Mystical Hummingbird

Since I have been healing from a sprained ankle I have had time to upload images to www.saatchionline.com where prints are now available. I have had requests for older works and now I can say they are available. My style continues to become more loose and that is my continuing goal in future paintings.

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INSPIRATION

I want to share with you a great source of inspiration. "Works + Conversation" is a magazine started by Richard Whittaker that provides probing in-depth inerviews of artists and original spirits. It is advertising free. When I first began to receive the magazine I was so impressed I sent a card of appreciation off to the editor and a hand written note came back. How many times in this day and age does that happen? Now all the past interviews are available online through the website www.conversations.org Richard took the unorthodox step to turn subscriptions to the magazine into a gift-economy experiment which is a radical idea in our culture. All I can say is that when this publication arrives at my door I cannot wait to delve into it.

GANESH

Ganesh is one of my favorite Hindu Gods. He is referred to as the "Remover of Obstacles". As an artist I feel Ganesh should be our patron saint. The art journey can be one of many obstacles both inner and outer and getting rid of them is a constant battle.

I thought it might be of interest to see an old reference photo that I used in doing one of the past mercado paintings. By using a snapshot I am able to go back to the experience of standing in that place and more accurately drawing from it. What creates a better story though are the feelings I bring into the painting. When working on a painting I love different things at different times. The lady in the lower right hand corner with the yellow sweater and red scarf had a beautiful face and was rather tickled that I was taking a photo of the mercado. The beautiful white fabric draped in the basket represents such elegance to me. As I am painting each person I really wonder about who they are, what goes on in their lives and where are they now?

"The best thing a human can do in life is to get rid of his separateness or selfness and hand himself over to the nature of things- to this mysterious thing called the Universal Order, that an artist must sense. To put yourself in the way of that thing so that you become a vehicle of it - that will be your only merit - to put yourself in the way." Will Henry Stevens

Silk Velvets are Ready for Fall -Winter Season

Cooler weather has arrived earlier than I expected and my fabric painting for the season has come to a close. I set out to create double sided velvet scarves insired by Rothkos' paintings and when I picked up the finished pieces from the seamstress I momentarily had the urge to keep every one. They are delecious!

Now marketing them to boutiques.There is a limited quantity so my Etsy store plan may or may not happen this year. The blessing and curse of creativity are the number of ideas you can spawn without enough time in the day to do all you dream of. The fear of creativity is running out of ideas. The decision comes down to the question "Which ideas are worth putting into action?"

SACRED ART & CEREMONY

Tibetan Monks of the Gaden Shartse Monastery were in town this past week and spent several days creating a sacred sand painting. The Green Tara is a female deity known as the "Mother of all Buddhas" because she embodies wisdom. To honor the impermanence of life this artwork is destroyed after it is completed.

Watching as the mandala is blessed, they circumambulate the sand mandala sliding a finger from one side of the circle into the center destroying what took days to create. Watching the dissolution brought to mind the death of a well lived life and reminds one of what is lost with the passing of a soul from this physical world.

The sand is swept into a pile and shared with those present. Remaining sand is placed in a river to spread blessings for all. The sand you receive can be spread about the house in a blessing, placed on an altar or held until one's death to be placed on the top of the head for a blessing during your own transition from the physical body.

ART & INTENTION

Art & Intention

Ritual and prayer function as the curtain between myself and the mundane world of petty distractions. When I enter the studio I am mindful to recognize it as sacred space. It is my sanctuary for extracting the best part of who I am and putting it into my work.

Before I begin working I stop and examine how I'm feeling emotionally. If I need to I will journal to purge the trashbin of my mind or meditate to center myself in stillness. After those exercises I burn sage and invoke the 7 sacred directions ( East, South,West, North, Above, Below & Within). I ask for guidance "Please help me to join my heart and my hand and bring what is most authentic into this work. It is my greatest intent for this to bring joy, insights, healing and beauty to those who look upon it."

In entering this state of absolute "mindful presence" I allow the dross of the day to settle outside the sanctum of the studio as I enter into communion with my spirit, the paint and the subject I am engaging. The process is a reminder of my purpose in making art. I am offering a gift from my spirit to the external world.

One Million Bones project

Last Saturday I participated in the One Million Bones project. The intention of this piece is to raise awareness of the mass atrocities occuring in the Sudan, Congo & Burma. Each bone has been made by artists, students and social activists out of clay or other materials. This particular installation only had 50,000 bones. The end goal of this project is to collect a million and install them in Washington, D.C. in 2013. There were about 140 people participating in the laying down of the bones as well as the collecting of them after the piece was finished. The mind behind the project is Naomi Natale. It was her wish that as each person placed bones down they thought about them as if they were real bones. What this resulted in was a feeling of tremendous emotional weight around this project that packed a wallop. It was a honor to be a part of this first step in a huge project. More bones will be made towards the future goal and people are always needed to participate. One Million Bones is on Facebook and you can probably find a bone making event where you are or start your own.

Retrieving Memory

My friend Cheater Bella got me up inthe air again yesterday. Each moment of living is an opportunity to observe the self. This past year and a half I've learned about the mind body connection on a deeper level in the process of reprogramming after experiencing PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder).

