Song of Sorrow

Eyeing the poor creature the cat had brought to her doorstep, the thought crossed her mind: There is beauty even in death.

I need to write an "I am" poem tonight

iam alive at sunset
9:41 p.m.
iam aching to capture the beauty

iam songenchanted
dizzyinlove with the sound
and the funny smile

iamimpatient
with the slow
wheniwant togofast

this is not the correct form for the poem, but I continue

iam especiallypleased
whenisee the light
in myowneye

iamconflicted
by loveanddesire
thatis poisonoustome

ihave almostescapedfrom
the danger
of u

butilingeredtoolong
andnow iam
gone

Self-portrait Wednesday

This week's self-portrait is Part 1 of a project inspired by a Traci Bunkers workshop. I haven't taken the workshop, which I'm sure would be fabulous - I was just inspired by what she did with a self-portrait photo to get started: she enlarged it in pieces so that it would fill up a 16x20 space. It's kind of amazing seeing your face so huge staring back at you from the canvas!

In Part 1 here all I have done so far is color the photo with Neo-color artist crayons, lots of purple and ochre, and green hair! I have to say again that I LOVE drawing on top of photos - it is teaching me a lot! I will continue to play with it this week and show Part 2 next Wednesday. ¡Hasta entonces!

Productivity and contemplation

Summer vacation #1 came and went in the blink of an eye. Summer camp/school preparations are in full swing, full days every day this week. And the week off was a very busy one - meeting with a lawyer, dance rehearsal for Willow, getting together with Reenie and Jacki, dance RECITAL - something going on almost every day. BUT, Sunday was a most productive day in the studio. I got the beginnings of heads on two bottle dolls, a face and hair on a cloth & clay doll, and the body parts of my first polymer clay doll. Funny thing with her arms haphazardly attached - she makes a rather interesting sculpture as such, but I think she will pull it all together eventually. Here they wait silently, wondering who they will become.

Aside from the dolls, I am also back to work on a quilt I started...five years ago? I'm excited to get all the pieces where I want them to be, but I know the work will go slowly. I also worked on this week's self-portrait, but more about that tomorrow. All in all, a wonderful day for me, even if it caused me to be exhausted the following day.

Last Friday I needed to take a package to the Space Age post office. Camera came along with me and recorded the following scenes from daily life as I made a big loop from front door, out and around, and back again. Other than some cropping and occasional highlighting of color, the photos are left undoctored, to be truer to the every day sights.

What do you see when you step out the door?

Do new friends come out to greet you?

Where does your path take you?

What do you notice?

How does your environment change as you walk farther from your door?

What is your destination?

What do you choose to notice along the way?

How do nature and industry co-exist in your environment?

What do you depend on?

How does society show its priorities?

Who needs to heed the warning signs?

When do you need to follow the rules?

When is it better to bend them, or outright break them?

Where does your community gather?

What news does your community share?

Wish you/I were here.

Do you see potential?

Are there happy surprises in your life?

Do you feel prepared?

Do you have a favorite place to go?

Is this one of your best friends?

Does reality at times seem a bit skewed?

Small details can delight.

Some individuals find it hard to contain their joy, no matter where they are.

Judging - or lusting - books for their covers.

Self-awareness.

How do you interact in this environment?

Do you see what is below you?

What is above you?

Who else will influence our perception and appreciation?

What fascinates you?

What mysteries lead you to invent?

Why do we want to control life?

Nature restored?

Is your path illuminated?

What makes sense to you?

What do you miss?

What are you grateful for?

What brings you solace?

Do you see the beauty all around you?

Self-portrait Wednesday (on Thursday - hey! I'm getting better!)

always dreaming and wondering, time to work on the doing. (funny word, "doing" - it could rhyme with boing.)

Fun day with Reenie and Jackie in Vancouver, surrounded by Reenie's fabulous fibers! D and I look forward to a full-on art date next time.

Willow's dance recital was wonderful - so many talented kids. This was the loveliest choreography yet for Willow's group, and cousin Mahina was amazing. So fun to see the growth she has achieved from her years of training.

Big plan for tomorrow: stay home! Rest...

looking for a sign, & (later) How was Your Day?

One of my dear Tinas had this amazing thing happen in the midst of her artmaking recently - click to see her post here.

It put me to thinking, "I want to see a sign, too." But haven't I been seeing the signs all around me lately? All those bumper stickers telling me to not defer my dream, to not postpone joy. A piece of advice in a quote: "Don't become good at something you don't want to do." Friends at work telling me to hurry up and open a boutique already. Invitations to participate in projects, to send my work to a magazine. Is it all right there in front of me? Do I only need to open the door and let it in?

What holds me back?

It's interesting because our theme for the summer program this year is Taking Flight, which the elementary level has interpreted as: figure out what your dreams are, and take the steps to achieve them. One of the activities we've planned is to identify the obstacles and how to overcome them. Methinks teacher needs to practice this before she teaches it! So, off to the studio I go.

Adding on, 11:06 p.m.

And what did you do today after you went to the studio? It was a perfect introverted day at home, all to myself. I never brushed my hair or put on make-up all day. I also didn't go right to the studio - I took a scalding hot bath with jasmine-scented bubble because I was so c-c-cold. Then, I worked a bit on the new journal I finished last week:

I spritzed a page with dyes over home-made stencils. I have no idea how I will blend this with images and journaling. Sometimes I think it's hard to work with pre-painted pages.

While I waited for the dyes to dry out on the porch, I cleaned up the computer, so over-loaded with images and stuff that it was about to crash. Every now and then, I also stopped to smell this heavenly rose from my sweet student Abi. Ahhh...

This, in turn, inspired me to take a few shots of my own garden roses, tropical punch,

and buttercream. (The Rose Society will frown on me for inventing my own names. But don't they fit?)

Lately I have been working through this book (click on photo to learn more about the book), so later in the day this is where I focused myself.

Here are some snippets from my encouragement page:

and a couple of details from my left-brain/right-brain page spread.

I value the author's vision and the process she leads her readers through. [Insight into lulu's head: she scores highest in the mathematics realm on iq tests, but she lives like a total right brainer - completely! Weird, huh? (Maybe it's because we didn't wear seatbelts as kids, and I did smack my head pretty hard in the back of the old station wagon...)] Anyhoo, good book! I recommend it!

BIIIIIIG yaWN! Now it is 11:46 p.m., time for beddie-bye so that I can wake up early tomorrow to pack up my classroom... :-(

But wasn't today a GREAT DAY!!!?!?!