Unger the Wyer
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| Happy Mac |
The New Year brings with it some fun times ahead (hopefully) as its been cast and propped already -the stage is set. On the docket this year it looks like Aberrant Press will be trying to hit more conventions as well keeping time with 1st Friday. Motivation lately has been to continue to building-up product; our set-up is all hammered out so all there ever needs to be is a continued push to create new pieces and projects to populate the table(s) - where ever. Scatter-shot method just don't cut-it, when I go about my routine I jump around a lot from idea / thought to another - .PSD format .tif for tat. dibble-dabble(d) files strewn thru-out unlabeled folders. It becomes a daily routine not only backing-up files but just trashing / managing them as well. Not unlike the paper shredder under my analog desk and the waste bin supposing. Sadly I've struggled to really get back up-to speed for whatever reason (NHL being back doesn't help) oft-times I'll find myself mucked and mired in an idea to the point of seclusion. Its that way with music; getting lost for hours playing with sounds or even just enjoying a particularly good cut. Finding now I have to give better structure to my routine. Its not enough just waking up early I've got to till the soil and be more focused on just one project at a time. When not drawing I'm at least trying to write more and I've been going on week-long writing binges drunk on metaphor and tripping on the rhythm of english prose. With the new year of course comes a good deal of house-cleaning. Sometimes when I don't feel I'm getting anything done I try to clean and straighten up my work environment so at least I can look around and feel I accomplished something... an old trick but it works.
Featured here [left] is morning mantra bombing w/ coffee. One of the things people loose sight of continually is that if you're not putting in the work you'll never get there. Where ever "there" is for you.. I know lots of cats who (like myself at times) seem to wait for inspiration to strike them. Sure, while it can happen at the oddest times I don't think it'll ever really beam-down unless you're making an active effort to tap into it. I've often dreamed of having the ability to infuse inanimate objects with ponderous life - along the lines of Mickey Mouse in "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" where he makes the broom sticks do all the work for him. Would be amazing to bring a pencil to life and dictate it's every movement, laying back and letting it do all the work. Shockingly I've yet to come across the magical working to allow myself such a luxury. When I hear people talk about their ideas / aspirations and see them not really trying I often think of Mickey and his magic hat. Truth of the matter is you have to make the moves to set things in motion and without that the Muse doesn't bother to even pay a visit. I've had to check my ego at the door many times; to think that the ideas and creative vision I have is mine alone... tend to think not, it's all out there floating about in the aether waiting for us to harvest like fruit from a tree. Honest injun I believe it cause I've felt it, everyone has when you daydream or when you're especially in-tune with your craft. I use mantra throughout the day especially in the mornings when I'm still shaking the Sandman's dust from my eyes. When telling myself, "it's not going to draw itself" it's a way for me to focus and realize I haven't earned the right to wear a magical sorcerer's hat just yet and thus the paper will remain blank till I exert my will upon it. Mantra is a good way to stay on track, taking it all one step further and putting it into form by writing it down can be seen as giving life to that idea. It'd be folly / unwise to disregard the power of the written / printed word, language is magic in how it conjures up images in our minds like connect the dots - trace back along the lines and I'm sure you'll be surprised at what you'll find. Finishing what you started and just making deadlines for projects is enough motivation for me - reaping the good feelings of seeing something completed can be pretty good rush, yeh?
So we're kicking off the convention circuit w/ Amazing Arizona in Phoenix this month (January) and we're not looking back. Making the conscious effort to hit as many conventions as we can this year and already have a number of them penned in on the calendar. Amazing Arizona has been going on now for a couple year but this will be our first time attending - thankfully we'll be doing so as exhibitors rather than just being there to be there. Conventions are always fun but I'm not sure what to expect from this one; after reading some stories online about past years it sounds like it's growing and thats a good thing. Checking out the exhibitor/vendor list [link] I noticed we won't be alone, couple other Vegas heads will be in attendance chief among them Deryl Skelton. So heres to it...*
