kenneth martin studios

re

2009-01-17T15:18:00.002-05:00

Listen to the positive energy of inclusion. Just watch the faces of people who desperately needed a symbol of hope that their contributions are worth something.

He is not the source of hope.

The hope is derived from the faces seen in the crowd that were able to collectively create leadership beyond intention of grab and hide.

The hope is derived from people feeling that their purpose matters, and a spark of possibility that their efforts will not erode away into the pockets of others skilled at manipulation.

The hope is derived from judgement becoming a hollow signal of ignorance, rather than an effective means of gaining status by reducing the status of the judged.

The hope is derived from a shift in iconic symbolism that tried image building, to actually symbolize what the icon was supposed to symbolize.

The hope is derived from democracy in name only becoming truly democratic.

The hope is derived from entrenched hierarchy being the bearer of what is intelligent becoming just a nugget of the success model.

The shock and awe now is how quickly the hopeless can have hope, and how quickly the entrenched can become irrelevant.

That is what creates real hope.

(c) kenneth martin

re

2009-01-16T00:54:00.002-05:00

The causations were spoken of many years ago. The cautions were spoken to give consciousness to the affects of building energies within our society. Dwight Eisenhower, George Orwell, Franklin Roosevelt, Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King, and countless other well-known figures who gave eloquent warnings of social ills in light of exponential social progress.

Their warnings really are not referred to often because most of their concerns are prevalent and relevant to our lives today. It affects everyday life. The "more" society wants more individual items for their money, rather than a visually pleasing, coordinated approach to life. People have fragmented minds that understand wholism, but do not have the capability to apply concepts to everyday life issues of relationships and consumerism. The concerns of cultural evolution have arrived and continue without notation or past reflections to today's world.

Industrial military complex, 1984, social dependency, intentions of science, and separation of classes are all issues that are real causations for many conflicts that exist today. Experts want to isolate the main issues of cause. They want a package of workable solutions without changing the benefits many have received from the causes.

I am truly amazed at the growing trend of leadership to rely on news reports to identify problems, and then be the teller of issues. The amazement is in the form of their surprise, and lack of foresight to provide solutions before catastrophic events have significant impact on society at large. Some have argued that government is bought and paid for by corporations and other special interests. In relationship to causations that are not identified before problems blow up; it seems to me that the benefactors from the causations have planted influence in positions that are to be identifying social imbalances before the news reports of impending doom. The experts have become the problem because they have been the most seduced by the inherent affects cautioned by the significant names of the past. Leadership has become an intention for personal wealth!

(c) kenneth martin

re (repost from 1/7/09)

2009-01-10T12:30:00.001-05:00

I see, feel, and then think. An expression should only occur after those criteria are met. Otherwise, I am full of shit.

I paint, I write. I write, I paint. Enough about me.

Good Person. Bad Person…It is the Bad Good Person who decides. Oh, hell, you decide!

(c) kenneth martin

Cynical (repost from 1/2/09)

2009-01-10T12:28:00.000-05:00

cyn⋅i⋅cal /ˈsɪnɪkəl/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [sin-i-kuhl] Show IPA Pronunciation
–adjective
1.
like or characteristic of a cynic; distrusting or disparaging the motives of others.
2.
showing contempt for accepted standards of honesty or morality by one's actions, esp. by actions that exploit the scruples of others.
3.
bitterly or sneeringly distrustful, contemptuous, or pessimistic.
4.
(initial capital letter) cynic (def. 5).
(sourced from dictionary.com)
I think #2 is what makes me a cynic, and it's not the surface honesty that cultures demand. Cultures demand honesty in areas of human desires that are meant to use morality as a hostage-taking device for people to gain influence over others. The irony is that I distrust the very people who proclaim authority and judgement over most human elements of life. The people who claim authority over people of lesser character due to their deeper intellectual qualities usually passed down from generations past.
My cynical nature has evolved from delving into the true nature of intellectualism. Simply, the proclaimers almost uniformly inherited wealth from their family tree. Self-proclaimations of entreprenurialism, sophistication, and authority are almost always dishonest. "Entrepreneurs" who inherited the family business. Sophistication of the one who buys an expensive dress, but demeans the staff. The authority on attributes of trade skills, and the knowledge required to do such. The definition of self is least trustworthy, as one attempts to assert their authority and judgement over and on another.
In fact, I am a cynic in the bubble of greatness and experts. I find that I am the most positive person in the world of "whores, gamblers, and thieves". There is a certain honesty about humanity that exists in this world where the intention to hurt others is extremely rare. I do not encounter the same feeling in the bubble of greatness and experts. The wealth created from bubbles is often pocketed at the expense of a corporate rainy day fund. The intention of success hurts how many people? Yeah, the great ones were building up the stock price for "the people". "The people" have given their money back. The authorities and experts have run to "the people" to bail them out. Who has deeper character? It is an interesting statement about the culture today that Robin Hood is seen as a criminal. I wonder if that is going to change!

(c) kenneth martin

re (repost from 1/2/09)

2009-01-10T12:24:00.001-05:00

The new year is bringing in interesting commentaries from people in different economic situations. People in the depths of despair who have had their retirement funds cut in half, or their real estate value drop by 20 percent. The hardship articles and interviews concentrate on the millions who will have to somehow find a way to live on less in the coming years. Stress is in the form of people concerned about their jobs, overleveraged homes, and retirement that was supposed to lead to luxury. Experts are trying to convey how to manage that stress and save money.
It is the saving money concept that is creating the extreme hardship for people in communities who own the businesses. Most businesses are people who do not get paid, and losing their job is the equivalent of people trying to save money on what they provide. They do not have retirement funds or health plans. It is amazing to me how consumers who have salaries walk into places of business commanding services from people who earn a fraction of the consumer's salary. Yet, the provider is perceived to be one who can afford to give things away. The media provides "expert" advice without consideration that the collective result of their advice will create havoc for fellow citizens who are already in dire straights.
News flash to a public seemingly uninformed about who really owns Amercan businesses. You are eliminating jobs when you justify unethical consumer behavior. Unethical behaviors such as returning used goods, changing price tags, and negotiating with known untruths in an attempt to get more and more for "less" are collectively making products and services less available. The affects on smaller businesses are obvious. However, unethical consumer behavior is now becoming the death of jobs at even the largest companies. Unfortunately, the jobs most affected are the ones paying $10 an hour.
I find interviews communicating hardship because assets have declined from $2Million to $1M insulting to millions of people who do not have any assets. The people who have $62 in their bank account trying to find rent for the next month. It is an indictment against a culture when it thinks of their wealth that was made on asset bubbles, who now have hardship because their wealth has declined. That is not hardship. Hardship is when you have $62, and someone who has wealth tries to make you feel like you are screwing them by charging them $25 for cutting their grass, or cleaning their windows. Sometimes, the insult comes in the form of someone walking into an artists studio who wants a piece of art. The insult is in the form of "I am willing to hang your art" in my house. I do shows around the world, but I would be priviledged to let you take one of my paintings for nothing. Hmmm. Finding a deal as reached unethical levels in our culture, and this is having a profound impact on the economy. This is prevalent in our culture!

(c) kenneth martin

Reflective Expressionism (repost from 12/28/08)

2009-01-10T12:16:00.001-05:00

Refective Expressionism is a visual and written form of communication that requires feeling to be the basis of thought. I see, I feel, and then I express myself. The concept requires expression to be formulated from creativity and knowledge, rather than ignorance. Ignorance is a "bad" concept only if the transgressor takes leadership of a situation. Otherwise, ignorance is neutralized by a willingness to listen, learn, adapt, and change perceived notions.

(c) kenneth martin

Easy

2008-08-09T15:03:00.003-04:00

Reflective expressionism is easy. You just say what is on your mind; spontaneous connections from your insides up to your brain. It is is reactionary; it has to be since the universe around us creates the environment that we are in now, in relation to how our individuality reacts to it. It is easy to be an individual that expresses the qualities of life that makes each of us tick. It is easy on television when the producers cut and paste what they want to show so that they can make a person look like their desired purpose within the show. You should be an individual like this person. Be this way. Be that way. It is still coercive, and has become the mantra for a society that has taken individualism into the realm of expressive thought that must win arguments

Reflective expressionism is a construct of being who you are by your definition, when many are leaving you as a result. Money is leaving you, and people stop loving you when you do not have money in this culture. Ironically, they say that you left. You try to connect. You try to come over. You try to leave a message. They leave messages of condescension that they use to argue their attempts to engage. The tone says it all. Reversal never happens, and you realize they just want you the way they want you to be for them. They never loved you, but rather they wanted you to provide them with what they got out of you. I do not think I am alone in this thought; our culture promotes love following the money.

