I Have Seen the Elephant

The phrase: ‘I have seen the elephant; I have heard the owl’ is an American colloquial phrase that refers to gaining experience of the world at a significant cost. It was a popular expression in the mid-to-late 19^th century throughout the United States beginning with the Mexican-American war and beyond.

Pioneers would speak about ‘seeing the elephant’ in their journeys west. James Michener in his novel ‘Centennial’ made it a key point in the life of one of his characters. For that young adventurer, it was an experience that left him shaken to the core and uncertain about his future.

Over the years, the phrase has become immersed in western novels, war stories and more poignant story-telling such as Margaret Craven’s wonderful novel ‘I Heard the Owl Call My Name.’ It’s been referenced in many bible stories highlighting those watershed moments and end of life experiences some biblical characters have faced.

It’s been argued that you don’t really know who you are until faced with a catastrophe or a near-death experience. Some will say that our best life experiences come through affliction and challenges we never expected to encounter. It might be an athletic event that stretches your abilities to their absolute maximum. It could be a personal struggle with health issues, personal or social relationships or any number of personal challenges.

Now to take that argument a step further I might also suggest that for many people the very act of planting one’s feet on a theatrical stage could be akin to ‘seeing the elephant.’ Over the years, there have been a number of octogenarians and their younger compatriots who agreed to do just that in several of my plays.

Creating plays has always been part of my writing arsenal. RAAC, the Rosemount Area Arts Council, in Minnesota and Script2Stage in California have both provided wonderful venues for me to showcase some of my plays. Actually, it started in the early Seventies in Tennessee.

My first experience with Community Theater started back in Tennessee in 1972. I had left public television in Minnesota to spread my wings in the Deep South. The Chattanooga Little Theater became my refuge. I crewed on the first play of the season and then acted in three more. Around the end of our fourth play, I was offered a new job in Maryland and my brief, ever exciting career as a thespian came to a sudden halt until years later.

I think a lot of my fellow actors found their true selves on stage. Much like politicians whose only claim to fame is their small town title, these folks truly embraced their new pretend persona. It made them feel accomplished and whole and fulfilled. I never reached that level of self-satisfaction. I was always more interested in the story-telling aspect of the theater and not the acting part of it.

Artists of another ilk have found refuge in an old building in downtown Palm Springs. The Palm Springs Art Center hosts a revolving gallery, art classes, etc. Some of those seniors may ‘see the elephant’ while others might ‘hear the owl.’ But either way, vision or not, it proves to be a great experience for them. They took a chance and risked the fear and trepidation for a chance to do something challenging, something exhilarating, something that many of their colleagues could only hope to accomplish.

The Palm Springs Writers Guild has, for years, been guiding, encouraging and educating hopeful authors in the craft of writing and publishing their own works of art. One could easily equate this group of vernacular warriors with those ancients seeking the Elephant and listening for the Owl. Each and everyone of them on their own personal quest to face their fears and solidify their future.

And always on the lookout for the elephant and the owl. In my case, it might be a skinny little hippo.

A Passion for Art

Sharon hadn’t touched a paintbrush until well into her retirement. In fact, art theory; its creation and the emotional undercurrent within, wasn’t even on her radar when she left academics in 2014. Then a new passion began calling for her attention. Aside from her role as ‘Nana extraordinaire,’ Sharon found her muse in colors and tones and textures and abstract visions that call to her inner consciousness.

Like running was for me and writing is now, Sharon’s art is her new positive addiction. It’s an inner drive to create and make something out of her imagination. It’s given her purpose, focus, energy and a drive to add more to her already busy life. She’s doing what she loves to do; bypassing the notion that retirement means ‘slowing down and relaxing.’ I get it. I’ve found my own elixir in novels and plays and screenplays.

Unfortunately, this past summer my latest play put the brakes on Sharon’s inner drive to create. ‘The Last Sentinel’ proved a huge distraction for Sharon and her art. But after twenty-five hundred truffles and great attendance numbers later, Sharon was ready to bounce back to her true love of creating art.

