Goals and Education – Page 2 – Getting To Know Trees

Goals and Education

Common Bass Walks for Guitar with Alternating Bass

A student and I were working on finding ways to play these bass walks more naturally, rather than having to think through them. I made these short videos (all under 2 minutes) with that in mind. This is a play list of five videos. Each video features a different duo of chords and their bass walks. A to D and Back to A A to E and Back to A C to F and Back to C G to C and Back to G G to D and Back to G These videos are recorded with a priority of watching my hands and listening to the sound of the music. You can scroll through the videos to find the one you want by clicking the three lines and arrow in the top right corner of the video player. Sometimes it’s important to intellectually examine these concepts. Other times it’s advantageous to concentrate on the sound and let the music come out of our fingers. If you would like a handout component to follow along with, or use to practice with later, download this .pdf which has all the bass runs that are covered in the video. One thing the video does not cover is why you might use these in a song. If you are interested in learning more about that, drop me a note at gettingtoknowtrees@gmail.com and we can set up a time to meet over Zoom. Enjoy!

Chicago

Workshop: Your First Guitar Solo!

'Ukulele

Getting Familiar with Intervals

We measure the distance between two notes using intervals. Here is a worksheet to help you get familiar with some intervals. When you’re done with the worksheet, compare the drawing that you made. What do you notice? Add your question to the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them for you.

'Ukulele

Listening Wide-Eyed: Limited-Sight Contour Drawings of Musical Instruments for Sale

Today, I am honored and humbled to offer for sale pieces from my Listening Wide-Eyed: Limited-Sight Contour Drawings of Musical Instruments series. Between now and early July 10, 2022 you can purchase a piece of one-of-a-kind artwork made specifically for you or a loved one. Jump to the order form. The Listening Wide-Eyed series is an outgrowth of my visual art, musical and mindfulness practices. Each one-of-a-kind piece from Listening Wide-Eyed is created through a limited-sight process, where I make a drawing on a sheet of bristol board without taking my eyes off the subject. I don’t look at the board until I am done drawing. Within the messiness, the structural knowledge and spiritual essence of each instruments expands. Each drawing is a made-to-order, one-of-a-kind piece of visual art. They are created with wax pencil and bristol board. Each purchaser is invited to customize their piece, in regards to which instrument, the use of color and matting. There are also options specific to gifting one of these drawings to a loved one. This process started as a way to strengthen my visual record abilities. As my practice bloomed, this limited goal fell away and the drawing practice engendered more connections between the parts and the whole of both the instruments and myself. How do we move? Where are we sturdy? Where are we delicate? How do those and other qualities affect our presentation to and relationships with others? Considering these questions allowed me to hold and play each instrument in a more open, inviting way. We see and hear ourselves, and others, every day. I hope having these drawings in our living space, practice room, or at a family dining table prompt us to notice moments when we are making assumptions about what we know about both ourselves and others. I hope that they can act as a guide to remain open, curious and to foster connections in musical spaces and all other relationships. This round of sales does end on July 10, 2022. Order form for Listening Wide-Eyed: Limited-Sight Contour Drawings of Musical Instruments

