"no matter...

...what it is there's something to learn...
that feeling that there's always something under it...
there's always something meaningful laying underneath..."

Clay from Zane Clampett on Vimeo.

this

all of this.


Alan Watts & David Lindberg - Why Your Life Is Not A Journey from David Lindberg on Vimeo.

pure feeling

2:00 to 2:12 is what i'm alive for.  seriously.  honestly.
it's why i'm still here to write words into the darkness of the internet.
that absolute raw emotion that knows no words, no images,
it is just feeling.
it is raw and real and it can be painful or joyful or more often
it can be beyond emotional categorization.
that
is
being
alive.

that is being human.
that is what we're here to experience.
that
right
there.

oh ellen & lewis (hah!)

m-i-l...

love!

please read & share her article if you love it...i think it's pretty fantastic 

http://www.glassheel.com/single-post/2016/08/31/Buried-Treasure---The-Admiration-Of-Inspiration

I met Janna working as a summer intern...to me then, at 16ish years old, she was this fantastic, creative, professional, caring, giving lady who I thought man, if I could be like her, maybe even have a gig like hers, and get some of those sweet colored markers she has up in her office,
I think life might be pretty good.  she laughed a lot, mentored me in the sweetest way, and now she's off doing something new and amazing :)





<3

dammit Kara!

just when I think everything is good and fine and you're done teaching me, I teach something and find myself remembering you with such love and then (inevitably) missing you.  thanks for making this video so I can hear your voice when I'm missing you...

similar but different

as m would say <3







dude, I must admit...dance parties have saved my butt on more than one occasion in the classroom.

when absolutely nothing is going as planned or well, I am always tempted to tell my little friends to drop everything, push chairs in, make sure there is space around their body, and then I turn on some loud song and we dance out the frustration / anger / tired / annoyed / too much energy / not enough energy / sadness until we can make art again.  sometimes it's just for them, sometimes it's just for me...but I must say not once have I hosted a mid-art class dance party that didn't benefit everyone :)

do it. find the time to watch this,

you won't be sorry you did.

many many many mistakes!!

#growth mindset, y'all

really.

a meanness

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.

Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

-Rumi

"listen,

you must never express your anger or frustration using your body,
and you must never allow your emotions to keep you from remaining in control of your body.
it is not ok to hit anyone or anything in this studio,
it is never ok to hit anyone at all regardless of where you are.

it is unacceptable to hurt anyone else because of your own emotions.
you must apologize, now."

#shittheartteachersaid
#truth
#kids
we're all still learnin' things, y'all.

sweetness

let go

or be dragged.

we choose to move forward.  blue skies ahead, people.

#blueskyawareness

advocacy

dear future students,

it is your responsibility to stand up for your students, their art, their individual creativity, and the value of art itself.  at some point, you will have to be the cheerleader.  that's just the way it is.  that's part of the job.  that's part of the joy.  that's part of the struggle.
but hey, nobody said you had to be an art teacher when you grow up.
you're the one who signed on for this!  (thankfully, YOU! you get to slowly, patiently, with great love expose people to the power of art and creating :)

i was teaching a canvas painting party when a parent whispered to me "you better check in with the girl at the end".  in the middle of putting away paint or washing a brush or trying to get paint out of my hair before embarrassing myself, i partially couldn't hear this parent's comment and partially had no idea what was wrong with the girl at the end.  so i casually stroll to the end of the table, and not finding any sort of bug, meltdown, or lack of supplies...i continued teaching from this location that was supposedly having an issue.

and then parent #2 (neither of which were the parent of this child!) says "will she be ok?  will her painting turn out ok??" at which point i realize that oh, we're referring to these larger than normal lily pads here that this one wonderful and beautiful artist created?!? these perfectly OK, unique, yes maybe a little off on perspective but hey, that shit is hard lily pads?! we're asking if this 8 year old's canvas painting is going to be OK like it's life or death if her painting looks like my stupid example?! and now, parents, your comments literally have every other student at the table looking at this unique painting and back at their own to make sure they haven't gone awry?! and now the girl at the end with the unique and wonderful and individual painting is starting to feel self conscious and like she did something wrong?!?! HOLD THE PHONE, PEOPLE.

and kara kelley hallmark's words just came flying out of my mouth.  not loud or angry or upset, just so quickly that i did not even plan or expect this response to come from me.  but i started going on about Claude Monet, who inspired these paintings, and how he was part of the Impressionists who were a group of painters who did everything "wrong".  they painted outside, they painted light and color, their paintings got rejected from the Salon exposition time and time again, but they believed so much in what they were studying and creating that they made their own art show and their own group of artist friends and did their own fucking thing.
when we read about it in books it sounds so eloquent and proper and right...but c'mon people, going against the grain is NOT eloquent or proper or encouraged or delightful.  it's hard work.  it sucks.  it's hard on the ego.  it doesn't make you very many friends, or very many fans, or very much money.  BUT, it is these people who propel society forward.  it is these crazy ideas that change art.  it is these people who are willing to paint their water lilies however they see fit that enhance humanity and make it ok for others to be themselves, to try their ideas, to take a leap of faith, to make and change and see what happens.  sometimes it works.  sometimes it doesn't.  but you should never let the fear of failure keep you from trying something new.  we're all going to fail, but without the big chance you can't get the big reward.

and you know what parent #1 & parent #2 and every other student at the table did at the end of my shpeal?  they shut their mouth and worried about their own painting.  because they knew it was true,  they knew Monet wasn't making many friends at the end of the table painting his water lilies hundreds of times like a crazy man, and they saw that they weren't making any friends in my book by being critical and less than loving to a fellow artist.

so, my dear future students who will become wonderful art teachers, be prepared to educate everyone about art.  not just your students, but their parents, other teachers, administrators, community members...on and on and on.  but even beyond being prepared to do this, be excited to do this.  parent #1 and parent #2 weren't trying to be hurtful...they believe art has a right and wrong like math.  they don't realize that art is wonderful and open ended and expressive and unique and challenging and should be encouraged and supported and encouraged some more.  because it's good for us, for all of us, to know that life doesn't have one right answer.  there are lots of right answers, you just have to find the one that is right for you.

love always,
rae

so much

to learn. so much to share.  so much wonder.
joy
love,

(KKH, I find myself more and more teaching all about things I didn't know about.  yesterday, Trinity taught us all about Blue Morpho butterflies from a trip to Houston Science Museum with her grandmother.  all I could do was stand there and think of you telling us time and time again about constructivist education, about creating a knowledge base from everyone in the classroom & not just the teacher.  so. cool.)

and frozen of course:

via huffingtonpost, 

for frozen canvas painting, of course.

sigh.  only day one and my heart is full.

love.

i am missing you

so, so much.  there goes HansPeter, there goes G-daddy in Touchstone.
l-o-v-e love.

Timelapse: Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta from Roadtrippers on Vimeo.

i can not wait to get back up, to pilot, to share flight with others,

to win competitions?

yes, maybe.

i

have heard this before:

but never really got it.  until yesterday when i taught it, and it turned into:

and then this: 

and then after a sight-seeing of clouds, some constructivist teaching (that I learned from the best that Kara Kelley Hallmark), and some courage it all turned into these:

things are good. really good.

"if you want to change the world,

get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward"

"don't be afraid of the circuses"

"if you want to change the world, don't back down from the sharks"

i'm usually not really big on what it means to be a longhorn, but this commencement speech for UT graduates this year is pretty great

Naval Admiral William H. McRaven

read/watch the full speech here