ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY - Broken

Wallow

Ten for Tuesday

10 Great Things About Autumn

1. Crisp air
2. Great sleeping weather
3. Beautiful leaves changing colors
4. The sound of leaves rustling in the trees and on the ground on a windy day
5. Thanksgiving
6. Wool sweaters
7. Cuddling under heavy blankets
8. Cool weather camping
9. Hiking with good air and good views
10. Change feels right

Ten on Tuesday

Rosa Parks

Each person must live their life as a model for others.
~Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks, one of the, if not THE most important symbols and people involved in the Civil Right s movement, died last night at age 92. We should all strive to have some of the bravery, resolve and strength that she exhibited throughout her life.

Photo from Montgomery Advertiser, via Associated Press

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY: Remote

I haven't posted for Illustration Friday in a while, but here's one for this week!

Romance

Did this last night (well, finished it up this morning) for someone who wanted to frame a wedding invitation to give to the new couple as part of their wedding gift.

Self Portrait Tuesday

Risk Saturday!

Besides the endless, relentless rain this past weekend was pretty darned great. Took us 11 hours to get to VT on Friday night! Whew! Saturday went to the open house at Goddard. I loved it! I was pulled in as soon as people started speaking about their experiences there and why they decided to go and what they were doing at Goddard. It was so great! Finding your voice and expressing yourself while balancing community and responsibility for self and global responsibility and free thinking and I'm simplifying it, but it was just excellent and I want to go there!

Saturday went down to Chatham, NY and here are some pictures from the night. Risk was in full effect. :) Thanks Marls (some of these are her pics)!

Erich and I doing...I'm not sure what...

Marly...quite in game mode.

A little prayer for the battle?

It sucks to go out first in Risk! You end up sitting around, drinking tequila and beer, and taking a million photos - of the neverending game.

For the record, I believe everyone quit the game by 6 am.... and there was no winner.

Monday arrived...

The wind hit me and I felt complete

Felt the peace stream into my body

Felt it slither into my heart and my mind

Not a slow slinky slithering...

It washed into me quickly and relentlessly

In goodness…a clearing out of sorts.

And then Monday arrived.

10 Things in the Day

10 Things I Would Like to Do Every Day:

1. Get 8 hours of sleep
2. Spend at least one hour (minimum!!!) doing something creative
3. Do something out of the ordinary and not in my normal routine
4. Do yoga (maybe not EVERY day)
5. Listen to great music
6. Be inspired
7. Take responsibility for my actions that affect the world – which is most (people, environment, etc.)
8. Drive less
9. Have an interesting conversation
10. Enjoy a bit of nature

Write your future self an email... Check out this cool site: http://www.futureme.org/

Today I am feeling:

• Overwhelmed
• Tired
• Inspired
• Excited
• Curious
• Rebellious
• Full
  

And a question...

...to consider...

What part of you is trying to reveal itself?

Your Masterpiece

"If you go to your grave
without painting
your masterpiece,
it will not
get painted.
No one else
can paint it.
Only you.
—Gordon MacKenzie,
Orbiting the Giant Hairball

Wolfli

I'm reading "The Art of Adolf Wolfli" and soaking it in and eating up the pretty amazing art. Similar to Henry Darger (http://www.realmsoftheunreal.com/) he was a "self-taught" (Art Brut) artist, and psychotic in some way (diagnosed schizophrenic). Anyway, some good stuff. He spent his later life, from the age of 31 until his death at age 66, in a mental asylum. He created 25,000 pages of illustrations, text, music. You can see a few of his pieces here:

http://www.inmostra.net/ccs/wolfli/immagini.html

Disclaimer: He was put in an institution after being caught (for the third time I believe) attempting to molest a girl which I'm not in any way condoning or anything of the sort but can't ignore his art.

Colors for Today

Snow crunching

Gloomy morning and I know the days are getting shorter. Soon it will be dark by the time I am home from work. Always a transition that I dread... but that also means that soon comes that one cold night - the first snow - when I walk in the silent stillness that the flakes bring and I can only hear shoes crunching in the snow and a silver glistening shawl covers the white and there is complete peace in that moment. The occasional car tires can't break the peace; only add a bit of extra texture to the moment.

If you haven't heard Jolie Holland, please check her out. My brother Brody gave me a copy and it's fabulous. I have it stuck on repeat right now. Blues, jazz, folk. Great lyrics, phenomenal voice. Listening to her makes me feel like I am alternating...from a dark, smoky bar with a beer in my hand (and hers) to a front porch in the country, sitting on rockers while she plays and sings... sort of a dirty (dirt as soil as down-to-earth goodness) bliss if that makes any sense.

Escape

Another new post. Yes, I guess lots going through my mind today...
Mentoring in a bit. Feel like I don't have much to offer today though...

