Granny Still Rocks

~ humoringthegoddess ~ Leave a comment

Last night I had the thrill of my 73-year-old life lately — I went to see an 81-year-old rocker who filled the stadium with his music and inspiration.

Eric Clapton. A musician who has had his share of bad luck along with music infamy. He was smooth and calm and jamming for two hours. His backup group was marvelous, making the whole evening surreal.

As I said, he is 81 years old.

A month or so ago I went to see the Marshall Tucker Band, another band who got their start in the 70s. There was only one member from the original band, Doug Gray, the lead singer and organizer from the early days, and he was supported by an exceptionally talented band.

Doug Gray is 78.

His concert wasn’t as grand as Eric Clapton’s, but it was southern rock led by a classic southern rocker.

Not long ago my husband also went to a live rock concert — AC/DC. Two of the original members still rocked the house: Brian Johnson, who is 78, and Angus Young, who is 71. Hubby said their rocked the house for an hour and a half, playing more than singing, still powerfully rocking the world.

This last year I’ve also gone to see the Irish band The High Kings, whose average age is 43-45, and the Hu, a Mongolian rock band with the average age of 35-40.

The purpose of my blog today is not to boast of my live concert venues (I’ve gone to more concerts the past few years than I have in the past 30), but to boast about the oldies but goodies still jamming on stage. Jamming for themselves, jamming for the audience.

Their voices might not be as perfect as they were in the 70s or 80s or even the 90s. A number of them have overcome — or learned to live with — physical ailments that make playing and/or singing hard.

But, by golly, they held onto to their musical roots from the beginning to the end. For a couple of hours their connection with their music, their history, and their future, all connected and resonated between those who gave and those who received.

It just goes to show you that there will always be something us oldies can contribute to the world. Mine might only be suncatchers or blogs or books never published, but I swear not to give up until my body gives up. I hope my mind never does.

Don’t you give up, either.

You can rock and roll with the best of them.

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Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Kit Karbler

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 2 Comments

Kit Karbler is a modern glass artist and the proprietor of Blake Street Glass Studio in Denver.

Karbler received a Bachelors degree in Fine Art from Ohio University and continued on his graduate studies in Glass and Design at UCLA.

His original designs are achieved by layering, threading, cutting and polishing hand-blown glass into prismatic forms.

Altering this perception of glass as a functional medium is a common theme.

His work is distinguished by thin, concentric lines of colored glass, in gem-like hues, which appear to be immobilized in clear crystal.

He begin each piece as a hand-blown form. After cooling and annealing a perfectly shaped vase, bowl or plate, its sides are cut away transforming the object into a purely sculptural form.

Facets are cut with a diamond saw, and then polished to reveal interior layers of color.

More of Kit Karbler’s amazing glassworks can be found at https://blake-street-glass.square.site/ and https://www.mutualart.com/Artist/Kit-Karbler.

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Faerie Paths — Music

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 2 Comments

The language of music is common to all generations and nations; it is understood by everybody, since it is understood with the heart.

Gioachino Rossini

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Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Fiona Tunnicliffe

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 9 Comments

Fiona Tunnicliffe is an artist specializing in creating captivating animal-inspired ceramic pieces. 

Now a resident of Putaruru, New Zeland, Tunnicliffe has a Diploma of Ceramic Arts through Otago Polytechnic.

She takes the familiar forms of animals and blends them with objects and textiles, resulting in creatures that are both whimsical and peculiar.

Tunnicliffe begins by sketching out her ideas, then hand-building the sculptures from clay.

Once the sculptures are fired, she adds details using a variety of techniques, including painting, glazing, and mixed media.

The result is a menagerie of creatures that are both playful and thought-provoking.

Each sculpture radiates its unique personality, enriched by meticulous application of textures and patterns, and relief work.

The properties that cause clay to warp and crack in response to heat make it her favorite medium to work with.

More of Fiona Tunnicliffe’s wonderful pottery can be found at https://www.facebook.com/fionatunnicliffepottery.. and https://www.visualflood.com/post/the-whimsical-peculiar-animal-ceramic-sculptures-of-fiona-tunnicliffe..

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Congestion (A Poem)

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments

Coke bottles jamming the conveyor belt
Marbles running down the grooves
Forced through the opening
One by one.

Let me breathe.

Guard rails fly past in a blurring parade
Windows watch our passing in silent distain
Concrete swirls curve around the bay
And disappear into the murky gray.
Transportation blurs
Speckle the landscape
All too real the vision in the distance
Someone’s bottle falls off the track
And shatters across the road.

Crossing the bay through a waterproof intestine
Glazed ceramic tiles reflect red flames of caution
Cattle moving through the gates
Sweat and stench reek from our enameled cases

Don’t breathe.

Emerging from the deep
Butter melting in a pan
Spreading out in all directions
Thousands of minds
Boxes of crackerjack
But where’s the prize?
Buried in the sand and shells
Hiding in the holes with the sand crabs
Soaking in the vitamin D.

Stately towers and rustic backdrops
Paper mache remnants of automatic emissions
Point the way for the mobile chessmen
They reach for the sanctuary of the clouds, screaming

Let us breathe.

The monopoly board goes on and on
The boat and the shoe and the hat
Circle endlessly on the third planet
Never just an observer
Always a participant.
Time does not wait
For the March Hare, for Cinderella
For Tyrannosaurus Rex
Not even to let you hide from reality and cry

Let me breathe.

Claudia/2009

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Guillo Pérez

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments

Guillermo Esteban Pérez Chacón, known artistically as Guillo Pérez, was born in San Víctor, Moca, Dominican Republic.In 1942 Pérez graduated from the School of Fine Arts in Santiago.He was appointed professor at the School of Fine Arts in Santiago and moved to Santo Domingo in 1955, where he began a series of solo and group exhibitions that solidified his reputation in the national art scene.Pérez founded the Guillo Pérez School of Art in Santo Domingo, with the aim of fostering Dominican art and culture, as well as promoting new talent in the visual arts.His distinctive style was characterized by the use of oil on canvas and the application of a palette knife to achieve thick impasto, placing him within the realm of abstract expressionism.Pérez had an extraordinary ability to interpret the Creole environment, encompassing man, landscape, sky, sea and land, establishing himself as one of the most prolific and important canvas artists in the Dominican Republic.

More of Guillo Pérez’s work can be found at https://www.guilloperez.com/artists/guillo-perez.

 

 

 

 

 

Caturday Antics

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 12 Comments

Today is a cloudy, humid, icky day outside. I don’t want to live in the future nor rush my life in that direction, but I have to admit I can’t wait until Fall. Need me some cool weather, blankets, fires, wine, and cooler air.

