I dream of a long and difficult trip. I was in a small group; with an old woman, and one other person at least. We had a long way to go, over the course of two days or two sections. The first part was a long walk in the rain, or difficult conditions, and at the end of the day we grew tired at the thought of the journey. Things became easier however, and we managed to take a train and found that the second half of the journey was much easier and faster than expected.
At the end, there was a bird, a 'dootoo', or something similar. It had a long tail; I have memories of a cartoon bird, Wattoo Wattoo, which perhaps was a partial inspiration for this, but the colours and appearance were generally of the bird Grayson is fascinated by in my Grayson Perry Scarecrow painting. The bird, I was told, was a Jewish myth, that is was made from, charmed by, or somehow connected with, a stringed instrument bow, or possibly a harp. The long tail evokes a connection between a harp and the spray of tail feathers in a peacock.
Overall, the dream seemed like a positive portent. Before sleep, I was evaluating the year at this halfway point, so perhaps it indicates optimism for the second half.
So far in 2024, I've remastered Gunstorm, Gunstorm II, and Argus, and released those on Steam, and remastered Breakout Velocity, Fallout Velocity, and Firefly for the future. I've written and recorded A Drive Through The Town, and completed a the few paintings in progress from 2022, at least five complete so far. Plus, the Fall in Green book has been released, and we've attended almost every open mic every two weeks; including modifying and learning to play my Microkorg as a sort of keytar. I've certainly grown as a music performer and live singer. I've completed the public mural and revamped the art section of my website.
Where to go next? I have many paintings in progress, and ideas for more. One problem here is that many old ideas remain - this is a long term problem. This matters only in that the themes or philosophical contents can be out of date. Of course, I have ideas constantly; perhaps the best art ideas are eternal, or don't go out of date. I'm reminded that Beethoven's later works often took many years. By their completion, did he consider them out of date? This is the question I face, particularly because I'm full of new ideas and outlooks which jar with some of the paintings I have lined up.
Today, Argus was released. I spent most of the day underpainting about 80% of 'Portents Of Desire', a painting notable for having different colours from the colour study I painted yesterday. One clear difference between my art now and before is that now I'm less concerned about the meaning of paintings, more about the feeling they convey independent of any meaning or interpretation. Inspired by a documentary about Thomas Hardy, about bleak death, the idea drawing took longer than usual. It seems to be more about division/separation, and longing, though there was no conscious concept or message behind the composition.
