Bob Marley, on how to love a woman:

“You may not be her first, her last, or her only. She loved before she may love again. But if she loves you now, what else matters? She’s not perfect – you aren’t either, and the two of you may never be perfect together but if she can make you laugh, cause you to think twice, and admit to being human and making mistakes, hold onto her and give her the most you can. She may not be thinking about you every second of the day, but she will give you a part of her that she knows you can break – her heart. So don’t hurt her, don’t change her, don’t analyze and don’t expect more than she can give. Smile when she makes you happy, let her know when she makes you mad, and miss her when she’s not there.”

I’m working on adding a new figure study section to my portfolio. Here’s a preview. Woman through Rainy Window.

Las lagrimas que no se lloran

esperan en pequeños lagos?

O seran ríos invisibles

que corren hacia la tristeza?

Do tears not yet spilled

wait in small lakes?

Or are they invisble rivers

that run toward sadness?

Oh, Happy Valentines Day.

I talked with a friend last night about how important it is to just shut off your brain for a while and rest. It’s something I’ve never been very good at, so today I thought I’d practice. I walked out into the snow with my puppy, just looking at its blankness. And, of course, I found that it wasn’t blank at all.

These are part of a project I’ve been toying with for a very long time. I’ve always been attracted to shadows; the way they form their own picture, with some parts more in focus than others, all uniquely textured, and slowly moving, disappearing, reappearing. Paintings by the sun and the trees.

Here are some pictures.

You walk through your life.

You find a path for yourself and start building a road.

This road twists and turns, it  has bumps in it, and sometimes you get rained on.

But most of the time it is sunny, and you have people to walk beside you and enjoy the scenery.

You look down your road and anticipate the milestones you’ll reach.  You’ll make plans and imagine what it will be like when you get there.

But sometimes there are earthquakes.

The ground beneath your feet cracks open and falls out from under you and you land hard, in a dark hole.

You might be broken, and not be able to climb back out.

You will heal, someone up top will throw a rope down, and eventually you will make it back to the surface.

When you get there, you will have to make a choice.

Your road has a giant crack in it, and there is no way you can get to the other side on your own.

You can build a bridge.

It will be hard, and take a long time, and you won’t be able to do it by yourself.

Or you can turn around, in a new direction, and start to build a new road.

It will be hard, and take a long time, and you won’t be able to do it by yourself.

But you can’t sit in the hole. So pick one.

photo copyright Keith Carter