ART BLOG: With better hands, the brushes are calling once again...

My last commission did me in...For a while, that

Lazy Dayz Lane inspired me to pick up
the brushes and paint it...you could say
it got me started again...

is.  Like writing, painting is equally compelling for Yours Truly. Many of you dear readers have followed along and know that I was a painting fool while up on THE MOUNTAIN in Canton, Texas.

I'll be painting from here...

Since our lives have come back to normal again: the day job, the residence/studio surrounding us, not to mention the simple fact that what might happen tomorrow is a little more predictable, ART is calling

My Impression of Lazy Dayz...
Almost all of it was lost in the fire

me back.  

This blog is up and running at full steam once more--thank you all for following--and we are back in

planning stages for publication of more NOVELS, and with my PMA back under control--little or no hand/shoulder pain to slow me down--I feel the need to gesso up a few dozen canvasses and start getting all the fantastic landscape impressions out of my head.

Impression composed of many Mountain Elements

Of course, as always, I'll once again be accepting commissions as well; more than a few of you have asked for an impressionist interpretation of a photograph you've been holding onto, thinking: this would make a great painting!

We starving artists stay alive by working on just this sort of work.  So, if you have a spot of earth you feel like you would want--or better yet, need--to have captured on canvas, I'm back in business and at the ready to talk with you about YOUR PAINTING.

It took many years to develop the particular style that I use.  Working with it up on THE MOUNTAIN in Canton, having folks stand around behind me as I painted, allowed me the rare chance of instant feedback on what I was doing with brush, pallet knife and paint.  That feedback was just the thing I needed to take my

Mountain Boardwalk
from behind Mardi Gras

work to the next level: Work that people would BUY!  It didn't hurt that on many occasions, art sellers, reps, show agents etc. came by to watch as well as to invite us to one show or another.

If you want to own an S. Bond Herndon original work, just make contact with Yours Truly, or with The Fabulous Feathermaye 

on our facebook links, where you can pretty much always find us.  We'll discuss the sort of piece you want, price it according to materials and the time it takes to finish the work.

The value of these sorts of paintings I can only

Pen & Ink Mountain Tree Buildings

leave to those who've made a life out of setting such estimations.  

However, rest assured that the finished piece will be something that I'm happy, and proud to have put so much time

This is a series of sketches that depict
market on The Mountain...

and, yes, pain into.  

...and the flare and flavor of the
unique market venue

Such is ART...

Just so you know...
All of my new work will be accompanied by a step-by-step video that will document the methods I use, as well as materials.  Much of the work I'm about to undertake will be MOUNTAIN settings that I sketched on THE MOUNTAIN, Canton, Texas...Since my PMA interrupted the last several pieces I had intentions of doing.

Your commissioned work will likewise be accompanied by video documentation, parts of which we will post for you as it is underway.

We hope to hear from you soon and look forward to discussing the work you want; and, hope to see you up on The Mountain next market!

Just to the right of this post you'll see the donation block where you can donate to help those afflicted by the fire that devastated the buildings and shops along LAZY DAYZ LANE.  Please give, even just a little to help out those owners as well as the first responders that helped save the rest of THE MOUNTAIN!

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FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN: Birth of the "Mountain Strong" fund raising campaign...

Whether you've spent a little time on THE MOUNTAIN in Canton, TX., or you have spent the night in one of the B&B's, roamed the lanes and shopped for something unusual, sang a little karaoke, or maybe sat on one of the many porches to listen to a singer-songwriter do his or her thing, you've tasted the magic of The Mountain, and took it with you...

You may, or may not yet know, that a fire

broke out in the wee hours of Saturday

morning 11/09/13, and the old boardwalk area, just above Buffalo Girls, was destroyed.

Old Mill Marketplace/The Mountain has established a fund raising campaign--Go Mountain Strong--to help those that lost everything, the general push to clean up and restore our wonderful MOUNTAIN, as well as a donation to the

first-responders whose gallant efforts saved the rest of the shops and B&Bs from the flames by containing them; a feat of supreme effort on their parts kept the fire from spreading and limited the potential damage

Please dig deep and help us rebuild THE MOUNTAIN and come along with us as we GO MOUNTAIN STRONG!

December market starts Thursday, November 28th, and runs through Sunday December 1st.

Come join us for a strong Christmas market!

See more from The Mountain and Old Mill Market Place here!

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ARK LIFE: What the Hell are we doing and why? Part Deux

So let me make this clear: ARK LIFE can be

lived anywhere, any place; all one needs is what you carry with you...

