in my body and mind is way bigger than that which we can see and touch. And if I had a physical correlation- but I don't, hmmm, it might be gossamer. So my hope has elements of flimsy in it too. And, yes, so it can rise through the cracks of my soul. I wish you a lovely night.
Thank you so much Andrea! It’s always great to hear from you. “Gossamer” - YES! That is such a beautiful description! Something finely woven. Something sheer and almost floating. Thanks for sharing that with me!
Wonderful collection of collages! I’m not gonna say it - write it instead - but isn’t there a poem in the first lines of this? Lovely writing.
The word punk stands out for me and I think the optimists are a rare breed. But we need them as much as we need punks or we’d be left without a vision for a better future.
Thank you! I absolutely hate that the first few lines rhyme, lol. Definitely didn’t intend or want them to. Tried desperately to reword them, then gave up out frustration and impatience. (I hate writing so much , lol)
The optimist are rare and we really do them. Now perhaps more than ever. I wish I could be one of them. Implicit within all my work is the futile attempt to try to learn to be.
I don’t like rhyming poetry that much… but I didn’t even notice. Sometimes it’s inevitable. Seems like it happened just like that. See the writing knows better than you. But I know you don’t want the forced rhyming as that is not ideal. Though it does work sometimes. I need to go back and read again now and look for the rhyme. Making art, collage, writing, doing creative stuff is surely a little of an optimistic adventure. But I do get it. I think I’m an optimist! I still hope for things that are never ever gonna happen, but in my mind, there is a plan! Lovely work and thank you!
Totally agree. Sometimes i let it happen. Sometimes I actually look for it, because I like the rhythm it can bring to passages within an essay. But sometimes, it bothers me, lol.
I think, for me, making things is, perhaps, the highest form of hope, because it’s the embodied search for it. Some say write what you know, but I think it’s far more important to make what you need, create your way into what you’re missing. We make things not because we are hope-filled but because we need to find it, and we believe it can be.
So true! I see a book coming out of this response! I think write what you know is for the situations when someone gets stuck. If you write what you know then you can get to where you need to be.
I’m sure of so few things. There’s almost nothing I know with any real certainty. Instead, I tend to write what I wish I knew, or what I hope to understand someday.
Ok, I know you keep saying that you are not a writer, and, to be honest, labels don't matter in the end. You make things! But, what you make with your words is breathtaking.
The collages, of course, too, but you are very good with words!
Thanks Manuela! That’s so kind of you to say. It’s a funny paradox that happens, I only started to like some of the things I write when I stopped being a writer, lol. Thanks again!
Yes! Paul Ricoeur talks about an idea he calls the ‘second naivete’, a kind of return to belief after passing through the critical distance provided through unbelief. I think about this a lot. i suppose its part of what I’m looking for in my work. Thanks again!
much appreciated Ben! So great seeing you again! Just trying to do the slow iterative work of getting better, lol. Somedays its forward, others it feels more like backwards. I just try to keep doing it anyway. Thanks again!
Love this point you make Duane: "Hope has always been flimsy. That's how it stays supple enough to rise through the cracks of the concrete." It's as though a thinnest sliver of hope is enough of a wedge to divide and split pessimism.
Well said! It’s that crevice in the midst of pessimism that I find myself often. I think with everything I make I’m trying to pry it open.
I love all of these the last one at the bottom is my favorite. Do you sell these?
Thanks so much Rebecca! So glad you like it! Sorry for the delay in getting to your question, but thank goodness for @Gloria Horton-Young! Thanks again!
There’s a link in his article that you click on and you can buy his art. I bought one so far and it is truly gorgeous. I will be buying many more pieces in the future.
Oooh thank you I don’t know how I missed that
His work is lovely.
Awe, thank you Gloria!
No worries at all. Glad you found it. I try to update my shop with the new work from every newsletter. At some point I’ll add teh back catalog, there’s never enough hours in the day, lol.
Thanks so much Gloria! I appreciate the help!