People don't love money. That would be a sin. People try to create relationships with other people that have money. Children know who has an inheritance available, and grow into adults creating relationships with people that can create a life of luxurious surroundings, or simply the life of walking and thinking at a snails pace. Oh, sure, life gets hard for people that have resources. It is difficult to know where to put that money, and difficult to pay people $100 or $5000, for fixing your computer, designing your kitchen, mowing your lawn, or painting your properties. Life is really difficult, I know, when the kids just won't listen to reason when they choose to major in that instead of this more socially desirable choice. People worked hard for their money, and I will never make them feel bad for it. Nobody should feel bad for having more resources than someone else.

The essence of today, however, is that the idea of "work" has become a negative in our culture. Don't believe me. Walk into a club today, or a park today, and listen to conversations. Conversations about the desirability of working. Desirability of people enjoying what they do on a daily basis. Desirability of people who "don't have to work". Work today has become the business of manipulation and political advancement within the organization of choice. Relationship-building has become the culture, and by nature, relationship-building has become the building of relationships for the concept of earning as much money as possible. This is work in the United States in 2008.

Some may say this is cynical. There is no reason to be cynical when you are on the inside of the circle. However, the resources within the circle are getting a little more scarce, and it is getting nasty inside the circle. People are showing their person. The who comes out to be seen by many. The essence of work, and those that love for the sake of love, and not relationship-building, may become the people who adapt to culture that is in need of energy. In the last several years, laziness in physicality and mentality has grown that has created a great cultural divide between people on auto-pilot, and those who think quickly. An energy exists in people who do not read static books, but rather, evolving stories. People who can foresee results by thinking quickly about what is transpiring in front of them will adapt, while others will believe history repeats itself in all cases. History does repeat itself. Most people will wait for the glory days to return, while a few people will see that their is a major change in what people want and need in our culture today.

People, today, need a sense that someone really cares about them. Can you buy that? I have had a lot of people "love" me, but I can honestly say that reflective expressionism has led me down a path where one other person and I are the only people who care about me. Finding out who really cares about me, I believe, is the essence of what our culture needs as individuals going forward. Everybody loves everybody, today. But, does anyone care about you when you don't have the ability or soul within to provide them everything they are seeking all the time. It is a give and take. The people or person who cares about you takes the time to know the who, even when you may not know yourself.

When, and if you, are a person who seeks to know oneself, then the person who cares will facilitate your path, not stand in the path of status quo. If you are a person who has had to hide yourself because it was not condusive for career or power gain, then the person who truly cares will accept the consequences of your desire to stop hiding. In fact, the person who truly cares would say, "what took you so long". Finding people that care has to evolve, and probably will never come from where you may think. It is a human quest to find people that care about you, but reflective expressionism will provide you the isolation of those people who wanted you around, but always had to win the argument of the "who of you" being wrong. Life's quest was to find why things never seemed quite right in some environments.

Reflective expressionism makes it very clear that I do not like arguments because the arguments were always won by people who had to have their way. I know some will say that I am arguing by writing expressions of feeling leading into thought. This is not argumentative intention. It is my expression of who. The only right is because I'm writing it. This is not a prototype of self-help. This is a prototype of living who I am, while not accepting the directives of others about who I should be in their attempt to control their environment around them. If I make people curious, it is usually from people who live on the line of comparability in relationship to them. They truly cannot believe I don't care about "what they do for a living" or "what house I live in". I truly don't care about "getting ahead" or "how nice a piece of property I own". I truly can enjoy a snippet of a beautiful view of nature in Gary, Indiana, as well as in Monterey, California. Do I need to own that view? Do I need to take a picture of that view? It is etched in memory.

People are afraid of what lies ahead. I am often. As I write this today, I am not. At one point in the past I would say, "from here, I could only go up". As of today, I don't care if I go up, down, sideways, or anyways. It is just another societal measurement of progress to drop now.

(c) kenneth martin

ism

2008-07-17T23:01:00.002-04:00

You give, give, give, give. To get, you need to ask. Nothing is given back, and the needs asked for come with conditions and complaints. You stop giving. You are the sucky one. Being the sucky one builds strength and enables freedom from abuse.

ism

2008-07-15T04:49:00.002-04:00

Human beings are animals. The mind tries to coordinate sophisticated logic to explain what most animals do instinctively. People rationalize their decisions trying to minimize that they are subject to biological causal reactions. Weakness and lack of control is deemed otherwise.

Maybe, strength is when people achnowledge truth. The truth that people gravitate to those with money and/or power. The truth that human establishments are designed to create group think that protects and serves self interest. The truth that everyone is subjected to natural environments of living in a arbitrary world that likes to disguise itself as being "intelligent" enough to control elements around the immediate core.

Human beings build strength in numbers. When I was a kid growing up there was debate about systems of organization and political establishments. There is no debate today. WE WON! Our system is the proven system of human accord. The problem is that the system of consensus, commonly known as democracy, has failed miserably throughout the existence of humanity when people begin to confuse consensus for being truth.

Religious establishments are built on gaining consensus. When enough people believe something then it must be true. The so-called sacred establishments today were politicked into gospel in the early years of forming the establishment. Today, democracy and "freedom" is quickly becoming the next established religion in the same way that humanity with money and power created religions 10000, 5000, 2000, 1500, 1000, 200 years ago. Humanity fights for these establishments because wealth is determined by "who wins" the fight. Ultimately, the human mind creates a universal power that is on his or her side to justify the position of right.

An Hawaiian symbol comes to mind that means "hang loose", I believe. Humanity thinks of power being in the middle three fingers. We use the middle finger to express ourselves as being at the core of the universe, and everyone around us should just "f off". We use the fore finger to point as a measure of our authority over what we recognize. We use the ring finger to show off our attachments with pride showcasing our accomplishments and our establishments to which we belong. All of these represent desire to control our universe around us. However, the thumb provides extraordinary strength and the pinky provides simple, but equally important support to the mechanical purpose of the hand. These two balancing digits provide the essence of control that the three middle fingers only hope to attain.

(c) kenneth martin

ism

2008-07-04T11:31:00.004-04:00

A lack of curiosity results from the fear of being wrong, or even worse, the fear that somebody might find out that I do not know something. There is a pervasive cancer in our culture that causes individuals to feel the need to show no "weakness" by knowing everything about everything. The result is that people do not talk about much because not much is known about most elements of life. This kills curiosity, and reflective expressionism.

BTW-note to reader. This is a good time to add that I don't exclude myself from any of these ism's. I am a "guilty" as anyone! =)

ism

2008-07-04T11:15:00.002-04:00

The ironic twist of the information age is that old thinking simply will not apply in society going forward. Hard lines of do's and don't's simply are ignored.That does not mean that age old concepts will not be held true going forward. However, opinion, inuendo, and simplistic belief will be intolerable unless supported by sophisticated, abstract coordination of multiple factual information communicated well. Otherwise, the messenger will be shot, and message will be lost.

Word to the wise. Young people are smarter today. However, they need wisdom to be able to coordinate thoughts and feelings to maintain a sense of humanity. I truly believe that older generations have dropped the ball on maintaining the level of curiosity of what younger people are learning. Wisdom of humanity cannot be communicated without that relatability.

(c) kenneth martin

My Tribute to George Carlin

2008-06-24T11:50:00.002-04:00

"Hey, recycle that bottle, asshole," says the motorist, as he passes the cyclist.

"I've got to return that dress I wore to the wedding last night," the wife says to her husband as they drive to church on Sunday morning.

The only 7 phrases you can say at a country club:
1. He's so nice.
2. So, (name here), what do you do?
3. "Hey, waiter, bring my chit" as you snap your fingers.
4. "I've got my handicap down to 14." (If you say "up to" then you will be branded loser for life)
5. "What college did you go to?" before answer, you must inject "I'm a (insert name) grad."
6. "The lobster is just exquisite this evening"
and if you are a woman, you must say, in reference to someone's young husband
7. "oh, he is so handsome, and a very successful (insert prominent career)". Then you must end the phrase by saying, "and he is so nice, as well".

and my final solute to George, my list of 7 will be 8.

8. if you are man talking in a group of men, you must say, "I just made this deal that netted me 1.8." (never talk about the losses you've incurred; you will be loser for life, again).

George Carlin loved people, and hated facades. I forgot about what an inspiration he was to me.

ism

2008-05-23T23:25:00.003-04:00

I find it amazing that an earthly element is landing on Mars, and the media picks up the story like it is Grandma going to the grocery store. A spacecraft was sent nine months ago travelling 400 million miles in a mobile trash can, and the public is mainly disinterested in the human capability to find solutions that take longer to derive than a two minute sound bite. In the light of the ability to go to Mars, the ability to find solutions for human deprivation remain a mystery. A mystery? Or simply the desire to remain oblivious, and the desire to be represented as oblivious to major solutions for plight around the world.

