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Welcome to “Rafi’s Random Creative Ramblings,” where the unexpected meets the creative. Join Rafi as he delves into a wide array of topics, from spontaneous art projects and philosophical musings to practical advice for fellow artists. This blog is a place for curiosity, inspiration, and a bit of randomness, reflecting Rafi’s eclectic and vibrant approach to life and art. Whether you’re looking for a light-hearted read or deep insights, Rafi’s ramblings promise to entertain and enlighten. Dive in and enjoy the unpredictable journey of creativity and expression with Rafi!
Buy Rad Art Prints for Under $30 In Your Pajamas Like a Boss
You may be wondering if your cold stark walls are starting to represent the shriveled hope that you once had of making your home interesting and inviting. Luckily, we here at Rafi Was Here Studios have decided to create awesome fine art prints, because your walls deserve it.
Armed with a laptop and comfy pink bunny slippers you can browse over 70 prints and find the perfect piece of Rafi Art for your home. We are also offering a size selection for the prints so you can get the size you want. Each art print is signed, dated and hugged lightly by the artist to ensure no creases.
Happiness is a State of Perception
Recently I finished a piece called “Contemplation.” It is a painting of a woman who is deep in thought and the magic of her intention is floating around her. As with most of my pieces, I stared at it for a very long time after it was finished and wondered what people would think of her.
This got me thinking about the different perceptions people have about art. Some people would think she was absolutely beautiful, others would just scoff at her and walk away. I wondered what kind of person would scoff at something beautiful and whether or not they were happy people.
It was then that I remembered that I was a very different person in the past. As much as I love art and am excited to see the uniquely awesome creations that people create, back then I was cynical and would scoff too. I can honestly say I wasn’t very happy, I pretty much complained and criticized everything.
This got me thinking about the weather. Yep, the weather. It’s been infuriatingly hot here in Pensacola and as much as I would love to stay inside and hibernate in air-conditioning, I have things I have to do outside.
I thought about people I know who don’t seem to be bothered by the heat and how much happier they seem during the summer months. I thought about hot days at the beach and how the weather isn’t really that big of a deal.
Perception is the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses. So I played around with the idea of deleting the heat and focusing on the things I enjoyed. I focused intensely on the small breeze, the cold refreshing water, the sound of the fan running in the background, the birds tweeting and how good it felt to wipe the sweat from my skin. Slowly, I started to shift my perception to other awesome things, such as the feeling of walking into air-conditioning after being out in the heat or how the shade feels so good.
I realized that the things I perceive are not good or bad, that judgement comes a split second after I’ve experienced what ever it is. If I spend my entire time bitching about the heat, then all I’m doing is making myself miserable. Instead, I’ll delete the bitching, focus on the beauty and milk that as much as I can. It works wonders for me.
In the past I criticized everything and made myself miserable, guess it’s better to just focus on what you want to see. To see the beauty in a flower on a hot day, listen to the sound of birds chirping, the sound of thunder in the distance or admiring a unique piece of art and taking it all in with a smile. Sounds way more fun.
Why the refrigerator is always glue when playing indoor tag
When playing indoor tag as adults there are a few rules that are set in stone. Not just stone, but the most indestructible stone in the universe. I realized I had to write this article when I… Well, this is how the event played out.
As I was walking out of our art studio, I tagged Klee (my wife) on the arm and said “Tag you’re it.”
I caught her bewildered look as I made my way to our kitchen. I grabbed something out of the refrigerator and set it on the counter just in time to see Klee sneaking her way towards me. I jumped back and touched the refrigerator and exclaimed “GLUE!” we then proceeded to run around.
Later she touched the post where she hammers metal and exclaimed “Glue!”
“That’s not glue.” I said.
“Why can’t that be glue?” She asked.
“Because the refrigerator is always glue.” I responded.
“Where does it say that?” She asked.
“In the rules, look it up.” I suggested.
She did, and there was nothing on the vital all important rule on how the refrigerator is always glue when playing indoor tag.
So here it is:
Rules For Playing Indoor Tag
1 – The refrigerator is “glue” or all chaos will ensue causing the house to blow up into a puffs of marshmallow.
2 – No Tag Backs can only be called out by the tallest participant in the game.
3 – If your name starts with the letter “R” you are allowed to mind tag. This means you can just say “Tag you’re it” and the other person is it.
4 – These rules are void if they do not work in the favor of participants who’s initials are “RP.”
Klee Agreeing To The Rule.
So there you go, it’s on the internet and everything you read on the internet is true.
7 Easy Steps To Relationship – Love Is Simple Series By Rafi Perez
I recently started a new series in order to visually interpret my thoughts on the simplicity of love.
Many people walk around on this planet looking for the “one” person that will make them complete. Relationship after relationship will end the same way. In the beginning things seem to be great, you become attached to the other person and feel as though they have all the answers to the void in your heart. Then, almost like clockwork you find yourself wondering what the heck you were thinking. The truth is things with love and relationship are complicated because we’ve complicated it… It’s really quite simple. My new series is a suggestion of that simplicity.
Love is simply love. It needs to start from within. Here seven things that work really well for me.
