Category: Illustration

Serendipity, the menace of planning?

Serendipity
It a zoo of a world out there – pick your animal and go!

It’s a mishmash, a little of this and a little of that. However, that is kind of what it feels like these days.  There’s drawing, there’s writing, there’s the Beasties, the books, this website: All have components/efforts “out there” in the fields of hope and hard work ….and and and… We all know the feeling. A bit overwhelming. Creatures are expanding and appearing all over the place! So I created the above piece to try to visually express the chaos and the excitement of some of the pieces trying to at least get into the same frame!

We make plans; we use planers-we set out with the BEST OF INTENTIONS! Then-poof-Serendipity happens and our best-made plans at times go kaput. Is that good? Is that bad? Does it matter?  Interestingly enough – the origin of the word  Kaputt is German and means something is destroyed.  The origin of the German is borrowing from the French: être capot, literally ‘to be bonnet’ or figuratively ‘to be defeated’. (At least according to Wikipedia.) Here, in English, it means done, broken, useless, and most probably destroyed. So even the word has serendipity in its flow and the roots of languages.  The paths we take, the roads we follow-they fork and they zigzag; that’s all part of the journey, the fun (hopefully), and ultimately is our individual ‘walk of life.’ The directions may seem obscure at times, but somehow things usually seem to work out.  So if your resolutions have already been ‘adjusted’, unknown/uncharted paths have already opened, new ideas are forming, new friendships are building, and new adventures await you-try to stay open to the possibility that serendipity keeps it all just that much more interesting! Try it out-for really, what have you got to lose?

Can art create vehicles of change?

I was walking with a friend of mine this morning. She has ventured into the world of photography with both feet and her whole heart. I admire that. We were chatting about the statement of: Do you go out with a fixed intent of creating a particular image? Stated bluntly, do you have something in mind when you click the shutter? Do you, as the artist/creator/visionary of the piece, have a focus and do you know what it is? It doesn’t matter what kind of “art” you create, it poses the interesting question of INTENT. As she is growing as a creator, which hopefully we all are in our own ways, she is comfortable not knowing what she wants to photograph yet (?) and goes out and tries all sorts of things. Bravo for experimentation. Bravo for creative growth.

As a creator of anything, how important is the piece/the image/the product? Is there a message? A hidden messages? What are the thoughts you as the creator had/have and what might the spectators views be? What becomes of the piece?  I was back from my walk and was listening to the below TED talk. The title-Can art amend history? caught my attention. I thought it was an impressive 12 mins. and I have placed it below for you. I hope you find it as interesting as I did.

I have pulled this quote out of the talk: You can switch out the words “paintings” or “sculptures” for just about anything you may be working on or thinking about. “I want to make paintings, I want to make sculptures that are honest, that wrestle with the struggles of our past but speak to the diversity and the advances of our present. And we can’t do that by taking an eraser and getting rid of stuff. That’s just not going to work.”

As a new year rolls in the topics of change, unspoken truths, shifting focus in whatever ways/means rings true to you seems like the perfect time to post this idea and/or question of- Just what is your intent?

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:  Titus Kaphar · Artist

Titus Kaphar’s artworks interact with the history of art by appropriating its styles and mediums.

( https://ted.com/talks/titus_kaphar_can_art_amend_history?utm_source=tedcomshare&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tedspread–a )

You also may want to check out –https://www.postmastersproject.com – looks pretty interesting too!

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Is your ear to the door?

If you listen carefully, you may be lucky and hear the cracks of the next door opening. Of course, you must be looking for the openings, the threads of light; the tiniest crack may be the one that opens and floods your world with light. Here’s to hope.

Birdelini at an open door and in a holiday designer skirt
Break open the doors

As we close in on 2017 and with the dawn of 2018 is seems appropriate to think about what you are looking for, hoping for, working for, trying to manifest (whatever the words are that work for you) in the new dawn. I know I am looking down all the alleys, walkways, doorways and passages. We will see what I can find. Stay tuned. I would love to hear what you may be looking for behind your closed doors? ♥

It’s also the Winter solstice, so we can all jump for joy, the days are getting LONGER and BRIGHTER. Let’s take it as metaphor and have high personal hopes for a more brilliant 2018.

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THANKS giving…

Pumpkin Thanks
Gordy in a pumpkin patch.*

Like so many others: I have been thinking about the topic of BEING, being a human, what constitutes gratitude, gratitude verses happiness, what the nation is going through, what we as a people stand for, what I as a person want to stand for, what makes me proud and what brings emotions of happiness/sadness, elation or pain. Brain exhausting.

Like so many others: I am clear I have a lot to be grateful for. The glass is full-no matter if it is filled with air, water, emotions, or things, there IS something in there-the empty is if I let it be. I know all that. (I don’t always remember it, but I DO know it to be true.)

We are our thoughts, our actions in many ways define our beings. The world feels particularly chaotic these days, spinning at an uncontrolled speed. Those are two, what I would call, facts.  I hope the collective ‘we’, and more personally I/myself, will always be searching, asking questions and concerned about the big picture.  At times I am not clear of what I am searching for? Searching for the next human element of that day? Searching for answers? Searching even for the question at times! Searching for the next path. Searching for the next idea. Many of the questions never end, and I suppose that’s a good thing. Somedays it works out better than others. That’s just life.

Turkey Drawing
Click to see a  larger version. *

As we enter the week of Thanksgiving here in N. America, I circle back around to the first sentence of this post. I sit here thinking about what it means to “be”- to be a human, a family member, a co-worker, a friend, a blog writer, a woman with unsolved questions (like us all I assume.) A woman with many things I hope to be able to do/accomplish in the upcoming year(s.) However, right now I am simply a person who just wants to get through the next month of “holidays” without too much frenzy, muss and fuss, and try to experience the joy and wonder that is supposed to be around the next six weeks or so. In truth-not my favorite time of year-but time marches on, and once again, here we go prancing, dancing, and dining into “The Holidays!”

  • All images are available for sale as a PDF Download ($7.00)  or as a print
    (Print price determined by size- inquire by email.)

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