Category: Uncategorized

Dreams — A Second Time

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 3 Comments
stock-photo_george-redhawkI was going to write about some weird dreams I’ve been having lately, but when going through my blog topics I came across this one. I’d rather share what other people think about dreams….
~ HUMORINGTHEGODDESS 

October is for Dreams

With the growth of social media, people are throwing out inspirational and tell-tale quotes left and right. So in honor of October, the month of Dreams, I have gathered some wonderful ditties you can post away whenever you are in need of something deep, warm, and mystical to say……..

 

Yes: I am a dreamer. For a dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world. ~ Oscar Wilde

I believe in everything until it’s disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it’s in your mind. Who’s to say that dreams and nightmares aren’t as real as the here and now?  ~ John Lennon

It is by no means an irrational fancy that, in a future existence, we shall look upon what we think our present existence, as a dream. ~ Edgar Alan Poe

All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake up in the day to find it was vanity, but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. ~ T.E.  Lawrence

A garden to walk in and immensity to dream in–what more could he ask? A few flowers at his feet and above him the stars. ~ Victor Hugo

I’ve dreamed a lot. I’m tired now from dreaming but not tired of dreaming. No one tires of dreaming, because to dream is to forget, and forgetting does not weigh on us, it is a dreamless sleep throughout which we remain awake. In dreams I have achieved everything. ~ Fernando Pessoa

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

All human beings are also dream beings. Dreaming ties all mankind together. ~ Jack Kerouac

The best thing about dreams is that fleeting moment, when you are between asleep and awake, when you don’t know the difference between reality and fantasy, when for just that one moment you feel with your entire soul that the dream is reality, and it really happened. ~ James Arthur Baldwin

All men whilst they are awake are in one common world: but each of them, when he is asleep, is in a world of his own. ~ Plutarch

Dreams are often most profound when they seem the most crazy. ~ Sigmund Freud

Dreaming is an act of pure imagination, attesting in all men a creative power, which if it were available in waking, would make every man a Dante or Shakespeare. ~ H.F. Hedge

Dreams are more real than reality itself, they’re closer to the self. ~ Gao Xingjian

In sleep, fantasy takes the form of dreams. But in waking life, too, we continue to dream beneath the threshold of consciousness, especially when under the influence of repressed or other unconscious complexes. ~ Carl Jung

Dreams are illustrations… from the book your soul is writing about you. ~ Marsha Norman

A dream is a microscope through which we look at the hidden occurrences in our soul. ~ Erich Fromm

Dreams are the most curious asides and soliloquies of the soul. When a man recollects his dream, it is like meeting the ghost of himself. Dreams often surprise us into the strangest self-knowledge…. Dreaming is the truest confessional, and often the sharpest penance. ~ Alexander Smith

The answer is dreams. Dreaming on and on. Entering the world of dreams and never coming out. Living in dreams for the rest of time.” ~ Haruki Murakami

You know that place between sleep and awake, that place where you still remember dreaming? That’s where I’ll always love you. That’s where I’ll be waiting. ~ J.M. Barrie

I was born to catch dragons in their dens
And pick flowers
To tell tales and laugh away the morning
To drift and dream like a lazy stream
And walk barefoot across sunshine days. ~ James Kavanaugh

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Amy Giacomelli 

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 2 Comments

Amy Giacomelli started her career in art in 1988 by joining the Entertainment Industry union as a mural artist.Over the years she has painted countless murals and backdrops for studios such as Disney, CBS and Warner Bros., as well as lots of independent shops.Her colorful gallery includes cats, birds, flowers, dogs, landscapes, and other subjects that burst with color and imagination.For Amy, color is at the core of her style.She does a fabulous job of conveying emotion and movement through vibrant shades, well mixed to create bright and beautiful pieces.Often depicting nature, her work draws inspiration from real life, while translating it into more abstract expression..With a background in painting murals, it should be no surprise that Amy enjoys large pieces, sometimes broken up into multi panel works..More of Amy Giacomelli’s work can be found at https://amy-giacomelli.pixels.com/ and https://www.etsy.com/shop/AmyGiacomelli. 

Faerie Paths — Saturday Morning

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 8 Comments

 

Saturday morning was come, and all the summer world was bright and fresh, and brimming with life. There was a song in every heart; and if the heart was young, the music issued at the lips. There was cheer in every face and a spring in every step. The locust-trees were in bloom, and the fragrance of the blossoms filled the air. 

