Robert John Cook's art show #20

Gratitude

I’ve been getting emails and phone calls from some of you, and we’ve been talking a lot about these hard times. These depressing times as some of you call it. Some of you have noted there seems to be a lot of anger going around right now. The scale of the economic problems as we struggle with two wars, jobs being lost, car manufacturing on it’s way out the door, these are no doubt times of uncertainty. Our day to day security is in question. There’s plenty of reason to be angry.

Can you believe the antenna on car broke, the only channel I can get is a local station in Hyannis, one hundred percent conservative talk radio. And me the worlds biggest liberal. Oh boy. When I absolutely have to I will turn the radio on and get an earful of Rush Limbaugh or Laura Ingram. I noticed before the elections they were slamming Obama and loving Palin. Now, yipes, the talk radio is filled with outrageous anger. Now I can understand anger about losing an election – I went though anger with Bush being elected, twice. It hurt.

Now I know there are some of you listening to show that are conservative republicans – I know you listen to my show because you’ve emailed me whenever I say how much I love Obama. Time will heal the wound the election has caused you, and the economy will survive, and no war lasts forever, and cars will be manufactured. I believe in Obama and I believe he is our hope. With that said I’m going to the inauguration, and I’m doing so out of gratitude. I’m grateful.

During these hard times is difficult to find good reason for being grateful, but each of us have reasons for our gratitude. I have gratitude for each one of you. You are my friends. If self-worth could be measured by the amount of joy, support, and motivation from friends like you I’d be a millionaire. The side you don’t see of me is when I work privately in the studio. I put the headphones on and away I go.

A dear friend recently sent me an email regarding a unique perspective on the works of Anais Nin.

I love AnaVs Nin! The highlighted quote said "Consciousness is not painful if one is going somewhere, doing or creating something with it." My thought was that "Consciousness is not based on pain, but rather it is the very act of going somewhere, doing or creating something with it." I mention this, and how it relates to gratitude and being grateful because the view into life's hologram and 'seeing' the bigger picture comes from keeping busy and creating. I am grateful to keep busy, my gratitude is that each of you propel me with desire to create, to be busy at my work to paint, to do this show, to greet each of you in your supportive emails or phone calls. I am thankful for each of you because you add a dimension of excitement and purpose to my work that motivates me. You easily lift my mind from the day-to-day negativity. Thank you for that. I’m also grateful for having a place to go and contemplate my thoughts, my emotions. The place for me as an artist to do my work rests in a peaceful place called creativity. I can go there and let my mind wander as it weaves in and out of whatever is in my mind or in my heart. Putting conflict at ease is the foundation for most art, I believe. I mention this because thinking though struggles, emotions, hard times, etc makes it look like the greater the quantity of thought the better the art. This is probably the case in that the greater the turmoil for the artist to consider is directly proportional to the amount of energy the artist needs to spend contemplating his or her relaxation in response to the turmoil. The more time to think the more time spend on the art. The more time spent on the art the better the final product.   Sometimes I don’t like my final product, maybe because I don’t think it’s good enough, or perhaps it doesn’t say what I wanted it to say. But I am always grateful for the opportunity to have been put in a place of comfort, where I can put on my iPod, listen to good music, know you guys are standing there with me as I work. No matter how my final product turns out, I am grateful for the experience. So, if I haven’t said thank you to each of you I meant to and do so now. Thanks!

 

Lunch with Harry Holl

As many of you know I am a deeply spiritual person. I am one who believes that everything happens for a reason. Now some of you might recall the CD I made of a song I wrote for Harry Holl way back when. I went into the recording studio and laid down a song I wrote for Harry based on the wonderful documentary on his life and art, and gave it to him with my gratitude for his wonderful words of wisdom. So how odd is it that a music friend of mine who knows Harry not from art, but instead by his wife’s job in working with Harry, should suggest I have lunch with Harry? I mentioned this music friend’s request to Harry’s daughter one day and after several months it came to be. Now I say this as a preface because in between the time my music friend suggested I have lunch with Harry and the time Harry’s daughter made the arrangements months passed. In those months between my music friend’s suggestion and Harry’s daughter making preparations two totally different friends of mine both highly recommended a book called Lust For Life, the biography of Vincent van Gogh. I absolutely loved this book. My friends were right, they knew I would love this book, and I am so grateful they recommended it.

Last week, on that cool day in fall when the sun shines the brightest I had lunch with Harry. We sat in his kitchen, and from his small wooden table in we looked out though the floor to ceiling windows. If his post and beam cabin had a wood stove burning I would have believed we where sitting in the mountains of Vermont. The view out the expansive windows to Harry’s sculpture garden was as mesmerizing as Harry’s sculptures that were strategically placed in artful as well as meaningful locations in his garden. It was one of those unique moments in my life that I knew I would recall many years from now as being special.

I mentioned to Harry that I liked a painting hung on the wall that a friend of Harry’s had given him. Harry said his friend painted for fifty years and never sold a painting. Sounds like van Gogh I said to Harry. Harry looked at me and instantly recanted the entire book I had just finished reading. It turns out Harry’s favorite book was Lust For Life. We spend the rest of the afternoon talking about van Gogh, and how, and why, his paintings were marketed after his death. Harry’s couldn’t get the words out fast enough. He was so excited. His energy was contagious.

Understanding van Gogh has helped me visual myself in my art world, but understanding Harry Holl’s view of van Gogh has provided me the chance to understand the art of Harry Holl in a unique way. And I said at the front of this story, how wonderful a world it is that we are surrounded by such spiritual gifts. Gotta be grateful for that!

 

Plugs

Karen Billard & Elaine Cohen. The new Color Obsession Gallery located at 15 Joy Street in South Cape Village, Mashpee (near the Mashpee Rotary turn on Route 28). For more information call 508-246-6246 or visit www.ColorObsessionGallery.com.

Deb Donovan: The Crucilbe opens tonight at 7:30 at Harwich High School. Another performance tomorrow. Tickets are $10.00 for adult $5.00 for students.

Greg Johnson, 2:00 - 5:00 at O’Shea’s Olde Inn for Irish Session, and 6:00 - 8:00 for Blues Jam

 

Reception for Lauren Wolk's Flights of Fancy. The Cultural Center of Cape Cod will host a reception on December 5 from 4:00 - 7:00 pm for Lauren Wolk's exhibit of odd birdhouses and other "Flights of Fancy." The exhibit will be on display through Christmas. The Cultural Center of Cape Cod is located at 307 Old Main Street in South Yarmouth. For more information call 508-394-7100 or visit www.cultural-center.org

Mary Moquin at www.addisonart.com www.capecodfineartist.com

Amy Rice’s Woodruff’s Art Center this Sunday, 11/23, 4-7 pm