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

do it. find the time to watch this,

you won't be sorry you did.

really.

3 more weeks!

15 more days!
it's like the end of a marathon,
where you start to notice that you're totally exhausted,
and maybe your form isn't the best anymore
because you're totally exhausted,
and you start making a few more mistakes...

but the cheering gets louder,
and you start to think about the delicious snacks after you cross the finish line
and oh yeah, the finish line is so close!
you've accomplished so much!
you can do it!
you can do it!
you can do it!
*rah rah rah*
fall is a-coming!

where

to go?
where to grow?
where do we grow (and go) from here?

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

precious

these thighs were made for strength,
for pushing, for pulling, for lifting, for moving.
these hips were made for dancing, for holding,
for having babies if they ever come our way.
this skin was made to remind me
if my inside body is healthy or unbalanced.

these hands were made to make things.
these arms were made to hold people.
this body was made to house me.
it is me, and it is a reflection of me.
and i am thankful for all these things.

diving deep

by Kara Kelley Hallmark, who has been freed to dive deep again.

I long for the waters of my life to be calm.  To have a smooth surface, to be deep and comforting and glistening in the sunshine.  But lately, for the past few months, the people I love most in this world have been splashing around.  Not for fun or of their own fault, but they've really been splashing.  The kind of splashing that not only causes ripples but causes little pulses of disturbance into my life pool.  An uneven surface that isn't at all waves and isn't unsafe, 

but it is frustrating because I have this unanswerable and deep desire for calm.  A deep desire that I'm pretty sure can not be met by any actions I take.  Nothing I do, no matter how hard I try and work and kick and tread water, nothing will bring about the calm that my heart desires.  I am both frustrated and humbled that nothing I do will bring about the calm that I desire.  

bringing in the strings, we're all in the same body of water.  Never will the waters of my life be the kind of still I desire because every human on this earth is in a body of water with me, and never will earthly life be still.  there will always be struggle, there will always be splashing, and even if it is from the furthest body of water, and even if it causes a ripple so small that it could only be detected by machines, it disrupts the still I desire. I am humbled because I get to be part of a life force that connects the whole world, I am humbled because I was gifted with eyes and a heart that can detect tiny ripples.  as much as those ripples disrupt me, I have hope that one day the waters of my life will be so big, so vast, so deep that the splashing of another human can be softened when it reaches my little section of water.  maybe my sea will be big enough to absorb some of the splash, maybe it will be calm enough to calm someone else into splashing less.  

and if nothing else, i remember that the waters we all share were provided and are overseen by someone bigger.  someone so still, so vast, so deep, so calm.  unchanging.  unending.  the one who never tires, who is never disrupted by the biggest splashes we make in his sea.  the one who not only can bring the calm and the still, but promises to.  that is the safe haven i cling to.

sometimes

you think you're headed down one rabbit hole and then life says, nope, here's an entirely different and much deeper rabbit hole. enjoy!

Painting after Right-Hemisphere Stroke –Case Studies of Professional Artists 

A GRANDFATHER who suffered a life-changing stroke has amazed family and friends with his artistic talent.

Art Appreciation Boosts Stroke Recovery, Study Suggests

and the artists are equally intriguing:

"I'm Helping" by Tesi Sanchez-Halpert

"Leo the Lion"

"SueSally Rides Again" 

Tesi Sanchez-Halpert: a stroke survivor's story. Sanchez-Halpert of Moorpark, CA is a stroke survivor who shares her story to help others…(more here)

Pink Lilles and the Mood IV

18x24, limited edition giclee

Gary E. Bachers

Glorious Orchids #8

18x18, limited edition giclee

Gary E. Bachers: silent conversatios

Gary E. Bachers never planned to become a visual artist.  He was a popular family practice physician in northeast Texas, where he lived with his wife and three children after moving from Winnipeg, Canada, in 1977.  In 1987, at the age of 38, he suffered a debilitating stroke that forced him to retire from medicine.  The stroke robbed him of the ability to speak or produce conventional language (a condition called expressive aphasia), and he also lost the use of the right side of his body. (more here)

and it goes on and on longer than I have right now.  

floored.

that was fun but back to work

observe. notate. make something that points it out and explains, visually.

then, make something that causes the viewer to change.
change thoughts, change actions, begin conversations.
go!

again, but this time with feeling...

Now, my co-mates and brothers in exile,
Hath not old custom made this life more sweet
Than that of painted pomp? Are not these woods
More free from peril than the envious court?
Here feel we not the penalty of Adam,
The seasons’ difference, as the icy fang
And churlish chiding of the winter’s wind,
Which when it bites and blows upon my body
Even till I shrink with cold, I smile, and say
’This is no flattery. These are counsellors
That feelingly persuade me what I am.’
Sweet are the uses of adversity
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;
And this our life, exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything. 
           (II.i.1–17)

the time has come...

to stop doing what i'm supposed to do, and start doing what i'm meant to do.

made to do, built for, excited about...what i love to do.

