mermaidcamp

mermaidcamp

Keeping current in wellness, in and out of the water

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LumenArt Class

April 26, 2014 — 1 Comment

Yesterday I enjoyed making art in a new way with Jeanne Fellow at Blue Raven Art School.  I had visited her studio and purchased a couple of her beautiful pieces and learned about the LumenArt class.  My classmate Jeannie Gentry had done exactly the same thing.  We both were very excited to try our hand at making one of these very special lamps.  Our 5 hour class went by very quickly.  Everything was set up for us on the shaded patio.  Each of us had our own work table and basic tools.  After a thorough demonstration of the basic techniques we chose colors and started our own experiment in color mixing. Some of the inks are iridescent, but those also block the light from within when it is a finished LumenArt. The fun of it all is that you don’t know how it will really look until you light it.  Jeanne encouraged us to feel free and confident to play around.  Both students created three possible candidates for lighting.  The class materials include two sheets of incredible paper that allows all kinds of layering and special techniques without tearing.  We each bought one extra sheet because we had enough time and were seriously into it.  When dry we selected one to become our lamp. Choosing color for the base and tearing the final design we had supervision and plenty of encouragement from our teacher.  This project is practically impossible to do badly.  The materials guarantee that the finished product will be thrilling.  She teaches a class in using these techniques on fabrics that will also be fun.  If you are an experienced artist/craftperson you will love this class.  If you think you are not creative and have no talent for art you will be blown away by your own amazing abilities when Jeanne shows you how to release them.  My LumenArt is now making me very happy and proud in my living room at home.  I also have two other fabulous pieces of art that I made.  I even love my scraps.  I would encourage anyone to investigate creativity and find your own inner light in one of Jeanne’s classes.  She rules.

Pottery as Poetry, Janet Burner

April 6, 2014 — 1 Comment

 

I recently reread  the book Centering by Mary C Richards, a potter. In it she waxes very poetic about the subject of pottery. When I was covered with mud I considered Ms Richards to be  fluffy and woo woo. About 35 years later I see how centering clay on a wheel is sheer poetry. I also notice my own approach to centering, which has never left me. I now like to center my body from the core in deep water, using tubular units for balance.  This month as I attempt to write a poem a day I searched my memory for inspiration.  Janet Burner, queen of all alchemists and artist of great skill and talent, popped into my mind.  She has awesome technical skills and an alliance with fire like nobody I have ever seen.  I like fire myself and enjoyed my time as a kiln queen.  Janet has perfected various styles of firing to add variety and excitement to her work. She has always been famous for her raku.  Now she has evolved other techniques, both modern and ancient, to bring her work to life.

In the kiln the pot is actually born.  Just like an animal at birth, it also has a chance of dying.  Potters must accept that some work will crack or be ruined in the firing.  They must also accept that pottery is breakable, and glazes can only be controlled to a certain extent.  Intimate knowledge and wisdom of the firing process results from practice and experimentation.  I think of Janet Burner as the ultimate goddess of the fire.  We talked about how ironic it is that her last name is Burner, both because of fire and because one of the oldest techniques used in finished ceramics is called burnishing.   Her work today is created in a wonderful studio full of light, love, and art that she built herself.  The artful courtyard garden serves as a gallery to display her work.  She continues to teach at the Tucson Museum of Art School and grace our community with her participation in the Pima Arts Council Open Studio Tours.  Next weekend you can visit artists and see their studios all over Tucson.  This is an excellent way to find art and artists.

Poetry at the Gardens

March 29, 2014 — 1 Comment

Today at the Tucson Botanical Gardens docents from the U of A Poetry Center offered a reading and workshop in Ekphrastic Poetry. This style of poem is a response to a piece of art, the Ek being from Greek and referring to echo. The group attending was a mixture of students, visual artists, and poets.  By far the most emotional poem of the day was read by a Nam Vet who sat behind me. He chose to read War Photograph by Kate Daniels.  His choked up emotions brought tears to his eyes which brought tears to the eyes of the audience.  The other poems were discussed and analyzed but we were all very touched and had nothing more to say after he read.  At the end of the session participants wrote poems about the photos in the gallery.  All were striking.  I apologize, gentle reader, for cutting off the very beginning of some of these gentle readings.  It was a well produced and very well appreciated poetry experience, and we all have beautiful handouts to finish at home.  There is one more session this spring of Poetry in the Gardens, Native poetry on April 26, 2014.  These programs are included with garden admission.  It is SUCH A DEAL!!

