Life's an Art

That first pic is MP and our friend Connie doing colaborative research for MP's art. Her talent was really what I first fell in love with, well, that and the fact that she actually liked me. Through the years she's done stained glass, charcoal sketches, oil paints, pottery, water colors but right now she's stuck on sunsets with acrylics and they're turning into a must have for the people here in our building.

Being a guy who grew up drawing tanks and rockets in art class I've always been impressed with real art. MP has an eye for life. She not only blends the colors and sees things some people don't but the way her art captures depth and action is amazing. And...she does all that in no time at all. The beach scene on the right that she just completed might have taken two hours. I watch her as she works and its kind of like film developing in the tray, they just keep getting clearer and prettier and then she just knows the right time to quit fiddling with it and be done. I think thats a part of art that translates to a good life, you gotta know when to quit fiddling with it and MP's got that mastered.

The cool thing about MP's art is its permanency, long after we're pow theres going to be somebody somewhere with one of the thousands of her creations saying " I just love this one"... Or , " my great aunt Patty did this in Alaska"...thats a cool thing. So, unlike her art mine is a one shot deal, you gotta be there. After 40 years of struggling with the guitar I finally like my sound and I finally consider myself a real musician and I guess most folks do to. I've been playing alot here in Mazatlan. Now that I kind of have the music I'm learning that there's way more to it than just belting out a song. Its about entertaining, its about including people in the music, its about emotion and communication and its about sharing...So thats the part I'm working on now. The music is like air for some people, they gotta have it and even though I'm continuely drawn to the next new song I'm learning that theres nothing wrong with belting out an old Hank Williams song for the 10,000th time, some people want their air to be familiar.

For some reason it seems that my generation spawned more than its fair share of musicians. Everywhere I go I'm always impressed with the folks I meet that make magic. This guy I'm singing with below is me and Slah's friend Antonio. He's an amazing guy, art is in his blood. He does oil on ceramic for visitors with only his fingers at the New Riu resort. Oh, and he's one of the best fishermen in Mazatlan...as my old friend Curt Synness used to say...." how DOES he do it???"In this pic we're at a private party singing a ballad together. On this trip to Mazatlan I've had the opportunity to play with alot of people, from proffesionals to local mariachi's. I've had great nights with 100 people and I've been told to shut up and get a hair cut, its all good.

But this last pic is the creme de la creme...One night I learned this hard lesson....never follow a 12 year old. Me and my friends Steve and Brian were doing a kind of guitar circle one night when my friend Bill Turner asked if his grand daughter Clare could play. She confidently strapped on that black guitar of mine and pulled the mic close. Clare took a few practiced strums and them broke into ' This Kiss'....awesome is all I could say...awesome. Thats how I know life's an art. Just share.