New Project

(Quel réactionism!) *Artist David Black conducts a workshop on Tunisian collaborative painting with League students and artists:


I am beginning a new curatorial project focusing on the collaborative nature of art-making. Hmmmmm, more details to follow in the months to come. Do stay tuned!


(A collaborative work, I co-created some years ago; "An Ode to Gaugin"!)

Hometown Holiday Season: Drebing Collection Reception Tonight

"Nearly 30 years after his death, sculptor Earl Drebing is getting his first big show.

Titled “She Brought Us His Gifts,” the exhibition will run through December at Pegasus Gallery, 361 S.W. Second St. The gallery will host a reception from 5 to 9 p.m. Thursday, November 18, 2010.

The show features more than two dozen finished sculptures and a number of fragments.

Drebing, a self-taught California artist who died in 1983, never had a major showing of his work during his lifetime. His sculptures went into storage after his death and only resurfaced in 2009, when his stepdaughter, Corvallis-area resident Jewels Drebing, brought some samples of his work to Pegasus.

Many of the works are highly realistic masks or heads executed from plaster life masks. What makes them unique is Drebing’s artistic process, which he developed himself.

Using the plaster masks as a framework, Drebing would overlay them with a mixture of wood shavings and airplane glue to create the finished sculptures, many of which have large, elaborate bases of carved or inlaid wood.

Drebing’s work was the subject of a lengthy article in the July 18 Gazette-Times and a subsequent documentary film that has aired several times on Channel 29, the Corvallis public-access cable channel. The film will air several times this month, with showings at 2 p.m. today, 2 and 9:30 p.m. Thursday, 10:30 a.m. Saturday, 10:30 a.m. Sunday, and 12:30 and 5:30 p.m. Monday." *This article was originally printed in the GT/Corvallis, OR, Tuesday, November 16, 2010


Bill Shumway, artist & co-owner Pegasus Gallery

What's Happening Now!

There is a small reception for an "en Plein Air" exhibit at the Pegasus Gallery this Thursday from 6 to 9:30-ish, in which my artwork is playing a supporting role with 5 of my works included in this exhibit. (*Find the address & directions on the website.)
Yet the bigger, splashier reception is scheduled for the 2nd Thursday, same time-frame in November! This is the one show that I would like people to consider coming to, to see my work, as the regional landscape show will play host to the Drebing Collection! Quite the local intrigue. Truly!
*Also of note, is the most recent consignment of a Marc Chagall etching, available for viewing on request at Pegasus Gallery. A heads up for the true print collector!

Thinking about Stillness_ and Noticing

"Beauty Arises In The Stillness Of Your Presence

What you have just described is something that I have occasionally experienced for brief moments when I am alone and surrounded by nature.

Yes, Zen masters use the word satori to describe a flash of insight, a moment of no-mind and total presence. Although satori is not a lasting transformation, be grateful when it comes, for it gives you a taste of enlightenment. You may, indeed, have experienced it many times without knowing what it is and realizing its importance. Presence is needed to become aware of the beauty, the majesty, the sacredness of nature. Have you ever gazed up into the infinity of space on a clear night, awestruck by the absolute stillness and inconceivable vastness of it? Have you listened, truly listened to the sound of a mountain stream in the forest? Or to the song of a blackbird at dusk on a quiet summer evening? To become aware of such things, the mind needs to be still. You have to put down for a moment your personal baggage of problems, of past and future, as well as all of your knowledge; otherwise, you will see but not see, hear but not hear. Your total presence is required.
Beyond the beauty of the external forms, there is more here: something that cannot be named, something ineffable. some deep, inner, holy essence. Whenever and wherever there is beauty, this inner essence shines through somehow. It only reveals itself to you when you are present. Could it be that this nameless essence and your presence are one and the same? Would it be there without your presence? Go deeply into it. Find out for yourself.

When you experience these moments of presence, you likely didn’t realize that you were briefly in a state of no-mind. This is because the gap between that state and the influx of thought was too narrow. Your satori may have only lasted a few seconds before the mind came in, but it was there; otherwise, you would not have experienced the beauty. Mind can neither recognize nor create beauty. Only for a few seconds, while you were completely present, was that beauty or that sacredness there. Because the narrowness of that gap and a lack of vigilance and alertness on your part, you were probably unable to see the fundamental difference between perception, the thoughtless awareness of beauty, and the naming and interpreting of it as thought: the time gap was so small that it seemed to be a single process. The truth is, however, that the moment thought came in, all you had was a memory of it.

The wider the time gap between perception and thought, the more depth there is to you as a human being, which is to say the more conscious you are.

Many people are so imprisoned in their minds that the beauty of nature does not really exist for them. They might say, “What a pretty flower,” but that’s just a mechanical mental labeling. Because they are not still, not present, they don’t truly see the flower, don’t feel its essence, its holiness_ just as they don’t know themselves, don’t feel their own essence, their own holiness.