 ~Mark Twain

 

 

 

Gif Time!

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 8 Comments

I realized the other day that I haven’t shared any gifs lately… gifs for you to enjoy, for you to download, or for you to ask “how do they DO that??” Sometimes I use them for blogs — other times I just sit and watch them move.

Although there are millions of gifs all over the Internet, I thought I’d share a few that I found truly unique. A hot June day is the perfect time to share the mesmerizing and delightful world of Graphics Interchange Formats  — gifs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can find more fun gifs on my past posts:

Went Gif Shopping Today!

Been Gif’n Again

Gif A Roonie

Gif Today – Gif Tomorrow

Give-A-Gif Thursday!

Thursday Evening on the Veranda (with a sweater) – gifs

 

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery (midweek) — Alexandra Spyratos

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Alexandra Spyratos was born in Kenya where she lives most of her life surrounded by the exotic beauty and wilderness of Africa.Influenced by her colorful background, translating the heat and the exotic beauty of the African wildlife to canvas has become Spyratos’ passion and spiritual goal.This prolific artist has become known for her bold and individual style.Her paintings are rich and textured with oxidized patterned gold and copper leaf, recreating the physicality and textures of the wild that inspires her.Her medium sees a diverse direction evolving into the elegance and glamour of gold, silver and copper leaf combines with the fluorescence.The combination is dynamic and adds a fresh and energetic dimension to her art, aptly termed as “Bohemian Chic”.Alexandra’s artistic presentation of the elephant, ostrich, buffalo, giraffe and predominantly the regal zebra, swirls about and leaps to her palette in representational form.It is this deep inspiration from the heart of Africa that has emerged in Alexandra’s painting of the wildlife and has evolved into a style that straddles all genre and is uniquely her own.More of Alexandra Spyratos can be found at www.facebook.com/alexandraartart/.

 

 

 

 

Ray Brandbury Says …

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 3 Comments

 

 

 

The same could be said for painters, graphic artists, sculptors, musicians, quilters, calligraphers  . . . 

 

 

Get ‘er Goin’!

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 5 Comments

I thank you for visiting me and the Goddess this week while I was on vacation with my family up  nort’. Again. It is just a wonderful reprise to the daily grind of politics, viruses, hoarder houses, and such.

Even though these weekends are stressful as far as running around with three kids and three dogs, they are fulfilling. At least until my energy runs out. What these getaways also do is refocus my being to things that really matter in life.

But then you come home, kids go one way, you another. And there you are. Vibrating on the sofa, re-circling, refocusing, recharging and open like a toddler.

And you think — what now?

Who wants to go back to washing and folding laundry and doing dishes and mowing the lawn and sitting at a desk answering phones all day?

Who needs it?

If I have learned anything from this C19 nightmare is that most of us need it in one form or another. Kids need to get out of the house and go to school and see friends and stress over math assignments. Moms and dads need to get out of the house and go back to the office and deal with know-it-alls and office gossip and sales goals. Even retired grannies need to get out of the house and join community organizations that help people in one way or another and meet friends for coffee and get back to quilting or writing or whatever they do.

Sitting in the house day after day with nothing but the TV and radio is not good for the creative spirit.

I have written some of my best stories based on people I’ve worked with, places I’ve driven, conversations I’ve either overheard or had myself. The green trees and grass and wild fields around my house are beautiful, but after a while they lose their stimulation ability.

We need to be curious outside our parentheses. We can’t hide from the world and get settled in and do nothing. The world will keep changing but you will not. And one day visitors won’t be able to distinguish you from the beige flowered couch you sit upon.

After a while without people and places and things you find yourself with nothing to talk about. Grandkids can only tell you so many times about the fish that got away or how many hot dogs they ate one day. You can only talk about the old days so much before you finally become boring.

Without outside connections, without outside interactions, you really can turn into a slug. Even if you’re surrounded by grandkids and dogs.

If they aren’t stimulated by something new, neither will you be. If you can’t get out there and bring new and interesting things into their world they will turn out to be 8am-8pm internet slugs…. and so will you.

So, as much as I loved my time away, I am very happy to be back in my up and down world of the mind. I have projects to finish, projects to plan, projects to give up. And it’s only Monday!

