Iterations

I've built more personal websites than I care to count, starting with my first one back in 1997. For years, the goal was simple — keep it fresh, keep it updated, keep the portfolio current enough to land the next job. I...

<p>"We're not geniuses, we're just regular guys who are interested in things." — Neil Peart</p><p>On August 1st, 2015, Rush played their final show at the Forum in LA. I was there, just as I had been for so many Rush...

<p>For most of my life, I’ve been trying to reconcile two very different ideas about success. One was rooted in practicality, achievement, and outcomes. The other was rooted in curiosity, learning, and...

<p>"Sometimes the thing you’re skilled at needs to be broken a little before it can surprise you again."</p><p>For the past several years, I’ve primarily identified as a painter, despite the fact that the most...

<p>I've been painting for years, but lately the studio has felt more like a routine than a practice. This one is about what happens when you put something down on purpose — and what surfaces when you...

<p>Lately I’ve been feeling the weight of how complicated everything seems — I even wrote a bit about it in the last Iteration. It seems that the scale of it all — the speed, the certainty, the volume — can often make...

<p>I wanted to take a few minutes to explain a small but meaningful change that I’m making to this podcast feed.</p><p>This change isn’t about starting over. It’s really just about clarity — for existing listeners, for...

<p>Towards the end of last year, I started thinking about building a new website for myself. Not just another vanity site (although I’ve built plenty of those), but more of an archive of the various things I’ve done...

<p>About 18 months ago, I started seeing a therapist. I had gotten to a place that I’ve only really been once before and Adrianne encouraged me — actually, she implored me — to talk with a therapist. She once said to...

<p>It took a bit to fire up, but once it did, the familiar rumble of my Dad’s 1974 Ford F100 took me right back to my childhood summers. As Art slowly backed the truck off of the trailer, Adrianne commented, “It’s...

<p>I’ve shared this story before, and regardless of whether it’s true or just the stuff of photographic legend, it’s so good that I think it bears repeating every so often. The story goes that a photographer was...

<p>For a long time now — years, in fact — I’ve leaned toward the belief that I deserve to be paid for the creative work I do. And to be clear, I don’t think that’s unreasonable, at least not from a certain point of...

<p>Yesterday, I had a heart-wrenching experience. I was out for a morning walk with Adrianne and Cooper when I spotted a bird flailing in the grass under a tree. As I got closer, it struggled to escape, its life force...

<p>Last week, I got a text message from my friend Michelle, who works at the National Gallery of Art. “Lunch tomorrow or Thursday?” followed by “Come see the movie in Little Beasts. It starts at the top of every hour. I...

<p>Whether it’s a sheet of old plywood resting on a couple of sawhorses or a fastidiously crafted hardwood masterpiece, the workbench has long been the centerpiece of studios, workshops, garages, and maker spaces of all...