In 2008, true national borders need not exist; and they don't really. People travel freely around the world to visit other cultures, and information between cultures easily transfers. I argue that cultures don't clash, but rather a relatively small number of people clash in an effort to gain influence over cultures. In 2008, the information available enables most people to learn that most cultures have similar values, and differences are merely means to live by those values. Education of the masses is never taken seriously because it is of manipulative intentions that structures attempt to influence by singular and simple messages. In this context, why would structures encourage a curiousity to learn about how we can travel to Mars. Structures encourage group thought in every major classification of human organization. Politics, religion, family, corporations, and teams all promote like-minded thought to compete against other people to gain control of "a better life" for the organization. Simple thought by most greatly benefit the few who put it together.

Encourage curiousity that embraces thought about how to go to Mars, and how to prevent famine. Encourage systems that only work when a majority truly benefit, rather than the majority believing that the ability to accomplish daily tasks is the meaning of life and God's will. Manipulation of cultures is extreme today, and conflict benefits the inner circles of power. Really, if you listen to cultural leadership, you may hear that they manipulate with the same wording and similar recruitment methods from within their own culture. This makes me wonder if the the world is a simple chess board. Maybe it is about time, the characters on the board started taking initiatives to learn and tell the strategists to keep the fingers to themselves. Then you may find a keg on the board with both cultures having a party enjoying beers with one another. Let the players go shoot each other to get the other's resources.

ism

2008-05-23T07:46:00.003-04:00

Take a collective gathering of comments coming out of the political world, and the interpretation is that people leading the varying elements of the world are nuts. Leadership takes many forms, and people who lead do need to cater to the variety within their realm. However, doublespeak has become the norm, and manipulation has become a skilled art. The dangers that lurk today do not lie in the people who are represented, but rather in the decision-making capabilities of the representatives. Often, the people represented are just pawns, in that they really are not the collective masses being represented. The truly represented are the shadowy people lurking around the representatives who skillfully present their policy thoughts as societal.

The idea that these shadows balanced themselves is long outdated. These shadows have collaborated for their narrow benefit, and become a force of one. Governments, corporations, religions, and hierarchies down to family units are often led by strict linear methods of operations and procedures to create specific images and illusions. They are led by creating recruiting methods to gain acceptance of the desired image. However, the desired image is only for the people who lead who are intentioned to gain individually by the image. Whether the image for the largest government in the world, or within a relatively small family unit; the power plays are for individual gain. The disguise is to claim group benefit, but the reality is evident.

The culture in which we live today has created an environment that provides information to people that makes reality very obtainable. Leaders can live in transparency of their intentions, and be held to provide answers to questionable decision-making. However, the answers have become skillfully crafted, and societal leadership has become increasingly incestuous, as a result. Leaders collaborate, and become decision-makers in a variety of societal elements. Family leaders become religious leaders. Religious leaders become political leaders. Corporate leaders become political leaders. Political leaders become religious leaders. Today, the ambition for leadership has become so strong that the intention for power has far exceeded the very intention of the cause or people represented. The intention for power has to be great to be able to crack the iron encasement surrounding the circles of power.

However, the inner circles of power are constricting, making it difficult to crack by those not represented. The linear powers of procedure, policy, and law that are supposed to be for the benefits of many, are being narrowed to benefit the incestuous world of fewer people. Any notion of inefficiency or payment for a process, rather than a thing, is viewed as heresy by those in charge because their resources are being wasted by such "nonsense". Creativity of new is being procedured out by the people who hold resources that are becoming increasingly more idle in an effort to hold on to them by traditional means. The iron encasement around constricting circles is increasingly hording assets within, while keeping outsiders out. They do have passages in, but the tunnels are getting narrower while there are many more guillotine devices throughout the passages. The result? A very homogenous culture that administrates life.

ism

2008-05-16T05:49:00.003-04:00

Simplicity? Complexity? Questions? Answers? Why does the mind try to make complexity and questions from feelings that are quite simple and clear. The human need to compete for a numerical intelligent quotient creates the essential desire to make life into a web of matrices. Thought derives concrete answers to questions that are created by moving variables that can never stop moving. Thus, static answers of intelligence are grounded in sand, yet, competition for right is argued in the human movement of progress.

Is progress really progress, or is progress analogous to proving righteousness in a world that really maintains balance in the form of simplicity. The essential elements of being healthy in an "intelligent" world lies in the ability to feel the human need for emotional outlet, empathy, and compassion from others. While individuals compete for who is best in an effort to fulfill the need to survive with earth's resources, people that do not fear a lack of resources will attain the deeper elements of survival.

Generations of people before us had these elements, but feared the effects of a lack of resources. Progress was made to attain wealth, and for those efforts much was lost with relationship to not just other people, but connectedness as a whole. Progress? Yes, in the sense that we gain knowledge of the universe around us. No, in the sense of being isolated enough to allow the mind to believe poverty exists in the wealthy so that feelings do not create an action to share. The mind creates fear.

(c) kenneth martin

untitled

2008-05-04T15:44:00.003-04:00

I found out today that most people don't like other people. People create relationships based on need, and when you are not needed, then people throw you away. In this chore/task oriented society, people expect contributions from others, and if the math doesn't add up, then you are disposable.

People say they want relationships. I think what they want is for others to alleviate the burdens of life. Burdens that they create for themselves.

For the first time, I realize why people prefer relationships with pets rather than with human beings.

ism #14 (from 01.10.08)

2008-04-12T11:49:00.000-04:00

ism #14 (in a fun Orwellian way; or Orson Welles, for that matter :) (January 10, 2008)

A culture of onlookers has invaded the planet. They are wreaking havoc on the concept of free society using democracy as a way to transplant their need for power into the culture. The onlookers are imposing their will by protecting us against ourselves using societal interests as the means by which they gain power. Let’s be very clear with ourselves as we come to the defense of maintaining personal freedoms that enable us to just be as we please. Democracy is not the same as being free, just as capitalism is not the same as democracy.

The culture of onlookers knows very little about the broad scope of life. They have expertise in their specialization, and “see” how others are hurt living as they choose. The aliens want mandates for their perceptions about corridors of life on which there depth of knowledge is very simple. They want to protect people who live in those corridors from the dangers that exist, and they draw conclusions from their statistical bias that they observe to be true.

(c) kenneth martin

Sad

2008-04-12T09:24:00.002-04:00

It is a sad day because people are ugly. Ugly people who look out for self, not caring to understand the manipulative affects on those in the path. Yeah, some may call it survival. I call it ugly. Survival is raw instinct. Ugliness is chosen, and the closeness to real survivability is demeaning to those really trying to survive. We do live in a society where ugliness is given a chance to be pervasive. However, without the ugliness, genuine qualities can never show either. Its just that some days highlight the worst in people.

Starting Anew

2008-01-21T11:37:00.000-05:00

Wow, I haven't written in a long time. Too many thoughts, and not enough time to write coherently. The mind has taken over a little bit causing a scrambled feeling like a bad cable channel reception. Just a little fuzzy, but the dots are starting to connect again because I'm going on intuition rather than plan.

Life is too fast to plan. All of the elements have changed by the time plan is implemented, so anything beyond using intuition in the moment is a waste of time and energy. I've been working on a painting for several months now, and it has been a frustrating piece. It is a portrait in the context of reflective expressionism, and the painting and writing has to come together perfectly to create the feeling I'm trying to capture.

ism #13

2007-11-10T02:14:00.000-05:00

Answers. Who really has them? Some people speak in absolutes as if they understand the totality of everything. Other people qualify every statement making sure we understand their modesty that keeps them grounded while they make sure we know that they believe their life is grand. There is an answer for everything.

The only problem is there was never really a question. Human beings are competitive animals. A culture where most of us live in homes, wake up, go do our thing at work, come home, go to a show or ball game once in a while. Market conditions dictate the money earned, and there are millions of talented people doing amazing things every day. Some of these amazing people make $millions while others make $hundreds. Some make $0. Yet, the competitive desire to be better requires us to have answers that break us away from daily monotonony that we know others live, too. Talk of travels, jobs, neighborhood, and accumulated friends and lovers are often the answers. Maybe the real answer is to create the question. How do I live a life I want to live without answering to others? The guy who doesn't provide answers is the one I look to who posed the question, and is living the answer.

ism #12

2007-11-09T12:16:00.000-05:00

I am at a creative standstill stuck in one of those dead zones that many know exactly what I am writing about. I write myself out of these zones to find an ability to loosen my mind to paint, write, create web sites, and whatever else I do on a daily basis. The reflection that has taken years to fully appreciate is that these dead zones are temporary, and relatively short-term. This evolution is simple in concept, but one of the most difficult to achieve as a creator.

