....spirits meet via One World One Heart

Look at lovely Lacy, she is a spirited little sprite, and a bit of a flirt...she arrived here from Denise @ Dlynne Artdolls. I was a lucky winner during the One World One Heart event! Little Lacy made friends right away with Miko and they have spent long hours sharing stories of other times and space.

....Small Wonders

Art Hop for the Small Wonders show at Timberline Gallery in Oakhurst is this Saturday. We really do have over 100 pieces of art, 10 inches and under, for $100 and under...lot's of art way under $100, from some very cool artists...Kathleen Maddox, Anita Stoll, Carolyn Hartling, Valerie Runningwolf, David Caris, jacqueline Kurt (you have to see her music boxes), and me, to mention a few...this is a great time to buy for gifts, or to add to or start a collection...So stop by and check out the gallery.

I'll be there from 1pm til 4pm and would love to see you...hug, hug

.....weekend wondering

Where do lost socks go? I have lived in this house soooo long, 1000's of lost socks...they should have a room of their own by now!!

....in my email

It's funny how things work....the research for the post I did yesterday left me jangled, sad, and worried about woman's place in the world...I was going to let go of the story for a bit...but as things often happen...the syncronicity of things...I found this was in my email this morning. It's a simple click to maybe, just maybe, make a difference. Click here to sign the petition...here
hug, hug

...women

Crone, by Ellen Carnese

Isn’t this a beautiful face…? I love it. She talks to me and tells me woman stories. I love women. I happen to think we are amazing. I celebrate women in my art.......and I need to blog about this...

There is femicide taking place in the Congo.


I listen to Free Speech Radio. One of the programs I listen to is Living Room, a daily program about politics, society and culture. Eve Ensler, advocate to stop violence against women and the author of the Vagina Monologues, was a guest last week. She is touring, talking about her new monologue about teenage girls called, I Am An Emotional Creature... and about what is happening to women and girls in the Congo.



I've known about this horrific story for too long. I don't want to know about it....but I listened... you can too)......and I was brought to my knees. She has been there, talked to the victims, it is hard to listen...if you do I believe it's just a few minutes into the broadcast.



There is a war taking place over minerals and the mass rape of women and girls is now a common tactic of war....There is a new word in our vocabulary...'reraped'...these children and women are not just raped, but mass raped, tortured, their insides destroyed. There are over 1000 rapes reported each month...and many, many more that aren't reported....500 thousand or more rapes in an area only twice the size of New York state since the beginning of this war.




We know that women and children, the collateral damage in war torn countries suffer tremendous hardships and crimes against humanity....but by all accounts the Democratic Republic of the Congo is hell.


I know a lot of people don't want to get involved in other countries stuff, their politics...but this isn't about politic. This is about human rights and Unspeakable things are happening there...maybe that is why there is no world outcry...no coverage....no outrage...we don't want to speak of it, it's overwhelming.. Or is it that the world just doesn't care?
Is this racism, colonialism?
What is going on?


So I come to you dear readers...not to bum you out, but in the hopes that you will listen, watch, and read information about the Democratic Republic of Congo...our sisters around the world and our daughters here, need us to speak out...I believe we must bear witness...we must speak....what we allow to happen to one of us, can happen to any one of us. We know what happens when something becomes commonplace, the norm...we know it spreads...the world becomes immune, desensitized..are we already there?. And in our countries, where violence against women and children hasn't gone away, we can't afford not to speak out.



World Leaders and Our President, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, must take action...this femicide is spreading to other countries and will continue to spread if he does not make this an issue. Senator Clinton visited not too long ago and said changes are on the way. Many promises have been made, and much money spent......but the unspeakable goes on.


We can make a difference, we can help.

hug, hug

...on the table and on the wall...it's all about small

Little Fairies for St. Patrick's Day

On the table...

And on the wall...

I've been in the studio for days now creating Small Wonders for the Timberline show that opens on March 2nd. Some of these will also be going to Art By Hand in the Tower District of Fresno. Every one wants small.
It's an economic thing I think...
.

The Timberline show will offer up 100 small pieces of art for $100 and under. Should be a very cool show, it will open March 2.
The Art Hop reception will be on March 13th...11 to 4pm.


Art By Hand is a relatively new gallery in the Tower...It's definitely worth adding to your art hop tour.
They hold their receptions on the first Thursday of the month 5 - 8 pm

.....David's Mother Moon, Rumi's Words

Love Said to Me

I worship the moon.

Tell me of the soft glow of a
candle light
and the sweetness of my moon.

Don't talk about sorrow,
tell me of that treasure,
hidden if it is to you,
then just remain silent.

