Tag: Painting

I Can Beach

My word for 2024 is Integration, and I am applying this goal to all of my projects. In this post, I integrate my interests in Podcasting, gardening, home repair, painting, video design, and parenting into a single message on productivity and self-improvement.

Video

I can beach. I can solder. I can paint I can speak. I can tie it all together.

AI Summary

Monica is a free AI assistant that I have added to Google Chrome, and she so kindly offered to summarize my video.

💫 Summary Source

The video is about a person named Dave preparing for a podcast about the Barbie movie by creating a beach-themed front garden and fixing a plumbing issue that affected his painting, resulting in liquid metal on the artwork.

Improvement Dave wrote:

This video drives me closer to having a Podcaster tone of voice so the Video really drives this post. Also, in the post I share that I am slated to be a guest on the “If You Ask Betty” Podcast. This post is about me preparing my setup to arrive at that recording ready to roll. I had an issue recording on my current setup in 4K and then did not have an issue recording after I set my recording to 1080p.

The ways Monica caught my meaning and extrapolated the connections I inferred are amazing. I love how parts of the summary are inaccurate, for example, Monica stated that I will attend the “If You Ask Betty” Podcast and play the role of Ken.

Extended AI Summary

Detailed Summary for I Can Beach by Monica

00:04 Improvement Dave (David Kolmer) is excited to be on a podcast about the Barbie movie and is celebrating by throwing sand on his front yard to practice “beaching” like Ken.

  • David is a fan of the podcast “If You Ask Betty” and has listened to the Loki series multiple times.
  • He bought one ton of sand and plans to purchase another ton to create a backdrop on his front yard.
  • David’s wife is not impressed with the sand on the lawn, but he finds it fun and is practicing for his role as Ken in the podcast.

06:14 The speaker is working on fixing a pipe and plans to solder a new piece in place.

  • The sprinkler system is still in good condition.
  • The speaker purchased a piece of 1/2-inch pipe from Lowe’s.
  • They are using a husky cutter to cut out the old pipe.
  • The speaker plans to solder the new pipe in place using tinning flux and solder wire.

09:21 The video shows the process of using a torch to melt copper wire onto a snowboard, with some mishaps along the way.

  • The person lights up a torch to melt the copper wire onto the snowboard.
  • They accidentally melt the snowboard in the process.
  • They continue to apply the wire to the copper until it starts to discolor.
  • They notice steam coming out, indicating a problem with water in the line.
  • Despite some mishaps, they managed to successfully apply the liquid metal onto the painting.

12:28 The artist is experimenting with melted metal on a painting.

  • The artist didn’t initially want melted metal on the painting but decided to try it.
  • Some parts of the painting have liquid metal splatter.
  • The artist cleans off the discoloration on the painting with a wet rag.

15:35 The speaker discusses a plumbing issue that caused potential damage to their painting, but they were able to fix it by soldering a new piece of metal into the line above it.

  • The shut-off valve for the water was failing, which could have caused damage to the painting.
  • The speaker soldered a new piece of metal into the line above the painting to fix the issue.
  • Some silver tinning came off the painting while applying gel medium, causing concern.

[END MONICA AI CONTENT]

Beach Photos

I can Beach. I bought a ton of sand but I still need to purchase the second ton of sand after it stops raining all the time. I am strong, but there is no reason to shovel sand when it is wet a second time. That gets heavy!

Soldering Copper Water Pipe Photos

Here is a photograph of the old gate valve that stopped working last winter (2023), I simply shut it off and opened the bleeder valve planning to fix it in the spring (2024 / Now).

Here are two shots of the final product with the ball valve I installed in the video.
(I learned I should work on my home improvement instructional video skills.)

Abstract Painting Photos

I have been trying for a while now to find a way to create “A Painting that Moves“. I am still unsure if I have gotten there, but I am getting closer. I have a history of painting abstract waterfalls on flat canvas, but now I am creating a support to drop the paint down where the paint spills as the waterfall. The paint would spill off the support onto the plastic liner so now I am crafting a support that has a 90-degree angle so the “Spilage” can be captured into the final piece.