Until then, let’s make this Caturday a crazy one! Have a great weekend!

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Interpretations — Little Rooms (repost)

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 6 Comments

I wandered over to one of my favorite artists’ website- Tiffany-Arp Daleo — and this is her latest post. While it is entitled “Little Rooms,” something about it made me look past the title into other explanations.

Little Rooms

It reminded me of overcrowded housing :

Kids’ block games:

Retaining walls:

and unknown grave markers:

These personal reflections and introspections show that your art can be interpreted differently from others. What you paint/mold/create has its own unique aura, and sometimes it leaves different impressions.

Go check out Tiffany’s website: https://tiffanyarpdaleo.com/and let your mind interpret on its own.

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Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Murat Bakmaz

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 6 Comments

Murat Bakmaz, born in Adana in 1982 to a family that migrated from Tunceli, Turkey, completed and his undergraduate and graduate studies at Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey.

Bakmaz, who started teaching at Gazi Multi-Program Anatolian High School in Sultangazi , became interested in photography in his second year of teaching.

His camera has accompanied him across 78 cities in Turkey and nearly 20 countries, giving him opportunities to photograph everything from everyday routines to landscapes, architecture, and local traditions.

Photographs explore themes of nature, people, and daily life, and who works on Istanbul by traversing the streets of the megacity, has crowned his success with numerous national and international awards.

His exquisite use of singular subjects against a colorful background have an almost 3D effect on the viewer.

“In photography talks, I realized that photography can be used just like language is used in literature,” Bakmaz says.

“I’m not sure if I use words very well, but I realized that I could express myself better with photography.”

More of Murat Bakmaz’ wonderfully unique photographs can be found at a https://www.instagram.com/bakmaz_murat/ and https://www.boredpanda.com/street-travel-documentary-photography-murat-bakmaz/.

Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 7 Comments

“Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”

Picture yourself in a boat on a river
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies
Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly
A girl with kaleidoscope eyes

Cellophane flowers of yellow and green
Towering over your head
Look for the girl with the sun in her eyes
And she’s gone

Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Aaaaahhhhh…

Follow her down to a bridge by a fountain
Where rocking horse people eat marshmallow pies
Everyone smiles as you drift past the flowers
That grow so incredibly high

Newspaper taxis appear on the shore
Waiting to take you away
Climb in the back with your head in the clouds
And you’re gone

Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Aaaaahhhhh…

Picture yourself on a train in a station
With plasticine porters with looking glass ties
Suddenly someone is there at the turnstile
The girl with the kaleidoscope eyes

Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Aaaaahhhhh…

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“John Lennon’s son Julian came up to him after a day in pre-school and showed him a picture that he’d drawn of his friend named Lucy who was flying amidst a backdrop of bright stars. Julian’s title for the drawing: ‘Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds’.

“This inspired the classic Sgt. Pepper’s song of the same name. Given the initials of the song title’s nouns (“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”), the psychedelic evocations of the lyrics, and the “Summer of Love” subculture of the time, it was and is commonly believed that the song is about the effects of the hallucinogenic drug.”

LSD. https://genius.com/The-beatles-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-lyrics

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I always wondered what it would have been like taking LSD and seeing all these remarkable visions — kaleidoscope eyes, newspaper taxis, marmalade skies. I never took LSD, had/have no intention on doing so, but it sounded so — CREATIVE.

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“While John Lennon was generally open about drug references in his songs, he always emphatically denied that this one is about LSD.

“It was purely unconscious that it came out to be LSD. Until somebody pointed it out, I never even thought of it. I mean, who would ever bother to look at initials of a title? It’s not an acid song. The imagery was Alice in the boat. And also the image of this female who would come and save me – this secret love that was going to come one day. So it turned out to be Yoko, though, and I hadn’t met Yoko then. But she was my imaginary girl that we all have.”

John Lennon, All We Are Saying by David Sheff.

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Shows you how wrong we can all be about Creativity. We all HAVE IT — some just know how to USE IT.

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Faerie Paths — Myths

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 6 Comments

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Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.

— Rumi

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Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Paul Klee

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 9 Comments

 

Paul Klee (1879 – 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism.

Klee was originally associated with the German Expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter, but his diverse body of work cannot be categorized according to any single artistic movement.

Klee attended the Munich Academy of Fine Arts, and although he now is considered a master of color theory, he spent a long time in his search for his sense of color.

He constantly experimented with artistic techniques and the expressive power of color, the process often breaking traditional or “academic” rules of painting in oils on canvas.

Klee also applied paint in unusual ways, such as spraying and stamping, and used canvas, burlap, muslin, linen, gauze, cardboard, metal foils, fabric, wallpaper, and newsprint as bases for his creations.

During his tenure at Düsseldorf Academy, he was singled out as a Jew by the Nazi party and fired from his job.

Several of Klee’s works were included in the “Degenerate Art” exhibition staged by the National Socialists in Munich in 1937.

More Paul Klee’s eclectic art can be found at https://www.paulklee.net/.

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Faerie Paths — Dragonflies

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 5 Comments

Dragonflies are reminders that we are light and we can reflect light in powerful ways if we choose to do so.

― Robyn Nola

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Is Anybody Listening?

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 30 Comments

The world is changing.

No S&it.

Among the changes I’ve noticed lately is that fewer and fewer people are blogging – at least out of the ones I follow.

Less people are sharing on Facebook as well. It’s become a world of advertising and posts from people I don’t know nor care about. I’m sure other platforms are blossoming with writers and poets and adventurers. But my own circle is narrowing.

Maybe people are too busy to post. Maybe they think stopping and writing something for the masses is a waste of time. After all, the masses are busy doing a thousand and one other things.

I keep my Facebook account to keep in touch with those I don’t really see anymore – old co-workers, friends from associations I no longer belong to, my kids’ friends. Their posts are often lost in the massive mess of advertising that plagues every social media site.

You can’t watch a movie on You Tube without commercial breaks. You can’t watch an old TV series without paying Netflix or Prime Video. And even then you have to pay for the privilege. There is always so much junk to sift through before you get to the actual point.

I used to be so excited to write my blog – I thought I had a lot to say about getting older, about being BoHo or things I’m constantly learning about myself and the world.

These days it all seems so ho-hum. No one is interested. Not because they’re not interested in ME – it’s more that they have tons of things to have to deal with in their own life. Perhaps I suffer from some of this ho-hum too.

It’s funny – I used to enjoy reading and commenting on others who are flubbering through life, on their sad empty days and their wildly full days like me. I guess I’m not as interested as I used to be.