Last night
I lost my grip on reality
and welcomed insanity.
Love
saw me and said,
I showed up.
Wipe you tears
and be silent.

I said, O Love
I am frightened,
but it's not you.

Love said to me,
there is nothing that is not me.
be silent.

I will whisper secrets in your ear
just nod yes
and be silent.

A soul moon
appeared in the path of my heart.
How precious is this journey.

I said, O Love
what kind of moon is this?
Love said to me,
this is not for you to question.
be silent.

I said, O Love
what kind of face is this,
angelic, or human?
Love said to me,
this is beyond anything that you know.
Be silent.

I said, please reveal this to me
I am dying in anticipation.
Love said to me,
that is where I want you:
Always on the edge,
be silent.
You dwell in this hall of
images and illusions,
leave this house now
and be silent.

I said, O Love,
tell me this:
Does the Lord know you are
treating me this way?
Love said to me,
yes He does,
just be totally…
totally… silent

~ Rumi ~

Friend & photographer David Hoffman took the breathtaking shot of

Mother Moon.

....my two winners!!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

157 48 

Timestamp: 2010-02-16 04:27:38 UTC

#1. Sherry at Got Art & #2. Taj at Art Journal

I want to thank all of you who came by to visit my blog and leave such nice comments...I didn't have time to get around to all of your blogs but I will....Also a special thank you to those of you who added yourself as followers..I do hope to keep you engaged.....Happy belated Valentine's Day...hug, hug

......Osho Zen and me

Last week I decided to pull an Osho Zen card with the question in mind regarding how to get from where I am, to where I want to be and to help clarify just where it is I want to be…
I believe you have to have a clear direction/vision.
So I got centered and asked the question…

I pulled the Rebel card…

rebel:
1. protester: somebody who protests against something by defying authority
2. soldier who opposes government in power:
3. unconventional person: somebody who refuses to conform to the codes and conventions of society

I understand the rebel….
I’ve even been called one in an accusatory fashion….
But what does it tell me about my quest?
Could it mean to continue questioning, not simply to continue the path I’m on, to seek out less conventional avenues? To stop holding my heart's desire right below the surface...to seek the path less traveled?

I decided to take a look at what book had to say…
and it is beautiful.
The Rebel is the master of his own destiny…
we know that…
It’s living your truth….
a Mystic Rebel doesn’t rebel for the sake of rebelling but to be true to themselves.

“the torch he holds in his right hand symbolizes the light of her own hard-won truth.

Whether she is wealthy or poor,
the Rebel is really and emperor/empress because she has broken the chains of society’s repressive condition and opinions.
She has formed herself by embracing all the colors of the rainbow, emerging from the dark and formless roots of her unconscious past and growing wings to fly into the sky.

Her very way of being is rebellious ~ not because she is fighting against anybody or anything, but because she has discovered her own true nature and is determined to live in accordance with it.”

And

“the Rebel challenges us to be courageous enough to take responsibility for who we are and to live our truth.”


Is that a message or what?
It is clearly telling me to move forward with my true desire.
And I do know what that is…
but I can barely say it out loud.

....just a bit ago I drew this card...

...OP or POP Art

First art show together...

This is a photo Number 2 Daughter did of me a couple of years ago...she posted it on Face Book yesterday and I decided to post it here....she is a fabulous digital photographer and a whiz with Photoshop. We entered an art competition together, her first, and she won a first place in the photography division...and I did too in the fiber arts division...I't was a fun evening...Memories...

I couldn't make that little photo of us together bigger??

...paper cloth and Spirit Figure...

Joyful Wall Hanging

I've discovered the joy of paper cloth....
I don't know if I'm doing it correctly but I sure am having fun doing...I enjoy the process, I find it very freeing and meditative. This little Spirit Figure has a door that opens on her cape that say's, "Oh peaceful heart stay with me." And the Elfen script at the top says, peace, joy, bliss...The beads are yellow turquoise, turquoise, and amethyst with crystals attaching her mask.

Being the insecure artists that I am I'm almost afraid to ask what you think?
I have art hop at a new, to me, gallery in February...should I introduce her to the public...or just enjoy the process and keep her home?

....ready, set, go....one world ~ one heart starts now

I've had so many wonderful interaction with many of the ticket holders on this Magic Carpet ride..
and you all have made some really nice comments on this post...


so I'm adding another Spirit Figure also to be given away on the 15 th of February when I do my draw...

I don't know what she/he will be like because I've yet to create him/her but somewhat along the lines of these small totems of good mojo...


The one above is adorned in what I now realize is really old paper cloth.....
I bought the piece at a peddler fair, There was a couple of yards...it is old and a bit battered mostly from having been folded... it is a very fibrous paper glued to a sheet...a top sheet...and then painted..

