Wiley Purkey

Organizing my Art Factory for Production!

2012-02-23T20:03:00.000-05:00

A few months ago, a friend made a comment to me that startled me. She said "I've seen how you work, you work on many things at the same time, that's not art, that's just a factory!"
I first felt offended, then chose to ignore the comment because I realized she did not mean it to be taken as a negative.
It resurfaced months later, and gave me the idea: "Wait a minute... If I organize my studio like a production facility, I can produce more art, just like a factory, I like it!
So it is now being organized into separate areas, watercolor, oils, drawing, linoleum block printing, and others.
We'll see how it goes.

The Evolution of a Dream That Starts With Crayons

2011-08-06T13:30:00.000-04:00

We all started with crayons, or perhapsfinger painting. In time, we graduated to more complicated methods of creatingsomething. Each new experience opens up a new door to new methods, newmaterials, new ways of seeing things, and new ways of creating a product in thephysical world that we can clearly envision in our mind's eye. It is such anatural process that we are not necessarily aware of it until much of thelearning experience has passed.

When Do The Ideas Stop Arriving?

2011-08-04T20:34:00.003-04:00

When does it stop, When do creativeideas stop showing themselves to us? When will I just go to bed and fall asleepwithout having to get up to do a quick idea sketch that has just arrived in mybrain. Not that I'm unthankful that it keeps happening, I'm just starting towonder if it will ever stop or even slow down.

A Fondness For Art Books

2011-08-01T16:46:00.002-04:00

Art books, about great artists, lavishly illustrated, are one of my weaknesses. I decided to spend an hour last Sunday re-organizing the library, and over four and a half hours later, it still was not finished. Trying to make some space by getting rid of some art books was in the plan, but there were none that could be disposed of, in fact, I need more.
Good art books are sure to be on many Christmas lists this year, and you can find some great ones at our Art Books Store.

A Summer Like No Other

2010-08-07T15:18:00.002-04:00

It's the first Summer that I've finally had some free time, because I no longer work in the retail trade. Many projects have been completed, but it's difficult to stay motivated. Even when I have work, it's too easy to avoid it. It's either too hot, or too rainy, or I'm tired. Now, with the winding down of Summer, work is starting to pile up, and I look forward to some order during the weekdays so they don't just blend into each other. Work is life, or as Elbert Hubbard said, "Blessed is the man who has found his work!"

Famous and Semi-famous People That I Have met

2010-03-29T06:21:00.005-04:00

Along the way, we meet people. Some famous, some everyday people. They influence us, guide us by example. We become like those that we admire. Of course, today the most widely admired people are celebrities, sports figures, and musicians. Unfortunately most of their lives are not as rosy as they may seem, and attempts to be like them often end in pain.
I have been very fortunate along the way to run into, or meet some famous people that I admire, and some that I don't. In this posting, I will attempt to list them. Later postings will give insights into each meeting.

J. Millard Tawes
Hubert Horatio Humphrey
Robert White
Joetta Kramm
Blaze Starr
John Waters
William R. Hall
E. Ward Russell
Sir Frank Whittle
Loretta Swit
Parris Glendening
Robert Erlich
Andrew Wyeth
Charles A. Murray

Big Changes in Store

2010-01-16T06:19:00.002-05:00

As one life style is ending, and another beginning, there are lots of changes coming. Old doors are being closed, and lots of new opportunities are opening up. No more being married to a retail location and hours, but a new feeling of freedom. Saturdays will be mine once again after working on Saturdays for the last 25 years. Some time will be spent going to school to learn some new things. Some time will be spent in the garden.
Good-bye old life, hello new.

Again I am an Early Riser

2010-01-05T07:45:00.002-05:00

For some reason, it is now difficult to sleep past about 5:30. So much going on, so many changes. Creative visions fill the mind, and cloud other realities. This is the world in which I am most happy, when creative thoughts outweigh all the mundane ones. Sometimes I wish I could be like other people, going to work, coming home, staring at the idiot box through the evening, and sleeping a third of my life away. But there is always so much to do. And now, at age 56, there is an urgent need to get more done. I most likely have plenty of time left to work on projects, but now they are inventing themselves in my mind exponentially.

Early Riser

2009-10-10T07:14:00.002-04:00

Today, I have to get up early so I will be able to get a parking space in town as there is a festival happening. I am not an early riser, never have been. I find that waking up at about 10:00 would be just about right. It's odd though, it seems easy to wake up early when there is something that you look forward to doing. But today, the day of the festival, I'd just as soon sleep until about noon.

