NEWSLETTER 02
February 10, 2023
Hello Friends —
Thank you to each and every one of you who has subscribed to my Substack. It really means a lot to me. Your encouragement and support has been a nice kick in the pants to keep on keeping on.
I joined Substack a little over two months ago with the simple idea to rev-up my creative synapses in order to get back to composing music. What I didn’t anticipate is just how much I was going to enjoy the process of writing, reading, and drawing. I feel like a whole new world has opened up to me. It’s thrilling to be discovering new things about myself and exploring the depths of what I am capable of doing. I tell myself, just keep working, keep trying, and keep discovering.
Let’s talk about trying. Let’s talk about drawing. Or better yet, my attempt to draw.
A few months ago I picked up a pen, grabbed a notebook and started to draw. I sucked. The process was more about finding a bit of peace by focusing and doing, a meditation of sorts. In order to improve my drawings I googled cartoon faces but my eye-to-brain-to-hand motor skills were tremendously lacking so I just kept moving forward slowly, learning by mistakes.
I started to develop characters and silly themes that I found to be humorous. The process has become fun and somewhat satisfying. Those of you who are familiar with my music, know that my compositions gravitate towards darker themes. These drawings are not that and seem to come from a different place. The other me—fun, humorous, with a dash of WTF thrown in.
While searching for artists to read on Substack I ran across
WITH WENDYMAC. I really enjoyed reading her easy-to-understand assignments and humorous approach. I decided to subscribe. What I’ve discovered while doing the weekly assignments is the amount of kindness and non-judgemental support shared among the other participants. It feels like a celebration of doing. It’s motivating, entertaining, and fascinating to see how differently each person approaches the task at hand.
However, the last assignment still has me reeling. I can’t seem to wrap my head around one point perspective. The whole 2-D to 3-D concept emerging from one single point on the horizon line looks so simple when I watch others do it but when it’s just me, the execution is elusive. I’m not giving up. I’ll have something to show you next newsletter. I’m going to keep working, keep trying, and keep discovering.
THE NEWSLETTER: CONTENT & STRUCTURE
Short Stories This section is a collection of memories—recalling my adventures as a musician, photographer, and editor. The good, the bad, as well as the pursuit to keep pushing on.
Something New/ Something Old This is a history of art that was created during my life’s timeline: Something New (1990–present) and Something Old (1961–1989). Music, photography, film, painting—all things creative. These are things that make me happy to be alive, and I want to share them with you.
Odds and Sods. This is an open playing field and anything goes. Music news, coffee related stories, posts from other writers and artists, dad jokes, etc… Random bits of information, inspiration, and humor.
SHORT STORIES
ART OF FEAR: The Spark / The Process / The Song
THE MUSIC VIDEO FOR ART OF FEAR: Interacting with nematodes
WE WILL ROCK YOU: Video as sound source, editor as composer
SOMETHING NEW
SHIDA SHAHABI & LINNEA OLSSON / Eric Ericsonhallen in Stockholm, / May 20, 2020
SOMETHING OLD
GLENN GOULD / Bach’s Goldberg Variations / 1981
ODDS AND SODS
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: How should they sound
RAGING TINNITUS: So loud that others can here it
A HISTORY OF IMAGES: Guess the year these photos were taken
I hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter as much as I did putting it together.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Hit me up in the comments.
Yeah buddy!!! Love it. Starting a new style is the hardest part. You’ve got this. I’ll send you a book I have on making perspective “easy”. It never clicked with me, but maybe you’ll find it interesting. Keep it going, brother!!!
Nolan! I'm so so delighted you are part of the GUT. Your leaps of pen and ink and joyful risk taking, humor and positive attitude contributes so much to the group. Perspective is so tricky - especially the first few times. Don't let it get you down - your bedroom is awesome and you nailed so much of it (and what isn't "right" is even more rad.) Keep looking, loving and drawing!! wm