"IN THE ZONE" know what I mean?

nobody, anybody?

Most assuredly so, farmer. Creative folks lose track of time when they are engaged in something productive. Same way with musicians.

I guess its hard to elaborate but my last experience was a few months ago working on a work involving an ink drawing of a coal mine Crusher in the snow. I began a process that was loaded with lots of contour lines and hatchuring . I started and finishe the whole thing and didnt et for abouta day. My wife was bringing me tea every so ofetn but itd go cold before I drank it. I didnt dsee anything around me that didnt involve this work. It was a hand/mind expeience and feels good. I scanned the pic and it wound up selling very quickly . I should have done a series of prints rather than only the main work.

I think "in the zone" might be a Western version of Zen.

Well, Noddy, I'm not certain of that, but I do know that when I become engaged in writing, I can picture in my mind the scene.

I love ink drawings, farmer, and I can see what you are sketching. Tell me if I am right. Would your art suggest that there is something unattractive about an ugly machine destroying the pristine white of the snow?

actually its more of a juxtaposition, just like a machine can cast a beautiful blue and purple shadow on snow nearby. I like the detail of machinery as a subject. Ever see any work by an srtist friend of marcel Duchamp named Piccabia?

Is this who you mean, farmer?

In the Costner film "For Love of the Game" he is on the pitching mound with a stadium full of screaming fans, flashing cameras and all that jazz...he says to himself....clear the mechanism....all the noise goes away, and his view shrinks down to just the batter, catcher, and the ump, and maybe a bit of crowd behind them...in a tunnel vision sort of way.

Even though it is self induced "zoning"...he intentionally blocks everything out...whereas myself, and I would assume most people never consciously think about it, it just happens...it's still pretty neat to see it visualized.

That is my favorite part of the movie.

Letty, yes , but look further at his work beyond the "DuChamp" influences, wherein he and Marcel would get roaring drunk and produce much that is , lets say, forgettable.

farmer, I always thought that Nude Descending the Staircase was Duchamp's way of making fun of dilettantes, now I realize they were drunk. That's hilarious.

I dont know whether he was drunk when he painted "Nude" or not. Anyway, Im not sure that alcohol affects negatively, the creative process .

You're probably right, farmer. It has been said that one E.A. Poe did some of his best writing while under the influence.

Love "The Bells".

but was Poe "in the zone"?

Gardening- I start digging in the morning and the next thing I know the sun is setting and I'm sunburned with dirt under my fingernails and the kids are asking me what's for supper.

I can be there too. After a warm spring or summer rain, and the weeds are easy to pull, I can get lost just weeding and keeping the rows spotless.
Definately a zoneulating activity

That's exactly it! I think it feeds that small part of my personality that's a little obsessive compulsive-and for the same reason I like mowing the lawn. I love watching the disorder taking order.
(I also enjoy color and food and being outside- so gardening is a more interesting way for me to achieve order than cleaning, or washing my hands, or checking the iron to make sure it's turned off, etc.)

Cant say Ive ever gotten zoned by cutting the lawn. Lawns are a Victorian obsession . We have as little lawn as possible and so ou pasture fences or farm fields come dangerously close to the house, but we have a service that cherges us 45 bucks a week to do the lawn which is no bigger than 1/2 acre and includes shrubbery planting "rooms" the veggie garden, and a cutting garden. Lots of habitat plants for birds unlike my neighbor who has about 5 acres of swept lawn that he does in two criss cross passes each week. Its really a large area that he could have just as easily sprayed green.

That's true and lawns are a particularly American obsession - and I will say obsession...people want theirs to be the greenest, thickest, most luxurious looking and they study and pay for grasses, fertilizers, etc. and all at what expense to the environment...it's frightening.

That's why I liked England. Hedges formed natural fencing for farmers and their herds, and most of the grasslands were functional. People have very small lawns there- but large gardens for vegetables and flowers. There's even a movement to plant grass or some kind of green matter on rooftops to cut down on greenhouse gases.
I can get zoned talking about this stuff...

*In terms of lawns, I just meant I like the walking and watching the rows appear as you progress- vacuuming serves the same function for me- but I can't do that outside.

I've been in the zone when drawing, painting, designing, and writing; occasionally when gardening. I'd also say that has happened on very long beach walks, but I'm too aware of my physical limitations in that to make it fit the pattern..