:: In fact it is now known by neurologists that
art, music, prayer, and healing all come from the same source in the body. They all
are associated with similar brain wave patterns, and mind body changes. They all
are deeply connected in feeling and meaning.::
- Art As Healing
- Art As Healing
There always seems to be too much to write about. Each grain of any one idea collapses into another. Like folding in egg whites, I have to be careful. When that happens, my inability to separate threads in the chain, I just write crazy sounding stuff. For a Creative there are no clear delineations between art forms though there may be an obvious gift for one over the others. Take for example my friend Jacqueline. She is a gifted painter with a passion for developing her musical brain. After many years of cello lessons, she slowly began to cozy up with other musicians, and now records compositions she helped shape.
Having used every excuse possible to not make art (nor play my mandolin) the Universe has lost all patience and pushed my harp right through the clouds. Am I excited? Hell Yes I Am! I've got a lot of stars in my crown these days. Just before the holidays I began working on a piece for Sailor Girl Lola. Her family lost everything when Katrina hit, including art pieces I had given to her when we were girls and photographs from our time together in college. As I was working on her piece and collecting photographs, it occurred to me that I could incorporate images of the two of us into this single work, creating a piece pregnant with significance. I've just got the final image for her piece and will be posting the completed work soonish...tricky!
With that small beginning, the tide is rolling in and washing away my blues. My next piece is a commission for Lola's Best Friend, an incredible musician and composer, who recently received a gorgeous upright ebony Yamaha piano from his brother as a birthday gift. The space above (don't you just love the sound of those simple words...the space above) the piano needs a little somethin' somethin'. His work hits me hard in the heart, a beautiful deep insideness that I can't wrap my arms around. The images for his work will incorporate blood cells, native bloodlines, the whispers of mutes, the tapping of silver tipped fingers and a soul filled joyous sorrow rich in texture and full of new promise. I hope he loves it!
Saving the best for last, I received a call this week from the agency in Austin I worked for a few years back. The City of Austin Art In Public Places has requested that I take my last project with our youth at that agency, Don't Let Violence Change Our World, and turn it into a sustainable outdoor piece. That means it is protected by federal laws ya'll and can't ever be removed!
Each summer, the school based team I am a part of, works with youth who participate in a citywide initiative to give them work experience. Most come prepared for a mindless task in an office building. HA! We take our captive audience and turn them into mini ambassadors, expecting them to take what they learn with us, back to their schools.
The Issues: Violence works like a stink in the room. At some point, kids become desensitized to the odor of violence. They become complacent and there is no longer an expectation of a safe school environment. On the violence behavior continuum, the lowest form of violence, is usually identified as a word, such as calling a guy "gay" or a girl "bitch". The highest form of violence, and the one that makes the whole school and community wake-up, is usually a rape, but can also be a murder of one of the partners in a teen relationship by the other. Environmental hazards work similarly, especially as they relate to plastic waste. The continuum is slow to be seen. That plastic shopping bag that just flew out of your car and is now rolling like a tumble weed across the highway until it gets caught by a tree line, a fence or perhaps, blown over the fence to land in a cemetery along the highway, is in the lowest position on the continuum. The Pacific Gyre, a plastic garbage wasteland, larger than the United States, is the highest form of preventable environmental violence. More than likely, your little plastic bag, that caught wind and flew out of your car, is floating in the PG...trade winds, my darlin'.
The Link: Being mindful of the stink, the power of word and the power of choice, moves one from routine acceptance, to a cascade of interconnected decisions. Altering one behavior at the lowest level on the continuum, asking others to do the same, reduces the risk of creating a vortex of hatred or garbage that forever changes our ability to choose. We cannot move the garbage now in the Pacific Gyre. We cannot undo the taking of a young life. We can prevent these issues from happening in other oceans and in other lives.
The Piece: The work consist of 750+ single use, mostly water bottles, packed into a 6' x 6' wooden frame. A template of a "gyre" was created, colors assigned to eight sections, and calculated a need for 56 bottles per color. Those bottles for the gyre were painted with enamel paint pens. The rest of the bottles were left as they were. In addition to the bottles the kids brought in, those saved from a Father's Day event hosted by our agency, we also collected 9 huge plastic bags of bottles from our local recycling center. With 19 youth and 3 adults, cleaning, stripping off labels, painting, and installing, it took approximately 30 hours to complete the project.
