Not so very nice people out there!

Well, I AM important! How do I know this? Because I have 
the law firm of Perkins Coie, from Seattle trolling my site, 
looking for ways to sue me, on behalf of a person that I don't 
like, for good reason. 

Why don't I like this person? Due to what I perceive to be bad behavior


 towards the disabled, this high falutin' law firm, in my legally allowed opinion, 


 is out to make sure I do not use those  pesky First Amendment rights.

 How do I know I am in their sights? Well, I have a statistics counter that


 records IP addresses. And boy, did theyvisited my blog!! I think they are 


stalking me.  I have that visit on record, to show any 


interested party that would like to see it. Just email me from my contact link


 on my site. 

So, my question is this? What is this law firm, and this woman, that in 


MY OPINION, destroyed a gallery for no good reason is this: Why are you afraid of me?


 Because you are,  and now I know it. 

Your client has made a PR error, William, old son. Blame her, don't try to demolish the 


Constitution any  further. Why is the truth of the situation frightening to you? Hmn....

I do wonder about that! 


Also, she IS a public figure, therefore, artists ( I used that word again, teehee) do 


have a right to make works about her. I believe that has been settled. I'm not too 


worried. I'm filing bankruptcy,I have no assets, so bummer for her attorney, Rava!

They applied a scorched earth policy, in my opinion,  towards an autistic


 man and his partner. I'm sure that she and her pro bono minion


are salivating to destroy me, too. "They" including  this woman that I believe to


 have done  harm with vindictive intent. They fined  them $250 daily because 


they could not afford to move fast enough. One might think that some slack


 could be cut, ( it IS the holiday season)  and these poor guys have zip for assets, 


so I believe the entire point was to destroy and shut down a perceived competitor, 


which they were  not. She says she helps kids, they were helping adults. 


She had a poshy attorney  to help her,  (I do wonder who paid the filing fees, 


the couriers, as well as the process servers...hmn...I wonder...), they did not.


 She is tax exempt, they are not. 

And now look at that! *wink and a grin* 

I have this tony law firm, and William Rava, Esq.(he IS her attorney of record)


  and his frightened pro bono client that calls donors "customers"( that is in


 the legal paperwork served on the guys)  looking to take me down!


 Once again, art  (yes, I used that verboten word!) is under attack, with 


artists being targeted, as well, in my opinion. One thing about this action that I 


 find disturbing is the lack of compassion, what I see ( that means opinion, gotta 


keep this straight for the edification of M. Rava)  as a heartless (yes, I used that


 forbidden word, too) attitude that was displayed towards these men, who


 made no profit, they were still operating in the red. So why?

Simple. It was all about the Benjies, in my opinion. Why are they looking to attack me?

 In my case, I  posit(that means opinion, a guess, in case that word wasn't encountered 

in prelaw)  that it's twofold:

fear, and those Benjies...

Newest Exhibition in Philly!

This Friday is the opening night of an exhibition called "Wax Poetic" at the Nichols-Berg Gallery in Philidelphia, Pennsylvania. http://www.nicholsbergart.com/shows/wax-poetic-contemporary-encaustic-works
I have three pieces in there, and I so wish I could go, but I have too much to do here and too little money to go, but I have a fellow artist that is going to be there and will let me know how it goes.

Also, be sure to check out the Billboard Project, http://www.billboardartproject.com/
One of my very good friends as well as a very talented artist, Shanna Efferson D'Antonio, is an artist in this project for New Orleans, Louisiana. It's a really great project and I just love the work that was used!

