Bodhisartva ..... Art/Spirit/Life

Are you there?

So.  I'm sitting here in the studio, so called, listening to the washer and dryer in the attached laundry room.  It's a kind of nice white noise surprisingly.  Like the washer, I am feeling agitated.  And like the clothes in the dryer...tumbled.

What are these moods that seize us?  You suddenly slip your moorings and float out into a foggy and silent lake of still water and you are lost.

I know I'm not alone; I feel safe in stating that you've felt this too.  I'm the most blessed of creatures and quite happy actually.  And yet.

I told my wonderful husband yesterday that I was trying to find the me I used to be.  I remember what she looked like, but it's hard to remember how she felt.  I just know she felt different.  Happier.  Sillier.  Unburdened.  The day to day is a weight on my shoulders and a fog on my brain. 

I have Monday off of work and plan to just play in the art supplies and see if I can find her. 

My mother (stop me if you've heard this story) told me when she was in her 60's that she stood in front of the bathroom mirror sometimes.  She peered closely into the eyes of her reflection and whispered, (softly now) "Are you still in there?".  Lord help me, I did not know what she meant.  Now I do.  Heeellllooooo.......are you there?

Be At Peace

Well, not to belabor this topic, especially when I said I wouldn't...

I took an amazing class with the remarkable L.K. Ludwig and this is what resulted.  It was such a joy to just go with my true colors and accept what is real for me.  I keep trying to "break out", but I think I have to accept that this is where I live.

The frame at the top, with the golden lotus, is a piece of joss paper tucked behind a hundred and twenty year old frame and glass. I found a whole box of these at a flea market.  They're the type that usually are found around tintypes.  At the bottom is an etched piece of brass mesh, mounted inside a copper tape frame. The two "danglies" are tibetan pieces I found on a trip to New York - there's a great shop in St Mark's Place.

I know, I know, my photo skills are horrendous.  I'll get better, I promise.

Journals and More Books

This beat up old thing has been with me for years and yet it is still not full.  At the time I made it, I felt it was too, too precious to make even one mark inside.  So, I brought it to a class with Juliana Coles, determined to initiate it.

Well, if you know Juliana, you know that she is fearless and YOU have to be fearless in her classes.  So, I cut and taped and painted and waxed and semi-destroyed some of it.  The book is not longer "precious" in it's original sense.  Now, it is precious to me because of it's content and because it represents a time when I took chances and stepped way outside my comfort zone.

Thank you, Juliana!  Your workshops have changed my life and reinforced my truth.
Now, if any of you have heard rumors about Juliana's classes - turn a deaf ear.  She's not that scary-honest!  She's heading down the Nile next and that's not a trip I can take.  But here's what's coming up for her and you should join.

Books, Books, Books

I've been blah-blahing for awhile now about this and that and the other thing and completely avoiding the main purpose of this blog, which is to share ART.

So, I figured it's time to post some of the things I do, despite the fact that I am a better artist than photographer.  Bear with me here.

I do this and that....but I REALLY love bookbinding and working in books.

This is a portion of the books I've made and I promise...really...not to go through every one of them, one at a time, until you decide to never come back here again.

But here are some in a theme that I am currently completing.  The cover is spackle over burlap and takes some effort, so I made a bunch of sheets, let them dry and did a few books at once.  One is missing because I just gave it to my friend Vivian and did not take a picture first.  See, I have a lot to learn about photography....like doing it!

I had been binding for a while before I started these.  The fun part was learning new techniques to add to my toolkit.  I was forced to become comfortable with my dremel, and that was a good thing.  Of course, I've since taken Keith Lo Bue's "Tools" class and almost actually know what I am doing now.  (It still scares me, though...shhhh...).

These books also include encaustic wax, another thing I love.  You can get such wonderful effects over paper, tissue and photos.  For this project, the wax is over the broken up and painted spackle on the covers.  I learned this technique in a class with the incredibly generous and organized Lisa Renner, part of the "True Colors" team.  

Finally...the Valentine's

I am so sure this was not worth waiting for, but I promised I would share them, so here we go.The ingredients.

The tag....

The finished gift.

I made 36 of these for a valentine exchange on Sunday. 

It was a challenge, but the fun part was getting BACK valentines from so many talented people.

 Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine Hint

OK, I can't show the valentines because I haven't distributed them yet. But here is a hint.  In fact, these aren't going out until Sunday, so you'll just have to be patient.

Valentine Overload!

Is this heaven, or what?

I was blessed to be included by Carol Parks in her Valentine Art Soiree and my mind is still boggled.  This is the table that awaited us - we got to pick one of these boxes and all the goodies surrounding it.  It was an explosion of pink!  And red!  And every shade related to them.

Kaari Meng, who was there, recently listed the many versions of white - must be a hundred or more.  Well, Sunday, Carol must have sprinkled as many pinks and reds around her home. We didn't stop to name them, though.  Perhaps that was a missed opportunity.

It was a joy to see Amy Hanna (who has a new book coming out!) and to finally meet Pam Garrison.  My photos are all blurred but I did get this one of Amy.  Too bad she's such an unhappy person, don't you think?  I mean, look at her - I wish she would learn to smile occasionally.  I wonder if her cheeks hurt?

Back at home, I'm having my own blushing explosion.

 

I will be very tired of pink by Saturday. But, I love Valentine's Day!

It's a Wonderful Life

Yes. It is.

It's also the theme of my husband's 50th Birthday Party.  Now, there is a reason for this and I won't bore you with the entire story, but he IS George Bailey. Ask anyone.  And, for reasons of his own that continue to mystify me, he thinks I am Mary Hatch.  I was NEVER that good (or that lovely - sheesh, Donna Reed, for Pete's sake)! (or, Petey's sake - a little inside humor for you IWL fans.)

We are, however, making over the old Granville place.  And, we do sing Buffalo Gals occasionally.  Mostly, however, I say, "George Bailey, I'll love you til the day I die".  And mostly, he says, "Heeeyyy, Mary...."

Here's the sign in our room to prove it.

And the picture he made for one of my birthdays.

And, there's more, but that's all you get for now.

Creative Play

My studio became the wrapping station in the lead up to Christmas. I feel that I'm only just now getting back into it - just in time for Valentine's Day!

But now, I have cleaned it all up (sort of) and my daughter KT and I have been making jewelry.  We dug through my stash of things and she picked out bits and pieces that appealed to her.  It was fun to see everything from a different perspective.  For instance, I usually work in copper or silver; she prefers "gold".

Here is what we ended up with.  She decided she wanted something hanging from the front and the back.  The medal on the front is Our Lady of Guadalupe, given to me by a friend's mother.

I really need photography lessons.

It's SPRING!

Oh, alright, it's NOT.  Sorry to lead you astray, especially you folks in the Midwest and East Coast.  OK, OK, I apologize already..

But, we can all have spring if we plan a bit.  Even in Southern California, I force bulbs to bloom (ooo, that sounds so mean :-( ).  If you haven't tried it, you should. Very satisfying.

Amaryllis.  I get suckered in every time.  I have a whole family of paper bags in a dark spot on the porch, waiting for last year's bulbs to start to grow again.  At this rate, they'll be blooming in June!

Paperwhites...just getting started.  I read that if you add some rubbing alcohol to the water, the stems will not get so tall and floppy.  Seems to be working so far.

 

That's a hyacinth on the shelf; wish you could smell it!  I've forced crocus and tulips as well, but they were a little more persnickity and I didn't try a third time. 

Now, I'm sure Mrs. Blossom can give me some advice - yes?