shape download

Shapes in a Pile
Doodle from sketch book
2025

 It has been too long!

need to share something

so maybe a pile of shape

every shape

leaves you with something

feeling, a memory, an idea

shapes are everything

they make up the world we see

and they move around in our brains

at least they do in mine

so from time to time I unload some

maybe you can use them

take them into your brain

or hang them on your wall

don't worry about me

I will make more.

jeffkimsey-carroll.com

Done?

 

"Connecting Broken Spaces"

Well it all began to happen

after the seventh day

in which, they claim, 

it had all been put together. 

So, there it was, creation

done.

I began to make stuff!

I mean why not?

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Unless it is on a hill and it rolls

and rolls...

Maybe a little more

and then it stops.

So, now it is far from the tree,

but still it was created

and knows what to do

even far from the tree.

So, now I ponder,

if I am part of the creation

and I am still creating

was and/or is the creation done?

Or is it

only and if and when

we all stop creating.

Done?

dramatic pause

No, it is not done

because it is always starting.

Every moment 

from the beginning of this universe

is now.

The entire span of time is now, 

if you let go of the idea of

time.

What?

Can't do that?

come on, give it a try.

Done?

jeffkimsey-carroll.com

Change of Perspective

Turn the world on its side 

and you may see the world looking back at you.

Reflections in a mountain lake

tipped that way

reveals a totem pole of sorts.

I count six or more strange faces.

what do you see?

jeffkimsey-carroll.com

Pictures in Trees

 I believe that the natural world has a consciousness.

Sometimes it says hello!

And then sometimes I take it farther.

This is an image created on my phone.

Looking out the

window I snapped

this picture.

Thought I saw

a face,

so I drew a face below.

My camera has all

these filters,

so I added some to my

picture. The image at

the top is what I got.

I think my phone 

has a

consciousness.

jeffkimsey-carroll.com

Clarity

 If I Gain Clarity I will let You Know

The need to create

 is not always clear

Sometimes what one creates

is not always clear

I have a strong need or desire 

to create

to make things that are not clear 

and that look like no identifiable object or image

I am looking through the abstract

for something I might recognize

Yet I have no idea what I am looking for

It is one of those

I will know it when I find it 

moments

For now I just enjoy the process

and I hope others enjoy the product

I will let you know 

when I gain clarity

jeffkimsey-carroll.com

Father's Day Collaboration

I did another collaboration. On Fathers day I told my family I wanted to paint. So I had them all come over, I put out three primed panels and a bunch of paint and brushes and said pick a color, put a few marks on then pick another color and so on till we fill all three boards. The panel here is the smallest of the three. So once it was dry I started to draw into it.

This is the panel before draw-in

 

 On this panel I had added a few small pre-painted paper scraps that I glued in before my crew painted. They are the parts with finer detail. This is the panel after I started the draw-in.

I then decided on the second panel(not shown) to add more pre-painted scraps after the crew painted. I will try and do a post with all three of the Father's Day collaborations.

I really enjoy the feeling of connection when allowing others to create the base. I am working now at trying to move beyond just out lining color and to create a feeling of a story or many stories being told at once.

This becomes more of a depiction of our jumbled stories tangling with one another. This is the true challenge of life. How do we make all these stories move together?

                             The panel after draw-in

jeffkimsey-carroll.com

I have never seen this

The Place I Was Before

Digitally enhanced version 

I have never seen this

I mean, in reality, something that looks like this.

Well, maybe it is like a bunch of leaves crumpled under a bush.

I was not looking at the leaves as I drew.

I sloshed a bunch of paint on a canvas,

swirled it around and let it dry.

Then I drew into the shapes in the paint

and like the crumpled leaves it was just there.

Into some of the spaces I scrawled my emotional language,

the little lines and shapes

that are a graffiti of sorts that lets you know I was here, or there

and was trying to speak to a divine entity 

who may be able to interpret random scrawling.

I am calling this Abstract Art.

It is a practice, because I do it again and again

with the intent of getting somewhere.

The thought I keep coming to is: if I get to this somewhere some day,

will it still be abstract or will it all become clear?

jeffkimsey-carroll.com

In The Play

The Art Is In The Play

I created this activity for my exhibit The Art of Play the Play of Art. The purpose is for art gallery visitors to have opportunities for direct contact with a piece of artwork. The piece in this case was sculptural in nature. As a mixed medium sculpture it involved a variety of painted wood shapes, fabric, artificial foliage, wire, string, yarn, bamboo rods, paper and a variety of fasteners. Visitors were invited to look at what had been created previously and change it in some way. Many guests had to be convinced that it was alright to make these changes and that the structure was not the art, but that their engagement with the objects was actually the art. One woman said she was filled with emotion at the idea that in an art gallery she could do such a thing. She loved the opportunity and spent a significant amount of time rearranging the space. 

I know it is important for persons who toil as artists to be recognized for their craft. I also want all people to experience and embrace artful moments that energize their living and draw us all closer together. This concept is an important aspect of what the arts are all about.

jeffkimsey-carroll.com

The people in artful moments

 

The Place I Was Before

 

Trying

maybe if I go around this way

to get back

no I need to loop under there

to the place

I gotta drop down and slide under

I was before

Remember

we just go down here and turn left

the time

jump up and over and drop down

we forgot

If you bend down you should fit through

the way home

Realize

Leap over this and slide down under there

you are where

There were two rights then a left, I think

you need

You are just going to need to let go and jump

to be

Image title: "Trying to get back to the place I was before"

jeffkimsey-carroll.com

The Line

Sometimes I am the line

I am just drawing to find myself

To see if I am still in the line

The line is a journey

I travel within the line

The line has power and presence

When I am the line I am in control

Doing what I need to do

Yes the line can be frightening

That's okay

I just keep moving

When I stop sometimes I have something

I always have something

When I am the line.

