Author: humoringthegoddess

I am a writer of fantasy fiction that often surrounds middle-aged women. I am a married mother of two and granny to three, a BoHo Chic kinda gal. I am recently retired and busier than when I worked 9-5. But writing and blogging is my main game.

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Normalynn Ablao

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 7 Comments

Artist Normalynn Ablao has taken her talent for crocheting to a whole other world — the world of food.Based in Lathrop, California, Ablao creates amazing-looking food out of yarn. Her creations are so delicious-looking they often leave you hungry. Swapping starch for stitches, crafter Ablao (aka Copacetic Crocheter) crochets “fiber-rich” crocheted cakes, cookies, and pasta made of 100% yarn.

The pieces are charming in their scale while paying homage to comforting meals.Ablao views the possibilities of a crochet hook in the same way a lettering artist would see a pen.

“The dynamic between the crochet hook and yarn continues to amaze me,” she says. “The crochet hook is like a pen, and together with yarn, it’s as if I’m writing in cursive, which represents beauty and grace.”“I have a profound appreciation for edible art and am grateful I can create fiber food for all of us to enjoy its transient nature over and over again.”

Ablao is a non-profit intermediary helping to raise funds for non-profit organizations.

Her reward, she shares, is fourfold: crocheting is therapeutic; contributing to charity provides the support it needs; helping to improve the welfare of the environment, people and animals are self-fulfilling; and the entire process makes her happier each time.

More of Normalynn Ablao‘s delicious looking creations can be found on her website, https://www.copaceticcrocheter.com/, and at showcases such as Instagram and  https://mymodernmet.com/normalynn-ablao-crochet-food/.

 

 

A Victim By Choice

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 2 Comments

One of the reasons I have too much on my plate is that I overfill it all the time.

I suppose that’s acceptable if it’s Thanksgiving dinner, otherwise the pressure  to get it all done in a respectable amount of time is pretty high.

Now, I am not an over-achiever — far from it. I do my best to finish what I start, and most time do a pretty good job of it.

But now and then (more now than then) I get some sooper dooper idea and get all pumped up at the front end and once I put my foot in the water it’s too late to pull it out.  I have to go in all the way.

Sometimes I wait a spell before I jump in. Finding (and paying for) a booth at a craft fair. Making plans to meet family or friends for dinner. Flying out of state for a wedding.

Other times I jump in without thinking. Booking (and paying for) a second craft fair. Offering to bring a dish to tomorrow’s whatever and not having a thing in the house to cook.

I suppose we all do that. Get swept away in the moment. Fall for the grander scheme. I mean gee — it seemed like such a great idea at the time!

I’ve been thinking/dealing/researching getting older and how it affects us all for quite a while now, either as a participant or an assistant or a planner.  I put together some thoughts and a five topic outline and want to make it part of a weekly blog for five weeks here.

Man, that’s such a great idea up front!

But what about two weeks in? Will I have enough information? Will I be able to make the point I’m trying to make? Will I get responses and interactions from my audience?

This time I’ve taken a paumse between idea and implementation. It’s like the menu I made last night for dinner doesn’t look as sparkling in this morning’s light.

That’s the point of today’s ramble. Don’t discard you flashes of insight, your great ideas, your real out-of-the-box experiences. There is a reason you get these feel-good, lots-of-work ideas. Don’t suppress them — let them out into the daylight!

You don’t have to act and react to them immediately or even do anything about them. But you should acknowledge them.  Toss them around like shrimp in butter. Think about how they cook. How much work it would be. If you’ve been looking for something new and different to try.

It’s all good. Believe me — you can do it!!

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Wilfried Grootens

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 2 Comments

Glass artist Wilfried Grootens was born in Uedem, a small town in the German countryside near the Dutch border.At the age of 15, Grootens first apprenticed as a glass painter at the Derix Company in Germany where he learned to restore antique stained glass windows.Four years later he left on a near decade-long adventure to travel the world, play music, and experience the cultures of Asia and South America before eventually returning to his work with glass.In 1988, he received a Master Craftsman’s Diploma in Munich and by the following year had opened his own studio in Kleve.By the 1980s, he had mastered the optical float technique where he paints, stacks, laminates and polishes layers of glass to create his sculptures.The cubes are cut and polished to perfection. His painted patterns seem to float within the cube, creating a magical display of optical illusionThousands of very fine brush strokes of varying tones on each layer recede or expand in size gradually and, when seen together, form a miraculous three dimensional globe which seems to be suspended in the cube.“With my glass painting I fill transparent, geometric spaces whose visual explorations produce surprising variations in forms,” Grootens explains. “Different perspectives on apparent spherical floating built-up forms of linear brush strokes reveal to the viewer new perspectives within the object‘s space.

More of Wilfred Grootens‘  amazing glass work can be found at https://wilfriedgrootens.de/en/wilfried-grootens-glas-artist/ and https://contempglass.org/artists/entry/wilfried-grootens.

 

A Few Blogging Thoughts

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 2 Comments

According to Website Setup, in 2021 there were over 600 million blogs on the web.

Think about that. 600 million blogs. 600,000,000 individuals decided to put their thoughts, their experience, their advice on the Internet. That’s THREE TIMES the population of the state of California (Population: 39,613,493).  That’s more than the 2022 population of the United States (332,529,000).

Think about that. A lot more than attended Woodstock in 1969 (500,0000),  more than the largest attendance of a Super Bowl (Super Bowl XIV, 103,985), more than Mick Jagger’s net worth (500 million).

That’s how many people who were offering their thoughts/opinions in their own setting called a blog in 2021.

Where do we all fit in?

I didn’t check, but if 600 million writers published three blogs a week, that would be 1,800,000,000 chances to read or learn something new in one year.

Again … where do we all fit in?

It’s easy to get overrun by numbers. Like a non stop train from Chicago to St. Louis, once it get going there’s not much (short of catastrophe) that can stop it.

I myself am NOT a numbers person. I’m more than lost in a crowd of five. So you would think being faced with such numbers, such odds, would be overwhelming.

It’s not.

In a world as big and diverse as blogging, writing what you write won’t matter to approximately 409 million people who view more than 20 billion pages a month (Ultimate List of Blogging Statistics and Facts, Updated for 2022). 

But it will matter to you. To those one or two people who “get it.”

That is why you have to constantly work on perfecting your craft. Know who you are and what you want to share. Be an authority on what you write, even if you are still learning (and don’t be afraid to say you’re still learning!)

Have a purpose to your story. Whether it’s a parable, lesson, advice, or encouragement, do your best to connect with your readers.  Even if your blog is sharing grief or confusion, share it in a way that others can learn from it or understand it a little easier.

Next week I’m getting together with my bestie mother/daughter team to help them both get started on their own blog.  What they’re going to write I don’t know. But I want to show them how to start … how to keep it going. And how to keep excited with every new offering.

I might not be as good as 599,999,999 other teachers, but I’m alright. 

Get your own gig going! And spread the word!

 

 

I Love When Creative People Get Excited

~ humoringthegoddess ~ Leave a comment

I want to talk about a friend’s blog this morning — a friend that I made through this blog. I’ve never met her in person, but from her creativity I can tell we’d be besties in no time flat. That’s because I find her constantly creating, constantly experimenting, constantly exploring.

Laura Kate over at Daily Fiber is always doing something. Quilting, knitting, collage. I’m already envious of her expanding boundaries. But Laura writes about everything — the beginnings, the ends, the frustrations, and the victories.

She is but one of the creative sprites I’ve met on this magical journey.

That’s what we should always strive for. Trying something new, loving it if we don’t succeed, loving it more if we do. Creativity is an open ended road. Curving, climbing, keeping straight for long stretches of time. But it’s always moving forward, always evolving. Always improving.

Let me know how YOU deal with that creative muse that’s always tickling your fancy. And click on the link below to see the beginning of her knitting project!

 

Cast-on Monday: Search and Swatch

Posted on July  18,  2022

So my objective for this week is to prepare to knit socks – at least 4 pair! Just to make things interesting, I have set up a few criteria for these projects.

  1. They will use as much of my stash yarn as possible. You can see in the photo above that I have a fair selection which includes DK as well as fingering weight. Having gathered my yarns together in this bowl certainly helps me begin to think about color pairing of partial balls.
  2. I will choose patterns new to me so that I will have variety and new skills to learn.
  3. The new patterns will be available on-line from free pattern sources.

So far, I’m doing pretty good! I had no trouble finding patterns that I like without spending a dime. Some of these are written for DK weight. Here are my choices of patterns so far and the swatches I worked up for them.

. . .

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Sunday Evening Art Gallery 1

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 3 Comments

Today’s blog is for those of you who love art. Unique Art. Amazing Art.

I have been going back over past Sunday Evening Art Gallery blogs for various reasons, and it has brought back phenomenal feelings and memories of artists of various fields.

My first year of posting art was 2015. I published 37 blogs that year. a mere drop in the bucket to later years. A mere drop in the bucket for many of you.

But what artists in those 37 blogs! They were amazing! ARE amazing!

I can’t share all 37 here, but I thought I’d start sharing 10 at a time. Just as a reminder. Just as another way to show you the magic of Creativity.