Get on up and out today!

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Girl Grey Beauty

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 14 Comments

Canadian makeup artist Andrea Reed has been busy transforming her lips into colorful and spectacular works of art and it hasn’t gone unnoticed.

Going by the online name of Girl Grey Beauty, Reed has earned herself more than 100,000 followers on Instagram for her lip transformations than can range from Tartan patterns to classical artworks.

Andrea’s feed, which has 900 photos of her lips covered in complex images, were all drawn (and designed) by her, using liquid lipsticks, liquid eyeliners, and a ton of skinny brushes.

“I like to use tiny painting brushes from the art store to create each look,” Andrea shares.

If that sounds impossibly time-consuming, Andrea assures that it most definitely is.“The application alone takes around one-to-two hours, depending on the difficulty and detail level of the lip art,” she says, adding that the entire process (from conception to retouching and editing) can take up to six hours.Her work is whimsical and spectacular. A bit of fun with a lot of talent.

More of Andrea Reed’s amazing beauty work can be found at https://www.instagram.com/girlgreybeauty/ and https://www.facebook.com/girlgreybeauty/.

The Morning Fog

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 6 Comments
http://www.brendajwiley.com/

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the day
To dream
To sit in the middle
of the grey sky
And watch the mist
swirl by.
Take the day
And embrace
the nothingness.
No rules.
No goals.
True inspiration
A glass that’s never full.
The fog rolls in
At its own pace
Not asking, not caring
What rules are broken
What direction
It should take
Sleepy distraction
The soul whispers
Today is the day
Words to a forgotten story
A glimmer of days passed
And future hopes
Subtle strings coax
Music from the soul
And just for the moment
You are there.
In the future
And the past.

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery (flashback) — Big Heads

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 7 Comments

MlmI’m certain we all know of people who have “big heads” — those who think they know more than they really do. But I had fun back in December 2014 sharing with you artists’ versions of the big head. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Giant Heads can be found in the Gallery at https://wp.me/p5LGaO-3E. 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Mark Messersmith

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Mark Messersmith (1955-)  was born in Kansas City, Missouri lives and works in Tallahassee, Florida where he teaches at Florida State University.

The artist extends beyond the frame of his central images surveying man’s ruin. He also includes a small frieze of vignettes at the bottom and sculptural adornments at the frame’s edge.

His work explores themes of spirit and struggle within the modern world’s natural environments.

Messersmith likes to focus on the habitats of Florida’s animals in the way they live and react to one another.

In his words, “My work is really about our relationship to all other living creatures at this precarious moment, a place midway between hope and despair.”

His works reflect plants and animals, which are still able to survive,  often in small isolated natural habitats, and the effects of their inevitable forced migration, dislocation, or isolation.

His works build on stories (either real or conjectured), along with observations and concerns for the creatures that move within the shrinking environs they inhabit.

More of Mark Messersmith‘s inspirational work can be found at https://markmessersmith.com.

 

Knee-Jerk Response

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 10 Comments

Today was a step into the Twilight Zone. Between being spacey from pain meds for my dental work yesterday to trying to finish up cleaning a house in another city to driving to the DNV to find it closed two days in a row, I have been feeling quite disjointed.

Then today happened.

Walking into the police department (where the DNV was), a van was honking at me. I ignored it and went inside. Closed. Came back outside and the van was pulled into the parking lot across the street. I pulled my car out of the parking spot and noticed the man from that van heading towards me.

There was nobody else around. This middle-aged, balding man with a mask was walking towards my car. 

I, in my infinite wisdom, thought, “Oh no. Here comes a terrorist coming to kill me.”

“Did you honk at me?” I asked. Flight or fight. Flight or fight. I am too chicken to fight, too self-conscious to drive away. The man came up to my car. My window was wide open (I have no A/C in this car.)

“Can you help me please? I cannot find this place,” he said in a heavy foreign accent. More terrorist feed, like tempting a kid with candy before snatching them up and disappearing. 

I put my car into park. He held out his phone to me. On it was a picture of a business card of a financial

something-or-other. The address was one I wasn’t familiar with. I should have said sorry, no, and took off.

But instead I said, “I’m from a different town. But let me check my GPS on my phone and see where this is.” So I did just that. 

Turns out he was just on the wrong side of Main Street. “It’s over next to the library,” I offered. 

