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What's he thinking?
I have been wrestling with the question of “writing” as of late… some people tell me “Ed,… you’re a writer, i’m always going to tell you that.”. Now for me, that’s news! As I never viewed myself as a writer. Quite frankly I’ve never viewed myself as anything specifically. I was a guy, a man-child that was good with his hands, but a “writer” no… but a graffiti writer, sure!
I guess I am increasingly finding myself at certain crossroads. I like to write, I love to write, but what I really like to do is simply document my thoughts in order to share them. I approach it in the same fashion as drawing, I look at a blank piece of paper and I mark it all up. Those markings, words, and phrases can end up becoming a work of art, or end up becoming an essay on something. Interesting!… an artist who writes, or a writer who creates art? You got me on that one.
Also I find myself not wanting to write, which is a bit odd. I like to draw, but find myself, without the will. Maybe it’s just a season. There has to be a bit of irony in the fact that I am writing about not wanting to write. There has to be a lesson in that right there. I find writing to be a bit therapeutic… healing if you will. It’s me spilling my guts not knowing who is listening.
Who knows.
But I do know that words can bring life, or better yet they can act as if they are alive. They can leap off a page and stay lodged in your mind for years, if not forever. But this too shall pass, this season of “no words”. A Season of No Words, wow… I think I may be able to work with that. Sounds like the title of a painting, so do you see how that works? How the wordplay in one can lead to creating in the other?
Maybe I simply need to take a break and go on vacation, a real vacation, to clear my mind, brain, and spirit, of all the residue that has settled in there. Lift up those carpets and clean out the dust! Set a vacuum cleaner upon the space between my ears and press “ON”.
Sitting on a beach watching the waves roll in, sounds like a good vacuum cleaner.
I am a middle school art teacher in Des Moines, IA. My 8th grade students have become very interested in your work. I told them that I would comment on your blog to see if we get an answer from you. They would very much like to respond to you. They are inspired by your work. Thank you for your time.