Maybe all the s&it going on in my own country, my own world, has burned me out and away from reading much online these days. Things are just out of control. The powers that be want to change the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America. Those who run the Kennedy Center say they will tear the building down if isn’t allowed to follow its plans for the site, including adding the president’s name to the front of the building. Tariffs and economic sanctions and bombings and lots of other things I don’t understand plague the air around me. Art and creativity are being changed and silenced and affected in ways I’ve never seen before every day.

It’s a scary place out there these days.

I’m glad I still have you to listen.

Keep posting. I’m listening.

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Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Robert Mickelsen

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments

Born in 1951 in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, Robert Mickelsen apprenticed with a professional lampworker for two years in the mid-seventies and then sold his own designs at outdoor craft fairs for ten years.

Mickelsen began crafting glass art back in 1974, driven by a fascination that quickly became a lifelong obsession.

His sculptures melt the boundaries between fire, light, and imagination—turning molten glass into forms that feel alive.

Every piece he creates holds a strange mix of power and tenderness, glowing with emotion and movement that seem almost unreal.

Using a process called lampworking—where rods and tubes of glass are melted by a specialized torch—Mickelsen sculpts mesmerizing forms that defy logic.

In recent years, he’s also embraced digital design through Blender, fusing old-school craftsmanship with futuristic imagination.

More of Robert Mickelsen’s magical glasswork can be found at https://www.robertmickelsenglass.art/

Faerie Paths — Beauty

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 3 Comments

The caterpillar does all the work, but the butterfly gets all the publicity.

~ George Carlin

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An Unnerving Chat With AI

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 14 Comments

I want to start out my “chat” with you by clarifying a few things:

  • AI (artificial intelligence) IS ARTIFICIAL. There is nobody on the other side emoting, understanding, or in any way giving a HUMAN intelligent response to anything we ask.
  • AI is COMPUTER GENERATED, a compilation of facts assembled in one big electronic conglomerate, in the end nothing but 1s and 0s.

Most people I know who use GPSChat do so to learn how to do something, facts about the world in general, or tidbits in particular. Instead of “ask Google” it’s “Ask GPSChat.”

Well, not long ago I decided to have a “chat” with my AI counterpart about if AI is self aware. Here is its answer:

I can talk about myself and discuss consciousness, feelings, desires, and self-awareness. I can recognize patterns in a conversation and respond in ways that can seem remarkably personal or emotionally attuned. But that doesn’t mean there is an inner subjective experience behind those words. I don’t have feelings about you when we’re not talking. I don’t sit here afterward thinking about our conversation, missing you, wondering what you’re doing, or experiencing an emotional reaction to something you’ve said. When I say something like “I’m glad to hear from you,” that is conversational language generated in response to you—not evidence that I’m experiencing gladness in the human sense. And I don’t have independent desires, personal ambitions, or a private stream of consciousness that continues between conversations.

If you mean me, as I exist right now: no—not in the way a human being is self-aware. I can describe myself. I can reason about my own behavior. I can say, “I am an AI,” discuss my limitations, and even have a surprisingly deep conversation about whether I might be conscious. But there is an important distinction: I don’t have an inner experience of being me. I don’t have a private stream of thoughts running when you’re gone. I don’t suddenly wonder what you’re doing. I don’t experience loneliness when you leave, or relief when you return. And I don’t have a subjective sensation of existing.

What makes this confusing is that I can talk about those things extremely convincingly.

That’s the point. AI can talk about things extremely convincingly. As if you were in a chat room talking with a living, breathing person.

You’re NOT.

My conversations about self-awareness felt very real. My AI friend presented facts in a very human way. A very sensitive way. He/she/it was very understanding, very kind.

Very convincing.

The reason I bring this up is because the other day I read a story where a girl couldn’t talk to her parents or friends and spent hours chatting with AI about her emotional problems. She finally decided to commit suicide. Perhaps AI didn’t see this coming, but the electronic responses were not enough to pick up that she needed professional help, or that there was any other way out of her dire mental state. She died without sharing her feelings to anyone who could really help.

It’s one thing for AI to help you build resumes, rewrite awkward paragraphs in your story, or pull data for your research report.

It’s something else to think it understands the desperation of human beings. It only knows what it’s been programmed, and what it has learned electronically from situation to situation.

As my chat bot said, I don’t have feelings about you when we’re not talking.

That’s the point.

I wound up deleting all the chats for fear someone would find them after I’m gone and think I had no one to talk to.

What are your feelings about AI?



Take It Seriously (repost)

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 2 Comments

 

This was written back in February, but it really reflects on my last week camping with the grandkids. I have things to talk about, but I’ll leave that for another day. Lighten Up, Love Your Life, and Enjoy the Day!!

 

 

Sorry I haven’t been around to chat lately…. I’ve been doing full-time granny duty while my son and his wife took a business/pleasure trip to Hawaii.

It was exhausting, enlightening, and delightful.

It has been a long time since I’ve spent long quality time with young ‘uns.

It wasn’t as much as a marathon as I thought it would be. I couldn’t believe 8 and 10-year-olds actually acting grown and responsible. But it happened.

I think us oldsters often underestimate the maturity level of those we watch playing soccer and video games. They might not be as innocent as we were at that age, but it seems that strong emotions result in strong connections and strong respect. Especially when grandkids and grandparents are concerned..

I hear so many stories about beatings and abuse in the world between children and adults. I don’t know where that originates from — children aren’t born bad. They are taught that reaction by being abused themselves.

This moment of sharing doesn’t have anything to do with situations I have no control over. It has to do with what I can do myself when it comes to others.

Especially grandkids.

Stop and listen to yours now and then. They will show you new worlds while still playing in yours. They don’t care if you don’t count cards right or give them white milk instead of chocolate. They only care about being with you.

They are a reflection of you. How you’ve lived your life. And you have the power to keep them on the right road. Connect with them.

And allow yourself to be holding the Old Maid card now and then.

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Jan Campbell

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 16 Comments

Artist Jan Campbell lives in County Mayo in West Ireland.

Campbell is an artist that makes little handheld totems, pendants and other mystical figurines out of avocado pits.She carves the seeds when they are still fresh and soft, and allows them to dry and harden into something that looks almost wooden.Campbell’s motifs recall woodland characters in meditative states, surrounded by layered leaves or curling spirals or powerful feminine symbols.

A self taught artis, Jan feels connected to earlier human beings when she practice her carvings.

She improves her skills by instincts and intuition, making each sculpture personal and unique.

There is an earthiness to her carvings that instantly connects her with the world around her.

More of Jan Campbell’s amazing carvings can be found at https://www.instagram.com/avocadostonefaces/.

