Becoming what you are.

I have two paintings to show you and a story about my son.

First, the story
“Let me finish!!” my son yelled at me while we drove at 1am on Saturday night. He broke his 11pm curfew. He disabled his location and stopped answering his phone. I was flying blind trying to find him. Texted his friends - no answer. Finally I got a break. Apple card notification for an In-N-Out purchase at 12:40 5 minutes from the house. Found him. Or at least someone who had his card. At least he was eating.

I crawl out of bed and get in my truck and drive to In-N-Out. I’m pretty upset and try to drive the speed limit, but rush a few yellowish lights. I catch him just in time. He is munching his food with friends under the moon. I pull up and tell him firmly to get in the damn truck. He grunts something back.

He was on a bender of animal fries and diet coke burying his teenage sadness and angst not wanting to come home. Showing off for his friends, he tries to be defiant but knows Ill smash his phone with a hammer if he doesn’t comply.

He gets in the truck and starts to cry. Girl troubles he says. A girl he liked kissed another guy in front of him and it shattered him. I told him - “thats why its called a crush”. The inevitable conclusion of the relationship is right there in the name. I remembered we yelled a lot without really saying anything. Something about me being worried, then something about me not listening to him. I told him I loved him - I dont know if he believed me.

There is wisdom in our feelings and emotions. If we let them in then they can do marvelous work on us. But lots of times we dont let them finish their job. We interrupt them, we dismiss them - they are right in the middle of creation and making a bit of a mess and we go ahead and cut them off. What if we let them finish their work? What would be reborn? What would heal? There is nothing quite as raw and real and powerful as teenage emotions.

Now the new paintings
I have been creating new abstract paintings I refer to as “Sea Meditations”. I have been reducing the more realistic seascapes to forms and atmospheric color fields. I feel in some ways these capture the emotion of the sea in a way that invites the viewer to be immersed in the feeling of the open occean. When I was creating these new paintings something unusual happened - I created a window into the minds eye.

When I meditate with eyes open I notice a similar visual illusion that also happens when I paint. There is a trick when painting to let your gaze become blurry - unfocused to test the values of your painting and to judge the composition. This also happens when I meditate - the unfocused eye creates a blending of colors of the world I see.

I wanted to create the spirit of this visual illusion field by having the blurred view of the meditation in the background and more focused view of the sea in the foreground - the more clear center image symbolising the insights we gain from meditation. At least thats how I think of these - what do you think? What do you see? Both of these paintings are on display at a gallery in Santa Monica - see address below…

If you are interested in either of these paintings, please reach out via email or you can text me 925-330-4428.

Both of these paintings are on display at:
Blackwood Gallery
7253 Santa Monica Blvd. Unit B
West Hollywood, CA 90046
United States

Oh, and I was on a podcast this week which you can listen to here:
Marc Hemeon: from Silicon Valley to Art and Sound Through Psychedelics (Part 1)