Teachers Are Gifts That Come in Different Packages

Lesley Riley's Compose+Yourself online course is quite a fascinating experience! Each lesson aligns with lessons about life which makes each area we learn about sink in even deeper. Ever notice how a concept or perspective in life is introduced to your awareness and suddenly you start to notice it all over the place? This is how this course is affecting me. Here my grandkitty has helped me better understand the Fibonacci Spiral composition awareness just by taking a nap! Thank you, Lesley...and Pixel!

Happy Holidays! And may all your days in 2013 be wildly creative ones (that include naps)!

Starved for Some Comic Brilliance

I don't know about you, but with all the political fighting going on and Mother Nature making her statements pre and post-Election Day..I'm starved for some comedy. I went on an internet search for some and found this lovely creative gem that I'm posting before Election Day just to lighten up moods during the worldly craziness. Happy Election Day. Please vote. And many prayers for safety during the tests Mother Nature is sending.

Lady Gaga's Been Wearing Babyshoes!

In fashion school we were taught that a trend goes to the extreme before it disappears. Can this type shoe evolve any further? When the wearer has to take ballet lessons on pointe to be able to wear these, I wonder. 

What an interesting walk the wearer has when wearing these shoes!!!! Can you imagine how attractive that walk would look at a party or if someone were making an entrance in a crowded room or on a stage in these? How would they be running to catch a train or driving a car?

Another thing discussed in fashion school...how the state of the world is expressed through each design. What does the way these shoes make the wearer walk say about the state of the world!???!

Any thoughts?

************
10/13/12
I just wanted to thank the many who have shared their thoughts (offline) about the statement these shoes made to them! Thank you to the commenter who sent me this link update that was posted after this blog entry posted. It's about the designers of these shoes and the meaning behind them!
http://shine.yahoo.com/the-thread-how-to/scariest-shoes-time-173900092.html;_ylc=X3oDMTNtOHVmMnFkBF9TAzk4MDc1MTA1MARhY3QDbWFpbF9jYgRjdANhBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi1VUwRwa2cDNTg3NzhkN2UtMWUwNC0zOGVkLWEyNmUtNzBjODRkNTEwZjQyBHNlYwNtaXRfc2hhcmUEc2xrA21haWwEdGVzdAM-;_ylv=3

The Thomas Ashman Dremel Experience

A very brief stopover to take a class at CREATE this past summer.  There is an art gene we share in my family, so 3 generations of us like to take certain workshops together.  We all had Dremels, but didn't know how to use them that well, so we decided to take "Have a Dremel Day" taught by an amazing instructor who will remain on the top of my list as one of the best instructors ever! 

His name is Thomas Ashman. The first thing that jumped out at me was his passion for art and his deep gratitude that we chose to take his class out of the limitless multitude of workshop choices on the planet. He didn't just talk about his gratitude, but truly showed it by getting down in the trenches with each of us beginners to help us make sure we understood every detail of using a Dremel.  No beginner question was too unimportant to respond to either. It felt so safe to ask whatever crazy question arose.

We brought projects we were stuck on or materials we were curious about transforming with our Dremels.

I always study the energy of participants and their body language in any group setting. It's all that coach training, I guess. Note the lip-biting here....revealing a creative brain being stimulated to figure out how to problem solve using the new skills just learned. We three honestly walked out of that workshop feeling, "What can I put a hole in, polish, cut or sand/grind smooth now? Watch out, world. I've got a Dremel and I know how to use it!"

 Thomas' parting words to our class were so touching and heartfelt about how much he appreciated our participation in his class that tears came to many. I highly recommend the Thomas Ashman learning experience. You will not feel invisible in his class, but truly empowered and psyched-up to play with all the new skills that were so thoroughly explained in detail. Thomas knows his stuff and it shows how much he loves what he does. Check him out here:
http://www.blacksheepartist.com/home
As for we three....no knitting around the fireplace this winter....we'll be cozying up to the fireplace with a Dremel, some safety glasses and some Dremel attachments.

Tick...tick...tick!

 Last month my little flower turned 30! Pretty miraculous since I've been 29 for so long. Time sure flies!

This is what little flower is currently working on and since it has to do with kitties....there's no way I can avoid talking about it!