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Hephaestus, Blacksmith of the Gods

March 20, 2014 — 5 Comments

Hephaestus was the crafty, cunning metalworker son of Zeus and Hera.  His difficult life began when his mother (or possibly his father) threw him off the planet at birth which pissed him off quite a bit and made him lame.  His talent at the forge became obvious early in his life, and he was called upon to craft golden thrones for his parents.  He used his extensive powers to revenge his rejection by creating a throne for his mother from which she could not escape.  A deal was struck to release Hera from the throne by giving Aphrodite to Hephaestus as a wife.  His marriage to the goddess of the sea was not blissful because she was unfaithful to him.  He is the only god that was imperfect and the only god that worked.  His mastery of fire was envied greatly by his father.  His archetype as a loner craftsman can be seen in people who focus on great artistry, production and invention. In Rome he was known as Vulcan.  In Tucson he is called Jerry Harris.  He was an ancestor of Daedalus, who fashioned wings, as does Mr. Harris.

Edible Art Gala at Maker House

January 19, 2014 — 3 Comments

The Edible Art Gala hosted at Maker House last night by the Tucson Arts Brigade was extravagantly well produced.  There were musicians in all areas, some dancers and other short acts entertaining all the guests. The food art was set out for tasting and also served by waiters circulating through the crowd.  Artists with works in the silent auction were on hand, and everyone was encouraged to come in a costume that represented a work or art or a genre of art.    The lively crowd enjoyed the historic setting and the Maker House bar which makes a perfect community gathering place.  I tasted almost everything that had no meat, but the sensory excitement abounded, and I found I filled very quickly as I tasted my way around the tables.  I am happy to have been introduced to several catering businesses that are new to me and do some seriously high quality original work.  Everything I tested was delicious, but I saved myself for the scream cake as the last taste of the night.  It was outstanding kiwi flavor with the icing of the dreamiest texture.  I savored it with a lovely cappuccino from the bar as we enjoyed the outdoor patio with music under the stars.  It was an example of Tucson at it’s best.  Old friends, new art, and historic building turned community center…this is what I like to see happening in my city.

Glass Kaleidoscope, Oakmont, PA

September 10, 2013 — 4 Comments

I was surprised to find my old school friend, Marcia Irwin,  in her glass studio in Oakmont, PA, the Glass Kaleidoscope.  She has become a skilled master of stained glass art.  I bought out the earrings an found a nice gift for our hostess of the weekend reunion party.  I did not know who the glass artist was when I decided to check out the shop.  It was really fun to see her as well as her art.  She does custom work and has all kinds of beautiful pieces on hand at her shop for gifting or treating yourself..I enjoyed both.

Synesthesthetes Unite

August 4, 2013 — 5 Comments

Science and art collide in the syesthesthetes. Color and odor are so closely related, as are color and taste.  Sensory criss crossing is the particular talent of the synesthetes.  To know what color or flavor an hour of the dawn is one must identify across the senses.  This identification is natural to some, and can be enhanced through practice.  Blind tasting is, in a way, a chance to create your own vision by tasting and smelling.  Leonardo de Vinci called synesthesia one of his core values.  Indian musicians compose ragas to be played at specific times of day and seasons of the year, like liturgy.  When you enter a church with an ornate decorative style to hear chanting and smell incense you are being trained to cross your senses. Here is  quiz to test your own synesthesia.

This device is used in art and literature to create a sensual background.  If I write about cool colors or ice-cold professionalism, I ask you to feel the adjective.  If I tell you the characters were swept away emotionally by the full moon and the soft ocean breeze, I want you to feel the set.  Music videos evoke a feeling that is produced to add dimension to the songs.  Here is one that is straight up color, geometry and sound.  Enjoy!

Soul on Paper

July 30, 2013 — 3 Comments

Carl Jung, Leo Swiss shrink and alchemist, invited his patients to record their own visions as he did in his Red Book. He councils patients to record their visions in order to interpret the voice of the soul:

“Think of it in your imagination and try to paint it. Then when these things are in some precious book you can go to the book & turn over the pages & for you it will be your church-your cathedral-the silent places of your spirit where you will find renewal. If anyone tells you that it is morbid or neurotic and you listen to them-then you will
lose your soul-for in that book is your soul. ~Red Book; Page 216.

