Talking about Enough with Patrick Rhone.
A Visual & Written Essay by c.p.



"We find truth in the things we come back to. The longer you hold onto what you love the more you realize that it is something you truly love. In that sense you don't define your passions your passion defines you." - Patrick Rhone

I'm really glad to have had the opportunity to meet with Patrick Rhone. This guy has amazing energy and a creative spirit.

When we connected we had a total-nerd-chat-jam-session. It felt like we literally talked about everything... our backgrounds, minimalism, writing, art, being an artists, photography, technology, our families, our lives, the universe- the conversation was wonderful. We covered so much ground it's hard to articulate it well after the fact, but since the reason I reached out to Patrick in the first place was because I was interested in his writing I'll focus on that.

Patrick has written a couple books of essays that are both great and I particularly like his book titled, Enough.

The book focuses on the word and/or rather the concept of - Enough. What does that mean? Well, in the introduction to the book Patrick states, "I'm convinced that a successful life is largely driven by balance and moderation. Not too much of anything. Not too little, either. Just enough."

Explaining further, "Enough is a very personal metric. Like our center of gravity, each of us must find what is enough by swaying from less to more until a comfortable medium is found."

Thinking more mindfully about what is enough in my own life is something I've been very focused on over the last few years. The busyness of life often seems to overtake our time and ability to step back for a minute and ask ourselves some basic questions about how we're living individually and collectively. Are we spending our time on the things that make us most happy? Are we spending our money on things that are productive, healthy, worthwhile, important, or genuine? Are we working too hard on things that don't matter and not hard enough on things that do matter? And as Patrick notes - are we living in balance and moderation?

Taking stalk of your life requires some effort. You actually have to slow down. You have to take a step back. And you have to be really honest with yourself about how you are living and why. That process is hard for a lot of people. We don't want to slow down... that seems weak. We don't want to have to stop what we're doing to think about it. And more than anything else being honest with ourselves sucks because it means we're going to have to own up to our own shit. We're going to have to look in the mirror and admit that in some aspects of our lives we're off track. We aren't balanced (in some aspect of our lives), we aren't living in moderation (in some aspects of our lives), and we aren't focused on what is enough for ourselves. We are tired, distracted, sad, lonely, over-worked, over-consuming, or sometimes something even worse. Looking in the mirror can hurt.

But, the thing is that once you get over the pain of the honesty required to truthfully evaluate your life and you're ready to move forward in a better way- everything gets easier after that.

Being honest with yourself leads to clarity. Clarity leads to answers and solutions for living more rightly. Living more rightly, in alignment with your being- your core, leads to more happiness. More happiness leads to more happiness. And happiness is exactly enough.

The essays in Patrick's book are little nuggets of wisdom to help you find your own sense of enough. His essays are tools, thoughts, and ideas about how to get there.

One of the things we talked about during our meeting was farming. I went back to agricultural business school last year and my personal and professional interest has moved directly into that world. Patrick told me a story about his connection with a young women farmer. The story is great and you can watch a talk he gave on it here.

Besides his books Patrick regularly writes on his blog about all kinds of other enlightened topics here.

And you can also find more of Patrick's thoughts and musings on Twitter.

Thank you Patrick for helping me maintain my focus and reminding me of the importance in knowing and living my own version of - Enough.

A Wonderful Reconnection With Jenny Dalton.
A Visual & Written Essay by Clarrk Patrrick.



Oh, mysterious and magical Jenny.



Jenny played me a few little numbers. It was wonderful in the afternoon light.



Dancing fingers with dancing feet.



Jenny with her new favorite instrument. A childhood throwback.



As a singer and songwriter... there's always a need for the writing spaces and places.



One last summer rose to brighten the fall room.





The new and improved Jenny D! On-tour and coming to an awesome town near you!

I have been buds with Jenny Dalton for 5 years or so-ish and it seems like our lives track along very similar lines. In the time we've known each other we have each gone through our own ups and downs... always trying to come out the other side just a little bit more wise and humbled - and inspired. When we got together for this shoot we had a total blast hanging out and had a wonderful dinner together. We also talked a lot about where we were at in our careers and in our lives across the board from our current relationships to the things we're most excited about now within our given artistic mediums.

One of the things I love about Jenny now more than ever is her renewed spirit and energy towards her passion in music. She's put together an awesome touring schedule, writing all new stuff, putting herself out there in new ways, and doubling down on her reasons for being... living and creating as an artist.

I've realized in my own career that we all go through phases in our process of creating and it's wonderful to be able to have creative friends and partners like Jenny who continue on through all the phases good and bad. As I get a bit older I feel like I'm starting to understand further the importants of rough patches or down cycles in ones creative work. Jenny and I talked a lot about this during our shoot because we've been riding similar waves over the years.

I've always loved Jenny as a person and really appreciated her music, but I especially love what's she's doing now and have a sense her best work is ahead of her. Wine, cheese, and a million other things always get better with age. I think Jenny and I or both on that track... no overnight stardom over here... just a couple of good friends doing what we do, growing, and by-gosh maybe putting better work out into the world too. In Jenny's case - I know so.

