...a Christmas wish

love and light...

...how could we navigate this journey without our friends?

I've posted this before...this song...I love it..

so here it is again...

I hope you like it....

...truly, what would I do with out my friends?

...you put up with my stuff, my moodiness, my ditziness, you remind me where I'm supposed to be, cheer me when I'm down or doubtful, make me laugh and cry...
you share your stories...I love your stories...you encourage and inspire...

I am truly blessed in my journey to have you...xoxo 

Thank you...many blessings, love and light...laughter,

 yes, wishing you laughter..

.hug, hug

..tis the season

Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love!  

Publish Post

--  Hamilton Wright Mabie

...kpfa, spirit figures and me

Kpfa Craft Fair.... journey....

With my friend, and co-exhibitor Valerie Runningwolf bravely behind the wheel of a really big monster cargo van...really BIG....we headed for San Francisco to participate in the two day KPFA 40th Annual Crafts Fair...

as we left Clovis, where Valerie lives I noticed this...and wondered if it was an omen?

I didn't take many pictures that were good but I  like this one crossing over the Bay Bridge into the City..

And this billboard, I love this billboard...
it overlooked the parking lot at the Concourse and a friend sent me this photo..
isn't it beautiful?....they were so talented, everyone knows their amazing music..
their music is in the background of my life...
and at one time or other I had a crush on each of them....except Ringo,
 he was just a little to silly.
I miss George and john....I saw Paul in concert not too long ago and it was wonderful, but the 4 together.....truly magic...and the magic lives on...very cool.

We arrived for Friday night set up....I have never seen a crazier parking lot....
artist everywhere...all 200 maybe...
Parking and unloading into the building...a very narrow parking lot with a lot of cargo vans and very small cars...people every where...hustle and bustle...lot's to do in a certain time span.  The parking lot was even crazier when it came time to load up and leave.  A woman in her little car was telling her friends she had been in 3 wrecks in that parking lot and then she pulled forward and hit a trailer hitch... #4.


A very special part of Friday night was a vegetarian dinner for all the artists...
it was free and fabulous...and sort of set the tone for the weekend.
 We checked into the Cow Hallow Manor, a cool place  in the Marina District...and it includes parking...a big deal....and I love the name.  The we took a 
we walk that evening,,,,checked out restaurants and did a little people watching people watching...
The City is gorgeous ....all lit up for the holidays..
Morning came quickly...we took a taxi to the Concourse to avoid parking the monster van in the tiny parking lot...

Me of course...Saturday morning...

I have to tell I had the best time...I met so many interesting people...people who wanted to share their story or hear mine...people who wanted to know why I do what I do...What the figures mean....the stories.

It was awesome for me to get to share....it was an outer body experience at times...often very spiritual in nature...

Some of the people who came to my booth knew who I was...

knew about my figures...amazing!

I talked more in those two days than I do in two months normally.....and Valerie and I talked a lot to.....

Sunday after the show we talked until 3AM...

We got to know each other in a whole new way..

I was a little hoarse on Monday..

This is Bruce Smith...he was across the isle from us exhibiting beautiful block prints...

he is a veteran of the show...9th year I think...

he was really helpful and somehow had a very calming effect on me...

I liked having him there...

My beautiful goddess friend Maggi Belle...Look at those amazing pants...
I was so happy to see her!  

She is an inspiration.

Music and Honey

Our shared space....

Valerie looking cute.

I love her masks...

Another view..

and this sweet couple.... more inspiration!

Mr and Mrs Claus maybe?

and the clothes...oh my...so wonderful...unique...exquisitely  crafted..
.these where some of my favorites and there were others...
I just didn't have the time to take photos of them all...

there were beautiful hats and scarves...everything wearable art...there was even a custom  designer shoemaker...

Lot's of functional art...these clocks were georgeous...and custom childrens clothing, functional pottery...and the jewelry...
just so unique and every piece a work of art...

.

The patrons of this show were serious about who they wanted to see, and they were there to shop and seemed to know they would find something that they couldn't live without...
or the perfect gift...
there are going to be some happy people on Christmas morning.

And this is Franklin....

a knight in shining armor... 

And a cheerful one...

I was always a little happier seeing his smile...

and he made sure I had the help I needed when it came time to break down...

truly a gift

I really can't say enough about how wonderful this show is...well run...a great cause that really resonates with me, .a lot of caring for the artists, great food and music...

beautiful venue, friendly people, free trade items, amazing artist, cheerful volunteers, helpful volunteers...

new friends...

a memorable time.

....woman worship

A friend sent this to me...and I think it's an idea whose time is way overdue....the paragraph that starts with, "I'm not a big believer..." really resonates with me....loving is not a willed thing....I believe opening to my core comes in stages...and with the trust and belief that doing so will be honored...

Why it is Wise to Worship a Woman.....by Arjuna Ardagh...

A few days ago, after a particularly exquisite evening with my wife Chameli, I put this post up on Facebook before going to bed:  

"I have had many, many great teachers in my life. A super abundance. No one and nothing comes close to the woman who is now asleep in the bedroom. My marriage has become the guru, the salvation, the muse, the crack through which the divine shines through."