The excess or runoff pool is quickly becoming my favorite part of these “gravity paintings.” I am spending more time making sure the pool below looks right and adding more color and texture to draw the observer’s eye to that aspect of the painting. These paintings are breaking the 4th wall in a way because they are working into the 3rd dimension and that is exciting to me.

Front View

Top View

These paintings hang “Sideways”, if you want to see more about that I have a video on that here.

I have found an artistic outlet through painting for years now. I really started painting a lot in 2005, when I lived in Lampang Thailand, and broke my foot. I had nothing to do and was not able to get around very well, so I used painting to pass the time and perhaps it aided me in the healing process.

I don’t have a very strong online art presence, but I do have an Etsy shop and a Facebook Page.

KOLMER (FB)

dkolmer.etsy.com

“The reason to make art is to innovate and self-express, show something new, share what’s inside, and communicate your singular perspective.”

Rick Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way of Being

Being Integrated

I am choosing a word for each year and this is my post for 2024.

The ending of 2022 was about Honesty, mostly with myself but also with other people.

Then 2023 was about Consistency. I spent the year building up the consistency in my visual brand, teaching myself to model in 3D, and posting what I learned while I learned it in a 30-day 3D Model Challenge. In August I consistently posted for St. Jude charity with my Push-Ups for St. Jude where I did 50 pushups a day and they were not always pretty, but I posted all the videos anyway and raised over $537 US. Then in September, I went cycling as frequently as I could and posted as many videos as I could for my Consistently Cycling More often in September 2023 series. I received feedback from my English-speaking friends from the UK that biking is not used for the act of cycling in proper English so as to not confuse my English friends and colleagues I changed the title of those halfway through, so the early ones have “Biking” in the title. That was not very consistent of me!

Sprinkled around the year I posted about my health journey and even summarized the whole thing in my final post of 2023 Consistently Well.

Throughout the year I learned a lot about consistency. About what it meant to post to my blog consistently. How to consistently show up for my kids and my family. The main thing I learned was that consistency was less about a 30-day challenge, or posting every day on a blog. Consistency was about finding my true self and being that authentic person all the time. It is funny how it just tied back to my first annual word of honesty in that way.

And at the end of 2024, I knew I wanted a word about being complete… Something about completing things, Completing the cycle, or Closing the Loop. However, the word complete itself implies too much desire to finish a specific task. It implied so much around the idea that things are not just complete the way they are, that I am not complete as I am. That is not where I wanted to take this discussion. So, later I came up with the word connection or connected and I liked that word. That is until I remembered we are building an intranet at work and probably calling it Connect or Connections, so I wondered if my subconscious had just picked up that language from that project, and wanted this project to be separate from that. …So, it was New Year’s Eve and I still didn’t have a word I liked.

Then on New Year’s Day, I did some YouTube Yoga with my wife. We like to practice 30-day Yoga challenges with Yoga with Yoga With Adriene. While doing yoga Adriene called out the word of being integrated. Having the movement, the breath, and the mind all integrated, and at once I knew that was my word for 2024.

May 2024 be my year of integration.

Integrated

Improving my process

Improving the equipment I use

Connecting with my family, friends, and colleagues on a deeper and more meaningful level

Connected

Connect with my craft, my interests, and my Dad by creating learning content around real estate and not only why you should get involved in it, but how you can get started.

Complete

Complete posts I started on in 2023 that I wasn’t ready to create. Posts that belonged in the year of integration, not the year of consistency. Posts about the process, about art, about creation.

Complete art:

“If you have an idea you’re excited about and you don’t bring it to life, it’s not uncommon for the idea to find its voice through another maker. This isn’t because the other artist stole your idea, but because the idea’s time has come.”

― Rick Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way of Being