Because we live in such a mind-dominated culture, most modern art, architecture, music and literature are devoid of beauty, of inner essence, with very few exceptions. the reason is that the people who created those things cannot_ even for a moment_ free themselves from their mind. So they are never in touch with that place within where true creativity and beauty arise. The mind left to itself creates monstrosities, and not only in art galleries. Look at our urban landscapes and industrial wastelands. No civilization has ever produced so much ugliness." _Eckhart Tolle, The Power of NOW, pgs. 96-98

A New Day! An Incredible Epiphany!

TRUST! Trust in me!! It is with this profound insight, revisited that I start this day!! Trust is my teacher in life right now. I know that I really want to consciously know this relationship within more deeply, and eventually to share this growing part of me with everyone! There is much to listen to in my inner being; this deeper truth of who I am... What I am wishing you is great, deep trust in yourself everyday!

Rufus, the final sketches- a comparative

If you have been keeping up with the process and progress of Rufus' portrait, his painting two-thirds complete_ is on-hold for now. I am so disappointed. Rightfully, albeit graciously, so is my client.
Even though the canvas as I say is two-thirds complete, and I have completed all four of the full-color drawings I knew I wanted to do in order to learn this dog, and get myself back into the habit of looking, seeing, and drawing in order to paint after nine years(!)_ it just got to be too tough to get through a creative project without my own roof over my own head! All the while attempting to keep up with a traditional job search, living in someone else's home who is unyielding and quite giving in real limitation, (yes it is a paradox!)_ think though, for the past twenty years I have been sovereign in my own queen-dom! Nonetheless, as awkward and disappointing as everything is right now, I am equally_ awkwardly grateful!
It is such a huge transition I am making in my life, and I really don't have quite the adequate resources to do it properly, to be affective economically and individually at the same time! I am pulled in too many directions where just an ounce of right resource support would make a universe of difference for the better!!
I think over and over, between meditating and looking for work I could sure do with an old-fashioned rescue: re-defined in an updated and healthy context! (i., e.; No obligations of sex for money or marriage, kind-of-fantasy_ bluntly put.) Just intelligent, human being-to-human being trust in the invested, based on my track record! Just plainly and simply, because you can and want to, and that is fulfillment enough for you.
Meanwhile, as sad as it feels not to be finishing this project and beautiful portrait, still(!) in the making, I will come back to Rufus when I am reestablished in my own place! I am a follow-through person. My client, has at least assuaged me with a good-hearted agreement to revisit this possibility, when that wonderful time comes.

As the wheel turns and I embrace the traditional job search full time again, I have also put out a new calling card/ business in art, to keep creatively active and try another approach to earning money by my trade. This approach is in a more streamlined manner, and meant to accompany the renewed full time search for the job-job_ the details of my newest hunger to be creatively fulfilled, can be found sketched out_ here. It is what I call painting the muralette: small murals, commemorating what is important in your life, for a set price! Done inside your home or office in a four-hour turn around from hire to finish! Simple, memorable, pleasurable imagery!

So come on world, be open enough! Be awake enough! Be brave enough! Allow in beauty enough to celebrate your world! Be open-minded enough! Support the artist enough!
Do you know how you got your favorite anything in your world? Design! Someone creative had to put the intelligence into making any object you may take for granted. It has to be functional for your use! That is all about design. So how valuable is the artist in community?!
Listen, most all artists do earnestly want to work for a living (doing their own work) and thereby be financially able to independently provide themselves their own place to live. How hard is that?! It's wanting a life that works, just like everyone else. Therefore, check out my new muralette idea and hire the artist! Thanks_ really!

By the way, I have posted all four of those color studies of Rufus on this blog. You can see them in the scrolling slide show at the top, or you can go back to December '07 and look over the progress posted to this blog, through the months to June '08. Again, thanks for your interest and support of goodwill at the very least! Hire the artist to assist you in beautifying your world! Celebrate! This is your life!

The Launch of a New Project blog

Ok! Here it is! I got the site launched late last night. There are rough spots perhaps, yet I wanted to get the idea out there no matter what. Being good at what I do, I would rather get out there and connect with people so I can help others to enjoy in their special moments in life!
Use these muralettes as gifts for yourself, someone you love, a friend or special person you care about, a boss or someone in your life to whom you wish to communicate something special; something important to you both!

I will be launching this idea on craigslist in the next few minutes, so I look forward to hearing from you!
I am really excited about the journey to paint that special muralette for you, or someone you care about and wish to communicate more than words can say. A special image to be shared and enjoyed about a special place, a special time, special idea, goal, or object of desire in the goodness of the heart!

