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I usually only post design related articles, etc…but really wanted to take a minute and talk about a little trip Mason and I had a couple of weeks ago.

For the first time he and I spent the night camping out. I wasn’t exactly sure how he was going to handle this, in fact I was very concerned when we stepped foot on the first trail at Jones Gap State Park, he jumped and ran screaming “Ants! Ants! Ants!”. However after explaining the delicate fast walk through the ants on the trail he then quickly jumped back into his vivid imagination and began explaining how “Batman” would handle the ants in trails like these.

This First Annual Father Son Camping Trip actually shaped up really great other than the fact that they placed us a half mile from the parking lot. I think Mason and I actually hiked about 5 miles after making multiple trips with our own gear combined with helping others out. The location wasn’t completely ideal and rather remote but after everyone finally made it to the campsite, I heard someone exclaim “I love how beautiful this is!”.

I started trying to get the fire lit about 4:30 which took me about a half hour to finally get really going. Of course a little “gas-a-starter” really helped do the trick. In all we had 16 guys and their sons show up to this first event. This wasn’t about having any real set plans…just getting together and having some good personal times with our sons. Mason helped me setup our tent for about 2 minutes then ran off to play swords. After getting my tent up I went over to a friends site to help him set up who of course was doing it by himself while his son was busy climbing a rock high enough to break a leg.

In fact I think the last tent was finally set about 9:30 and totally in the dark using only flashlights, but we got it done. Hamburgers were the best thing for that night and everyone managed to get theirs totally burnt with even a few ashes from the fire. Mine however I think was super well done as the grease drippings kept catching them on fire. It’s sorta hard to grab a hold of a burger with a spoon that was cut down to fit the mess bag, but I finally managed to get it out of the fire and onto homemade buns especially prepared by my lovely @leprakans (twitter) wife.

I have to admit I don’t really sleep that well when I go camping, never have, probably never will, I just hear everything. So I stayed up quite late talking around the fire. Mason however fell asleep around ten and never woke up all night. Of course the air mattress we had purchased the day before really helped and the next day everyone else realized I had the right idea and swore to bring one next year.

Probably one of the biggest successes were the glow sticks that my brother supplied me straight from the army. Every kid had two and were running around with them. At least we never had to wonder where they were, I could even see when Mason fell. Poor guy he fell quite often but he was such the trooper and still asks when we are planning on going on the next trip together.

The next day we packed up and headed off…okay we labored for two hours to get everything cleaned up after making breakfast and sitting around the fire for an hour and hiking back the half mile to the cars and losing things in the creek…then finally drove up to Caesars Head where all the boys loved running through the narrow trails at the top. After a packed lunch we were done, but I will remember this little quick one day trip for a long time. One of the best time I’ve had with just Mason and I. “Thanks Buddy you make it all worth it & Thanks Sweet Pea and Boo for letting us go”!

…and thanks to all the guys from Lifepoint for coming!

A “Mini-Gallery” host is a business that is willing to host a Thomas Moffett painting in their lobby or area that receives outside traffic.

If you have been in business for atleast 3 years and have space to host one of my paintings, then take a look around my site and see if you find a painting that you would like to host.

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• The location for the painting must NOT receive direct sunlight at any time during the day.
• The location for the painting must be temperature controlled.

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• Your business will receive a 20% commission if you sell the painting at your location.
• A new painting will be replaced in that location once you have sold a painting.
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The Front of our Loft when sitting facing toward downtown. You can see the legs of the Water Tower in this sketch and the fence surrounding us…not my favorite. I want this to actually be more about people and not about scenes. Will work on it.

Well it’s another day and another sketch. This is definately going to be hard to do everyday, I sat out front in our yard with the kids playing and sketched mason but did not like how it came out, so I began to sketch some trees and this is what is the finished product of that study.

I am working through a series of illustrations though that deal very much with the eyes. I am trying to get them to look very arrogant and cocky yet with a smile. The same expression one gets when they throw their finger in the air and exclaim “We are Number One”. I loved the intensity in this sketch.

Last weekend I loaded the family into my old car (actually a rental from Enterprise) and drove down to the High Museum to get a little rest and to take in some art inspiration. One that really made an impression on me was “Alfred Jensen”.

I knew nothing of him when looking at his exhibit in the High. I cannot even remember the name of it but it looked something like what is shown to the right. The bright colors and use of hard lines remind me of what I am working toward. I admire the use of numbers as well as circles and blocks almost resembling a calendar. His very loose nature applied to what seems very orderly from a distance. The continuing pattern of numbers and colors appear to be influenced by his childhood experiences according to Henry Luce III growing up in “Guatemala and had an Indian nurse in his childhood, for him to pick the Mayan as the first of the civilizations of antiquity which he would interpret.”

“ALFRED JENSEN thought about very big ideas, and he expressed them in very loud tones. He believed in a universal order in the affairs of man, and in an eternal order in the affairs of God. He believed that scientists, political philosophers and artists would interact to identify a unity of truth. Jensen was a worldly, and yet highly spiritual, artist of his time.” By Henry Luce III

There is no need to re-visit what is already written about him, but I am glad to find another artist who is not ashamed to be influenced by his belief in a higher power and yet still search to be relevant in this world. to find out more about him go to AlfredJensen.com

My Oneness, A Universe of Colours, 1957 oil on canvas, 26" x 22"

One of my favorite examples of Johnsons’ is the one shown below because I am sure that in some way I have been influenced by it due to my love of the continuing circle in my own art even though I was doing the continuing circle before viewing any of his art.

“I wish to see as much art as I can, because each style and each example leads me one step closer to that which will result in my own unique style.” Thomas Moffett

“It takes 2 to Tango” I think the saying goes. I believe this to be true in Art as well. Every project I have ever approached is always a reflection of the music I listen to. Just about every art class I went through we listened to some kind of music for the 4 hours we painted, etc. I even play music as I design for a client or program a website. I do better work when I listen to music. I can even help set the tone for the design by listening to clasical or rock or Enya or 80′s One hit wonders. My Iphone is loaded with about 40gbs of music to keep me always going. Music has already affected me to write this post. I am listening to Music from the motion picture “Rescue Dawn” by Klaus Badelt. Does music affect your work as much as it does mine? Check out Pandora for the best way to listen to music online, its just like radio.

My Brother Bob Moffett told me he was building a deck for the Owner of Anderson Hardwood Flooring out of this amazing and very expensive Brazillian Hardwood Called “Ipe”

Ipe is a very dense, hard wood from South America that resists cupping, splintering and twisting. Also called ironwood, Ipe will not shrink like pressure treated lumber and should last over 25 years.

Well, after the project was over he had some of this material left over and offered to help me build an easel. I believe he wants to see me succeed at doing this and he also loves to build beautiful furniture pieces.

We looked around for plans to build this easel on and decided on Ben Grosser’s Simple Plans for a professional easel. It is now complete and I have enjoyed it immensely. I should give my brother a shout out…”If your’e looking for an excellent builder from cabinets to easels to a new addition on your house check him out at Artefice Builders