The Art of Ori

02/05/2026

Well… my life is definitely real by now.

I left New Hampshire, drove cross-country in two days, and somehow ended up in Colorado at a mountain house with wild turkeys outside my glass door.

The reason? I’m helping create architectural/visual renderings for this insane property called the Estes Ark — yes, an actual giant ark in Estes Park.

Which feels pretty on-brand, because within a week of seeing photos of it, my life fell apart, I crossed the country, and there I was… standing in front of a modern-day Bible story with my dog.

After that, I sat in my car with no idea where I was going next. Then a friend I hadn’t seen in years randomly messaged me — from one hour away. So we had lunch.

Then I turned around to bring Derek a signed Oriograph bookmark of our mutual friend Tia, and right before his driveway I saw the biggest fox I’ve ever seen.

Then I drove toward Arizona, stopped at a trailhead, and got lost hiking in the dark with Sasha for five or six hours. Phone died. Data gone. Water gone. Leash lost. Locked out of my car.

I eventually found civilization by following the lights, shoplifted a bag of ice from an outdoor Whole Foods freezer because I was dangerously dehydrated, chewed the ice like a feral survival creature, bought a criminally overpriced gas-station cable, charged my phone, and paid a locksmith $125 to get back into my car.

Two days later, I walked into a Whole Foods in Utah and paid for a bag of ice I didn’t take, just to square the karma.

Then I drove through an ice storm and learned from a stranger that sometimes you have to turn traction control OFF to get unstuck.

Also, I have video of what appeared to be an angry pit bull driving a pickup truck full of angry pit bulls while towing a trailer full of more angry pit bulls.

So yeah.

I think I’m officially launching The Ori Stories.

I’m in Utah now with Mindy, the very first couch I ever couchsurfed on — couch zero — which basically kicked off six years of Couchsurfing Ori.

Feels like Couchsurfing Ori 2.0 is beginning.

Every day is apparently an adventure.

Might as well start posting the receipts.

27/04/2026

I’ve been quiet for a while, but I think I’m officially entering a new chapter.

I’m currently on a random cross-country road trip and somehow landed in Colorado, in the mountains, with wild turkeys in the yard and fresh air that feels like reality got upgraded.

Yesterday I met a woman at a gas station for maybe five minutes, and later she sent me a voice message saying she hadn’t laughed that hard in forever. While telling her stories, I realized something:

I am officially a full-blown story.

I’ve competed in the World Championships of Pun-Slinging. I got my art onto the Moon. I made art every day for 4,000 days. I couch surfed for years. I’ve been on stage with Alice Cooper. Tomorrow I’m going to see a literal four-story Ark someone built.

To me, this is just another Tuesday.

But I’m realizing maybe my weird life is not random. Maybe it has been training.

I seem to have this strange ability to see the magic inside people and remind them of it. A lot of people forget how powerful, beautiful, and capable they are. For whatever reason, that part comes easily to me.

And I want to be honest: this is not all wild adventure and magic.

While I was driving across the country, my younger brother married the love of his life in Cancun. My whole family was there. I wasn’t.

I’m so proud of him. Truly. And it hurts.

So yes, my life is strange and mythic and ridiculous. But it also has wounds, scars, and costs.

This next chapter feels different, though.

Less like wandering.

More like turning the whole strange story into something useful.

I have a weird life.

I’m proud of that.

And I think this next season is going to be worth watching.

22/07/2025

WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!

Ok.... I have not mentioned anything about this... but I have been deep diving into song-writing and production for a bit now, and I have finally MASTERED it. At least... I thought I did.... So tonight I put it to the test and played the first song I wrote for a couple.... for the couple.

"How do you define mastery?" you may be asking... and.. that's a great question - glad that you're so smart and curious! Hmmm... let me think....

In my visual arts career I have internalized the skills of storytelling, image creation, and seeing deep into a person's soul to know who they are... That's why my paintings so often cause tears, because they resonate so hard. It's not a painting, it's an experience, and a lifelong memory.

So... transfer all of that into music now.... I took this couple, their story, and I peeped into their playlists to know what music they've sent one another during their relationship, and I analyzed that from every angle possible. I figured out how many songs from each genre, what's the themes, who are the singers, what styles (not the same as genre), and many other things.... And so,, not only were the lyrics so custom for them, but the feel and style of the song were custom engineered to be a perfect match for them.

As I was saying in paragraph one, I got to play it for them tonight. Despite being exhausted from unpacking boxes all day, they stood there and listened. And... As I felt with certainty would happen, there were tears!

Funny enough, here's something that's kind of strange to say. The above-mentioned tears were not mine.... *but* while working on this, there's a new pattern for me. When something is a keeper, regardless of my mood, etc, I start crying! So... yeah- I've been sobbing all weekend as I kept improving their masterpiece.

Tears as a compass.... It's the weirdest thing... but it certainly makes it easier to choose between versions, etc :)

Reach out If you're interested in your own custom song, I'm considering doing a few more commissions.... But I'm not certain that I'm going to make this actually be a thing that I do commercially. Paying my bills with my paintings has caused me much grief... Rick Rubin speaks about this a lot in his book "The Creative Act".

The motivation for a creative to create is the challenge, the growth, the passion. Changing the motivation to an extrinsic thing (such as money) changes the reward, and can cause a lot of resentment and pressure onto the art, as well as a loss of the passion one once had for the craft.

It is a great honor to get to use my abilities to create something that becomes a prized possession.... A tool to amplify peoples' love. It's this kind of stuff that makes me feel like I'm walking the right path, living my correct purpose.