Today we have digital means of making art which I enjoy as self expression.  What Carl is talking about here, however, is hand on paper. He tells the patient to use good paper and art supplies to document all visions.  He explains that by drawing the vision the magnetism it contains is neutralized.  He suggests that the expression of the detail is an important way to build self understanding.  I will continue to enjoy my digital art making, but think it is time to spend more time with hand on paper.  I love to draw mandalas and other geometric patterns.  I wonder if I begin now if I can produce a Red Book worth saving.  Have you started your Red Book?

birth chart Jung

birth chart Jung

Corporalita

July 19, 2013 — 2 Comments

Leonardo, the maestro, was guided by core principals. Cultivation of grace ambidexterity, fitness, and poise were central to Da Vincian thought. He viewed healing as “restoration of discordant elements” in a person. His copious notes on personal responsibility for our own health and well being were left for history. Many think of the Mona Lisa smile as his signature work, but probably the best known of all his art work is the anatomical range of motion dude in a circle and square known as Vitruvian Man.  His study of anatomy was accompanied by observation of his own body in relation to his wellness and fitness routine. His self portraits are studies in facial anatomy as well as in painting technique.

He advised people to dine, not eat. One of his many specialities was preparing vast feasts and party catering for wealthy Florentines.  He collected knowledge about food and nutrition, recording recipes.  He was known about town as having “more than infinite grace in every action”.  His cultivation of effortless poise and ambidexterity in his own body made him famous in a rock star way.  Florentines would come out on the street for the thrill of seeing Leonardo walking. His notebooks reflect a focus on balance, posture, and centering.

His favorite metaphor was the human body.  It is also my own.  If you consider any entity it will have a head, a heart, a circulatory system, consumption, and processing of waste.  It will have dynamic balance and movement.  It will present itself as open or closed, happy or sad.  It will have chronic maladies and moods, a backbone, and sharp or weak senses. Often the right hand will not know what the left hand is doing.  Next time you need to analyze an institution or business use this metaphor to create a picture in your mind.  Ponder one of the maestro’s most famous observations, “every part is disposed to unite with the whole, that it may thereby escape from its own incompleteness.”  At this moment, gentle reader, can you see how this applies to you?

Vitruvian Man

Vitruvian Man

Art and Practice

April 4, 2013

This month many writers are writing a poem a day in NaPoWriMo..the poetry challenge.  I am accomplished in a few expressive ways, but I have not visited my poet for years.  I was a prolific song writer as a teenager, and wrote poetry every day of some kind.  I am a language fan, loving words because they sound funny or because they have obscure specific meanings.  Being poetic, or even doing rhymes as improvisational humor, sharpens the wit, grows the vocabulary and enhances connections and metaphoric images.

When I was young I heard my father recite the Cremation of Sam McGee by Robert W Service.  He knew it by heart. After a couple of drinks he liked to sing, dance or recite that poem. It was always entertaining. He was a research scientist by profession, but my parents loved music and dance more than anything.  We had a player piano which was the scene of many sing a long parties.  What was truly admirable about my parents was their artistry.  They had regular suburban lives, but my dad was an accomplished musician, and my mother designed and executed both landscape environments and fashion with amazing professionalism.  My mother was a prize-winning floral arranger, and avid flower show horticulturist.

I was encouraged , and in some cases forced, to practice art.  Piano was a mandatory 30 minutes every day of my life, and a legal pad sheet of cursive handwriting had to be inspected by my father each night.  I eventually realized I could recycle some of the handwriting, but there was no faking the piano.  My guitar and voice lessons came with mandatory practice sessions when I was in high school.  I learned the power of practice at a very young age.  Discipline is never natural to kids and maybe my parents overdid the whole rigidity thing.  Today, however, I thank Dick and Ruby Morse, the living artists, who gave me the self confidence to know that I can be any kind of artist I care to be.  My art will reflect my practice, and with practice I will improve.  All poems, all songs, all dances are alive and need to be brought forth.  Practice is the vehicle in which they travel into the light.