Here are my three entries:
The Fat Lady Contemplates Her Song

Season's End: Menopause

 and Cracks in my Facade: Rupture

Art and Urgency

I am really feeling the crush these days. My hands are half numb, and I have soooo many projects to do!!
My wonderful soulmate, that man is the very best art supply that I could have. He stretches canvas. He makes frames for my work. He tirelessly and painstakingly supports me with all that he can.
He's built me an 8' easel. It is huge and will hold a canvas/panel up to 12' x 12'.
You should see the neighbors faces when we broke that out! They couldn't decide what was going on. I'm sure I saw a couple of the older Latinas cross themselves.
I've got one project that is getting finished tomorrow. Maybe tonight. Depends on how I feel. I feel, these days, that I haven't much time, and I have art projects beating on the doors of my mind. Each one is selfish and sure that it is more important than the other thoughts beating at the mind's door.
Sometimes, these images make it very difficult to sleep.
When that happens, it's best to just get up, and do what I have to to get that image happy enough to let me go back to bed.
I know that these are my thoughts, my ideas and my concepts, but many times, it feels as they have a life and a mind, of their own.
I'm just the messenger, sometimes. ;]

The travelling Artist

I had a great trip to Louisiana! LSU is a lovely campus; I think I'm going to do my Master's there. I also think that this little artist is probably going to move there.
The people were wonderful, the food was delish, and I have to say, I felt like it was home!
The lecture I gave went over well; all of the students as well as the profs, were engaged and asked plenty of questions!! It ran over time, and had to be cut short. I consider that a triumph, as well as the students that asked questions afterwards.
Baton Rouge is absolutely beautiful. I think that Louisiana as a whole, is just gorgeous. I'm hooked!
I think that most interesting part was how many of these people looked like me, prominent cheekbones, squarish face, curly dark hair and many with light eyes. I had an old woman welcome me home. She said she could see Louisiana in my face. I could see Louisiana all around me on the faces of the people.
Awesome!!

New Projects

I've been working on a new series of mosaics. They are going to be heads, but I want them to be clear, so I'm not limited on the art glass that I can use.

I need 'em hollow so I can mount the LED's. Therefore, that sexy beast I married is going to build me a rotational resin casting machine. I love that man!!

An hour in front of YouTube and he's got it. He hasn't failed me yet! That man can take a video, get the idea, and figure out an improvement whilst assembling the materials! I am one lucky cookie.

Futhermore, he works for love, affection and chocolate. No problem, I can supply all of those needs. *grin*

The first step was finding the proper form for the liquid latex rubber mold material. Then I used a paper mache-plaster mix to make the rigid form to set the latex mold in.
Done.
Then, with that completed, both halves of the mold were put together, with an inside overlap of latex rubber. Since these are going to be covered with art glass, a seam is not an issue. But I think that I'm going to be doing a few cast resin body casts. I have some visions that have come to me...

So, tomorrow, it's the materials for the rotational caster.
Then it's the cast. Will post pics tomorrow of what I have now.

I did have a happy accident, though. My first thought for the rigid mold was an air dry clay. Well, I put too much water in it. It cracked on the form, but in such fantastic ways!!
Now that has become a project. It's looking pretty cool. Tomorrow is going to be busy. I also have to make some more encaustic medium in order to finish that project!
It's going to be a mixed media piece. I've gotten wax. some fantastic art paper from I don't remember where, but I'm thinking Japan, encaustic, and I'm thinking some photo transfer.

Also, I have to report on my trip to LSU. But that deserves a whole new post of it's own, cause I have some fantastic stuff to share!!

The top is the inside with Gamblin's traditional gesso, and the bottom is the head covered in that lovely paper afixed to the head with PVA size. I have to take more images, but the cracks are sutured with copper. At least as suture like as one can get that copper wire to go!

The next ten years

It is my hope, my wish, that we can recover our compassion, recover from the trauma that was inflicted on our nation. That we can look at one another and see fellow Americans, instead of Muslims, or Christian or Jewish or Pagan.
It is my dream that we, as a species, can learn to heal and to move on. Not to forget, for that is not possible, to forgive and move on, for ourselves.

New Work, Corporate Commission

The Phoenix Rising  encaustic on poplar panels

 This piece is done! It was an adventure, working on a piece as large as this one, in encaustic.
I modified an office chair and it worked perfectly!