This is especially good if you are, like Feathermaye and me: starving artists.

Between our writing, painting, photography and jewelry design, we have a lot of keen interests which, along with sixty-five cents, will get us a cup of

"Waiting in The Wings"
Photography by
Feathermaye

coffee...Just not at Starbucks.

The pursuit of ART is not only solitary, it's most often unrewarding, financially.  Ergo, one needs the proverbial day job to pay the expenses, which we try hard to keep minimal.  

S. Bond Herndon's New Novel
Coming Soon

We did a year of cruising through the great wilds of East Texas, taking photos, writing great American Novels, blogging about it all, and selling our wears at one of the oldest swap meets in the

1st Monday Trade Days
Canton, Texas
One of the oldest swap meets
since the late 1850's

country.

This got us a lot of material, but as funding ran low, we had to get back to our jobs: Self-Storage Resident Managers.

For us, it's the perfect fit.  You see, The Fabulous Feathermaye and Yours Truly enjoy each other's company more than anything else, so working side by side, day in and day out, living without neighbors or distractions just works.

Plus, our ARK LIFE STYLE leaves us with

Many of the residences we've been
housed in have huge, open space
great for studio work.  Paint, photography
music recording, we do it all

plenty of space in the apartment (usually included with this job), so we turn that space into a studio.

If you stop by our place to visit, we'll happily set you up on an air mattress--don't knock it, we slept on them for two years--right next to paint canvasses and drop cloths.  You'll get to look through stacks of photos, paintings and we'll probably talk your ears off when we're not watching something on ROKU.

You'll get to dine on fine, Gluten Free cuisine,

and if you want to hit the town, we take the train (station is just behind the property) into downtown to take in museums, music, parks etc. 

It's the simple life, with focus.  

More about that focus, as well as a lot of tips on ARK Living in future posts...

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I'm finally back or: Why the Geek Squad Sucks

First of all, I'd like to thank all of you who asked after me when

We work best side by side

I sort of...disappeared.  There is a lot to the story, and a good many of you follow my wife: The Fabulous Feathermaye, and know that she has kept up the news of what's been going on during my blog absence.

Many of you were following our exploits through our quazi-homelessness, as we meandered from Greater Houston to Canton Mountain, to Palestine (pronounced: Pal-ess-teen around these here parts) then our movements to Dallas, which has finally brought us back to a position where we sort of started from: with a roof over our heads, and employment in the storage business, leaving us once more working side-by-side...whew! 

The Old Mine on Canton Mountain

As you may recall, I was blogging like a madman from The Mountain.  Then, the stupid power cord on this lap-top developed a little, shall we say: wiggle? I was having to stop, rig a constantly changing jig with which to shore up the plug, just to get a little juice so I could plunge into the web's waters.  This worked briefly, and became so much of a hassle that I could not finish anything without hours upon hours of head-banging effort just to power up.

Finally, I gave up and went back to work --literally-- as our unemployment ran out and we had not yet found this new little opportunity. 

On our way to where we are now, I attempted to get the lap-top serviced and spoke with numerous individuals who nodded in agreement: all I needed was to have a new power-port installed, the bad one had just enough play in the contact points that it simply would not stay put! I even consulted with an area manager for Best Buy, and he agreed that the good ole boys at the Geek Squad could tackle that job, and would probably only run in the pricing neighborhood of around 65.00.  I promised I would not hold him to that price exactly, and even nodded at the "give or take 10-15 bucks".  

As it turned out, his little cluster of Best Buy stores did not include the one in Mesquite, Texas...which was the closest one to the area of East Dallas that Feathermaye and I were renting a room in.  We called ahead and did as much research as possible about the Best Buy/Geek Squad procedures and felt that since the lap-top had to be shipped off for repair anyhow, it didn't matter which store we dropped it off at. 

We paid our 35.00 deposit and sent the unit on its way to repairsville.  

While I was at work a few days later, Feathermaye sent me a text telling me that the Geeks felt that my poor laptop needed a new motherboard to fix the problem and they wanted 367.00 to button'er up.

I know, I know, you're all chuckling and saying: You can buy a new one for that price!  AS important as writing is for me, this was not in our budget.

When Feathermaye attempted to pursue the "can't you just change the power port?" argument, they addressed her as if she were a mentally challenged individual.   A condescending "No ma'am..." was the answer she received from the Geeks.

