....joy

....little bit of joy garden!

....and more joy

Behind this door is where I work and play...meditate and rock out~
I find joy here!

....more joy please

Joy …
It’s a word that stops me in my tracks. It’s never a negative….it’s every color…it’s something we are blessed to experience….

Joy...we all want it and there is plenty to go around
…it should be one of the rules of the road…everyone should experience joy as a regular part of their day.

Joy is not in things; it is in us.
~Richard Wagner

If Karma is a mix of circumstance and choice…do we....can we,create our own joy?

May your walls know joy; May every room hold laughter
and every window open to great possibility.
~Maryanne Radmacher-Hershey

The world would be a joy filled place if it was a human right
to be able to follow our dreams...

Winning is important to me, but what brings me real joy is the experience of being fully engaged in whatever I'm doing...
~Phil Jackson

joy's soul lies in the doing.
~ William Shakespeare


I have a pretty joy filled life

I experience gratitude all the time
....joy comes in small bundles as well as big ones.
There are times when I forget that….
holding out for big ones to celebrate….
ignoring the small….

I need to take joy breaks during the day….sometimes we have to seek joy out.

Stress of the goings on in the world can sometimes wipe out joy for a few days and then I have to take a news break for several weeks….the worlds in a bit of a mess…we need
more joy.
Wish I knew how to make that happen….

The most profound joy has more of gravity than of gaiety in it.
~Michel de Montaigne

Sometimes I don’t recognize the joy I’m feeling while I’m experiencing it,
it’s the looking back,
the telling of it, that brings it into full focus…

Grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of a joy you must have somebody to divide it with.
~mark Twain

Joy comes to me in whispers….I have to listen..

When all our selfish, agitating desires have been expelled from our mind, what is left is pure joy, pure spirit, of which we have been unaware for all this time.
~eknath easwaran

Things are enjoyable,...I need my stuff...(should I have more than I need?)
but it is the joyful moments of a day that I remember…..

When we break through to the deeper recesses of our consciousness,
our capacity for joy is unlimited..
~eknath easwarn

Just imagine..unlimited joy…wow!

.....California Fiber Artists @ Arts Visalia

Friend and fabulous artist and teacher Lura Shwartz Smith....
this is the woman who against all odds,
drew enough helpers to put together the Peace Mandala, or thangka, I blogged about several months ago...
Our portion was of the Buddha sitting under the bohdi tree....
I was a leaf maker...there were a lot of leaves
We had one month to put together 36 - 3' x 4' panels, which when joined together was 18' x 25' and the only way we could really view it was to take it to the local telephone company and hang it from their roof.
It was part of a world wide effort to create the life of Buddha in a thangka....
It was an incredible experience.

The other doll artist in our group is janet Coshow....
I love this wonderful figure!

Me and my Walk on the Wild Side Shaman

Me with Maiden and Mother...
Crone didn't get to come...

......cfa member Sherry Kleinman, Kevin Bowman ~ arts visalia curator and a very nice man, CfA member Benita Dodge, Lura and me... Sherry and Benita both traveled for 3 hours to get to the gallery... one from the north and one from the south. We are standing in front of Benita's gorgeous piece. It was so nice to meet California Fiber Artists members...for the most part we only know each other via our yahoo group. The reception was very well attended and the gallery looked fabulous. I have more photos to post later...

.......something we can do

We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors,
we borrow it from our children.

To find out more about Blog Action Day, or to participate in this annual event, go here: http://www.blogactionday.org/.

I am honored to receive this award from
Sue Barton @ Barton Originals...
she creates the most amazing dolls...
.and shares inspiration
worth a visit for sure...
Thank you Sue for thinking of me!!

This award arrives with some rules:

1. Thank the person who gave this to you.

2. Copy the logo and place it in your blog.

3. Link the person who nominated you.

4. Name 7 things about yourself that no one would really know.

5. Nominate seven 'Kreativ Bloggers'

6. Post links to the seven blogs you nominate

7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know you nominated them.

So, seven things about me that you might not know...

1. I'm a bibliophile
2. I'm a jason Mraz & john Mayer groupie
3. I was a card reader for the Physic Readers Network before I realized that we were mostly taking money from people who could least afford it...but it was a very interesting gig!
4. My guilty pleasure is Gossip Girl on dvd
5. I love Alice Hoffman...favorite,
Illumination Nights
6. I wish I could paint
7. I lived in a tepee in Desolation Valley near Lake Tahoe

Seven blog I enjoy and want to share this award with...

Mixed Messages
Beside the Quiet Voices
Anita Stoll Pastels Sublime
Lynne Hoppe Heart & Life
Trinity Heart Studio
Reflections of a Ramblin Girl
Angela Recada

enjoy

.....Layer Upon Layer

This is where I'll be tonight...the artist reception is from 6 ~ 8 pm.....
I'm honored to be part of this group of fabulous fiber artists...
actually it's a little intimidating.
I'm really looking forward to seeing their work in person.
It's the first show that I've been a part of that is close enough for me to attend.

Arts Visalia is a beautiful gallery
and they really give their artist wonderful receptions...
good food and well attended....so I'm excited!

If any of you are attending please make sure to say hi...I want to meet you!!!

....poor Mother Moon

Well, we've bombed Mother Moon....
but as someone pointed out to me, "We've been bombing Mother Earth for years
so what's the problem?"

......why'd they leave?

I lost a follower...

