2018 New Year Do we still have HOPE?

That is a really good question. Do we have HOPE? Where is it?

Fist I want to clear something up about my intent with this site. I started this site not to be a commercial entity. And I am not a Communist. Sorry I had to add that, but there is this archaic notion that art and giving are some how anti American. I started this site out of a natural need I have to support what I think is important. For me that is the first amendment and creativity. I grew up in a world where art was a hobby not a life time pursuit, but I had this need to be creative. I was writing poetry at the age of 10 and reading voraciously literary fiction. In my head a had an imaginative world no one could see. As a child there was only so much of the world I could control, but my creative mind was boundless. Recently due to gas lighting I have discovered the painful result of being in a world where others with power and money try to control even my inner mind. It pushed me almost to the edge. I am fighting every day to find a way to make it stop.

I will not taint this page with any mention of the current political control in Washington, but I have to say it is shameful that this person has no love for animals, the planet, or art. The absence of our highest elected official from the Kennedy awards this past year speaks volumes as to his acceptance within the artistic world and culture of American, and his respect for the creative endeavors of American Citizens. However for now, the Kennedy Center still exists, Smithsonian, National Endowment for the Arts, and National Endowment of the Humanities still function and still go on. In California where I am based and live and make my home, art museums will be free all day on January 28. The beauty of our system is that even if our current federal Government turns it back on the cultural backbone of America, local states, at least some, will not.

Russia by the way is technically not a Communist country, but they are not exactly are friend either, at least not the current leader. Their government is not based on equality, but is a semi dictatorship. The art of Acting grew from the unrest within that country a century ago, when Stanislavsky the grandfather of the METHOD inspired actors and playwrights like Chekhov. I respect the acting world of Russia and hope they too find a way to survive these troubled times. I do not forget what you contributed to the craft. Stanislavsky was the first person to apply the science of the mind to the acting process and began the movement to realism within the theater community.

Back to the question do we have hope? For me Hope in the context of art stands for four words. Holistic. Organic. Philanthropic. Expression. Holistic means WHOLE. We are somewhat broken. We are beating each other up. We are being lead by a fool. But because we have voices that will not be silenced there are voices calling out the truth. Voices that are calling for solidarity and community and an end to the hate. And while I myself have been torn apart and gas lite, I am not going to be deterred. I have learned that coincidences happen. People will judge and misinterpret. I ask that people look to art and open their minds to let go of judgments. I ask that people step into others’ shoes. It is painful to be hurt and degraded by people claiming to project the same message as you, but we live in a time when those with money do not even see their own flaws and abuse.

Organic means evolving or growing. It is connected to the very essence of life. Art is nothing without a connection to the human condition. It has an emotional quality and effect on the mind.

Philanthropic means giving. Part of me wants to think I need no more explanation than that, but I may be second guessing. Minds can not be read, at least we have not evolved that far yet. Art is always giving. You look at art or hear art and are impacted by it. Maybe you bought a ticket to see it, but even so, the impact of what you see can last beyond the moment of presence.

Expression is simple. It is the practice of the first amendment. Art leads to the mind being open to create. It acts as a stimulus to creating more art. A painting can lead to inspiration for a poem, a song, a character in a book, or even an entire play or movie. The process works in multiple directions. A statute could lead to a movie.
A poem can inspire a painting. I myself have read a poem and then wrote a rough for a film script inspired by the poem, but if you read the poem and the script they have no similarity other than they are both kind of creepy. (Yes I write some horror.) I could write pages on this topic.

As long as there are creative voices to express and make positive change and to stimulate more voices and human connection, we have HOPE.