So much of flying involves layers of information taken in through the senses and the brain. Yesterday I experienced the retrieval of these memories. In the beginning it is a tremendous amount to learn but because it is built up on so many layers of "experiencing" the knowledge becomes embedded quite deep.

Cheater works with animals, particularly those that have been damaged. I have also worked with dogs I have rescued. Because animals cannot talk the only way to gather an understanding of what is happening to them is through observation and tapping into your own instinctual knowledge. This all feeds into a deeper understanding of humans. Yesterday Cheater spoke of all these layers of memory. He certainly would have come to this in his work with animals. Because they live more in their bodies than we do and are not so distracted by the constant flow of the thinking mind it is easier to see how they store knowledge in their body mind connection. We store it the same way, be it bad, in the case of trauma or good in the knowledge of a skill.

Pain and suffering are opportunities born in desperation to open the mind and try new things. In my healing journey I began using essential plant oils. After suffering from headaches brought on by the head injury I found that the application of particular plant oils could relieve my pain and that made a believer out of me. In a class I attended by Dana Young, he mentioned that if you are trying to learn something new you could apply Rosemary oil to the third eye area of the forehead. When you needed to recall that information, apply the oil. BodyBrain connection. The more senses you engage, layering associated knowledge, the better you will be able to recall what you've learned.

The simultaneous use of physical input can also be used in meditation to reach a calm state of mind. The more techniques ( focused breathing, chanting, visualization) that are employed at one time, the faster you can stop the barrage of thoughts and reach a zen state.

I have accumulated this knowledge as a dancer,psychology major, pilot, artist, journalist and meditator. In the experience of healing from PTSD I've certainly had to employ every ounce of knowledge I have acquired to this point. This crisis has taught me so much and continues to do so.

Chris Guillebeau, author of "The Art of Non-Conformity" recommends "When faced with uncertainty-take the leap of faith. You'll regret the things you didn't do much more than anything you did." ChrisGuillebeau.com

Fear & The Creative Process

Creating on an authentic level involves encountering fears. The fear of bringing out something which isn't good enough and the fear of making mistakes are just a few. Fear is an "inhibitor" whether it rears its ugly head in the studio or in life. Sometimes I think my own fear can manifest as procrastination. Krista Kozel is a fearless artist. She never hesitates to jump right into a project. I had put off painting the door into a storage space here at home when Krista blasted me out of my intertia and we did a "tag team" paint process . It was terrific fun! Having a partner can indeed help get you going.

In order to dig deep and find the riches of the soul you have to push past fear. What are you afraid of? How long has it been since you tried something new?

Spencer Tunick Photograph

This week I watched a great documentary on Netflix: Naked States. It follows art photographer Spencer Tunick as he goes across the United States photographing people nude. It is inspiring because of his persistence in achieving this goal and the open hearts of people willing to help him in this endeavor. You can also google him to see more of his great photography.

Inspirations

On this creative journey it is vital to be inspired. I do this through the works of other artists, nature,travel, books, films and the support of my tribe. That's YOU GUYS READING THIS along with art lovers who buy my originals and prints and atttend art openings.

For several years now I've wanted to do a mosaic on the table we've used outside. Finally! it is underway...a big sunflower. Finding tiles has been a challenge as the world is going the way of beige! Have resorted to smashing up plates which in the end will make it far more interesting anyway. The term for such a practise is called "pique assiette" ( The Mosaic Handbook by Sarah Kelly)

Batch of Velvet

The first batch of velvet scarves are hanging out to dry. I will be taking photos soon of the stages a scarf goes through in this process.

Previously I had photographed this work when I was working on it. I had started this work for the Xochimilco show. It is based on the Aztec belief that when a woman dies giving birth her spirit is carried to the after world in the form of a butterfly. Before my show I was in a car crash and the painting came to a halt. I returned to this piece after my own healing and transformation and it became an incredibly personal work. Finally it is complete.

This is a sample of what the painted velvet becomes after going through all the process of painting and steam setting the fabric. Each piece is one of a kind. I have had tremendous feedback from the women who wear these scarves. One warning though, don't take one off and leave it on a chair for a moment in a cafe or restaurant because they disappear quite quickly from what I have been told. I can only make so many at a time so look after your velvet once you get one!

2011 Happenings

Summer Art : When the studio starts to heat up I usually take a break from regular painting and produce silk vevlet to sell. This picture was taken last year in the garage. The burnout velvet arrives as white yardage and after mixing the silk paints it is stretched onto saw horses and several beautiful colors are used for each piece. This year I am producing a variety of scarves that will be up for sale in the fall season. The handpainted scarves will also be for sale in my Etsy store so stay on the lookout for that very soon.

Stand By Me | Playing For Change | Song Around the World

Enjoy!

Belly dance Aziza music, mix Egyptian dancers by Rotana Zaman

T

My art journals exist for my own pleasure but have decided to share.

This painting is about transformation. Unfortunately I destroyed it but am considering going back and re creating it or at least approaching it again. As I work I take photos and now looking back I regret destroying it in my Kali moment. Tormented Creativity! But here it is to think about.