Silence is not the absence of something but the presence of everything.
~ Gordon Hempton
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 — Frank Moth
Frank Moth creates digital collage art – mainly human-centered – from a distant but at the same time familiar future.
Moth makes digital collages and compositions with specific, distinctive color palettes, in a critically acclaimed style that is immediately recognizable.
Frank Moth is actually two people: a soon-to-be doctor and a former editor.
The main person behind Frank Moth has been designing for several years as a hobby and under another name.
This enigmatic duo creates magical collages, balancing between what’s real and unreal, to give us a true feast for the eyes.
Calling their art nostalgic postcards from the future, they create dreamlike compositions with a hint of romance and a touch of 60s vibes.
Their art creates dialogues between different, distant worlds, irreconcilable styles, and unthinkable ideas.
Their art is creative, fun, and imaginative. Even if one is really two.
More of Frank Moth‘s creative art can be found at https://frankmoth.com/.
Faerie Paths — Good Deed Doers
Back where I come from there are men who do nothing all day but good deeds. They are called phila… er, phila… er, yes, er, Good Deed Doers.
~ Wizard of Oz
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — May Day
Faerie Paths — Amazing
If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.
~ Maya Angelou
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Emily Kame Kngwarreye
Emily Kame Kngwarreye (or Emily Kam Ngwarray) (1910 – 1996) was an Aboriginal Australian artist from the Utopia community in the Northern Territory of Australia.
She is one of the most prominent and successful artists in the history of Australian art.
Her remarkable work was inspired by her cultural life as an Anmatyerre elder, and her lifelong custodianship of the women’s Dreaming sites in her clan Country, Alhalkere.
Kngwarreye began painting on canvas in her late seventies after decades of ritual artistic activity and batik fabric painting.
Unlike most desert painters at the time, Kngwarreye did not use stylized representations of animal tracks or concentric circles in her designs.
Instead, she employed richly layered brushstrokes or dabs throughout her abstract compositions.
Her free handling of paint using various implements, keen sense of color, and dynamic compositions earned her international fame.
It was in Alhalkere that the essence of her being resided, and it was her Dreaming that was the source of the creative power, of her knowledge.
So profound was her identification with Alhalkere that it infused her life and her belief system, and governed her kinship relations and connections with other people.
More of Emily Kame Kngwarreye‘s amazing original works can be found at https://www.wikiart.org/en/emily-kame-kngwarreye and https://artguide.com.au/art-plus/emily-kame-kngwarreye/.
I Wrote a Poem
I wrote a poem the other night.
A painful one.
I wrote it in here, in my blog space. Out of the blue. Out of the black.
I didn’t know if I was going to post it — I still don’t. It’s not the kind of melody most followers and friends want to hear.
According to verywellmind, “People who have experienced emotional trauma, physical violence, domestic abuse, anxiety, depression, and other psychological issues can benefit from expressing themselves creatively.
“People do not need to have artistic ability or special talent to participate in art therapy, and people of all ages including children, teens, and adults can benefit from it. Some research suggests that just the presence of art can play a part in boosting mental health.”
I do believe in the Arts as therapy. Therapy for loss, for pain, for confusion. In more severe cases, Art Therapy should be under the care of a trained professional, for there may be deeper issues than just sadness or loss.
But for me — for most of you — an endless doodle or coloring in an adult coloring book (gel pens and books or some great ones online) is just the therapy we need.
We all need to vent. To unfocus. To focus. To let go. To hold on.
Oh, it’s all so confusing.
I don’t know if I’ll post my poem in the future, but I know it’s here. Waiting. Thinking. Debating whether or not it should be shared with people I hardly know.
Tomorrow is another day. Another chance.
Another poem.
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Stephanie Law
Stephanie Law‘s images dance along the boundary between dream and reality.
She delves into the delicate language of allegory, exploring mythology in watercolors and inks.
Early on, Law’s career moved through the illustration and the gaming world, but in recent decades she has focused more on her own delicate and yet intricate paintings.
She interweaves texture, watercolor, gold and silver leaf, and ink to create intricate layered pieces with resin and custom designed frames.
Her art journeys through surreal other worlds, populated by dreamlike figures, masked creatures, and winged shadows.
Her paintings are delicate and soft, full of magic and mystery and simple representations.
Law has been a dancer for almost two decades, and her experience of how the human body moves and emotes connects to her art in the most basic of ways.
Look close and find fairies, birds, cats, dragonflies, and all kinds of mystical creatures in her soft pastel colors.
More of Stephanie Law‘s magical artwork can be found at https://shadowscapes.com/.
Faerie Paths — Do It
20 years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sail. Explore. Dream. Discover. ~Mark Twain
It Hasn’t Always Been This Hard…Has It?
Last night and again this morning I started doing research for my second book on “visiting” Paris.
I have written the outline, the general story, and now it’s a matter of researching where (physically) to start and where (physically) to end my story.
It’s not as easy as closing your eyes and pointing to a city on a map.
I want the story to make sense. I want the story to sound real. I mean, no one would wonder if I drove a car from A to B, or landed in A and drove to B, but I know me. I wouldn’t drive from A to B nor is there an airport in A or B.
Plus — I want to suspend belief until I start chatting with Colette or Alexander Dumas (or someone just as ghostly).
I just don’t remember the research being this hard the last time around.
Do you do research for your projects? No matter if it’s painting, writing a story, or building a garden, do you do your homework first? I find I have to — I hate projects that are all baloney and no substance.
I find that the more you “know” what you’re talking about, the more you can turn reality into fiction and back again. Only when you know how things work or where things are can you adapt the truth to your own version of reality.
My problem is multifold.
I want to go to Paris one day, but even if I did visit the city of love it wouldn’t be the way my character is visiting it. So it’s hard to go to places she would go rather than places ~I ~ would go or places I would actually go with a partner.
I love the idea of these mini chats with famous dead Parisians, but I like to take direction of the conversation from real quotes from the ghost in charge. But what if there are no quotes available for famous Frenchmen? Am I being too picky?
I often get headaches of I spend too much time on the computer. My eyes need a break. But how can I write, how can I do research, without my eyes?
The answer to all these dilemmas is to just take my time. Research one thing at a time. Write one section of the story at a time. Stop worrying about the story’s next day and next day and next day. Pay attention to where I’m at at the time and give it my all.
Isn’t that how you create?
We often bite off more than we can chew. And nobody can understand us with a mouthful of mush.
Take your time. Plan. Organize. Then go crazy. Then stop. Breathe. Repeat.
And, if you need to, get a new pair of glasses.
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Dog Accessories
The best things in life are free. The second-best things are very, very expensive.
~ Coco Chanel
Amour Amour Dog Collar, 7-carat, D-IF, brilliant-shaped center diamond, 1,600 hand-set diamonds, 18-carat white gold, crocodile leather, *$3.2 million
KO-Couture Dog Tutu, hand made, 4,000 Swarovski crystals, *$6,000
Swarovski Crystal Dog Bath, 19th-Century clawfoot style, hand set crystals, *$6,995
Gianni Versace Barocco Pet Bowl, fine porcelain, ornate gold and black scrollwork, 22 carat gold leaf edging and accents, *$754
Hello Kitty Crystal Pet House, 7,600 crystal beads, cushion/pillow in the shape of Hello Kitty’s face, *$31,660
Louis Vuitton Dog Carrier, signature monogram canvas, brass S-lock, natural leather handles, zinc dish for food or water, air vents, and space specially reserved for pet owner’s photograph, *$58,000
Jonathan Adler Acrylic and Brass Dog Bowl Set, acrylic with polished brass corners, *$600
Roberto Cavalli Track Suit, *$1,200
La Jeune Tulipe Dog Collar, 1.52-carat marquise-cut diamond, marquise-, pear-, and brilliant-shaped smaller diamonds, *$150,000
The Couture Domed Pavilion Dog Bed, fine imitation crocodile skin on the outside and handmade, embroidered silk on the interior linens, *3,900
Crystal Aurora Borealis Leash, Swarovski precision-cut faceted crystal beads, platinum tone electroplated brass chain handle, woven genuine leather, *$495
* Prices are approximate.
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — My Favorites
You all know that I absolutely LOVE my Sunday Evening Art Gallery. Through the years I have found one fantastic artist after another, one fantastic movement after another, and one interesting interpretation after another. I truly hope you get as much enjoyment perusing through the Galleries as I do creating them.
But, you may ask … after posting unique and surreal art every week, what are your favorites?
I’m so glad you asked!
Here, for your art walk pleasure, are some of my favorite items (in no particular order) from some of my favorite Galleries over at the Gallery itself (and, mind you, this is the most difficult thing I’ve done all week!)