jeffkimsey-carroll.com

A Whirling About

 Once we were blobs of paint on a canvas

Then line began to define

and before we knew it we were whirling about

and feeling quite divine

In the whirling one may find themselves 

feeling truly, I say, most free

yet activity of such a vigorous nature may call one

to occasionally take a knee

still when you're a blob you have no bone or knee

and when you stop, you just spread out

so with no way of stopping, go on with your blobbing

and continue to whirl about.

jeffkimsey-carroll.com

A Town

A town 

in mind

in time

in case

in and around

in search of another space

I put color on the paper

then penned in shapes

it made me feel like I had found the place

nowhere in particular

found by forming lines

in a town drawn by me

Imagine what one finds

Above is a word storm. I look at the picture I created and try to write thoughts as fast as I can. I do get stuck sometimes. Trying to make fluid movements between my art work and my writing. I started the artwork to undo writer's block. Then I stopped writing. Now I am trying to find a balance.

Jeff

jeffkimsey-carroll.com

The Body Broken

 I feel movement 

around me

within me

passing through me

way beyond me

all the time

The vibrations of this movement

break me apart

This is not a negative fracturing

The breaking apart allows me to be more

a part of everything

This is good

Video of the Body Broken

jeffkimsey-carroll.com

Thoughts on Portals

 Are you looking for a way to somewhere else?

Or are you already somewhere else looking for the way back?

The moral of most portal stories is, Stay put!

The lure of the light within the portal is an illusion.

The decision to go belongs to each traveler.

Just remember you are already somewhere else.

Are you getting this?

Wait, where did you go?

jeffkimsey-carroll.com

Fragments of Stories

Inside my head are fragments of stories.

They are all mixed together

like a jig-saw puzzle

that makes no sense.

There are many more than those pictured here.

jeffkimsey-carroll.com

Characters in The Room

 I was in this room

filled with others

waiting for something;

feel like I find these rooms a lot

As I wait

I imagine I can see myself

through the eyes of the others

in the room

Of course they are always amazed

I mean come on, it's me

I have been playing this role my whole life

I am really good at being me

Then they look sideways

and realize I am in their head

looking at me

things never go well after that

just not enough room

Painting at jeffkimsey-carroll.com

A Fragment of Process

"A Fragment of Process Done" 27"x16"

Shape has Power
surfaces are marred
in the process
of making.
blobs of paint,
grease, glue
and stain
tell the story
of a hundred projects 
or more.
Little stories
of moments 
left on a table top
I give it a shape
of no significance
attach flame
to symbolize
it being torn apart
Then I set it all
on a field of 
unintelligible glyph
intended to evoke
feeling rather than
understanding.


The Top Layer of
this sculpture was 
part of a work bench
that built many 
exhibits at the 
children's museum 
I work at. I drew little 
pictures into all the 
paint and glue blobs.

Two Close up shots showing some of the little drawn in
stories




Jeff Saving Stories

Layers

 "Off Set"
One more in my layers series of sculpture. Still not sure if the layer represent individuals in community or if the layers are emotions layered within an individual. I think it can go either way. If I am looking at it as a community of beings I am seeing how they move with and against one another. Then when an external force or event impacts one how it pushes one into another. Yet I also see the community resisting or supporting. 
If I see this as emotional layers of the individual it feels like the different emotions are impacted and respond with motion to absorb or deflect the event or force.
Either way I am trying to make visual something that is not visual. I am cutting more of these when ever I can. This is a study or exploration that I need to make visual.

These are painted wood cuts roughly 24" high x18" wide. 



A closer look. The sphere or event in this case is a community unto it self. Life in a drop of water or one solar system crashing into another.




Jeff  piling it up

Notion #18

Where are we now?

It took too long to know the flower

She spread her wings and flew away

It was not supposed to be that way

Flight was never to be the flower's gift

but she took it

pulled the roots out and leapt

dirt falling as she rose

I reach out, but she was quick

That was the moment I first asked

where are we now?

If things are going to change

how will we know

where we are?

Fear will overtake me

I will find it difficult to function

Will I find rocks that speak of dreams

 ants that live to dance,

trees that take long walks? 

If this kind of thing is allowed 

the world, no, the universe

will need a rewrite.

We always assume we know where we are

and where every thing is supposed to be

but there is no real "supposed to be"

life is an illusion 

in fact most of the world's inhabitants believe

that the universe was made by a higher force or being 

which means we are "made up"

and if it was not made by a divine being

that would also imply there is no supposed to be

everything is up for grabs, including the flying flowers.  

so where are we now? 

----------------------------------------------------

Just me tripping on my Digital Photography

Jeff wondering

Emotional organism

An emotional organism is an imaginary creature created by layers of unresolved emotions that build up in most humans. These organisms or parasites make it difficult for a person to be fully engaged in living. Each layer contains emotional language waiting to be deciphered. It is not a rational language that can be read in any consistent manner. It is  a language that must be felt by each individual in their own way and time. If you say, "the symbols I see do not make sense", this means you are trying to "think" the language out  and not "fee"l it. You must first feel the language of the layer and then use thought to articulate what has been felt. 

It also must be explained there is no direction to reading layers, up or down, left or right direction is too much a part of thought. You can even start in the center and read in both directions at once, although this is highly advanced. Don't worry it may not be clear right away, it could take hours, days, years, a life time to read the emotional language of the layers.
This representation of an imaginary emotional organism is for sale for $2500.00 it is about 32"x 26" Made of wood, acrylic paint and pen.

Jeff in deep