This tri-coastal life is baring fruit.
Create the life you want!
The Broad
Having used every excuse possible to not make art (nor play my mandolin) the Universe has lost all patience and pushed my harp right through the clouds. Am I excited? Hell Yes I Am! I've got a lot of stars in my crown these days. Just before the holidays I began working on a piece for Sailor Girl Lola. Her family lost everything when Katrina hit, including art pieces I had given to her when we were girls and photographs from our time together in college. As I was working on her piece and collecting photographs, it occurred to me that I could incorporate images of the two of us into this single work, creating a piece pregnant with significance. I've just got the final image for her piece and will be posting the completed work soonish...tricky! 
Saving the best for last, I received a call this week from the agency in Austin I worked for a few years back. The City of Austin Art In Public Places has requested that I take my last project with our youth at that agency, Don't Let Violence Change Our World, and turn it into a sustainable outdoor piece. That means it is protected by federal laws ya'll and can't ever be removed!
Don't Let Violence Change Our World
The Project: The
piece is temporarily living within the well protected courtyard of our
secure compound. I work for a domestic violence agency that is
recognized as an innovator in the field internationally. The piece will
eventually be placed in our staff kitchen which faces a courtyard to a
small apartment complex used by our agency for transitional housing. It
can't remain in the courtyard, which is the main entrance to our
building, because it obstructs the receptionist view - you see, enraged
partners sometimes attempt to find the spouse that fled, with children
but without clothing, vehicle or birth certificates.Each summer, the school based team I am a part of, works with youth who participate in a citywide initiative to give them work experience. Most come prepared for a mindless task in an office building. HA! We take our captive audience and turn them into mini ambassadors, expecting them to take what they learn with us, back to their schools.
The Issues: Violence works like a stink in the room. At some point, kids become desensitized to the odor of violence. They become complacent and there is no longer an expectation of a safe school environment. On the violence behavior continuum, the lowest form of violence, is usually identified as a word, such as calling a guy "gay" or a girl "bitch". The highest form of violence, and the one that makes the whole school and community wake-up, is usually a rape, but can also be a murder of one of the partners in a teen relationship by the other. Environmental hazards work similarly, especially as they relate to plastic waste. The continuum is slow to be seen. That plastic shopping bag that just flew out of your car and is now rolling like a tumble weed across the highway until it gets caught by a tree line, a fence or perhaps, blown over the fence to land in a cemetery along the highway, is in the lowest position on the continuum. The Pacific Gyre, a plastic garbage wasteland, larger than the United States, is the highest form of preventable environmental violence. More than likely, your little plastic bag, that caught wind and flew out of your car, is floating in the PG...trade winds, my darlin'.
The Link: Being mindful of the stink, the power of word and the power of choice, moves one from routine acceptance, to a cascade of interconnected decisions. Altering one behavior at the lowest level on the continuum, asking others to do the same, reduces the risk of creating a vortex of hatred or garbage that forever changes our ability to choose. We cannot move the garbage now in the Pacific Gyre. We cannot undo the taking of a young life. We can prevent these issues from happening in other oceans and in other lives.
The Piece: The work consist of 750+ single use, mostly water bottles, packed into a 6' x 6' wooden frame. A template of a "gyre" was created, colors assigned to eight sections, and calculated a need for 56 bottles per color. Those bottles for the gyre were painted with enamel paint pens. The rest of the bottles were left as they were. In addition to the bottles the kids brought in, those saved from a Father's Day event hosted by our agency, we also collected 9 huge plastic bags of bottles from our local recycling center. With 19 youth and 3 adults, cleaning, stripping off labels, painting, and installing, it took approximately 30 hours to complete the project.
This tri-coastal life is baring fruit.
Create the life you want!
The Broad
2 comments:
No matter how many lenses you put on to view the world (Austin, Yucatan, NOLA)the lense the universe views you from, screams "artist!" There is no escaping it. Resistance is futile...
Mer, you are hilarious! I almost posted an image of Seven of Nine, the Borg on Star Trek, for this article! I Am Artist! Thanks for the support Mer.
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