It was amazingly difficult to choose so few of my favorites. Every artist was chosen because they are my favorite. Take time and wander through the gallery some time. Tell you friends! Your groups! Your best friend’s cousin’s friend!
Love you all …
Faerie Paths — Poetry Material
In a way, you are poetry material; You are full of cloudy subtleties I am willing to spend a lifetime figuring out. Words burst in your essence and you carry their dust in the pores of your ethereal individuality.
~ Franz Kafka
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Naoto Hattori
Japanese artist Naoto Hattori imagines small fluffy animals with healthy doses of fantasy and some unnatural hybridization.
The painted creatures often feature round heads and disproportionately large and reflective eyes.
At once adorable and unnervingly surreal, the fantastical creatures seamlessly meld the myriad textures and colors found in nature into unusual hybrids.
They’re often fluffy, equipped with horns in surprising spots, and bear eyes so inordinately large and glassy that they reflect full-scale landscapes.
These acrylic paintings are small, typically measuring less than 3 inches by 3 inches when unframed.
The artist’s style has been labeled as pop surrealist, but Hattori says it’s just what he sees in his mind.
Of his work, he says: “My vision is like a dream, whether it’s a sweet dream, a nightmare, or just a trippy dream. I try to see what’s really going on in my mind, and that’s a practice to increase my awareness in stream-of-consciousness creativity. 
“The creatures in the paintings are avatars for entering the world of my imagination. The eyes feel like an entrance to the world of visionary memories.
“I often paint a piece which visualizes myself as a hybrid creature entering the visionary world,” Hattori explains.
More of Naoto Hattori’s wonderful surrealistic artworks can be found at https://www.naotohattori.com/.
S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y night!
S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y night!
S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y night!
Gonna keep on dancing
To the rock and roll
On Saturday night, Saturday night
Dancin’ to the rhythm
In our heart and soul
On Saturday night, Saturday night
Bay City Rollers, 1973
Today’s thoughts in the clouds are more of a shake, rattle, and roll of the brain in general and memory in particular.
I was wondering — how important was Saturday night to you? Moreover, how important was Saturday night to you when you were 16, 17 years old?
I heard this song on an oldies station the other night. I happened to be driving home, the sunset orangy and red and beautiful, the weather on the tip of being warm. And I thought about how special Saturday Night was once upon a time. Especially to young dreamy girls. (Maybe guys too — I never asked!)
The generation 10 years before me sighed and danced to All I Have to Do is Dream by The Everly Brothers and hoped and prayed someone would ask them out on a date to a soda shop or drive-in or record shop. Having a date on Saturday night was very important to one’s ego and status back in 1958.
Back then, the ultimate proof of a successful Saturday night was “going steady.” Tokens of that depth of commitment were getting pinned, wearing your boyfriend’s letterman sweater, or exchanging school rings.
My generation of 1968 was not much different. Being pinned or exchanging high school rings was still important. I remember going steady during part of my high school life, and always needing to do something on Saturday nights. I was dreamy eyed listening to Love is Blue by Paul Mauriat and spent hours either talking on my pink princess phone to girlfriends or reading Modern Bride or Seventeen magazines.
This song got me to thinking. The Bay City Rollers were sooooo excited to go out on S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y night. Even in 1973 that was the highlight of the week! The ultimate goal! The pièce de résistance!
Time moves forward. Things change. Times change. Girls and women change. And I wondered what dating life was like for girls 16-17 years old back in 1988. Or 1998. Or even 2008.
I dunno — even though my late high school days were an emotional mess, I miss having a special date night of the week to plan for and to look forward to. Not that I still don’t go out on Saturday nights — maybe I just miss the innocent anticipation.
Was Saturday night a big deal to you? Is it a big deal these days?
I would love to hear your stories. Your experiences. Your thoughts.
♪♪ Blue, blue, my world is blue …. Blue is my world now I’m without you ♪♪♪
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Easter Eggs
The world is full of hopeful analogies and handsome, dubious eggs, called possibilities. ~ George Eliot
Faerie Paths — After Midnight
Sometimes there is no darker place than our thoughts, the moonless midnight of the mind.
~ Dean Koonz
What To Do With The Past
Okay. Okay okay okay.
I haven’t written anything on my latest novel. I have barely made any Angel Tears. I haven’t read much of my book about the Titanic nor started my sparkly bead tapestry.
I’ve actually been busy redirecting, rearranging, repainting and re-carpeting my bathroom, closet, and bedroom.
That’s not a big deal.
Well, it is.
Everything I own from two of those rooms are in three big plastic containers or in a big huge snow-like pile in another room.
Twenty-some years of clothes, jewelry, unicorns, jewelry boxes, hats, colognes, TV remotes, cards, beads, used football tickets, and more.
Now that I have brand new carpeting, a new shower and cabinets in the bathroom, closet shelves, black-out blinds, and two less pieces of furniture, I’m lost.
I am fortunate. Of this I have no doubt. This is my hubby and my last hurrah before he retires in a year. What will be here will be it. My retirement in paradise will be parenthesized by what we are able to do these months.
But these are new colors for me. New style. Sanded and re-stained furniture. Even plants in the bathroom.
What am I supposed to do with all these leftovers?
I already reorganized my bathroom drawers. Got rid of tons of stuff, bought little clear bins to organize, even learned how to fold bath towels a new way so they’d fit in the new cabinet.
But the things in these bins.
Like the things still lurking in my breakfront in the livingroom and on the shelves in my work room downstairs.
Memories, souvenirs. Slips and scraps of the past I’ve kept all these years. Chicago Bears tickets, games I went to with my sons. Jewelry I wore when I worked. Cards from my grandkids. Hair clips and party beads and little green tiaras and a sun hat with bling I made 15 years ago because it was “the” thing.
Unicorn statues out the gazoo. A unicorn rug my late mother in law made for me to hang on the wall. A cool street painting from Las Vegas we picked up 25 years ago. A bell ringing tapestry from the Renaissance Faire when I used to go.
So many things that bring back so many memories.
Yet I’m doing my best to downsize.
I have done a lot of that throughout my house this past year as I’ve remodeled and repainted rooms. I have cleaned out three hoarder houses in my life and do not want my kids to have to go through that with my junk.
How do I decide what to keep?
How do I decide what to give away?
How do I decide what to give to Good Will?
A bunch of said items came from Good Will once upon a time. That world is a treasure trove of helpful items, wall paintings, water pitchers and plates for under plants and wrought iron planters.
But I digress.
This will be the hardest thing I’ve had to do in a while. And memories are a sensitive subject in my life at the moment, too, if you remember. Make them, keep them, I always say.
I have told myself that I should give a few things to the girl grandbaby, but not too many. She doesn’t need an old granny’s junk in her bedroom at four years old. I should ask a few people I know if they would like this or that, knowing that they would.
The remainder?
Send them with love and kiss back into the world so they can bring joy to others. I mean, who couldn’t use New Orleans party beads or pretty bling bracelets and earrings?
Okay — that takes care of three things —
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Armando Mariño
Armando Mariño is a renowned painter, sculptor and installation artist, and one of the most popular Cuban contemporary artists.
Born in Santiago de Cuba, living and working in the U.S., Mariño received his art education at the Pedagogical Institute of Arts from Havana, and the prestigious Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam.
He is widely praised for his mesmerizing works that offer a unique and sarcastic approach to art as a space of power and exclusion.
The imagery in Mariño ’s work is usually part of media reports about everyday social issues like refugees, war, economy crisis, and ecology that he incorporates in his art.
Mariño’s paintings are characterized by his distinctive and highly saturated color palette – bright pinks, oranges, greens and yellows that are offset by deep, dark shadows.
Influenced by periods of time living in the varied landscapes of Cuba, the Netherlands, France and New York’s Hudson Valley, the artist’s large-scale works explore relationships between the figure and the natural environment.
Each of his paintings is build up with multiple layers of a strong, vivid, intense, and fluorescent palette of oil or watercolors.
Indeed, Mariño has described painting as an idea that uses color in order to think.
More of Armando Mariño‘s colorful artwork can be found at http://armandomarino.com/ and https://www.widewalls.ch/artists/armando-marino.
I DO KNOW Something, Jon Snow!
I know everything. Just like the Genie. Just Ask Me.
“You know nothing, John Snow.”
Truth is, we all know what we need to survive and that’s about it.
Now survival is a big category. It’s life and death and everything in-between. We know how to wash dishes to get the germs off the plates and water plants so they don’t die in your window. We know how to fix scratches and cuts on little ones’ toes and elbows, and know how to hug someone who just needs a hug.
The rest of the world in-between is all… what’s that phrase … catch-as-catch-can. (This phrase is so old I had to look it up [1833] — I thought it was catcher’s cat can.)