Many many years ago, I went to Bali for a vacation, on my own. I met up with some other young travelers there and we hired a Jeep to take us on a tour of the island. We drove up right to the highest point of the island, where Tourists don't usually go. Our guide took us to one of the most sacred temples. It was surrounded by a big brick wall with an ornate entrance. After removing our shoes and wrapping scarves around our heads, we stepped together through this entrance. Inside, there was a short courtyard and then another brick wall with another entrance. After more preparations of lighting incense and giving offerings, we stepped through the second entrance. We were allowed to go through the opening in one more wall, but that was it. All together there were ten walls around the deity in the middle. Hindus could go beyond the fourth wall. Devotees of that particular deity could go beyond the fifth wall, and so it went on. The only people allowed to approach the deity directly were those who had given their lives completely and totally to its worship. Everyone else could come a little closer, a little closer, to the innermost beauty, but not all the way to the center.

I'm not a big believer of the worship of statues, but there's a beautiful symbolism to what I saw there, because a woman's heart is just like that. At the essence of every woman's heart is the divine feminine. It contains everything that has ever been beautiful, or lovely, or inspiring, in any woman, anywhere, at any time. The very essence of every woman's heart is the peak of wisdom, the peak of inspiration, the peak of sexual desirability, the peak of soothing, healing love. The peak of everything. But it's protected, for good reason, by a series of concentric walls. To move inwardly from one wall to the next requires that you intensify your capacity to devotion, and as you do so, you are rewarded with Grace. This is not something you can negotiate verbally with a woman. She doesn't even know consciously how to open those gates herself. They are opened magically and invisibly by the keys of worship.

If you stand on the outside of the outermost wall, all you have available to you, like many other unfortunate men, is pornography. For $1.99 a minute, you can see her breasts, maybe her vagina, and you can stimulate yourself in a sad longing for deeper love.

Step through another gate, and she will show you her outer gift-wrapping. She'll look at you with a certain twinkle in her eye. She'll answer your questions coyly. She'll give you just the faintest hint that there is more available.

Step through another gate with your commitment, with your attention, with the small seedlings of devotion, and she'll open her heart to you more. She'll share with you her insecurities, the way that she's been hurt, her deepest longings. Some men will back away at this point. They realize that the price they must pay to go deeper is more than they are willing to give. They start to feel a responsibility. But for those few who step though another gate, they come to discover her loyalty, her willingness to stick with you no matter what, her willingness to raise your children, stick up for you in conversation, and, if you are lucky, even pick up your dirty socks now and then. And so it goes on. You've got the gist by now.

Somewhere around the second wall from the center, she casts the veils of her personality aside, and shows you that she is both a human being and also a portal into something much greater than that. She shows you a wrath that is not hers, but all women's. She shows you a patience that is also universal. She shows you her wisdom. At this point you start to experience the archetypes of women, who have been portrayed as goddesses and mythological figures in every tradition.

Then, at the very center, in the innermost temple itself, all the layers of your devotion are flooded with reward all at once. You discover the very essence of the feminine, and in a strange way that is not exactly romantic, but profoundly sacred all the same, you realize that you could have got here with any woman if you had just been willing to pass through all the layers of initiation. Any woman is every woman, and every woman is any woman at the same time. When you love a woman completely, at the very essence of her being, this is the one divine feminine flame. It is what has made every woman in history beautiful. It's the flame behind the Mona Lisa, and Dante's Beatrice, and yes, also Penelope Cruz and Heidi Klum. You discover the magic ingredient which has lead every man to fall in love with a woman.

When you learn how to pay attention to the essence of the feminine in this way, you fall to the floor in full body prostration, tears soaking your cheeks and clothes, and you wonder how you could have ever taken Her, in all of Her forms, for granted even for a second.

 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arjuna-ardagh/goddess-worship_b_660896.html

Today over 200 dolphins were forced into the Cove at Taiji, Japan.  The dolphins that aren't chosen to entertain us at various marine parks around the world are slaughtered for food in the most inhumane way possible.  Slaughtered for sushi even though they are loaded with mercury.  There are marine parks were you can watch a dolphin show while eating dolphin...sound's impossible, but it's true.

Please help....we are their only hope and if the outcry is great enough it will stop...

This is where you can write and let the Japanese government know that you find it unacceptable....it is their secret...we need to let them know that we know...

I know I'm repeating myself but I know you care...xoxoxo

https://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/forms/comment_ssl.html 

....San Francisco...almost here

 

Valerie Runningwolf

It's almost here...the KPFA Craft and Music Fair...and I'm almost ready....

Whoever said the devil is in the details wasn't kidding....so much to think about from pins to pens, receipt book, business cards, artist statement, screw driver, lights, tables, boxes and bags, grids and stands, and Spirit Figure...

My art sister Valerie Runningwolf and I will be sharing a double space...

She is a gourd artist, focused on the spiritual...I adore her work.

We have rented a cargo van and booked our room near the Marina.  

There are many perks for the artists at this show...lot's of press AND a meal is provided during Friday night set up...isn't that nice?


I'm also excited about the prospect of meeting some of the people I listen to regularly on KPFA Radio...Caroline Casey will be there and we have a plan to meet.
She is an amazing storyteller...
she blends myth and current events in the most poetic and thoughtful way....love her...
http://www.coyotenetworknews.com/productcart/pc/radioshow.htm
and there will be music both days...


Can you tell I'm getting excited?

Valerie and I want to go out and play a little in the evening...and I'm hoping we can have one meal at the amazing Herbivore restaurant....it is a vegan food heaven...lol....

I must be hungry this morning...

AND we have been invited to a Trance Dance gathering, 
but I'm thinking dancing all night can't be on our agenda...


I hope if your are in the area you will stop by and see us...
We will be in booth 142..
http://www.kpfa.org/craftsfair/exhibitors-home.html

"When in doubt......dance!"
xoxo