It wasn't anything amazing. I needed an envelope and I could not find my standard #10 business envelopes. They are packed away in a box that is waiting to be unpacked. So, I grabbed a sheet of paper and made one. Simple, it took only a few moments. Fold the sheet, leaving enough paper at the top to create a flap. Trim the excess off creating flaps on both sides. Glue and fold side flaps, slide your stuff inside and glue the top flap closed. Done!
However, there is something about the process of creating something, and for me, especially creating something functional, that, well, is just fulfilling. It may only take a few moments, or it may take hours that lead into days, into weeks, months or even years, but while I am in the process of creating there is nothing else. I am focused on the task at hand, the mundane trials and tribulations of everyday life are gone. There is no distraction just cut here, glue there, stitch this, fold that, where is my thingamagig, oh yes, there we go...tada!
I made something today, its been awhile and it felt really good!
I rarely write to or about television shows. However, after listening to the comments about Rihanna and Chris Brown this morning on “The View” I was compelled to write this letter.
If you do not know who Rihanna & Chris Brown are, they are both singers. They are/were a couple, and were supposed to appear on this year's Grammy awards. Both performers failed to show, because on the morning of the Grammy's, the couple allegedly got into an argument which ended in violence. Chris Brown has since enrolled in an anger management program. While Rihanna is trying to deal with all that has happened.
This morning on The View, the co-hosts were discussing their thoughts on these events. One of the co-hosts, Sherri Shepherd, stated that she thought it was important for young girls to have a male figure in their life to instill in them a strong sense of self-respect. She also, implied that girls who don’t have such a man in their life are at a disadvantage. Whoopi Goldberg quickly disagreed. Ms. Shepherd dismissed this with, “Well, there are always exceptions to the rule”. Ms. Shepherd seems to be stuck in a thought process that says women teach their children one set of lessons, and men another set. I could not disagree more.
My mother & father have been married for over 48 years and raised three, rather strong-willed and independent daughters. When my parents were first married, my father was in the military and gone for extended periods of time. As a result, my mother had to quickly learn to manage the household and raise the children with only limited help from my father. My father is a great individual. I have learned many things from him and he has reinforced many of these beliefs I am about to list. However, it is from my mother’s words and actions that I first learned (in no particular order):
- I could literally become anything I wanted to be, if I only worked hard and applied myself.
- It is not being the best, but doing your best that is important.
- Education is essential for everyone; more importantly, it is never too late to learn new skills and ideas.
- While boys & girls are different, neither one is better than the other.
- Finding a person to share your life with is a wonderful process, but not a requirement.
- Relationships are not always perfect. They require quite a bit of compromise on both parts.
- Respect, love, and communication are the basis of any good relationship.
- No matter how many miles separate us, we are only a phone call away.
- Regardless of where we choose to roam, you can always come home.
- The house that we live in is just a building; home is the emotional and spiritual connection that exists between us.
- Family is not limited to just our relatives.
- When people fail you, and they will for that is a part of being human, there is always God.
- What church you attend is less important than the fact that you believe in God’s love.
- God does not discriminate; he loves all of his children unconditionally.
To this day, these are some of my core beliefs. Because of these beliefs, I have the strength and courage to chase my dreams, even when my family doesn’t agree with them. They were taught to me, not by a man, but by a woman who does not always realize just how intelligent, strong, and talented she truly is. These are the things we need to teach our children, especially our daughters. The gender of the teacher, is irrelevant, and a stereotype that need not be perpetuated.
For the past few years, I have received the Origami fold-a-day calendar. Sadly, I have yet to complete any of them. In fact, I didn't even open the one for 2008. One reason is that for most of 2008 I did not have a desk job, which translates to not having a place to put a daily calendar. Another reason is, until recently, the 2008 calendar was "stored" in the cluttered mess of my home office. Anyway, while trying to un-clutter my office, I found the 2008 calendar! Yeah!
I love origami for several reasons: there is a simple beauty in each piece; it has always been amazing to me the multitude of things that can be created from a simple square piece of paper; there is a meditative effect, a centering, that occurs when I fold paper; and it gets my creative juices flowing. So, now that I have found the calendar, I am going to fold each piece. I started the other night, I am already gotten through April.