Goals and Education

Practicing Presence with Cyanotypes and the Robledo Mountains

This spring, I’ve been developing my skills with cyanotypes, printmaking with a sunlight-sensitive wash, which I had previously only dabbled with. The idea of working on a specific cyanotype piece emerged from my natural curiosity and delight in process experimentation and my desire to share a wide range of a pieces at a art exhibition I am a part of in June, 2022. Cyanotypes originally caught my eye because of my love of photography, the satisfaction I find in working within a process and the contentment that build inside of me when I work in greyscale. In early 2022, I took this photo of the sky while I was visiting the Rio Grande arroyo where I live in Las Cruces, NM. I was delighted how the photograph so clearly expressed the sky gradation and a project emerged. I wanted to recreate this gradation using an underexplored cyanotype kit in my supply shelf. With further reflection I decided to work with a more traditional landscape. I returned to the arroyo and took this photo with the Robledo Mountains and the dry riverbed under the blue sky. Over the past two weeks I’ve made over two dozen cyanotype prints from a negative of this photo. In the process, not only have I become more confident with my skills, but I also developed some of my own tools to support this production and created a process that I can easily replicate, day after day, in the bathroom of my apartment. The clear blue sky, the Robledo Mountains and I have gotten to know each other quite well in this time. As I continued to work on the process and examine the photo, the mountain, which I generally consider so big and ever-present, becomes humble against the vastness of the sky. And I started to see the mountain as myself. My Presence. My stillness. My humbleness under such a big blue sky. As I continued to explore these prints I found myself thinking about the yoga posture Tadasana, also known as mountain pose, which I’ve worked with many times. Once I connected the sensations of printing with the sensations of my mindfulness practices, my process of developing these cyanotypes changed considerably. What had been fairly chaotic, with spilled chemicals, broken glass and a bathroom covered with blue splatters, began to coalesce into a more elegant and manageable set of instructions that I was presenting to myself. A voice in my inner ear lead my movements, which reminded me of my yoga teachers and their gentle reminders to “move with your breath” and “root yourself into the ground.” Like finding comfort in a rooted and stable mountain pose, or any dedicated mindfulness posture, my cyanotype process has required a lot of experimentation. I’ve used exposure times from 1 minute all the way to 20 min and have kept notes on various paper textures, application brushes and time until sunset. As my thoughts about this mountain and about mountain pose broadened, my life waiting during the exposure time became more still. Rather than trying to multitask and “efficiently use” the 10 or 20 minutes it takes for exposure, I’ve found myself just breathing; sitting next to the papers baking in the sun, taking in the bird songs and the shifting shadows created by our revolving planet. With practice, my desire for the “perfect print” which was the goal when I started this process, faded away. Today, I see these prints in relation to my work with mindfulness practices. When I began these practices I would get frustrated when I was unable to remain still and focused. The cyanotype process presented similar feels when I rushed and didn’t give the sensitizer time to dry, or I got distracted with my multitasking and forgot to set the timer. My meditation and yoga teachers showed me that the skill isn’t to not have distracting thoughts while I am doing mindfulness work, but to have the thought, notice it, and let it go. There is no need to follow it. Now I bring a kindred energy to these prints when find the signs of wayward fingerprints on the glass, leave uneven streaks in the sensitizer wash, or when I unwittingly splashed water on the not-yet-exposed paper. I’ve grown to be able to notice these imperfections, think, “Oh.” and then move on. I don’t have to celebrate them, but I also don’t have to condemn them or myself. Here is a slideshow of some of the prints. Click on the photos to move to the next one.

Goals and Education

Artist Statement for June 2022 Exhibition

I have been invited to show several pieces at the upcoming exhibition, Water Worlds, An Exhibition Exploring the Essence of Water (details follow). It’s the first time that I will have multiple pieces at a show, which is very exciting. I was asked to provide an artist statement to accompany the work. It’s been a long time since I’ve written an artist statement and I’ve never written one based on my visual art. I’m very happy with my final statement. Here it is. Thank you for reading. Jason McInnes Artist Statement Spring 2022 Gather sustaining provisions. Reinforce the tunnel walls. Chip away the stone, blow by blow. I work like a miner pursuing a vein of gold; the precarious notion that, through the mastery of materials, I become the master of my own existence. I was built, broken and rebuilt in the midwest of the United States, although I now reside in New Mexico. I am a music-centric teaching artist by vocation. I build systems of learning in my visual and music-based artmaking, which I use to fortify my resolve to “be here now”. I am drawn to uncomplicated mark making materials. I gravitate toward simple tools like pencils, charcoal and erasers because they are readily available. I dig for universal truths in the tip of a common ballpoint pen. I work alongside the sun; freeing it to develop its greyscale along with me. I choose media that can easily fit in a backpack, be pulled from a pocket on a walk through the desert foothills, or can be worked with in limited studio space. A mixture of celestial light and human-made light, like street lamps and illuminated signage, dependably grab attention. So does the crisp edge of a line of mesquite trees cutting into a blue sky. My work reflects these relationships as a way to offer reverence to the cosmos as well as serving as a path to keep nourished and grounded. Water Worlds, An Exhibition Exploring the Essence of Water, Opening Night Reception Exhibition – Friday, June 10 through Sunday, June 26 Opening Night Reception – Friday, June 10 – 4:00 – 6:30 The Anchor Building at Trader Todd’s Marina, 24030 Jefferson, Saint Clair Shores MI 48080 This exhibition is made possible with the cooperation of KB Studios, Chicago IL and is curated by artist and educator Kaye Buchman. This show demonstrates various artists’ interest in honoring and preserving our most precious resource – water. A portion of proceeds from the sale of work will go to the Alliance for the Great Lakes. The show will open on June 10 and run through June 30.Featured Artists are:Jason McInnesMary RidleyMary GombergSusan GamermanKatharine HathawayKathleen MaltesePhyllis RabineauSue TellerJanet WishinskyJoan BaerVirginia CarstarphenKay Buchman