The dead zone is not marginal and it is not shallow. It is very real and the expressions come from depths that tell the mind to take control of the situation. It is within this very time that reflective expressionism is challenged because the mind wants to tell the expressive self to "get real". Experience is the only tool that can alleviate the pressures from the mind, and it is a relief when the mind says forget it, and allows feeling to lead once again. Experience allows the feeling that creativity will return. It always does, and when it does, it explodes into some of the most creative periods one can experience. But, it requires patience. I think I just started my next piece; patience. Maybe not! =)

The mind cannot force me out of the dead zone. It has to go through the process of realizing that within the power of the mind, it cannot provide one of the most powerful satisfactions available to human beings; it cannot feel. The mind can only interpret feelings. The mind is like a child that has to learn patience and feel fortitude to find true meanings. Like many qualities that strengthen human ability, fortitude can be acknowledged, but cannot be imposed.

(c) kenneth martin

ism

2007-10-07T12:44:00.000-04:00

The culture is in a creative standstill because of economics. I was just in Charlotte, NC, and it is becoming apparent that the accountants cost-saving mechanisms are trumping the creativity to raise revenues by having original sources of inspiration.

I consistently hear that the economy is slowing. It is, but I think it is because the consumer is bored with their choices. If you went to a store with a $1000 to spend, I don't think you could find the originality in product line to actually spend the $1000. Whose fault is that?

ism

2007-09-23T22:00:00.000-04:00

I think my portfolio is evolving back into abstraction leading back into form. In the world of reflective expressionism, the mind keeps going back and forth in terms of inspiration and motivation. Simply, I've been humbled by the character and bravery of some people lately.

Yesterday, I saw a documentary on a war casualty that had a live bomb in his torso, and survived because no fewer than 5 other people risk everything to save this guy. Amazing. People are capable of amazing feats.

ism

2007-09-02T13:38:00.000-04:00

My studios are just down the street from Michigan Stadium. Yesterday, a team from Appalachian State won a game that is probably on par with the "Miracle on Ice". It is interesting to hear the comments from people who attended the game. "It was a waste of an afternoon". "It was a waste of my money"... and on and on. I'm sitting in my studio thinking that would have been the best game in the world to witness even if I ordinarily don't go to sporting events.

I suppose most people buy athletic tickets to watch "their" team win. However, if they truly were there for entertainment, then they would realize that they witnessed something historical in terms of athletic achievements. It is not often that a team with absolutely no chance of winning wins. I suppose it is difficult to realize historical significance in the moment, but there should be a movie made about this game. The classic underdog story.

Sometimes, I think everyone wants to be the elite, while at the same time identifying with the underdog. A certain cosmic balance exists because the elite win most often, but when they fall, the win for the underdog is equal to all of the wins combined for the elite.

There is a metaphor for our country in this game. The reality is that many people feel as though they are the underdog, but they are the elite on an international platform. It is a tough predicament because while the mind wants to ponder that we are the disadvantaged in this game for having lost a little luster from our status, the majority of the universe is celebrating victory, and our fall. It is difficult to fathom that our misfortune provides hope to the majority. The phrase, "the world turns over every 24 hours on those who think they stand on top of it", seems to resonate today.

Maybe, that is why people who are clearly the favorite in life's hierarchy will attempt to convince others and themselves that they are really the underdog. The same dynamic that exists for people who have substantial means to convince themselves that they are poor.

(c) kenneth martin

commercial application

2007-08-24T09:00:00.000-04:00

I had an interesting conversation with Banker Dave a couple of days ago. My studios are on the 2nd floor of an office building above a bank. I was downstairs and I ran into Dave who inquired about a piece I was carrying around preparing it for delivery. Dave is one of those guys that you can tell really appreciates diversity, and isn't at all a guy with a "tude". He inquired about the piece, and we got into a discussion about abstract art, and it led to talking about how dark his bank lobby is for the people who work in the office all the time.

Banker Dave can leave to meet clients during the day, but for the people who are at desks all day, the environment is dark. The environment has impact on the people greeting their customers and on the customers walking in. The people who made the decision on the decor are probably not working there, and probably are not affected by the daily feeling that darkness has on someone. The perpetual feeling of being able to hide can be nice, but the perpetual feeling of nobody noticing someone is not cool. These are the people who provide customers their first experience with the bank. Darkness, light, color, proximity, direction, height of reception desk, and a hundred or so other factors affect feeling without the mind realizing why feelings are as they may be.

Reflective expressionism identifies these environments and shoots those feelings out like a ....censorship sucks......=) ..... Often, the merit of these feelings are disregarded usually for the sake of financial cost savings. However, for the rare dude or whatever the feminine is for dude, that knows how to raise revenue rather than save costs, these affects are felt and a determination is made that a potential long term stream of income is far greater than a one-time cost. Reflective expressionism is how you know what your customers are really thinking when they first come in contact with your business.

(c) kenneth martin

ism

2007-08-24T06:28:00.000-04:00

Cancer is like a vine that won't die. You can chop it off here and there, but it grows back stronger than ever. They look for the root to kill it off. That works sometimes, but if the vine already spread and choked other organs then you die anyway. Those stringy vines seem to pop up where other life is weak. Cancer does the same. From what I've seen, organs are like sponges that need saturation. Sponges get hard and ineffective when they are dry. Maybe cancer starts when people are consistently dehydrated and malnourished. Kill the cause not the affect.

(c) kenneth martin

ism

2007-08-24T06:18:00.000-04:00

I rode my bike to the studio this morning, and it was dark. I had the whole road to myself and it felt good to fly on an open road. I had the speedometer up to 35 on the flats. I'm always curious as to why the false flats are always worse than the obvious climbs. It must be the frustration of wanting it to be flat. My head tells me that it is flat so why the feeling of frustration when the mind is wrong. We hate when our mind deceives us, but it does it to us all the time.

(c) kenneth martin

the smirk

2007-08-07T10:13:00.000-04:00

What is it about the smirk? There are two types of smirks in our culture that seem to be most forms of communicating going on between people. The first one is the negative judgement of someone or something. It is a disapprovement without committing to be accountable for words. The irony is that denial is often the response when called on the judgement. The judgement smirk leaves a perceived out when the persecuted one just simply walks away knowing what the smirk is all about.

The second smirk is the look of confidence created by someone in a situation in which they are totally uncomfortable. Men do this often. The silent confident look without saying a word. I know, I understand, but the thought of having meaningful dialogue is totally out of the question. The depth either becomes a "how ya doin' " conversation, or an all out assault for the competition to determine who is right, or who is more intellectual. The confident smirk is the way to compete for those determinations without having to have a dialogue.

Either way, the smirk does communicate, and neither is very attractive or positive. I must not smirk.

(c) kenneth martin

ism

2007-08-06T14:42:00.000-04:00

I saw a Rothko biography on PBS recently, and it made me think that many artists are angry. I don't see the world in terms of why I should be angry at the the general population for growing and evolving as human beings. I think that people who are cynical are more likely to have negative intentions towards other people out of fear that they will be harmed in someway. Cynicism evokes a mistrust in people, and makes selfishness acceptable in the mind.

Many artists feel they have a message that they want to convey to others in an effort to change society. They may even be insulted that most people do not share their same beliefs. Hence, anger may be pervasive. As ironic as it sounds, I don't have a message that I wish to convey that is meant to convince anyone of anything I have to write. There is nothing specific that I want to write other than to write something that may resonate with someone that enables him to reflect for him or herself. It is kind of like that leapfrog game where you use the back of the guy in front to leap forward. It is meant as an impetus for viewers and readers to stimulate their own creativity to enliven their being. My art is about seeing possibility utilizing all skills to accomplish endeavors, and not limiting oneself to just their specialized talent. I guess that is a message, isn't it? =)

I recently encountered an attorney who expressed her like for my work, and I said that I admired someone who could study and utilize law to help solve issues. It amazed me when her response was something to the effect of, "I don't really have any talents so I had to go into law". As if being a lawyer isn't a talent. It is through these little connections that I think people are bored with their opportunities, and bored with themselves. However, in today's world, if you really know yourself you can figure out a way to apply yourself to the world enhancing the societal balance of what is skewed today towards a repetitious efficient mind. I think so much more can be accomplished when the energy reserved for boredom, cynicism, and anger can be learned to be utilized for creativity and reflection.

(c) kenneth martin

ism (long one)

2007-08-01T10:08:00.000-04:00

I don't see the arts, and specifically reflective expressionism, as anti-establishment, anti-technology, or anti-anything really. I see it as providing individual balance to take pressure off minds that are entrenched in technical lives. I think reflective expressionism allows scientists and the like to let their minds go to places beyond those that are restricted by knowledge. My intuition tells me that organizations that employ a leniency toward those that reflect are stronger and more vibrant.

