I’ve been “tagged” by fellow artist Katerine Tyrrell with “Seven Things”, a sort of blogosphere chain letter. Here are 7 things you probably don’t know about me, and some fellow bloggers I’ve tagged:

1. I met my partner, Mike, on a blind date! Our good friends Ellen and Neil set us up. They both know us well, and hey, I guess you could say it worked out since we’ve been together for 18 years.
2. I have a short attention span, for some things at least. This shows up in my career history. I’ve been a musician, software engineer, high-tech manager, marketing guy, and artist. I’m not afraid to take risks now and then and shake things up. Jumping into something new things usually doesn’t scare me.
3. I’m a collector–not art, neccessarily (although there is that), but lots of things, like making lists, collecting data, and making connections between seemingly disparate things. One of my favorite things to do is to analyze a problem with lots of variables and find interesting connections to solve it. I’ve applied this to both complex software engineering problems, as well as marketing challenges. I like to “connect the dots“.
4. Music is important to me. It was my first artistic, creative adventure, starting at age 7 when my grandmother sent me a guitar from the Sears catalog one Christmas. She visited the following summer, and expected me to play! I did: Green Sleeves (interistingly, attributed to King Henry VIII). I’m listening to Death Cab for Cutie right now. Ahh…
5. What book’s on my nightstand? Usually a murder mystery. Love them. I guess it goes back to “connecting the dots”. I like to analyze.
6. I have a very famous person’s phone number (home and cell), but at risk of loosing this relationship, not going to give you the name! Turns out, this person is a painter herself (that narrows it down!) and she likes my work. I’ve helped her connect with other artists and we’ve had opportunities to just chat about art. She’s an actress. Enough hints 🙂
7. My favorite “sin” is sweets. I don’t think I’ve met a piece of chocolate that I didn’t love. One of my favorite places to indulge is Fleur de Cocoa, in Los Gatos, CA. They make European style hot chocalate–which, I believe, is probably just real chocolate melted with some milk or cream. None of that powdered crap. My God. Drinking it takes me back to the Las Ramblus in Barcelona, where I first tasted REAL hot chocolate.

It’s time for me tag some of my favorite bloggers (I realize some have been tagged, but want to recognize them), in no particular order:

• Bart Westgeest, “I Landscape” (Denmark). Bart is an incredibly creative, skillful artist who happens to also be a great blogger. His directness, honesty, curiosity and sensitivity makes him a regular read of mine
• René Beeldendkunstenaar, “René Plein Air” (The Netherlands). Another talented artist who posts really wonderful work regularly.
• Katherine Tyrrell, “Making a Mark” (United Kingdom). I think Katherine was probably my first “blogger-friend”. We discovered each other’s blogs in the early days, and have kept in touch. She’s great at transfering her ongoing search for artistic expression through knowledge, always finding the best resources, websites, exhibitions, etc. A great journey to follow.
• Cooper Dragonette, “Tomato Can Brushes” (Maine, USA). Cooper is the most recent addition to my blogroll. His artist journey is honest and the work always fascinating.
• Frank A. Edwards, “Painting for Life” (Ontario, Canada). Frank is a great painter: fresh color, free brush work, always interesting compositions. He’s generous with his knowledge.
• Michael Chesley Johnson, “A Plein Air Painter’s Blog” (Campbello Island, New Brunswick, Canada). As an artist/teacher, Michael’s posts are always enlightening. He did a wonderful series of posts chronicling a workshop with Ray Roberts, as well as his participation in plein air painting events across the country.
• William Wray, “California Painter William Wray” (Sierra Madre, California). William’s posts are terrifically entertaining and his work is original and beautiful, even if his subjects are often the blight of the Los Angeles area. He finds both beauty and humor everywhere.
• Peter Yesis, “Daily Painting Practice” (Omaha, Nebraska). Peter is terrific at explaining his process, with step by step examples. His work is terrific.
• Linda Blondheim, “Landscapes of the South” (Florida, US). Also a teacher, Linda ends every post with a useful “Painters Tip”. I don’t know how she comes up with so many, years of experience, I guess.