Ready, Aim, Fire… in that order, every time.

Do y’all ever wonder what a famous artist’s first try looks like? And I don’t mean the first piece they ever sold, I mean, their first go at it, whatever their it may be… ? I do.

The week before my mom died I felt like painting, which seemed weird at the time because, I’m a photographer, it’s my thing… Anyhoo, I listened to myself and went and bought some paint and some canvases, and then things with my mom took a drastic turn, and thoughts of painting were put on hold, for a moment…

Grieving is messy, ya’ll, and so is painting…. Or at least that’s how it is for me.

Growing up my dad would often say, “ready – aim – fire, in that order, every time.”
Holding a pistol – ready- aim- fire.
Soccer game – Ready -Aim – Fire
Track and field events – ready -aim- fire
Spelling bee, violin / piano competitions… Ready – Aim – Fire…
Taking a photo – ready -aim -fire…

I supposed he wanted me to understand this ready-aim-fire thing is applicable to pretty much all the things in life… It makes more sense to me as an adult than it ever did as a kid.

For me, my natural talents and abilities, along with a good dose of beginners-grace (does that work there? I think it does) made aiming and firing easy… I could hit whatever target 9/10x… with very little effort, and very little time spent in readying myself…

I suspect most people have a deficit in one of these areas… Some are good at readying themselves for anything and everything and lack the confidence to actually take aim and fire. Others just fire at anything and/or everyone with no care or concern for the damage they cause, and I suppose there are some people who just aim. I guess those would be the people who are always gonna do something… the wishers of the world, maybe?
I need to give more thought to all of this, probably…

All that to say, I painted, y’all. These are my first ever paintings… and I think they are a good enough start to something fun… and if I ever become a famous artist someday then ya’ll can say you saw my first go at it….

Side note: My dad also said, “ Make reality your friend”
So, with that in mind, I doubt ya’ll will ever get the opportunity to say such things about my first ever art…

Also, be gentle, because I have no idea what I’m even doing.

Happy Saturday, ya’ll.