My gut also tells me that mental diseases are often caused by minds that "never stop rehashing and acquiring knowledge". Feeling gives the mind a rest, a reprieve from the non-stop relentless pursuit of knowledge for competitive reasons. The information age has created an extreme competition to be more knowledgeable than others. I know my fingers are typing right now based previous experiences and knowledge that I have acquired. However, the feelings that make me express this narrative today are drawing upon this information like a dam that has been opened. At no point am I allowing myself to force a message that is meant to coerce, influence, or argue a point. These writings are just coming out. It is not up to me to influence. Influence is brought in, not sent out. In that context, reflective expressionism cannot have double standards, or selfish motivation. It may be difficult to read, and difficult to comprehend meaning in the moment. However, these are the very mental activities that I am trying to avoid. That is how absolute creativity occurs in me to go beyond what is known.

The entire concept is not about "smarter than", "weaker than", or "weirder than". Some will read this and judge. I do it fairly often myself, but I try empathy to catch myself judging and placing people, places, and things in hierarchial order. If that doesn't work I take a nap, and drink water. With all this in me today, I say that reflective expressionism is bringing entire life together in balance. Science is the ultimate good in providing knowledge that evolved from the creativity of wanting to know. Mathematics are the quantifications of intuitions that reflective expressions already knew from their intuitions. Some beings want quantitative proof of qualitative factors. Nothing wrong with that. That is their being. Technology has brought together human cultures that used to be worlds apart both literally and figuratively. Reflective expressionism is never about ridding the world of any of these knowledges. It is about incorporating a feeling into knowledge that keeps the objective human based, and allowing for time to take its course without ulterior motives attempting to force the issue on their time.

ism

2007-07-31T13:25:00.001-04:00

I'm interested in why I am afraid to express when times are not good. Today, I feel the weight. Money is down, critics are out, and panic is setting in. Is fear a self-inflicted sabotage that takes over if the mind is allowed to wander? It was!!!

ism

2007-07-31T09:54:00.000-04:00

Reflective expressionism is not stating beliefs or censoring a mind. It is allowing the feeling of questioning and curiosity to be pervasive while leaving the mind to interpret the sensitivity. The most emotional elements of human disagreements require the least amount of censorship; not the most. Otherwise, fear of condemnation overrides the feeling of being me.

(c) kenneth martin

Perplexed

2007-07-31T09:22:00.000-04:00

Why does religion and politics cause the emotion of anger to rise during discussion? This is perplexing to me.

Curiosity

2007-07-28T11:20:00.000-04:00

This is a poem I posted on poetry.com a few years ago.

Curiosity

In the midst of idle thoughts
lies the ability to conceptualize
ideas and reality that are not real today

Evolutionary thoughts that take us anywhere
in an effort to keep minds thinking of what
we do not know exists in the universe

If we believe in our ability to understand the world
then we should accept our being
a small fragment of what exists beyond what we know

It is not important to know all
but rather see a future that avails to us the curiosity
of the unknown world that awaits us.

(c) kenneth martin

ism

2007-07-28T10:17:00.000-04:00

If one convinces himself of a belief then does that correlate into knowing oneself? What happens when life experience, or learned knowledge, contradicts those values.

I wonder if I choose to believe things rather than accepting something unknown. Or even worse, do I choose ignorance out of fear that knowledge will destroy my concept of me. Regardless, designated values are really inconsequential to who I am.

(c) kenneth martin

ism

2007-07-27T11:47:00.000-04:00

One last thought on politics today. The danger in the democracy does not lie in the hands of the elected few. The real dangers lie in the entrenched bureaucracies of the agencies within the government that have very specific political agendas. The elected few do not stand a chance against the manipulative powers of the experts within. Widely known, but evasive solutions.

I need to go paint.

(c) kenneth martin

ism

2007-07-27T11:06:00.000-04:00

Hey, what about a political system where there are pre-election nominations from the public rather than political parties. What if CISCO enabled a system that enabled a national nomination day. People would nominate 5 people who they wanted to be in leadership. Then take the people who were nominated most often, and ask them if they would want the honor of representing the people. The candidates have to be nominated almost unbeknownst to them. Get rid of the duopoly of power.

The primary difference is that people who want to "lead" cannot throw themselves into the hat. Campaigning would exist, but the numbers would be so fractured that no isolated parties could gain power. Maybe, people would nominate more local people, and then we may find out who are the most influential people in their communities. People could nominate Sam Jones or Sandy Smith, who run all the recreation gigs in town. I think a statistician would agree that people who made it through that process would be those people most admired collectively by the most individuals. Those are the people that should lead democracies. I think it would prevent years and years of professional campaigners who "serve" the people. Government for the people, of the people; something like that.

ism

2007-07-27T10:45:00.000-04:00

I wonder sometimes what people are really attempting when they say they are "trying to change the world". If I change the world then great, but it is not my desire. I don't think it can be a desire while at the same time being for altruistic purpose.

The purpose of reflective expressionism to enable absolute creativity is to allow people to be, and by default, each person will bring their realm of influence to those around them. It is up to others to take influences within their own being, and interpret them accordingly. If it was an Excel spreadsheet then it would be a circular function. Bad for spreadsheets, but great for life.

(c) kenneth martin

ism

2007-07-27T07:24:00.000-04:00

If Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad lived at the same time they would be best friends believing in many of the same values. Why do their followers fight?

Human beings don't care about what is right, but they will fight till death to determine who is right. Even if they all believe in the same basic principles.

I wonder if human beings will choose other human beings to be their iconic choices in the future. Will there be a human symbol to exemplify one's belief in a higher being, or will too much information be documented to substantiate elevating someone to that status? This is perplexing because it would be really cool if life on earth was enough for people. Maybe, people would try to make the present condition more like their desired future utopia. Hmmm!

(c) kenneth martin

ism

2007-07-26T10:23:00.000-04:00

Fast has no correlation to efficient.

(c) kenneth martin

The absolute meaning of life

2007-07-26T10:00:00.000-04:00

The absolute human meaning of life in the most simple elemental form is: water

With it, everything is possible; without it, nothing is possible. If we can get enough water to everyone on the planet so that everyone can stay hydrated then conflict will lessen, and people will prosper.

Can water be made?

(c) kenneth martin

Value

2007-07-23T15:19:00.000-04:00

I've had a few interesting experiences lately that makes me perplexed by peoples' view of what art is in our culture, and of what value to place in it.

I'm beginning to wonder if people think that art is something to put on the wall. Period. Space filler. Art is, obviously, space filler in the most elemental sense, but what does it say about a culture that believes art is created by printing presses to be mass produced for walls everywhere. I had a kid in here recently that accused me of not knowing art. He didn't know me. I didn't know him. He flat out made an accusation without feeling my work or seeing my work. Attacks reign in this field, and it is by people who think technically about what something is. My argument is that art is not technical, or a picture. Art is what I am writing now without script. Art is giving a presentation without script. Art is brainstorming solutions. Art is painting. In essence, that is why most universities have a "liberal arts" department that which little value is given in our society. It is ironic that many art schools are within the design departments along with architectural and engineering departments. Shouldn't they be in the liberal arts department?

Anyway, art is subject to critique, but even critique is in the form of like or dislike. Opinions that get confused as critique. It is interesting that I have had several art students come in to my studio, and ask to be my apprentice. They want technical skills from me. I don't understand because my art is me. I don't have a book that documents the thousands of brush strokes that I use, nor do I mentor people on how to paint. My work is about who I am, not what brush strokes I use. To argue otherwise, is the result of a culture that thinks in the world of ten steps.

Reflective expressionism is to accept that beautiful things happen arbitrarily. The basis for letting things be. Our culture wants to can all ideas and thoughts into mass production so that efficiencies are gained for financial well-being. I say that works for objects like tooth brushes and tools. However, canned art reflects on a culture that is so reliant on segregated society that people forget that value is not just measured in economic terms. Value must also be based on the immeasurables for which feeling is necessary to provide the intuitive basis for value.

Reflective expressionism is not about methods. We are often accused of not doing any "work". But, yet, our place is one which people congregate to, and feel comfortable to communicate with one another. That intangible consensus is immeasurable, but valuable. That is the true value of artistic creation over and above mass production.

(c) kenneth martin

ism

2007-07-22T15:55:00.000-04:00

I do have a problem recently. I have been using a lot of "you" and not enough "I". You absolves me from responsibility. It is directive. It is, dare I say, preachy. Yuck, I don't want preachy. I have to check myself at the door consistently. Otherwise, reflective expressionism becomes an expression that seeks power. I want this....I want that.....yuck

(c) kenneth martin

Sincerity

2007-07-20T09:11:00.000-04:00

Okay, I've just spent the last three days in the middle of an American crowd, and answering retail-type questions as it relates to "art". I have to keep this context in mind as I write, but, when people really have to ask why the rest of the world hates the United States, then they really should sit, and take in the American public. It is a complex phenomenon that allows you to meet some of the nicest people while at the same time being forced into being subordinate to them. I think this is the thesis statement of this journal. Americans do relentlessly attempt to manipulate themselves into more authoritative cultural figures, and that is offensive to cultures that are not geared toward success driven needs.