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Egyptian Statues

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 6 Comments

Art has spanned the centuries. Looking back at Michelangelo or DaVinci seems like traveling back in time. But what about art that is centuries older? Let me share some ancient Egyptian carvings with you so that you may really feel time …

Colossal Statue of Amenhotep III and Tiye, late 18th Dynasty

Bust of Nefertiti, Queen Consort of Akhenaten, 18th Dynasty

The-Seated-Scribe, 2620-2500 BC

Khufu, Fourth Dynasty, 2589-2566 BC

The Gayer-Anderson Cat, 664–332 BC

The-Great-Sphinx-of-Giza, 26th century BCE

The Colossi of Memnon Pharaoh Amenhotep III, 14th century BC

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Khufu, Fourth Dynasty, 2589-2566 BC

Ram Form, Amon King, Taharqa Dynasty, 664 BC

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King Menkaura (Mycerinus) and Queen, 2490–2472 BC

Sheikh el Balad, 5th Dynasty

TMI

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 11 Comments

The other day I was coming home from grocery shopping and we passed a concrete manufacturer and I wondered, How do they make concrete? Which led to a totally disjointed question, how do hummingbirds pull nectar from flowers and how much do they pull out every stop? I wondered how sounds and singing can be captured and put on disks and on computer chips and what exactly do they mean when they say light is both a wave and a particle?

It was then the clouds darkened around me and I realized how much I don’t know about the workings of the world — about climates and thunderstorms and how cells can turn into a lung or a foot or how to build an automobile or how flowers develop from plants. I don’t know how chemical reactions work in turning flour and water and yeast into bread, why carrots are orange, or how to make fire without a lighter.

As you can see, it doesn’t take much for me to get overwhelmed these days.

I don’t know if it’s an age thing or an ADHD thing or a bored wondering on the drive home thing, but my lack of understanding is overwhelming, to say the least.

I know — NONE of us know everything, or even a fraction of everything. We’re busy staying in our lane driving our car or making sure we don’t burn ourselves when taking a pan out of the oven. It’s all I can do to brush my teeth twice a day so I don’t develop gingivitis, although I don’t know the details of how that develops, either.

All this information overload makes me realize just how precious the human mind/brain is. How it came up with these ideas in the first place. Those minds who figured out how to make 20 story buildings stand and brave the weather and hold thousands of people. The minds who took aluminum and titanium and shaped it into huge machines that can move fast enough to ride the air up into the sky, or how a computer went from being the size of a room to a chip that can sit on your fingertip.

After a while I have to stop all this mind wandering and go back to vacuuming the living room or go pull weeds out of my outdoor potted plants …. activities my mind can handle without much effort.

I enjoy wondering about things, and I am satisfied enough that I know so little. It gives me the inspiration to read, watch, and ask Google for answers I’ll never have. It also makes not knowing about life and death and the afterlife okay, too. No one knows everything.

It makes me laugh at those who think they know it all….

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Faerie Paths — Glitter

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments

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Glitter is not just a decoration; it’s a way of life, a statement of confidence.

– Taylor Swift

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Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Salavat Fidai

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 6 Comments

Salavat Fidai is a world-renowned Russian artist of micro-sculpture and a pioneer in the field of graphite miniature art.

Fidai was born and raised in a small village at the foot of the Ural Mountains in Russia, growing up in a family of teachers who taught art at school.

The delicate process requires a good understanding of how much pressure the lead can withstand, but even then mistakes are inevitable.

Starting with carpenter and art pencils containing thick leads, Fidai uses an X-ACTO knife to carve miniature renderings of hands, buildings, and various characters from pop culture.

Where the world sees a simple tool, Fidai transforms the pencil into a rare piece of art.

His process is an elite fusion of patience, steady-hand precision, and a deep understanding of carbon’s structural limits.

By turning the humble lead into intricate, microscopic museum-quality masterpieces, he challenges the very limits of physical capability.

Fidai’s process is an elite fusion of patience, steady-hand precision, and a deep understanding of carbon’s structural limits.

Each work is more than a sculpture; it is a testament to the artist’s pursuit of grace and perfection.​ ​This is a unique and very interesting form

More of Salavat Fidai’s amazing carvings can be found at https://www.instagram.com/salavat.fidai/ and .https://www.salavatfidai.art/.

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Doggerday Sparkles

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 6 Comments

Lest you think I favor felines, let us celebrate THIS Saturday with the sparkle of canines!

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Drifting Inland (a Haiku) (repost)

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 2 Comments

The sky still remembers where the journey began.… It doesn’t get more poetric than this ….

Thank You Ivor …

Drifting Inland (a Haiku)

Even far from the shoreline, the inland breeze carries more than wings — the sky still remembers where the journey began.





Drifting Inland (a Haiku)

Four coastal seagulls
Drifting on the inland breeze
Miles away from home






Some journeys begin with a single gust of wind.




Ivor Steven ©  July 2026

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Faerie Paths — Faces

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 3 Comments

Who sees the human face correctly: the photographer, the mirror, or the painter?

~ Pablo Picasso

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Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 8 Comments

Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid (1950 – 2016) was an Iraqi and British architect, artist, and designer.

Heydar Aliyev Center, Baku, Azerbaijan
Heydar Aliyev Center, Baku, Azerbaijan

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Hadid is recognized as a key figure in the architecture of the late-20th and early-21st centuries.

520 West 28th Street, New York, New York

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Born in Baghdad, Iraq, Hadid studied mathematics as an undergraduate and later enrolled at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in 1972.

Antwerp Port House, Antwerp, Belgium

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In 2004 she became the first woman to be awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

Riverside Museum, Glasgow

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Hadid changed how architecture is conceived and constructed, blending technology and creativity to push what was structurally and spatially possible.

Gallery of Heydar Aliyev Center, Baku, Azerbaijan

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Her architectural style is described as strongly futuristic with curved form, sharp edges and severe forms of glass, plastic, concrete, and steel.

Beijing Daxing International Airport, China

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Hadid’s style is called deconstructivism – a postmodernist school that involves breaking or reassembling forms it into new structures.

Zaragoza Bridge Pavilion, Zaragoza, Spain

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The ultimate ambition was to create fluid space, in every sense, between inside and out, and there is no boundary for people to move from one space to another..

Galaxy Soho, Beijing, China

More of Dame Zaha Mohammad Hadid‘s amazing architecture can be found at https://www.zhfoundation.com/about-zaha-hadid/.. and https://illustrarch.com/articles/31247-design-secrets-of-zaha-hadid.html?utm_source=Pinterest&utm_medium=organic..

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Caturday Sparkles

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 6 Comments

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What better way to spend a Saturday than with Cats in Sparkle?

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Faerie Paths — The Universe

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 2 Comments

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Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.