Trying to Use a Turntable

2009-09-15T22:21:00.000-04:00

I have a copy of the 3-disk "LP" or "album" by the Beatles entitled "The Black Album" It is full of odd songs, many of which are not available on CDs or anywhere else. The only way for me to hear these songs is drag out that "album". So I did. First, I could not get any sound out of the amplifier, and after checking all the input wires, etc, I realized that although I had positioned the arm holding the "needle or stylus" over the "LP", I had not pushed the down lever. Then when it was finished, I took it off, and began looking for the second part before realizing it was on the other side of the "LP". So I put it back on, positioning "side 2" up. After a while, I stated hearing this click, click sound, and was looking around for the source, only to realize it was the "stylus" running around the "run-out groove".
So, the point is, how soon we can forget how to use older technology. We are so used to CD's and IPOD's that we reach for the next song button, only to realize that we need to reposition the "arm on the "LP".
But it's the only way to hear these songs, so on I go...
Don't forget to order the new remastered Beatles song collections.

Working on my Resume

2009-08-29T19:40:00.000-04:00

I have had a very interesting series of work experiences over the years, I have been employed, self employed, and unemployed, but never fired. Now, at 55, I feel that I am unemployable, so have decided to update my resume. The trouble is, I used to have one, but lost the file. Now I have been trying to re-write it in a new way, by using a blog. (no surprise there)
Surprisingly, most of it still remains in my memory. The ongoing attempt to update my resume is here.

Time Travel

2009-08-15T07:52:00.003-04:00

Time Travel, that persistent story line favored by Science fiction writers is not real. We can not go back in time, only forward, time travels in a single direction. If only we could, as I have so many regrets that I did not keep some sort of record of people and events as I have lived. It is so difficult to strain them from my memory, just lots of fleeting specks of memory. Every person's life is so full of stories, and we seldom take the time to record them. Learning about blogging is an especially painful reminder of what could have been. Oh, well, all I can do now is write about what I remember, and then record events as they happen. Now where did I put that time machine?

Anti-social or A-social?

2009-08-06T06:05:00.003-04:00

Creative people are frequently referred to as "anti-social". I have always thought of myself as anti-social, because I am a "loner". This is not to say that I shun friendship, I just need some time each day to be alone with my thoughts, to clear the head, to contemplate the universe and everything in it.
When you actually investigate the meaning of "anti-social" you will find that it means a type of behavior in which a person actually takes steps or actions to disrupt society.
On the other hand, an "a-social" person generally views themselves as morally or intellectually superior to the people around them. Perhaps a lot more of we creative types are "a-social" rather than "anti-social", myself included.
From youthful disdain for the world around them, to the supposed wisdom of our elders, most of us are a-social in some way.

The Beatles Revisited and Revisited and...

2009-07-31T19:49:00.003-04:00

Those that know me, know that I still listen to the Beatles at work, in the car, wherever I can. It's kinda like the songs are one huge anthem of my youth. No matter how many times I listen, these songs just don't get old. As a tribute to the Fab Four, and in an effort to make some pocket change, I have created a new store where you can purchase Beatles Music, books and other products. It costs nothing to look. Here is the link.

Stirrings From the Past

2009-07-29T19:02:00.003-04:00

After painting pictures for over 35 years, until I burned out my creativity, I thought I would never want to paint again. But here I am, thinking about it again, perhaps to see if I can still do it, or to make a little "mad money".
In hindsight, perhaps I thought that since I could paint anything with confidence, that there was no need to actually go through the act itself. I don't know where it all went, but I woke up one day and it was gone. So was my depression. Now oddly, along with thinking about painting again, some bouts of depression have returned. Perhaps it is true that melancholia and creative energy are just 2 sides of the same plane of existence.
If you like books about great artists, please visit our favorite artists bookstore.

My Second "Mid Life Crisis"

2009-07-24T16:03:00.002-04:00

Well, here I am, my second "Mid Life Crisis". I am not sure if it's been brought on by current economic conditions, or my realization that as a self-employed businessman, I am nothing but a 'Slave to the State".
When will it pass? I don't know. How will I be different, I don't know. What I do know is that after a lifetime of working, I have reached the age that no employer wants.
Writing about it eases my frustration with the situation, so here I am again typing away about whatever comes to mind. Oh, well, hopefully after September begins, there will be some customers in the store again, and I won't have time to think about it.

