After... step6 (yellow and light blue)

Should I add the darker blue? It is a big circle to the left of the "abs" and I am concerned that it will make the painting too dark. (I like the way it is very bright right now.)

Maybe I can just make an outline of a circle.... hmmm.

What do you think?
(Leave your comments / thoughts below)

Art by Wheels

After... step5 (Green)

Step 5 (for this painting) is "Green" ! The large circle in the bottom left looks lopsided... but it will all make sense when I add the black.

What do you think?

After... step4

Here is the last of the red...

After ...step 3

I am nearing the end of the "Red Phase" of the painting. Since this is the most prominent color in the painting, it is easy to get a good impression of what the painting will look like.

The part I'm not looking forward to is the fine detail work which I always seem to leave until the end. On a larger painting like this one (24 x 36 inches), the scale makes it a little easier since the detail is not quite as fine.

What do you think? What is your impression of the painting so far?

Wheels

Rocket Snail ...

Here is a picture that I created for my other blog, "The Incredible Shrinking Millionaire", called "Rocket Snail". That blog post talks about "Slug Mode" and "Rocket Mode" but a snail was more artistically appealing !

After ... 2

Here is the second installment of my art called, "After"....

New Painting started...

Here is the first step towards a new 24 by 36 inch painting titled "After".

Let me know what you think !

The Power of Connection

Even though these graphics were created for my "Incredible Shrinking Millionaire" blog post about "The Power of Connections", they could just as easily be turned into paintings.

What do you think? Can you see one of them hanging on your wall?

Leave a comment and tell us what you think !

Wheels

This is too cool....

I've always thought that unicycles were interesting (although I never had the opportunity to learn how to ride one).

Luckily, someone has come up with something even better... and WITH MORE POWER !

Check out the EniCycle >>>>>>

Are you interested in possibly investing in one?

How about investing in a company to manufacture or distribute it?

Send me an email at theshot92 [at] gmail.com and if we can show enough interest to the creator, maybe we can bring it to the US !

What do you think?

Even though it only has a top speed of 10 mph, I would expect that (with some refinements) it could be a neat mode of transportation for urban commuters.

Check out the video below to see it in action !

d.Mark "Dave" Wheeler

Fire Eating !

An interesting performance !

Eat Your Salad...

Here is a concept for one of my next paintings.  What do you think?  

What size painting should it be?  Who would be an ideal customer to purchase it?

Wheels

Thoughts on Mother's Day ...

There have been a bunch of blogs with great Mother's Day-related posts ....

• Carolyn at WhirledEvents gives us "The Art of Gift Giving: A 10 Step Program"
  http://whirledevents.blogspot.com/2006/05/art-of-gift-giving-10-step-program.html

• And the saddest Mom-related post is by uber-blogger, Robert Scoble, written when his Mom was dying. His post is very touching and it reminds all of us to appreciate our mother while we have the chance!

I know I do!

What did you do for your Mom on Mother's Day?

Wheels

Jeff Dunham's Mother's Day Video Greetings

Just what your Mom needs on Mother's Day... Something to put a smile on her face !

Title... "Smoke"

Title: Smoke

Date: March 9, 2009

Multitasking vs. Focus & A Lesson in Cash Flow

If you are busy (like everyone these days) and trying to improve your life, you have undoubtedly heard about multi-tasking and the need to FOCUS.

You have undoubtedly been told that either multi-tasking is "incredibly evil and will suck the life out of your..." ... well, I should not get too graphic this early in the morning. Or you have heard that multi-tasking "can be the ultimate in efficiency" [if it is done right]. And around every corner, there is always someone offering you ways to "Get R Done" or something like that.

There are also a whole bunch of people who faithly subscribe to the Theory of Constraints (ala "The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement'>The Goal" or "It's Not Luck">Its Not Luck") and can tell you why multi-tasking does not work... even though their logic does not stop people from continuing to try to do everything at once.

I'm sure you also have heard that FOCUS is the key to making progress towards your most important goals. And, if you are like most people, you probably feel that it makes sense to focus since it brings all of your mental (and perhaps physical) resources to bear on a problem.

I've never felt 100% comfortable with either camp... although I've leaned toward the Focus side on occasion. Having said all that, I had an experience this morning that helped me put Multitasking and Focus into perspective and maybe it could be of interest for you too.

As I often do when I have a spare minute, I was loading some audio CD's into my iTunes this morning and, like every time I do it, the loading process choked my PC's processing speed to a crawl so I was not able to easily perform internet searchs or write blog posts. The difference this morning was that I did not fight the bottleneck.

I knew that the processing of the CD would take about 5-10 minutes so I did not start it until I was done doing other tasks on my computer. Once I started the download, I got up and went to the kitchen to make some breakfast. By the time I was done, the CD had loaded and I was ready to add another one. Once that was going, I took a shower and got dressed for the day. Again, when I came back it was done.

What I realized is that multi-tasking does not work if the tasks have dependent resources. If they use the same resources, then one task will slow down the other one and you won't realize the benefits of completing either task as soon as you would as if you did each one serially.

Of course, if the tasks do not require the same resources, then multi-tasking is easy... but how often does that happen in real life? There is only one of you, right? Or can you figure out a way to get the task done by someone else? WOW, I didn't even think that this train of thought would bring me to the concept of LEVERAGE ... but it did. Cool!