The Final sketch for the Painting

I will replace this image maybe tomorrow. If one looks closely there is a shadow from the 'batch automation' process!
Yes, that is a Fall season reflecting river with no leaves on the grass! You could say that I was excited to get it finished...! They will be in the painting itself. Still this image deserves a lot of touch-up time in, PhotoShop!
When I do get into the painting tomorrow, I am thinking of giving the light more gold, hence all the colors will appear a little less "Easter egg-ish" in tone; slightly more toned down! Maybe it is just the fallen leaves that are needed and that will tone down the grass.

Painting Rufus

On the canvas in stage one, blocking in color and shapes.

As I stumble through to completion of this project, general attention jumps around quite a bit. In life, there is great transitioning from what was, to what is yet to be. This "Timeless Rhythms" journal has been created at the headwaters of this feed of my past life into the big river of life.
Like-wise, my focus on, and efforts to produce art also reflects the struggles and jostling with reality I continue to experience. What serious obstacle continues to repeat from the past, is too much isolation. Isolation, in trying to figure out what is holding up attention and ability to move forward in a coordinated manner between creating householder reality, and navigating out in the world as a multi-dimensional artist, woman and cultural human being.
At this stage of experience with paint and life, I sometimes call myself a Well-being Lifestyle Diplomat.
Wow, what has this got to do with the painting of Rufus in the now, you ask? Short answer? EVERYTHING!
Every stroke on the canvas is completely dependent or connected to the whole life-frame I have been testing and developing, for a very long time. An original vision that has guided my presence in, and healthy understanding of life since early childhood. All of my attention and priority has been intuitively focused on an individual whole-picture commitment for over twenty years, and now that foundation is strong.
What seems confounding at present, is what I call the appearance of distractions persisting in my immediate experiences; general responses to my intentions for creative work don't seem readily understood by most everyday people. Hence, the interconnected whole doesn't even make it to the table in a typical conversation... help! While it is true that I have counted on subtlety in large measure, assuming the intelligence of people to 'get it,' it appears that maybe it is me that doesn't get it... or is it a combination of factors that culminates in too little of any one forward moving element? Help!
I think, a team willing to take the time to learn from me could easily trust in my vision.
Then, the context of an appropriate place to work and live this commitment, would truly combine to answer my deepest nighttime conversations with the infinite!
The whole-picture impact of my work would be of perfect timing in the world now, as crisis impacts more and more everyday. I am quite good at facilitating BEING with what is... this is the truth that raises one's quality of life experiences with reality as it is happening. What happens in an individual's responses from this alignment in body/mind consciousness is truly what humans have historically referred to as the miraculous!
Even as I continue to simultaneously pursue a traditional job search, I put this intention for support to create for the greater good out into the world, and release all attachment to this request as much as I am able.

Just about half-way across the world...

In fact, from about right here in: Iraklion, Irakleion, Greece, as it shows up exactly on my stat counter. Maybe even Virginia...

In the land of the Ancient Goddess, an anxious patron is significantly upping the traffic to my art blog. Bring some of the locals along for the view!

Here, I post new image progress on the canvas:



Continue to be patient and enjoy your travels. I am making my own progress in the inner and outer worlds, traveling closer to the land of the finished painting and hopefully, closer too, to happy employment everyday.

Σας ευλογήστε

Exploring the PDX Art Scene & Employment/Networking Possiblities therein!

First, I believe I did a smart thing by getting onto this young man's email list! Ah-h-h, the prolific energy of youth when intelligently, creatively directed well!


Next, I linked out of Chris' site to find these two inspiring young women artists and entrepreneurs!

(P-s-s-st! They're ALL entrepreneurs!)

Then, by doing some in-depth exploration on the work of Tamara


and Martha,


I happened into this cool little video on making your own zine!
It is instructed by none other than another PDX or maybe an LA artist.

Well, you watch it and see what you think!

Rufus!

This morning is March 20, 2008, Thursday. The day after I originally posted the latest round of Rufus drawings.
I had gotten up much earlier this morning, planning to write a brief synopsis of what stage the drawing process is in for my subject. What stage of creating I am in, as I get closer to committing to the painting that Rufus as subject, will ultimately become.
As a brief aside, one of a relevant few that may confirm potentially forming apprehensions that this is a morning, side-tracked.
Yet irresistibly, you must read on:
Last night, I was talking with another artist colleague. We were agreeing that posting artwork on the web is an intriguing visual experience: to look at our individual work in another medium.
Take these drawings of Rufus for example. I am noticing that the Prisma colors that make up the drawings look so velvety, all the more visually sensual when I stare at them on my computer monitor! I love looking them!