I love this SO much Duane! I always say this on your page, because I truly mean it. Again and again, I am moved by the beauty of your words and art. I also love the flimsy image of hope. I have much hope these days, not for the physical world, but for the spirit world, which in my body and mind is way bigger than that which we can see and touch. And if I had a physical correlation- but I don't, hmmm, it might be gossamer. So my hope has elements of flimsy in it too. And, yes, so it can rise through the cracks of my soul. I wish you a lovely night.
Thank you so much Andrea! It’s always great to hear from you. “Gossamer” - YES! That is such a beautiful description! Something finely woven. Something sheer and almost floating. Thanks for sharing that with me!
If my address didn’t show up, Duane, let me know 😊
hi Paul, was it “icon at the center” that you ordered? If so the address came through and I’ll get it in the mail to you first thing tomorrow.
That's it, Duane - Thank you!
Awesome! Thanks Paul!!
Awesome work, Duane!
Wonderful collection of collages! I’m not gonna say it - write it instead - but isn’t there a poem in the first lines of this? Lovely writing.
The word punk stands out for me and I think the optimists are a rare breed. But we need them as much as we need punks or we’d be left without a vision for a better future.
Thank you! I absolutely hate that the first few lines rhyme, lol. Definitely didn’t intend or want them to. Tried desperately to reword them, then gave up out frustration and impatience. (I hate writing so much , lol)
The optimist are rare and we really do them. Now perhaps more than ever. I wish I could be one of them. Implicit within all my work is the futile attempt to try to learn to be.
I don’t like rhyming poetry that much… but I didn’t even notice. Sometimes it’s inevitable. Seems like it happened just like that. See the writing knows better than you. But I know you don’t want the forced rhyming as that is not ideal. Though it does work sometimes. I need to go back and read again now and look for the rhyme. Making art, collage, writing, doing creative stuff is surely a little of an optimistic adventure. But I do get it. I think I’m an optimist! I still hope for things that are never ever gonna happen, but in my mind, there is a plan! Lovely work and thank you!
Totally agree. Sometimes i let it happen. Sometimes I actually look for it, because I like the rhythm it can bring to passages within an essay. But sometimes, it bothers me, lol.
I think, for me, making things is, perhaps, the highest form of hope, because it’s the embodied search for it. Some say write what you know, but I think it’s far more important to make what you need, create your way into what you’re missing. We make things not because we are hope-filled but because we need to find it, and we believe it can be.
So true! I see a book coming out of this response! I think write what you know is for the situations when someone gets stuck. If you write what you know then you can get to where you need to be.
I’m sure of so few things. There’s almost nothing I know with any real certainty. Instead, I tend to write what I wish I knew, or what I hope to understand someday.
And you will!
Ok, I know you keep saying that you are not a writer, and, to be honest, labels don't matter in the end. You make things! But, what you make with your words is breathtaking.
The collages, of course, too, but you are very good with words!
Thanks Manuela! That’s so kind of you to say. It’s a funny paradox that happens, I only started to like some of the things I write when I stopped being a writer, lol. Thanks again!
“Sometimes naivete is precisely what we need in order to better confront the wiles of reality.” 🙏
Yes! Paul Ricoeur talks about an idea he calls the ‘second naivete’, a kind of return to belief after passing through the critical distance provided through unbelief. I think about this a lot. i suppose its part of what I’m looking for in my work. Thanks again!
Beautiful work!
Much appreciated! So glad you like it!
"the existence of another self" is beautifully composed, Duane.
Thanks Kim! I feel like it’s one of those pieces that put itself together, I just happened to be there to witness it, lol.
All creativity is that way, Duane. If you don't bring it to life, someone else will... but YOU did!
Absolutely! The work almost always knows more than I do, I just try to listen, lol.
Emphatically—Yes! 🚀💛
Thank you Ann!
much appreciated Ben! So great seeing you again! Just trying to do the slow iterative work of getting better, lol. Somedays its forward, others it feels more like backwards. I just try to keep doing it anyway. Thanks again!