 

Stairways to Nowhere

 

Clark Little

 

Martin Koegl

 

Stilettos/High Heels

 

Kurt Wenner

 

Crowns

 

Guido Daniele

 

Svetlana Bobrova

 

Nathalie Miesbach

 

Kaleidoscopes

 

 

Three Shades of Midnight

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments

 

 

It’s midnight…and my feet are off the floor.
Whether to keep me away from monsters under the bed
Or to help my dreams I do not know
Danger lies in what you cannot see
And more so in what you can
and fear of the unknown a constant
The world is strange and wonderful
Yet it’s midnight and my feet are off the floor.

 

It’s midnight…and my feet are off the floor.
I don’t think it helped with the monsters under my bed tonight.
They slipped outside when I wasn’t looking.
I ran onto the deck and shouted at the screams hey hey stop that
After an intense struggled and haunted response it stopped
I shot a beam into the darkness. Two beady silver eyes looked back.
My dreams will be alive tonight, taking me where they will.
But it’s midnight and my feet are off the floor.

 

It’s midnight…and my feet are off the floor.
I barely made it, imagination stalking my heels.
I must stop this falderal and fiddle-dee-dee.
The moon is almost full and poetry this is not.
Too much goes on in this world I will never understand.
Better to deal with the monsters under my bed and dreams in my head.
Nonsense is easier to bear when it comes from within.
All is well now, for it is midnight and my feet are off the floor.

http://www.rasaint.net/ - Glitter Graphics

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Il Lee

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 7 Comments

Il Lee is best known for his ballpoint pen artwork; large-scale abstract imagery on paper and canvas.He also creates artwork in a similar vein utilizing acrylic and oil paint on canvas. Lee, born in 1952, is a Korean painter who currently lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.Lee received his B.F.A. (painting) in 1976 from Hongik University, a Korean school said to be “Western oriented.” He then moved to America; first to Los Angeles, then to New York, where he earned his M.F.A. from the Pratt Institute in 1982. He studied etching as his minor at Pratt, and the sharp needles became a preferred tool. The sharpness of its line interested him enough to continue pursuing it through other avenues.

 The earlier works were all drawn on paper, but Lee soon began to work on large, primed canvases.The artist spends weeks, sometimes months, applying layer upon layer of ink to each artwork.Linework is built-up through a “scribbling” technique reliant upon the “speed, spin, and angle” of his pen in repetitive motions, sometimes becoming so dense that the line-work becomes a flat field of ink.The thicker layers can appear coagulated on the surface of the paper or canvas, with the dried ballpoint ink giving off a shiny purplish-blue hue.When working with paint on canvas Lee utilizes empty pen casings and other tools such as bamboo sticks, scribbling in the same gestural manner onto a wet surface layer to reveal colors underneath — an inversion of his ballpoint method.

More of Il Lee‘s distinctive artwork can be found at https://artprojects.com/il-lee/il-lee-ballpoint-pen-on-paper/. 

 

 

Cool Me Off

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 8 Comments

A humid, cloudy, lazy Saturday here in the U.S. Midwest.

It’s summer. Smack dab in the middle of heat, mosquitoes, and humidity. This is the type of weather that we go to art fairs, Renaissance Faires, and family picnics. We sit outside and sweat while we play baseball or bags, admire paintings we can’t afford, and push the kids on the swings.

We also try and get a lot of chores done during this hot, sticky, unbreathable weather. Not only do we undertake bi-weekly tasks like mowing the lawn and pulling weeds, but work on the car, walk the dogs, barbeque everything, and go to baseball games.

We are very active in the summer. Just like we’re supposed to be.

My problem is that I sweat walking across the street during this weather. My pores get a cleansing whether I want them to or not. It’s hard to look beautiful when your skin is shiny with sweat and your hair is up and you’re wearing the least amount of clothes possible.

Not that beauty matters anymore — but hygiene does. Comfort does. Endurance does.

All the art fairs and music concerts and medieval times around here are all in the hottest months of the year, July and August. They are fun,  family oriented, and entertaining. Artists finally get to show their wares, cream puffs and funnel cakes take center stage, and you can stop and listen to almost any kind of music your little rhythm heart desires.

So what is the point of all of this?

I had to stop and think of this one. Seeing as when I started writing I was going in one direction, and between cream puffs and music I got lost.

Maybe it’s just that there is always something to do during the hot summer months. There is no reason to lock yourself away or complain that there’s nothing to do. The world offers so many things to explore, and summertime is no different than other seasons.

Yes, there are uncomfortable parts to summer….bugs and sweat among the top 10.

But there’s also so many rewards. The thrill of watching a little kid hit a baseball. The fresh air of the morning while you take yourself or or dog for a walk. The beauty of pottery or metalworking or watercolors from hard working artists. The beauty of flowers bursting in full colorful blooms everywhere you look. The thrill of nature that surrounds you when you are camping or riding in a canoe.

The heat will pass. So will the mosquitoes. Prepare well, then get yourself out in the world. It’s waiting for you.

What kind of activities are you all about in the summer?

 

 

 

 

It’s TIme to Open the Doorways to Our Minds … (repost)

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 3 Comments

A repost of my friend’s Sketchuniverse repost of Janet’s blog at My Life as an Artist (2)…  (whew! I kept it straight!)  It’s a beautiful post — a feel-good post — check both of their sites out!

 

It’s time to Open the Doorways to our minds so that we can adapt to our changing world.

capturing shadow play on courtyard steps in Olhao Portugal – watercolour.   Disappearing steps symbolise for me – the unknown….

 

If ever there is a place that is conducive to exploring the creative process….it has been the school in Olhao, Portugal where I have been fortunate enough to teach for quite a few years.      A place I have come to think of as a second home….

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Spiral Staircases

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments

 

The mind spirals down
The swirling staircase
Searching for its quick escape

Spiral Staircase,  Mira Matar

 

Spiral Staircase, the Louvre , Paris

 

 

Living Staircase, Paul Cocksedge

 

 

St. Stephen’s Basilica, Budapest

 

Umschreibung Stairs, Munich, Germany

 

 

Baroque Staircase, Melk Abbey, Austria

 

 

Siller Stairs

 

Garvan Institute, Sydney, Australia

 

The Sprinkenhof,, Hamburg, Germany

 

 

Faerie Paths — Meaning and Purpose

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments
Don Quixote, Pablo Picasso

 

 

The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.

~Pablo Picasso

 

 

 

Life is always interesting, isn’t it?

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 12 Comments
Craig Haupt

Life is always interesting, isn’t it?

Just when you think you know something, something else comes along and pulls the rug out from under you.

Sometimes, if you’re lucky, there’s a big foam pad to fall on.

I had a blog written for today, one that was about people being contradictions, saying one thing and doing another. It was a whiney little blog that, on one hand, was therapeutic, on the other said nothing new.

Then I talked to one of my best friends.

One who transferred jobs and picked up and moved three states away, leaving us friends back in Wisconsin forlorn and texting. 

It was a delightful conversation.

We complained about the usual things, laughed about family and people and personalities and told each other how important it was for us — for women — to have our own personal time and personal space, and talked about getting older and aches and pains, and shared camping stories. 

And the fog lifted.

Why do I bore you with this triviality?

To show you that it doesn’t take much to turn things around. To turn half empty to half full. To turn adversity into a learning, growing opportunity.

We all get into ruts. The same old job, the same old family disputes. The same dinner menu on Mondays and the same shopping schedules on Wednesdays. Nothing wrong with ruts, except you never get anywhere. It’s like being stuck in quicksand. 

All you need to get out of the rut is a shot of friendship. A meeting of the minds. A dip in the pool of Creativity. Whether you are connecting with an old friend, a new friend, or Vincent Van Gogh, all you need is a peek in someone else’s mind. A glimpse of someone else’s dreams. 

In making intellectual connections you are able to rise above the ruts and find a way to make a better life. Better choices. A chance to work on those dreams you’ve kept hidden for so long.

That’s why I am always pushing Creativity. In all its forms, all its diversities. The art of friendship is no different than the art of painting or calligraphy. All are enlightening, all are opportunities to shake off the gloom and moodiness that comes from ritualistic routines.

Talking to my friend reminded me that it’s time to get back into my own Art Experience. There’s always something new waiting around the corner. 

For you and for me.

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Christel Assante

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 10 Comments

French artist Christel Assante creates detailed carvings on egg shells using  knives, vinegar, and a diamond coated mini drill.Born and raised in France, she grew up with no artistic education, more of just regular school, and  did not go to college.Assante likes to draw a lot, and is not sure what got her into egg art, but possibly the idea of symbols being transformed to a 3D environment.She uses emu, ostrich, nandu, goose, pheasant, duck, and quail eggs for her art, but prefers the nandu because it is thick and gives more possibilities, but very difficult to find.While she is carving, she prefer to hold the egg shell in her hand to minimize vibrations.It can take her up to eight hours to carve a goose egg shell and one week for an ostrich egg shell.Once her piece is completed, a light bulb is placed inside the carved shell through a hole which magical reveals every tiny, intricate detail in her creation.“The egg shape allows to present scenes which evolve as you turn it around,” Assante shares. “I like this idea …”More of Christel Assante‘s amazing carvings can be found at https://www.art-et-artisanat-du-monde.com/francais/boutique/Liste_oeuf_christel.php.

