"An Attempt to Breath" a new painting.

Here is a time-lapse of me working on my latest piece, "An Attempt to Breath"-

Would love to hear your thoughts below:)

Art Studio Video: Painting with Acrylics and an Ink Brayer.

I recently shot a little video footage while working on a few studies on paper.  In this video I am painting with acrylics on paper, using an ink brayer.  I have been using an ink brayer for the last few months as I am trying to find a good feel for a new body of work.  I think I am closing in on technique and medium.  You will also see me using graphite pencils to create geometric shapes at the end of the video as well.  I will be filming a lot of my process and work this year in the studio. Feel free to ask any questions and request specific things that you would like to see! Enjoy.

A Canvas of Sound: Scene.

Kris Rutherford and I recently applied for a grant with the Austin Film Society with our film," A Canvas of Sound."  We didn't get the grant, or any grant for that matter.  It, of course was disappointing and mostly because I am a perfectionist as an artist.  The experience was incredible though, the process, breaking down all of my ideas, scenes, questions etc and creating my first film treatment.  We are still in the process of creating the film as we have run out of funding and have been putting our own money into the project.  I wanted to share the clip that we used in our entry.  

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We chose a clip from the "Chapter 1: What is Sound?" section of the film. This clip will be following our opening sequence and will begin with a narration of prose over an artist painting in a studio. The opening sequence (artist in studio) will fade out to Chapter 1 (selected scene). This chapter is the introduction to the characters, as they define sound in their own personal definitions while showing each of them in their musical element. You will also get a feel for the style of the camera work across the breadth of the film, using landscapes of musical visuals with sound and words. 

For more information about the film you can contact myself at : https://www.samo4prez.com/contact/

Amongst the "Thin Places".

The last week and a half has been a time of deep thinking, creating and living in the "thin places" (places on earth where the Presence is so strong that they serve as portals between this world and another.) There are specific things that make my soul complete, things that I have seemed to move away from over the last few years.  My moments of "movement" as I have been calling them in Ethiopia and now Zimbabwe have taken me back into those “thin places” that I find while painting in my studio, writing in a small cafe, or spending time in creation.  Here are a few poems from those moments in the last week, accompanied by the places and people that have inspired my soul here in Africa. Time has once again stood still,

here on the other side of the waters,

my thoughts are moving like the wind

in memory through the trees,

it feels like floating,

symbolic yet mysterious,

as it was once said,

“Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters”,

I disappear in thoughts of the beginning,

my eyes focused, follow the fog,

as it slowly walks amidst the reeds and grass with

no where to go but away,

I think of eternity being here, now,

I exhale…

The clouds rest misty over the Ethiopian skies,

miles of green run wild through the vast open air,

the great wild exists beyond the hills,

what are the stories that have gone before me?

where are the souls that have left to early, my thoughts flow with the breeze,

I want to stay, I want to learn,

I want to read the faces and put pen to paper,

so that you can feel the beauty and the weight…

Grew up with freedom and never knew a struggle,

other than mental or spiritual,

we truly are a reflection of everyone,

Yet circumstance and culture seem to change the colors and dreams,

we are skin, bone and water,

we breath by miracles and magic,

the wind still feels the same and tears still feel as wet,

our faces tell story or hide it, and I wonder,

I observe and I ask,

when is my time? how can I be? a

s the wings of the seraphim hold me,

my lungs show dust and my hands feel clay,

this is now, this is today, this is forever...

The walls are cracked and peeling,

feet worn down and hands full of story,

I feel the sun from the corner,

bringing warmth and color into space that breaths life,

this is perfection, a beauty rarely seen,

there is movement here,

a presence of the divine,

and my soul sways,

my heart gives,

my eternity echoes,

I feel, I know, I see...