One of the most valuable things I've learned about art – and really, about life – since I began painting seriously six years ago is this: it's all in the making.

In other words, "inspiration" isn't a straightforward one-to-one transaction. The idea of an artist waiting patiently for a muse to float down from the heavens and then, touched by the grace of inspiration, rushing (usually in quick-cut montage with swelling soundtrack) to assemble a masterpiece - this is bunk. It doesn't work that way.

At least it doesn't for me. Take for instance Sonic Blooms, a sound art installation made up of clusters of public address speakers painted with botanical imagery, which I'll be sharing at the Ojai Studio Artists fall tour. The project is a partnership with composer Will Thomas, who late last year invited me to participate in a show sponsored by the Ojai Music Festival. The show, titled "A/V" (Audio Visual) featured artworks that incorporated original sound.

That was the "inspiration" - a set of parameters. Whatever I made would be shown somewhere on Will's property, possibly outdoors, and accompanied by some kind of sound made based on our conversations.

Thinking it over (really more like daydreaming about Will's garden and trying to picture how we'd wire it for sound), I started thinking about outdoor speakers and how those PA horns that you see bolted to the walls of schools or on boats. Aren't they kind of flower-shaped? Wouldn't it be cool to paint those with petals and stamens and leaves and then make a big bouquet?

After playing with various design configurations and walking around the garden for a few weeks, it became clear that this thing shouldn't be one large object shooting sound out from a single source. By breaking it up into multiple "blooms," we could create a surround-sound experience that would flow in and around the space.

And since we were working with AV speakers designed for the frequency of the human voice, Will created a piece of music using my daughter Eliza's voice that spoke to the connection between humans and nature.

Then over the course of eight months I got online and started ordering speakers of various sizes, working with industrial designer Chris Hacker to sand, prime, and assemble them into flower-like arrangements. By the time we were done, the piece had grown to 59 individual speakers.

It all happened in steps, one set of parameters and notions and problems leading to the next, a chain of iteration that is still unfolding and expanding. We're now working on plans to expand it to triple its current size and take it into new public gardens.
All of which is to say: art is a process. As much as we who make things would like to imagine them arriving in one fell swoop inside a single package with a pretty bow on top, the truth is art happens over time.

Art keeps changing and evolving. Just like life. Just like us.

The Sonic Blooms will be out and making their magical sounds in my garden of cacti and olive trees for the full three days of Oct 10-12, 10 am - 5 pm. Tickets for the whole tour are available at www.ojaistudioartists.org. Would love to see you!