Why I’m Here
I started my Substack for three reasons:
The Instagram tipping point: The organic growth of a community of artists, weirdos, and esoteric thinkers that once drew me to Instagram in 2013 has been replaced with the depressing feeling of watching people yell their political frustrations into the void, artists trying to pleasure the algorithm, and, in general, being inundated with a bunch of random content that I really don’t care about and didn’t ask to see in the first place. What is important for me as artist is to make the best work that I can make and, when the time is right, to share it. But to share every piece, all the time, with process videos of every piece, pictures of myself in the studio making the pieces, etc. My lord… it’s is LITERALLY INSANE and detracts from the time and energy that could be going into making my best work. It has become a net negative for me. So here I am.
A new way to share: I’ve always had a website because I want to share what I’m working on and working towards. Back in the day there were blogs (ART BLOGS!) and they functioned as hubs for sharing what a range of different artists were working on. When I started reading about Substack, I realized that it could function a little like a throwback art blog, a little like a website, and a little like social media. Have you ever seen an Okapi? If you collaged together the legs of a zebra, the torso of a horse, and the head of a giraffe you’d have made an Okapi. Substack seems a bit like that to me. I’m intrigued.
My own Okapi: I teach art and I make art but I also spend a good amount of my free time meditating upon the intersection of spirituality and art. The area where these three things meet is truly fertile ground for something magical to take root. (Yes MAGICAL!) But what exactly? These are consumerist, automated, transactional times that we live in, where our daily lives are devoid of profound meaning or spiritual depth. To even suggest a serious conversation about the connection between “God” (or “Ultimate Reality” or whatever name you want to call the animating principle of everything) and your artistic practice will most likely elicit a string of eye roll emojis. But let’s just say that there are people interested in this kind of thing (and I know for a fact that there are), where might such curious creatures find a quiet corner of the internet to congregate and discuss such matters? Can we create one? Can my own Okapi of spirituality, art, and teaching, roam the wild prairies of Substack? Are you too an Okapi?
Quarterly?
This means that I will send out a newsletter 4 times per year. Once every 3 months. January, April, July, October (or Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall if you like).
What Exactly?
As I set out on this venture my intention for each newsletter is to include three basic sections: 1) Collection of my newest drawings and paintings from the last three months (also available on my website but no longer to be shared on my instagram) 2) A new teaching video 3) A spiritual reading, meditation exercise, or other woo-woo stuff that I otherwise can’t get into when I teach my normal classes but are, in my humble opinion, integral to the artist’s journey.
