"It’s better to be the bottom of the top than the top of the bottom.”

—so said the master

If you think about it, it makes sense. If you’re honest, it opens doors.

Have you had a defining moment in your life? I’m not talking about the moments or occasions designed for you and everyone else.

A moment when you could say, aha! A moment that made all the difference.

A moment that was yours eternally. A moment that you didn’t need anyone else to confirm.

The moment and you existed and that was the sublime.

With that said, Happy Valentine’s Day in the spirit—and that is the heart and art of the matter.

If you would like to read about such a moment in my life, see Divine Fire inside the main site gallery.

If you met Albert Einstein, would you ask him how to do long division or about his Unified Field Theory?

The answers you get, depend upon the questions you ask—and from whom.

Rocket Man

in memoriam: The Challenger Shuttle crew
set their sites high and lived a life worth living.

She packed my bags last night pre-flight
Zero hour nine a.m.
And I’m gonna be high as a kite by then
I miss the earth so much I miss my wife
It’s lonely out in space
On such a timeless flight

And I think it’s gonna be a long long time
Till touch down brings me round again to find
I’m not the man they think I am at home
Oh no no no I’m a rocket man
Rocket man burning out his fuse up here alone

Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids
In fact it’s cold as hell
And there’s no one there to raise them if you did
And all this science I don’t understand
It’s just my job five days a week
A rocket man, a rocket man

And I think it’s gonna be a long long time…

Music by Elton John
Lyrics by Bernie Taupin
Available on the album Honky Château

The label “outsider art” continues to be bandied about as is “fine art"—two unfortunate terms for original work.

British art historian Roger Cardinal first used “outsider art” in 1972 to describe French artist Jean Dubuffet’s collection of art brut (or “raw art"). Starting in the 1940’s, Dubuffet visited asylums in Switzerland and collected artwork by the patients that he encountered. Dubuffet was convinced art brut resided unfettered within the works of children, criminals, and madmen. He felt, for the most part, that such work was immune from being tainted by the popular culture. Dubuffet’s own childlike artwork speaks clearly about art and the source of originality.

Does one have to be in a mental institution to produce honest work? Of course, this is nonsense.

It is also true that art from the heart and soul heals.

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