I just love when creative people use their talent to do wonderful things for the world!

Check out their ongoing progress here:
www.facebook.com/meowhausproject

If you feel moved to help out these lovely students and support their way cool project....check out this site:
/www.indiegogo.com/meowhausproject (donation deadline is looming!)

I was going to say these students are humanitarians (which they way are), but when I looked it up that has to do with humans...so I express my gratitude to these thoughtful catcare-atarians.

I approve this message!

Kitty TV--the Real Reality Show!

July started with a visit from the Power Outage Fairy. No electricity, water, TV, or internet for close to a week...and for a while no phone either.  The local grocery stores also had to toss a lot of spoiled food, as I did. It was kinda cool to not know what was going on in the world in this info overload age we get so addicted to.  I didn't mind living off of rice cakes and Perrier for a week. What most upset me was that I'd have to miss the Indy Day Twilight Zoneathon. 

Knitting way proved itself to be an art form that defies power outages. Here, one of my over-heated kitties helps me keep the yarn supply tangled before he falls asleep.

 I've read that windows and screened-in views are TV for kitties. Since I couldn't watch TV, I decided to check out what my kitties were watching on their TV. It turned out to be far cooler than the Twilight Zoneathon!

Not everyone sees our artwork as art....it may just be a great place to find material to build a nest.

 Kitties started hissing at something walking by the front door, so I came running with a camera...

Kitty TV is far more surreal than Twilight Zone reruns!  

With all the sensationalized news going on out there in the world I witnessed that there's enough sensational news going on right in our own front yard!

Culture Fix

The need for artistic inspiration is best fulfilled by a quick trip to the cultural mecca of NYC. One highlight was seeing this Schiaparelli/Prada exhibit at the Met that is going on until August 19th. Not only are there gorgeous and ahead-of-their-time designs from long ago, but there are ongoing film discussions between Schiaparelli and Prada about the design lifestyle. Then Prada takes cues from Schiaperelli's creations and does her own take on them. Very cool!

After the exhibit has you flying, then a cool place to visit is the Met roof where the views are exquisite!  The sculptural roof structure on the Met roof makes for an even more thrilling exploratory adventure.

In NYC, artistic opportunity and inspiration are everywhere you turn! From this shop entryway that lures in customers anatomically....

... to artists performing in their medium during a simple walk in the park!

Jenny Divine's energy in her Donna Summer memorial was an entertaining treat. And our own hotel room brought such breathtaking views I spent more time enjoying fhe view than wanting to sleep.

The full moon made things surreal!

Even the trip home...which unfortunately took all day because of a missed connecting flight, had art in it! I was very happy to have a bubblegum pink suitcase in the sea of mostly black ones. Even tho it was a day of flying from city to city until I could get a flight home. No such thing as waiting if you sketch, so there was lots of sketching opportunity all day long.

Though I love gorgeous views....I accepted this as the view from my flight, so I could finally get home!

I loved the artsy trip, but was happy to be on the noisy prop plane home because I know that any experience we have is enjoyed in the present, but enjoyed with even more depth through memories. 

Highly recommended if you're looking for a sparky cultural museum visit...the MAD museum of art.

 The current show gave artists a requirement that the materials used be dust or dirt only. .http://collections.madmuseum.org/code/emuseum.asp?style=browse&currentrecord=1&page=seealso&profile=exhibitions&searchdesc=Current%20Exhibitions&searchstring=Current/,/greater%20than/,/0/,/false/,/true&action=searchrequest&style=single&currentrecord=2

The Cindy Sherman exhibit at the MOMA was fascinating! I believe it runs until today. She portrays a character in each of her pieces. It's very surreal because you never really know what she looks like as herself. Her exposure of how humans try to portray an image...or how we cling to our youth by using whatever methods we can, kept haunting me way past the exhibit and I started looking at myself and people I passed by in a whole different perspective. Here are a few of her pieces...http://www.google.com/search?q=cindy+sherman+gallery&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&prmd=imvnso&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=LzvWT_DiJtKf6QHRpJSDAw&ved=0CGAQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=799

Every human needs a change of scenery for sanity sake and for creative inspiration and I hope this little visual blog entry trip has brought a spark to you as much as it did to me.