Artful Blogging ~ May/June/July 2010
Artful Blogging ~ May/June/July 2010
“[Marianne and I] met when we were living miles and worlds apart, and have since followed each other online to various parts of the globe – she to Bali and New York City, me to Tokyo and London. Knowing I have this link to Marianne…I find confirmation that I am on the right path. If I was not where I was supposed to be, I wouldn’t have found my way to Marianne; it’s as simple as that.”
April 30 – May 2, 2010 ~ Wish*Full Virtual Art Retreat
I’m on the teaching roster for the first Wish*Full Virtual Art Retreat over in The Wish Studio. Join me for Today: Begin, an afternoon workshop to kick-start your creative dreams.
Generations
The always inspiring Carmen Torbus posted this video today, and I was struck by how immediately it brought up thoughts about the lives women live today versus in my mother’s generation. This is a topic that comes up now and then with my friends, and for some reason it has been bubbling up in conversations with greater frequency lately.
Human nature dictates that with each generation there will be vertigo-inducing gaps
in our understanding of one another ~ situations in which our attempts at
trying to communicate and connect have us craning our necks, squinting, and
straining our every muscle. Maybe, because DNA ties us together, we feel
like it should be easier to understand and appreciate one another. When,
instead, we face one another with the feeling that there is an impossible chasm
between us, it can be difficult to know how to bridge that gap.
“She’s my mother ~ I thought she was supposed to get me.”
“This is my daughter ~ why are her values different from mine?”
Carmen’s video made me think about the abundance of resources, support and channels of
connection that are available to our generation ~ how so many of us are claiming our lives in a way our mothers likely never could. Maybe Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan inspired our mothers to stand up for themselves more than their mothers were ever encouraged to, but our generation is taking the claiming of our own lives to an entirely different level. I’m not sure our generation feels like we can
“have it all” ~ with particular emphasis on finding the perfect family + career balance ~ as much as we believe we can define for ourselves what all means and pursue that in our own unique way.
I think I am talking about two different things here ~ the landscape our generation is now navigating creating versus the terrain our mothers had to cultivate and the difficulties that can arise when a mother and daughter cannot fully embrace the differences between the two. The problem with these differences is that it isn’t terribly easy to call them different and leave it at that. Other labels get too easily attached ~ words such as good, bad, silly, and outdated can take what could be a starting point for a fascinating conversation and shut it down before it can even get going.
I know I am teetering on the edge of making inappropriate, sweeping generalizations, but as I try to work through the tangles I sometimes feel caught in with my own mother, I am eager to know what kind of conversations are happening between mothers and daughters these days. This is an area of my life in which I feel a particular kind of lost-ness, where my search for answers and clarity always feels just out of my reach, on the other side of a fog bank that follows my every move.
As daughters with mothers and mothers with daughters, what conversations are taking place, either in real life or in your perfect-world scenarios?
“Suddenly, through birthing a daughter, a woman finds herself face to face not only with an infant, a little girl, a woman-to- be, but also with her own unresolved conflicts from the past and her hopes and dreams for the future.” ~Elizabeth Debold
May 2010 ~ Artful Blogging & Rubber Stamps
The May 2010 issue of Artful Blogging will feature an essay and collection of photos celebrating my global friendship with the extraordinary Marianne Elliott, a connection that began with our blogs
A new line of rubber stamps with sentiments and designs inspired by Ordinary Sparkling Moments will be released soon through Crescendoh. Stay tuned for details on where you can purchase them!
This is What We are Capable Of
We humans: We are capable of so much.
So very much.
We can easily let our suffering define us.
We know how to give in to our anger.
We are skilled at the delicate weave of long tales of woe,
knotted together with the prickly yarns of loss, of grief, of hurt.
It is well within our nature to run away from our dreams
with the same intensity as we would if being chased by wolves.
And yet.
We have walked on the moon,
Learned out how to fly;
Stood firm against hatred,
Refused to go quietly
To the back of the bus.
It has been scientifically documented
Again and again
That we are capable of stringing together
A quiet string of words
In such a way
That our fellow humans can’t help but weep ~
Caught in a state of disbelief
That life can be so beautiful
And we humans can be so pure.
~
This is what I was thinking about as I sat in the background of a weekend of awakening shared with sixteen eager students and an extraordinary teacher named Sabrina. Whenever it was not necessary for me to be mixing paints, preparing gesso, or answering questions, I sat still on the sidelines and just basked in the glow. I listened to the scratch of pens across paper, watched the expressions of wonder across all the beautiful faces, and felt my heart stir at all the magic and beauty we humans have within us.
There are so many stories of suffering and pain in the world right now; there is no shortage of information that serves no purpose other than to drain our weary, tender spirits. But not everywhere, and certainly not in this studio while Trust the Mess was in full swing. Here was where I was witness to what we humans are capable of. Here I was reminded of how precious these moments are ~ these moments when we take a chance, and go to great lengths to spend two days in a room with strangers, willing to cry and smear and sand and laugh and show up in every possible way. Here was mystery and joy, here was compassion and light. Here was a deep howling at the wild moon within us, where everything is possible and all is right with the world.
April 2010 ~ Journals, Bookmarks & Wall Art
I’m thrilled to accounce that Demdaco has just released new wall art, bookmarks, and journals to The Christine Mason Miller Collection. All the details are right here.
March 2010 ~ Somerset Studio & Crescendoh
An inspirational alphabet is featured as the Exemplar in the March/April 2010 issue of Somerset Studio.
I’ll be a Guest Curator for Crescendoh March 22-27, and my Art Saves story right here.
Mood Swings
Sleeping quietly at my feet: Best puppy in the world!
Non-stop nipping at my hands and feet: Hey everyone ~ FREE PUPPY!
Follows me when I call her name: Best puppy in the world!
Crawls on top of dishwasher door to lick food off of silverware: Hey everyone ~ FREE PUPPY!
Pees and Poos OUTSIDE: Best puppy in the world!
Marches into the kitchen, looks up at me calmly, squats, and PEES: Hey everyone ~ FREE PUPPY!
Leaps and bounds all over the yard, entertaining us: Best puppy in the world!
Tries to chew our beloved Eames Chair*: Hey everyone ~ FREE PUPPY!
Gets sleepy and suddenly can’t stand to be away from us: Best puppy in the world!
* Technically our fault; we shouldn’t have even tempted her.
…and One More Thing
I just read about Crescendoh's new Creative Lab this morning and couldn't wait to start talking it up. Check out the details on their first e-course ~ Crafting My Best Life.
Five Things
1. Big Bambu ~ BIG indeed
2. New Dress a Day ~ OK, she has set out to buy one used dress a day for no more than $1 and transform it into something supa-cute. Wowzers.
3. I loooove Mari Robeson's new ELovePhants line of textiles.
4. 1000 Crane Mission ~ And I thought I was ambitious with my 100 Books Project.
5. This is stone cold crazy.
It's now time for the Trust the Mess weekend with Sabrina Ward Harrison ~ we'll be spilling, splattering and creating in the studio Saturday and Sunday. Thank you to everyone who cheered us on, inquired and registered. Stay tuned for future workshops.