The world can’t be controlled, masterminded, cleaned up, or understood. All we can do is the best we can for ourselves, our families and friends, our neighborhoods, and our little section of the planet.
So back to the beginning nonsense.
I know what works in my world. And many worlds around me. And I’m here this morning to share this knowledge with you.
Most of you, my friends, already know what I’m going to say. I say it all the time.
GET YOUR CREATIVE MOJEY GOING!
Get that Creativity out there!
- Draw pictures with others — kids, grandparents. Have a coloring party night with the girls! Pull out a bottle of wine or Cherry 7-Up and a huge box of colored pencils and gel pens and find your inspiration and go for it!
- Start — or improve — that blog you’ve been thinking about for so long. Articles too long? Too many pictures? Is anybody learning anything? Who will read it? Who will listen? Who cares? Use the creative process to create your own style, pick a topic, add your own pictures, and get it out there. Looks good on a resume (not that you’ll ever need one) and, believe me, it takes a while to find your style and voice.
- I’m a writer, so I’m always promoting writing first. Surprise. The point is, I have picked up on a few of my friends’ desires to write, and I have been encouraging them every time they mention it. You don’t have to be an expert at it — but they might be. Help make them feel GOOD about themselves. Crafts do that.
- Label yet don’t Label. Are you interested in Medieval Music? Modern Pop Art? Making swirl galaxies out of beads? A sign maker? There is one truth about any artist. Anywhere.
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- (needed a sub dot for this) THERE IS NO ONE KIND OF ARTIST. We are all artists — every one of us. Even if we never lift a guitar or a paintbrush. If you look at a sunset and say “wow” or enjoy the texture of a chenille blanket, you’re an artist.
- Figure out what types of art attract you and find a way to become a part of them. Even collectors of music, salt thrones, and seashells are artists. Show off your work. Ask others questions. Learn!
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- Talk to other creative people. This point is electric. It’s truly magical. Artists love their craft. They love to explore it, talk about it, practice it. Most artists keep this enthusiasm under wraps, because not everyone else is as into it as they are. When you find fellow artists, don’t be afraid to open up. Get them to open up. Find a way to explore the Arts together. Find a way to encourage each other to continue experimenting and exploring.
- Make time. Nothing is a bigger, flatter, more obvious an excuse (albeit legit) for not playing around with clay or gel pens or bead art or woodworking than I DON’T HAVE ANY TIME. Make time, damnit! This is for YOU. You go this way only once….
I hear the gears grinding. Monday mornings are good for that. I myself am going to go take a shower then work on some suncatchers. I have a book about returning to France that I’m really wanting to start writing, and some plants to repot to turn my home into a garden paradise. Oh yeah … and those bulbs and lavender need planting…and the bead art my daughter-in-law gave me …
I hear YOUR gears grinding too. Get started today!
“You do know something, Jon Snow!”
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Ivan Khlebnikov
Ivan Khlebnikov (1819–1881) was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, a son of a diamond and jewelry merchant.
Khlebnikov’s remarkable career began in 1867, when he opened his own jewelry firm, Ivan Khlebnikov Sons and Co. in St Petersburg.
His factory of diamond, gold and silver jewelry was well equipped with the latest technology for all kinds of work, and its products were considered one of the best in Russia.
His work reinvented traditional Russian style and folk art through originality and a colorful palette.
Khlebnikov became known at the World Exhibition in Vienna in 1873, where by the serious consideration of experts, he earned two medals. 
By 1882, around two hundred artisans were employed at the firm, and Khlebnikov also established an in-house school of design and sculpture for students.
Two of Khlebnikov’s most significant projects were the renovation of the Palace silver dinner sets, and the decoration of Christ the Savior, for which his firm produced nearly fifty religious objects such as chalices, incense burners, icon lamps and more.
Khlebnikov’s more commercial work for the mass market centered largely around dinnerware and jewelry.
More of Ivan Khlebnikov’s amazing work can be found at .https://vsemart.com/russian-jeweler-ivan-khlebnikov/ and other sites across the Internet.
Friends and Creativity
This is what Creativity is all about.
This is what friendship is all about.
Graphic Design Artist and Photographer John Lemke has been a friend of mine since I started my last job 19 years ago. He was a catalog artist, I was a catalog coordinator. Between us (and a bunch of other people) we made catalog magic. He laid out the pages, I proofread the pages.
Both of us have gone on to bigger and better things.
This includes Art.
I highlighted John’s graphic artworks back in 2015 and his photography in 2021. I also published a boatload of his work in the Gallery in August 2015 and December 2021.
John is a friend but also a phenomenal artist. His work touches spots deep inside that have no description, no explanation. His photography makes me feel good.
And this is what today’s blog is about.
Practice your Craft.
Promote your Craft.
Promote your friend’s craft.
Spread the word of how phenomenal creativity can be.
Here are a few more of John’s photographs:
Faerie Paths — Beauty
She creates grace in her own image, brings
Heaven to earth in one movement of her hand.
~ Edmond Rostand, Cyrano de Bergerac
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Pyramids
Too Much of a Good Time!
Well, the Internet Police got me. Let me clarify. My Internet Provider got me.
I’ve done run our Internet time down so low I’m already in the lower speed bracket. Five days until back to zero. Five days of out-of-pocket misery.
Why should that bother a sparkling tiara like me?
Can’t write blogs. Can’t look for new Gallery artists. Can’t clean up old blogs. Can’t do any research on France in general and Givenchy in particular. Can’t send any emails. Can’t watch cute puppy and kitty gifs! Can’t Can’t Can’t …
So here I am, sneaking in and posting several blogs ahead for the next five days.
How do I know what to talk about five days from now?
The Earth could have a big meteor hole in one side of it!
The Great Pyramid of Khufu could have collapsed!
Aliens could have landed in Texas and taken over the Kroger grocery store!
The Kardashians could have actually contributed something to society!
How could I possibly share this news and/or a commentary on these topics if I’ve run out of Internet time?
Ah, the perils of being an author. As much as we like to write about reality, fantasy just keeps popping in. There’s always something bigger, better, and stranger in the world than our own lives. And that’s awesome.
We have enough drama in our lives. Enough rules. Enough results. We need more out-of-the-box weirdness to enlighten us. To guide us. To encourage us. We need to sidestep death and surgeries and Covid-19 and murders and brutality for a while.
It has to be more interesting than reality grabbing us every time we turn around. All that grabbing hurts.
So I’ll sneak in a couple blogs in all at the same time and pretend three days from now is today.
Or is it the other way around?
Wow — an out-of-body experience…..
Indian Goats
Lovely colors, lovely mood, lovely painting.
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Fefe Talavera
From small shells and Amazonian beads, Brazilian-Mexican artist Fefe Talavera strings together elaborate masks that fuse ancient mythologies and contemporary urban culture.
Born in 1979, Talavera was brought up as a native half Mexican, half Brazilian in São Paulo.
Interested in all kind of “underground” movements, the typical and unique stylistic freedom of the internationally renowned Street Art and Graffiti scene of her hometown made an important impression on the artist.
Talavera is also influenced by Mayan or Aztec mythologies and her Mexican heritage
Her raw creative energy thus found much more correspondence in the angled, tribal‐like style she developed.
Talavera is also well known for her vibrant silhouettes painted in acrylic and her large-scale murals that embellish expressive faces with stripes, symmetries, and various geometric patterns.
But for today’s gallery, it is her intricate beadwork that leads us to find out more about her fresh style.
Her masks are an amalgam of color, motif, and material that blur cultural boundaries and the tenuous distinction between humanity and nature.
More of Fefe Talavera‘s intricate and bright artwork can be found at https://www.fefetalavera.net and https://www.instagram.com/fefetalavera/.
Faerie Paths — Children
Don’t force your children into your ways, for they were created for a time different from your own.
Do I Or Do I Not Need Help
I don’t want help.
I can do it myself.
I could use a little help.
But I want to do it myself.
I need help.
But I want to do it myself.
How many times does this conversation go through your head?
Family, social media, books all teach you to be independent. Do it yourself. Dont rely on others to get where you need to go.
But we are also encouraged to help others. Help others that can’t help themselves.
But often those who need help don’t want help. They want to move, function, do things themselves. By themselves. FOR themselves.
That over rated sense of self. Of ME. Of .. I am a person and enjoy the personal satisfaction of doing and achieving something BY MYSELF.
We all know we are never “by ourselves.” If we are a fairly normal human being there is always someone around you to be your companion, sounding board, and helper.
Yes, helper.
This becomes more apparent the older you get, the sicker you get, the more immobile you get. That sense of self gets in the way of letting someone else help you out.
