Where's the Juice?

"Treasure Map" by Caleb age 4. Crayon.

I have an idea about why boys draw pictures differently than girls. I was checking out Ava's thursday picture over at Ward's blog.. and once again I asked myself why Caleb's drawings and paintings look so completely different from hers.. being ~ the same age and all...

See that picture up there? Do you have any idea what that is? It looks like complete insanity. But why would a healthy, intellegent boy draw complete insanity? Ah.. let's ask him. "So tell me Caleb, what exactly is this a picture of"? (In my mind, I'm trained to look for things that make sense.. like faces, shapes, etc.)
Caleb said, "That's a map."

Ok... I guess that works.. but it still doesn't answer my question.. why does it look so crazy?

Of course, the answer lies not in the end result, but in the production. I needed to watch him make one of these creations.

So I watched... and guess what.. I got it.

Almost all of his art works are "performance" pieces. He's playing, that's it. He draws a line and tells me, "this is the ship (or other vehicle), and it flies this way and.. Oh NO! there's a missle.. watch out!! and CRASH! (insert little boy sound effects) Ahh! Bang! Splash.. I got the Treasure.. run! run!"... you get the point.

Those aren't faces on the picture. That's machine gun fire. There's no expectation for him to actually draw anything. This is art in motion. Some kids just simply draw what we think they're supposed to do. They draw objects and people. I'm generalizing of course. But it makes sense to me.

I love his mind. Back when he was 2 years old, he used to call any liquid "juice". Milk, water, soda, a swimming pool.. they were all filled with "juice".

One day it was raining and I found him plastered up against the back window staring at the flood of water running through the back yard. He turned and looked at me and said, "Daddy, where's the Juice"? I smiled and nodded in the direction of the water and said, "It's out there Caleb". He'd turn and look, and then he'd ask me again. Over and over. Intrigued in the motion. The confusion of it all.

So.. I tried to capture it. You know.. the motion.. the dynamic of his mind. A little boy's mind.

This is as close as I could get... enjoy.


Where's the Juice? (c) 2003 William Cushman (6:23 / 5.9Mb)
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-Bill

Inspiration

"Shannon's Hair" Copyright © Powers Photography

When we got married, we had our pictures done by Powers Photograhy in Gainesville, Florida. Susan and Stewart were amazing. Almost magical.

We have gone back over the years to have family portraiture done. This piece simply captured my simple emotion of amazement and inspiration of their art.

The photo above was from our wedding day.

Inspiration.Mp3 (c) 2003 William Cushman (7:38 / 7Mb)
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Gravity

"Light the Night" cancer walk : "Balloons"CC2005

I told Shannon [my wife] , that I was going to post 'Gravity' today. She said, "so, what are you going to write"?

I told her that I actually had two problems.. what to write, and what picture to use.
On my first couple posts, you'll notice that I don't post a picture. I realized later, that I have images insided my head as I write these pieces. Sometimes.. hundreds of images. So, it's important for me to share what I 'see' and not just what I hear.

These balloons were in a corner over by a fence at the "Light the Night" Cancer walk that year in Nashville. Shannon used to work part time at the Disney Store, and one of her managers was struggling with lymphoma. We all went and walked a mile to show our support for her.

This piece is hard to explain.

First of all, it's one of my longest. Of course, the entire thing was recorded just like all the other pieces. One sitting, one recording, made it up on the spot.

I was feeling too deep into my own life. All about me. So, I tried to push off. To float outside my little world and bring my focus out broader. To take a step back. To see those around me.. to see Their lives. There is more to life than me.

Then.. to move around the earth in my mind, to recognize the vastness of humanity. To try to grasp the immenseness of it all; the beauty of the Creation.

All of us tied to this planet. All of us pulled into our own little worlds.

There is a physical gravity that pulls us down and holds us here. But there is yet another Gravity that pulls a person into their own life. We all forget about it. It's just there. And it's so easy to go about your day, taking it all for granted.

I remember just staring at those balloons.

This music captures something... a moment... when I fought my way away from that force.

Gravity.Mp3 (c) 2002 William Cushman (12:51 / 11.8Mb)
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-Bill

If I Persist

Caleb's Art: "Mommy, Daddy & Me" (Click picture for bigger version)CC2005

My wife's family has some friends that let them borrow a cabin up in Maggie Valley, North Carolina this past weekend. So naturally, we joined them for a couple of days.

Wow, what a refreshing, wonderful time we had. On the drive over there, me and my wife had a couple of arguments in the car. Normal stuff. I don't even remember what it was about. But, I think I know why...

We were de-toxing. We were getting the junk out. By the time we pulled into the mountains, it was snowing and sticking. Amazing. And everything was ok again.

It was beautiful, the rainbow trout were biting anything we put on the line, and the weather was perfect.

And then, suddenly, it was all gone.. and I find myself back at work again. Rested, and refreshed.. but back in the grind. Dreaming of more family time. Upset that I can't spend more time with them.

I keep thinking that someday it will pay off. All the hard work. But then, i'm also learning that life is more about the sides of the mountains, instead of the top.

The "magical" payoff. Hmm. I'm not so sure anymore. Nobody said life would be easy.

Don Finto explained something to me once. It's such a strange concept to me.

He said, Suffering produces perserverance and perserverance produces character... it's right there in Romans, in the Bible.

What? So.. you mean to tell me.. bad things, tough situations.. they make my character better?

What a strange life. The only way to trully 'get it', appreciate it, and Grow, is to Try and Fail. Over and over. Through good and bad. Trusting Him.

If I Persist.Mp3 (c) 2002 William Cushman (8:25 / 7.8Mb)
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-Bill