Fortunately the teacher in Sharon helped her quickly morph back into guiding her five grand-children through new techniques and processes for making gauze art, abstract impressions and the old favorite alcohol ink. Both Minnesota and Colorado proved apt backgrounds for lessons in these new approaches to creativity. 

While not as frequent as in the past, Sharon’s classes in Norde East Minneapolis and the Palm Springs Art Center still prove fertile proving grounds for new approaches to her art.

This summer, Sharon’s art traveled to Hawaii and Colorado where she conducted more classes for her grandchildren and introduced a traveling companion to coloring books. It was both relaxing and therapeutic.

A ‘must see’ each fall for Sharon and other artists is perusing the winners of the Minnesota State Fair art contest. Even though Sharon hasn’t yet made the cut, Brennan and Charlotte, her two Minnesota pupils, have both won coveted prizes three years running.

Sharon has finally agreed to display her art around the house.

It’s a fitting tribute to her new-found passion which has been less than five years in the making. I and the children and grandchildren could not be prouder.

Living with an Artist

Retirement is a funny thing. Everyone approaches it differently. Some folks embrace the concept with enthusiasm for the measured time ahead. Other take a more cautious approach, judging time and money spent in return for what?   I found my calling pretty quickly and have settled into a routine that satisfies my soul as well as my curious mind. Sharon took a little longer but has finally found her focus.

I’m living with an artist now. Her lifestyle has changed and evolved over the past couple of years. The changes were subtle at first then grew more focused as an interest in the arts became her new found passion. In the beginning, it was metal art and welding. Gradually those endeavors evolved into alcohol ink and acrylics. Now it’s become a full blown exploration and examination of various painting mediums, methods and techniques. In that process of experimentation, my wife has begun mixing and matching a plethora of textures, patterns and applications to see the results. She is also learning the disciplines associated with her many different approaches to her art.

The residue of her artistic endeavors can be seen everywhere; on the kitchen table, in corners, the basement and even Brian’s old bedroom. There is evidence of her art projects all over the place. Picture frames and paints are stacked everywhere.

Sharon can no longer chide me for stacking papers on the floor of my writing room (Melanie’s old bedroom). The artist’s ammunition has come to rest and now even Sharon understands it must go somewhere.

Out west, our kitchen nook has become her artist’s work space and there will soon be a new gallery up in the hallway. There already is a wall of art back in Minnesota.

Sharon takes art classes at the Northrup King Building in Norde East Minneapolis and at the Palm Springs Art Center. Her work is being displayed in a design store at International Market Square and she hopes to soon be represented in the desert.

It has given both of us both a new focus on life…not that the old one wasn’t pretty good too. We are attending art gallery openings, finding new venues where Sharon might display her work and meeting fellow artists here and there. It’s prompted me to explore new venues for my plays both here and throughout the Coachella Valley.

Sharon’s venture into painting is less impressive than her embracing the true spirit of her craft. She is experimenting, succeeding at times and failing at others and trying again. There is a sense of urgency and a crusade that she is on. She is finding her voice, her comfort level and self-expression in her art. Sharon’s art is the story of her thoughts and feelings and moods and ambitions.

Sharon’s paintings energize her and give her a reason to care. It is carrying her beyond past academic success to newfound pleasures of the soul. Now she is passing on that knowledge to her grandchildren.

Family paintings inspired by Sharon

It means fulfillment for Sharon as an artist, an explorer, and a person. It now defines who she is and what she has become. It is a life filled with purpose and meaning.

Been there, done that, doing it.  I know what it’s like. I couldn’t be more proud of everything she’s accomplished thus far and will in the future.

Resin to Believe

Resin art | Sharon LaComb

I loathe those trite headlines that newspapers sometimes use when they’re trying to be oh so cute. Now having said that I’ll reverse course and say there is every ‘resin to believe’ that Sharon’s art has evolved dramatically since she began to pursue painting as more than just a hobby.

It’s an evolution I’ve been watching with more than a curious eye. All too often it seems that retirees plant their thoughts on ‘doing nothing’ after a lifetime of ‘doing everything.’