A family member of mine needs a lot of help. Walking around, taking his blood sugar, bending over and picking things up and hearing and seeing. He has never been Mr. Independent, but he has lived by himself for a number of years. He needs others’ help.
Infirmity has taken its toll.
He needs help getting in and out of cars. Reading labels. Hearing the TV. Giving himself an insulin shot.
Yet he still tries to do it himself. Even if the movement, the action, puts him in more danger. In more pain.
I understand that feeling. Getting older I’m more prone to forget, drop, ache, move slower, not understand instructions. I still move around okay and am active in family and projects and crafts and reading and movies. So I’m okay.
For now.
But I feel that resentment when someone comes around and says “Let me help you.”
Like — I’ve done this thing all my life — it’s never been a big deal — why do I suddenly need help?
I admit now that I’m no longer that stubborn where I won’t ask for help. Resistant? Sometimes. Honest? More so. Can’t open a jar? Can’t reach something on the second shelf? Can’t lift a big bag of dog food? Okay. I ask for help.
But most things I can do on my own.
Until one day I won’t be able to. Like my friend.
I hope that we all are aware of our ego and pride standing in the way of making ourselves better. Pride never helped anyone pick up a fork off the floor when your body is in pain. Ego never lent a hand helping you pour juice with a shaky hand or helped you put something together because you didn’t get the instructions.
Everyone wanted to help me when I lost my son. I learned very quickly that they did it out of love, out of desperation, out of guilt and out of honesty. I thought I didn’t need anyone’s help getting out of the cloud.
But I did.
And still do.
No man — or woman — is an island (John Donne or Simon and Garfunkel?).
Let someone else help.
Faerie Paths — Doors
Not all doors are closed by accident.
~ Anonymous
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Vinnie Sutherland
Vinnie Sutherland is a metalworking artist living in western Michigan.
After receiving a BFA from Wayne State University in Detroit, Sutherland did a year of post graduate work focusing on Cliche-Verre, a photo-printmaking process.
For the next 16 years or so she worked hand drawn, nature themed designs into various metals until the purchase of her first etching press in 2019.
Sutherland’s art is created out of a sheet of pewter, which is manually rolled through an etching press layered with petals, seeds, and wildflowers.
Each pass through the press allows for the additional layering in of the background.
She often works with aluminum and copper as well, and always incorporates enameled copper tiles into her compositions. 
After being embossed, the pewter is rubbed with black paint and various inks, and preserved with a museum grade wax.
“I am amazed and inspired on a daily basis by the natural world that surrounds me,” the artist shares.
“While I endeavor to explore this world even more intensely through my art, I keep in mind the vision expounded by the artisans of the Arts and Crafts movement — that moral and spiritual uplift will come with the creation of art by hand.”
More of Vinnie Sutherland‘s marvelous metalwork can be found at https://www.vinniesutherland.com/
RECENT PICTURES FROM THE GARDEN. — GWENNIESGARDENWORLD
As we had warm and sunny weather lately, the garden came to live again, earlier than usual, it was unusually warm for March. But the good weather is about to end and Mr Frost will be back. We urgently need rain as everything is bone dry, despite all the rain we had during Winter. I […]
RECENT PICTURES FROM THE GARDEN. — GWENNIESGARDENWORLD
Pumped Up Mondays
If Saturdays are the beginning of your playday, Mondays are usually the beginning of your work week.
For me they are also the beginning of my creative week. I always start off wanting to write, craft, paint, and research. Quite a busy start to a retiree’s week.
Yesterday I took the (not so big) step of signing up for Peacock, the NBC version of Hulu or Netflix. A majority of shows are free, but it’s not because I was in need of something to watch. I came across what I was looking for:
Face Off.
Five season’s worth.
I happen to LOVE that TV series. Every week a group of artists create masks and faces and outfits based on the weekly challenge theme.
The things these “ameteurs” come up with are amazing.
I realize they are experts in their field. I’m sure you know someone — yourself, even — that could come up with a short story, a quilting pattern, knit a scarf, or paint a painting or a calligraphy sign in competition time. That’s how good you are.
But it’s just the process — the intuitive, inventive way their mind thinks that gets me going.
I get the same feeling watching cooking competition shows. How could these average “Joes” and “JoAnns” cook something like that in less than an hour?
The first and most important reason is because they love doing what they do. They all may be auto mechanics or beauticians or grade school teachers in their “other” life but they are artists in this one. They may even be full-time creators.
I come back from these shows with a new sense of energy and purpose. And I try and share it.
I have one friend thinking of starting to write a book on her and her father’s experiences. So exciting! Another friend went to a quilting seminar this week for a few days. How great! One of my good friends went on a scrapbooking weekend not long ago. Nothing but talking and scrapbooking. How can you lose? Another of my friends is coming to my state (not far from me, it seems) to do some sort of crafting seminar/conference/get together. How great is that?
I’ve done an art gallery on Face Off, and could probably do a dozen more. So it is with you that do ceramics or computer design or photography. My good friend from my old work is a photographer AND graphic designer — what great things he comes up with!
Find something that fuels your passion and go for it. Let someone else’s work inspire you — not to be them, not to do what they do, but let their work encourage you do try new things and go new directions.
Make practice fun. Make mistakes fun. Make success even MORE fun.
Let me know what you are working on so I can continue to get pumped up in the Art World.
Feels Good! You ought to try it!
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Diana Rosa
Diana Rosa is an established Cuban painter based in Canada, whose works have featured in prizes, publications and exhibitions across North America, the UK and Asia.
Influenced by her festive Cuban childhood spent surrounded by an abundance of creative energies, Rosa creates works that reflect her distinctive use of rich exoticism of tropical vegetation.
She employs a Naïve Folk-Art style, along with elements of Cubist and Surrealist schools, to explore questions of identity, love, relationship and environment in our society.
The artist aims to show our relationship to the world around us through the versatile medium of acrylic paint.
She uses sharp brush strokes, contrasting textures, and a variety of acrylic mediums, commenting on our human emotions, mixed realism with fantasy.
Bright and whimsical images with a touch of modernism, Rosa’s art brings to life thoughts and impressions dancing with imagery.
“I am always fascinated with the human story that all of us are living — often untold, sometimes unrecognized, but always significant,” Rosa shares.
“My paintings reflect the natural beauty of human emotions.
“They are a bridge from my imagination to theirs, and although the story I mean to tell may differ from what the viewer ultimately takes away, what is most important is that we have shared the tale.”
More of Diana Rosa’s delightful art can be found at https://www.artfinder.com/artist/diana-rosa and https://www.singulart.com/en/artist/diana-rosa-3851.
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — John Singer Sargent
John Singer Sargent (January 12, 1856 – April 14, 1925) was the most successful Impressionist painter of his era, as well as a gifted landscape painter and watercolorist.
Born in Florence to expatriate American parents, Sargent received his first formal art instruction at Rome in 1868, and then sporadically attended the Accademia delle Belle Arti in Florence between 1870 and 1873.
In 1874 he was accepted at the Paris atelier of the portraitist Emile Auguste Carolus-Duran, and attended drawing classes at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts.
Throughout the 1880s, he regularly participated in the Paris Salon — most often, his works were full-length portraits of women, which generally received positively.
Sargent’s best portraits expertly reveal the individuality and personality of his sitters.
This ability set him apart from others portrait painters of his time—he made the sitter shine on the canvas while capturing the essence of their being.
Noted for his dazzling technical virtuosity and painterly technique, he influenced an entire generation of American portraitists. 
By the turn of the century Sargent was recognized as the most acclaimed international society portraitist of the Edwardian era, and his clientele consisted of the most affluent, aristocratic, and fashionable people of his time.
Around 1906 he abandoned portraiture and worked primarily in watercolor, a medium in which he was extraordinarily gifted.
More of John Singer Sargent‘s paintings can be found at https://www.johnsingersargent.org/.
Faerie Paths — Swirls
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Spring Equinox
She wasn’t like other women…a story poem, of sorts — Repost
Delight from my friend at Rethinking Life
THE REST ….. She wasn’t like other women…a story poem, of sorts.
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Robert Wynne
Australian born Robert Wynne studied visual arts at Monash University, majoring in ceramics before completing a master’s degree in glass at California State University.
The dynamic process of glass blowing immediately captivated the artist.
Not only was the visual splendor deeply pleasing, he relished the choreography in glass blowing, and particularly the immediacy and risk that the material demanded.
Wynne’s work is characterized by strong, bold lines and shapes.
Working with classical proportions and purity of form, Wynne loves the challenge of technical precision, often layering the work with surface decoration.
He enjoys making beautiful objects but is not afraid to create pieces that evoke emotions more complex than just aesthetic appreciation.