These other images are closeups of the new art supply I've been working with. It's a proprietary formula, and so my lips, they are SEALED!!
This particular piece is for the Phoenix Brite corporation. They are a financial sort of place. Not my area, I'm just the artist...
;]

I love encaustic, I really do! This piece came out really well, better than I had expected. I think the shellac burned in really gives it a hot appearance. Nice! Fun to work with, and it can give such a fantastic webwork to the images texture.

WIP Middle Panel

This is the largest encaustic I've ever done. 48" x 24" for this center panel.

Here it is and boy, this was a beast to do!

This one is a corporate commission, and it has been a challenge, but I am pleased with the way it's coming along.

Commission in Progress

This is the largest encaustic I've ever done. Three panels totalling 48" x 48" meant to be spaced out.

I have the center panel pretty much done. The picture is the cartoon that went on the panel.

Will post images when it's done!

Art and Science

I am one happy little wax slinger! I've been invited to be a guest speaker at Louisiana State University regarding this fabulous art supply that the director there is making.

Ok, here's how an artist gets to go to be a guest speaker for a chemistry department:

As anyone who knows me well knows, I am no shy violet; nope, I'm more like a curious monkey. Or a magpie. If it's shiny or if it gets my curiosity going, well, I have been known to make mad right turns....

I transferred into Portland State University from a semester system and they're a quarter system. so that caused a wee bit of a discrepancy in the credits that I needed; it turned out that I needed half a credit in Chemistry. I'm a professional artist going to get a psych degree, so I'm totally there for the half a credit and the marvelous cookies, not so much for the actual presentations. Most of those went over my head.

But there was this one presentation....

From LSU, Dr. John Pojman, the director of the Chem department (I'm totally positive that's what it says in the signature at the end of his email) came to show us his current work in polymers for adhesive purposes. Interesting, my ears perk up.

Then he started the presentation, with film clips of these magical substances. My mouth fell open, the cookies almost forgotten!

Before my wondering eyes fantastic textures unfolded. Textures and the ability to bond this to that.

I hear you all rolling your eyes...get on with it, Colleen! OK, OK!

This stuff allows one to apply heat to it which allows one to bond plastic to wood, and to embed glass bits and other cool stuff.

Now all the good Doc is seeing is industrial applications. Not me. Oh no. I'm seeing panels covered in wonderful, crazy cool textures that one touches with the torch and this really cool reaction, the propogation front, marches across the stuff that was applied to the surfaces.

At the end of the presentation, when it was Q & A time, my hand shot up in the air!!

I had one question "Have you thought of art supplies for these wondrous things? I would love to have some of this! I have a problem I've been trying to solve and this is the answer."

He looked at me in surprise and said no, he had not and did I have time to discuss this after the presentation?

Yup, I sure did, and I am VERY happy that I did!

So now I'm off to talk to grad students and some other pretty important sounding folks! I gotta get out my top hat and brush my bowler hat off!! Now for some Mad Scientist goggles for the demo part. did I mention the demo part? Oh yeah...hot wax and torches, in the land of my foremothers on my maternal side!

Hot damn!

What to pack?

Art supplies, camera, torches, batteries, top hat, shoes would be good....I should probably put some clothes in there, too...and my faithful laptop as well as my Droid.

I'm gonna have a bourbon on Bourbon St, then some pecan pralines and some file gumbo!

I'm so freakin' excited!!!

Will post updates! ;]

Seattle was great!

Seattle is a lovely city! I got some great pictures which I will post as soon as I get them off of the camera. I saw the troll under the bridge, my daughter and her friend took me to Pike's market and I got to ride the ferry to Bremerton and back.

Fantastic food, and the exhibition is going to look lovely.

Mother Earth looks fab, and here are some pictures of her.

Busy busy day...

