Happy National Procrastination Week

 

Tomorrow
Tomorrow, digital image

Tomorrow is only a day away. Tomorrow might be a bit too close and this song may be too optimistic for some procrastinators but it may have potential as a procrastination anthem.

What do you think? Leave a comment sometime.

 

Procrastination Die 2018

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A while ago I created a social media procrastination die (single dice) for times when you need to decide which social media platform to procrastinate on.

I have updated it for 2018 with the current top 6 social media platforms according to DreamGrow.

The 2018 die features logos for:

  • Facebook (~2.10B monthly users)
  • YouTube (~1.50B monthly users)
  • Instagram (~800M monthly users)
  • Twitter (~330M monthly users)
  • Reddit (~250M monthly users)
  • Pinterest (~200M monthly users)

Tumblr and Google+ on my original procrastination die have been replaced by Instagram and Reddit. I am on Instagram but I am procrastinating on joining Reddit.

Using an online tool to randomly go to a social media website could save you time, but remember, procrastination is not about saving time. Make your procrastination more effective with this manual tool. First, step away from the computer, then roll the die several times, then type in the address of the social media website (not provided so you get an extra procrastination step to find them). In every part of the process, there is abundant opportunity for you to get distracted and procrastinate further.

Ode to Summer

Winter ray
Winter ray, photograph

Ode to Summer

Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s day?
Yes if you like, but ’tis winter now and
Summer hath long faded
Her days are a distant memory, a long forgotten hope
Gone is the sun with its passionate heat
Gone the joyful scent of flowers and their vibrant colours too
Where are the cool evening walks and the lovers in the park?
I am alone in the cold and the dark
All around is grey and dreary and gloomy as I await the dawn
How I long to embrace your light and be wrapped in the warmth of your touch
Return to me again 
Shine your smile on me and dry away my tears 

 


 
 
I’m looking forward to the end of this winter and fulfilment of this scripture:
“My beloved spoke and said to me, “Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, come with me. See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone.” – Song of Songs‬ ‭2:10-11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Virgin and Child #1

Virgin and child #1
A small canvas on a larger virgin canvas

Inspired by Ron Tekawa’s Madonna and Child (1990) and various historical images of the Virgin and Child. 

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Social media procrastination die

For indecisive procrastinators, yesterday I created this papercraft social media die:

Social Media Die 1 Social Media Die 1

 

If you were to use an online tool to randomly choose a social media website to go to, you would save time. But procrastination is not about saving time. Using this manual tool makes your procrastination more effective. First you need to step away from the computer, roll the die (perhaps several times), then manually go to the social media website. Each step provides an opportunity for distraction and further procrastination.

Features logos for:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest
  • Google+
  • YouTube

 

Waiting for creation

I occasionally try to imagine what it would have been like before everything. Prior to creation, there was no time, no space, no matter. No light. No dark. No past. But all of the future. It is hard to get my head around it. Even harder to express in a work of art.

What was it like waiting for the first sunrise?

I have black wooden desk where I spend most of my time.

It provides a lot of reflection.

It is waiting for creation.

Desk reflections - waiting for creation
Desk reflections – waiting for creation, digital photograph.

 

Horror vacui

Horror vacui (physics) : Nature abhors a vacuum.

Horror vacui (art) : The fear of empty space.

Horror vacui, digital image.
Horror vacui, digital image.

Like a sculptor who sees the statue in a block of stone or the potter who sees the pot in the lump of clay, artists see the potential. Their fear of empty space and abhorrence of a vacuum compels them to create and turn their imagination into reality. Motivation to overcome procrastination.

A social media presence is essential and Theo has recently joined a few social networks. Most of them allow for customization of the profile. Often the color scheme, background images and sometimes fonts are changeable to suit the personality of user.

Because Theo has not created a volume of work yet, we needed to produce something quickly for the cover photo on the Facebook page. By default, Facebook has this image for cover photos:

Facebook default cover photo
Facebook default cover photo

It is rather dull and grey. It cries out “replace me with anything colorful!”.

Producing Horror vacui to answer this cry was rather quick and simple:

  1. Create an image 851 by 315 pixels in GIMP (OpenSource photo editing software).
  2. Capture an image of pencils and a paintbrush with my Macbook FaceTime HD camera and Photo Booth.

    Original image for Horror vacui
    Original image for Horror vacui
  3. Import the photo into GIMP and use various tools and effects to produce the art.
    1. Select the objects and move them to a new layer.
    2. Select the natural highlights and shadows of the background and render clouds/plasma and apply canvas and weave filters.
    3. Add a filters for coffee stain and torn border

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This work, Horror vacui, represents what the artist sees when they look at a blank canvas. The image hidden deep within the fabric is trying to break through the canvas and become visible.

Horror vacui is representative of theme of potential in Theo’s Prospective collection – art which is prophetic or predictive in nature and hints at what could be. Due to the urgency and speed of its creation, this work is not necessarily representative of the quality of the rest of the collection.

I should buy this book someday

How to Procrastinate (Self-Hurt): Knock Knock: 9781601060433: Amazon.com: Books [affiliate link]

How to Procrastinate - Self Hurt book.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Eternal Sunrise

ETERNAL SUNRISE (Trailer) by Guzmán de Yarza Blache from Guzman de Yarza on Vimeo.

Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago de Chile, Miami, Mexico DF, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Sydney, Singapore, Tokyo, Beijing, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, London & Madrid. 16 airports in 25 days. Two artists turn the world around without ever leaving an airport.

http://www.promofest.org/en/films/eternal-sunrise

The sun is always rising

At any given moment, somewhere in the world, the sun is rising.

Technically, the sun is stationary and the world is turning.

The polar regions experience the sunrise a few times per year, astronauts on the international space station every few hours.

If you were to travel at the same speed as the earth rotates you could see an eternal sunrise.

I have not yet seen a sunrise this year and so my Impression of Sunrise is still blank.