“You know where that is?” he asked. I nodded. “Then will you take me there? Please?”

So now what do I do? What do you think I did?

“Sure,” I said.

This man thanked me and blessed me and blessed my family. He wished me long life and blessings. He followed my car down the street, across Main Street, and, turning in from of the library, I pulled over, pointing him to the building across the street. He thanked me and blessed me and blessed my family again. I blessed him too.

And I felt like such a heel.

I hate that knee-jerk reaction when someone different than you talks/looks/approaches you. It’s a generational thing, to be sure. From our parents to us, racial discrimination and judgment is real. We don’t necessarily feel that prejudice, but somewhere in our past we’ve been exposed to it and our automatic flight or fight instinct turns on. And the news and social media and events of the past few days hasn’t helped.

I was ashamed I was afraid of this man. Yes, people do get murdered or attacked in small towns everywhere. But the actual percentage of it being you is so small that the odds of someone attacking you in particular are practically nill. 

And it’s more important to help than to run. At least it is to me. I can’t be afraid of the whole world my whole life. What will be is what will be. 

I am glad I helped the man find his building. I am glad he blessed me and my family. I blessed him and his family, too.

I wish the rest of the world could learn a lesson from this.

Faerie Paths — Hot Summer

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 5 Comments

Laura Jade 

Hot weather opens the skull of a city, exposing its white brain, and its heart of nerves, which sizzle like the wires inside a lightbulb. And there exudes a sour extra-human smell that makes the very stone seem flesh-alive, webbed and pulsing.     

~  Truman Capote, Summer Crossing

 

 

. . . . .and our dream becomes a masterpiece of art.

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 9 Comments

Beauty from my poetic friend….

We are ALL artists…..

. . . . .and our dream becomes a masterpiece of art.

Today Is The Day

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 8 Comments

How many times have you said, “Today is the day”?

Not like in “today is the day I catch a plane to Paris” or “today is the day I see the dentist.”

It’s more like “today is the day I’m going to change” or “today is the day I am going to exercise” or “today is the day I’m going to tackle my insomnia.”

I think more times than we care to admit.

Today I’m going to write. Today I’m going to eat healthier. Today I’m going to take a walk with the dog. Today … Today … Today.

And Today comes and goes and we haven’t done one thing to better ourselves.

I’m not sure why that is. Maybe we’re too busy. Maybe our attention is focused elsewhere. Maybe we are a little more depressed or tired or confused and don’t have the energy to pull off our Today.

I know I’ve said that phrase more times than I can remember. I can’t remember what I was changing, but Today was always going to be THE DAY.

I would sometimes get half-way through the promised land and get distracted. Or up and quit and say who cares. I would give up or plain forget about my life changing vow.

Maybe that’s just being human.

Maybe it’s more than that.

Once again I have started today with good intentions. I’m not conquering the world: I’m not climbing Mt. Everest or working at a hospital saving lives or driving to Chicago to stop the rioting.

I’m merely starting my journey today, one step at a time.

I need to regulate my sleeping. I need to stop drinking caffeine after noon or, better yet, not take it in at all. I need to make a point of walking more, even if it’s around the yard a couple of times. I need to stop shoveling in carbs every time I’m hungry.

You see — your journey isn’t really all that hard. Don’t try and change the world; don’t try and change you. Not all at once.

Hold the words “Today is the day” as if they were sacred whispers. Don’t make your goals bigger than you can handle in one day.

After all, today is only one day.

But it can always be THE day…..

 

Faerie Paths — Cosmos

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Cygnus Supernova

 

The Cosmos is all that is or was or ever will be. Our feeblest contemplations of the Cosmos stir us — there is a tingling in the spine, a catch in the voice, a faint sensation, as if a distant memory, of falling from a height. We know we are approaching the greatest of mysteries.   ― Carl Sagan

I’m Still Standing — And So Are You

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I just finished watching the 2019 movie Rocketman about the early days of writer/singer Elton John.

Everybody has heard of Elton John.

But not everybody knows the extent of his talent and his vision. I certainly didn’t.

I could (and still do) boogy around the living room to Crocodile Rock and Love Lies Bleeding in My Hands. I can get sappy with Candle In The Wind and twinkly romantic with Tiny Dancer.