He loves the gorgeous glow of light through frosted glass and has a fascination with lustrous, iridescent finishes; particularly with the way that light is manipulated, reflected and transmitted.
“My inspiration comes from numerous places including historical glassmaking practices and formal sculptural dialogue,” Wynne says.
“The bold beauty and the sheer expanse of the Australian landscape delight and inspire me and I know that it seeps through my pieces, both implicitly and explicitly.
“There is also an honesty and rugged openness about the Australian people, a fierce independence, generosity and integrity that I admire and which I would like to think is expressed in the work I produce.”
More of Robert Wynne‘s amazing glass work can be found at https://robertwynne.com/.
Listening to Beethoven
Saturday Morning. Multi-tasking Morning.
Do you leave a lot of your to-do’s until Saturday?
When I worked full time Saturdays were a mess. Not only did I have to catch up on housework, but go to soccer games, baseball games, grocery shop, make it a repair or replace day — it was madness.
How did I ever make it through 50 years of being everyplace else but HERE?
Now that I’m retired I hate to admit that I still have the same Saturday mentality that I did when I had two kids running around. Some sort of breakfast, upbeat classical music in the background, throw in a load or two of laundry (to hopefully be folded and put away the same day), finish last night’s dishes, get at least an hour’s work of crafting in (it usually turns into 2 hours but it’s now a source of income), go visit my grandkids, go for a walk with the dog (my only form of exercise some days), plan a Saturday night meal, do repairs I didn’t get to Monday through Friday, write a blog, go back to that site that had great unusual art…..
It never ends.
But there’s something about Saturday mornings that put an extra bounce into my step. Like a kid, it is my “day off.” My dream about going out on a date night; my leave for an exotic vacation day; my shopping for a new outfit day; my having lunch with my besties day.
It’s the day you wait all week for.
It’s not the holiness or footballness of a Sunday. It’s not Taco Tuesday.
Saturday has its own magic wrapped around it.
Even if your plans fall apart early in the morning, you have taken that shinny spot of the week and planned and dreamed for all kinds of magic to happen.
It’s the Disneyworld of the working class.
So as I listen to the pounding duh duh duh duh DUH ... of Beethoven’s 5th, looking out at a rainy, sleety day, stepping over dog toys and vacuuming I should have done three days ago, I’m planning on Angel Tears and writing on my second book about Paris and looking for unique art and having a glass of wine and later on, when I’m exhausted from doing and NOT doing, finding a soul-warming rewatch of Midnight in Paris or Chocolat or Under the Tuscan Sun or The Lake House, I will have had a wonderful Saturday morning.
How about you?
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Vitor Schietti
Vitor Schietti was born in Brazil in 1986, and has a degree in Social Communication through the University of Brasilia.
In Schietti’s Impermanent Sculptures, thick treetops and branches are swollen with light that appears to drip down in incandescent rays.
Each photograph frames the nighttime scenes in a dreamy, energetic manner as the glowing beams both outline and obscure the existing landscapes.
Schietti worked with fireworks and long-exposure photography to illuminate the branches and stems of trees in his native Brazil.
The photos are a mixture of in-camera light painting, and a bit of post-processing that can combine up to 12 shots into a final image. 
The series is the result of several years of research on long exposure photography, and the usage of ND filters was vital to find a perfect balance between the fading twilight and the brightness of the fireworks.
“By creating these images, which I refer to as Impermanent Sculptures, I draw the viewers attention to abstract concepts taking place in real environments. Concepts to be interpreted and explored freely by whomever this work reaches,” Schietti says. 
“To paint with light in a three-dimensional space is to bring one’s thoughts from unconscious realms and ancient symbols into existence and turn them into something intriguing, yet beautiful and integrated with the landscape.”
More of Vitor Schietti‘s amazing photography can be found at https://schiettifotografia.com/ and https://theinspirationgrid.com/impermanent-sculptures-photos-by-vitor-schietti/.
Faerie Paths — St. Patrick’s Day
An Old Irish Blessing
May love and laughter light your days,
And warm your heart and home,
May good and faithful friends be yours,
Wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world,
With joy that long endures.
May all life’s passing seasons
Bring the best to you and yours.
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Aline Campbell
Aline Campbell is a Tourismologist by training and a plastic artist by profession.
Hailing from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Campbell’s art focuses on amazing string art designs.
The artist shares that it was after a trip to Canada in the summer of 2011 that she fell in love with string art.
She returned to Brazil more inspired than ever, and through simple tutorials, learned the basics of the technique.
This allowed her to unravel the art little by little, learning and experimenting, enabling her to create her own designs.
Today she dominates her craft.
“My own style, which I confess I don’t know for sure how to define it, is all based on randomness,” Campbell admits.
“And so I invite you, therefore, to my world. I invite you to dive into randomness.”
You can find more of Aline Campbell’s amazing string art at https://www.instagram.com/alinecampbell.art/ and https://alinecampbell.blogspot.com/p/sobre.html.
Contained in a Frame — My Inspired Life
Captured and contained in this frame, are delicate petals, crowning thorny stems, set against a shadowy tree-laced sky. At first glance, I saw the natural beauty for what it is: magnificence. Eyes full of wonder, I startled a bird with my audible sigh. Despite my praising of nature’s perfection, shortsighted was my thinking, for the […]
Contained in a Frame — My Inspired Life
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — My Friends and Family
I was going through my Gallery last night, showing my hubby some of my favorite galleries, and I realized that they are all my favorites. I seem to connect to the diversity of ideas, talents, directions and mediums found by these creative talents. I think of them more as one big happy family….
My Kids
Craig L. Haupt
My Cat
Tokuhiro Kawai
My Dog
Jess Bell
My House
Alexander Chinneck
My Daughter in Law
Mirrors
My Friends at Game Night
Cassius Marcellus Coolidge
My Granddaughter
My Son and Middle Grandson
Matthew Grabelsky
My Path in Life
May Parlar
My Other Son and his Lady
Roses
My Best Friends
Sandra Apperloo
My Oldest Grandson
Bruno Pontiroli
My Daughter-In-Law’s Parents
Anne Vallayer-Coster
All My Other Friends
David de la Mano
My Life
Lorenzo Quinn
Switch The Planets Around
No offense, but, with a few exceptions, 2022 so far has sucked.
Now, I know that’s a surprising thing to hear from the Creative Faerie here, but for all the good will and wishes and well-meaning gestures and intentions and utterances, 2022 is still a handful.
And it’s only March.
I wonder idly if the planets are in retrograde or if one of Saturn’s 82 moons is a little out of sync. Maybe its the Butterfly Effect — you know — the flapping of a butterfly’s wings in South America could affect the weather in Texas (meaning that the tiniest influence on one part of a system can have a huge effect on another part). Maybe its just invisible planetwide ice coating that everyone keeps slipping on.
Whatever it is, I wish it would take a break.
Not only did I have the heartbreak of the century when I lost my son; I have a friend battling cancer, a friend with rheumatoid arthritis, friends with heart problems and others with Crohn’s Disease and friends who can’t find a job and other friends who are going through their own deep grief. The list, the line, goes on and on.
And that’s just on a personal level. Don’t get me started about the horrors in the world.
I’m sure your life is no different.
It just seems like $hit keeps hitting the fan (pardon my French) and getting spit back at me. I/we keep coping and adjusting and accepting and fixing and understanding and it all still sucks.
Now if all the 2022 misfortune so far is because of Mars in retrograde or someone across the street broke a mirror, I can handle that. It’s cosmic rules. Stuff happens that we can’t do anything about.
But what if it’s as simple as bad luck? If it’s as simple as the tornado hitting one house, skipping the one next to it, and destroying the next?
The funny thing is that this Creative Faerie has no answers.
Life is life. Plain and simple. We deal with the hand we are dealt. Sometimes we’re given four Kings and an Ace; other times we have one of each number and suit. You can hope the others at the table are bluffing when placing their bets — after all, you’re bluffing too.
These are the days that you treasure the blessings you DO have. Your grandkids. Your health. Your weekly paycheck. Going to your parents house for dinner on Sunday. Having your parents in your life. Starting and keeping a garden. A journal. A cooking class. Painting a picture or swinging on a swing or playing dolls with your niece.
The answer is as simple as love. Love love love. Feel it, pass it along, share it, cherish it.
Stuff is going to happen. You can’t stop it. No more than you can replace one of Saturn’s moons or travel back in time.
It’s what you do with the cards you’re dealt that make all the difference in the world. To your heart, to your soul, to your friends and family.
Don’t give up.
We still have nine more months to go in 2022!
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Eric Ross Bernstein
Eric Ross Bernstein is a freelance artist and designer based in Los Angeles.
