With only a day left to the year and to the decade I felt it only right to take a moment and reflect upon the past and give insight into my future plans and ambitions.
There is no doubt that the past ten years have been a journey unlike I ever imagined. Shortly after my return home from university I was tasked with administrating a vast estate after the untimely passing of my grandfather. Being entrusted to do the right thing out of the family taking care of the estate took me nearly nine years to see it through. Since then little remains of a past that was once believed would transcend time it’s self. I remember standing across from my our childhood home as it was bulldozed in, now a vacant lot used for storage of snow. I myself only keep a few things from that time, a coin from the 1800’s a bible that my grand father carried around always, and a Gibson guitar from the 30’s. There was no reason to hold onto such material wealth not at the cost of living my own life.
With the passing of a generation I dealt with a reality that few my age understand at that time. Though the task was daunting and at times frustrating dealing with members of the family let alone the numrious clauses and amendments to the trust I finished in 2019 filing the final income tax return.
I retired shortly after that and enjoyed my time going back to school until the oil crash reuslting in the loss of most of my investments. Instead of being bothered by the reality of the stock market I went back to work and began the next steps of my journey.
I was fortunate to put together an art show and build a web-sight ,The Artistic Abstract Adjective Beat Movement. A movement and an idea that I intended on becoming the flagship of all artistic endeavors of the world. This was the first time I put my art and work out into the world to be seen. A raw glimpse into my life, with my written pieces I embraced the feelings and was happy to express an idea of life and a sense of being.
The artistic movement was only the beginning. One of my greatest discoveries was a concept know as “Identity In Space.” An idea that would influence me my works and continue to influence my life in profound ways. Most impactful of this ideas was my travels around the world, as it gave me new insight into life. No longer did I wish to take things at face value, but instead I wished to from my own opinion by traveling there and experiencing events, culture and ideas first hand.
My first trip took me to France. Not only did I see the iconic city of Paris but I was fortunate to see much of the country side by road tripping from the southern coast back to the capitol. Along the way I was able to try local dishes and various foods along with getting to see some of the most amazing and best preserved Roman ruins still standing.
My next trips paralleled each other, sort of follow ups to one another. A huge fan of anime I was able to go to the L.A. Anime Exp and Japan two years in a row. The first time experiencing both I was overwhelmed taking everything in. Coming from a city of 50,000 with the largest city that I visited maybe being half a million I was in for a cultural shock. Not speaking the language and only relying on technology I can say that I had the time of my life once I settled in for the experience.
The Anime Exp is unlike any convention out there and radically different then Comic Con. Though after experiencing the convention twice I will not be attending the L.A. Expo again. In 2019 for what ever reason the lines were out of control, events were sold out without prior acknowledgment. Best summed up the convention had outgrown the venue.
My second trip to Japan I not only saw the things I missed out on in Tokyo the first time I lost my heart to the city of Kyoto. Kyoto will always hold a special place in my life for the magic I found and the friends I made there. Truly a story that I couldn’t have imagined happening but happened all the same. Hiroshima was a city that I reflected upon greatly forever changing how I would look at the world and take things for face value. While in Hiroshima I had some of my most memorable times drinking and eating with the Japanese business men at some local little bar.
The last trip that I took for the decade was for my 36 birthday. I went to Turkey not only to celebrate my birthday but to also see a friend of mine and celebrate in her gallery opening Elements of Istanbul. Spite the problems I encountered and only getting to spend four days I had a magical time, and got to see everything I had hoped to see. I couldn’t have asked for a better time nor could have I asked for more. My time getting to catch up with a friend and experience a city that she loved enough to make her home was a crowning achievement in my life.
Aside from my travels around the world I took a new job in the oil field and because of that I have been afforded the opportunity in seeing much of the United States. I have been fortunate to travel to Texas, New Mexico, Montana North Dakota, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The job I had before was in the food industry where I was a cook for the better part of ten years. Spite only having a handful of people who believed in me I made it spite various obstacles and difficulties. I continue to work at my job and am getting ready to celebrate my two year anniversary. I am thankful that it has provided and continues to provide me with opportunity to do things I never thought I would get the chance to do.
As for the future I intend to continue to make art and develop my ideas spite my demanding and crazy schedule. I look forward to growing my web-sight with not only my accounts of life depicted through art. I want nothing more then to combine with fellow artists and others in painting a bigger picture to life so that we might understand our own identity within that space.
The goal for traveling it to make it back to Japan as to see the Cherry Blossoms in full bloom, but but beyond that make it to many more cities along with a visit to my beloved city of Kyoto. Beyond Japan is China, Vietnam, and Korea.
I look forward to meeting new people and hearing of their experiences and how they see and preecieve life as to grow my own opinion. Home is an abstract idea, I hope I can find a place where I can finally know as my own and share in that magic. May 2020 and the years ahead be everything and more not just for me but everyone. I look forward to watching my friends grow in their own dreams as they make them that much more real with each passing day.
May artists of the world unite.