THE POINT OF NO RETURN......

Peace y'all

It's 10:09am, I just went out to my car, and it was dirty again from the storms that came from the recent arctic blast. I washed this thing last week from all of the dirt that had collected from the storms before. My car was beginning to look like I had just competed in a Monster Truck exhibition. Now it looks a repeat performance.

Anyway, I was unable to attend the exhibition at the South Dallas Cultural Center last week. The weather was brutal. I'll give it another swing this week. I want to get to it before they go to another exhibit in February....

I am feeling much better since the cold/flu thingy has subsided. This one lingered longer than usual, keeping me from having sustained sessions with my artwork. Thank God I was able to finish a piece to be revealed in the near future, but this working at another job, then coming home to work on another piece is really becoming a strain on my body. It is one of the reasons I get sick more often, as my body does not take time to regenerate the immune system. On several occasions my body gets wrecked from stress, and by the weekend I feel like I played extensive hours of football without any padding. I learned at my job yesterday that I will be moving to another team, due to my present performance. When they brought me into the office, I thought they were going to complain about my recent work, so when they asked me how's everything going, I let them know I was feeling serious burnout. They told me the team I am going to will be more focused on one client, so the stress factor would be considerably less. The less stress that I really need is the less stress of switching modes that I endure on a weekly, if not daily basis. Switching from one mode where I have to hear constant complaints without the ability to respond except in what they say is a "professional" manner to a mode where I get to say whatever is on my mind is not an easy task; thoughts have to be gathered, and time to reflect in this Bluetooth Society that I call it(I'll explain that later) is at a minimum. There have been times I have thought of hanging up this art thing, but then I think of why I named myself and my artwork Quwwa...Determination... Will Power....Maybe I'm being tested to see if I practice what I preach..

I've come to the realization that I have reached the point of no return. I have met people who have become touched by the work, and since that is part of the objective, I feel I can't go back. This thing has become a part of my being. I have started something that needs to be finished. I can't think of chumpin' out and going to hide in the corner now. Plus I got a family at Iseecolor that will hunt me down and find me if they ever heard of me puttin' it away.

Maybe, God Willing, just maybe I will be able to make this full time. Then all of the stress and anxiety endured will be a purification for my soul. People at my job comment on my demeanor and stated that although I expressed burnout, they never saw it. I read during the past Ramadhan that one of God's attributes is that of forgiveness, even to the point of not letting the troubles and afflictions we put on ourselves become obvious to the people. One young lady commented that they have never saw me sad or upset, they always found me smiling... God is Great..



SHAKE IT OFF......Take care y'all

Some Def Poetry......

Peace Y'all

Ya know every once in a while I may throw something up in here to show people what inspires me to do some of the work I have presented. This is a nice inspirational poem from Danny Hoch...Enjoy

Shake it OFF!!!!!!

Peace y'all

It's 8:32am, and I am up with vapor rub above my upper lip(and boy is it HOT!!!)

Anyway, I have plans to go to the newest exhibit in the South Dallas Cultural Center. There some pictures of the hood that I am interested in viewing.

I am saddened today as I reflect on my artwork and the stances that I take on society today, which leads me to lose friends, or at least have people reluctant to work with me. I have had people become very enthusiastic when they see the work, but when they see some blogs that I wrote, all of a sudden the contacts are no more. This hurts me alot, and I don't mind telling people when my feelings are hurt. The strongest person is not the person who can hold their emotions in, but the strongest person is the one who can comeback when they are at their lowest. My feelings are hurt because I want to contribute to TRUE CHANGE which I believe is in a person's heart and I love it when people join in. I have people waiting for me to exhibit my work alone. I could do this on my own and grab all of the credit, but that's not me. I love chopping it up with like-minded people. I only seek credit and glory from God Alone. My pictures are meant to bring out all the feelings that a person keeps inside, mainly because he or she feels no one cares. I have made pictures that have made people stop themselves short of crying. I want them to do it. That makes me know they have a heart, and most of all it should make them realize they have a heart. Even if they cannot contribute with monetary or any other type of material assistance, just smile when you see someone down. My belief teaches me that even a smile is charity....A simple smile. There are too many freakin' misers in this world..

Anyway somewhere, somehow some visual artist is going to feel this movement, and they are not going to just back down and curl up....

And even if no one joins up, I'm keeping it moving...
Peace Y'all

Official Statement

Peace ya'll

It's 7:25 pm, and I had plans to create a totally different blog, but in the spirit of the inauguration tomorrow, I felt the need to make an official announcement. Like to hear it? Here it go!

OFFICIAL STATEMENT....

In spite of all of the euphoria, and the newly embodied "hope" and "change" that has flooded the air, this artist will continue to bring you pictures of those who have been, and will be left out of the big dance.

This artist fully believes that as long as the term "politician" and the concept behind it exists, the masses of the people will belong to either of two groups, the few of those who screw and the majority of those who get screwed.

This artist also believes that as long as multinational corporations exist, as well as entities such as the Federal Reserve, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, G8 summits, NAFTA and GATT treaties, the President of the United States will always be a figurehead, or even worse, a conduit for these entities to not only exist, but proliferate.