(Pollock was supposed to paint like everyone else,

but he did what he was meant to do instead,

got hell for it..still gets hell today for it...

but he had to do it because he loved it)

got this print at a craft show...beautiful design and i took a horrible picture.

see her work at LittleThingsStudio.com

some days, most days, it is a blessing to be a creative person.
some days, like today days,
it is not such a blessing when your wonderfully gifted brain just won't stop making great ideas in the middle of the night. c'mon, let's save those for the day time!  for when normal people function best! for when you can actually work on the ideas rather than just write them down in hopes of getting more sleep!

sigh. first world problems, bm.  for sure :)
check out the lovely lady's work here

life lessons

dear future students,

In my short 22 years of life...I've gathered (and continue to add to) a reasonably sized list of lessons I have learned.  They all have a story, if not many, to support them...but my hope is to share these things with you, have you absorb them, and then have them resurface one day when you need 'em.

so, without further babbling, and in no particular order...here is the list thus far:

1. often, not getting what you want means that you get something you want even more, later.  try to be patient.

2. just be groovy to everyone.  you never know who you are talking to, and how they might help you in the future.  be kind and polite and just plain groovy to everyone.

3.  in addition to being groovy to everyone, remember that there is something to learn from every person, interaction, and experience you have.  maybe you'll learn something about a joint interest, maybe you'll observe a characteristic you'd like to aquire, maybe you'll learn something about yourself, or perhaps you'll learn something you don't want to do or be.  but it's all an opportunity to learn and grow.

4. try to be strong when you are in pain, because it will be useful to you one day.  it'll make you tougher, it'll let you relate to people down the road and help them get through that pain, too.

5. when someone's mad at you, stay super calm.  do not let their emotions become yours...what other people say and do is their karma, how we respond is ours.  in addition, when someone is angry at you try to understand where they are standing.  you don't have to agree, but you do have to understand where they're coming from before you can begin mending.  and usually, you have to make an effort to understand their side before you can even think about explaining yours.
when it comes time to make your case, be honest...even if it's hard.  people usually appreciate honesty, and they appreciate and are often very responsive to a heartfelt and simple "I'm really very sorry about this, I see where the problem is, and would really like to take time now to solve this...would you help me to do that?"

6. be confident in yourself.  if you are in a position where you have to downplay your strengths and play up the things you don't enjoy doing so much, it's not the right place for you.  be confident that there is a place for you, a specific place, where you belong and are needed and can give back from all the experiences and knowledge you have gained.

kiki smith, tattoos, and someone named tift

"somehow the combination of the beauty marks and the ink on her body, I thought I could tattoo her beauty marks onto me.  And then I was at another artist’s house and they had a little bit of paint on their fingers.  And I thought, I could take a mark from somebody else’s body and put it on my body and then I would remember. That way you would have this weird little reminder to them..." 

(go here to hear the beautiful little snippet of a conversation)

click 'listen' in red above photo on website

similar

(but different, as m would say)

I mostly see these things as cheating, but as an educator it's a legit point to consider.  If we truly believe art can be for everyone, then how easy is too easy?  Putting the money-making aspects of these ideas (products) aside, when we teach the "real" way to do it...are we excluding people simply due to their lack of time or ambition? 

What does "art for everyone" mean?  a) do we truly believe this and b) if it is, how do we then approach products like these?  if it's not, what does it mean to be an educator that doesn't believe in every student?

Raghava KK

 

Untitled 1 (2008)

22x30in

watercolour on paper

Untitled 3 (2008)

30x22in

watercolour on paper

"Education is great. It really teaches us who we are and helps us contextualize ourselves in the world...but it's really my creativity that has taught me that I can be much more than what my education told me I am. I'd like to make the argument that creativity is the most important tool we have. It lets us create who we are and curate what is to come."

-Raghava KK

to see more work, go here

e: it's interesting that we don't remember pain..I know I was in pain yesterday, but I can't remember the   feeling of the pain
c: yeah, because it was physical.  we remember things that are attached emotionally, and you remember that you were in pain because feeling pain is an emotional response
e: I think you're right...I don't think I can remember any pure feeling...

increasingly convinced

i have become increasingly convinced that to create, you must look.  you must observe, you must experience, you must reflect, you must use your eyes and your mind and your intuition
at the same time.

Sean Avery

Feeple (male) - mixed media

15 x 15 x 15cm

see more of his work here