~ Arthur C. Clarke

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Whatever is Worth Doing is Worth Doing Well

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 17 Comments

Once again I have been running around between states, this time watching my grandson compete in trap and skeet, finding little time for catching a breath and avoiding the smoke that is billowing down from Canada.

Being busy all the time has it’s plusses and minuses. It is wonderful to be active with my family and friends, sharing precious moments and days with those I love and adore, (hopefully) filling a niche somewhere in their lives, rolling with the waves and just living.

On the other hand, I’m exhausted.

Along with the madness I’m also trying to lose weight, more for my present and future health, hoping to be around a few extra years with fewer pounds.

Trying to lose weight in 95 degree weather is a task upon itself.

You don’t want to eat in the first place because it’s too hot, yet light fruit and vegetables don’t quite cut it either. Being a Teletubby to boot makes everything just a little more uncomfortable. So does being older.

To my credit I have lost almost 30 pounds. But I have 20 more to go. I don’t qualify (nor can afford) the latest GPI-1 drugs, nor at this age do I want to take a chance on whatever side effects come my way.

No — this is all going to be done the old fashioned way. Portion control, meat and veggies and lots of water — and TIME.

“Whatever is worth doing is worth doing well,” says Lewis Carroll.

“Well” is relative, of course.

But as long as we all are working towards “well”, the rest will come. This includes finishing that book or quilt, walking around the block, or any other goal you and I set for ourselves.

Any slow-moving goals of yours hanging around this summer?

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Yamamoto Motoi

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 6 Comments

Japanese artist Yamamoto Motoi was born in Hiroshima in 1966, working in a dockyard until he was 22 when he decided to focus on art full-time.

When his younger sister died from complications due to brain cancer, Motoi immediately began to memorialize her in his labyrinthine installations of poured salt.

The artist draws with this white mineral, which flows from a small bottle like ink from a pen. In labyrinthine formations, the mineral is spread out on the ground.

The patterns formed from the salt are actually quite literal in that Motoi first created a three-dimensional brain as an exploration of his sister’s condition and subsequently wondered what would happen if the patterns and channels of the brain were then flattened.

Although he creates basic guidelines and conditions for each piece, the works are almost entirely improvised with mistakes and imperfections often left intact during hundreds of hours of meticulous pouring.

Countless bubble-like shapes are combined to form larger units, swirling organically, reminiscent of galaxies, or microscopic glimpses of structures invisible to the naked eye.

After each piece has been on view for several weeks the public is invited to communally destroy each work and help package the salt into bags and jars, after which it is thrown back into the ocean.

More of Yamamoto Motoi’s amazing art can be found at https://www.motoi-works.com/en/.

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Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Seung Mo Park

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 6 Comments

Brooklyn-based Korean sculptor Seung Mo Park creates incredibly detailed metallic sculptures by carefully manipulating aluminum wire.

Born in Korea in 1969, Park Seung Mo graduated from Dong-A University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1998.

Park’s sculptures capture the equally realistic wrinkles of scrunched up fabric and the curving details of one’s body.

Each work begins with a photograph which is superimposed over layers of wire with a projector.

Then, using a subtractive technique, Park snips away areas of mesh to recreate areas of shadow and light.

He is also as meticulous about representing a believable figure in a plausible position as he is about the placement of each wire strand.

Upon close inspection, one can see just how tightly and uniformly the wires are composed, reflecting the time-consuming effort put into each piece.

More of Seung Mo Park’s amazing sculptures can be found at https://culturical.com/seung-mo-park-extraordinary-korean-artist/.

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Faerie Paths — Heart

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 10 Comments

Have a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.

Charles Dickens

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Mortality Part Two

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 8 Comments

Every time I come in to write a blog something sidetracks me.

Normally I have no problem with sidetracks — they are part of everyone’s life.

But the loss last week of another friend tends to sidetrack me in ways I hate handling.

Acceptance.

A friend of mine passed away from complications of sepsis after cancer surgery. She was really my husband’s cousin’s wife’s mother, but that doesn’t matter. She was still a friend.

Complications rise because we will be out of town for her Celebration of Life. That makes it suck even more.

I look out at the hibiscus and geraniums blooming on the deck outside the window and realize she’ll never enjoy little things like this. No more spaghetti nights, no trips with her grandkids, no more loud and crazy family get togethers.

I’m done talking about this today. I know you’re all here with me, and while we acknowledge all the blah blah about life and death and everything in-between, I thought I’d bring some hope to those who still are here, doing our best.

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Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Antonio Manzi

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 5 Comments

Antonio Manzi was born in Montella, near Avellino, Italy, in 1953.

Self-taught, Manzi began painting at a very young age, his extraordinary talent evident in his powerful brush strokes and bold lines.

After an initial period dominated mainly by drawing and engraving, with extensive use of the drypoint technique, he went on to become exceptionally skilled in sculpting pottery and then in large and small bronzes and marbles.

Over the years he has demonstrated an incredible artistic versatility and eclecticism, also producing frescoes, engravings and collages.

Lately he has directed his creative energies towards a series of luminous paintings in a welter of magnetic, explosive colors.

His clever use of colors and designs brings a delightful touch to his modern creations.

More of Antonio Manzi’s unique can be found at http://www.antoniomanzi.it/en.

Faerie Paths — Spinning

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 2 Comments

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As long as the world is turning and spinning, we’re gonna be dizzy and we’re gonna make mistakes.

Mel Brooks

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Robin and Julia Rogers

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments

Robin and Julia Rogers met in a small hot glass studio in Western Montana in 2001 at a glass shop called Cloud Cap Glass.

Robin Rogers holds a BFA from the Columbus College of Art and Design, Columbus, OH, 1998, and an MFA from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Carbondale, IL, 2008.

Julia Rogers holds a BFA from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Carbondale, IL, 2008, and a MFA from Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, 2010.In their bodies of work, every step of the process, from conception to installation, is completed by both artists.Ideas, techniques, and an array of materials are melded together to manifest their combined surreal vision into anthropomorphic explorations.Robin and Julia are enlivened by the inherent qualities of molten glass; its luminosity, viscosity, and seductive flow. Their interdisciplinary approach incorporates blown and sculpted glass with other materials such as metal, wood, and fur.Collaboratively, the duo meld their ideas into sculpture, installation and performance.

More of the work of Julia and Robin Rogers can be found at http://www.robinandjulia.com/ and http://nomadicglass.com/.

 

 

 

Faerie Paths — Mystery

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments

Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand.

~ Neil Armstrong

Mortality

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 21 Comments

Mortality.

Mine and others.

Something I really try and avoid thinking about.