After graduating with a degree in architecture from Cornell University, he co-founded the design collective Hither Yon, then worked as an architect at Studio Jeppe Hein.
Bernstein’s graphic novel Parallels explores fundamental human experiences like love, anxiety, language, and memory.
The art in Parallels chronicles the travels of an introspective wanderer in search of personal truths in the alternate realities of his parallel selves.
“There is a place where mountains blow in the wind, where memories are floating orbs bobbing above the head, where words expire when left unspoken,” Bernstein reflects.
In ten fantastical fables, the narrator sets out to illuminate the interconnectedness of the multiverse while seeking answers to his deepest questions.
“My illustrations and their accompanying stories reimagine fundamental human experiences like thoughts, language, bliss and fear.”
Bernstein’s illustrations are three dimensional, other-worldly, and yet personal, touching each viewer differently.
More of Eric Ross Bernstein’s work can be found at https://ericrossbernstein.com/ and Boom.
Faerie Paths — Sparkle
Maybe our sparkle comes from somewhere deeper inside, somewhere so pure and authentic and real, it doesn’t need gloss or polish or glitter to shine.
– Mandy Hale
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Japanese Gardens
Japanese gardens (日本庭園, nihon teien) are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas.
Japanese Friendship Garden, Phoenix, Arizona
These spaces of meditation and reflection avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape.
St. Mungo Museum of Art, Glasgow, Scotland
Plants and worn, aged materials are often used by Japanese garden designers to suggest a natural landscape, and to express the fragility of existence as well as time’s unstoppable advance.
Kōraku-en, Okayama, Japan
Water is an important feature of many gardens, as are rocks and often gravel.
Jissoin Temple, Kyoto, Japan
Despite there being many attractive Japanese flowering plants, herbaceous flowers generally play much less of a role in Japanese gardens than in the West.
Shofuso Japanese House and Garden, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Exceptions include seasonally flowering shrubs and treees, made all the more dramatic because of the contrast with the usual predominant green.
Kairaku-en, Mito, Japan
Japanese gardens often capture aspects of the traditional Shinto religion, as well as Daoism and Buddhism.
Kokedera – Moss Temple, Kyoto, Japan
The gardens speak of the unstoppable march of time, natural aspects of the Japanese landscape.
Adachi Museum of Art, Yasugi, Japan
Wherever you find a Japanese Garden, take time to connect with time, space, and your own heart.
Taizo-in Garden, Myoshin-ji Temple Complex, Kyoto, Japan
Japanese Garden, Fort Worth, Texas
Familiar Art with a Familiar Background
Today I wanted to share a different form of Art I experienced over the weekend — one many of you have seen, tried, or heard about.
Ballet.
I went to see the Russian Ballet Theatre‘s production of Swan Lake Saturday evening.
Now, I have an affinity for Tchaikovsky. He and I have been buds since I went to see a performance of his work at the outdoor Ravinia Outdoor Music Festival back when I was in my 20s. His music is upbeat, physical, inspirational and powerful. Think of the 1812 Overture or Waltz of the Flowers.
His music for Swan Lake was amazing as well. As were the dancers.
According to Wikipedia, “(Ballet) its origins are in the Italian Renaissance courts of 15th and 16th centuries. Ballet originated in the Renaissance court as an outgrowth of court pageantry in Italy, where aristocratic weddings were lavish celebrations. Tutus, ballet slippers and pointe work were not yet used. The choreography was adapted from court dance steps.”
Dance steps are an understatement.
These dancers — the principal dancers, the ballerina and ballerino — are the most marvelous purveyors of movement on the planet. They are limber, strong, lithe, and in sync with the music, the movement, and the moment.
When we — I — think of the Arts, I tend to think of painters, quilters, writers, and the like. People with whom I have some sort of contact with.
I know no dancers nor professional entertainers, but that does not mean that they are not the cream of the crop, top of the game, master creators, all of that.
Tchaikovsky and the Russian Ballet were a perfect combination of emotion, non-emotion, movement, strength, smiles, and perfection. So wonderful to watch.
At the same time Odette was dancing one of the most popular piece in the ballet, Act 2 – No.10 Scène (Moderato), the north-eastern city of Sumy was under heavy fire as Russian troops destroyed residential neighborhoods and infrastructure. Part of Okhtyrka, the city in Sumy Oblast, was destroyed by Russian artillery. For the second day, the city had no heat, electricity and water. (MSN)
The group is a U.S. business with dancers from nearly a dozen countries. (MSJ). Eight dancers for Milwaukee performance were from Ukraine, along with other dancers from Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Japan, Armenia, Poland and Slovenia.
The troupe had nothing to do with politics.
“We are against the war,” said Gulya Hartwick, producer for the Russian Ballet Theatre. “We hope that people come to support the dancers, who are ‘dancing with tears in their eyes.'” Pretty heavy stuff for an art that demands so much physically and mentally of its participants.
It was a beautiful evening. The dancers were point-on, the music delightful, the atmosphere sparkling and full of beauty and love.
I only wish I could say the same thing for these poor people and their country.
Support the Arts.
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Kip Omolade
Kip Omolade is celebrated for his brightly colored oil paintings of humanoid faces that explore themes such as immortality, social performance, and the human psyche.
Born in Harlem, New York, Omolade began his art career as a graffiti artist while interning at Marvel Comics and The Center for African Art.
He continued his studies at The Art Students League of New York and earned a BFA at the School of Visual Arts.
The paintings in his different series examine contemporary beauty standards and the notion that people present a masked version of themselves to the world.
The artist’s process involves creating a mold and cast of a model’s face, and producing a resin version of the cast, to which a layer of chrome is then added.
The final sculpture, which is adorned with false eyelashes, is then used as the model for Omolade’s dazzling paintings.
Omolade explains the work by saying, “(For instance) My Diovadiova Chrome portraits historically connect to ancient, realistic African sculptures such as Benin ivory masks and Ife bronze heads.
“The oil paintings are psychological studies that investigate immortality, the universal masks we all wear and contemporary notions of beauty and luxury.”
More of Kip Omolade’s remarkable art can be found at https://www.kipomolade.com/.
There’s Always Someone There
As all of you know, there’s been a lot of emotional messes going on in my life.
But I’m doing fairly well.
Except I’m way behind on reading my fellow blogger’s blogs.
Now, with the way the world is these days, reading or not reading others’ blogs should not be a cause for concern. After all, there’s only 24 hours in the day, and, taking away away eating, sleeping, complaining, working, cleaning, recovering, crying, laughing, and other must-do’s, there isn’t always time for reading.
But there should be.
People who write blogs do so for a reason. You followed their blogs for a reason. You offer, you reciprocate. Kinda that yin yang flow thing. If you find enjoyment when people read and comment on what you write, know that others feel the same way.
I am always optimistically hoping that for however many people check the “like” button on my blogs, another hundred read, smiled, and moved on. That for every comment that comes my way, a hundred thousand comments are running through the readers’ heads.
And I know that for the tens and dozens and hundreds of likes you all get on your hard-earned creativity, there are four thousand other readers who appreciate who you are and what you did.
I also know that, for as lonely and lost as you sometimes may feel, someone else is thinking about you. Worrying about you. Caring about you.
We are never really alone. Between spammers and TV informercials and people sitting next to you in traffic and across the aisle from you and following you and ignoring you, there is always someone there. For better or for worse.
Your family and friends are there too.
I’d love to think you are all here with me for the better.
And soon I will be back reading and commenting and wondering what you’re having for lunch and where you are going on vacation and how much you spent on that carmel mocca latte last week.
People are like that.
Friends, too.
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Art Smith
Cuban-born, Brooklyn-raised Arthur George Smith (1917–1982) was one of the leading modernist jewelers of the mid-20th century, and one of the few Afro-Caribbean people working in the field to reach international recognition.
He attended Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art from 1942 to 1946, where he first pursued architectural studies but eventually abandoned them to concentrate on sculpture and the manipulation of three-dimensional forms.
During the early 1940s Smith learned jewelry making while working part-time as a crafts supervisor at the Children’s Aid Society, and through a night course at New York University.
He also worked for and was influenced by Winifred Mason, an African-American jewelry designer with a store in Greenwich Village.
Often referred to as the first African-American Jewelry designer, Smith was an iconic New York City based jewelry designer whose list of clientele included Vogue magazine, Duke Ellington, Lena Horne, and Eleanor Roosevelt.
He opened his own jewelry shop on Cornelia Street in the neighborhood in 1946 and quickly became a fixture in the downtown arts scene.
His expertly designed, post-modern pieces were a “must have” among the artistic elite of New York City.