Art and life can sometimes be a difficult mix. Two of my grandsons have been visiting, with Oliver, the granddog. Oliver is a Cocker, on a natural wire. That dog can bounce in a way that would outdo Tigger and is close to Superman's single bounds! That dog can clear an art table in no time flat. Glass went everywhere, and I do mean everywhere.

I'm finishing up Mother Earth, and didn't have the glass from her put away yet. I have the Green Man to finish, so I also had that glass up there.

Doh,

I know better; this was a case of magical thinking on my part. I forgot that this dog can levitate. I think he uses the floppy ears to helicopter up there...

Just to be safe, I put away the gesso mix with the rabbit skin glue. I keep having this disturbing image of acid free dog poo, colored titanium white, all over the yard...and the deck... oh, yeah, can't forget the laundry room....

It's a damned good thing that dog is cute, otherwise he might become a set of slippers...

Mother Earth

Here She is, my latest creation, the Ojibwa creation story. Mother Earth, her body is all of water; Muskrat sacrifices himself to get the mud from the bottom of the waters, to put on Turtle's back, to make a home for us.

Four birds are sent out with sacred seeds to populate the land.

I have Ojibwa DNA. Both of my biological children have Native dentition. I just wish I knew more about our heritage. I don't mean the dry stuff that one finds in books, but the day to day stuff; like the little daily rituals that make up our lives. What we eat for breakfast, what we do as during the day, these things are clear to me as an averaged American.

What these things are in Ojibwa culture is a mystery to me.

With what I have been able to find on my own, this is the story that seemed to reoccur over and over, so I take this one to be the closest to the original as my meager understanding of the story. It's shortened in my explanation; it's much more beautiful in the writings that I have seen.

Tomorrow is a wonderful day!!

Starting tomorrow, I get 10 full days to myself to do art. I have two mosaics to finish, an oil on the easel, and an encaustic piece percolating around in my head; not to mention the sweet little oxy actylene mini torch and tanks I'm going to go get....
Fire and glass, wax and steel, I have SUCH ideas spinning in my head.
In a way, it's full circle. Welding is what led me to art, and now art takes me back to welding.
I feel such a sense of urgency; my hands are slightly numb, my biceps and my triceps are weak and getting weaker. They echo the weakness in my legs and the spikes that seem to be in the balls of both of my feet.
The more it hurts, the more art I feel the need to do.
So tomorrow, I'm off to go buy my sweet little mini-torch, fill my tanks and set up my space. Glass and carbon steel, I want to create dragons and dragonflies; abstract towers made of dark, rusted steel and luminescent glass, lit from within...
I have so many creations that I want to do, and so little time to do them in, I feel. It scares me, actually. Life is just too short! There is so much to learn, so much to create, so many boundaries to push and unexplored concepts to examine!
I'll post progress pics!

This is another view of the crucified woman; you can see the process around the image. This one is also a political statement, so I think that I see a series coming on. These are going to be gritty, pain filled, and stark. These are my statements on the current political climate, which is no different in many ways, than all of the millenia women have been crucified for various things.

Women have been oppressed and in this supposedly modern and more civilized age, it still goes on. Since the Tea Party take over of the House of Representatives, there have been 900+ bills introduced that are anti-woman, as well as anti-social.

Antisocial behavior on an unbelievably long term scale, throughout history. There is no nation on the planet that does not oppress women, and the US has regressed significantly in this regard.

We see it in the news, rape and murder of women; we see in polls that the majority of men feel that rape is alright as long as they can get away with it.

There is the human trade, alive and well in the US. There is the denigrating ways that women are referred to, even by other women.

It is my hope that this image, this series, which I know will inspire anger, will also inspire thought.

New Study

OK, this is not going to win me any friends, but this image has come to me, and it will not go away. It is my belief that as an artist, part of my job description is to point out inequities, and sometimes, one has to be shocking to get the point across.

This new image, I haven't decided yet what it will be in, I'm thinking encaustic, but it is a political statement; a statement about the current political trend to take away hard won rights for women by the GOP, here in the USA.