I think it is important to know that manipulation is complex. Manipulation can occur through positive and negative experiences, thus making behaviors towards other people both positive and negative. The American culture demands that people manipulate other people on a growing relative scale that is becoming unbecoming.

What I noticed is a general lack of sincerity. I can be as charming as I need to be to get what I want, or I can be as much of a hardass as I need to be to get what I want. People will form opinions about me based on those and any other behaviors I need to show that will get me what I want out of a situation or circumstance. It seems at times that the American culture never stops attempting to get what it wants individually. Collectively, that makes up a culture that lacks sincerity towards other people. Maybe, that's what the world hates.

(c) kenneth martin

just an observation

2007-07-19T11:15:00.000-04:00

I've been surrounded by crowds the last couple of days. This is not judgment, but just observation. Collectively, our culture is fat. Lazy would be a judgement that I cannot observe, but people who are fat are not physically lazy.

Fat is a physical observation. It is seen with the eyes. Lazy is often thought of a physical trait, but it is more of a mental state of mind. People who carry additional weight have to exert a lot to move, thus making movement less, but exertion more than someone not carrying as much weight.

Don't you think a fat culture is the result of how much food is available, and how many careers are made from selling food?

Hey, I'll promote my work now. This is my attempt at a marketing concept. I'm amazed at how people will complain to me about how much an art piece costs, and then they will drop $100 fairly often for one meal. An art piece is for life, a meal is for, well, how well does your digestive system work? =) sorry, I can't blatantly promote. I'm a "here it is, take it or leave it" type today.

Listening

2007-07-16T14:43:00.000-04:00

The timing of things always seem to highlight importance when you most need it. In 1992, I left a corporate finance job when I was still in my 20's. For several years, I developed my artistic talents, but more importantly watched my daughters grow up. I didn't "raise" them, I didn't "create" them, I didn't "direct" them. During those years I tried to get to know them well enough to influence them in a way that they grew up knowing themselves. I didn't and don't want them to be people that I romantically created in my head. They are my daughters, but that is about as possessive as I will get with them. They will be their own selves, even when it would be easier for them for me to tell them what to do.

The reason this is an expression today is that a common occurance has happened recently whereby people judge that fathers who do this work are lazy, unmotivated, often characterized as being "gay", and feeling some of the same elements that gay people do face in society. It is with this mind that I express some humanity into the concept.

One. I think that getting to know your children is the most overlooked, undervalued, and misunderstood concept in Western culture. People try to influence, coerce, demand, compromise, and promote their children that has little value for the children. Parents try to create children they want them to be. Why can't parents just understand their kids, and let the children tell them about themselves, express themselves, and talk their way through the process of knowing themselves. It used to drive me nuts, but now I love being called lazy for having spent countless hours talking with (not to) Claire and Shan. Now, it is time to back away a bit, letting them become adults. Those are my thoughts; Claire and Shan will have to deal with the consequences. =)

So, yeah, the country club crowd literally looks at me with their heads tilted, and thoughts of weirdness in their heads. I intrigue people because I don't see "work" as a puritanical need to promote myself as a "worker, long hours, a lotta sweat" making me worthy of the vast wealth that I created for myself. It doesn't impress me, I don't desire the label, and I certainly will not use it to define me as a "man". I don't have the magic of knowing how to understand, but I know I accept the process of learning and listening, which, my experience suggests, most people I've encountered do not. Maybe, listening is the single most underutilized, undeveloped skill in Western culture. I guess when you know everything, listening isn't important. And when you are a "man", when you don't know something then you must act like you do know it!

Individual Importance

2007-07-14T22:45:00.000-04:00

I wonder if the universal nature is to be a conscious observer of finding importance. A reality is that human beings are animals who have taken over the earth. There is a divide in modern society. One side has progressed to thinking that we are each elementally important to either earth or mankind. The other side believes that individuals don't have any impact. They are both wrong. Reality is that we are each important to making up the collective meaning of human culture. Democracy will work when this is realized by both types of people.

Need to Know

2007-07-09T11:52:00.000-04:00

What is the human need to know the future? Is it possible to accept not knowing the future, and still be comfortable with the idea that everything will be okay? I think it is possible as long as fear is isolated into what intentions are spreading the message that knowing the future is possible. Fear is the single most emotion sold onto people by those wishing to take financial and political advantage of the trepidation that human beings have for not living a "secure" life. Arguments progress from being taking advantage of by others if you let your culture be abused by indifference to issues. It probably would be safe to say that the real danger is allowing an exaggerated sense of fear dictate individual decisions. Thus, allowing people in and out of the culture to abuse the unreality of that fear. The daily headlines are not reality in a wholistic sense.

re. planning

2007-06-30T13:07:00.000-04:00

A person just argued with me about planning. You need a plan, etc. as if reflective expressionism contradicted the concept of planning. Two thoughts. One is that the mind that does not reflect, works in mutual exclusivity. This was a perfect example of a person who has to have either/or choices. A menu from which to choose. In many respects, it is like the educational system that tests intelligence in the form of multiple choice tests. There is always a right answer and several wrong ones. I never understood that concept of evaluation. Talk about boiling complexity into simplicity to make the world easier. It is no wonder that the education system bores the hell out of the intelligent, and condemns the poor performers. Purely a system built for getting people to follow "normality", unless one is strong enough to question correctness.

The second thought is that planning is just as arbitrary as the results desired from the plan. A plan is great if the plan is founded in the natural self from which it was born. Otherwise, it is a plan for futility that will lead to nothing greater than what already exists. Spinning wheels come to mind. The essence of reflective expressionism is that a plan will evolve by itself when you allow the mind to follow and support purpose for being. You can write down the plan if you wish, but personally I find it mundane.

Laughing...that is why I used to write papers, and then write the outline from the finished draft. It was a waste of my time, but I had to write the outline.

Single purpose

2007-06-30T11:48:00.000-04:00

Abstract thoughts can be channeled into single purpose if you know yourself well enough to know what the single purpose is for you. Most people do not want to know why they exist. It is easier to learn from the outside in. What if you allowed your mind to settle into being content coexisting with your natural self. What if you allowed yourself total comfort, and then use your mind to reflect back on the activity you did when you were at ease. This is self.

This is where most people respond, "hello, earth check, back to reality!" I have to do the laundry, clean the house, go here, do this, do that. What if that stuff didn't matter? What if you stopped eating less because you were more at ease? What if you didn't sweat as much because you ate less? What if you had to do less laundry because you didn't sweat as much? What if you didn't have to run the air conditioner because you didn't weigh as much? What if you drove less because you felt like walking or biking more often? And on and on. Point being that reality can be whatever you make it. Everyone just has to get beyond being a martyr, or feeling like they have to be one to have purpose.

Control Struggle

2007-06-30T09:02:00.000-04:00

Imagine that, the brain has a mind of its own. The mind always wants to find something tangible in every painting, and my mind wants to paint something in every painting. Something will jump into my head, and I will want to paint it. However, reflective expressionism is about training my mind to feel an emotion rather than identify something. It is about creating art rather than a picture. The feeling starts from within while allowing the brain to provide direction on how to create an emotion on canvas. A consistent battle is waged because the brain eventually always wants control; it always does. I want my brain to be a back seat driver, not a control-freak captain driver who has to make good time getting where he wants to go.

Reflection on Commonality

2007-06-27T08:57:00.000-04:00

I am working on a painting where the tonal qualities of the color are all very similar. Statisticians might know this as the range of tones is very narrow, and this is causing pain because the colors are always overlapping and fighting one another.

Everyone seems to think, including me, that finding commonality in people leads to a reduction in conflict. Maybe conflict increases when people realize we are more alike than we like to believe. People are fighting for intellectual, visual, and emotional superiority in a world that is fairly uniform. Maybe religions are all the same with different names. Maybe cultures are all the same with just the methods of showing characterizations being different. What if we stopped trying to find commonality. A homogeneous world would be pretty boring. It already is homogeneous in many respects. Maybe, that is why war has been so prevalent for the last 100 years. People are just fighting to be different from one another.