"Just tell 'em to send it back, then..." I said to her, mentally adding "I'll just have to put off writing for a while longer".

It was Best Buy's third strike

"I figured   you'd say that," she said.  "I already told them that, along with a few expletives I felt you would want me to add in.  I promise I didn't call any of them anything that did not fit the situation."

"That's my girl..."

 Back to the ole drawing board.

Having moved everything in to our newly remodeled residence, I took advantage of a rainy day and finished unpacking our stuff for like the upteenth time in the last two years.  Atop a shelf sat the laptop once I was done, along with the disagreeable power cord.  It called out to me this morning and I had a moment of inspiration.

When the morning duties were done and we reached a period of quiet (one of the real advantages that Feathermaye and I love about this type of work) I grabbed the laptop, power cord and a little aluminum foil.  

I had actually thought about using the foil long ago, but dismissed it because I really thought the Geeks could fix this for a songs worth of pocket change.  I fed my power cord up through the holes in the back of the lower counter top and opened the puter. 

"Honey, breathe..." Feathermaye told me when I was working on it. At last, I had everything positioned and neatly folded a bit of foil, which I then carefully wrapped around the male portion of the cord prong. Remembering to exhale, I gently pushed the shimmed tip into the hole; it was a nice firm fit; I saw the little red "charging" light come on.  It stayed on.

I stared at it, waiting for it to blink off again, as it had so many times over the last year or so. 

"Honey, breathe!" Feathermaye said again, not looking at what I was doing, but noticing none-the-less. 

But, the little red light was staying on!

It's still on!

I've written this entire blog without it going off...

The angels are singing: hallelujah!

And even after we broke for lunch, it stayed on...

Oh wait...It just turned green.  I'm charged! I'm charged!  Great god almighty, I'm charged at last!

As for the Geeks...well, I guess everyone needs a paycheck.  I'm just not contributing to it.

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New Year's Market Days: More Art on The Mountain

Not sure how many others are doing it, but Yours Truly will once again be out on the porch painting during Market weekend.  

Weather Underground says we should remain clear, sunny, highs from 58-65 and lows in the upper 50s.  Real good weather, folks, the kind to make you want to jump in the truck and come to Canton!

The fabulous feathermaye will be working on our papier mache projects--more about that later...

Stay tuned to the blog next week to get your updates from this weekend. 

Remember, ART HAPPENS HERE!
"ART'S COOL"

Shop Canton, experience The Mountain.

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Art Blog: To freely go after your ART, if you dare...

The free pursuit of ART is a demanding task.  Everyone of us who has ever exhibited talent in one artistic form or another understands this, pretty much instinctively.  The comforts of Suburban life add stress to these demands; comfort levels offered to us by the "American Way of Life" pose both logistical, as well as character issues that must be dealt with before we can set out in our pursuit.   


But, once you have cleared the way for you to finally get your ART on, there are a few things to remember...

We should all do well to remember that MOST artists live in obscurity.   Those accepting that fact move on with their WORK, stepping into, perhaps, their true roles in life.  


Today's artists must work their ART, regardless of circumstances (typically among the poorest, financially); it is a magnificant obession that will often collide with life in the 'real world', such as it is...


Artists are attracted to each other, since misery loves company; we find joy simply pushing our elbows together over a bottle of cheap wine; hours pass speaking of perspective, or subject, composition or point of view.  Philosophy is wrapped around our discussions, having understood that most of the great philosophers were also, practically speaking, without great means.


Artists are very familiar with pawn shops and flea markets; possessions are merely funds we carry around and use as long as we can, then sell when survival is at stake.  In the America we find ourselves surrounded by today, ART is, for the most part, too soft a subject to think about buying into.  Lay offs, industrial closings, mortgages that can not be paid and how our childred all seem to have developed A.D.D. are far more important subjects, they are the snarl that kills the ART in most of us.  Few of us ever, move beyond those limitations.


Taking one of Walt Whitman's walk alongside nature with notebook under arm and no care about shaving, apperiantly, is merely a romantic notion, until you try it.  To step out into the raw world without the protection of "The Herd" strikes terror in the hearts of most suburbanites.  The folks one might encounter 'off the grid' are not, generally speaking, the sort you want to find sitting beside you, or sharing a bottle of cheap wine at that cozy bistro table on that favorite sidewalk you know so well... But they are the salt that flavors the world, the subjects of our expert eyes.  


It's ours to record, or illustrate or sing about in one way or another.  We are leaving the details behind that someone, one day, will find and study.