Momentary Lucidity

2009-07-20T21:40:00.000-04:00

Life is punctuated by moments of lucidity giving us momentary glimpses of truth & beauty.

The Path of Obscurity

2009-06-25T18:57:00.003-04:00

It's so true, that "You can never go home". This was brought to mind just 2 days ago, as I had just returned visiting Ellicott City, the place of my birth. Born at home, in the "Colored" section of town, with a "midwife" present, was not a good beginning. My father died before I turned 3 years of age, and there was a succession of "fathers", mostly without any redeeming qualities. Being a child on welfare made me angry, and desperate to make something better of my adult life, which I believe that I did beyond my wildest dreams. It is difficult to look back at life's many turns and , realize that everyone has either died, moved away, divorced, or disappeared from your life for any number of other reasons.

But the years passed, and everything changed. Everything is different. I used to proudly view myself of somewhat of a historical figure in the old town, but it seems that I am the only one left to remember those days. Perhaps this is how many of us view our past, but we're too close to it to be objective.

I suppose that is what most people feel like sometime during mid-life, and it will pass. I am reminded of another historical figure from the old town, Kenneth Olin. When he turned 70 years old, he took up oil painting as a hobby. Now this was an unlikely hobby for Mr. Olin as he had years earlier retired from the U.S. Army as a Colonel in the artillery. He was, as they say, "A tough old bird", and yet, there he was, 70 years old starting a new hobby, which he became so good at, that it became his new career.

I am also reminded of the greatest architect that has ever lived, Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright was "washed up and old" at 70 years, and out of fashion with the public and critics. And that is when he, at 70 years old and dismissed, designed and build one of the worlds greatest architectural masterpieces, "Falling Water".

Lastly, I would like to quote one of the greatest thinkers of all time, Elbert Hubbard, who said "The earth is a vast graveyard where untold millions of men lie buried, but out of the myriads who pass into forgetfulness every decade, the race holds a few names embalmed in undying amber" You can follow Elbert Hubbard on Twitter

I guess I just have to wait and see what I will be doing at 70 years old, perhaps I should take up oil painting.

Those Darned Beatles!

2009-06-20T20:54:00.001-04:00

The Beatles...
I don't think they ever realized how much they would change the world. They came out of nowhere and hit us like a speeding truck. We loved them, we bought their 45's and LP's, and whistled their songs. They grew their hair long, and we followed, they wore funny clothes and so did we. They experimented with drugs, and we followed. They tuned into the "Wavelength of God" and drew inspiration from it.

Ultimately, the band dissolved, and still we longed for more music. Their solo efforts barely sustained us. If only they would get back together, we lamented, but it was not to be.

While listening to the recent Beatles "Love" CD, which is made up of familar snippets of their songs, I am once again struck by what beautiful and profound music they made. Perhaps we will see more Beatles sounds digitally re-blended into new types of musical experiences, We can only hope so... Here is a link to our new Beatles Store.

1960's Ellicott City Blog

2009-06-17T14:01:00.000-04:00

I'm starting to scrape through the cobwebs of my mind and retrieve some memories of living in 1960's Ellicott City.

You can follow along to see what I find: ellicottmills.com

Harvest Farm Gardens

2009-06-13T23:05:00.000-04:00

I have been gardening since 1980. So after nearly 30 years as a gardening hobbyist, I started propagating plants, which led to selling them, officially opening Harvest Farm Gardens in 2007. More details are available at: harvestfarmgardens.com
Or read our gardening blog at: blog.harvestfarmgardens.com

Purkeys Toy Trains

2009-06-13T23:00:00.000-04:00

We opened Purkeys Toy Trains in Historic Sykesville in 2000. We sell Lionel & MTH electric trains, along with Carrera slot cars. Please visit our web site for details: purkeystoytrains.com

Art & Artists

2009-06-13T22:54:00.000-04:00

Artists simply live in a different world, and view that world through a fog of creative energy, and ideas, attempting to do the impossible, that is to define "Truth & Beauty" for the other residents of the world.

A Consolidation of Ideas

2009-06-13T22:42:00.000-04:00

Here, we will attempt to finally link all of our varied online sites, blogs, and ramblings.