Duane began his martial arts career as a teenager. He progressed through the ranks until he became a black belt in Isshinryu Karate. The more he studied, though, the more he felt something was missing. He wanted to learn more than his instructors could teach him. Duane's father was a preacher, and his church had a mission in Taiwan. Almost all the martial arts disciplines … [Read more...]
Kung Fu and Painting
Do you remember watching television on Saturdays when you were a kid? Saturday mornings were cowboy shows like Roy Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy, and Sky King. But the afternoons were those full-length crazy Kung Fu movies. The actors' mouth movements never seemed synched with dubbed English voices. And the sound effects -- that "whoosh, whoosh" sound even when somebody picked up … [Read more...]
Allowed to Fail
It's interesting how one idea will trigger a bunch of connections based on what you're doing at the moment. The ant The author of Creativity writes: "Human beings are the only creatures that are allowed to fail. If an ant fails, it’s dead, but we’re allowed to learn from our mistakes." What that seems to imply is that failure is part of the learning process. Reading "How to … [Read more...]
Purpose
"There is no purpose to purpose." -- Michael Gerber That quote sounds pretty strange, doesn't it? Isn't purpose what all the "gurus" tell us we need to discover? A popular book title is, "Find your Why: A Practical Guide for Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team." (Whew! Whatever happened to nice, short titles like "The Sun Also Rises?") Gerber clarifies his quote … [Read more...]
Brush cleaning – the safe way
"I watched the clean your brushes video and wanted to know if that formula is ONLY for the final cleaning or can it be used while cleaning the brush WHILE painting a picture? Do I still use mineral spirits to clean my brush during the painting process? Thank you" -- K. We get this question a lot. There is a short answer and a longer answer that addresses a lot of … [Read more...]
The last Renaissance Man?
A "polymath" is a person whose expertise spans many domains - or subject areas. Leonardo was a polymath. He lived during the Renaissance, so Leonardo is the quintessential "Renaissance Man." Leonardo's interests spanned a lot of domains. Everyone knows of his paintings. He was a sculptor, an anatomist, a scientist, an engineer, and a producer of stage events. It wasn't … [Read more...]