A Year of Chairs Begins with Baby Steps

After our Gathering of Women Artists meeting last week, I have been inspired to think about what I can created that is large yet has small components. My friend and fellow artist HsinYi Huang is creating an installation with several hundred pod shapes that hang on the wall. With all the discussion with other fellow members, Nes, Katie, Renee and Alison, about "possibilities" for me and how to deal with my physical limitations of my wrist and mental limitations that I am imposing upon myself, I decided to move forward. Michael took me to Georgie's on Saturday where I bought 100 LB of clay, thanks in part to the generous gift certificate my beloved daughter Jenni gave me last year. I chose a very soft, non groggy clay that will be easy to handle. The Wonder White clay is so soft and supple, that I am forced to work small and slowly, since it takes time for the clay to firm up and hold it's shape. My thoughts, ironically yet totally uninfluenced by the upcoming Chair Affair, is multiples of very small chairs that will hang on the wall. I thought about what the image of the chair conjures up in my mind, and began to feel inspired. Some of my thoughts: The chair is a universal item that most people in the world have sat upon at some point in their lives. It is something that waits to be filled. It is empty and reminds us of someone's absence. We enjoy a wonderful dinner in restaurants, we wait in waiting rooms for help or anxiously waiting in a hospital praying for good news. We sit on it at happy occassions with our loved ones. We sit on chairs in jury duty, waiting rooms as our cars are worked on, waiting for doctor's appointments and waiting to pick up our prescriptions. We sit for hours at our desks or in our studios being productive or struggling to solve a problem. We wait at the airport happily awaiting a much anticipated visitor or tense about a delayed flight in bad weather. We sit for hours in school learning or daydreaming. We sun ourselves at the poolside and read books at the library.We laugh and cry at the movies............This is just the beginning of the interest I am having in the idea of chairs. I would like to have the goal, hand allowing, of creating a very small white chair a day, that will hang on the wall. Ideally 365 chairs but that remains to be seen. I will leave some chairs empty, while filling others with sometting that I have collected or will be collecting in the coming days that creates a narrative for me. I am very excited about the prospect of touching clay once again. I made my first chair yesterday. Did my wrist hurt, yes. Did my spirit come alive with the birth of a new creative venture, absolutely. The silky delicious clay on my fingertips, heavenly. Baby steps..........less can be more. Therein lies my challenge. Another opportunity to grow and learn.

Social Trash News

"Social Trash" News

The Leave No Plastic Behind NATIONAL PLASTIC QUILT PROJECT travels! Although it's called a Quilt, it's part of many important efforts to awaken the masses about the messes surrounding plastic dependence! You may see the new additions online here. Thanks to artists Amy, Claudia, Clare, Clay, Kelly, Staj, Daniella, Heather, Holly, Bryce, Brie, Vicky, Taylor, Jo and Bridget for all 18 square feet of thought-provoking works of art! On the tour schedule so far is this year's Junk to Funk fashion show on November 14th, Century High School in Hillsboro during December and, in May, a likely trip to the snazzy Bay Area! If you have ideas for where the Quilt can go, please email cheryl@createplenty.org.

The Dance Continues

Last night I anxiously awaited the initiation of our new dance space. I left plenty of time to get there early enough to be able to savor the space before dancing in it. Well the world had other plans for me. As I drove around in circles trying to avoid all the traffic backups due to rain and construction on my regular route, I began to panic and stress that I would never make it to dance. What I had been awaiting for months, I feared might not come to fruition. After 45 minutes of driving, that should have taken 15, I ran into a room of dark quiet, beautiful bodies gathered, waiting to take the first step, waiting for the first note of music, from outside or from within, to move them. I tore off my rain gear and ran into the quiet. I left the traffic, the rain, the panic, the stress, outside. As I entered this room it felt like a somewhat familiar, dark peaceful womb, waiting to be filled with the presence of the dancers and their spirit of moving. I may not have begun the dance in the way that I had planned it, but such is the dance of life. The layers peeled away and I moved my first movement. My body stretched and reached up into the darkness and felt immediately at home in a new place, for the first time, as if I already knew this home. When I dance I feel home.

Rumi - Guest House

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 whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.

The best 37 years of my life

Today marks 37 years since I met my beloved Michael. That is when my life truly began and I am forever grateful. I await the next wonderful 37 years together!

"Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction." Antoine De Saint-Exupery

LNPB Leave No Plastic Behind Update

How exciting to see the art blocks that have been created by the other artists joining in the LNPB project, so please be sure to check them out and read the artist's before and after statements. This is the "sixth chapter" of the project and my first. I will continue to be a part of LNPB.

---

MEET THE ARTISTS of the National Plastic Quilt Project August—October 2009 Leave No Plastic Behind, Portland’s 6th “Episode” (also known as an art exhibit), marks a collective eighteen months during which artist/participants lived creatively and plastic-free. The Quilt Project is a representation of artists, families and individuals aware of the depth to which plastic affects our shared earth. You may be a part of lucky episode number 7, which begins in March 2010. Sign up for our email list to keep apprised of the details. The Quilt thus far will be on display various locations throughout Portland during November and December 2009 beginning at the Junk to Funk Fashion show on November 14th at the Crystal Ballroom! Full schedule to be posted soon. Have a space? Book the quilt!

Great Article Featuring the Community Warehouse!

Check out the wonderful article on the Community Warehouse and their new location. I am delighted once again to be creating a chair for their annual auction fundraiser. I can't wait to meet my chair at the party on November 19 as well as check out the new Community Warehouse space.

Dancing through the anger

Today I am dealing with an extreme increase of pain in my wrist and feeling very angry and resentful. I feel as though I have so many gifts to give and the pain of my wrist is standing in the way of my creative passions. This lesson is not an easy one for me to get. Why?? I am having trouble just being with what is................... It was almost a year ago that I created my chairs for The Chair Affair 2010 left handed. I am afraid I am faced with the same challenge once again. I anxiously await my new doctor's appointment trying to enter into it with a sense of renewed hope.

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and I could say, "I used everything that you gave me."

- Erma Bombeck

A sense of global consciousness

The other day I received this e-mail from a like minded thinker. It never ceases to amaze me that the power of the collective consciousness is all around us if you live with eyes wide open and reach out with a positive energy. Life has a domino effect no doubt and each effort we put forth in the universe, no matter how small, has a ripple effect like a small stone tossed into a still pond. The ripples are far reaching.

"We can do no great things, only small things with great love." --Mother Teresa

Hi Jo.....Jambo?Thats Swahili for hallo..... i do hope that you dont mind me calling you that......do you,well my names are Moses Akwiri Okoth.....from a part of the Earth called Kenya thats in Africa.....well actually thats NOT the whole of it BUT my Mum is from a country called Senegal.....welll thats still in Africa and well i am the 11th born of 12 Children....... i have been into art quite sometime.......BUT not that much since.....its NOT that part of me BUT oh......i do love art..... Well how did i get your address and what and why am i writing to you.....well i do have a great friend called Cheryly Lorhman and we have been friends for quite sometime and this year i decided that i think its time i put up her organization Leave No Plastic Behind (LNPB) here in Kenya.Kenya is actually home to the UNEP headquarters.......and i must say with alot of shame in me.....its got the worlds MOST irresponsible and NON environment friendly people.....and so thats why i need to start networking with people like you......to help set up this organization in Kenya.I am on the part where we are planning to have an exhibition on LNPB and the Quilt project early next year and i am hoping that i can have as many artists as possible.....i do hope that i can get a few ideas from you or just words of though and wisdom on what you think.....hoping to hear from you soon..... Sincerely, Mo!

Consious Technique Dance Workshop

"Do or do not, there is no try." - Yoda (Star Wars)

So I dared to risk going to Conscious Technique with Meshi Chavez~~~~~~~~~~~~

butoh ~ improv ~ choreography ~ consciousness ~ form ~ dance

"Conscious Technique provides a fusion of organic movement and choreographed moments. Participants will hone in on the use of imagination to foster presence in their movement practice while sharpening performance skills. Each session is an exploration of the internal power potential we possess as mover and artists. Through sustained concentration we will engage our external surroundings while connecting it to our internal process and vice versa."

I did not let the fear of the unknown stand in my way and I dared to dance outside my comfort zone. Still suffering with headaches I pushed through it. If I am in pain I can still do something that fills my soul. I tried to dance through the pain. I am so glad I did. I carried the intent and awareness of "inside body" "outside body" and "social or collective body" with me as I left the class. I am excited to see how this all plays out in my "real world life?" I look forward to the next three sessions.

thought for today

"The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.

Don't go back to sleep.

You must ask for what you really want.

Don't go back to sleep.

People are going back and forth across the doorsill

where the two worlds touch.

The door is round and open.