 

 

 

I’m So Excited!

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 5 Comments

I have been combing the world — and the Internet — for unique artists for upcoming Sunday Evening Art Gallery blogs, and I must say, I am so pumped!

Thank you for being a part of my past and my future. Unique art is everywhere — let’s find it together.

 

FUTURE ART GALLERIES

 

Wilfried Grootens

 

Boguslaw Strempel

 

Christel Assante

 

Gil Bruvel

 

 

 

Take Your Reader on The Journey! (Revisited) — Writing your first novel-Things you should know (repost)

~ humoringthegoddess ~ Leave a comment

Doing a little research, I found Jan originally wrote about this topic on November 19, 2019.

The advice is still spot-on.

Get writing! Today if possible — Tomorrow at the latest!

 

 

I’ve written several blogs patting authors on the back and thanking them for the joy they provide to people like my mom. She is elderly and can’t go to the places she would like to visit, but my mom loves books. They take her not only to places she would like to go, but places […]

Take Your Reader on The Journey! (Revisited) — Writing your first novel-Things you should know

 

 

Faerie Paths — Imagination

~ humoringthegoddess ~ Leave a comment

 

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere. 

~ Carl Sagan

 

 

Another Try…all and Err…or

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 9 Comments

Here it is, actually Sunday night, and I’m feeling agitated/messed up/peaceful/chatty/thoughtful once again. I’m sure you’re all here somewhere with me.

I have been thinking about starting some kind of routine/ritual both in the morning before I get out of bed and in the evening before I go to sleep. Something to refocus me: something to guide me, relax me, teach me; something to give my mental chatter and A.D.D. a rest.

I’m not much for religion these days — I held onto a little bit of it through the years, just enough get me through, but I think most of it disappeared when I lost my son.

I’ve tossed around several Goddesses for a number of years, along with spirit guides (who helped me write my books) and guardian angels who watched my back. I’ve looked for faeries to light my way, along with miracles meant only for me and words that blow through the pine trees that only I could hear.

So perhaps it’s time to take a break from the airy fairy and try some actual, old fashioned therapy.

I’ve thought about reading poetry before I get up in the morning. Not necessarily the creations of friends and newfound poets, but the old-fashioned ones. Robert Frost and taking the road less travelled and Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson and Marilou Angelou. Beautiful, soulful poetry. Simple start-the-day poetry. No preaching; just musical words.

A beautiful way to start a day, don’t you think?

Then, when all the madness of the day is done, instead of wasting time online on Facebook or some other mindless rot, I have started going to bed, listening to soothing music, and reading a classic, physical book. Not an iPad book, not a magazine — a real live  book.

I am beginning to think our grandparents and great grandparents had it right. No TikTok, no television series we have to catch up on, no blasting rock and roll or video games till midnight. I mean, all those are wonderful activities — but not when we need to sleep.

Life is full of love and play and intellectual stimulation. Full of highs and lows and frustrations and dead ends. But it’s also a gateway to wonderful worlds, wonderful thoughts. We just have to find a way to get to them.

It’s the calming of the mind that recharges us. The calming of the psyche. The calming of the soul. We can deal with anything during the day, but it’s the dawn and the twilight that really connects with our soul. Our center.

We need to find ways to reconnect.

If you have access to Amazon Music, there are a couple of music playlists that work well for me: Studying Music: Music to Study By, Relaxing Piano, Study Music, New Age Music, Meditation Music, Classical Piano,  Calm Music Piano: Soothing, Relaxing, Soft Background Music for Sleep, Massage, and More,  and Study Music: Soothing, Calm, Relaxing New Age Music and Classical Piano for Studying, Meditation, Yoga. 

Most of the music is minor chord relaxation music — I hope it helps you relax and dream as well.

Let me know how YOU reconnect with yourself.

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Pablo Reinoso

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 5 Comments

Pablo Reinoso is a multidisciplinary artist known for his sculptures and public installations. Born in Buenos Aires and living in Paris since 1978,  Reinoso combines surrealistic concepts with furniture design to create immersive structures using wood, stone, and metal.His passion for the arts developed at a young age, and he studied architecture at the University of Buenos Aires before fleeing to Paris in 1978 to escape the political upheaval in Argentina.The artist creates his artwork through different series where he crosses, grinds up, rummages through, and explores different worlds and materials.Having studied architecture but being multifaceted, curious, and often self-taught, Reinoso has always straddled disciplines (sculpture, photography, architecture, design).A constant feature in his work is his penchant for endlessly questioning, subverting, using materials or objects against their grain, bringing opposites together, and playing with the limits of impossibility. “The extravagance of spirals and twists in my sculptures has led some critics to describe my art as “baroque,” but in truth, I always create my pieces with minimalism in mind.,” Reinoso says.“Though winding, the lines are always clean and distinct, and monochromatic tones have permeated my collections across the years.”More of Pablo Reinoso‘s wonderful designs can be found at https://www.pabloreinoso.com/.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Věra Lišková

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 9 Comments

Czech artist and designer Věra Lišková (1924–1985) was a Czech artist and designer known for her use of clear glass and her intricate final products.Lišková studied at the State Graphic School in Prague from 1939 until it was closed during World War II; she graduated from the School of Applied Arts in 1949.She began her career as a designer of functional glassware, working for such glass companies as the Vienna-based J. & L. Lobmeyr and Moser.Lišková started to make her borosilicate glass sculptures in the late 1960s.The artist pioneered the technique of working borosilicate glass over an oxygen flame, which enabled her to make the large, abstract sculptures for which she is best known.Both strong and delicate, Lišková’s work reflects the nature of the material used to create these detailed art pieces.Many of her pieces include spiny, sharp designs and clean lines, all bringing into focus her fine glass work.More of Věra Lišková’s glasswork can be found at http://www.artnet.com/artists/vera-liskova/.

 

 

Finally Finished Friday — Daily Fiber (repost)

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 2 Comments
I once naively thought that quilting was about sewing together pieces of fabrics that appealed to the quilter. While this is true, Laura Kate has shown that often there is a story behind the material. A story of someone’s world, of someone’s heart.

Take a few minutes and see how my friend has put together a quilt made of pieces created in another time, another place.

Starting back in January with some musings over passed-along weaving samples, today I celebrate the finish of a fiber object unlike anything I have done before. Margaret Howard wove her samples on a small loom that she kept at the family’s summer house in northwestern Wisconsin. When I first saw them, I felt that these […]

Finally Finished Friday — Daily Fiber

 

 

 

Friends, Friendship, Friends Forever

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 9 Comments

A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.

~ William Shakespeare

 

I just came back from meeting one of my besties for lunch (Hi Andi!). My friend is fun and witty and loves doing things with her family and friends. I had a great time.

Last week I went shopping and stayed overnight with four of my besties from my old neighborhood. We hadn’t seen each other since the memorial, and we shopped and laughed and and talked till 1:30 am. We all had a great time.

A month or two ago we met our two besties half way between Tennessee and Wisconsin and toured Indiana’s covered barns. We ate and laughed and drove around and camped and had a great time.

Two months ago we went over to our besties house and had dinner. We talked about kids and upcoming craft fairs and had a great time.

Whenever I go to my kid’s house, no matter what kind of day we’ve all had, we always manage to talk and laugh and gossip and have a great time. (Hi Sarah!) Bring in her parents and every day is a party — even when we all are dog tired and can’t move off the sofa.

You may say I’m lucky.

You may think I have the gift of friendship or the gift of gab — or both.

But friendships come easy, right?

The minute you hang with someone you can tell if they’re going to be lifelong pals and confidants or if they’ll just do for the evening. That’s the easy part.

Real friendship takes work.

It takes calling them, even if you’re the last one to make contact. It takes driving longer than you want to drive just to meet for dinner or shopping. It means giving up something you want to do to do something your friend wants to do.

It means asking — and taking — help, even if you don’t think you need it.

You can have one best friend or a dozen. Your bestie can be a male, female, or gender neutral. They can be your classmate, your neighbor, or your mother-in-law.

Friendship has no boundaries, no parameters. It just is. 150% of you. All the time. No matter what.

Sometimes friendships get tested. Distance, morals, misunderstandings. Things said and misunderstood. Things misspoken yet heard correctly.  Friendship can be roasted, toasted, and tested.

Some make it through fire and ice.

Others break apart and drift away.

But we all can have friends. We all need friends.

True friends love you just the way you are — with all your quirks, with all your weaknesses, with all your dreams.  Friends are there to pick up the pieces and glue you back together.

And, if you are a true and honest friend, you will glue them back together too.

Give your friend a call this evening. Drop them a text. Even if it’s been a year. A month. Yesterday. Give Give and Give some more. Don’t ask for anything back — just enjoy the giving part. That’s who you are. 

If your gift of love is used and abused, that’s not your problem. It’s theirs. Tenfold.  You were always true to yourself. So move on. 

