ORIGINAL JIM ART FOR SALE! Title: “The Moon and the Sea.” Custom painted Plushform designer plush toy originally part of the 10th Anniversary Plushform Show at Rotofugi Designer Toy Store and Gallery in Chicago. Materials are pencil, acrylics, pen and ink. This was originally priced at $375. What a fun holiday gift this would be for art collectors at less than 50% of the original cost. This just went live on my Etsy shop. See link to my website up in my profile and then click on the “jim store” link. Thank you for your support!
A Brief Pause at the Edge of Becoming
It seems I am always seeking a place to sit—
not just to rest the body,
but to settle the soul.
Yet even in stillness, Gary Brecka’s words whisper:
“The quickest way to old age
is the aggressive pursuit of comfort.”
So I do not stay long.
I walked until I found a picnic table
beneath a canopy of bare-limbed trees,
branches like open hands waiting for green.
The blue spruces nearby—
stoic, unchanged, whispering that some things endure.
I sketched.
Not perfectly. Not for anyone’s praise.
Just a mark to say: I was here.
Alive in this in-between.
Waiting. Listening.
Not for leaves—
but for something truer than comfort.
Thank you for joining me in this small noticing.
A moment borrowed from the rush.
A table. A tree. A thought.
A gift.
The tables were covered in white paper. Crayons, pastels, and smooth sticks waited quietly. Then came Lucy’s glittery purse—her 8-year-old hands had filled it with stones to pass along, one by one, to the strangers around the table.
We traced them. Pushed them. Held them.
Then we let the colors lead:
-Red for emotion.
-Yellow for curiosity.
-Blue for memory.
Each color came with music, with story, with space.
At the Museum of Wisconsin Art, we made marks not for meaning but for presence.
Thank you to Ann Marie and MOWA for the invitation and trust. And thank you to the participants—some new friends, some old students—for showing up and making lines that listened before they spoke.
Thank you Elaine for your input and expertise. You are a rich source of wisdom and possibilities in connecting art to wellness. I will let you know how this develops. -Dean Graf
I think that sometimes 'waiting' is the hardest thing to do. If you have a place to hang your coat and you have a rich inner life, you will be fine waiting. I was waiting to be seen by my doctor. A general check-up. The prognosis is that I am getting older and I need to lose weight. OK then. Thank you.
“The politics of the world frustrate me. I control my frustration when I write, but it explodes when I perform.”
A quote from a Benjamin Zephaniah documentary I caught not long ago on BBC iPlayer’s been resonating with me as of late. Granted, I tend to keep politics light here (if anything) but I stand by what I’ve just said regardless.
Man oh man, it's been a week. The chaos is strong with this one. It was really fun to draw this, there's something so calming about shading with graphite; it felt like the only time I was present this week. But hey, I suppose that's why art is here. As a side note, thank you so much for 70 followers! It's truly incredible to part of an amazing community of artists, and I genuinely appreciate everyone's support and feedback. Here's to creating more art!
It's crazy to think that we've been in a pandemic for a year or to think we could ever get used to this new way of life. March 13th, 2020 was the day everything stopped for me: it was the last day I went to school and the last day I went to gymnastics for 5 months. The promise of two weeks' time, something I somewhat desperately held onto. Going into this, no one knew what to expect, it was the first time many of us saw life as we know it stop. Quarantine has definitely taught me a lot emotionally, mentally, and how to reach out and work through (and what bad panic attacks feel like :) ). I think it also goes without saying that I got through most of this because of the people around me, and I can't say enough how grateful I am to be surrounded by such amazing people. So, here I am. Life is still pretty rocky, but it's a process. Thank you to everyone who's been along for the ride so far ❤
I know this isn't an elaborate piece and I know I've posted different cards before, but I just wanted to wish everyone a merry Christmas and happy holidays! I hope everyone is doing well and can enjoy the time left in 2020. Thank you for being so supportive of my art, and for sharing some of the most incredible art I've ever seen!