The Invitation

By Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.

I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare
to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are. I want to know
if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dreams,
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own
sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have
become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own,
without moving to hide or fade it or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy, mine your own:
if you can dance with the wildness and let the ecstasy
fill you to the finger and toes without cautioning us
to be careful, be realistic, or to remember the limitations
of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint others to be true to
yourself: if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and
not betray your own soul.

I want to know if you can be faithless
and therefore be trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see the beauty even when it
is not pretty every day, and if you can source your life
from Its presence.

I want to know if you can live with failure,
yours and mine, and still stand on the edge
of the lake and shout to the silver
of the full moon, "Yes!"

It doesn't interest me to know where you live,
or how much money you have. I want to know
if you can get up after the night of grief and
despair, weary and bruised to the bone,
and do what needs to be done for the children.

It doesn't interest me who you are,
or how you came to be here,
I want to know if you will stand in
the center of the fire with me and not
shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or
with whom you have studied. I want to know
what sustains you from the inside when
all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself,
and if you truly like the company you keep
in the empty moments.

I just started reading her book, The Dance....
I like what I've read so far and "The Invitation" has got to be one of my favorite poems. It's yummy and real.

The Real Work

The Real Work

It may be that when we no longer know what to do we have come to our real work.
and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.

-Wendel Berry

Dreamscape

So many interesting thoughts and ideas, imaginations at work creating sweet vast wicked worlds.
Ideas tumbling through our minds and brightening our dreamscapes.
Yet we don't discuss it and we walk blindly ignoring the secrets, ideas, and dreams that we all want to share.
And we sleep in our cocoons and work our lives away while our insides melt and fade away.

Security black hole

Trying to stay calm
amidst the rubble around me
and inside me.
The path that I leave behind me.
Embraced by it
Sucked inside
the swirling energy
that makes my hands shake
and presses at my chest
until I can barely breathe.
Decisions dance around me
and laugh in my face.
And the faces of people
become blurry and dark
as I scrutizine the walls between us.
Security and time
implode into a small black hole
that can suck it all up.
If I let it.

Art on the Avenue

Here are some photos from this weekend.
:)

Kerilyn & I at our kick-ass table!
And some of my stuff:

Mid-eastern decoupage mirror.

Mucha decoupage mirror
Van Gogh decoupage mirror

Mini shrines to dreams and believing

And one of our tables!

Art day

What distinguishes the artist from the dilettante? Only the pain the artist feels. The dilettante looks only for pleasure in art.
-Odilon Redon

I participated in Art in the Avenue this weekend, thanks to my friend Kerilyn who signed us up!

What a day! Walking in with our stuff in the morning, searching for our spot, I had the feeling that I wanted to give it up and not even do it anymore. Intimidating feeling it was…walking past all of the people with huge installations and TONS of great stuff! With my heart beating fast and my spirit dropping, I kept walking, trying to ignore the people with more photos and better frames and crazy cool installations and beautiful paintings. I noticed it all and then put all of my energy into setting up our table and getting ready for the crowds of people who would be passing by that day.

Well, it went better than I had ever expected! It was so great to see that people really were enjoying my work and wanted to own it. Wow! Very cool feeling. I sold my frames and had someone ask me if I did commission work. “Uh….(pause). Yeah. Sure I do!” I replied, doing a humungous dance in my mind. I needed this affirmation of my work more than I even realized. It motivated me to do more and made me realize, finally, that maybe my stuff isn’t as crappy as I sometimes tend to think.

There were lots of ups and downs to the day and in some ways lots of weirdness associated with it but I am just happy to have done it and to have been able to see people admiring things that I made and I can’t wait to do it again!

Of course, with the ups come the downs, and now I just feel drained and exhausted and sad. Immense tiredness and coming off of the wave lead to crankiness and moody words. Excitement ended up in guilt. It sucks that this wonderful thing had to end like this for me but I’m going to just hang on to those words “Do you do commission-based work?” and the love and encouragement I've received and smile.

Huge big great thanks to Kerilyn for getting the table and for inviting me to share this day and thanks to Dave for the help with various tasks and the support and love and the other people who’ve helped and inspired and pushed!

Check out this site I came across. I love it! It all gives me this weird uncomfortable feeling which is usually a good thing as long as it's not some emotional relationship thing....

http://www.photomontage.com/#

Search for Self

Search For Self Called Off After 38 Years

CHICAGO—The longtime search for self conducted by area man Andrew Speth was called off this week, the 38-year-old said Monday.

Speth sets out on a new life, moments after announcing the end of his search.

"I always thought that if I kept searching and exploring, I'd discover who I truly was," said Speth from his Wrigleyville efficiency.

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