Goals and Education

Stuff I Keep Track Of- Totals for 2021

As you may know, throughout the year I keep a running total of days that I perform activities that are important to me. Over my many years as an artist, musician, and active person in the world, I’ve found that this process of counting has helped me maintain focus on aspects of life that are very important to me. I wrote more about the counting works in a blog post called Stuff I Keep Track Of – Totals for 2019. In addition, I more fully explain this process in my zine, Sticker Method: Creating a Habit of Practice which is available in my Etsy shop. Background 2020 was a year to begin to settle into some outward and inward changes. First, and most obviously, since 1998, this was my first full year outside of Chicago. I now live in Las Cruces, NM in the foothills of the Organ Mountains. This prairie is directly outside my front door and I spend a lot of time there. Second, after a lot of personal struggles in the spring, my doctors and I determined that I am someone who is affected by ADHD. WOW! What an important recognition. While some of these struggles came to a head in the spring of 2020, I actually think that I’ve been wrestling with these challenges for my entire life. The diagnosis has given me a peace of mind that I have never had. This knowledge and acceptance has fostered many welcome changes in my day-today life. Final Numbers for 2020 My Stuff I Keep Track Of – Totals for 2020 was a bit incomplete because I lost some of my data during so much moving. I was able to keep track of it all in 2021. Music-Making (non-teaching) = 275 days = 75% of all possible days (Down 13% from from 2020). It’s interesting that the total is down because I feel MUCH better about the music I made in 2020. A highlight has been playing with a group called the Demming Fusiliers during a recurring afternoon session at the Spotted Dog Brewery. Visual Art = 349 days = 96% of all possible days (Up 26% from 2020). So cool! I predicted that, “I think that this will be stronger in 2021”. Wow. It was a lot stronger. This makes so much sense. I’ve let go of a lot of mental blocks, and the tools I now have to work with ADHD have helped immensely in allowing me to focus on, and enjoy A LOT more, the visual art work I have been working on. Body/Mind Work = 285 days = 78% of possible days (down 2% from 2020). Interesting, but not surprising. I think that some of the changes that I made during the 2nd half of the year allowed me to be more centered in general, which made some of the physical work and meditation sessions less essential. One change in terms of counting the numbers is that I went for and counted a lot more short walks to clear my mind, along with strenuous workout classes and meditation sessions. Business (non-weekly lesson teaching) = 277 days = 76% of possible days. This was the first year I kept track of this number. I did a lot of work on, and even led my first session of, Harmonica Orchestra. I also worked with consultants to build a stronger website and improve my marketing materials. I’m thrilled with how it all turned out. Quarterly Focus Words Quarter 1 = Home Quarter 2 = Root Quarter 3 = Sprout Quarter 4 = Attune Goals for 2021 Music-Making – I have written a bunch of songs over the past 18 months and I have an undeveloped plan to record them. I want to do that. Visual Art – I feel so free and confident in my art making. I plan on continuing to strengthen this foundation. Business – Oh yeah! This is the area that I am a) least experienced in and b) least confident about. I really, really want to sell the Harmonica Orchestra. Sales. Not what I like to do, but I’m going to learn. Body/Mind – I’m very unclear what will happen with this category in 2022. Because of some of the changes I mentioned above, I’ve been able to bring so much of these practices into my moment-to-moment living. The number may go down. Or, I may develop another way to acknowledge and count this work. Thanks for reading. See you next year! Jason

Essays

“Did you draw those yourself?”

I’ve been looking into some of my limiting beliefs about both my ability to create art and about how we all create art in general. This memory – a mix of good and bad feelings – is prominent enough that I think about it often. In the 3rd grade I read a book called Dominic, by William Steig. I don’t remember much about it, except that I really, really liked it. Turns out, it’s a book about a dog who kind of hits the road. That the book resonated so much is interesting in and of itself, considering how my life has taken shape. We made diorama for the book we were reading. It was during this process that my dad showed me how I could draw a graph over a drawing and then draw the same graph on another piece of paper and use it to copy the original. I drew a bunch of the books’ characters that way and handed in my diorama. I was thrilled that I could replicate the characters in a way that made the diorama look like a pop-up version of the book. I remember very strongly that the teacher asked, “Did you draw those yourself?” I remember that she seemed skeptical when I answered yes; like she thought I was lying. I don’t want this to be the story of an evil adult squashing my creativity. I liked this teacher, and she liked me. Looking back, I assume she was surprised at what I had made because I had probably never made something that looked like that before. Why does this memory, of all the moments, stick so strongly in my mind? It’s strong enough that I’ve thought about it many, many times over 35 years. This memory has affected choices I’ve made a beliefs I have about what tools I am “allowed” to use when I create art and how much I can say that a piece of work is mine. That, “Yes, I made this.” How will this story change now that I’ve brought it out into the light?

