Serving Time

Today’s blog post will be yet another look at some of my newest abstract art. I hope that you will come along on the journey where we will ponder some of humanities inner workings and enjoy the views along the way. The title of this blog post, as well as the feature image is Serving Time. It looks and sounds like it might have negative connotations, which one can assume is correct, but it is only the starting point to the discussion.

At some point in the not-too-distant past, I came across an interesting image on the internet of an old door. It was very rustic and conjured up many varied thoughts, but mostly it felt mysterious – kind of like the door(s) of the wardrobe in C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, or the doors Alice encounters down the rabbit hole in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Note how strange it is that both writers have Lewis in their name. Coincidence, or does “Lewis” mean something enigmatic? Spooky eh! 😊

As is typical of me, I decided that I would create a painting, in this case, one that featured a door while drawing on these thoughts. I had no preconceived notion of how this might look, but I started by making four orange rectangles, two for the door jambs, one for the door header, and one for the door. Next, I added some woodgrain texture and experimented with the program’s blend modes to enhance the colors. To make the door stand out, I added a near-black background with some brick-like texture. I am not sure what came next, but my thoughts had turned to the idea that the door could symbolize a prison, or other barrier of some sort. At the same time, I thought about all the aging people I know and how they vary in temperament and outlook. Some are as vibrant and engaged as they were throughout their lives, while others seem to be bitter and resentful, and others still, who seem to have stopped living and appear to be waiting to die – in other words, serving time. As all this whirled around in my mind, I added the tally marks on the wall and the chain across the door. Lastly, I added the glow at the door gap, which represents all the missed glories on the other side of the door.

At any rate, this artwork asks the hard question – are you just serving time? Of course, it is just a question and only oneself can answer it. I think it is an important question to ask oneself as one journeys through life. The question too, is wide open to various interpretations, based on what one is doing and thinking at any point in life.

I had posted the Serving Time painting on the artist’s forum I participate in, and one fellow said that it brought to mind the line, “we are all just prisoners here of our own device,” from the Eagle’s song Hotel California, which suggests that people are trapped by their own choices, habits, or circumstances. This really resonated with me and made me think that those old folks I mentioned, might be trapped by their choices and habits. Some have perhaps lost the ability to make different choices, but I suspect many could still do so if they made the effort to change. I don’t ever want to get to that point, and I know that what I am saying is a judgment on my part, but it seems so obvious that that is what they are doing. Note that I would never say that to them, but it is a reminder to myself to continue to live and live well.

The other day I was visiting a friend who has been pondering retirement. I asked him what he thought retirement might look like for him, and if he was scared in any way. He talked at length, and I added a few thoughts, all which will remain between us, as the discussion was private, and he was vulnerable with his sharing.

While thinking about this further over the next days, I acknowledged that there are many things that can happen in retirement and as we head into old age. First off, there is a possible loss of purpose. Many folks are defined by their work and see that as their way to matter in society. Losing that can be quite hard, as I can attest to by experience. As we age, our bodies decay and we face health challenges that lead to physical and social limitations. I can attest to how hard that is to deal with, especially seeing that in my wife, with her rapidly progressing Parkinson’s disease. One’s culture can also have a negative impact. Think of those cultures that say life is for the young and productive, where aging is just a period of decline rather than growth, and the elderly are seen as a burden, rather than a treasure trove of wisdom. Combine all this with the routine and monotonous things in daily life, and one has a recipe for depression, an accumulation of days, months, and years without excitement or exploration.

To me, retirement provides an opportunity for new views, and for exploration. Maybe not as it would look from a youthful or higher energy perch, but from a more graceful point of view. In retirement and old age, we have the duty to continue to make our lives meaningful, and productive in a gentler sense of the word. It’s never too late to start or rediscover a passion or two. Perhaps write that book series you have always wanted to do, or develop a cartoon character, as I did with Loaf Dubronovich. How about connecting with the community in ways that full-time work never allowed. Maybe volunteer at a school, or a local charity that sings to you. Find ways to monitor your mindset, and make changes when struggles arise. Read books, engage in a healthy self-help group, whatever it takes to live with a healthy outlook. Accept that change is inevitable and that life, as we age, will ask a lot from us. Look at it all as an opportunity to learn and grow. Cry when you need, scream at the wind if it helps, and talk to friends and other loved ones to help share the load.

In a nutshell, break the chains that keep you imprisoned! There is still a whole world of glory out there, even if we are old and feeble. Share your love, share your wisdom, share your joy!

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Let’s look now at some other paintings that I have done recently and see how they came about and what they mean to me. Perhaps you will see something else in them, that speaks only to you.

A Space Odyssey – Created by Don Cheke

This painting started out as curved bands of pastel color, which I then blended at the seams. Right away it started to take on an outer space kind of look so I added the long narrow cylindrical object, while my mind flashed back to the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. Do you remember the black monolith in that movie, and the, “It’s full of stars” statement? No monoliths here, but the thin cylinder gave me the same eerie feeling. The scene needed some kind of vessel, so I thought of a previous art project I did. The three ships in the distance are digitized versions of my “ship” wire sculpture, which was created as a symbol of freedom. Here they represent that freedom, along with the three ships sailed by Christopher Columbus and his crews while discovering North America – an adventure if ever there was one. The day before I painted this, I had been listening to a bunch of music, which included David Bowie’s Starman and Space Oddity. I must have had that rattling around in my unconscious looking for an outlet to express something along that line. Well, I guess, this was it.

As a side note, I re-watched 2001: A Space Odyssey a year or so ago to see why it had so much hype associated with it. I thought it was awful, and my first thought was that it must have been someone’s acid trip brought to the big screen. No offense is meant to anyone who liked it, each to their own, as I say.

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The painting below came about while experimenting. I have no title, nor specific thoughts about it. I thought it looked interesting enough to warrant sharing it here.

Abstract 040225 – Created by Don Cheke

Some kind of portal? What do you think?

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Binary – Created by Don Cheke

I am always amazed by what comes out on the canvas, especially when I have no idea where I am heading when I am starting out. This piece gives a tip of the hat to binary code, computing, and Winston Churchill’s “We Shall Never Surrender” speech, delivered on June 4, 1940. Reading the speech even today, I feel quite moved.

The perforated background represents early computing with punch cards or ticker tape. I have a memory of my mom working with punch cards in one of her early jobs at a medical insurance company. I remember ticker tape when it was first introduced when I was a young lad working at a national food chain. The lit perforations are representative of later computing when lit boards were common. Lots of flashing lights. The ones and zeros are a portion of Winston’s famous speech translated from English to binary code. We shall never surrender is a reminder that freedom is worth defending.

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I hope you found today’s blog post interesting and worth the read.

Play safe, and remember to enjoy life, even if your heath and financial situation don’t allow you to travel the world. Take pleasure in the here and now, and if you can, do it with a special friend.

Donald B. Cheke – April 7, 2025