i am so happy that i just found this sketch on my ipad. my grandfather and my family love cars like this. drawing this was so much fun, because it reminded me of all the great memories we had while travelling in the lovely car of my grandpa. thank you for reading & hope you have a wonderful daay!:)
No, I can't get it out of my head, now my whole world is gone for dead. This song has been stuck in my head for a while now, kind of interesting. I apologize for the long ramble of reflection this will be, but here I go. It's been an interesting few weeks, ups and downs, odd mindsets, but here I am. I don't know, quarantine has shifted a lot of things for everyone, and I've noticed a lot of changes in myself. I jokingly say I'm becoming soft, but it's a bit true, in a good way. I'm thankful for so many people in my life, and I'm finally letting those people how much they mean to me. I know I've said this before, but gymnastics has really been getting me through, and I'm proud of all the progress I've been making recently. My coaches make my life better, they're just incredible people and I love them so much. Thank you to the person I had a whole long text conversation with tonight (you know who you are) and for always dealing with my chaotic self. And finally, I've started to accept who I am, and that's a nice feeling. There's still the dark parts, the static still consumes me from time to time, but tonight was a good night. Thank you for all the support from everyone (in and outside of this community!). I genuinely appreciate all of it
It's crazy to think that 6 years have already flown by since I first moved onto the Xcel gymnastics team, let alone the fact that I've spent 15 years of my life as a gymnast. Tomorrow, August 6th, 2021, marks my last day as a gymnast on the team since I'm officially a college student. I've genuinely been dreading this day, but it's not the ending I expected...in an oddly good way. I know no one expected to spend the past year in a pandemic, and I definitely didn't think gym would shift so much in the following months, but here we are. Gymnastics has taught me more than I ever imagined it could, and my coaches (especially one of them) have become two of the people I'm closest with, words can't describe how grateful I am for everything. This 'ending' doesn't feel like an end, more so a closing to this chapter. Honestly, my love for the sport has only grown, and it feels like I'm finally figuring it all out. So, although my final practice as a team member is tomorrow, my journey is not over yet. "Goodbyes are the hardest part, and this ending has been something I’ve been dreading, although I know it’s time to let go. I’d like to say this isn’t a permanent goodbye to you or the sport, it’s more of a natural conclusion. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you’ve done for me and managed to teach me in this short amount of time, I couldn’t have asked for anyone, or anything, better. Thank you most of all for helping me achieve my dreams and for helping me get to a point in which I can say I’m proud of my journey.
All that’s left to say is I care about you, I love you, and take care."
This week has been dedicated mainly to creating a birthday gift for my other coach (Happy 31st B-day!!). I won't ramble on for too long, but I'm so extremely lucky to have him as a coach and in my life. I can't thank him enough for all the times he's caught me/saved me from wiping out, and for being someone I can genuinely trust. Thank you to him for making the gym a safe space for me, and for letting me open up. Anyway, I really enjoyed making this, though I can't deny I got stuck (idea wise) at one point.
Hi Friends,
We are the developers of Inked, an indie game that's schedule to launch on mobile phones in 2021. We put our hearts and souls into the game, especially in its graphics, so we want to hear about your thoughts on them. Please feel free to look around and let us know what you think! Thank you! If you are interested, please help us by following us on Facebook and Twitter! Thank you so much for your support! Facebook: www.facebook.com/inkedgame/ Twitter: twitter.com/inkedgame
I realized lately that I need to practice more instead of focussing too much on new ideas. So I started with face-practicing since I enjoy that the most. Thank you very much for looking at my drawing!
My submission for the Doodle Addicts album cover challenge. Thank you so much for the votes, I appreciate them all! Here's the original description for the submission: Future you calling is a group that mixes electronic pop and rock with some vintage and retro vibes thrown in the mix. To Whom It May Concern is their newest album. It's like that strange record that you once found on the slightly shady flea market that closed down after one month. You wish you had bought it back then, so now is your chance to repair the damage and get this album instead. It's almost the same. We promise. (Future you calling is an invented band. I'm not musically skilled enough to make the band reality but I can always imagine how their albums would look like if existed. This illustration was painted in Photoshop using reference photos found on Pexels.)
The past two days have been interesting, to say the least. My anxiety kicked up again, yielding two more panic attacks...oh joy. There's an increasingly chaotic external environment: COVID-19 positivity rates rising, looting, SAT nonsense (thank you College Board for not giving anyone information and for being very uncooperative). Am I angry at people in the world? Yes, and I know that's a generic, over-used phrase, but I truly am. I'm tired of all of this. I'm aggravated with the current state of the U.S. There's moments where things feel fine, and others when it feels like things are closing in. No one knows what the next few months will bring and tensions are high. Will things work out? They will eventually; they better. But, at the same time, what the heck is even going on anymore?
David Lynch (1946-2025)
I like things to be orderly,” Lynch told a reporter in 1990. For seven years I ate at Bob’s Big Boy. I would go at 2:30, after the lunch rush. I ate a chocolate shake and four, five, six, seven cups of coffee—with lots of sugar. And there’s lots of sugar in that chocolate shake. It’s a thick shake. In a silver goblet. I would get a rush from all this sugar, and I would get so many ideas! I would write them on these napkins. It was like I had a desk with paper. “
- From Daily Rituals: How Artists Work by Mason Currey
“I don't think it was pain that made [Vincent Van Gogh] great - I think his painting brought him whatever happiness he had.”
― David Lynch
Thank you for all your amazing art!
#dailyrituals #inktober #DavidLynch #goals @masoncurrey