Most of the pieces are cute, some of them really make me wonder about the person who created the piece, but overall it is a fabulous process. I find myself thinking about how to incorporate some of them into my other art work, which is really the reason I decided to fold the entire calendar, to kick my creative butt into action. While I am unemployed (I return to work in April), I have an opportunity to work on several projects that have fallen to the wayside because I was too busy working. I have not taken advantage of the time off. So, instead of beating myself up for not getting anything done, I am choosing to look and move forward.
Here is a link to directions for folding a paper crane. An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury. The crane in Japan is one of the mystical or holy beasts (others include the dragon and tortoise), and is said to live for a thousand years.
The below image is a photograph that I have recently added to my portfolio, entitled "Sugaring". It is a 16" x 6" digital photograph that will be printed on watercolor paper and will be limited to 250 prints. © 2008
The Right Reverend V. Gene Robinson is the Bishop of the Diocese of New Hampshire in the Episcopal Church in the US. He is best known for being the first openly gay, non-celibate priest to be ordained as a bishop. He was invited to give the invocation at the opening inaugural event on January 18, a concert held on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Unfortunately, his prayer was not carried by HBO's broadcast, and in fact, most of the people who had gathered for the concert could not hear him because the PA system was not working. Why HBO did not carry the invocation or why the PA system was not working properly, I will leave up to others to argue. To their credit, The Presidential Inaugural Committee has taken responsibility for what it calls "an error." In my opinion, this is a case of "too little, too late" but an apology was made. Below is the transcription of the invocation... simply put it, it is a beautiful prayer and definitely worth the read! _________________________________________________________________________________ O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will…
Bless us with tears – for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.
Bless us with anger – at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
Bless us with discomfort – at the easy, simplistic “answers” we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.
Bless us with patience – and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be “fixed” anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.
Bless us with humility – open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.
Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance – replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.
Bless us with compassion and generosity – remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.
And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.
Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people.
Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.
Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.
Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.
Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.
Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods.
And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand – that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.
AMEN.
- Clean my office
- Make two artist books
- 3 prints of my Bridge photo
- 3 prints of my Lupine photo
- Finish brochure for Island Country Club
- Fold origami pieces
- File paper work for ICC liquor license
- Mail in work search forms
Ok, so I start this blog and then I draw a complete blank. What should I write about? Who really cares what I think? Or the daily happenings in my life? Well, may be no one, maybe everyone, who knows, but... I have finally come to the conclusion that the entire world can join me in the ups and downs of being a gallery owner, photographer, and paper artist.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that when I moved to the coast of Maine 2 years ago, it was to... you guessed it... chase a dream. My partner & I left our careers, our friends, and some of our family members behind to move to Maine and become "ahhtists", that's artists to all you folks from outside the state of Maine. My partner is a potter. She has been throwing clay and making functional pottery since the age of 14. Oh life got in the way there for a while, but about 10 years ago she became more focused on her pottery and really started thinking about doing it full time.
I, on the other hand, got my first 35mm SLR camera for my 16th birthday. It was a Mamiya NS 1000. Now those of you who know cameras, are probably saying Mamiya doesn't make 35mm cameras and you would be partially correct. They did for a little while way back in the late 70's. By the early 80's they were getting out of the 35mm business and returned their focused to the wide format cameras they are known for. But my first real camera was a Mamiya. I loved that camera! Good feel, took great photographs, and allowed me to learn the art of photography. Unfortunately, I could not get lenses for it. Eventually, I moved to a Minolta, and then to digital. My first digital was a FUJI. Good camera, nice lens that had the capability of shooting superMacro images and had a 6x optical zoom and then an additional digital zoom that would take you to 10x. Very nice, but I had issues with the color corrections I had to do later on the computer. Finally, I have settled on the Nikon D70 digital SLR. GREAT CAMERA and GREAT LENSES!So, you are asking where does the paper thingy fit in & what is a paper artist anyway! Well, some where in my childhood, a very near & dear friend of my family showed me a magical thing. She took a square piece of paper and turned it into a cup. No glue. No scissors. Just a few simple folds and there, before my eyes, was a paper cup! And, yes, it really held water and you could drink out of it! Amazing! With that introduction to origami, I fell in love with paper and creating things from it. I do not profess to be a master folder, but it was a start. Over the years I have learned how to make many origami items. Peace cranes, boxes, birds, flowers, animals, and boats. I am fascinated by what you can do with a square piece of paper. I have also learned how to make my own paper, greeting cards, and books! I even make jewelry from paper, too!So there is the short version of what we do in our gallery. C-Ya!