🙏

Send a message to learn more

15/06/2025

Rather than ship something that sucks, I'm taking an extra week. When the universe is shouting loudly that everything's going to break, and you're not going to launch on that random arbitrary date you chose, you kind of have to listen. Boo hoo. Stay tuned.

04/06/2025

The Ori Stories is launching June 15th - Might be deep, might be a dumpster fire... But you know it'll be genuine. Make sure to like, and share it with a friend, and then share it with an enemy!

13/05/2025

So - Here's something that I wasn't going to post... 'cause it's not final content - it's just a test... and, I suppose if I don't share this, fewer people know if I flake out and don't follow up on it... But yeah.... I've got a Podcast launching in June. I mentioned late last year that it's coming out this year, shared a theme song... and that was about that.

Anyone who's spoken to me this year has probably heard me mention my podcast at least once in every single conversation... "This is my life's work." "This is my purpose, why I'm here (on earth)." "This is how I make a positive impact in the world, and it's selfish and irresponsible of me not to launch it."

But... I've been dealing with many inner-demons, and life has had its own distractions, so... there's been many reasons not to work on it. But... after a few months of talking about how great it's going to be, I not only know the importance of this, but I gagged at the concept of being that guy who talks about it, but never actually does it. So, I committed to myself that I'm all-in, and am making time no matter what else comes up.

While I've got many demons to fight, one of them is Perfectionism. It serves well at times- my artwork becomes peoples most prized possessions for example... but, there's a massive cost to perfectionism. It is a massive barrier to happiness, and also it can be the nastiest form of procrastination and avoidance.

I'm an extremely creative guy, and I've got a reputation for being visually bold and experienced... So, my podcast had to look good, or my mind would revolt, and I would have anger and resentment for my podcast.

I'm also quite distractible, and the type that loses momentum with more friction... thus my show needed to be produced without excessively slow tasks. I needed to have processes that strip inefficiencies that would eventually cause burnout.

And of course, being that I don't have the best attention span, the show should be engaging enough to keep my attention.

Since I'm on a(n extremely limited) budget, do not have room to build a fancy set, etc... I figured I'd use green-screen. This would allow me to create a unique and visually engaging look, and even provide extra flexibility for the story-telling... The show is called "The Ori Stories" after all.

Green screen brings up perfectionism though... because I have experience in doing some special effects compositing, it had to look good... I see so much green screen that makes me cringe.... The kind that Zoom automatically does, or live-streamers that haven't taken the time to light their setup well, etc. They may not notice or care, but my brain screams at the blurriness, or occasionally disappearing bodyparts.

Additionally, green-screen, done right, can definitely double the work, or more..... So - had to be careful about that trap... There are many real-time green-screen solutions out there, and I was on a mission to figure out one that would work for who I am, and also, look good with my wild and wispy hair (definitely makes it harder to get a good key).

I ran a few tests, and was frustrated again and again. I got many "Good enough" - but I still felt anger, it still felt like settling. Out comes a side of me that's been on sabbatical - obsessive, don't get in my way, stubborn and unrelenting..... That dude ordered more lights, got larger green screen fabric, rearranged furniture, and ran test after test, refusing to sleep for an extra night or two.

Progress was made, though I was slightly dehydrated, and my voice was a little shot from all that. Each time I thought I got it, the obsessive side found flaws, and many times trying to improve them felt like I was taking steps backwards. There was more than one time where I chose to scrap certain pieces of the workflow, and try all new tools to do the same tasks, but get better quality.

Now, I'm not telling you that this is perfection. But it is a quality that I'm satisfied with... and that's all that I needed to put that side of me back in his cage, so that I can sleep, and be patient towards others. All that I needed was a single video clip that shows a proof of concept, demonstrating that real-time green-screen can be crisp, look decent, and that my output sounds decent, and doesn't put me to sleep.

Like I said at the start, I wasn't going to post this. I sent it to my inner-circle. As an artist, I loathe showing unfinished work.... People will tell you to fix things that you've already fixed, or are in the process of fixing... People may think that this is as good as it's going to get, etc... AND.... most importantly.... if I don't post about it, I might try to weasel out with some rational reason of why it made sense to delay some more.... That sneaky trick that our mind pulls on us as a way to avoid some deep fear of failure, fear of humiliation.

So today I realized that I must post this. And you'll notice that in this post I mentioned that this is launching in June. I wrote that for accountability.... Now people know... now there's a consequence to delaying.... Accountability is a superpower, and I've found that public accountability works especially well for me. It got me to stick to my daily art for over 3,000 days.

So here's a test of my low-budget green-screen studio which is in my bedroom. This is filmed on my cell phone camera. This is unscripted - both for recording and editing.... The lighting is over exposed, but that is something I can easily fix on my next time recording. I'm not dressed for presenting. I'm a bit exhausted. But, it hit the mark, and I slept in today to both celebrate and recover.

Dang it, just realized that specificity makes it even more real.... So, let's really make me squirm and give a specific date in June. June 15th, 9PM Eastern Standard time (to be considerate to all US Time zones) I will premiere The Ori Stories.

Let me know your thoughts on this short test video, and if you'd like to be notified of the show's launch, and see more behind the scenes stuff, etc.... comment "Keep me updated".

So many parts of this post made me squirm to write them.... "Why are you sharing this? If you edit that out, this will flow better." "You should probably make it July." and so on. And now for the squirmiest part of all. *sigh* Pushing the post button and turning this from a bunch of random stuff I wrote, into something that makes me accountable, shows incomplete/imperfect work, and opens me up to trolling and ridicule.

10/05/2025

Haven't posted one of these in ages--- Got a title for my latest painting?

01/03/2025

Started believing in myself 30 days ago... So here's the first podcast I hit I've done now that I'm truly me :)

Send a message to learn more