These people are bad people. What used to be a hidden war against women and those who are not white and Christian, is now out in the open. From the move to restrict voting rights, to the mean spirited war on women and reproductive health, this party of greedy overpriced politicians has made it clear that they consider human life to be worth less than snail snot, and women, children and brown people to be the bottom o' the barrel.

This piece is going to be my response to this trend.

Good thing I'm not worried about popularity, cause this image is not going to win any popularity contests...

This is going to be my next encaustic nude, I think. I'm tired of seeing these idealized images that really have nothing in common with real women. I see these women not just in commercials, but in every magazine, and on every billboard.

These images, I believe are porn inspired. As time goes on, I had hoped that women would be freed of the madonna/whore dichotomy, but that has not happened.

Instead, I see younger and younger girls trying to compete for male attention. If only they knew; men will take pretty much what we give them. If we women quit buying into the porn nonsense, then men will get over these unrealistic expectations of a wasp waist and ridiculously large boobs. Yup. I called 'em boobs.

We women have to take some responsibility for the current issues. With that in mind, the rest of my women will be real. Real with breasts that have suckled children, and hips that have some curve. Women are supposed to have healthy curves. Not sticklike bodies, not mounds of fat, but bodies that are healthy and that do what we need them to do; to live a good life full of love and explorations. To create, whether that creation is in the studio, the computer room or the kitchen, that is what our bodies are for. To take us to the places where we want to be!

Appropriation

I am a follower of Hazel Dooney, and just recently, Damien Hirst appropriated the title of one of her blog posts. This does not surprise me, and it saddens me, that he would do that.
What happened to originality?
I oh so expected better from this guy, but no, he is no better than any other media whore. Sad.
Hazel has had a rough ride, she works hard at both life and her art, and I admire her for it.
Shame on you, Damien Hirst!

To be honest, I'm not a fan of anyone appropriating anyone's art without giving credit where it is due. I can understand using a quote, but one should make sure that the source is cited. Not take someone else's thoughts and use them as one's own.

Oh boy!! I just got my Rocket Putty!!

OK, so I have this chemistry lecture series that I attend; at one of these I met a talented chemist by the name of John Pojman. He has this bunch of magical chemicals that he has developed, with his son, John.
Not only was this guy a great lecturer, but he has all of these magical, wonderful substances. He and I had a conversation after the seminar.
The upshot is that he sent me a bunch of samples. I can't wait until Monday. Oh Yeah! Monday is art day, experiment day. Uh huh!
Now, I have to talk him out of some of the other magical stuff he has, this coating that has crazy cool patterns when it propogates. I LUST after that stuff really bad!!
I can't wait til Monday!

Art is My OCD

I just recently did an exercise in class. In this exercise, we discussed ourselves and our feelings about art. Why we do it, and why we feel the way that we do about art.
For me, I have to create. There is no giving it up.
Everything I see has another purpose in my eyes. As my condition is getting worse, I'm getting ever more creative; how's that for irony?

Time for the Art World to Catch Up.

Piece for today; this is how I feel about the relationship I have with my youngest son. It is not an easy one. I love him very much.

If there is one thing that irritates the Hell out of me, it is stereotypes.

Not just stereotypes for race, religion or social group, but for any stereotype. What set off today's rant?

Well, that is the constant assumption, the stereotype, that the definition of emerging artist is age based. That one can only be an emerging artist if one is under 30. Bull puckey and horse feathers! In this era, Baby Boomers have redefined many things, and the art world is not immune, just stubbornly clinging to outmoded ways of thinking.

The true definition of an "emerging artist" is just that; an artist emerging into the art world, into their own style and mode of creation. This is not age dependent.

To view emerging as solely a product of youth, is snobbery based on centuries of ignorance regarding the human brain.The human brain, as cutting edge research shows, is at it's peak in the middle aged years, particularly the ages of 40-60.

