Kyudo Kai

Bill sensei remembered me from six years ago. I again enjoyed my visit.

Judo & Archery

Gracie Barra's dojo has been around for decades. As it happens, we pass nearby every day on our way to Michelle's 7x/week cat-sit. Though I enjoyed the karate I studied, I no longer have the stamina, even if they WERE holding class (covid preempted). But the ranolazine Dr. Marin, my cardiologist, recently prescribed has boosted my energy such that I called Barra's and set up an intro session for this past Wednesday.

Desktop Tableau

I was pleasantly surprised to discover I'm not dead yet. Chaz, a brown belt, was considerate of my condition and took me through a half-hour of light calisthenics and stretches followed by a tutorial in a basic rear-ward fall and recovery. Though a tad over-tired through the afternoon, I was encouraged enough to call today, Friday, to ask about further instruction. 

Instead of waiting at the 7x cat-sit, I've been going to the indoor archery range every few days. It's close enough to the client's home I can get in a half-hour of practice and return within the allotted time. 

A few days ago we bought a pair of rackets similar to those used in pickleball; we call it Swat & Fetch. Though neither of us can hit the wiffle ball straight, let alone "back," (thus the name), sisyphean artists that we are, it seems perfectly natural to watch the ball fly off at tangentials (from the intended direction) and then "rest" while the other waddles to retrieve. 

Ever curious about trajectory each time we "swat," there's a Zen-esque quality to the wait while the other completes the amble-of-retrieve. The game could only appeal to imbeciles. Fortunately, that's us! (Besides, "exercise," as any aesthete will tell you, is an expletive.)  

We achieved a milestone when we sold Michelle's lightbox (used 30 years ago in making her serigraphs) through Craigslist. Artists, as everyone knows, NEVER part with something that MIGHT be used again...someday. But after 30 years Michelle decided its time had come. As luck would have it, a young woman who works at a silk-screen shop had just bought a house and was setting up a fine art studio in her new home. The box, beautifully crafted in wood by Michelle's mom's former husband, found the perfect new home.

I have yet to find an instructor, but am having a great time noodling around on my Excelsior accordiana. (See: Accordion Concentration)

Counting Sheep - Rerun

I just noticed we passed into a new year. I picked up some shooting muffs the other day so missed out on the transitional festivities. 

The authorities HAVE managed to reduce the BLAMMING. This IS The West and back in the days of yore (the 1970s) it was quite the fest. Perhaps it was the photo of the bullet stuck, point first, in the roof of the police car that gave them pause for thought. (Thought? Who am I kidding?)

But there's not much happening here. The elder-cat adoption folks have a donor in the wings who's willing to pay cash for a facility. They want 4,000 to 6,000 square feet; enough to have the thrift shop next door. 

The Archery Shoppe only charges $4.00 for half an hour use of the range. What with other archers shooting nearby and folks browsing the stuff, the noise runs me off after about that long.

But about those sheep. A look back at the year's musings prompted this repost. Something about the way things went this last year felt like we shifted dangerously close to forced homogenization.

So, anyway, Happy New Year! (better eventually than never, eh?)

https://newmexnomad.blogspot.com/2019/10/to-sheep-or-not-to-sheep.html

Japanese Archery

I'm sort of ambidextrous; I draw a bow and bat right-handed, but use a fork and (used to) shoot a rifle left-handed. An injury to my left eye put an end to the riflery, but unwilling to give up completely I got me a 20-guage pump and began practicing my Rifleman stance.

But, you know, the racket is kinda annoying. 



Then something jogged the memory of a cultural exchange event that featured some archers. They, three of each sex, fired the length of the main gym at the University of New Mexico. 
I recalled the quiet too.  

Obstacles That Must Be Thrown Away

It's been a little over a year since I began fooling with my Samik breakdown (25 pd draw). Bored with hitting the target, I took to the internet for inspiration. Within minutes I found this group in Tuscon. They were very welcoming and although there wasn't a lot to incorporate into my practice, I enjoyed watching. 

  

Post-mortem "Aha!"

After years of post-mortem (the death of the gallery) WORK!!! (said with Maynard's inflection), it arrived.

It was 1997. A Hispanic man in his early thirties came into the gallery. He and his wife had attained a level of financial status that she felt dictated the display of taste and affluence and, with that in mind, she'd sent him out to get a painting to go over the couch. 

He was drawn to a piece by Francine Tint (link to her website) a New York artist whose large, gestural swaths were of the kind that prompted the remark: "My kid could do that." The work ("work" is art jargon for painting), always modestly priced, was, in this case, a mere $1,200.00 for a five-foot by three-foot piece of frameless, unstretched canvas with frayed edges, no doubt torn from a larger segment.

He asked how he could justify something like that to his friends....they'd laugh.

At the time I was, poor salesman that I was, at a loss. But the other day -- I closed the gallery in '98 -- this video of a master archer clued me to the answer. (You may want to skip to 2:25.)  

While childrens' drawings often have a wonderful immediacy (see my drawing at bottom of post here), the combination of talent and skill that produces art is often the result of practice. But practice is a bit of a misnomer since most artists rarely repeat a performance. And when they do, they may be the only one aware of the subtle difference(s). My aesthetic, the motivation for the Aha!, has evolved over a decade. And over that time I've continually practiced looking.

Francine's "gestures" captured the beauty of a moment that is, for me, similar to the one prior to the archer's release. And while a child may stumble into the realm of timelessness, masters evoke it at will. 

You've heard the aphorism: Practice makes perfect? Some of Francine's were better than others, but as a talented adult she was able to do it more often than not.



There being no stores in the area, I stopped at a cabin for water. Rambo-the-cat very solicitously

greeted me saying,  "All cats are talented; and never practice." 

Unfortunately, the fee to view his art was more than I could afford. But had I been able, I wouldn't have cared if they had laughed. If you don't look, you're guaranteed not to see.