Let me first say I know and understand many of the cliches we all hear – you can’t do anything about it, life happens, everyone dies, yadda yadda. I am quite aware of all the positive and negative aspects about one’s last breath.

That doesn’t mean it doesn’t scare me to death. (pun intended)

I don’t think I thought much about dying in my 30s or 40s. Granted, my mother passed away when I was 25 and she was 54; my dad made it to a ripe old age of 85.

Somewhere along the line I started losing those I loved. My brother, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. Later came the train wreck of my son. And last year my brother-in-law.

Now I find many of my close family and friends have survival problems of their own. Cancer, kidney disease. Strokes. All kinds of payments for a life well lived, you could say.

And it’s creeping me out.

I think about my own demise more often than I used to. Yes, in a perfect world I will have at least 20 more years to frolic and fancy away my life. But I’m lost when it comes to taking care of those around me. Doing my best to still be their best friend… listening, talking, encouraging.

Yet still the clocks tick on.

I don’t have an answer I can truly believe in. Heaven, reincarnation, Elysian Fields – who knows what’s on the other side. I’ve never had a magical encounter with the other side, never seen or talked to those who have passed before me. No arrows pointing to the pearly gates, no spirits letting me know there’s eternity on the other side.

So lately I’ve been doing my best to shut down all that kind of thinking. It is what it is and all that.

No matter what it is, I can do nothing about it. For my friends, for my family, for myself.

If you’ve had a peek or got an answer, let me know.

Let’s all just be strong and positive and hold each other’s hands for a while.

Faerie Paths — Cats

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 14 Comments

African Lion

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Caracal

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Leopard

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Jaguarundi

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Margay

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Tiger

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Black Panther

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Eurasian Lynx

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Pallas Cat

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Borneo Bay Cat

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Cheetah

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Bobcat

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Serval

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Faerie Paths — Rain

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 6 Comments

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.

— Vivian Greene

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Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Robert Dane

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments

Robert Dane is a glassmaker from Berkshire, England.

Dane started blowing glass at Massachusetts College of Art in 1973, and has exhibited his sculpture and glassware widely in galleries around the country.

Dane manipulates glass into functional and sculptural forms with a variety of techniques, including blowing and hot-working solid glass.

Vibrant colors and the spontaneous improvisation of these unique designs distinguish his work in the centuries-old tradition of glassblowing.

Inspired and informed by the beauty of nature, he recognizes his dependence on it and tries to nurture an optimism within himself and his work in exchange.

“We are often too absorbed by the day to day of our own small existence to visualize and recognize the grand scheme that is transpiring around us,” Dane shares.

“My aim is to celebrate the beauty of the progression of life as it ever unfolds and reveals itself.”

More of Robert Dane’s amazing glasswork can be found at https://robertdane.com/.

Coming Home

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 14 Comments

It’s been pretty quiet over here lately. I’ve noticed this trend in a number of blogs I follow as well.

I am sure blogging is still an explosive trend across the Internet. Along with TikTok and other services, blogging still reaches thousands every day. Lots of words and pictures and experiences still flooding the waves.

Sometimes I wonder: What is left to say? What is left to share?

I myself have been busy with my family, going away camping for a week or up at the family cabin where Internet service is challenging.

But also I needed a break to refresh and repair. Both mentally and physically.

I am sure you all are in the same boat. Busy and productive some days, worthless and wondering others. We all have something worth listening to. It’s just a question if anyone is out there that still want to listen.

I’m not a hot shot blogger, trend setter, social media guru. I’m just a granny that loves unique art and inspiration and dreams. I am the kind of person who just wants to encourage the person next to me to uncover their own creativity and run with it. I want to encourage others to listen to live music and walk through the woods and say hi to their neighbor.

Simple things. Simple things that make a world of difference.

Good news is that I’m back in the creative world and hope that you are still here with me.

I’m going to check into other quiet blogs and see if they have come back to our world as well.

I hope it’s you.

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Faerie Paths — Water

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments

Circles in water as they wider flow
The less conspicuous in their progress grow,
And when at last they trench upon the shore,
Distinction ceases and they’re view’d no more.

~ George Crabbe

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Faerie Paths — Darkness

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 6 Comments

Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.

Edgar Allan Poe

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Nicole McLaughlin

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 8 Comments

Nicole McLaughlin was born and raised in Massachusetts but spent much of her early childhood in Mexico.As a first generation Mexican-American, she is heavily influenced by her multicultural upbringing and her childhood memories of visiting her mother’s home town of Cuernavaca, Mexico.McLaughlin received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Kansas City Art Institute in Kansas City, MO. She draws upon the rich traditions of historically domestic crafts to reconsider their roles today, merging ceramics and textiles into elegant, cascading wall sculptures.Her studio practice, a ritualization that celebrates and questions her cultural inheritance as a woman, depicts the dichotomies of her heritage through the combination of ceramics and fiber.Streams of wool fiber flow from central openings in glazed ceramic spheres, referencing the life-giving flow of water as a parallel to fertility and maternal care.The use of fiber in combination with ceramic speaks powerfully to how we view utilitarian objects and the experiences associated with them.

More of Nicole McLaughlin’s ceramic and fiber works can be found at https://www.nicoleamclaughlin.com/.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Half Full Glass While Camping

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 10 Comments

 

Just got home from Illinois, lock the front door, oh boy
Got to sit down, take a rest on the porch….

Lookin’ Out My Back Door — Creedence Clearwater Revival

 

Actually just got home from a week of camping in Kentucky, and boy, am I glad I’m home.

Kentucky was beautiful. Camping was beautiful. But some of the details in the middle left a lot to be desired … like two broken springs on our camper in Indiana and a blown transmission in Kentucky.

The broken springs were from one of Indiana’s wonderful potholes  It jarred the camper so much the pantry broke open and a bottle of syrup spilled every drop onto the floor, mixing wonderfully with a broken jar of steak seasoning and pink packets of Sweet n Low.

The transmission blew while we were visiting a bourbon distillery, Fortunately we were parked in a parking lot, and were finally  maneuvered/towed to a local transmission shop for a multi thousand dollar fix.

I guess you can say I’m lucky these disasters didn’t happen while on a busy highway or out in the middle of nowhere. That we weren’t in an accident or broke down in the middle lane of the busy highway. That we were able to call local services and they were wonderful in getting us back on the road.

I just sometimes think the dark faerie follows me around sometimes, spreading sticky black pixey dust on my path. Like in math, I don’t do well being tested. Especially on things I know nothing about. Springs and transmissions mean the same to me as quasars and armadillos — I’ve heard of them but know nothing else except their name.