I also had planned to go to Seattle today, to check out the weather and other employment details of interest to me. Yet, thus far yes, I have let myself get sidetracked. Instead, I seem to be in Tibet, looking at wonderful people and their stories through their photography, as I found it on a "blog of note."
The idea to create a blog for a variety of Tibetan voices and views seems to be facilitated by a non-profit in NYC, called: Bread & Roses! Their goal for this and other photography projects around the globe as I understand, is to have the photos exhibited in a variety of venues in order to make the unseen, seen_ une idée naturellement qui est bonne! And because I have allowed myself a detour, I know this day has already been blessed.
I have cried recognizing the universality present in these images. That they are accompanied by very humble, articulate, and simultaneously noble personal stories enriches the viewing. I have learned these are life-stories in pictures and words, from a variety of Tibetan people currently in exile in Dharamsala, in Northern India.
Through this project, I have experienced an intimate glimpse into a way of being in the world: Tibetans who are of a spiritual history and culture, a human presence that embraces life in ways that are inspiring for me. Because of this detour, I am grateful to be a little bit better aware through their own words, their own images of a people I know I already love.
Yet, as an observer of other cultures this sounds very lame as I write it.
I have access to the Internet thereby experiencing the world at my fingers... but it isn't enough.
This recognition brings me back to my original intention for today, the reason for checking out Seattle in the first place: the job search.
My job search.
I am interested in connecting to meaningful work, where currently my own arduous transition, still seems to involve traversing no particularly dangerous mountain passes. Nonetheless, there are metaphoric and social mountains that do take their toll when one works vigilantly to find the good job. I won't quit until I find it, and even then, there will be countless opportunities to reinvest in it so that I continue to grow! My 'escape' to good work, is to connect to what I know at last I can be successful doing. To work in a setting I can stay with, will also help a lot.
I want to be effectively participative with the world, right along side many other employed people!
I have skills, a degree and I have a deep desire to work well and long. Now, where is my job and first right place of work in this world!?!
Pace and environment are my two criteria for success, oh, and the right money is also a factor. Wait, hang on! Hello? ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...!
That was my daughter! It's the morning break where she is training at her new job, and she called me! How cool is that?!
She is spending spring break training (and studying!) to work in a bike shop. Last summer she impressed two of the women working there, with all her enthusiasm for building her own bike so, they offered her a job!
We are actually a cool family. I am an artist who really wants a day job and has the skills and chops to back it up! My daughter is a music major at a very good school, and right now she wants to work on bikes!
It is this isolation, the helplessness one feels when one is unemployed that is a wasteful experience. Ok! I hear the voices saying the differences between successful people and those who wish to be successful... I am continuously doing stuff to keep my skills updated, knowing full well this is the kind of stuff that puts more polish on the rés...

Meanwhile the morning's adventures have also included another light-hearted stop here to visit cowgirls with dogs, both of whom I would like to know and know better! Oop! Time to get back to the drawings and painting then.

How's your day startin' out?

This just in...

I believe life happens the way it is supposed to, as horrible in many situations as that may be unfolding for any human being, myself included. Never-the-less, this bit of wisdom has arrived in my email box today, I believe to keep me going right now. Maybe it holds wisdom appropriate for you on your path today as well: ‘Social evolution is the result of interaction between two wholly distinct factors: the individual… bearing all the power of initiative and origination in their own hands; and, second, the social environment, with its power of adopting or rejecting both the individual and their gifts. Both factors are essential to change. The community stagnates without the impulse of the individual. The impulse dies away without the sympathy of the community.’ - paraphrased from, William James (1842-1910)

We are all connected. For society to evolve, its individuals must evolve. In order for individuals to evolve, we must be supported by society. Our growth goes hand in hand. When you look at how certain trends arise, you can find some examples of just how this works. Yoga has been around for centuries, yet just recently here in the west, it has become something of a phenomenon! It seems like there are yoga studios popping up everywhere. Likewise as more individuals become vegetarians, perhaps we’ll have more vegetarian and really healthy foods restaurants to choose from. The relationship between the individual and society can create remarkable evolution!


The key of course, for those who do not know, is to take wisdom metaphorically to your own circumstances, not literally! May you recognize wisdom (in you) on your path today.

A First!

I am on a journey. Perhaps this is a journey of reconnecting to a significant part of me.
Some moments in a life seem to happen as they are, and some happen simultaneously laden with wonder. It behooves us all to be conscious enough to recognize all the moments of our life when they occur... this is one for me:

Recently, I have been commissioned to paint a very special portrait_ the portrait of a beloved animal companion.
In order to keep my client informed of its progress, I have planned to post the portrait's drawing-painting process to my blog. This may happen daily, and posting the progress may also happen more sporadically.

Today, I begin posting with my first, very rough warm-up sketch started last night, and finished this morning. It is of a random puppy from the cover of a magazine. With it, I am simply warming up on many fronts, in choosing this image of canine devotion.
I am inviting you to join this journey; to tune in and watch the progress of this portrait.

The journey begins...


















warm-up sketch in pen on paper, 12/09-10/07