We no longer live hard scrabble lives that kill us before we are 60. Now, with medical advances and with new understanding of exercise and nutrition, people live longer and more productive lives, with it not being uncommon to live to 90+, now.

This means that we, as a species, have the time to explore, to create, to express our feelings about our experiences and how these have impacted us. It means that we have the time and the ability to experiment with mediums, and with modes of expression.

It's not like it was even 30 years ago. Now it is time for a tradition bound, dogma bound, art world to break loose of these notions that are holding back many a deserving artist.

A person is not required by any written rule to be a certain age, for the most part, but those people and organizations that continue to follow this outmoded path are doing no one any good, and they are definitely not doing the art world any good.

It is never good to limit what one sees based on criteria such as age. There are a lot of fine and Picture of the day, a little graphite piece that I think may end up on a panel. This piece is about the relationship I have with my youngest son. talented artists out there, from the very young to the very old. I believe that all should be honored for "emerging"; not just the ones between the ages of 20-30. To limit "emerging" to only those artists between the ages of 20 and 30 does a disservice to all artists.It also defies reality.

There used to be the notion of an ideal age, when we, as humans, used to believe that there is a window for creativity that closes after 30. There most certainly is not.

The only limits there are are the ones that we set for ourselves. Thanks to the internet, the art world has lost quite a bit of it's elitist attitude.

About time. Now, if the art world could just loosen up a little and get with the times....

Sometimes, tradition ain't a good thing.

Anxious

Tomorrow is a pretty big day. I had MRI's a week ago. I'm amazed, fascinated and horrified. The images are so clear, one can almost read the writing on the titanium plate.
Part of me is fascinated, and thinking on how I can incorporate this into art. There is a large part of me that is trying to run from this. That MRI showed that the bone spur is actually starting to penetrate the spinal cord. Losing my ability to walk is not the thing that reverberates in my mind. Nope. That would be the loss of my hands. That part makes me quiver in fear.
Tomorrow, I get to hear the doctor's opinion.
Too much knowledge can be a curse; I know how to read those MRI images. I asked for copies and got them. Wow.
Be careful what you wish for, right?
Still, I needed to see them. I really did. I had to know what the enemy looked like, what that bone spur is mindlessly trying to take away from me. I know it's not personal, but there is no escaping what is happening, and that is very personal.
I look at my torches, and I worry. I look at my waxes and my oils, my powders and trinkets; I am scared of losing the ability to draw the people who live in my mind and on the public transit.
No one really has any idea exactly how I feel about this. I don't tend to share that, cause I am supposed to be the rock the family relies on. I could use a rock, myself, right about now.
What there is, for me, is my work. My art, to see me through, to express, to emote about this with paint, pigments, beeswax and/ or mixed medias.
Well, the palette is hot, the wax has melted, and I have a piece that is crying to be done. Off to paint, to create, to spend one more day on that wonderful cruise ship, the SS Denial.

Helluva Thing

So Friday I had MRI's to see what is going on in my neck since September 2009. I'm seriously feeling the effects in my biceps, my triceps and in my hands. I'm dropping things like a fiend. What used to be an abstract concept, losing my ability to make art, is fast becoming concrete. No more abstraction when one can only partially feel one's hands.
Not that I, or anyone else for that matter, cut me any slack. In fact, there are those who hold me up to impossible standards, that no one could realistically live up to.
These same people are very negative stakeholders in my life; they have gleefully caused me and the husband some serious trouble. I'm hoping that whatever the doc has to say on the 22nd, that it does not leave my husband vulnerable to these negative stakeholders.
These people wish me some serious harm; I'm an artist. They do not like that.
I am a Liberal Realist; they are Rush Limbaugh Conservatives. I've already had to deal with manipulation of a mind that was not stable.
Add to this, the fact that art is part of me. I love to sell, no doubt, but it is NOT why I create. I create because I have to; it's like breathing, for me. I create because that creation is necessary to me. It keeps me grounded, it allows me to deal with things I can't talk about out loud.
I'm very worried about it.

