drawingfromusic

So I've been working as much as I can when I have down time from my travels and photo edits on trying to finish up my second part of my Life's Soundtrack @bloghomework In the meantime, I thought it might be fun to tackle a second assignment especially since it seems so fitting to my current travels watching every penny and countering costs with renting my own place back home while we're on this six week adventure. Side note..at times during this trip I couldn't help feeling like Clark Griswold on his own European Vacation.

Anyway hopefully this helps me get back into the good graces of @rambo @missy and @lyxzen (fingers crossed)

I remember this exact thought came to mind however long ago it was the @bloghomework came out asking what we'd do if we ruled the world or however it was phrased. Money has always been my arch nemesis I don't like it and have never been very good at managing it ( I'm sure that sort of thing doesn't bode well in what sort of person I am to some people's standards) What I mean is I rather die a person rich with life experiences that some old Scrooge McDuck with endless amounts of gold to swim in.

I'm mostly responsible with money in the ways that I need to as a father but that said I'm still pretty focused and determined to pursue my goals and succeed in crafting out a life as a visual artist. If that means some weeks are workless but my time is spent creating new work opportunities (free work) or just being a stay at home parent. Anyway, I feel like I'm digressing my point is if money ceased to exist tomorrow I'd be such a happier man. It changes people the way they act and limits us from being able to enjoy certain experiences in life. Obviously it's not realistic to believe the world could survive or exist without a monetary system in place, I just wish it didn't alter the type of people we are and we weren't socially ranked based on our level of income. Traveling with Jill and Anderson during our Transatlantic trek and watching how stressed she becomes about costs even though we've planned appropriately to counter such costs so that we could enjoy this "once in a lifetime" experience. I have always been a very decisive person and usually nothing sways me from following through with whatever I've planned on doing. Even more so when it comes to traveling, planning far enough in advance and doing the necessary research in advance so there are no worries or issues to affect whatever trip is planned. For the most part I've always traveled solo, it's less stressful and usually easier to figure out how to accommodate for myself. Clearly that's not the same when you travel with family constantly compromising time and travel options and having to consider things like a budget that sometimes instead a primary concern when on a business trip alone. I read someone's shirt today as we were hustling through Oxford Street that definitely ties into this assignment "Happiness is Expensive" I hate that and even more so that people truly believe that..It makes me sad..I hope when I die that's not the sentiment that I have about my own life. I like to think the people who know me would attest I do very good job at enjoying life to its fullest not allowing monetary restrictions limit me from doing so. That's enough reality and soapbox discussion..lets pretend a little bit and see how much I can grey that line and optimistically fantasize that these one day can be a reality.

Travel, Travel, Travel..

Is it getting old at this point that travel seems to always be at the top of the list of these @bloghomework assignments? I hope not..I really can't help that I love visiting as many places as I can and experiencing their different cultures. If "idle hands are the devil's play toys" I rather keep them busy and create new life experiences and creatively translate them into something visual I can share. Since joining SG nearly a year ago travel has become a perfect excuse as well to create opportunities to meet and shoot sets with some really awesome SGs and hopefuls in a variety of areas both in the country and the world. In this case if money wasn't such a restriction, I'd have a fairly lenient monthly budget solely for travel allotting me one-two trips which could be about a week long with allowances for rentals,transportation any additional gear I might need and just miscellaneous travel costs to alleviate any possible stresses. On an average I realistically wouldn't mind half my months traveling and shooting, creating new business opportunities as well as new connection or renewing old connections. Such freedoms bring me to my next point,desire,advantage..all of the above? If money wasn't a concern..

Shooting What I Want to Shoot..Living Life as an Artist

I think this thought is based on my fine art background constantly making work based on ideas and wanting to visually share those concepts versus sacrificing personal choices in order to sell work. Much of my "bill paying" jobs in the industry is me working with more established photographers assisting them with their jobs and sharing my skill level necessary for the job/shoot. This affords me to stay creative in my own photo work where I can continue to push to envelope without having ideas or subject matter getting nixed by a client or agency in the process. I would consider myself still emerging as an artist/photographer and I think it's important to create work that best represents my personal style and vision and ideally clients would hire me based on that as opposed to having me copy another artist's style. I don't sway away from projects/opportunities based on what people might think and as an artist I look at my career as a living organism that grows and changes with each new experience/opportunity and ultimately is working towards a bigger picture. I'd be lying if I didn't say there are conservative minded parents where I live who have turned their nose up at the idea of my work with Suicide Girls or any of the other "risqué" projects I've worked on..Fuck them..haha..

(Figured a nice point to show off a couple sneak peeks from recent shoots with @core and @minniemae1)

My point in this tiny rant is I'm completely happy living the rest of my life making the work that's less "popular" or commercial as long as I'm making what I want and how I want to..If money was no object it would afford me to deal with the daily monetary stresses and make sure Anderson is well taken care of while I continue to live a life as an artist. Ideally I would teach college level art and have a work space with all the necessary means along with a maintained house (decent sized) and used as a shooting location with various rooms and options for sets not only for SG but in general physically.

(By no means am I saying I'm Pablo Picasso but definitely a huge inspiration to succeed)

Aside from those two main things I'm not sure what I would do other than to share the money with family and close friends and acquaintances who are so stressed about money and the status it brings them. I'm sure overall this post sounds irresponsible and probably immature but dammit money really is stressful..thanks @rambo @missy and @lyxzen for reading along 🙏🏼