Inspired by surrealism, biomorphism, and primitivism, Smith’s jewelry included large scale, asymmetrical forms made from hand-hammered elements of silver, copper, or brass, sometimes combined with quartz or other colorful stones.
His jewelry explored organic shapes and both positive and negative space on several planes.
More of Art Smith‘s distinctive jewelry can be found at http://artsmithjewelry.com/.
Faerie Paths — Clouds
If you use your imagination, you can see lots of things in the cloud formations. – Charles M. Schulz
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Edith Head
Edith Head (1897 – 1981) reigns as the ultimate costume designer.
Edith Head believed in the importance of style, famously saying, “You can have anything you want in life if you dress for it.”
In 1919, Head earned her bachelor of art letters and sciences with a French honor in Berkeley from the University of California.
During her time there, she expressed her desire to teach art and subsequently attended evening classes at the Otis Art Institute and Chouinard Art College.
In 1924, she landed a job as a costume sketch artist at Paramount Pictures.
Head won eight Academy Awards for costume design, more than any other designer — even though there wasn’t an Oscar category for costume design until 1948, decades into her career.
Creating glamorous gowns for Hollywood stars was Head’s specialty, working with all the big names of 1930s through 1960s such as Mae West, Bette Davis, Dorothy Lamour, Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly, and Audrey Hepburn.
She made costumes for historical spectacles, the equivalent of today’s comic-book flicks, where bright colors, big shapes, and sparkle made an impact more than precise historical research and subtle recreations.
Her work was creative, inspirational, and a mark in history for women designers.
More about Edith Head and her creations can be found across the Internet including https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edith_Head and https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/edith-head-10529.php.
Moving Forward
We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.” ― Joseph Campbell
It’s too soon to move forward
Yet I can’t get the clock to stop ticking
My heart cannot let go
Yet every movement into tomorrow
Freezes in the present.
Wounds are too open
Memories are too fresh
Yet weathermen forecast tomorrow’s rain
And investors plan the market.
Often I feel as if in a time warp
A spaceship hurtling forward
A time machine stretching backwards
A yesterday too painful to remember
A today not worth remembering
Hold onto the fog a little longer
Throw direction to the four winds
Tomorrow is Yesterday is Today once again
And the impression of control
Is a fleeting glimpse into the impossible
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Bruno Catalano
Bruno Catalano was born in 1960 in Khouribga, Morocco, near Casablanca.
His Travelers—or Les Voyageurs—are fractured and fragmented individuals, each on its own path.
They are travelers, walking, unruffled, suitcase in hand, except that their bodies are in bits, open to the wind and light.
In many, the torso has almost disappeared; there, the arm looks like it was blown off by a shell.
As they are, they look like they’re coming back from far away, worn by centuries of erosion.
And yet, each retains his balance and coherence.
Through his statuary Catalano replays the adventure of mankind, always in-between two shores, repelling all the boundaries.
More of Bruno Catalano‘s amazing statues can be found at https://brunocatalano.com/.
Faerie Paths — Forward
Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.
Søren Kierkegaard
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Russian Stacking Dolls (Matryoshka Dolls)
Known by many names: nesting dolls, matryoshka dolls, babushka dolls, nested dolls, stacking dolls, Russian Nesting Dolls have captured the attention of children, adults, doll enthusiasts, and art collectors across the globe.
From their introduction to the world at the Paris World Exhibition in 1900, to the modern day, the almost deceptively simple concept of a set of smaller dolls nestled within larger dolls has endured not only as a popular children’s toy, or a collectible decoration, but as an icon synonymous with Russian culture.
The first Russian nested doll set was made in 1890 by wood turning craftsman and wood carver Vasily Zvyozdochkin from a design by Sergey Malyutin, who was a folk crafts painter at Abramtsevo.
Traditionally the outer layer is a woman, dressed in a sarafan, a long and shapeless traditional Russian peasant jumper dress.
The figures inside may be of any gender; the smallest, innermost doll is typically a baby turned from a single piece of wood.
Typically painted with subdued earth tones using an opaque form of watercolor paint called gouache, the original dolls from Sergiev Posad (50 miles north-east of Russia’s capital) inspired many of the themes that are still present in the modern nesting dolls.
Russian nesting dolls are often seen as symbols of the feminine side of Russian culture. They are associated with family and fertility, and often used as the symbol for the epithet Mother Russia.
These dolls are a traditional representation of the mother carrying a child within her and can be seen as a representation of a chain of mothers carrying on the family legacy through the child in their womb.
Furthermore, matryoshka dolls are used to illustrate the unity of body, soul, mind, heart, and spirit.
What a wonderful tradition to pass on to the next generation.
You can learn more about Russian Stacking Dolls at https://www.therussianstore.com/blog/the-history-of-nesting-dolls/.
A Glimpse of the Past
As you know, I’ve been weathering some pretty strong storms lately. In taking a moment to look back at my blogging repertoire, I realized I’ve been blah blah blah-ing for quite a long time.
I came across See What You Have Missed written way back in 2012, referring to blogs that I had written way before that. Can You Imagine? So I thought — why not?
Here is the blog from 10 years ago — and their links. Need some humor? Be my guest. Have fun. I know I did.
Love you all. 
See What You Have Missed!
I know the winter doldrums are upon us, yet spring is flirting from across the banquet hall filled with diners. We can’t quite see her yet, but I noticed one extra sparkle on the horizon, so she’s on her way. Before the mad rush of her annual appearance scatters us to the four winds as we open windows, walk a little more, spring clean, play fetch with our dogs, and get more serious about our eating habits, I thought I’d bring a few of my ditties to the forefront (in case you need to apply one to your upcoming Spring Pledge):
To Dream or Not to Dream: That is the Question — Turn your restlessness into meaningful nonsense. Just don’t take yourself too literally.
Dancing in a Too Tight Tutu — You are never too old for anything. What are you waiting for?
I Didn’t Know I Spoke Chinese — The learning/language gap between generations (this was my kids…now its my grandkids)
On Base of Bony Orbit — Fun Fun Fun words, phrases, and body parts
Viva Las Vegas! — Age is a state of mind. And body.
Sex — What is it and Where Did it Go? — kinda self-explanatory
I Can’t Believe I Believed That — disputing a few of life’s mysteries
Please take a few minutes to see where we’ve been. Let me know if you have any favorites, any ideas. And hold on, for the future is full of promise — and blogs!
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Claire Scully
Claire Scully is a multi-disciplinary professional Illustrator, author, and educator specializing in drawing.
Her creations focus on patterns and lines constructed through minute details.
In her own personal research and drawing practice, Scully strives to answer the questions of “what lies beyond the horizon” by looking at the notion of landscape, memory (both individual and collective), and projections of the unknown.
She has a keen interest in traditional drawing methods and classical techniques and their place within modern contemporary illustration and image generation.
Scully’s work plays with narratives and scale, moving through strange utopian and dystopian worlds and parallel universes with juxtapositions of the unexpected.
Her talent lies in detailed drawings, her creations full of mesmerizing lines, curls, and shadows.
Her finesse is highlighted in every drawing and sketch, bringing the creative process into the forefront of all her interpretations.
You can find more of Claire Scully’s work at http://www.clairescully.com/.
Faerie Paths — Over Hill, Over Dale
Over hill, over dale,
Through bush, through briar,
Over park, over pale,
Through blood, through fire,
I do wander everywhere,
Swifter than the moone’s sphere;
And I serve the fairy queen,
To dew her orbs upon the green.
The cowslips tall her pensioners be:
In their gold coats spots you see;
Those be rubies, fairy favours,
In those freckles live their savours:
I must go seek some dewdrops here,
And hang a pearl in every cowslip’s ear.
Farewell, thou lob of spirits; I’ll be gone:
Our queen and all her elves come here anon.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
William Shakespeare
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Justyna Wołodkiewicz
Justyna Wołodkiewicz is a Contemporary Embroidery Artist from Poland who specializes in three-dimensional embroidery.
Taking inspiration from her surroundings as well as a strong awareness of her own creative process, Wołodkiewicz uses vibrant colors and breadth of contrasting textures and shapes to create finished pieces that are both technically complicated and incredibly whimsical. 
She specializes in combining tiny abstract sculptures (made of bright colored polymer clay) with traditional art of stitching by hand.
The clay is baked in the oven before implementing.
Then everything is composed: threads, sculptures, colors, textures.
When Wołodkiewicz designs her art she feels like all these candies are dancing in her circle.
Her choices are intuitive and spontaneous, a subconscious translation of bouquets of feelings.
Some pieces follow the harmony rules, resembling splashed rainbows; others are footprints of exploration into conflict and ambivalence.
“Since the art lives in my heart, it will evolve together with me,” Wołodkiewicz says.
