Ogallala

So I have just about completed my first piece of 2009 - Ogallala. I've written about it earlier. It is made from concrete, rocks, pete moss and fifty coat. I used poplar wood around the edges - oh, and there are also raw crystals of amethyst and rose quartz in it. I'm very excited to see it hanging - right now that last coat of fifty coat is setting up. I also picked up material today for my new piece 'Corralled' - and started doing the sculptural part of it. It's very interesting to me because this kind of relates to last week's post where I discuss being an artist who believes in free market capitalism. I blogged a little about the piece 'Corralled' earlier, I was very inspired by an interview I saw of Richard Dryfuss before the election. I thought it was really interesting how he said we have a tendency to be pushed into one group or the other - we are in a sense 'Corralled'. This idea makes so much sense to me when I think about red states and blue states. Or, when I think about an overly aggressive military spreading out to fight all over the world, or versus an overly aggressive government looking to tax and spend. Why is it that we have to feel 'compelled' to be so called 'liberal' or 'conservative' - especially when in a sense, both represent in my opinion such a strange way of thinking about government. One party striking 'fear' into the hearts of people about all the dangers all around the world that must be stopped at any cost - another striking 'fear' into the hearts of people about how big government is the only solution to the growing economic crisis. It strikes me that one party pits itself against another but both, at the end of the day, are on a trajectory to expand government and limit freedom at a rate of dizzying proportions. I am a great believer in an individuals ability to overcome any obstacle - provided they start to realize their own innate power. This 'power' in my opinion is blocked by feelings of fear or the constant drum beat that people can't stand on their own two feet and create the world of their dreams.