Start by no longer abusing yourself. I have found that even people in an abusive relationship are still being abused slightly less than they abuse themselves. No longer allow yourself to speak to yourself in a negative way. Begin to think positive about yourself and realize that you are perfect just the way you are. This will change the way you feel you are being treated.
Second step is to not take anything personal. You must realize that when your spouse and you are in an argument the words and actions have nothing to do with you. These are deep seeded insecurities and fears they have about themselves, so don’t take it personal.
The third step is to be honest about everything, tell it the way you believe it to be. Be honest about what you feel, be honest with yourself and your spouse. If you are not honest about who you are then you will never deal with the issue. Hiding the issue within yourself will lead to much heart ache, so just speak the truth. Do not say things to see what the other persons reaction will be. Do not try and manipulate a situation and do not tell the other person what they want to hear.
The fourth step is knowing that change is good. In a relationship we tend to fear change, embrace it. Everything and everyone is changing and evolving. You are not the same person you were five minutes ago. Release these expectations about you and your partner based on what happened yesterday because neither one of you is the same person.
The fifth step is to live in the moment. Many people spend their entire lives living in the past or living in the future. They focus on how they wish things would be, they spend so much time there that they miss the moment they are living now. Live right now, in the moment and don’t allow yourself to miss a thing.
The sixth step is to appreciate the good. Too many people will focus all their energy on what they do not want. Live in the now and appreciate everything you have, cherish it. Feel the love that comes with appreciation of all the little things that you encounter throughout your day.
The seventh step is to always be genuine. You are perfect no matter what anyone tells you, remember that their idea of perfection is completely different than yours. You are absolutely perfect in every way and you do not need to compromise who you are for anyone else. So always be genuine. Just be yourself, be happy with who you are, love yourself and you will find the love you have always been looking for.
Worrying Is A Waste Of Time, Get Rid Of Habit #1 Worry
I’ve been thinking about happiness a lot lately. I’ve also been taking a really close look at some of the habits and routines that play in my daily life. Some habits are wonderful and work really well for me, other habits suck me out of my happy go lucky mood.
I’ve noticed that sometimes all of us unknowingly hold on to little, obsessive habits that cause us a great deal of stress. I realized that most of the habits that bring me stress are kind of useless. I have ten that I’ve Identified so far within myself. Here is one that I think is a big culprit of losing your sense of happiness.
Worrying about stuff
So worrying about anything is a waste of time. If you’re preoccupied with “what ifs” and worst-case scenarios, worry becomes a problem. Unrelenting doubts and fears can be paralyzing. They can sap your emotional energy, send your anxiety levels soaring, and interfere with your daily life.
You can easily get stuck in the ridiculous habit of worrying about things chronically because you think that doing it is productive. You have mixed feelings about your worries. On one hand, your worries are bothering you—you can’t sleep, and you can’t get these pessimistic thoughts out of your head. But there must be a reason these worries make sense to you or you just wouldn’t do it.
For example, you may think:
“Maybe I’ll find a solution.”
“I don’t want to overlook anything, maybe I’m missing something.”
“If I keep thinking a little longer, maybe I’ll figure it out.”
“I don’t want to be surprised, I have to figure out what will happen if it doesn’t work out.”
“I want to be responsible, this is important and I must think about it.”
Some people feel like a victim to their worry and find themselves worrying about how much they worry. The stress and anxious thoughts can feel uncontrollable. So if you find yourself worrying about something, what can you possibly do? You’ve tried lots of things, from distracting yourself, reasoning with your worries, and trying to think positive, but nothing seems to work.
Disintegrate Your Worry
Luckily, there is a lot of stuff you can do. The first thing to realize is that worrying is nothing more than a set of habits that you’ve practiced. Take a look and see if you do any of these and realize it’s just a habit that can easily be changed.
All-or-nothing thinking – Looking at things in black-or-white categories, with no middle ground. “If I fall short of perfection, I’m a total failure.”
Overgeneralization – Generalizing from a single negative experience, expecting it to hold true forever. “I didn’t get hired for the job. I’ll never get any job.”
The mental filter – Focusing on the negatives while filtering out all the positives. Noticing the one thing that went wrong, rather than all the things that went right.
Diminishing the positive – Coming up with reasons why positive events don’t count. “I did well on the presentation, but that was just dumb luck.”
Jumping to conclusions – Making negative interpretations without actual evidence. You act like a mind reader, “I can tell she secretly hates me.” Or a fortune teller, “I just know something terrible is going to happen.”
Catastrophizing – Expecting the worst-case scenario to happen. “The pilot said we’re in for some turbulence. The plane’s going to crash!”
Emotional reasoning – Believing that the way you feel reflects reality. “I feel frightened right now. That must mean I’m in real physical danger.”
‘Shoulds’ and ‘should-nots’ – Holding yourself to a strict list of what you should and shouldn’t do and beating yourself up if you break any of the rules
Labeling – Labeling yourself based on mistakes and perceived shortcomings. “I’m a failure; an idiot; a loser.”
Personalization – Assuming responsibility for things that are outside your control. “It’s my fault my son got in an accident. I should have warned him to drive carefully in the rain.”