A circle drawn on newsprint with charcoal

Goals and Education

Drawing Circles – Counterclockwise/ Clockwise, Eyes Open/Eyes Closed

This is the continuation of some thoughts I’ve been thinking and discussions I’ve been having around the idea of talent. As a guitar teacher, I spend a great deal of lesson time on the mechanics of playing the guitar. The sounds that musicians are able to achieve from the guitar are wildly varied, and it can take some work for students to expand their physical habits to allow for those sounds to be achieved. In my limited time as an art student, there hasn’t been much talk of the physical movements needed to achieve my goals. It really caught my attention when my art teacher mentioned an exercise a teacher had her perform in art school where they had to draw circles on a piece of news print. I took some time this morning to try it out. I stood arms length away from the paper and just drew circles. The first one is one that I unconsciously “completed”. I drew to the counterclockwise to make the first half and then started again and completed it at the top. The rest are made with one continuous movement; standing an arm’s length away from the paper. Some things I noticed: Starting at the top and drawing counterclockwise, the charcoal slid right along the page. But, when I needed to swing up to complete the circle, my arm had a much more difficult time controlling the line. Instead of being loose, the line would skip. As my arm tensed to gain control, the line would become too shallow or to wide. I started to close my eyes. This is something that I know from guitar playing. We, as musicians, can play a lot more accurately than we might think with our eyes closed. Sometimes, we’re even better with our eyes closed. I closed my eyes and got a picture of the circle I wanted to draw in my mind, and then I’d draw it. If completing the circle was the goal, I was MUCH more accurate than I thought I would be. If I drew counterclockwise with my eyes closed, I was able to complete the circle almost every time. If I drew clockwise with my eyes closed, it was much more challenging. I almost never completed a circle. On drawing clockwise – I thought it was very interesting that I had to be very, very deliberate if I wanted to draw clockwise. Many times I’d think, “OK. I’m going to draw this one clockwise.” But, then I’d put the charcoal down and end up drawing counterclockwise. This happened several times in a row. I realized that I had to be much, much more deliberate if I wanted to draw counterclockwise. What do you think? Do people have a talent for drawing circles? How good do you think one could become as a circle drawer? Do you like them? Are the completed circles the only ones that you like?

'Ukulele

Stuff I Keep Track Of – Totals for 2020

I keep track of the number of times I do certain activities in my life. This comes from a pretty severe case of perfectionism/”fear of the blank page”. Keeping track of this stuff has helped me immensely over the years, and is actually how I developed the Sticker Method: Creating a Habit of Practice. You can read more about the process from last years’ blog post Stuff I Keep Track of – Totals for 2019. Here are the totals for 2020 Background This year saw a lot of change in my life. I moved to Marquette, MI in last November of 2019. Between Jan. 1, 2020 and Dec. 31 of 2020 I lived in five places for at least a month and, including other travel, all total I slept in about 15 different beds. And, then there’s the pandemic. Basically what I’m saying is, that is why my numbers are not as complete as I would like them to be. I know that I kept track of my numbers for all the months, but I can’t find where I wrote them down! I only have numbers for seven months, which is SUCH A BUMMER! Final Numbers We’ll say that there were 215 days available (in the months that I have data for) Music making = 189 days = 88% (This is the first year of collecting this data) Visual Art/Writing = 150 days = 70% (Down 16% from 2019.) Body/Mind Work = 169 days = 80% (Up 53% from 2019). Skateboarding = Well, this is a sad one. I got 30 days in, in the late spring and early summer, BUT, I broke my shoulder on July 10, 2020 and I have retired from skateboarding. In addition, I started collecting some data on how many days I work on my “business” (that is not my actual teaching.) This is a very new category and I’m still not sure how to keep track of it. I hope to have more conclusive data next year. Quarterly Focus Words for 2019 (I got this idea from the Being Boss podcast.) Quarter 1 = Nurture Quarter 2 = Patience Quarter 3 = Prepare Quarter 4 = Clarity Goals for 2021 Music-Making – I’d be happy to maintain these numbers. It was so helpful to re-engage with the Dozen a Day piano books. It’s so helpful to have a concrete set of musical exercises to play in the mornings. Visual Art/Writing – I think that this will be stronger in 2021. I am much more confident with my work as a visual artist. And, I’ve found many ways to “break through” in those moments when I am feeling unsure. Body/Mind Work – I mean, I could actually see myself being able to get to 365 days. That would really be something. I wonder. 312 days would be six times a week. 300 days would be 82%. I wonder. See you next year!