XOXO - Lets keep on truckin' Jenny!! Clark Loves You!

Jenny Dalton's Website
Her Twitter Page
Her Facebook Page

And here's a track from Jenny's last EP that feels a like a good track for this fall day. We both share a connection with Colorado.... to the mountain top and beyond. Enjoy!

Poetry reading and dinner with Carl Atiya Swanson & Stacy Ann Schwartz.
A Visual & Written Essay by Clarkus A. Patrick.



Double trouble. JK. Double awesome!



A portion of Stacy's collection of VIP radness.



Old-timie love.



Stacy's Jack White Holga. The perfect cross-section of music and photo goodness.



An album cover Stacy shot. Big pimpin'.



Oh, hello.



Paraphernalia. Of the photo kind.



The homestead.



Carl. The man. The myth. The legend.



Smiles from the dream team.



What a funny!



Carl and William Seward Burroughs II. Thinkers.



Carl's art in the archives. (Eye painting by Garrett Perry.)



(The woman is a drawing by Egon Schiele in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.)



Explaining themes that reoccur in Carl's work.



On the walls. (The Masculine Energy print is by Cave Party.)



On the arms.



Carl reading poetry. I'm super amped to check out his recommendation.



Stacy showing me some images from her published photo book. She's got me beat on that front. Awesome stuff.



Keep on clickin'!!



Where do I begin with these two?

Stacy and I have known each other for six-ish years now from being out-and-about in town mostly at music venues and other such happenings. She always had and still has a camera in-tow whenever I see her.

When I spent the day with Stacy & Carl I got an even more in-depth view into the insane degree, volume, and depth of projects these two individually and collectively work on.

Stacy does:
Photos. -- She creates a huge amount of various photo projects in both film based and digital formats, most often with a music focus.
Law. -- She has a law degree and works with other creatives on all sorts of legal projects making their lives easier.
Records. -- Sometimes she still picks up shifts at the awesome local record store The Electric Fetus.
Music Booking. -- She runs a booking agency called Damaged Goods - that works with events like The Stone Arch Bridge Festival, Art-A-Whirl, and Vita.mn's Music & Movies series to book music and entertainment.
Edumacation. -- Beyond all that she works at the McNally Smith College of Music. She will be teaching graduate and undergrad classes in music business there in the fall.

I'm sure I've left something out, but jeez how much can one person do? (Stacy, don't answer that.)

Carl does:
Writes. -- As much as possible but with sometimes painfully long gestation periods. (So he says...) He write for Cake In 15, occasionally for mnartists.org, and other outlets. He writes mostly to try and get out the word on what's happening around him, but also to attempt to articulate an experiential world view where the arts are critical and valuable. He loves interviews and interviewing as it is often more interesting to have artists talk about their life and work than simply react to stuff. (Amen brother.)
Theater. -- As an actor, writer and administrator, he powers forward his theater company Savage Umbrella. He loves theater because it combines all art forms - visual, physical, aural - and it is a catalyst for conversation and a filter with which to discuss ideas bigger than just ourselves and entertainment.
Business. -- Carl is an MBA student at the University of St. Thomas and works at Springboard for the Arts (Check them out!). He knows that artists need to make a living, and the value of art to a creative and growing economy can't be under-estimated. So he's trying to make sure it's not. (Double props here.)
PR. -- He sidelines on projects with/for his friends, and spun off a company, Crown & Sparrow - to help promote them.

Stacy & Carl together do:
Write, organize, and promote Cake In 15. Other stuff. Garden. Bike. Eat. Hang out with each other. And sometimes cook friends like me dinner. Rad.

I feel like I should write in greater detail about all of Carl & Stacy's projects, but if you haven't heard of either one of these folks yet... the links above will get you started. And if you're interested in what they're doing - reach out to them and connect. At the core, these two are connectors. Both Stacy & Carl put a huge amount of effort into exploring the people, projects, arts, music, and culture that makes our city and beyond so great. They are explorers on a constant hunt for inspiration to in-turn produce things that inspire.

For all that they do there is a type of fluidity behind it. It all fits together. And it makes sense for who they are as people. It's awesome to see a pair work on so many things together and still maintain their own unique characteristics and point of view as well. I feel like these two set the bar for the super couple. Two hyper-productive awesome artists - together.

But more than that, my favorite thing about both of them as individuals is their passion and promotion for others in the arts. Sure, Stacy is a dedicated and passionate photographer, but more than that she tirelessly promotes the work of others. And sure, Carl is a deep thinking writer, actor, and theater man, but more than anything he is also a promoter of other artists.

They are like a vortex of giver supporters for artists on all levels. We shared a similar sentiment on the evening we hung out for this project - which is that although we don't love all art, music, theater, poetry, photography, painting and on-and-on and so forth - we appreciate that ALL artists care enough to create the work that they do. And that the work by artists that we do love and appreciate is something we'll always find a way to promote to anyone who is willing to listen.

So, Stacy and Carl - thank you kindly for going out of your way to find the time, effort, and care - to promote the work of others - more often than not above and beyond the promotion of your own work. The greatest advocates of the arts are also in many cases the greatest artists. Keep on working towards the greatness.