The movie brought home just how many talented artists are out there in this big, wide world. Singers, dancers, lyricists, composers — the list is just as strong as painters, sculptors, and fabric artists. Just as much amazing talent. Just as much amazing dedication. Just as much sparkle as anyone who loves the Arts.

Watching movie Elton John play the piano as a child brought me back to my own childhood piano lessons. I was barely a blink in the eye of the piano world. Not even a full blink.

The real Elton was a child prodigy, teaching himself how to play the piano when he was only four years old. He won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music in London. The rest is history.

I sometimes wonder if we pay as much attention to our children in the arts as much as we pay attention to them in math or economics. Talk always floats around about cutting funding for the Arts — it’s the first program to be cut in grade school and high school when funds run out, and not the first career parents encourage for their kids.

Things are probably a lot looser these days — but they are probably much harder, too. A lot more competition, a lot more talent. With social media and U-Tube and thousands more movies and concerts and recordings made per month than during the 70s, it’s hard to get by on talent alone.

That is why, when I see raw talent, whether young or old, domestic or foreign, I zoom in on it. Feel it. Explore it. Share it. Even if it’s only in passing, I find pleasure in those whose talents are fresh and raw and evolving and turning and growing.

Elton John had growing pains, too. Drugs, alcohol, dealing with his sexuality, his family — all played a role in honing his talent and legacy. Turning pain into perfection often works on many levels.

But we don’t have to always hit bottom before we hit the top — sometimes a developing artist has a fairly stable life.

That’s why, no matter what you have gone through, that part of your life is over. You can learn from it, reflect on it, then let it go. You take the beauty of who you are today, and let that guide you through whatever form of art calls you. 

You may not be as flamboyant and successful as Elton John, but you are every bit as imaginative. You and your art are powerful expressions of your growth and understanding of yourself and the world around you.

 

You know I’m still standing better than I ever did
Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid….. ~Elton John

 

Fabric Art by Laura Kate

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 8 Comments

I am always in awe and respect of other artists’ works. So many are so good at what they do — I love sharing their talent.

So for this Tuesday blog I’d like to share the recent creativity of Laura Kate from Daily Fiber and her fiber and fabric work. It’s just amazing.

 

Return to Lake Montgomery

Posted on 

It’s been a while since I shared the turtle in the pond fiber object. As a reminder, it was inspired by a photo taken by Bill on a recent camping trip at Lake Montgomery.

I loved the light, the colors and the texture of this image. I knew right away that I want to create my own version in fabric……….

 

Please click on over to her website and see how creates a great piece of art from this photo! 

https://dailyfiberfun.wordpress.com/2020/05/26/return-to-lake-montgomery/

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Molly Hatch

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Molly Hatch is an artist designer with a formal education in drawing, painting, printmaking and ceramics at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University.

She received her BFA from the Museum School in Boston, and her MFA from the University of Colorado.

Hatch, an artist-designer, creates everything from fabric patterns, furniture, jewelry, prints, pen to ink drawings and painting.

Her installations have been featured by the Philadelphia Art Alliance, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Clayarch Gimhae Museum in Korea, and Philadelphia’s The Clay Studio, among others.

Hatch installed her largest museum commission to date at the Newark Museum in Newark, NJ. Commissioned by Chief Curator Ulysses Dietz, Hatch designed and executed a triptych of almost 600 plates for a wall installation for permanent installation titled Repertoire.

Hatch has a remarkable talent for putting together a myriad of designs with plates of all colors and sizes.

Her ceramic installations, inspired by historical decoration, have been exhibited and collected all over the world and has garnered her a loyal and fervent following.

More of Molly Hatch‘s wonderful designs can be found at https://www.mollyhatchstudio.com and at https://toddmerrillstudio.com/designer/molly-hatch.

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery (flashback) — Svetlana Bobrova

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I think one of my favorite Sunday Evening Art Gallery posts was from back in November, 2014, when I shared images from the artist Svetlana Bobrova. A surrealistic artist from Russia, the figures in her paintings are hauntingly beautiful. I cannot get enough of her and her imagination.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can see more of Svetlana Bobrova‘s amazing work at my Sunday Evening Art Gallery blog or at the blue link above.

Faerie Paths — Mystical

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 3 Comments

 

Love, be
mystical

as the flickering
blue flame
of night

as the fully-awoken
moon

beneath cobwebs
of passing clouds

amidst chanting
high-tides

fuzzy,
as my blanket

big enough
to illuminate a hundred
thousand billion galaxies

and just small enough to fit
into my embrace.

