DEC 30TH 2020

As the year 2020 comes to a close I was taking a moment on my commute to the office the other day thinking about my family and friends daily lives. It occurred to me that some of us think of our own life as something far from important. The thought didn't burden me with sadness, it made me realize it is far from the truth and that we all are actually living extraordinary lives each day.

With all the hardships this year confronted us with, from the stress of being locked down to our homes, schools being closed, jobs being lost, and fighting COVID-19 face on. Here we are opening our eyes to the world each day. Taking it head on. During that drive to work 11 days after I just experienced having the COVID virus, I first was thinking about how it was so easy and quick to just jump back into that routine of the life I was living. Asking myself, is what I'm doing even mean anything? Followed by how do the people I know feel at this time? From the Psych Nurse to the restaurant waiter, graphic designer, accountant, retired police investigator, CNC operator, the stay at home mom, artist, barber, teacher, photographer, frontline nurse, the list goes on. I truly felt and thought at that moment each and everyone of you and myself included are living our life with extraordinary power. Especially during what we have all faced this year, it is fucking amazing to work through all the burdens we are experiencing and shown throughout the world. Despite what feels like the world crumbling apart around us, we stand head on to go through our days with hope that we will have something to look forward to or work towards something that we feel is important to accomplish. We don't give up and throw in the towel. There is a deadly virus all around us yet that does not stop us from living our life. As we go out into the world I hope we all take every safety measure for yourself but for each other as well.

Over the course of this year I have been working on a collection of 24"x30" collage paintings showcasing scenes from Los Angeles to The Navajo Nation in Arizona. As the new year 2021 fastly approaches us, this series will be showing soon along with a companion book published by The Artlands. The show is based on what I just wrote about. That being, we may be in a storm right now but it won't last forever. The time will come when the clouds break open and light shines through revealing all the color of the universe saying it is ok right now. It is titled “After Every Storm Comes a Rainbow”

The book pre order will be coming very soon in mid January. I will follow with more info about that and the show soon.

Thank you everyone for being you this year. Thank you for taking this virus seriously, doing everything you can to help stop the spread.

Cheers to a new year!

-James