“The message will become clearer and clearer. Therefore I love to explore constantly realms of spirituality, energy and self-healing.”
More of Justyna Wołodkiewicz‘s amazing embroidery can be found at http://nibyniebo.com/.
Catching the Fog in Your Hands
Writing about pain, about loss, is a tricky thing.
It’s overwhelming, it’s cathartic, its like trying to catch the fog in your hands.
It’s writing everything down in a journal, along with trying to be cryptic. All or nothing. Mind your own business and here’s everything. It’s talking and shouting and whispering at the same time. Finding a comfortable middle ground is nearly impossible.
I don’t really want to go into detail, for I don’t want outpouring of sympathy. There are plenty of blogs out there that specialize in super emoting. This isn’t one.
I’d rather try and catch the fog.
My life at Humoring the Goddess and Sunday Evening Art Gallery will get me through the loss of my son last week. Nothing changes, nothing takes the place, nothing ever fills up the balloon that carries my dreams and future.
But it’s a start.
Keep creating, keep loving. Take the time to say “I Love You” and make it a habit.
I did. And now am so glad that I did.
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Loss
What we have once enjoyed deeply we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us. ~ Helen Keller
Love and Family Forever
MEA 2/90-2/22
Taking A Break
A tragedy has struck that no mother or father should have to go through.
So I will be gone for a while. Keep dreaming, keep creating.
And hold those you love close. Closer. Never let them go.
Love you all.
Faerie Paths — Fairy Song
The moonlight fades from flower and rose
And the stars dim one by one;
The tale is told, the song is sung,
And the Fairy feast is done.
The night-wind rocks the sleeping flowers,
And sings to them, soft and low.
The early birds erelong will wake:
‘T is time for the Elves to go.
O’er the sleeping earth we silently pass,
Unseen by mortal eye,
And send sweet dreams, as we lightly float
Through the quiet moonlit sky
For the stars’ soft eyes alone may see,
And the flowers alone may know,
The feasts we hold, the tales we tell;
So’t is time for the Elves to go.
From bird, and blossom, and bee,
We learn the lessons they teach;
And seek, by kindly deeds, to win
A loving friend in each.
And though unseen on earth we dwell,
Sweet voices whisper low,
And gentle hearts most joyously greet
The Elves where’er they go.
When next we meet in the Fairy dell,
May the silver moon’s soft light
Shine then on faces gay as now,
And Elfin hearts as light.
Now spread each wing, for the eastern sky
With sunlight soon shall glow.
The morning star shall light us home:
Farewell! for the Elves must go.
Louisa May Alcott
Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Timothy Nevaquaya
Timothy Nevaquaya is an award winning and celebrated Comanche artist and flutist from Apache, Oklahoma.
He is traditionally trained and apprenticed for many years under his father’s tutelage in both southern plains Indian art and Native American courting flute.
Since early childhood, Nevaquaya has sought to learn as much as possible about his culture, spending time with his father and other tribal elders who provided the information which has continued to inspire him throughout his career.
As a child, Tim Nevaquaya spent many hours at the end of his father’s drafting table, learning the basic principles in Native American art forms, as well as flute making and music composition.
By the age of 12, Nevaquaya was composing music on his father’s flutes, and by the age of 14, Nevaquaya was making flutes, thus starting his own career in Native American performing and visual arts.
Today, Nevaquaya is one of a few Comanche artists working in traditional and contemporary style of Indian art.
“About a decade ago I had a real creative breakthrough, where I found myself literally up all night, exploring a more abstracted point of view,” Nevaquaya shares.
“The more I explored, the more came through in regards to colour and design.” He explained. “I felt these were the most interesting and beautiful pieces I’d done.”
More of Timothy Nevaquaya‘s authentic American art can be found at True West Gallery.
I Want To Do Everything
It’s a sunny, bright, cold morning around my castle. Birds are lovin’ my feeder, the breeze is slight, and the snow is starting to melt along the driveway and paths.
A perfect day to want to do everything.
Ever experience the superman/woman syndrome while sitting safely inside, on your sofa or at the table, in your creative shed or library or corner table that holds every piece of information you ever wanted to save?
You’re in your empowerment spot. Your creative spot. Put on a pot of coffee, turn on some upbeat background music, and you’re ready to do it all.
Write. Paint. Sign up for classes. Send off a deposit to several art fairs. Plan a weekend trip to some artsy city a few hours away. Make plans to clean out your kitchen cabinets. Your closet. Design a vegetable garden this year. Plan to visit museums and new restaurants and to explore new walking paths in local (or not-so-local) parks and forests. Start thinking of losing weight and finding a new job and having the entire family over for a family picnic in July.
And before you know it you have empowered yourself right back to a second cup of coffee and maybe a donut.
It’s so easy to plan your future when you’re sedate. Warm. Comfy. It’s so easy to imagine yourself exercising, walking, setting up booths, moving your painting equipment to the mountains, cooking for 50 people, climbing the Eiffel Tower, visit the waterfalls that are only four hours away.
There’s so much energy available in the future!
Too bad reality keeps both your feet mostly on the ground, safe and sound.
Case in point.
I have only one craft fair under my belt so far. I keep busy during the cold months making more product. Last year I planned two fairs and one was cancelled. The one that survived was fun and new and a great time. It also was a LOT of work.
This year I’m tempted by a third fair, one with the name “Dragon” in it. Right up my alley, baby. A wandering though a big park, only 100 booths, it sounds like a piece of cake.
But it’s one week after my first one up north and two days before I pack and take off camping for a week.
The one I have booked for late summer is a big one. A busy one. One I’ve only walked through as a visitor. Optimistically I need to make sure I have enough product and prep time for make this one a success.
I want to do it all.
But I remember how exhausted I was after my first one. I’m not a spring chicken. Even with help it’s a lot of standing and packing and unpacking and arranging and talking to people I don’t know and a smattering of nerves and brain freeze all mixed together.
It’s easy to put too much on your plate. For some, the answer is just to eat off a platter. For others, trade that big plate in for a saucer.
You need to know your limitations. Dream big, Live sensibly. You can plan a vacation to the mountains or the beach, just know how far you can walk on said beach and plan around that. Invite people over for a reunion but limit the crowd. Think about making tile mosaics but plan one at a time, not ten.
Keep dreaming and planning in your special place. It’s what keeps you alive and dancing in the sunshine and the rain.
Just let your past experiences be your guide. Not your daydreams. Don’t try to be SuperPerson.
Your body and mind will thank you for it.
A Little Inspiration Goes a Long Way
I can’t believe this is the third week in a row that’s I’m starting out recommending other blogs for your enjoyment. But so it is!
Inspiration can be found everywhere. Children learning something new, birds feeding at the feeder, the occasional bright pink and blue streaked sunset. Everyday people make gestures, strides, and attempts to make the world a little better place. A little lighter place. A little more loving place.
Many of you know my friend at Purplerays. It is always a delight to receive her/his posts — can you tell I’m not sure — always inspirational, always sparkling, often spiritual, with the most gorgeous photos that go along with the love and dreams in of all of us.
Cats. Who doesn’t love cats? Katzenworld in general and Marc-Andre in particular share stories, information, activities, and yarns about our four footed best friends.
Eileen at Koyopa Rising describes herself as an author, mystic, and songstress, actively listening, unpacking, and integrating the Divine codes within. I get a divine understanding (albeit fleeting) about what’s going on spiritually around me when I read her blogs.
I’ve been following Ann Koplow and her blog The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally for quite some time now, and her photography, daily topics, and therapy are not only fun but good heart times too. She makes you think and feel and laugh.
GoDogGo Cafe is wonderful, fun, and (not so) little blog and gathering place for writers of all sorts. Run by a collective of fun writers, the Café is a place where all writers are welcome, collaboration and sharing is encouraged, and you can pull up a chair and enjoy what is new on the menu any day.
I might have mentioned Rachel McAlpine and Write into Life before, but, according to her blogsite, Rachel was one a child, always a writer. Lucky for us. At 81 she is my inspiration. Truly. She keeps it all going with a little depth, a little wisdom, and a lot of charm.
Ray over at Mitigating Chaos is a friend whose heart is lined up with all of us. He talks about his kids, music, cooking, and/or whatever is out his window when he sits down to write. His style is smooth and easy going — a great read any time.
None of us have unlimited reading time. Life is always there, waiting, watching, often whining like a baby for attention. But when you get some reading time, take a look at the authors I’ve recommended and pass some quality time sharing the world with them.
Or pop in and read the blogs you’ve signed up for! There is a plethora of reading material at your very fingertips. Every day, every moment.
You can always tell them the Goddess sent you ….
Humoring the Goddess 