Archie Gets Me Up At 4 AM! Now What?

Archie gets me up at 4 AM.  Now what?

So... off to the Blast Factory.

I'm getting overwhelmed by the world.

I turn on CNN. Health insurance up another 25%?  I guess I'll have to raise the price of my paintings. That sucks.  I think we need single payer to keep costs down.

So we go for a walk.  But I'm a little distractible. 

Everything seems alright.  The sun will be up soon.

Then, "Yikes, what's that on the sidewalk?  Archie and I look at it.

Moldy. A leaf.  Maybe a I can blow it up.

Archie sniffs it.  Let's move on.

Then.  A crow.  A big crow.  

Archie and I look at it.  It tilts it's head and looks back at us.

Crows scare me.  

Archie is brave.

"Bark"

There is a lot going on right now.  The Economy. Politics. War. Violence. Crows.

Everyone is so busy.  It's a fast paced world.

I'm getting overwhelmed again.

"Let's go Archie!"  Back to the studio.

It is way too early to start handling gunpowder.  That could be more dangerous than art.

Dangerous art. Perfect.

I grab my camera and start experimenting.  I've been taking pictures since I was a kid.  Or, as Renee would say, "As a youth"!

I start framing images in the view finder.  Boring.

Then, I put the Fuji on "T" mode.  2 seconds.  Wide open.

I push the trigger and wave it around.  I do it again.  And again.

Archie looks at me like I am crazy. 

"Bark".

I'm thinking I got nothing. 

I'm look at the images.  Well, maybe these are interesting.  I'm always learning.

I show some images to Archie.

"Bark".

I think that means, "Good work!"

Or, it means, "I'm hungry!"

Stick Vega is the American Gunpowder Artist, former CEO, and author of LESS KILLING. Stick currently lives and creates explosive pop art at The Blast Factory in Madison, Wisconsin. Not limited to one medium, he works in gunpowder drawings and paintings, photography, digital art and writing. Please follow Stick on Facebook and/or Twitter.