Whereas music has played a major role in Randy Demmon's life on a relatively constant level his interest in and activity in the fields of visual art and writing has been more sporadic. Much of the sketching and writing he has produced was done while he was travelling or on tour with "the Band". Samples of his artwork are included here to provide another perspective of the person, his interests and abilities and possibly to prod him into becoming more active as an artist. The forementioned book of animal stories titled "The Bear That Wasn't There" is one of several writing projects he has started and intends to complete "sometime soon".

Randy Demmon writes: I've had a somewhat elementary concept of the creative process in mind for quite some time now. It is my own but it wouldn't surprise me if it's the kind of thing someone else thought of long before I did. I find it useful to visualize the creative process as a circle. The circle begins at some point with an idea, some sort of inspiration or when you're asked to undertake a project. As you begin to work out your ideas you engage in the creative process. Although it doesn't necessarily indicate the diversions, setbacks or nuances one encounters along the way, the creative circle provides a rough indication of your progress. At a certain point in the process you may have a pretty good idea where things are going and what they're going to look or sound like when they're completed. In the past, it was often at this point when I would move onto something else. Of course, the creative process doesn't actually end there and isn't complete if you stop at this stage. When you have something tangible in hand that you and those around you can see or hear, you're getting closer to completing the creative circle. Even after you place tangible output in a forum where it is subject to the assessment and evaluation of others, however, there is still more to be done. The second part of the creative process is the more difficult one for me and I suspect that is the case for most artists. The editing, rewriting, reharmonizing, revisiting and compromise is hard, time consuming work that never seems to end. On countless occasions after having started the creative circle with worthwhile thoughts and ideas I have bailed out in these critical later stages. The problem is that as incomplete projects begin to pile up they tend to clutter not only your physical space but also your mind, and at a certain point they can interfere with your ability to get anything done. The work I'm involved in now has to do with moving forward while attempting to make some sense of the half completed circles and to put them in some semblance of order. It's a slow process which I'm intent on seeing through.

Two old cars in a field near Slave Lake