John Storrow

 They needed some clouds. The houses on the wind swept hill by the sea were tired of looking up at a blank blue sky, so they erected a two hundred foot tall trellis to hold up some wooden clouds that they cut out of whatever wood they could find. At the moment this painting was “Taken like a photo” there was a lull in the wind which was long enough to allow the wooden clouds to stop swinging. It must have been a pretty long lull. As you can see, some actual clouds (depicted) are beginning to appear on the horizon. I guess one could imagine the houses represent people, because people can live in houses. Houses are way easier to draw and paint than people. They’re just boxes with pointy tops and windows.

  I tried to express the idea of gravity with the weight of this great bulbous hanging water tank which is connected to the sea. The water comes gushing in from all over the word and collects in the tank before it slowly drips down through a tiny hole, causing the water wheel to spin, which causes an electric motor to generate electricity, which powers the lightbulb that lights up the under ground room with a single chair. I don’t know why there’s only one chair, or why it’s so far under the weight of the sea. Perhaps I just needed a convenient purpose for the power that could come from the motor. It’s incredibly interesting that you can either power a motor to make it spin, or spin a motor to make it give power. I remember vividly, in my youth, I once had a plastic kit for an electric motor, that you could put together. Miraculous machines they are indeed.

  At the exact moment this picture supposedly “was taken like a photo” the flying machine was precisely above the building, with its wheels almost touching the corners of the building. The wind was blowing it back at the same speed that it was flying forward. It was a colossal flying machine with a four hundred foot wide wingspan. Its wings were made of green cotton cloth and it had very long wooden spars that had to be spliced together in sections because you can’t get single pieces of wood that long. I don’t know where the flying machine will go next, when the wind shifts or it runs out of gas, but at least we know where it is at the moment, it’s in the painting. 

  Let it go. Turn it loose. Whatever that thing was you wanted. Let go of the need to be perfect, forget about salesmanship, don’t worry about pleasing your audience. Just drop all that exhausting s**T. Do it now! 

  The other day I decided to take my SK to my new sailing spot on the Emerald Necklace muddy river here in Boston. I got there shortly before 8:00 in the morning because the forecast said pounding heat later in the day, but a cool breeze in the morning. I decided to bring my folding chair and sit comfortably while guiding my SK (Stuart Knockabout model sailboat) through the mirror smooth water, under some shade trees, using my radio for rudder and sail control, like always. There were lots of different birds up and about doing their morning thing in the trees, large fish jumping near the banks, and even a turtle peeked its head about a half inch above the surface to see what was going on. Meanwhile, as still as a statue, on the other side of the river, a heron stalked its prey. Drinking in all this nature was great nourishment to my soul. I think my SK liked my new sailing spot too. She glided fast in a surprisingly steady wind. She did her gorgeous dance on the water. I took some ...

  This painting is called “Exactly the right wind direction” If the wind shifts even a tiny bit, you won’t be able to see the sailboat through the port hole. It’s 11 x 14, ink, acrylic, and oil on panel. I guess it’s another experiment to do with precariousness, which is way more interesting to me than still images of still objects that never move. It’s the implied, suggested, potential for physical movement, in a still image, that gives me a dopamine rush. 

  This story has a happier ending I hope, perhaps it will come to me after I write this first part. The other day I was scrolling through Instagram yet again, feeling bored, un-inspired, disconnected from the world, generally disillusioned. This happens often, I just let it take its natural course and observe what happens next. Maybe go play my guitar instead, or watch a movie.  So I came across an ad on instagram for a book you can buy that teaches you how to forge “Connections” with viewers in order to have a “successful” career. I already knew what it probably said. Go be socially connected so your work can be socially connected, the book probably said, in my mind. At the same time  I have also lately been reading about the Buddhist teaching of “no self” I take this idea to mean that there is no permanent self identity that people have, because thoughts are like clouds constantly changing, and that awareness is the key to happiness. Perhaps being socially connected is ...