There is a Difference

I can tell you this: There is a difference.

It is a not-so-subtle deep and electrifying sense of flow (there is THAT word again). I am in smack dead-center of artistic flow, the dynamic responsible for creative expression, in the language of hope. I have been in its soothing glow for several days now and I wish very much to make it an extended stay. Having found from experience that projects are easy to start but hard to finish, I need to see this one through to completion. Not so much because there is a deadline or a bonus-type reward involved, but because it has meaning for me. This is personal. That being the difference. 

I am working on the design for the jerseys for both the 2019 Epic Ride and the Fun 101 Olympic Peninsula Cycling Tour. Having already subbed out the former to a graphic designer in Sri Lanka and accepting his work at about a 80% approval rating, I decided that the Fun 101 design needed more direct input from the one person that truly understands the entirety of its nuance. 

That person being me. 

I ran through the usual steps of finding the elements I wanted to incorporate into the new media, considered the differences between a logo, a graphic design, an illustration and a picture, settling at last on the image-like event identifier style known as info-branding. A cool artistic descriptor of the event applicable over several promotional platforms from flyers to the most important, placement on the event memorabilia in garment form. The jerseys. 

They are the one high-ticket item that has the potential to be a profit center unto themselves and return the financial investment. It would be difficult for me to adequately explain to you what happens when I see someone wear one of the four different commemorative jerseys I have produced. There is a difference between a cool bike jersey and one whose genesis you played a part of. Trust me on this. I am sure it is like watching one of your kids on stage. 

Remembering that my college major was Advertising Art (so many years ago), I decided to take charge of the project from the start. I know what I want. No one among the hundreds of artists whose work I viewed had the combination of talent at the price necessary for this job. Cheap and cheesy or decent and pricey. One night late last week I decided to try my hand at a thumbnail sketch, something to send to whatever designer, in whatever third world country, for whatever amount, that my designer could work from. One thing led to another with the conclusion that if I spent just a little more time with the sketch, I might not even need the aforementioned designer, or at least could provide he or she with a legitimate and accurate rendition. (And please be advised that I do not use the term ‘third world country’ in a disparaging way.)

I did a rough draft last night and plan on heading out after spin class this morning to purchase a few more tools of the trade; ink, pens, colored sharpies, a protractor, french curve, drawing paper, all in order to push the quality of the project, and of course, to satisfy my creative soul. 

All of this has introduced an interesting change in my demeanor. I am looking at everything in a different light, seeing brighter colors, looking for connectivity and content, asking more questions about the limits of my curiosity. As a result I feel the power of the creative imperative. I am hooked like a cutthroat trout, reeled in yet somehow knowing that this catch will end in release. It is sport. There is challenge, effort required and a precise discipline necessary for advancement to the next level. Whatever that might be. 

I have more energy, more alertness, more focus, a more colorful vibration and much more presence. I am aware of all this moving through my consciousness like the white water of class 5 rapids. I am in the flow. I have a general idea of where I would like to end, but i trust the dynamic energy of the flow state to land me wherever destined. All I have to do is to do. Do with everything I have. Give back in artistic form the elements of creation I feel so brightly commanding me to act as conduit. I trust that wherever these powerful messages are coming from, that greater spirit, higher good, cosmic energy, or simply my consciousness manifesting as translator, I will have the wisdom and courage to follow. To listen and learn. To try my best to see the message and hear the call. To let it go. I sense meaning in this vibration. That is so important. 

And therein lies the difference.