Biography - for press release (Agora Gallery - NYC)

2007-06-25T11:23:00.000-04:00

For Press Release

My work is about reflective expressionism, and a desire to create paintings from absolute creativity. I desire to communicate a feeling as opposed to a statement. The feeling may be essential to the space, or consistent with a human emotion that allows people to be. I may attempt to communicate something specific in a painting, but that is irrelevant. What the viewer feels is relevant. The viewer’s experiences and life evolution will dictate the emotion felt from the depth, rhythm, coordination and eye transference of the piece. The emotion may be a simple noun, but it could also be as deep as giving meaning to life. There is so much noise in our culture that keeps people from having sensitivity. I wish to eliminate noise from minds viewing my work so that they may be free to feel what is truly inside them at that time and place. The purpose of my work is to provide sensitivity, not something to identify.

I was born in Dearborn, Michigan, on December 10, 1964, and I lived in a typical middle-class Midwestern United States home. I never felt comfortable there, and as a result I spent very little time at home as kid. People with similar experiences can attest to being confined by norms, standards, and beliefs that are based on simplicity and tradition. However, I did what intelligent middle-class people are supposed to do, and I went to a fine college and got my business degree so that I could improve my economic well-being. Never mind that I never had the resources to really delve into who I was or I what I enjoyed doing. It was purely economic decision-making. I had a professional business career until I was in my late twenties. I was the father of two daughters, and at that point my life truly began. Being born is one thing; starting to live is another.

I quit work and stayed with my daughters when doing such brought upon the stigma of laziness, weirdness, inquisitiveness, and just plain unaccepted(ness). On the most basic level, the situation provided me with backbone, which frankly I did not need until then. Oh, I would say that I was an investor, or a substitute teacher, or this or that, but what I was really doing was being a parent, and evolving as an artist. I always created, drew, examined, explored things; and I always painted. Inquirers would want a title so I made something up in the creative sense because being a parent was not a good enough title for a man. They needed something concrete, something to comprehend. However, it is through this maze in my life that my absolute creativity became the core for how I lived. There was no book, manual, or counselors available for me to learn from during this time. My own consciousness prevailed.

My painting evolved mostly during this period. My Mom died from a brutal and sudden fight with pancreatic cancer when I was in my early thirties. Witnessing a human being shriveled to nothing by disease was strange, and being that it was Mom made it painful. I got my creative sense from her. I have always moved fast, but from that point forward life became a sprint. Life seemed short, and sprinting was the only way to live. I never do things the conventional way, and for me I did not want academic instruction for creating art. Art instruction is an oxymoron term for me because art is created internally for those who naturally think in terms of creative embodiment. So, I became a life-drawing model, and I took courses on teaching, and specifically how minds learn in different ways.

Now is a good time to add that I was diagnosed with ADHD in the fall of 2005. Everything made sense to me about my past, and how scattered I was mentally. I was a licensed CPA one day (which I was), and an abstract expressionist the next. Everything made sense after learning this about me, and it helped me focus on streamlining my daily activity to the purpose of being a visual artist. Being a model is the absolute best situation for an ADHD person to learn because hyper-stillness is something that came naturally for me, and settled my mind during these sessions. I also realized that after just listening in uninstructed and instructed classes that only a few instructed classes really had value for me. Sure, I would learn a little trick here and there, but the mostly idle opinions of “that’s good”, or “you should do this”. My ADHD mind enabled me visualize valuable tools in my own work, and filter out the tools that had little value. I listened to over 100 different art instructors, some of whom are nationally recognized, and I can say that maybe 5 had significant impact on truly enhancing creative sensitivity. This is not to say that most are poor instructors, but rather most are technical advisors. I think this is the true nature of our society so it makes sense that art would be taught with similar methods to other technical careers; like a how-to manual.

My paintings and drawing were mostly in human form in my early development.

However, I never was comfortable with the idea of copying an image and putting it into painting. Even then I was trying to capture the feeling or emotion in the person on canvas or newsprint. People would evaluate on whether the image came out with the same likeness of my model, and it would drive me nuts. I wanted to capture adjectives and adverbs like confident, sincere, perplexed, skeptical, uncomfortable, or worn down, and people were evaluating based on how well I copied. My common phrase became, “this is the 21st century, and I have a camera that can do that”. Most of my paintings of human form became evolutions of character, while the model could go from being an African-American to an Asian-looking person in final form. However, the emotion was captured, and that is what I was after in my work.

This was my creative self evolving, but I also realized that people really did not want pictures of other people on their walls. I painted some landscapes, but got so bored with that concept that I just about quit, and went back into a banking business. It was about that time I met an interior designer who kept showing me works of art that her clients wanted, but she could not find. She would show me something in a magazine, and she was right about this type of art being difficult to find. We had conversations where she talked about depth, rhythm, flow, color coordination, and how an art piece should be the center piece of a good design. I realized that she was referring to the feeling of space, rather than an identity of an object. In short, she was referring to art that loosened inhibitions and enhanced feelings described with adjectives and adverbs; not subjects. In essence, she was referring to what I tried to capture in human form without the human subject. She was talking about the hyper-focus into a clenched jaw, a tense shoulder, a confident cheek structure. She was referring to the visual qualities that make up form without having to copy a form. She wanted the elements of form without the form, and what is commonly known as abstract.

She nailed it. Reflective expressionism is a painting that has emotional content. Many people think of abstract expressionism as paint splattered on canvas; an artistic fraud, if you will. However, a true abstract expressionist is capturing real images in real time. The eye does not see snapshots most often. The eye sees blurred images in motion, arbitrary patterns of color, prisms of light changed by shadow, and complexity of color variations that most people document and decode into one color. However, my mind works and memorizes visually. I do not work in sequential numerical technical steps. I work in random thoughts that over time come together, and make absolute sense in my wholistic thinking. Color, which coordinated with rhythm and flow, enhance human comfort. Artistic value creating shadow in pieces that create dimension that provides the illusion of larger space. Elements that define space used to encourage masculinity or femininity. Unidentifiable forms that are subconsciously soothing microcosms because they are reminders of what is seen most often in life. Most visual images are abstract like a rusty piece of steel, or the reflection of light on glass. Our culture promotes the idea that identification of subject is reality, and that which is not identifiable is not real. Credibility and merit is most often determined by this “reality”. I wish to bring forth the idea that reality also includes the world of the unknown and accepts the notion that most occurrences in life are random.

Hence, the genre of Reflective Expressionism. You may read my blogs on this form of expression to learn more. This has been my comfort zone my entire life without fully comprehending what it meant. The essence of a free mind allowing one to be absolutely lost in anything where his or her mind may find meaning in something that did not exist before now. It is the essence of exploration. It promotes the idea that subject is made up of an endless sphere of abstract thoughts and comprehensions. It is the visualization of what people talk about as character in human beings. In the past, it was the idle thought of a few people or maybe one person that creatively thought of how people could fly. Today, it might be the solution for getting all the cultures connected by flight to find commonality. Obviously, a painting is just a tool to promote a feeling, an idea, a method that only each person can explore on his or her own. It does not require a painting to daydream; to find comfort in a certain space. It is just my way of promoting a culture that allows creative thought, expression, and individual determination without sporadic final judgments being interjected just a fraction into the creative process. A culture that can get beyond promoting dreams and aspirations for exclusiveness to a society that aspires to inclusiveness. I think sensitive visual stimulations are essential for comforting the human mind enough to find understanding of self and beyond.

To read more, go to: kennethmartinstudios.com and click on the blog button.

© kenneth martin

Application of Reflective Expressionism

2007-06-21T09:10:00.000-04:00

Anyone who has tried, failed, tried, failed, tried, failed, succeeded, etc. in any endeavor knows that the difference between failing and succeeding usually is not something tangible. Ordering phone services, renting an office, buying this, using that is not the magical equation that allows someone to succeed while most fail. The difference is in the intangible qualities of reflection on the spot about understanding motivations, identifying roots to problems, deriving a creative solution, and understanding yourself enough to know when you are defeating yourself.

Successful endeavors are more likely to be found in a chew mark you left in a pencil thinking about an issue, than in a manual on the shelf. Successful endeavors are more likely to be found in a hole you punched in the drywall when a difficult client usurped your energy, than in the type of lease agreement you signed. Successful people worry more about nuance than proper tense. These qualities and characteristics require reflective expressionism to allow the mind to rid itself of the societal noise that usually is meant to hinder; not help.

Process

2007-06-03T10:50:00.000-04:00

Reflective Expressionism is about process. It starts with an idea, a thought, something intriguing enough to delve into what makes who, what, when, etc. interesting. It starts with subject, but the human eye has predisposition to make inaccurate assessments of image. In other words, people make assessments based on still life. How often is life still? Most eyes interpret subject in action as being the same as subject being still. It is not the same. The blur you see is real.

I am working on pieces for the North Point Sail Racing Association, and will photograph the yacht race next weekend in Chicago. What is the difference between a sail yacht strolling out on Lake Michigan for fun, and a sail yacht competing in a race. What makes photographing a race more interesting than several yachts seemingly sitting still out on Lake Michigan. The difference is the competition, the energy, the fun of aspiration. Some people will take the will to win seriously, while others will not. Reflective Expressionism is an attempt to provide a visual image of the energy differences in subject that may seem subtle at times, but make a huge difference in how subject is perceived. In this example, Reflective Expressionism is found in the sail, and how it is manipulated to win. In essence, you can see the competitive mind in the sail.