Unfortunately, neither the minds nor the bodies of these high-energy individuals are accustomed to such inactivity. Many folks stagnate and fall into bad habits such as the 4:00 cocktail hour or sleeping in. On the other hand, Sharon, along with her brush-stroke colleagues, have exchanged very productive and fulfilling past careers for new endeavors that are just as fulfilling for them as artists.

Casket Arts Building

Sharon began her artistic journey as a metal head and a blowtorch Nana post-retirement. After a career in academia and business, Sharon learned to pinch metal around stone like Giacometti and apply torching like Motherwell. She’s comfortable with heavy metal in her hands and blue-yellow flames framing her face. The Casket Arts Building in North Minneapolis was her first creative hangout. Now Sharon is finding her creative muse once again here in the desert.

A couple of years ago it was welding and metal art. Then it was making art out of old National Geographic magazines. From that it evolved to alcohol ink paintings. The particular arts and crafts exercise didn’t really matter as long as they suited her fancy…if even for the moment. Last summer Sharon began by dabbling in alcohol ink and acrylics as a novice painter.

Alcohol Paintings | Sharon LaComb

Alcohol painting is an acid-free, highly-pigmented, and fast drying medium used on non-porous surfaces. By mixing alcohol inks an artist can create a vibrant marbled effect. For many enthusiasts, it’s a new way of artistic self-expression. It means discovering the almost magical ethereal mutations that take place when alcohol colors mix and integrate into themselves. It’s layering colors, mixing tones and textures, morphing shapes and sizes into a kaleidoscope of  bastardized offspring’s of color. For its many disciples the process is full of constant discovery and, often times, pure amazement at the results. It’s like trying to cup liquid lightning in your hands.

Now Sharon has evolved past that stage and is exploring a plethora of other painting options. She’s been taking classes at the Palm Springs Art Center.

The building and the area surrounding it reminds me of Norde East Minneapolis but without the hipster shade of black and the aroma of Acapulco gold drifting through the area. It’s a little like the NKB building without the coolness of its eclectic patrons.

Resin Paintings | Sharon LaComb

Sharon is moving into new territory by exploring the application of alcohol inks directly into the resin application. She is applying crumpled up tissue paper for texture and depth and even burning the alcohol for a more dramatic effect.

I’ve even convinced her to explore the use of coloring resin before it hardens. I was cleaning up after her one day and found marvelous cast-off pieces of resin that had absorbed the run-off inks from her painting. The results were stunning.

There are a number of venues for Sharon and her fellow artists to explore all over town. The Uptown Art and Design District lines a boulevard of modern art, fashion and design items from around the world. The offerings range from unique to eclectic to eccentric. There are a host of vintage and modern furniture stores, fashion boutiques and art galleries. It’s like a bowl of ice cream for starving artists.

While Palm Springs has its art galleries there is nothing compared to the glitz and glamor of El Paseo Drive down Valley in Palm Desert. It is our own Rodeo Drive right here in the desert. Located in the heart of Palm Desert, El Paseo Drive is a siren’s call for the money-immune to shop their hearts away. El Paseo is known the world over for its signature showrooms, designer labels, and chic boutiques.

Sharon loves perusing the art galleries for their rare and exquisite pieces. For a mind now attuned to different styles and approaches to painting, she finds it a voyeur’s paradise. I find it shocking. The prices for most art pieces there are as high as the skirts worn at Coachella and just as shocking. If I muttered ‘seriously!’ once I must have breathed it a dozen times in as many galleries. Sharon just ignores my comments or steps away and pretends not to hear me.

In her new drive for artistic expression, Sharon has joined a number of Van Gogh’s disciples to find their collective creative muse. My point here is not to praise Sharon’s paintings per say but to admire her creative endeavors. She is exploring options and opportunities in paints and textures and mattes and chemical reactions to what she puts on canvas. Sharon is not afraid to do what she isn’t supposed to or what others may not have tried before. There are no limits to what she may discover or what she may create.

The lesson here for anyone in the creative arts is simple enough. Find something, anything to ignite that passion we all have within ourselves. Paint, dance, write, act and celebrate your life in any manner that turns you on. Find what it is that gets you excited each morning and anxious to jump get out of bed.

There is no better way to live your life than to do whatever it is you want to do.

Find it, embrace it, live it, be it.