Glass, goddesses and blood

All of these goddesses are bloodthirsty, but this one is the most by far! I've started on Pele; she looks just wonderful so far. Pele and Inanna are off to a gallery in Astoria next weekend. They are looking forward to having her, and I'm looking forward to my girls being seen.
Art, for me, is not dependent upon sales, for my self definition of an artist, but they do help to create new art.
Art, for me, is that drive, that need, that compelling drive to create that drives all real artists. That is the real artist, the one that creates regardless, no matter what.
I know that art, for me, means pain. Not just the pain of the glass, but the pain of the cuts, and the pain of the hands as they slowly work the glass nippers. I like shattering the glass; it not only looks nicer but it gives the piece a more artistic look, in my view. I like the randomness of the pieces, I like the way that they become a puzzle. It's the process of moving the puzzle from my head, to the piece that is the challenge. Another reason that art is wonderful. That pushing of envelopes, crossing boundaries and stepping over lines, with materials, concepts and ourselves, that is the largest part of art, I think.
So, now I get to back away from the computer, and go work on a very demanding goddess before I sleep! WIP pics will be posted ASAP.

Introspection

It's cold, out here in Portland, OR. This kind of weather really does a number on my hands. I should clarify; it does a number on the arthritis in my neck and THAT does a number on my hands.

It's funny, but our hands are something we take for granted. We look at them when we do our nails, or attend to cutting a broken nail, but we really don't pay attention to them.
We don't look at the way the skin moves over the fingers, the way the thumb and the fingers manipulate objects. The tendons that move my fingers as I type, and correct the many errors from fingers that have become clumsy, they move these fingers with ease, and the muscles give precision. The hand occupies a very large area in the motor cortex of the brain. The hand is a piece of magic, and one I'm happy to possess.

When we look at our hands we see faithful friends, for the most part. Friends who brush our hair, and our teeth. They zip zippers, button buttons, and snap snaps. They stir coffee and pick up things to examine.

It is a hard thing to deal with, the things that are happening to my hands, but the headaches make it a reality that I have to deal with, increasingly. There is no ignoring them. It has gotten bad enough that I now take amatriptylene at night for the pain, and Vicodin for when the pain flares are really bad. I used to be able to go for days without pain flares, but no longer.

These hands are used to paint, to create. To cut an onion, to deftly blanch peaches. To touch my face, my loved ones, my brush. They are marvels of design and efficiency, human hands. They are capable of bringing so much pleasure, and so much pain.

I hope to keep my hands; to still be able to peel an apple, to write down a name, to touch my husband's hair.

I never realized, until they started to not work, how wonderful these hands really are. I've really resisted training my computer for voice commands. As long as these work, I will work them.

I will paint with them, I will make love with them, I will do all of the things that I have always done, with one exception. I will no longer take them for granted. I will cherish what they do for me, I will cherish them. I will examine the fingers, and appreciate them for the wonderous things that they really are.

Art is part of who we are

As human beings, we are in possession of one of the greatest natural wonders there is, the human brain.
This magnificent piece of organic machinery, it has taken us from the African savannah to the skyscrapers of today.
It has also taken us from our earthbound existence to the moon, and we hope to go beyond.
All of this progress, the accomplishments of our species, are the direct result of this wonderful brain!
This brain allows us to see the creatures in the clouds, and to see the horse in the marble, the image in the canvas; to allow us to bring what we perceive in our heads from our minds to our chosen medium.
Each one of us may look at the same thing, but each one of us will see that object differently. As artists, it's part of our job description to try to express ourselves, in our chosen mediums. I believe that what makes an artist is not sales, it is not some sort of popular recognition; it is the need to create, no matter what!
It is the need to put that image down, to free the horse from the marble, to write that novel, or to compose that musical piece, all of that is part of the human condition. Part and parcel of being an artist is that overwhelming need to create.