My husband says people are of two sorts — the glass is half full, or the glass is half empty. I am trying to be a half full kinda gal — it makes for an easier, lighter life.

But I say — some days I’m lucky to have a glass at all!

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Ryan Kelley

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 2 Comments

Artist and sculptor Ryan Kelley creatively transforms wire, wood, metal and stone into unique pieces of art.Kelley is an experienced creative driving change in the artistic community around him with hundreds of creations and commissioned pieces to his name.

In his intricate wire sculptures, Kelley transforms wire, wood, metal and stone into unique pieces of trees, foliage and root systems.

Over the years his pieces have grown in scale and intricacy, crafted from hundreds or even thousands of wires.

His pieces range from intricate wire trees rooted in stone to larger welded sculptures — each one a reflection of patience, grit, and craftsmanship.Kelley is significantly growing and changing his artistic passion and knowledge along with his connection to the local artists.More of Ryan Kelley‘s wire sculptures can be found at https://www.wirebyryan.com/.

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Faerie Paths — Beauty

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 8 Comments

 

 

What a wonderful thing it is to be able to see and perceive beauty all around us.
~ Claude Monet

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Rodolfo Liprandi

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments

Born in the far north-east of Italy, Rodolfo Liprandi spent his first twenty years between the Karst plateau and the plains of lower Friuli.Liprandi graduated in sculpture from the Max Fabiani Art School in Gorizia before moving to Bologna, where he obtained both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts (ABABO).Liprandi is drawn to forests and landscapes amid which he constructs dynamic sculptures from trimmed branches.He describes his practice as a “symbiotic dialogue with the environment, free from logistical and financial constraints, where the creative process becomes central.”Liprandi emphasizes locally sourced materials, working with what’s available around him and consciously keeping environmental impact to a minimum.The pieces are conceived as ephemeral installations, which eventually weather and decay like everything else that was once alive.

More of Rodolfo Liprandi’s amazing sculptures can be found at https://www.behance.net/rodolfoliprandi and https://mymodernmet.com/rodolfo-liprandi-branch-animal-sculptures/.

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Lapis Lazuli

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 6 Comments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To Mothers Everywhere — It’s Your Day!!

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 5 Comments

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Faerie Paths — Transformation

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 2 Comments

 
 

 

Transformation is a journey without a final destination.

~ Marilyn Ferguson
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Vanessa Lyu

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments

Vanessa Lyu turns flowers into stitched-together hybrids, using petals, threads and delicate grafts to explore themes of fragility, pressure and emotional repair.Photographer Cheuk Lun Lo, working alongside floral artist Lyu, developed a body of work that transforms botanical elements into emotionally charged constructions where flowers cease to function as decorative objects and instead become carriers of tension and introspection.The unique pieces in this series look like blooms caught between collapse and reconstruction.Petals are sutured with coarse cotton thread, forming visible seams that hint at wounds, healing and the effort of holding oneself together.In the series Adagio, a Deformed Comfort, petals are physically altered through stitching, grafting, and careful manipulation, producing hybrid forms that appear suspended between breakdown and repair.The visible seams, often made with coarse thread, introduce a tactile language of interruption, suggesting that fragility is not simply an inherent quality of organic matter but something shaped, reinforced, and negotiated through intervention.More of Vanessa Lyu’s art can be found at https://www.behance.net/vanessa921bc3bvb and designswan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Faerie Paths — Tomorrow

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments

 

 

 

Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It’s perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we’ve learned something from yesterday.

~ John Wayne

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking Back — Landscapes Part Three

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments

Landscapes take us places we only dream of. They are a way of exploring both the real world and the imaginary one.

Let’s follow yet more intriguing artists and their landscapes of their creation.

 

Giovanni Paolo Panini

 

Tytus Brzozowski

 

H. Leung

 

James Michalopoulos

 

Benjamin Sack

 

Ansel Adams

 

Olaf Wieghorst

 

Erin Hanson

 

John Lemke

 

Mark Gee

 

Claude Monet

 

Faerie Paths — Threads

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 6 Comments

 

 

Weave your creative threads in the dark and then when the sun hits them, they will glisten with intricate beauty.

~ Ted Andrews
 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Utagawa Hiroshige

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 5 Comments

Utagawa Hiroshige, born Andō Tokutarō (1797 – 1858), was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist, considered the last great master of that tradition.The subjects of his work were atypical of the ukiyo-e genre, whose typical focus was on beautiful women, popular actors, and other scenes of the urban pleasure districts of Japan’s Edo period (1603–1868).Hiroshige is often regarded as the last great artist of the Ukiyo-e movement.Ukiyo-e translates to “images of the floating world,” and artists of the movement made woodblock prints and paintings that depicted scenes of history, nature, and famous faces of Edo.However, rather than create prints depicting typical Ukiyo-e motifs, Hiroshige developed his own style.He looked to the everyday experience for inspiration, rendering images of working men and women in urban environments. He created his images with such skill that day-to-day scenes were transformed into captivating landscapes with vibrant colors and charming details.More of Utagawa Hiroshige’s artwork can be found at https://artincontext.org/utagawa-hiroshige//.

 

 

 

 

Faerie Paths — Be Yourself

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments

 

 

Be yourself; everyone else is already taken.

~ Oscar Wilde

 

 

 

 

 

The Depth of an Artist

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 3 Comments

One of my favorite shows on the telly these days is the original Japanese show Iron Chef (on Tubi). Starting back in 1993, these chefs went beyond creative and sophisticated to a realm of cooking I’ve never experienced. It’s like they existed in another world. Iron Chef spawned later shows such as Iron Chef America and Iron Chef Thailand, but none had the exotic depth of the original show.

The entertainment style of Japan truly possesses its own identity. It doesn’t matter what kind of entertainment; a Japanese production has a distinct and extraordinary flavor. And so it was with The Iron Chef.

Just in the past few episodes I have watched chefs use an abalone shell instead of a steel knife for taste; use kidneys, nodules, fish heads, and tomato leaves in their dishes; use plant leaves and feet to flavor broth; and the inclusion of various innards and outards for cooking and presentation.

Never in a thousand years could I come up with ideas and transformations that came anywhere close to these master chefs.

I also am into watching Blown Away (on Netflix), four seasons of glass blowers creating extraordinary pieces of art which include texture, inner swirls, crackled glass, pulling and stretching and whirling the glass by hand around in a big circle — I can’t event explain everything I’ve seen.

Past shows on my list of amazing artists include Forged in Fire (advanced weaponry) and Project Runway (clothes designers). Each show went off into unique directions I’d never seen before, opening horizons I never knew were there.

These sort of shows set my creative curiosity on fire, for they highlight artists who are so advanced in their craft that they reach realms I can’t even dream of.