One never said friendship was perfect. But one thing I do know —

Make sure you are your own best friend first. 

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Francis Bacon

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 5 Comments

Francis Bacon (1909 –1992) was an Irish-born British figurative painter known for his raw, unsettling imagery. Continue reading “Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Francis Bacon” →

Is Creativity Considered an Art Thing?

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 8 Comments

Now that I’m done running around for a few weekends I am ready to stay home for a few weeks and CREATE a few things.

First off, of course, is to create a version of a clean house.

But I digress.

After all the “chores” that need to be caught up on, before I start the assembly line for new Angel Tears for my Fall show, there are things I want to do around here that are basically …. creative.

I wonder if I am being an artist while I rearrange the pots on the front deck to look like an outdoor room? If going through the stack of artwork we have collected in the last 30 years to find fresh pictures to hang on our bedroom walls is a form of Art Appreciation? Is moving a plant from the bathroom counter to the window sill testing the esthetics of the world of art? 

Repainting my bathroom and closet and bedroom was the biggest art project I’ve been involved with in years. Two tones of gray, painting the edges of the shelves a different color, new rugs, new shower stall, all were brought such a wonderful feeling of contentment when finished. I picked out the perfect water glass,  moved a wrought iron sun from a forgettable place in the basement to the top of the cabinet, and bought the cutest pots to repot plants we received at the memorial.

It was so much fun. It felt like I was creating Installation Art.

Is this what an artist feels before they paint their next picture? Before they carve their next statue? 

Dictionary.Com has a few descriptions of this very big three-letter word:

1.  the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance. 

2.  the class of objects subject to aesthetic criteria; works of art collectively, as paintings, sculptures, or drawings: a museum of art; an art collection. 

That covers a pretty wide territory. But does it cover making a dinosaur garden in the backyard with my grandson? Does it include taking the pile of “stuff” off the kitchen table and replacing it with a vase with pretty flowers in it? 
Art is many things.  You are an artist, whether you believe it or not. If it brings you pleasure, a feeling of success, if it is satisfying and organized or just plain pretty, you have created art.
I hope our Creative friendship lasts a long time. I love hearing what you do to make the world a more attractive — dare I say prettier — place.
Don’t be afraid to share your artsy ideas. We ALL would love it!

Swallowed by The Sun (Revised) — Ivor.Plumber/Poet

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments
I have turned a fellow blogger into a friend — someone whose work makes me happy. Ivor is that sort of poet. Poignant, clever, hitting the notes of current events with delicate yet form strokes. I really feel this poem. Please go to his site sometime and check out all the great things he’s written.
 
You won’t be sorry.
 

On a fiery hot suburban street Cobblestones are melting the crowd’s feet Bursting blisters, of the ignorant Burning souls, in the innocent Ultraviolet rays are scorching everyone Our world is being swallowed by the sun Oh, what have us human’s done All the rivers are running dry Fish lay on barren land, wanting to die […]

Swallowed by The Sun (Revised) — Ivor.Plumber/Poet

https://ivors20.wordpress.com/

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Painted Stairs

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 14 Comments

In tackling this Gallery, I decided to go through the front door and pick out art that has been hand painted on stairways. There are many other ways to decorate your stairs: peel off stickers, ceramic tiles, and wallpaper to name a few. I included stencils because even though you have a ready-made pattern you are still doing the painting.

I am trusting that these wonderfully unique painted staircases will be your “Stairway to the Stars.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I Am Still Running

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 10 Comments

My notifications told me today that I am on a 9-day streak on Humoring the Goddess.

I didn’t realized I yakked that much.

Maybe it was that I filled every other day with a ditty to be published so I wouldn’t have to worry about losing my readers. Maybe every other day turned into every day when I left my computer charging cord at home and began to panic. Maybe it was the frustration of typing on that old mini computer where the cursor flipped, skipped, and deleted at its own whim.

I came back from the boys’ fishing trip yesterday and saw that my calendar is stuffed beyond stuffed pepper mode for the rest of the month. Discovering a new way to type a story over the weekend squirreled away the last energy I might have saved up.

 I am already exhausted.

It’s not that I don’t want to see and do everything. I really really do. It’s just that I can’t seem to put a halt on the spinning part.

Seeing grandkids is always a priority. Seeing my friends who helped me through my recent hard times is a priority. Travelling to our cabin to get “away from it all” is also a priority. And now that I’m hot to trot on writing this new novel, THAT is a priority too. 

That’s just the top tiers.

I have too many priorities, I think. I’ve got to slow down.

How do you do it all?

I know I know — prioritize. Learn to say “no.” Limit your time on the get togethers that happen more often. Assign more “me” time.

I’m afraid none of those alternatives are going to happen.

I’m going to be 70 in six months. I hope I make it till then. I hope I make it another 20 years past that. I don’t want to visit people when I’m on the other side. I might scare them away with my angel wings. You know?

So I feel like I’m living in a whirlwind NOW NOW NOW state of body and mind. Like if I don’t do it all and think it all and feel it all and keep it going everything will stop, and so will I.

Let me know how you do everything you do.

Or what you tell yourself as you collapse on the bed every night……..

 

 

Sunday Evening Art — Auguste Rodin

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 11 Comments

 

François Auguste René Rodin (1840 – 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture.

The Old Courtesan (La Belle qui fut heaulmière)

 

Rodin endured a somewhat tumultuous life in his early years that nearly discouraged him from becoming an artist.

The Three Shades

 

He wanted to attend the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts in his teens, but was denied three times. He worked for decades as a craftsman, but completely abandoned his pursuit to be an artist after the death of his sister in 1862.

The Kiss

 

Rodin joined a Catholic order that same year, but it was Saint Peter Julian Eymard who noticed Rodin’s incredible talent and encouraged him to resume his life as a sculptor.

The Thinker

 

 

A trip to Italy in 1875 sparked his creativity after having studied the sculptures of Donatello and Michelangelo.

Young Girl with Roses on Her Hat

 

After this, Rodin was inspired to create a number of masterful pieces of sculpture that are considered to this day to be among the greatest works in history.

Monument to Balzac

 

Rodin stripped away many of the narrative references to classical myth that were still attached to academic sculpture in the late-19th century and placed a new stress on the dignity of simple human moments.

Burghers of Calais

 

Rodin was a naturalist, less concerned with monumental expression than with character and emotion.

Madame X (Countess Anna-Elizabeth de Noailles)

 

He dedicated most of the last 40 years of his life to working on an expanse of sculptures that formed what Rodin titled The Gates of Hell.

The Gates of Hell

 

The pieces associated with this work are considered to be Rodin’s greatest accomplishments.

More of Auguste Rodin’s sculptures can be found at https://www.musee-rodin.fr. , https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/rodn/hd_rodn.htm and https://www.artst.org/rodin-sculptures/.

 

 

I Am a Fan of Top ___ Lists

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 8 Comments

 I am a sucker for top 10 or 20 or 30 lists.

I don’t know how the creator/writer of these things gets their info; for all I know it’s the author’s faves and nothing more. Google the top 10 and see what comes up. The same top 10 differ from site to site. (The blue copy links to the founding site.)

But I digress.

What a way to waste an afternoon.

But here are some random “tops” that will make you smile this warm Saturday afternoon. If you don’t agree with these tops, fear not. There’s always another top 10 list somewhere…..

 

Top 10 Best Guitarists of All Time

1 .  Jimi Hendrix

2 . Jimmy Page

 

 

18 of The Most Amazing Photographs Ever Taken

A pickup truck flees from the smoke and volcanic ash ( pyroclastic flows) spewing from the Mt. Pinatubo volcano that erupted during 1991 in the Philippines

Daredevils Gladys Roy and Ivan Unger Play Tennis In Sky, riding on the wings of a biplane as it flies over the city in November 1925.0

 

Top 10 Pop Songs of 1999

1 . Britney Spears – Baby One More Time

2 . Ricky Martin – Livin’ the Vie da Loca

Top 10 Scariest Animals on Earth

1 . Human

2 . Shark

 

Most Expensive Air-Jordan Shoes

1 . Air Jordan 12 ‘Flu Game’ Shoes — $300,000

2.  Air Jordan 12 OVO Shoes — $100,000

 

10 Most Popular Foods in the World

1 . Pizza

2 . Sushi

 

The 12 Deadliest Insects in the World

1 . Mosquito

2 . Tse-Tse Fly

 

AFI’s Top 100 Films of All Time

1 . Citizen Kane

 2 . The Godfather

 

Top 10 People Immortalized as Foods

1 . Ruth Cleveland — Baby Ruth

2 . John McIntosh — Apples

 

Top 10 Most Expensive Teas in the World Money Can Buy

1 . Original Dong Hong Pao — $645,000 Per Pound

2 . Panda Dung — $31,700 Per Pound

 

Top 10 Fastest Cars in the World

1 . Bugatti Bolide —  500 kmph

2 . Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ — 490.48 kmph

 

10 Most Famous Statues in the World

1 . The Thinker — Auguste Rodin

2 . Statue of Liberty — Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi

 

The 10 Most Beloved Christmas Cookies, Ranked

1 . Pillsbury Sugar Cookie

2 . Chocolate Snowball Cookies

 

Top Ten Tallest People Currently Alive in around the World

1 . Sultan Kösen, 251 cm, 8 feet 3 inches

2 . Brahim Takioullah, 246 cm, 8 feet 1 inch

 

Top 30 TV Shows of 2006

 1 . 24

2 . Psych

 

10 Favorite American Foods of All Time

1 . Burger

2 . Cheesecake

 

Top Ten Most Dangerous Bacteria on Earth

1 .Tuberculosis2 . Streptococcus

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — DZO-O

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 11 Comments

Under the odd name of DZO (in capital letters) is Olivier, a self-taught artiphist, symbols explorer, and freelance designer from the South of France.Thanks to a family with an artistic affinity, Olivier graduated from the School of Fine Arts of Toulouse and begun a successful career in graphic design.But with the creation of the artistic counterpart that is DZO, the French artist wanted to go deeper into his exploration of the “noosphere”, a philosophical concept about human thought.

