Tom Mittemeyer
Personal
- Full Name
- Tom Mittemeyer
- Website
- http://profile.imageshack.us/user/thomasmittemeyer/
- Interests
- Aside from Grateful Dead music and all they gave to me, my interests include but are not limited to: Music of many genres, Art, Illustration, Design, Dancing, Exercise, Swimming, Travel, Friends, Nature, Mountains, Ocean, Water, Portland, Oregon (my home), and the list goes on. All my friends, many of them I can thank the GD or I may not have ever met them. And the deepest of love to my 2 kids Hanna and Andrew. I couldn't have been blessed with better children. I'm a lucky guy. Also of note is the Oregon Country Fair, Being a giver and sharing the gift I give, which is art. Feel free to have a look at the site that holds much of my digital graphic design/illustration, etc. There you can actually see stuff that I do that isn't just Dead related! There's a wide mix from the old boring corporate stuff to the abstract and everything in between. My kids still give me a bad time, but I also have (cough) Myspace account. Gotta be my friend though....or ya can't get in. Sorry.....; )
- About Me
I'll get this out first and foremost, I'm wordy, verbal, whateveryouwannacallit...and make no excuses or have any apologies for it. It's me. So take me, or leave me. Get to know me, and you'll have a loyal friend. I take my daily doses of karma every day when I get out of bed. My belief system is to NOT adhere to any set of rules when it comes to what I love doing best, and that being art. I go by the system of being absolutely free, abandoning the rules and not pigeonholing myself into a corner of cosmic jello. I do have one area in my art that I didn't ask for it's just in my circuitry, and that is symmetry. It's how the universe works. One big revolving ball of gravity. From the planets in our solar system revolving around our sun, to the sun revolving around the Milky Way, and so on. I'm thrilled to be influenced by artists like Rick Griffin and others from that period (the 60s), but I strive to be as diverse as I can and aside from the little stamp with my initals in a coner of a finished drawing or design, I say (and I wasn't the first to say it) escape from the weight of your corporate logo. There's no time to lick your stamps and paste them in. It's about freedom, and there are programs where I can twist those buttons and knobs and distort and tweak my work, and I'm glad to have them and use them. But my love and pride of craftsmanship, intricate detail, a message (even if it's sublime), and a lot of hard work and hours spent on it are what I strive for in my compositions. I make my bed and lie in that realm of freedom, from the changes in direction halfway into a piece, right down to my warped sense of humor, which some find funny, and some just don't have a sense of humor, and so on. I'm free, and it may not be everybody's cup of tea, but the end result means that indeed, if I get a reaction, be it positive or negative, I did my job. I'm pleased as punch to have a forum to share what nobody else does but I do. Just like the band we so loved, I'm not the best at what I do, I'm the only one who does what I do. To that I give myself a nod and realize that yup, I am discorporating myself from the norm and from a time period. And I'm not bragging on what I do. I'm just proud of what I do. And sharing it with those that do and those that don't appreciate it keeps me plowing away. From the beauty of "acoustic" black and white, to the electric color and intricate linework which might represent lyrics, to the structure that could be the drums keeping the backbone intact. We all see things differently. Thank god of that.
There you have it. Searching for the sound for me is searching for the feel and the look. I wear a coat of many colors, boy am I a lucky guy. So, aside from being a goofball and dance til' you drop and good timing guy with a smile for all my brothers and sisters, I'm an american original from the great state of Oregon, and follow the Kesey rule of the day, FURTHER.
Some come to laugh the past away, some come to make it just one more day, whichever way your pleasure tends, if you plant ice you gonna harvest wind. I choose the safe category, number two. God I'd hate to be stuck in number one and I'm not planting any ice anywhere.....I just say what I feel. Freedom freedom kindly loving you'll be absolutely free, only if you want to be.
Had enough yet? ; ) Smiles everybody!
- Looking for
Friends (old and new), connections, freelance opportunities of the artistic/visual kind, traveling companions, good times, and possibly the love of my life with a like-minded beautiful member of the opposite camp (ya know, the girls camp across the river!). ; )
History
- Member for
- 4 weeks 6 hours
Shows
- Number of shows attended
- 97