Now first let me say I'm not losing sleep over this but I wonder why?
I've read a lot of blogs where the authors say they don't care about followers...
and this is something I don't understand.
If you're writing a public blog it would seem to me that you want people to stop
by and read it..
...maybe even look forward to what you will post next.

Anyway, I care. I want followers..

.

I write to share what's going on in my life and what I think about the world around me.
I like the connection. I like comments.

So I wonder what I did wrong?...
One day I have 48 much loved followers and the next 47
...where did he/she go?
Maybe they were just downsizing their list of blogs to follow and
I was the least interesting?

Or maybe I offended someone...
I really don't want to do that
...I'd like to think that my followers are an open minded group of people who enjoy my Spirit Figures and should I touch upon something they might not agree with we could talk.
My blog isn't particularly political...
yes, I'm anti-war and pro-peace...shouldn't we all be?
I think children should be protected, but don't we all?
I don't mind sharing about Plastic Soup and other such horrors,
you want to know, don't you?

So why did I get dumped?

Do you think they might still sneak back every now and then to see if I improve
my writing or photography or my figures?

eeck!
Maybe they didn't like my figures...now that might cause me some lost sleep.
They are so personal...geez...I hadn't thought about that.

Well, if you're still reading and just not following...
your absence has been noted, you've been missed...

and to those of you who still follow,
thank you for hanging in with me.

......the joy of it all

Ready for company

The Artists...Ellen, Valerie & Kathleen

......browsers & buyers For the most part we were too busy to take many pictures.
People came steadily from 10am - 6pm on Saturday...
with a bit of a slower start on Sunday... .they came in twos and in 20's.....
nice people.
Many left with art, many came to talk about what we do and why we do it.
We had people sign up for workshops,
. We had a couple come with a video camera....
they were hoping to make it to see all 80 something artist and film a little of each talking about their art,
a photographer from an area newspaper came and took loads of pictures...

we talked and talked and laughed....

...we laughed a lot!

Kathleen and I having a 'dueling blogger' moment...

...Maria, a dear friend and mentor

My studio was graced with goddesses

....bettina and kimee reading tarot cards and being silly

.
...we had a lot of friends come by....

....Ellen with one of her fabulous ceramic pieces...
She brought it Sunday morning. As soon as I saw this wonderful face I felt a strong connection to her. I didn't do anything about it...
at about 3pm a couple fell in love with Ellen's magical pieces and they were buying... when the woman picked this one up my heart actually skipped a beat...
I was so grateful she put it back down, I thought I might have to fight her for it..... ......it is so full of Ellen's uniquely wonderful creative energy..
She will hang in my studio of course..
it's where I spend much of my time and looking at her is inspiring...

trails 09 is past....
so many days to get ready and over so quickly.
I want to thank those of you who came by to see us and our offerings...
you're what makes the weekend memorable for us.

......one more day and I'll be ready

I do enjoy being part of Sierra Art Trails, but it's a lot of getting ready....

....but I'm almost there.......
the mess is less

This is another of the 'celebrate' figure...

I hope to get a better photo of Lakshmi above,
I really love her....of course I love them all...
although she is a Hindu goddess I made little prayer flags for her each with it's own mantra...
.one for abundance, one for peace, and bliss, bliss, bliss.....
She is wearing an om mani padme pendant, the symbol for compassion....and she is dressed in katas, scarves that indicate good intentions.

Must go fall in to bed now....
tomorrow will be another very busy day....

....almost ready

One of a series I'm calling, 'celebrate!"......
she's ready for company!

The Art Bomb Explosion.....I had to stop and clean up......I could no longer find space to work...isn't it awful? Geez!

The Empress waits...

A little Christmas Spirit!

......no denying her spirit

Valerie Runningwolf will also be sharing a space with me during Sierra Art Trails....
I remember the first time I saw her work, I loved it....
the second time I begged her to jury into Timberline Gallery.....so I could see her wonderful, heartfelt work on a regular basis....
but also because I wanted her for a friend.

She brings to mind ancient times.....there is wisdom in her work......
she explores both spirit and material.

.....our Diva of Words and Color

My friend, and mixed medium artist artist Kathleen Mattox, will be showing with me at my studio for Sierra Art Trails, our area open studio event this weekend...I'm not ready.......she says, 'come see some new work, older work and one of a kind pieces plus Show Day Specials'.....I can't wait...I'll have those things too.

I've loved her work since first look..
She is the Queen of Color and Words.....

Her work is joyful....like she is....

If you can, come see us.

........artists reception and butterflys

Me and Peace Seeds at Sierra Art Trails artist reception....

For the life of me I can not remember what it was we were laughing at....

Art receptions are always kind of outer body for me....
I get nervous, butterflies in my tummy....
It's all very high school....
the, 'do I belong' thing.....
and then of course it's the do they like my Spirit Figures? Parties and group things tend to leave me feeling a bit off center.... most of my life I've felt like I'm the odd one and everyone else fits in.... gatherings always bring up old feelings.... but I am coming to realize that almost everyone feels the same way... they don't necessarily know any more about fitting in than I do...
I think this may be especially true of artists... we prefer to speak through our art.

All that said...the reception was a lot of fun...
good food, good music, good people and great art!
The show runs through next Sunday, art trails weekend. It's an opportunity for people to see one representative piece from each of the 90 or so artist participating in trails....Visiting the gallery is a good way to map out the artist
studios they would most enjoy visiting.

I'm hoping to see some of you at mine.
Ellen Carnese
Kathleen Mattox
and
Valerie Runningwolf
will be showing with me.