So all of these are the fun things we like to do to run ourselves crazy when worrying about something. If you are doing any of the above, and most likely you are, then you have identified your illogical way of looking at an issue. It may be more than one of the above, identify them and realize that they are simply habits that you have repeated enough times to make sense of your worrying. Another thing to keep in mind is that NONE of the above are truth statements, these are all things that we have used to determine the future outcome of something that hasn’t happened yet. If you are worried, then you are negatively orienting your thoughts and suffering the consequences now for something that isn’t even real. After you identify your pattern, ask yourself these questions on the thoughts that are dominating your worry.
Is there a more positive way of looking at the situation?
What would I feel like if none of this was a big deal?
How would I rather look at this situation, what kind of person would I rather be?
Can decide to look at this how ever I want? It is my own mind and I can decide how I look at the situation. I am really good at deciding what and How I focus, how do I choose to look at this?
What would I say to a friend who had this worry?
This is how I get rid of always worrying about stuff. It got easier and easier in a very short amount of time as I formed a new habit. Eventually I had the realization that worrying about things is a waste of time. In fact, I found that worrying about things was actually my way of distracting myself from the real issues, things that I could take action on.
Remember, have fun and don’t take your thoughts so seriously. Stay tuned, Next Blog will will be the second habit I identified that can suck away your awesome happiness. – Constant People Pleasing.
Can a Mermaid Feel Passion?
Although it may seem silly to engage in meaningless questions that have nothing to do with reality, the answer will surprise you.
As someone who spends a lot of time in his mind visualizing abstract concepts into images that may be able to communicate a feeling, I can tell you that imaginary creatures are vastly important. I believe that the imagination is one of the most powerful tools that we have at our disposal. The only limitation of possibilities in your imagination are set by your interpretation of the world and what you believe is possible.
In a rational, grounded in reality mind the idea that a mermaid could feel passion is absurd. Mermaids simply don’t exist, what would be the point in engaging in such childish behavior?
The brain is made up of over 100 billion nerve cells with each brain cell connected to around 10,000 other cells, which equals around 1000 trillion connections in your brain. The connections that you make up in your brain are based on habitual thoughts. Some of these connections get used over and over and become very healthy while other connections atrophy and die off. It’s all very fascinating stuff.
The point is that your imagination is where you engage in divergent thinking. Divergent thinking is a thought process or method used to generate creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions. for example, look at some normal run of the mill every day item that is around you. Now, see how many other uses you could have for that item that have nothing to do with its actual use. In two minutes how many uses did you find? A lot or a little? Did you get stuck?
Psychologists have found that a high IQ alone does not guarantee creativity. Instead, personality traits that promote divergent thinking are more important. Divergent thinking is found among people with personality traits such as nonconformity, curiosity, willingness to take risks, and persistence… Basically every three year old I have ever known.
I think at some point we learn to conform and because mermaids are not real, they can’t feel passion. We have been told they are not real because no one has ever seen them, or there is no evidence of them. Yet, the word mermaid is in our vocabulary, it is something that conjures an image in your mind and it is as real as your imagination.
I think, there is so much power in visualizing and imagining possibilities that may seem like they are not possible. Even if it is simply imagining what it would feel like if a mermaid was describing what her and her people are passionate about.
Some people believe that they will never succeed at something simply because they don’t think it’s possible… Imagine what would happen if they used their imaginations to dream and visualize themselves succeeding… They would be unstoppable.
Should I Follow The Art Trends?
Recently I found myself in a conversation with another artist about her lack of sales. She was asking me about my sales and the secret formula I was using to find the things that were trending.
I think I was rather disappointing because I don’t follow trends, if fact I believe that following trends and what is popular stagnates art. As an artist I believe that we create things that we can’t find in the world. If you are following trends, then you are just creating more of what already exist.
I may sound a little upset in this video, I’m not, it’s just that this subject is really ridiculous to me… It’s one of the reasons I believe artist struggle so much…
How To Set Up For A Festival
Don’t Be Nervous and Have Fun
So You are showing your stuff at your first festival. Don’t be nervous, it’s easy.
Things You’ll need:
10X10 White Canopy
Tables, easels or walls
Chairs, sunscreen and umbrella
signage and business cards
Oh and HAVE FUN!!
https://youtu.be/tt0KlnRhh04?list=PLZfqKjqJWoIgdMmJxhh0j3IBWGQGRFWdy Go Back To Art Smarts Page
How To Deal With A Critic
My opinion on how to deal with a critic or a hater
-Put yourself out there, don’t let the fear of being criticized stop you. -Change your perspective, you aren’t creating for everyone and some people aren’t going to dig your creations. -Create what you create for you, it’s easier to create your niche market of YOU pieces than try to make something people will like. It’s easier to not care what people think when you love it. -Don’t take it personal, it really doesn’t have much to do with you or your creation. It has to do with them and their personal taste. -Ignore the haters, it’s not worth it. Honestly if someone is hating on something with no kind of intelligent comment then don’t worry about it. https://youtu.be/kLoX-2-SUmo?list=PLZfqKjqJWoIgdMmJxhh0j3IBWGQGRFWdy