His dynamic drawings are incredibly complex. They swirl with archetypal figures, animal totems and symbols that threaten to burst off the page.

His art speaks to the old etchings and engravings of religious and occult manuscripts while it flirts with alchemy, witchcraft, and blasphemy. 

It is at the same time disturbing, haunting, and stimulating.His intricate drawings, full of enigmatic detail, mix sensuality, darkness, and mythology.The message beyond the lines have a seemingly secret meaning, surrounding the world of DZO with mystery and fascination. More of DZO-O‘s mesmerizing work can be found at http://www.dzo-o.com/.

 

 

Will I Getter Done This Time?

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments

INSPIRATION ►INTENTION ►OPPORTUNITY ►RESULT

This is the way our personal growth should go.

*Get inspired to do something.
*Set out a plan to get it done.
*Find the opportunity to work on this something.
*Finish project — getter done.

This is the way I hope to get things done through the end of the week.

But I know me.

Get inspired to do something. All the time. Over inspired and over excited. Set out a plan to get it done. I outline, research, strategize. Got it figured out. Find the opportunity. Five days at a cabin, being by myself all five days as the men go fishing every day. Finish project. After I go for a walk, read a few chapters of a book, reread the plan, reread the previous written books (if necessary), take a nap, read my Facebook, text a few friends, flip through a magazine, make a sandwich, color a mandala, and check my email.

Is this ever you?

A perfectly planned day/few days/week of finally getting your artistic inspiration off the ground and up into the stratosphere. You’ve got your material, your paints, your sketches. Your storyline. Your collage materials. Your wood.

And now the time has come.

You get distracted. And keep getting distracted. And before you know it you’ve wasted a half day or more doing everything but your heart’s desire.

What’s the matter with us?

Or is it only me?

I’m going away for a few days with “the boys.” The boys plan on fishing all day and watching stupid movies all night. The perfect atmosphere for me to take advantage of. I don’t want to stay home by myself — I don’t want to hang around someplace where there are a dozen housekeeping tasks waiting just for me.

We don’t have TV or Internet at the cabin. I have a hard drive full of great music, a computer full of research, a kitchen full of healthy snacks, and two dogs to keep me company.

The perfect atmosphere to write.

But I’m weak when it comes to distraction.

Not every moment is filled with distraction — there are many times I’m lost in the creative moment. I love it. But there are always bread crumbs — or maybe cookie crumbs — that beckon me to follow. To waste time. To lead me astray.

Let’s hope that I get some real writing time in this week. My fortitude is not what it used to be. Words are just a little harder to come by these days; I know that not too long in the distant future the words might even fail me. There’s a few more stories I’d like to tell before the words fade away.

I’d hate to waste that precious time surfing the Net for kitty pictures….

 

 

Walking. With Moment that Sticks. — Live & Learn

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 2 Comments

 

Yin and Yang everywhere you look. All you have to do is look.

Take a few moments and read….

4:33 a.m., or so. You are so damn precise with your clock. I pulled into the Cove Island Park parking lot, my headlights illuminated her…sleeping. Hold that thought. It’s been 770 consecutive (almost) days on my daybreak walk. Like in a row. I was going to share a different story.  A running story. I page […]

Walking. With Moment that Sticks. — Live & Learn

 

 

 

 

Gift Rocks

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 14 Comments

My family went camping this weekend, and my little six-year-old grandson found a Friendship Rock at the campsite playground. For those of you who might not know, a Friendship Rock is just a (usually) flat rock that someone has painted and left behind for someone else to find.

Friendship rocks can have words on them, scenery, abstract designs — anything. They are so fun to find — you feel like a faerie has left her work behind for you someplace.

So the next day we bought some acrylic paints and found a handful of flat rocks throughout the campground and had a paint fest. All ages joined — four-year-olds through 70-ish flower children. Some of us wrote a message, others made abstract designs.

It was  a come-together moment for all of us.

Our little group.

Painting the words “Peace” and “I Love You” for someone else to find. To make someone else’s day.

Life is made of small moments like this. Moments of gratitude, of comradery and friendship and pockets of love. Not doing anything special but sending friendship up into the atmosphere and into the rocks we were painting.

Sometimes the answers are so simple. The solutions to mankind’s woes can be found in small brush strokes or made up songs or making stained glass out of construction paper.

No war was fought. No shootings. No shouting matches.

Everyone got to express their inner thoughts with paint and rocks.

The next day we drove around and left our little gifts for others to find. Down by the beach, on a rock near the walking path. We hoped that the next person who found them would smile and feel good and share that feeling with others.

Find your own peace through Art. It will make you feel better.

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — The Art of Food

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 5 Comments

The article “The Fascination with Food in Art History” by Elena Martinique at Whitewalls states that, as a cornerstone of our very existence, food has always played a significant part in our social and cultural lifestyles. Thus, it is no wonder that the depiction of food in art spans across cultures and all of recorded human history.

Just as majestic as any portrait or landscape, the depiction of food through painting is an arduous and creative talent.

As we sit and enjoy our Sunday dinners, let us wander through the world of food artistry and enjoy some of the more famous interpretations of the sight and taste of food.

 

Apples and Oranges, Paul Cézanne, 1895

 

Vertumnus, Giuseppe Arcimboldo, 1590

 

Mound of Butter, Antoine Vollon, 1875-1885

 

Still Life with Apples, Vincent van Gogh, 1887

 

Viva la Vida, Watermelons, Frida Kahlo, 1954

 

Eucharistic Still Life, Salvador Dalí, 1952

 

Fruit and Vegetables with a Monkey, a Parrot, and a Squirrel, Frans Snyders, 1620

 

Still-Life with Cheeses, Almonds and Pretzels, Clara Peeters, 1615

 

Still Life with Cherries, Strawberries, and Gooseberries, Louise Moillon, 1630

 

Cauliflower And Pomegranates, Pierre Auguste Renoir, 1890

 

Still-Life with Ham, Lobster, and-Fruit, Jan-Davidsz de Heem, 1652

 

 

 

Some Interesting Galleries

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments

Since (at the moment) I am hanging around the campground, trying to relax after running back to town to watch my (four-year-old) grand daughter’s dance recital, I thought I would share a few amazing and fantastic Galleries I’ve shared in the past.

Maybe hold on till evening — grab a goblet of wine or chocolate milk — and have a tour! Love you all!

GLASS HOUSES

 

Mézesmanna — Judit Czinkné Poór

 

Masayo Fukuda

 

Remedios Varos

 

Bubbles

 

Chris Maynard

 

Valeriya Kutsan and Alexander Khokhlov

 

 

 

 

 

 

Faerie Paths — Faerie Trails (a poem)

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 2 Comments

Faerie Trails

Pearlescent sponge-painted hues
Pink and blue and grey
Reflect the morning sunrise
Down the dew-covered path
Rose-colored diamonds
Sparkle on blades of green
Plodding steps
Announce my arrival
Into her delicate sphere
Fairy prints
Blushes of pixie dust
Tinge the edge of the leaves
Marks of a carefree spirit
Dancing through the woods
Her laughter is reflected
In the tinkle of wind chimes
The dawn’s breath quickens
Bending strands of leaves
And delicate flowers
Guarding the edge of the field
Dissipating her scent
Into the wind
In the arms of emerald green
I glimpse the sparkle of wings
And the glitter of freedom
My leaden steps follow
Tiny prints on velvet green
Wind chimes choir in the distance
Musk and earth and pine
Mask the scent of her passing
The morning sun spikes
Between the trees
Blocking my view of forbidden realms
Leaves tremble yet remain steadfast
She is gone
Protected by the world beyond
Leaving me to wonder
If the rose-colored diamonds
Were hers at all

 

Claudia ~ 2011

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Richard Royal

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 10 Comments

Richard Royal is recognized internationally as one of the most skilled and talented glassblowers in the studio glass movement. Having spent his early years as a ceramicist, he began working as a glass sculptor in 1978 at the Pilchuck Glass School. The birth of this new and exciting artistic movement appealed to the young artist.