I have never sailed before, but I notice what makes subject different. The same yacht is the same yacht. The form is the same, but, time as the 4th dimension, makes that yacht entirely different in different circumstances. The image of the yacht does not change in still life, but it is a different image when in action. Some might say the image does not change. However, the image does change as actually seen in action. The mind is what gets in the way of interpreting the complexity of different images. The mind simplifies the image into its still life understanding.

© kenneth martin

What is it?

2007-05-29T12:16:00.000-04:00

Reflective Expressionism does have form. It is just how closely you view the world. I have always been a hyper focused person. I mostly see things in detail. My eyes pick up the reflection of a door knob when most people see a door. I see the subject in the door knob being reflected back to me. My mind etches these images and they become something of form. I hear that my paintings lack subject. I disagree because what I paint is subject that most people really see, but the mind interprets the larger subject in two dimension. My mind sees things in three dimensions, and I am beginning to realize that four dimensions do exist.

© kenneth martin

Control

2007-05-27T14:52:00.000-04:00

Something hit me today. People get nasty when you stop allowing them to use you as the brunt of their jokes or entertainment. I would like to ask someone who knows, but my guess is that most relationships end when the controlled person finally says enough. Maybe that means that good relationships exist when there is a perfect balance between having control and being controlled in both people. I don't think that one dominant, one submissive is good enough for "balancing each other out". Eventually, the submissive dismisses the controller with the controller wondering what happened to the "good" relationship.

In a painting this shows itself when a variety of elements are never really blended together, but overall they balance themselves. You could have rounded shapes and square shapes with each being perfectly round and square. Balance would be in an equal number of both covering the same amount of area. However, the squares will dominate the painting if all other elemental factors are the same. Why? The square has sharp edges; a danger of sort; something requiring acknowledgement. Much like an intersection in the road. It requires attention.

I think our culture promotes people either being square or being round. This job requires a square. That job requires a circle. Someone who is a natural square, but rounds off his corners is not committed to perfection according to society. Someone who is a natural circle, but wants to be an oval so that she can relate with others is considered a "sell out".

© kenneth martin

Spontaneous Nuance

2007-05-25T19:12:00.001-04:00

An impulse to make subtle distinctions in elements and in thought. Expressions of subtle differences explained through art. The subtle differences in expressions make dramatic differences in outcomes reinforcing the idea that outcomes are mostly arbitrary events. This concept identifies time as the fourth dimension because factors that existed in time are mutually exclusive to one another even when the factors are seemingly the same.

I work in mediums that allow for transparency of thought so that the audience may see the work in a prism created by depth. Color, shapes, forms, and other elements have meaning that are interpreted individually, but do have uniform emotional impact even when they are not consciously absorbed. Walk into a black room? That has a uniform emotional impact on people. Walk into a room that has many dividing walls. That has a uniform emotion impact although people have different predispositions to that emotion. Some people like the security of tight spaces, while others feel boxed in.

My work is never about intellect. It is about feeling, and a conscious spontaneous expression of that feeling onto the canvas. Viewers will have their own feelings about a work depending on their own life experiences. However, it would be a mistake to attempt to interpret my sensitivity while avoiding their own sense of emotion from the presence of the work. That is when intellect gets in the way of feeling something. Although irrelevant, the irony is that chances are good that by feeling your own emotional impact you have decoded my expressions; being that we probably are from the same relative culture. Be brave, feel something rather than thinking about it!

© kenneth martin

Idle Thought

2007-05-25T10:36:00.000-04:00

I am wondering, as I get my paints out and readied, whether it is human nature to hide insecurities, and instinctively seek or make up faults in other people as a result. Just think about how much time people spend making shit up in their minds about things that are either not true or irrelevant. If people spent a fraction of that time lessening insecurities by showing them, then they would feel more empathy from others. Hmmm, sounds like a slogan;

Empathize, Don't Criticize! (c) kenneth martin :)

Reflective Expressionism is just that! Showing insecurities, and a bunch of other stuff, too!

Reflective Expressionism -

2007-05-22T18:36:00.000-04:00

Reflective Expressionism is a genre of art devoted to the concept that spontaneous feelings of expression are calming and essential for human beings to go beyond traditional and known realities. It is based on the idea that reality goes beyond what we distinguish with our minds, and allows the mind to listen and feel elements that will be the basis for conceptualizing in the future. It is the essence of a discerning daydream. Reflective Expressionism is the foundation for creative thinking, and my work is created to encourage a visual stimulation of this process.

© kenneth martin

reflective expressionism

2007-05-15T09:37:00.000-04:00

Today am introducing a genre that I know as reflective expressionism. For me, it is an extension of abstract expressionism, not a different name for the same thing. The similar elements are founded in the idea that the importance of the work is based in the process of creation rather than the output of a figurative picture. My work is created from a feeling process that continually has to fight off the intellectual notion that I have to create something with identity. In fact, I keep my camera in my studio to remind me that if I want subject then I should go take a picture.

Energy is an overused, and frankly, vague word to describe many "things" in our culture today. The explanation of energy I want to create in each piece is to allow a viewer to feel the essence of what is within her or him. Those that truly understand how to feel, and use their minds to interpret emotional thoughts will gain a better understanding of my work. This is my evolution as an artist, and is a fairly common conception of acclaimed abstract art.

However, reflective expression is the idea of creating something that has rhythm coordinated by shape, form, color, light, shadow, proximity, and the relationship of all those elements to one another. The idea is similar to creating music. Music is abstract. It is not tangible. Music can create an emotion. Think of a movie, and how music is used to set the scene. No lyrics, just the music. Reflective expressionism is the same concept; just with a canvas and some tools. It allows for a feeling; not an identity of a subject. It allows for a mind to take a back seat to the heart; not the other way around. And hopefully, it ignites a passion for what is within.

It isn't my feeling I want to communicate. I am at a place that is my development; not yours. The same circumstance experienced by you and me will be felt totally different based on our own place in time. We each own our own time. My work is about you finding your meaning; not mine. That is your truth for which nobody can deny you.

My work is not about my influence on you, except to provide something that may trigger a reflection in you that helps you understand truth as you know it. My hope that people desire to know truth about themselves, rather than truth identified as a standard that is created for critical purposes of others. I would hope that you would enable yourself to share yourself rather than hide in the social realm of homogeneity. You are on your way to celebrating you rather than being someone canned by others to be what they think you should be. Toast yourself when you can finally do this. In this context, my work is reflective expressionism.

Recently, I've been getting more people have asking me where this comes from in me. My best explanation in words is that I have a deep desire to understand truth. Not about telling the truth, not holding people to arbitrary committments. Absolute truth for who people really are inside, not the image of self. If you want to get to the root of every social problem that exists you have to be honest with self first. War exists because of a collective will of a culture whether acknowledged or not, and does not result from the decisions made by one person or group. Conflict in people and between people results from fear of the unknown aspects of being human. They are fearful of the imposition of someone else's will on them. Once you alleviate the fear, conflict will lessen. You alleviate fear by understanding yourself well enough to know that another person's will can never be your own, nor do you have the desire to impose an unsophisticated will onto others. This comfort enables an appreciation for differences, but it requires quiet reflection to attain.

Scatter Brain

2007-05-12T20:18:00.000-04:00

Hey, I forgot I had a blog. I know, if you see from the posts and responses, I can't keep the people away!!!

This will be more of a diary until action picks up. Well, let's call it a professional diary; not personal diary.

New York was great! I learned so much, and had interest from a gallery for a couple of pieces. I had a buyer from New York about a week before I went, and I saw his business. It is truly amazing to find out who buys my work. I don't want to give out too much information to protect his identity, but his business covers a whole block on Park Ave in Manhattan. I should have gotten more for that piece I sold him! =)

Right now, I am working feverishly to make a collection of pieces. Once I am comfortable with my work being what I want to show then I am going back to NY, and other cities to show my wares. Of course, I would love to make this more difficult by selling paintings from the collection before they are shown in any gallery. In one year, my work has doubled in value, and my top piece right now is for $4000. Anyone interested in investing in a piece?

Stay tuned as I discuss my current project, and the genre of art that I am really trying to create anew. I am getting really excited about this project!

New York

2007-04-16T12:15:00.000-04:00

I am headed to New York tomorrow for a gallery review. I will be back on Thursday, and I will post some thoughts on how it went. Have a great week!!!

Welcome

2007-04-16T12:00:00.000-04:00

Well, it is official; I am a blogger. Who would have thunk.