Don't go back to sleep." ~ Rumi

"From Within A Place of Stillness"

I am feeling the need to hibernate The trees, the flowers, the plants grow in silence. The stars, the sun, the moon move in silence. Silence gives us a new perspective.

Mother Teresa

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."

Life is what we make it. Always has been, always will be.

- Grandma Moses

We survived The Big Easy! The trip to New Orleans was a blast!

LNPB Leave No Plastic Behind Update

Well I dropped off my quilt piece yesterday. The piece is finished, but not my commitment to continue with the changes I have already implemented decreased plastic use in our home, as well as continue to look for new ways to reduce our use of plastics in our lives. As for the future of my quilt block it looks like this:

Well there will be a few stops for the quilt, starting on Alberta @ Fuel Cafe for First Thursday, then it will be hanging at the new LNPB headquarters on Killingsworth and 19th. It will then travel to the Junk to Funk fashion show on November 14th. We are hoping to have a party soiree for the artists in early December, perhaps for First Thursday in the Pearl, but we're still looking for a space for that at this late date! Then it goes to Hillsboro - Century High School - for an educational project and will likely travel to the Bay Area in California early next year!

Please keep checking back for updates on the project!

What love looks like

There are truly no words to describe this first glimpse picture of Adam & Tiff at the wedding. This is what pure love looks like! I am filled with more joy than I could have ever imagined.

After the dance................

This morning I reflect on last night's reflective dance and the conversation that followed. The dance was a battle between my mind and my body. I tried to be in the mantra "This body, this moment, this space"..............difficult. The image of the autumn as the sky turns dark at this moment this morning this space............the wind blows the trees and the leaves let go.............they don't hesitate, they don't choose.............they let go because they have to, they have no choice. I do. I struggle. Oh to be like the autum leaves on the trees...............to be able just to let go. Let go in this body, in this moment and in this space.........

Thinking about last night's Reflective Dance Practice........

A desire to kneel down sometimes pulses through my body, or rather it is as if my body has been meant and made for the act of kneeling. Sometimes, in moments of deep gratitude, kneeling down becomes an overwhelming urge, head deeply bowed, hands before my face.

Etty Hillesum An Interrupted Life

The Chair Affair is coming again!!!

Wow! I cannot believe an entire year has past and it is time to start thinking about my chair for the Community Warehouse chair affair again! Don't forget to check out the Community Warehouse's new location if you are shopping for something for your home or are looking for an new home for something you are ready are ready to part with. It is a great organization to support either way. I am excited for the artist pre-affair party on November 19th to meet the other artists and of course meet my chair! The ideas are already bouncing around in my head and I have not even met her yet. I will keep you posted as the love affair with my chair unfolds, so check back often...................

LNPB Leave No Plastic Behind Quilt Project

Well today I created my quilt square for the LNPB project using the plastic that I have saved over the past 2 months.I am entitling it Ingredients For Life? I ironed layer upon layer of plastic bags and straws to create a dense mess. There is nothing aesthetic about the piece. I thought it might be pleasing to look at once I began composing it like a mosaic, but after melting it all together, it was clear to me that there can be nothing aesthetic about plastic. It became a true reflection of the mess that plastic creates in our environment. There is no place for it in our lives! I regretfully had to recycle much more plastic that I collect during this time period, that would not even fit into the quilt. This said, I have significantly reduced my purchases of plastic packaged foods, yet still, there were those items I purchased that sadly offered me no choice in packaging. I am still going to strive to make even more changes in my purchasing habits, even if it means changing what items I buy, so that I may consume less plastic.

Patience

Well the wedding of Adam and Tiff has come and gone and I am finally landing back on earth. There was so much emotional energy involved in the entire process of the wedding that I can finally exhale after one of the most wonderful weekends of my life. Each day another memory unfolds and makes the experience grow richer and richer. Now with the days growing cooler and getting darker earlier, I look forward to going inward to my creative space, as my injured hand allows, and create, create, create. That is my calling and I want to answer, yet my pain stands in my way and I have to struggle to find a balance and a way around it. It brings to mind one of my favorite quotes:

"Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books written in a foreign language. Do not now look for the answers. They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them. It is a question of experiencing everything. At present you need to live the question. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day. "

Rainer Maria Rilke~~Letters to a Young Poet

The pre wedding celebration!

A wonderful celebration the day before the wedding and our newest member of the family!

With Jenni and Nana there, it could not have been a more wonderful wedding celebration the welcome Tiff into our nest!