Royal worked his way through the ranks to become one of Dale Chihuly’s main gaffers.This relationship lasted several years and consequently led to Royal’s emergence in the art market in the 1980’s.Royal’s explorations delve into the theory that all things have a geometric significance or a mathematical sequence.  Royal’s vision is to create organic sculptures  using rigid components to portray this concept of growth and clarity in form.His shapes are unusual, striking, and bright, just as glass should be.More of Richard Royal’s geometric masterpieces can be found at https://richardroyalstudio.com/. 

 

 

Faerie Paths — Magic

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments

 

 

The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.   ~ W.B. Yeats

 

 

The Power of Love

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 11 Comments

Let’s be brief.

The world out there is messed up. Mass shootings at grade schools,  graduation parties, and outside of bars. The horror of death is everywhere.

It seems like the world has gone mad. It certainly has tinted our view of the future.

Yet….

I went to one of my youngest son’s bestie’s wedding Saturday. It was a lovely affair.

You know that my son was killed in February by a mad gunman. Sitting in the church before the wedding, I kept thinking that the bride and groom should have been my son and lady.

But I digress.

Before, during, and after the celebration I was surrounded by the love and support of his friends and friends’ wives and parents and friends of friends. It was phenomenal.

I tried to keep the emotions in check — after all, this was a friend’s wedding, not a memorial. My husband and I were honored to be invited. I mean, we’re parents of someone else’s kid. 

The point of this blog is that the world is not going to hell. Individuals may be, but not the world as a whole.

There are wonderful people all around you. People who love openly, who fear death and love life just like us. And they are there for you and me.

A wedding cannot bring back what has happened, but it can bring together people who love and remember. There is no better support group. I will always love these guys.

Give the world another chance.

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — We Make Carpets

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 2 Comments

 

The Dutch collective We Make Carpets has spent the past decade transforming everyday objects and materials into site-specific installations, and has taken the world by storm since its formation in 2009.

Pasta Carpet

The trio has exhibited their work at reputable museums from Australia to the United States, in continuous pursuit of new forms and possibilities.Cup Carpet

 

They are guided by a simple belief: that mass-produced objects and materials lose their exceptional beauty due to their sheer quantity and availability and the carelessness with which they are used and thrown away.

Sponge Carpet

 

Even if they take a close look at something like a simple scouring sponge, a chip fork or a clothes peg, it’s hard to identify their quality, technical ingenuity and colors.

Candy Bar Carpet

 

We Make Carpets works patiently and diligently for days to create a pattern and ultimately a fragile carpet never intended for anyone to walk on.

Paper Roll Carpet

 

The carpets are temporary, made on the spot with no thought out plans or sketches beforehand.

Shuttlecock Carpet

 

The three artists cast each other a knowing look when the first patterns begin to emerge, seemingly out of nowhere (the only real preparation is buying the product in bulk and getting a feel for the space).

Army Carpet

 

Eventually, a work of art starts to materialize on the floor; a transient and vulnerable carpet made from items in the same product family: chip forks, scouring sponges, clothes pegs or countless other disposable items.

Mussel Carpet

 

The hard work and the meticulous placement of identical materials or objects in ever-changing patterns and directions generates unexpected results.

Hardware Carpet

 

The stunning patterns, the breath-taking colors, or the austerity of black and white suddenly raises questions about usage, disposal, and longevity.

Stirrer Carpet

More of We Make Carpets can be found at http://wemakecarpets.nl/.

 

 

Faerie Paths — Words

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 3 Comments

 

Nyaung Ohak Pagoda

 

Colors fade, temples crumble, empires fall, but wise words endure.
—Edward Thorndike

 

 

 

I Suffer From Mindyourownbizitis

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 6 Comments

Occasionally I find myself suffering from mindyourownbizitis.

Has this affliction ever affected you?

It starts almost unnoticed. Someone asks your opinion, and you give it. Someone else asks for your advice, and you give it.

After a while you find yourself offering your thoughts when someone else is conversing. Sharing your ideas even if the discussion has nothing to do with you or what you’re doing.

Before you know it you’re telling people what to do, how to deal with their problems (and non-problems), and how to think. How they can do better, feel better, how they can free themselves from whatever it is you think they’re suffering from.

It doesn’t take long to turn from innocent helper to know-it-all busy bee.

I think I fall into the latter category more that I should.

I find myself sharing my opinions even when I’m not asked. Advising friends and family members who never really asked for help. They’re letting off steam; I’m opinionating.

Now, having an opinion is fine and dandy. That’s what makes us human. Citizens of the Earth and all. Sharing your opinion is fine and dandy as well. People should know who you are and what you stand for.

Telling someone else how to raise their children or deal with their job or their extended family members is not the way to go. Especially if you’ve never had their kind of job or their kind of kids.

We all try not to do it. But we all do it.

We are all asked to help, advise, listen, and share. And we all want to help, advise, listen, and share.

But we have to realize that our opinion is our opinion. That we are neither right nor wrong but just an opinion. We don’t know what others are going through. We don’t know their secrets, their background stories, their small triumphs and minor setbacks.

All we know is what others want us to know.

We have to be smarter than our old selves. We need to understand when we are being asked for an opinion and when we are being asked to be a sounding board. We have to learn to share without pushing. Give our thoughts without proselytizing. Offer our support without trying to change lives.

We cannot change someone else’s life — we can only support them when they decide to change it themselves.

We can all use someone else’s thoughts, point of view, love and support. But in the end we don’t want someone else to tell us what to do.

Especially if that somebody else is a know-it-all busy bee.

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Christina Bothwell

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 7 Comments

Christina Bothwell (born 1960),  is an American contemporary fine arts glass maker.Bothwell is known for glass, ceramic, and mixed media sculptures that portray the processes of birth, death, and renewal.She studied painting under Will Barnett at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, but gradually moved to working three-dimensionally using ceramics and cast glass as well as antique toys, taxidermy animals or small furniture parts. Increasingly drawing on animals and the natural world around her, she saw the potential for combining glass with the materials she was already using to bring lightness and delicacy to her work.Bothwell’s pieces are often a union between her own mythology and lucid dreams.She challenges herself to portray the soul, inner awareness, and the connections between life and nature through her art.“Art has always been a form of retreat for me,” Boswell shares. “I view my studio time as an anchor, a compass that orients me toward the things in life that feel good and bring me joy.”

More of Christina Bothwell‘s art can be found at https://christinabothwell.com and https://www.hellergallery.com/christina-bothwell/.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Memorial Day — Sergeant Stubby

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 6 Comments

Copied from the Dogington Press 

 

MEET SERGEANT STUBBY: THE MOST DECORATED WAR DOG IN HISTORY

Before he became the most decorated war dog in American history, Sergeant Stubby was homeless: unwanted, unwashed, unloved, and scrounging for scraps on the streets of Connecticut.

For his valorous actions, Stubby is recognized as the most-decorated dog in American history. But before he was a hero, he was homeless: unwanted, unwashed, unloved, scrounging for scraps on the streets of New Haven, Connecticut in 1917. His fortunes changed, however, when he ran into a young Soldier training on the grounds of Yale University – Private First Class Robert Conroy of the 102nd Infantry Regiment – who adopted the scrappy little stray and named him Stubby for his short stature and tail.

Stubby

The U.S. military didn’t have an official “military working dog” program at that time, but Stubby’s natural survival instincts and devotion to his adoptive family quickly made him an invaluable addition to the men of the 102nd. He received only one piece of formal training from Conroy and his buddies. When their commanding officer demanded to know why there was a dog in the ranks, Stubby raised his right paw to salute, rendering the officer speechless and ensuring Stubby’s place as the official mascot of the Yankee Division.

When the Yankee Division arrived in France, Stubby was given special orders to accompany them to the front lines and saw action in four offensives and 17 battles, serving for 18 months on the western front. He located wounded Soldiers in “No Man’s Land” and – since he could hear the whine of incoming artillery shells before humans – became adept at warning his new family when to take cover.  His keen sense of smell gave him the ability to detect incoming mustard gas attacks, once saving an entire company by alerting the men to don their gasmasks.

Following the retaking of Chateau-Thierry by the U.S., the women of the town made Stubby a chamois coat on which were pinned his many medals. Able to differentiate between English and German, he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant after catching a German spy and became the most decorated war dog in history. Following the war, Stubby returned home to a hero’s welcome, touring the country leading victory parades, meeting three sitting U.S. presidents (Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge), appearing on Vaudevillian stages and serving as the mascot for Georgetown University, where Conroy was studying law.

On March 16, 1926, Stubby passed away peacefully in his sleep, in the arms of Robert Conroy. On April 4th, 1926, the New York Times published the heroic pup’s obituary. You can read the full text here: http://ow.ly/KqXo50E0h29.

 

 

Faerie Paths — Time

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments

 

Poetic Wish Watch

 

Unfortunately, the clock is ticking, the hours are going by. The past increases, the future recedes. Possibilities decreasing, regrets mounting.