This artist also believes that nothing will be done to change or eliminate the ever-growing money making ventures such as the Military Industrial Complex, where war is big business, and Prison Industrial Complex, where slavery is still in full effect.

This artist also believes that nothing will be done to eliminate the Patriot Act, which gives the government the ability to spy on its own people without justifiable cause.

This artist also believes that 'economic stimulus' is a pseudonym for giving you money to pay off the pimps. The real objective should be to stop the pimp from pimping.

This artist also believes that the new administration has the capability of being more dangerous than the former administration. People of color have always looked upon the New World Order with contempt, mainly because the people leading the charge were White individuals. Would having a non - White President make it easier for People of Color to accept the New World Order? Think about it.....

This artist strongly believes that change can never come from those who campaign for your votes. The greatest ills in this society stem from diseases of the heart, which include greed, oppression, racism, sexism, classism and an all-out disbelief that we have to die and give account of all of our actions. Once the people change their hearts, the conditions of the society will follow suit.

Thank you,
The Quwwa Project

Sacred Street Art.

Peace y'all

I want to thank Yarncoture for posting me on her Treasury. I don' t feel like I've done much work to deserve a spotlight on someone's page. Thank you very much....

Just wanted to drop a little ditty I found entitled Sacred Street Art. It' s about a graffiti artist named Mohammed Ali from England, who was so touched by a family tragedy in the Bronx, he flew all the way over to do a mural in their memory.

Take care, I gotta go take care of this cold......Peace
Sacred Street Art from Mohammed Ali - Aerosol Arabic on Vimeo.

Red Tape!!!! ARRRGGGGGGHHHHH!!!

Peace Y'all,

It's 5:56pm, and I just took a much needed rest, after going to the library, then to the art store to pick up a couple of items, and finally the store. I had planned to put some textures on a panel, but the weather became cool and windy. Texas weather is very unpredictable.

Today I was watching a video of rapper KRS-One speaking about the differences between rap today and the days of old. He spoke about the digital age and downloading music. Believe it or not visual artists kinda fit in that same mold.

Visual artists also suffer from the digital age as well. Right now anime and manga are two of the hottest visual art forms out there, and just like rap music, it is very accessible and easy to download and pop up on your computer in the form of screen savers for computer and cell phone, posters, t-shirts, you name it. And anybody can do it, there are books and other items teaching people how to draw manga.

It has its place in the art world no doubt, but it can also be very disposable too as a result of corporations shoving one particular product down the throats of people instead of offering diversity. Pretty soon people will get tiresome and the people will look for something else. And artists like me will still be here ready to receive the people with a smile on my face asking "Where ya been dog?"

Lesson learned: Never base you career on fulfilling the desires of people. Desires are infinite. Keep substance in your work.

I was reading a very interesting book called Taking the Leap awhile back, about ways to kick start your art career, and the author of the book mentioned the Internet and its effectiveness on selling art. She mentioned one of the problems of the internet is copyright infringement, and gave an example of how she posted one of her pieces on her site, only to find out awhile later, four other online galleries were showing her piece without permission. She has since taken care of the situation, but it gives me shivers to know somebody else may be profiting off my work. Not that money is the main concern for me, because it is not, but the principle of the matter of somebody advertising your work on their site, which means most likely they are printing your work on other forms of media and you are unaware of anything. That's the society we live in.

So getting copyrights and trademarks are necessary, although at times I still have to find ways to trick up the picture to prevent theft, like watermarks and taking the pictures at different angles to prevent this madness. I hate this because I want people to enjoy the full flavor of the work itself. And it can slow down the creative process......

But in the meantime, that's what I'm working with...

Take care y'all.....

Are you with me?

Peace ya'll

It's 4:56am, and I am preparing for a weekend, which does not include much, but hey, at least I don't have to work. I have a lot of work to do here at the lab(as I call it), and I don't know where to begin, isn't it GREAT? At times I have tons of ideas popping off the top of my head, and sometimes I need to take it down a bit, so I'll probably cool down with some Speed Racer, Krush Groove or Def Poetry ya know?

I haven't received any notices from the South Dallas Cultural Center about the latest exhibits. I may just tiptoe down there. It's been a while since I've been there. Last year I met some great artists like Frank Frazier, who did an excellent exhibition about the slaveships. He actually had a room with shackles and objects he received from his latest trip from Africa.

Then there was Chuck Siler, who is originally from New Orleans, but moved to Dallas. He is also a political cartoonist, but it was his paintings from the Katrina situation that inspired me...

The best one I remember was the Bruthas with Something to Say, a collection of three artists, who worked with wood, canvas, you name it. There were pictures of homeless people, street people, it was great.

But this year this brother has a whole lot to say, and you will see it right here. Stay tuned for the meaning behind the Lifestyles of the Ignored series..

Take care peeps....

Welcome!!!!

I want to welcome you all to my new blog, filled with information about my artwork, also some interesting news clips, and other things. I hope I can make the visit worthwhile.

I had a blog previously, but I chose to take it down after a couple of months. However with some renewed interest from some friends on Twitter and Etsy, I felt it was time to renew the blog, with a few twists. Plus with the advent of RSS, my Iseecolor family can access this site as well. I have a lot of things going on. We are just getting started.

And now, ya boy got DSLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL. Yeah boyeeeeeee!!!!!

Later.