How does that relate to life?

If you are trying to increase your wealth, for example, the CD loading process is like "Passive Cash Flow" from an investment or royalty (books, songs, intellectual property). It comes in while you are doing other things and you don't have to focus on it 100% of the time.

The other parallel to life is that you DO have to focus on the CD to get it started. Same with "Passive Cash Flow"... you have to research and set up your investment(s) so that they produce while you are doing other things. It also makes sense to come back to them occasionally (and focus on them) to make sure they are progressing.

How has this been applied to my life?

To be perfectly honest... I have not applied it as much as I should. I am working on the purchase and renovation of a couple investment properties... but they are not yet at the "Passive Cash Flow" stage. I guess I'm learning that I should put MORE FOCUS on them now so that I can get the money flowing and move on to other things.

What's your experience ?

Valentines Day Card

Would you like to see this as part of a Valentines Day card series?

The title of this is "4 stages"...

Leave a comment and let us know what you think ... or if you would like to see some of the other Valentines-related art by Wheels...

NoteWordy Sympathy card?

Let me know what you think of the following art by Wheels (and whether it should be turned into a notecard) by leaving a comment below ...

******* text for back of card *******

“When all seems dark …”

There are times in everyone’s life when all seems dark…

… someone is taken away and you miss them terribly.

When all seems dark…
… remember them and the memories will warm your heart.

When all seems dark…
… embrace those around you who share your grief and
can ease your pain.

When all seems dark…

… see something that reminds you of them …
… and know that you are not alone.

GOAL Setting Season is OPEN !

January 1st kicks off "Goal Setting Season".

The beginning of the year is the time that everyone thinks about goals and where their life is heading. I bet that you are probably thinking about your own goals right now, aren't you?

Seth Godin (Marketing Guru) had an interesting post on his blog about goals...

Having goals is a pain in the neck. ... Not having a goal lets you make a ruckus, or have more fun, or spend time doing what matters right now, which is, after all, the moment in which you are living. The thing about goals is that living without them is a lot more fun, in the short run.

It seems to me, though, that the people who get things done, who lead, who grow and who make an impact... those people have goals.

Are we doomed to fail?
So we set goals... and most peoples "New Year's Resolution" don't last to the end of February. Why? Most people set "NICE" goals...
Not
Intrinsically
Compelling or
Exciting.
In other words, they are really pretty happy with the way things are and they don't feel compelled to make a change.... or at least not enough to overcome the hurdles.

If you read a bunch of books, I'm sure you have run across the next level of goal setting ... the "traditional" SMART goals. Those are goals that are:
Specific
Measureable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely

That's good but even goals that are SMART don't always last. You can set a goal to lose 10 lbs. by March 31st but if you are comfortable and you have limited motivation, what are the odds that you are going to complete your "SMART" goal?

Over at another blog, I learned about DUMB Goals and I think they are one step closer to goals that will work ....
Dangerously
Unobtainable
Monstrously
Big goals.

These are like the BHAG's (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) explained in the book, "Built To Last". DUMB goals or BHAG's are things that are so outrageous that they inspire you go do things you would not ordinarily do. They also increase the chances that you will fail... which is a good thing!

As A.L.Williams (of insurance fame) said, "If you want to be great, you first have to be good. If you want to be good, you first have to be bad. If you want to be bad, you first have to try. So if you want to succeed, you first have to try." [I love that quote!]

DUMB goals give you a reason to fail ... and to learn and grow and make progress !

So if you combined your SMART goals with DUMB goals ... is that it? Are you guaranteed success?

No, there is one more "magical ingredient" that you need to make your goal a reality...

You have to Feel it !
Here is what I learned from Steve Pavlina ...

The purpose of goal-setting isn’t to control the future. That would be senseless because the future only exists in your imagination. The only value in goal-setting is that it improves the quality of your present moment reality. Setting goals can give you greater clarity and focus right now. Whenever you set a goal, always ask yourself, “How does setting this goal improve my present reality?” If a goal does not improve your present reality, then the goal is pointless, and you may as well dump it. But if the goal brings greater clarity, focus, and motivation to your life whenever you think about it, it’s a keeper.

A goal that is true to your heart and your desires will inspire you to do all the unpleasant things (like make changes to your habits) that are required to be successful.

It probably won't feel natural when you try something new. Marshal Silver taught me that "The right thing will feel wrong... at first." This is because you are not used to it ... but as you make it a habit, it will feel more natural and less "motivation" will be needed to make sure it gets done.

So, what do you have planned for 2009?

"Before"... finished !

It took a while, but it is finally finished.

The vacation and holidays at the end of December was the perfect time to get this painting wrapped up ... probably due to some very cold weather and some good movies on TV that encouraged me to stay inside !

I used a very translucent acrylic blue ("Prussian blue", I think) which gave the body a "scratchy" or "beaten-up" look which I liked. It also hinted at an unhealthy lifestyle... to go along with the "boxed-in" and "black clouds" that have "haunted" the subject of this painting.

Selling it?
I probably won't sell this painting right away. I am hoping to have "Before" and "After" completed and hung side-by-side so selling the first one is out of the question ... at least for a while.

Next...
I am already working on "After" ... which seems appropriate as we head into the "New Year's Resolution" season.

Tune in here for updates on the next painting.