~ Haruki Murakami 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Watches

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 8 Comments

You can wear an expensive watch and still be late.
~  Mokokoma Mokhonoana

 

 

Nsquare Snake Queen Automatic Watch

 

Xeric Halograph II Automatic Rosewood Limited Edition

 

Jacob and Co. Billionaire Watch

 

Space Invaders Watch

 

Hublot Spirit of Big Bang Tourbillon Watch
Lady Arpels Planetarium Watch

 

Devon Tread-1 Watch
Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet

 

Bird Repeater Watch

 

Xeric Trappist-1 Automatic NASA Edition Blue Supernova Watch

 

Graff Diamonds Hallucination Watch

 

Be brave enough to live life creatively — Purplerays

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 2 Comments
How can you not love a message like this?

 

. Be brave enough to live life creatively. The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you’ll discover will be wonderful. What you’ll discover will be yourself. ~ Alan Alda 💚 Text and […]

Be brave enough to live life creatively — Purplerays

Good Times Are Ahead

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 14 Comments

I made some resolutions earlier this year. 

Not New Year’s Resolutions nor Solstice Resolutions nor Mother’s Day Resolutions. Just some Creativity Resolutions.

The first one comes due next Saturday. My first Art Show of the Season.

Am I ready? Is anyone ever ready for their next step into the world of creativity?

Making Angel Tears is one thing. Painting plates is one thing. Crocheting hangers on kitchen towels is one thing.

Showing them to the public is another.

I keep telling myself I’m too old for this $hit. That to be afraid of who I am at nearly 70 years old is ridiculous. I mean, how can I be any more off-center than I already am?

So anyway, my first art show is this Saturday. I’m doing the final count, the final packing, the final polishing. I swore I’d be done way before this weekend, but guest what — life got in the way.

Good and Bad.

So I’m taking my wares and my gauzy summer dress and my hat with lots of strings of tears that didn’t turn out so I wrapped them around the band and a new sparkly tablecloth and making my way up north. I’m going to play some instrumental medieval tavern music softly in the background and hang up my sparklers and do what I was born to do.

Sell Creativity.

I’m going to talk about Tears and Art Fairs and friends who are crafters. I am going to watch sparkles across the pavement and sneak away during the slow time and check out the other artists who are hanging around and down the main street with me.

Once I get back I hope to start working on my second Creative Resolution.

Offer one of my earliest books for free on my website.

Why not? I can’t share the magic if I don’t share the magic. I’m not up to making money on my writing — I just want to share (what I think) is some great writing.

Next I’m going to do some research and send out some of my short stories and poetry to publications and see if anyone is interested in a woman who is forever driving through a cornfield or someone who is chatting on their computer with someone who may or may not be right in their vicinity or a little girl who made friends with a dwarf.

If I sit in the background for the rest of my life that’s where I will be when I pass on to the next level.

In the background.

And I will not have  shared my excitement about my world and my craft and creativity and the beauty of love and life to anyone.

What a shame that would be.

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Yeesookyung

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 2 Comments

Korean artist Yeesookyung received her MFA in Painting, at Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, in 1989.The artist creates sculptures by combining discarded shards of porcelain, assembling them to make new forms and fusing them with gold leaf.The resulting works are often organic in shape, resembling soap bubbles or other biomorphic forms.Her series titled “Translated Vase,” was first inspired by the Korean artisan tradition of destroying porcelain works that are not deemed pristine, and she has continued to make the fused pieces since 2001.Intrigued by these tossed aside works and shards, Yeesookyung began saving fragmented tea cups and pots rejected by contemporary masters.The artist collected broken shards from artisans who worked in Korea replicating historical vessels from the Goryeo (918–1392) and Joseon (1392–1897) dynasties.Honoring the works’ dismantled states, she traces each crevice in 24-karat gold leaf in the style of Japanese kintsugi, merging the unwanted works together in a way that heightens the beauty of their distress.By ‘translating’ these porcelain elements, Yeesookyung highlights the fragility and imperfections of human existence as well as the inevitable failure of any attempt to construct historic continuity.More of Yeesookyung‘s wonderful creations can be found at https://www.yeesookyung.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/yeesookyung_/.

 

 

 

Do The Mess Around

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 12 Comments

Ah, you can talk about the pit, barbecue
The band was jumpin’, the people too
Ah, mess around
They doin’ the mess around
They doin’ the mess around,
Everybody doin’ the mess around

Ray Charles

 

That’s me. That’s my life lately.

Not quite hanging around the BBQ, but Mess Around. Messing Around. Messing Up. 

The other day I must have pushed a wrong button or wrong file button and everything was being filed on my One Drive. Since I don’t use One Drive and didn’t know what it was, I freaked out. I stopped it half way through whatever it was doing and deleted the files it was transferring and wound up deleting a good portion of my art files for my Gallery. Both the new artists and the file with the ones I needed to put on the ACTUAL Gallery.

I also lost some other stuff. I found some stuff later, but that’s not the point.

Now, my writing and  research is backed up on a flash drive. Back it Up. Back it Up. You would think I would have been smart enough to back up future gallery work too.

They doin’ the mess around
They doin’ the mess around,
Everybody doin’ the mess around

THIS is what happens when you are too smart for your britches. Too cool for school. Too sly for an art guy (rather girl). This is what happens when you only do a partial. 

So why am I grumbling to you this fine day?

BACK UP YOUR WORK!!

All the time. Every day. Don’t leave it for tomorrow or the weekend or when you get enough work done to make it worth saving.

Also…

Don’t be dumb. Learn your computer’s programs. You don’t need to be a computer programmer to learn what One Drive or Microsoft 365 or Google Photos are. Don’t cut something off in the middle of its function.

Stop Messin’ Around.

 

 

 

The Quilting World

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 11 Comments

The beauty of Creativity is that it comes in all sizes, all colors, all realms.

Creativity just makes you feel better. Just ask my friend, the Textile Ranger.

Check her work out!

 

Two Small Finishes

 

ScrapHappy 2022

 

Wrapping Up 2021

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Optical Illusions

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 10 Comments

What is an optical illusion?Optical illusions, more appropriately known as visual illusions, involves visual deception.Due to the arrangement of images, the effect of colors, the impact of light source and other variables, a wide range of misleading visual effects can be seen.Optical Illusions can use color, light and patterns to create images that can be deceptive or misleading to our brains.The information gathered by the eye is processed by the brain, creating a perception that in reality, does not match the true image.

That’s why some optical illusions seem to move when in reality they don’t, or can look like a face and a background at the same time.

Perception refers to the interpretation of what we take in through our eyes.

Optical illusions occur because our brain is trying to interpret what we see while making sense of the world around us.Optical Illusions are dizzying, mystifying, intricate and interesting.

When people say “I can’t believe my eyes!” now you know why.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Faerie Paths — Flower

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 9 Comments

 

 

Just living is not enough … one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.   ~ Hans Christian Andersen

 

 

 

It’s Time To Play What If? Again

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 5 Comments

The Bench that Dreams Beneath the Pink Trees,
Tara Turner

When the moon is full (last night was the Super Flower Blood Moon total lunar eclipse) and Mercury is in retrograde (until June 2nd), it is time to get creative. (The beautiful evening outside my door doesn’t hurt, either!)

As I was multitasking last evening (as I often am) I started thinking about “What If?” again. I wrote a blog about What If back in 2018 about keeping your What If’s going; writing them down, painting them, growing them. Later that year I wrote another blog called Let “What If” Guide Your Story about letting your mind wander into various “What If “worlds until you found one that appealed to you.

I seem to often talk about letting your creativity take you to new worlds, new thoughts, new possibilities.

Not everyone cares to participate in the speculation of the future. After all, we have enough trouble handling the speculation of today.

But with full moons and retrograding and any other excuse you can make up, this is the time to change your wardrobe and try on something new. Something wild and different. Something stern and conservative.

Something different from the same old you.

I have lost faith in a lot of movies lately; they are the samO samO plots, language, and emptiness. Like many books, paintings, stories, music, guitar solos and such that have come before, we have heard it all.

But now and then I come across a movie that is stark, interesting, and different. Twists I didn’t see coming, emotions that came out of somewhere deep and unpredictable, endings that surprise everyone.

When being creative, don’t you sometimes want to do the same?

Surprise your readers? Paint a scene that was at the edge of what is real? Fire a bowl or vase that is unique all onto itself? Take a picture at an angle that most people never consider?

Sometimes What If’s don’t work quite right. If I What If‘d a realistic park scene with pink trees, unless my genre was pop art or Abstract Expressionism, it wouldn’t work.

But what if I did decide to paint a landscape with pink trees? What if I decided to make water yellow and plants purple? 

If I could actually pull it off, how wonderfully creative that would be! If I used my understanding of color and shading and texture and make everything look real, what difference would the colors make?

That’s what What If is all about.

Taking the familiar and making it do unfamiliar things.

It’s the what-if-you-were-standing-outside-looking-around-and-suddenly-you-see-a-gigantic-spider-climbing-over-the-trees-towards-you sort of moment.

Something you’re not likely to see in this lifetime, yet, if you did ….

I hope you are working on your What If moments.