.the other figure below...
Healing Hands/Laughing Heart is adorned in fabric I did a rice flour resist to and one of the layers is paper cloth...

They are both under 10".
So I'll make something similar for the draw.......

Little Friendship Sprite

One World One Heart

Welcome to my blog!!!

It's so nice of you to stop by
....If you're new to this event get ready for a good time, if you've done this before you've probably been looking forward to this as much as I have....so here we go....
off on a Magic Carpet ride!!

It's true, it's magical...see new sights, make new friends, get inspired, learn new stuff, sign up for goodies... and there are so many over-the-top-wonderful give-a-ways.
It's just fun...so join in...sign up here to win my little figure...she is a friendship sprite, she'll guide you to fabulous new friends and sprinkle love dust on those you already have. On her heart are these words, 'Friends are Kisses Blown to Us by Angels'... If you think you would enjoy her Just sign up by leaving a long or short post...it would be cool if you said something about yourself....the city you live in, how you spend your days....but you don't have to....but you do have to leave your email address so I can let you know you won. .

I will pick a winner on
February 15th after 12 noon pacific time....
that's as late as you can enter.

PS....thanks to lisa at A whimsical Bohemian

Isn't she wonderful? She is a gift from my friend Valerie Runningwolf...I call her Luna, we share midnight stories....

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.

I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting

your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me how old you are.

I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for dreams, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon.

I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shriveled and closed

from fear of further pain!

I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine

or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it

or fix it.

I want to know if you can be with joy,

mine or your own;

if you can dance with wildness and

let ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes without

cautioning us to be careful, be realistic, or to remember the limitations of being a human.

It doesn’t interest me if the story you’re telling me is true.

I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself;

if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul.

I want to know if you can be faithful and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see beauty even if it’s not pretty every day,

and if you can source your life from God’s presence.

I want to know if you can live

with failure, yours and mine,

and still stand on the edge of a

lake and shout to the silver moon, ‘Yes!’

It doesn’t interest me where you live or how much money you have.

I want to know if you can get up after the night of grief and despair,

weary, bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done for the children.

It doesn’t interest me who you are, how you came to be here.

I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me

and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.

I want to know what sustains you from the inside, when all else falls away.

I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep in the empty moments.

Inspired by Oriah Mountain Dreamer,

Native American Elder, May 1994

....clutter, ceremony, rocks, revisited

On Wednesday the 11th I was sitting up on the hill with my canine tribe where I like to chill and think.

This is Shylee...she was jillian's dog  and when jillian  moved Shylee was suddenly in need of a home.  I said I'd  care for her for a couple of weeks until a new home was found...  
She's still here 2 months later.





Zoe...blind, deaf and overweight..but every night she insisst on being outside for watchdog duty.
All heart...all of it loyal.





Maia....my heart, my love...A gentle giant of a girl...137 pounds of patience and love.  
Turning so grey..sigh


I went up on the hill after reading a friend's blog post challenging other bloggers
 to post an entry from January 11, 2010. 
She thought it would be interesting for us to see what was on our minds way back then.


My post nearest that date is below.
There has been some progress.


My life doesn't feel as cluttered...thankfully....I have eliminated some things I have gathered others.


I no longer do art shows I don't enjoy..
I have slowed down in many areas of my life...every day I take time to breathe.....
I find I have stopped doing a should more often in order to do a want...
Life is short.


I think I've made some headway with co-dependency too..other peoples stuff doesn't tip me over as much.  
I finally realized that so often after taking on stuff that really had nothing to do with me....
I would be all in a tizzy, and they, the one whose stuff it was, 
had moved on from it leaving me still holding it.


Procrastination...well I know it's a form of self sabotage...


Deadlines and double booking and all things marketing...
I struggle with the business side of being an artist all the time.
It seems I only have the energy and discipline to do one or the other...create or market..
my goal for this year is to learn to love marketing....
I'm taking workshop next month
It will create a vision for the year in the area of going forward with my art.
it will include a vision board.
I haven't made one for my personal life.
Yet I have a vision.

And as it usually is it appears quite self-centered.
This life journey is one of self-discovery
finding out what makes my soul sing and trying to incorporate those things more fully into my life.
Finding a peaceful place that is always with me...
and knowing how to access it no matter what.



Excuses....I have few reasons to give another person excuses these days...
but I sometimes give them to myself...
but I don't fool me.


Ritual...the one that serves me most right now and has for awhile is the ritual of dance..


The loss of the twins is still painful..tender.


Doubt...well..
the only thing I really know for sure is I am exactly where I am supposed to be.


Where were you a year ago??