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Photo Blog: Making our Business Sign from green-pickings...

About a week away from our third Market Weekend here on The Mountain, The Fabulous Feathermaye and I finally landed on a name for our new ART Shop:

ART'S COOL

We thought it would be a great time to start working with recycled items; why not start out green?

We walked around The Mountain and picked
up random junk and dead fall...

 

Some stuff, like this old broken table, had to be taken apart...

Once that was done, we assembled it with
other debris to make this...

Really cool (green) sign...

Art really is cool, at Art's Cool
Canton Mountain, Canton Texas


Shop Canton, Experience The Mountain!

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ON THE MOUNTAIN: Inspiration is a very close companion...

On quiet nights, the trees up here will speak to you.  Some here call the phenomenon "The still, small voice", while others nod, take a deep, involuntary breath and...let go the contented sigh.  

You can see the ideas running around behind their eyes; I should know because everyone I met when I first came saw it in mine...and still do.


If you are aware that you are searching, the feeling hits you, as it did us, as soon as you put a foot on the ground here.  It is hallowed ground the many who have been here for years.  


Inspiration, we've come to find, depends upon limitations. The "Slip-stream of consciousness" that artists dip their imaginations into can often harden its approaches, barring entrance until you say the magic word.


We came here with our limitations: Out of work and homeless sums up the situation.  The kindness of friends and the love of family has helped us find this perch, where we can gather what we will before we leap back into whatever life has in store for us.  

We discovered a remarkable truth about this place: despite our limitations, our lack of funds and even the limited ability to cook, eat and do dishes in the same building, our focus keeps gravitating to inspiration, rather than all that might hold us back, circumstantially.

We've found no barrier here.  Rather, we've opened a limitless source. We can dip into these waters at any moment. A constant flood of ideas, continuously scrawled on whiteboards, notepads and even napkins, come like ghosts who've finally found someone who can actually hear what they are saying... Inspiration speaks here.


Not everyone is affected as such.  We've met those who set foot here and can ONLY SEE PROFITS.  Sadly, the rest of us already know they are doomed, and they will, eventually fall away as so many others have over the years since those early days when this place was first conceptualized.

The ghosts of those originals haunt this hill; ghost hunters come on a regular basis to photograph orbs, collect what evidence they can of the beyond; who knows if it's really the ghosts of some artist, or some old settler still looking to trade his horse, or even some Native American who would love to see his sacred grounds left undisturbed.  When you are up here on The Mountain, you can feel the energy, all one needs to do is... Tune in.




Shop Canton, experience The Mountain!




As always, we wish to thank you for following this blog.  You can always find us on facebook as you stumbleupon the web looking for stuff to digg. If you would be sweet and give this one a TWEET!

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ON THE MOUNTAIN: Art's Cool debuts and I try my hand...

I've always wanted to sit outside, on some crowded sidewalk, painting as people come and go around me.  This past Market Days weekend I did just that.

S Bond outside of Art's Cool

For weeks, I had been looking down the street that extends to the left of our porch (Here at the Little Red School House).  There is a door down there, the only thing along the view that is truly Perpendicular to the street. The other doors and windows are all facing the street, and thus nearly hidden from view.  


Just how to paint that special doorway has been on my mind a lot over the weeks leading up to Market.  I took pictures to study, in various lights, and then put together a simple paint kit, something akin to Bob Ross meets Jerry Yarnell and they fight to the death, sort of deal... Anyhow, I had paint, brushes, and a good idea, I hoped.

I figured, quite obviously, that to become successful with ART here on The Mountain, I need to get plenty of material on display.  The Art Buying public can be a fickle lot; one never knows when or where they will be moved to purchase.  I can only count on the fact that THE MOUNTAIN calls people up here in some special way, and that what I'm capturing, hopefully, calls them to take it home with them, a part of The Mountain to call their own.
.
We had a few pieces ready as Market came:

Plus some of the awesomeness that can only be Feathermaye:

as we opened the new studio/shop: Art's Cool...

Sign made entirely of random debris we found laying around on the hill

So, after two afternoons, I had this finished:

Porches on Lazy Days Lane
by S. Bond Herndon

It's clear that we've got a ways to go yet. We need walls full of Mountain, and that's what we'll spend this next month working on...


Once again we thank you for following this blog.  You can always find us on facebook as you stumbleupon looking for stuff to digg.  Please be sweet and give this one a TWEET! 

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