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Jenny Foster

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 8 Comments

Growing up in a small town on the Colorado River in Arizona, Jenny Foster gravitated toward art at an early age.Foster studied fine art at Arizona State University and graduated with a degree in graphic design.Her style is both primitive and contemporary, and she delivers it with a combination of abstract shapes and happy colors and symbols.To many artists, it is a great challenge to express feelings of personality in their art without injecting some realism.But Foster has mastered the art enough to do this through symbols and abstract forms.Foster’s works are inspired by her appreciation of nature, happy colors, and the spirit of life.The artist lets her palette and brush express her imagination.She prefers to achieve quality without adding too much detail or sophistication, keeping everything simple and fresh.

More of Jenny Foster’s inspirational artwork can be found at  http://jennyfoster.com/.

 

 

 

 

Henry, Margie, Devin and Flying Lavender…poems — Rethinking Life

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 2 Comments

Something about those chicklets — they get to me every time —

Meet a few of them!

 

Hi My name is Margie the chicklet in the air is named Lavender she’s one of the ones who refuses to believe that chicklets can’t fly she says that they can and she’s proving it right now but we know that flying on a wire is not the same thing as using one’s wings still […]

Henry, Margie, Devin and Flying Lavender…poems — Rethinking Life

#AmazingNature . . . Sacred geometry

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 9 Comments

How could anything be more beautiful? The world is FULL of magic! Just open your eyes!

purpleraysblog's avatarPurplerays

    .The beautiful sacred geometry of Dandelions.

            Text and image source: Soul Alchemy https://www.facebook.com/186012608273340/posts/1915783641962886/

            View original post

            Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Thunderheads

            ~ humoringthegoddess ~ 6 Comments

             

            Thunderhead:  The upper portion of a cumulus cloud characterized by dense, sharply defined, cauliflowerlike upper parts and sometimes by great verticality.   ~ Dictionary.com

            Thunderhead:  The swollen upper portion of a thundercloud, usually only recognized by people who enjoy having great breadth, but little depth of knowledge. ~ Joe, Urbandictionary.com

             

             

             

             

             

             

             

             

             

             

             

             

             

            Faerie Paths — The Unknown

            ~ humoringthegoddess ~ 15 Comments

             

            You know the greatest danger facing us is ourselves, an irrational fear of the unknown. But there’s no such thing as the unknown — only things temporarily hidden, temporarily not understood.

            ~James T. Kirk

             

             

             

            Watch Your Words

            ~ humoringthegoddess ~ 11 Comments

            What do you think of when you hear the word…..

            BUSY

            NICE

            EVIL

            STUPID

            Words are what make the world’s languages understandable. Gestures add to that understanding when possible, but we all have preconceived notions of basic words that may or may not be the same as others.

            Skipping various degrees of emotion, we all know what someone means when they say the word LOVE. We understand the word HOT and  SLEEPY and HUNGRY. We all pretty much picture love as a good feeling between two (or more) people; hot means high temperature; sleepy means a need for rest; hungry means… well… breakfast, lunch or dinner time.

            But what about more nebulous words like EVIL or BUSY?

            Nebulous, you ask? What’s “in the form of a cloud or haze; hazy” about being busy? Or being evil?

            We all have different ideas when it comes to certain words.

            EVIL may mean murderers, psychos, or oppressors. It’s a negative word that conjures up monsters, dictators, and torturers.

            What about BUSY? Like “Sorry, I’m busy tonight.”

            Busy can be maddingly over your head in schoolwork or job work. It can be too many steps in the instructions or too many thoughts in your head.  It can be a sign of importance, organization or overscheduling.

            Then there’s words like STUPID and NICE.

            STUPID is a word that conjures up visions of forgetfulness and worse. It can be as light as forgetting to close the door behind you to forgetting your name or where you live. Stupid connotates a negative image of not knowing or not caring. It can be used to describe the mentally challenged, the old, animals and those prone to act before they think.

            Or Nice.

            NICE is one of those generic words that can be interchanged with many other words like pleasant, bland, and okay. Nice, with it’s positive notation, can be used to describe flavors, personalities, the weather, interactions, and views. There is no threat behind that word; no highs or lows in the complement, no color. Just a positive wave of feel good.

            So what’s the point of all this nonsense today?

            Mostly it’s that words, simple as they are in our minds, can dictate the world. Can be misunderstood by those who have a different interpretation or experience of life. And your meaning can be misconstrued with one utterance.

            BUSY can also be interpreted as I don’t want to, I’m too important to be bothered, or find someone else.

            EVIL can be extended to people taking a stand, a different point of view, or those who make life difficult.

            HUNGRY can slip into wanting more, the need to dominate, or starvation instead of sustaining.

            To some, NICE is not caring enough to do more, not challenging enough, being bland, lazy, and safe.

            STUPID has been interchanged with retarded, foolish, low class, and lazy. It easily slips off the tongue as condescending, bullish and dismissive.

            Just sayin’ … be aware of the words you use to describe not only your life but the lives of others. How you put certain words in sentences, both in person and online, can be taken differently by those on the other end.

            Change your vernacular. Choose your words, your tone, carefully. Chill on the negative words like STUPID and EVIL. People are indeed evil, hungry, and  stupid. But they are also complicated. Emotional. Not grounded.

            People  evoke the worst emotions from people. And the best.

            Do what you can with those you label negatively: help where you can, let go where you have to. You cannot change the world — you can only influence it now and then by your own attitude.

            You only get one chance to attitude it through life. Make it a positive word. Not a negative one.

             

             

            Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Happy Mother’s Day

            ~ humoringthegoddess ~ 16 Comments

            Today is ONE of 365 days that we celebrate mothers — all kinds, all sizes, all species. To be a mom is a tough gig. Happy, sad, melancholy, sentimental, pissed off — all moms of all kinds have felt it all.

            In past Mother’s Day salutes I’ve saluted Famous People’s Mothers, More Famous Peoples’ Mothers, Mother Idioms,  and, way back in 2016, an almost-Mother’s-Day-Salute Holy Mother and Child.

            Being the creative sprite I am, I was trying to think of other ways to celebrate being a mother/grandmother/mother’s friend/auntie/great grandma.

            That’s big shoes to fill.

            I thought I might try “bad” (see the quotes?) mothers, but people might get the wrong idea. (There’s actually websites like 13 Worst Celebrity Mothers Alive on This Planet and Bad Women in the Bible!)

            So this year, how about — Famous Mother Female Rulers?

            You go, mom!

            Cleopatra VII Philopator (69 BC–10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler. She was also a maritime pioneer, linguist, and healer. She studied math, logic, debating, and science, and spoke no less than nine languages. Cleopatra had four children.

            Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 – 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She served as the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She was an early advocate of civil rights, independent and outspoken on the rights of women and African-Americans. She pressed the United States to join and support the United Nations, and became its first delegate. She served as the first chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights, and oversaw the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She had six children.

            Hatshepsut (1507 BC–1458 BC) was the fifth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, the second historically confirmed female pharaoh. Hatshepsut was one of the most prolific builders in Ancient Egypt, commissioning hundreds of construction projects throughout both Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. She also improved the country’s infrastructure.   She had one daughter and one adopted son.

            Rani Lakshmibai, (1828 – 1858) famously known as ‘Jhansi Ki Rani’, was one of the leading warriors in India’s First War of Independence. Also known as the Rani of Jhansi, she died fighting British colonial rulers near Gwalior in a place known as Kotah-ki-Serai. She was one of the first women freedom fighters of India who revolted against the British in 1857. She had two children.

            Catherine II, most commonly known as Catherine the Great (1728 – 1796), was the last reigning Empress of Russia and the country’s longest-ruling female leader. She was a patron of the arts, literature, and education. Under her long reign, she led her country into full participation in the political and cultural life of Europe. She championed the arts and reorganized the Russian law code. She also significantly expanded Russian territory. She had two children.

            Empress Wu Zetian (624 CE – 705 CE) was the only female emperor of Imperial China. She reigned during the Tang Dynasty and was one of the most effective and controversial monarchs in China’s history. She broadened the system of civil service exams, elevated the status of Buddhism in Chinese society, and waged a series of wars that saw China’s empire expand further West than ever before. She had four children.

            Queen Victoria (1819-1901) was queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for 63 years. Her “Victorian era” saw the United Kingdom evolve scientifically, politically, culturally, and industrially. She  expanded the British Empire to include territories all across Asia and Africa, and democratized the country, including the establishment of the secret ballot, easing of voting requirements, and enacting of wage increases for the working class. She had nine children.

            Empress Suiko is known as the first reigning empress of Japan in recorded history (rather than an empress consort), reigning for 35 years.  She established Buddhism as the main religion in Japan, and initiated steps to centralize the state under imperial rule. The most famous of her accomplishments was the Seventeen-article Constitution, Japan’s first constitution focused on the morals and virtues of government officials. She had seven children.

            Just Some Fun

            ~ humoringthegoddess ~ 17 Comments

            After all the heavy metal of the past few posts, it’s time to smile again. Here are some of my past blogs that may tickle your funny bone. Follow the links for more.

            Always make room for a smile.

             

            Earrings

             

            Bruno Pontiroli

             

            Ray Villafane

             

            Stairways to Nowhere

             

            Chairs

             

            Dean Russo

             

            Chemistry Cat

             

            Alain Delorme

             

            Hair

             

            Food Art

             

            Chris Campbell