I have not taken the time to do a vision board for 2010 yet because it seems to me that I need to look at what I do not want and purge it so that there is a clear path
from me to my desires…. not cluttered.

That is a bit how I feel right now…cluttered with ideas but knowing myself well enough to know that I need to do the clearing it will take for me to really step into the new year with a new and exciting vision.

This is what I am eliminating from 2010...
Art shows I no longer look forward to....pass em up
Rushing, rushing, rushing...breathe
Codependency...gotta go!
Procrastination....please, please, please
Over booking or forgetting a booking….opps!
Missing a juried entry date….bummer!
Doubt...be gone!
Excuses....serve no one!!
Saying yes, when I should say no….
I think it’s called setting limits and boundaries…
makes me lol!

Being conscience of how these negative behaviors work against every thing I’m striving toward is a good thing…..it’s all about time management and setting boundaries, and prioritizing….

sounds simple. ..Yes? Just do it! Onward…

My daughters and I went to plc on Sunday…(the positive living center)…after the Sunday service people mingle a bit….we were mingling when several of our practitioners called us to come and partake in what I can only call a love circle…. they are very aware of how hard grieving can be and how tender we are still…. they formed a very small circle around the three of us … so small everyone was slightly touching. As my daughters and I held each other each practitioner in turn blessed us, treated for us, and showered us with healing love and light.
It was an amazingly touching and uplifting experience.

I didn’t want to leave that warm, love filled, healing, intimate space. They gave us a wonderful gift and I floated on that cloud of love all day, so did my girls and we felt lighter…

I am blessed.
Ritual, ceremony, feels important….I don’t know if we have enough of it in our everyday lives. I don’t think so. Things like the love circle, labyrinth walking, candle lightings and prayer…tending our altars, etc.

I’ve created a new ritual for myself in relation
to my list of things I want to be gone. The procrastination, etc.
I’m gathering stones that feel good to me, walking my labyrinth each day with one in hand representing what I want to be done with.

I will focus on how one particular behavior no longer serves me as I walk to the center… .once in the center I will lay down the stone and ask for help in releasing this thing that I feel holds me back and continually causes me to feel as though I’m
running to catch up….
not achieving my long term goals…

as I walk back out I will open myself to a vision of me with new coping skills, calmly experiencing each day with new resolve, a clear vision and intent for the future, walking to my goal……
I will have quite a pile of stones which will then be infused with positive traits I want to incorporate into my everyday life…. I will label each stone with a trait, carry it from the center of the labyrinth and put in a basket near one of my altars…
.
sounds simple… wa la… life changing. Then on to my visioning and the board.

...and the Sea Changed Her

What in your life is calling you? When all the noise is silenced, the meetings adjourned, the lists laid aside, and the wild iris blooms by itself in the dark forest, what still pulls on your soul? In the silence between your heartbeats hides a summons.
Do you hear it?

Name it, if you must, or leave it forever nameless,
but why pretend it is not there? -

The Terma Collective, “The box: Remembering the Gift”
I love this poem……
there are things calling to me, things inside of me and they call and call…they want me to stay on track with my hearts desire…..but what they don’t seem to recognize is I have yet to name my hearts desire,

I leave it nameless.

When I think about what I would like to achieve this year it is very hard for me to settle on what it is I really want.
Success as an artist, of course…
but I don’t seem to be able to ‘settle’ the inner debate of what ‘success’ means.

When someone makes a Vision Board or a Treasure Map they are supposed to be as detailed as possible. ….the last one I made was about 3 years ago…I wanted to show in more galleries, I wanted to hang in an art museum. I wanted to show in San Francisco and I wanted to teach workshops. The Vision Board hangs in my studio where I see it almost every day….
I was blessed to have experienced a lot of what I had depicted on my board….I do believe having a clear vision is a most important thing...
the business of being an artist is very much about work,
self-discipline,
time management, learning new skills.

Artists create art and then figure out what to do with it….
people have to see it because making art in a vacuum just doesn’t work
for very long…
artists need to share our visions.
So, we market ourselves….
do shows…
do art hops,…
send in jury packets,
follow leads,
enter competitions….
there are the photos that need to be taken and put on zip files & disc..
sometimes, even slides….
We write our biographies and artist statements,.
.I once applied for a show and the jury an essay about me and where I was in my art career and where I was going.
Artists join art groups and show up for social gatherings when most often we’d rather be in the studio...
we join online art galleries,
have fan pages on Face book….
We spruce our studios for tours…
we keep track of our sales and save receipts…
and keep the ’BOOKS’.
I do these things because I want to share my passion…
and the creative high is addictive…
and I need to sell my art to feed my addiction….
so that leads me back to the plan…the path….
What should my vision board look like?
I don’t know.