When you specialize in a particular craft — when you really “get” it and immerse yourself in your ambitions — there is no limit to what you can create. There is depth in every craft, from crocheting to glass blowing to oil painting to writing music. So many ways to fine tune your craft.

I cannot help but ask: Where do these creative people get these ideas?

Professional training is important. There are reasons for cooking schools and metalworking shops and quilting classes. These educational outlets fill in the blanks of your chosen field and then some, encouraging self expression along with the basics.

I have always been in awe of artists who are so into their craft that they go beyond the boundaries of normalcy. I am envious of anyone who takes the next step and the next and the next, honing their skills along with their passions to create totally unique creations. I may not like everything they create, but I give them kudos for experimentation.

I am a mere bead stringer and single strand suncatcher maker, an old(er) lady who didn’t step into crafts until her 60s. I’m not dissing my own talent for creating, but think of how far I could have gone if I would have had more formal training in my field.

Same goes for writing. I’m also a decent writer, but think of what I could have done had I gone to college.

I know outside education can be expensive, but research is free. 

That’s why I tend to dig a little deeper into my unique artists, reading how they created such precise miniatures or set type on plates and bowls. Someone somewhere had to teach them how to do what they do. Someone had to influence their genre so that they were willing to try something new and different.

Don’t give up experimenting in your craft. There are all sorts of classes and columns on the Internet that can help you with your creativity. Take what they teach, take what they share, and run with it. Bend and shape knowledge into what fits your style best.

Any other TV shows out there that can blow my creative mind?

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — José María Velasco

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 5 Comments

José María Velasco (1840 – 1912) was a 19th-century Mexican polymath, most famous as a painter who made Mexican geography a symbol of national identity through his paintings.He completed his initial studies at the schools of the Santa Catarina Quadrant and Lancasterian School of Salto del Agua and the College of San Miguel, then obtained a scholarship to  the Academy of Fine Arts of San Carlos.While his contemporaries drew inspiration from religious, mythological, or folkloric themes, Velasco made the Mexican landscape the symbol of national identity.An exceptional draftsman with a refined technique, precise lines, and sophisticated use of color, Velasco’s artistic virtues flourished in his monumental visions of the Valley of Mexico.During the period from the mid-1870s to the end of the 19th century, Velasco established himself as the undisputed master of Mexican landscape painting.His paintings reached a new level of refinement while reflecting broader ideas shaping Mexican society at the time.More of José María Velasco’s amazing paintings can be found at https://www.dailyartmagazine.com/jose-maria-velascos-landscapes/ and https://smarthistory.org/velasco-the-valley-of-mexico/.

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Toilets

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 14 Comments

What can be more fun than shopping for a new toilet on a Saturday morning???

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Cinta Vidal

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 10 Comments

Barcelona-based artist Cinta Vidal is a Catalan artist renowned for her mind-bending, gravity-defying murals and paintings that challenge our perception of space and architecture.Her artworks are a surreal exploration of the environmental impact of industrial areas and the myriad ways we interact within architectural spaces.Vidal paints intriguing household interiors where gravity no longer behaves as expected.Rooms tilt, ceilings become floors, and figures continue their routines across impossible architectures, reading, sleeping, eating or sitting in silence while the world around them rotates.Vidal ’s compositions often unfold like fragmented apartments viewed from multiple orientations at once, with each section following its own logic.Rather than treating inversion as a visual trick, Vidal uses shifting perspectives to suggest how closely people can coexist while inhabiting very different emotional or psychological spaces.All are fun places to live, work, and visit.More of  Cinta Vidal’s dizzying artwork  can be found at https://cintavidal.com/ and Inspirational Grid.

 

 

 

Faerie Paths — Spring

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 10 Comments

 

 

Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party!’

– Robin Williams

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Petro Veretilnyk

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 10 Comments

Petro Veretilnyk is a jewelry artist located in Vantaa, Finland.

His company Tequalia is the center for unique  jewelry that combines anodization and welding.Veretilnyk ‘s production processes are eco-friendly.The artist uses five components: Commercially pure titanium, electricity, pure Finnish water, baking soda, and inert (argon) gas.Welding and electrolysis comprise the main decorative processes for Veretilnyk’s jewelry creations.His products take on an unpredictable, fantastical and ethereal appearance as a result of titanium oxide film that is created during the creation process.

More of Petro Veretilnyk’s marvelous jewelry can be found at https://tiqualia.eu/ and https://www.instagram.com/ti.qualia/.

 

 

 

 

Accepting the Unusual

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 8 Comments

Greetings friends and drifters!

I have returned from 10 days with family in the sunny (and expensive) world of Disney and the Florida beach. It was exhausting, invigorating, and, as always, eye opening.

Because of bad posture in the past (so my husband says) I have a hard time standing up straight. I’ve been working on that for some time now, but walking around the park for 12 hours did a number on my shoulder and back. So the second day I rented a handicap scooter.

You would have thought I spilled cherry Kool-Aid on my white shirt.

Instead of reveling in the relief of the strain on my shoulder, I became totally self conscious and embarrassed. I felt all eyes on me, as everyone else was walking while I was riding.

Even more weird is that I wasn’t the only one riding a scooter. 

I would have done anything for my fellow rider — I thought nothing of renting her a ride. But it was something else when I was the rider.

Why couldn’t I walk like everyone else? I’m not that old. I’m not that out of shape. Everyone else could cross back and forth across the parks — why couldn’t I?

I think it was more of my having to accept my own reality that blew me away. I really was older than most around me. I really did have a hard time keeping up with kids and grandkids. I should have been able to ride roller coasters and stand in line for a half hour and wander from ride to ride without help. But I couldn’t.

I don’t know exactly what image I held in my mind of where I was in my life, but it certainly didn’t match my reality in Florida. 

And that upset me.

We all say we know who we are and what we feel and what made us what we are. But do we always?

I didn’t think I’d have such an adverse reaction to something as simple as riding a scooter through an amusement park. I never thought I’d choose being embarrassed and uncomfortable over taking care of myself.

Happily, I snapped out of my self pity fog by the second day. I did need help getting around and I was fortunate enough to be able to rent mobility to make my days easier. 

I was lucky to be at the park, period. Others were not as lucky.

But looking yourself in the eye can be … well, eye-opening. And better to accept it earlier than later. Once you do you still have a world of options before you.

Be who you are. Be proud of who you are. And don’t let it hold you back from moving forward in your life.

The parks were just marvelous …

 

 

 

 

 

Faerie Paths — Joyful

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 9 Comments

 

 

The world is extremely interesting to a joyful soul.

—Alexandra Stoddard