I spent nights and weekends dedicated to practicing the craft of painting. I’m nowhere near mastering it, but I’m comfortable.  Also proud that I took control of my vision. I also have to give a special shout out to Tanayia Washington for recognizing that I was neglecting an urge and natural talent.  Thank you for having the foresight, support, and necessary inspiration by getting me an easel, brushes, and paints almost 2 years before I ever really took them seriously.

So here it is, the beginning of the beginning:

http://www.andrewooleryart.com

Here is my the first draft of my new personal web site: andrewoolery.com

More to come down the road.

I’m sticking to the plan of making a lot more of these to start selling them.  I think Jordan is next…

Please note the gray borders will be properly painted in once the rest dries.

I don’t have much photo experience under my belt AND the day didn’t go as well as I planned in my head.  I did a shoot with a lovely young lady in the early day, then shot some fun shots with a mic, but ended the day brainstorming on some interesting photo ideas. I realized at the end of the day that I wasn’t approaching it correctly.  I didn’t follow my style and look for an idea to focus my efforts.  It was also great reminder (as I was told to me by a friend and a fortune cookie) that “Rome wasn’t built in a day”.

Good learning experience and practice with the camera.  Here some shots:

Thanks to the lovely Shruti & Tanayia…small selection of shots on Flickr.

The Reason:

It’s simple.  I know Illustrator, Photoshop, and barely know the rest of programs in the CS4 suite.  I need to sharpen my skills to use this suite of products cohesively and efficiently.  Design is needed everywhere. It makes things evoke the correct tone, character, professionalism, distinction, and ultimately creates a solution.

I will eventually build this site out and may use these skills for other tangible things in the future.

The Plan:

Lynda.com provides an amazing set of online tutorials.

I will purchase a subscription and spend the day plus other time learning some tricks of the trade.

The Outcome:

You will eventually see in a few weeks…

*UPDATE – Results Here*

As I take on all these small daily projects and gain different exposure, I felt like it was necessary to have a free floating day to my discretion.

What if I start a project and don’t have the time to finish it?  or there is something I forgot to include in the mix?

Who knows… which is the exciting part for me.  This is an extremely crafted yet highly unpredictable month I am approaching.  I have everything mapped out but the experiences, my growth, my clarity is all unknown.  I may end this time and realize I don’t like anything or am more confused than ever before or it made be the most formative I have to date.  Who knows but that’s the beauty of the journey.

The discretionary day is almost symbolic in the sense that I have a day to use my own discretion and do what I please.  Freedom is rare.

Right now I am leaning towards writing this article I have been working on or doing another painting.

After a few weeks of work and planning, it was only right for me to take a true ‘break’ or vacation. So the plan is to hop on the plane for 9 days of sun, family, friends, music, food (jerk chicken), drinks (rum punch), and the beach.

Jamaica is like my second home and offers a perfect retreat/escape from life.  It allows me to get back to the simple pleasures in life.  Just begin able to sit out front of my grandmother’s house look at the ocean in the distance, catch a cool breeze and appreciate life and the world.

In addition I realized its important to capture my family’s stories.  So I want to invest some time in capturing stories tucked away in my living family tree that may end up not being told or lost.  So I will bring a video camera and interview the older members of my family to build a growing catalog of family knowledge.

Establishing this will help guide my actions, decisions, and overall approach to adding value to my life.  It includes the typical brand elements but I also revamped my resume format and made an attempt at a logo (still working on it).

Andre Woolery Brand Files

Let me know what you think and if it matches who you think I am.

*UPDATE – Results Here*

The Reason:

It was my birthday so why don’t I spend this day evaluating what my personal brand is…It is the perfect day to reflect on who you are and what represent. I also wanted to ensure that who I want to be is how others perceive me.

The Plan:
Do a few exercises that are on detavio.com that help to discover and define what my personal brand is.
Build out a simple logo that I’ve been doodling on paper.
Revamp and reformat my resume to match what I represent.

Outcome:
A guiding light for the future of my personal brand.

1. Subway Ride

Reading on the subway was actually great because it was an experience of aimlessly riding without continually looking for a stop.  I ended up in Coney Island, stopped at Nathan’s and read on the beach for about an hour. I completed one book and made it halfway through the other.

2. What I learned

I read Philosophy Gym and Story of Philosophy which are both great books for anyone who is interested.  The books provide tools to apply a philosophical approach to life.  It also presents different philosophical questions/situations with many perspectives.  Reading each section is great exercise for developing your thought.

Mainly, the books helped sharpen mental clarity in the attempt to seek truth and define certain topics and questions. I didn’t reach any definitive conclusions, but I recognized that the value is in the iterative process of training yourself to find truth through philosophy.  What also came to the forefront is the importance of stepping back from life to examine it, otherwise, we become sheep to all of society’s values, morals, and philosophies.

3. A few small quotes

“One thing only I know, and that is that I know nothing”

“Philosophy is at the front trench in the siege of truth. Science is captured territory.”

“Life is  gift of nature, but beautiful living is a gift of wisdom.”

“Every individual is a cosmos or a chaos of desires, emotions and ideas; let these fall into harmony, and the individual survives and succeeds…”