― Sanober Khan, Turquoise Silence

Going Up Nort’

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 23 Comments

Well, the self-imposed lockdown has been lifted here in Wisconsin, giving 5.822 million of us here in the state a chance to run around free.

You will find two camps here — one who has to make money and wants their economic freedom back; the other still wearing masks and fearful of every passing shopping cart pushed by someone without one.

I am not getting into any discussion of either side. Both have valid points; both are sure they’re doing the right thing. After my brother-in-law’s brush with C19, plus knowing that 459 families are missing someone here in the state because of it, I tend to stay on the conservative side.

That doesn’t mean I’m not taking advantage along with precaution these days.

I don’t hang out at bars or restaurants, I still wear a mask when shopping, I take my temperature every day — all those precautions many of the “older generation” tend to take to squeeze every extra day out of life we can.

I also am going away on vacation for a week. Away from TV, most social media, broadcasters and newscasters and boring B movies I’ve been finding on my Internet service.

Is spending a week four hours north from here any different than spending a week here at home base?

I would like to think so.

The cabin we share with my kids was originally my father-in-law’s home. He has gone to the great hunting grounds in the sky, although you can’t tell me he doesn’t stop by the place now and then to check in on us.

Anyway, “the cabin” (as we and our grandkids call it) is a half block from the Chain of Lakes, gateway to boating and fishing wonders still waiting to be explored.

I myself always have a different reason to go up nort’.

It’s easy to avoid TV news and propoganda and politics and gossip when you have no TV. And we intend to keep it that way. We have video games out the gazoo, a radio that picks up a few local stations, and the internet connection is so bad we have to drive to McDonald’s if we want a real signal.

But it’s quiet. It’s cozy. It’s fresh air and a little portable fireplace in the middle of the front yard and swimming for the dogs (and people if it’s warm enough). It’s family sitting around and talking. Sharing tales of the old days. Of new things coming up. It’s catching up with what’s going on in school and at work and, if we’re lucky, someone’s love life.

It’s playing card games on the kitchen table at night or on a rainy day. It’s taking naps any time you want, as long as you wake up in time for dinner (especially if you are cooking).

It’s finally reading the books you never seem to get around to reading at home. It’s coloring mandalas in a coloring book with colored markers or typing a short story or knitting a sweater.

It’s peace and quiet.

No one to tell you what to do; no politicians on Twitter or mass shootings in everyday places or animals being tortured or people dying of the Coronavirus.

Not that it stops reality from continuing. We are all aware of what’s going on outside our sanctuary. But for a few days we can pretend that we’re just outside of heaven and the world and life is all about US.

Not a bad way to spend time, I’d say…..

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Mandalas

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 16 Comments

A mandala is a geometric configuration of symbols with a very different application.

It can be understood in two different ways: externally as a visual representation of the universe, or internally as a guide for several practices that take place in many  traditions, including meditation.

The word mandala comes from Sanskrit, an ancient Indian language. Literally mandala means “circle.”

The circle is seen as a magical form, without beginning and end, just as the universe is believed to have no end.

In  religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Shintoism, it is used as a map representing deities, or specially in the case of Shintoism, paradises, kami or actual shrines.

The word mandala conjures up steady breathing and concentration patterns.

The circle is seen as a magical form, without beginning and end, just as the universe is believed to have no end.

. The mandala can also be filled with all kinds of patterns: geometric figures, Buddhist saints, flowers, designs, nature, and more.

Mandalas can be found in stained glass windows, floor paintings, paintings, carved pieces, books, scarves, clothing — any place you can focus on while mediating, praying, thinking, or dreaming.

Next time your heart or mind is racing, find a mandala that calls you,  take time to look at it’s beauty, and calm yourself.

Faerie Paths — Right

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Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.

~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

 

Faerie Paths — Bewitching

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 10 Comments

 

Laughter is day, and sobriety is night; a smile is the twilight that hovers gently between both, more bewitching than either.

~  Henry Ward Beecher

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery (flashback) — Aquariums

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 1 Comment

Nothing soothes the savage beast (or is it the savage breast) like water. Like gentle things swimming around in water. Back on Nov 23, 2014, I showcased a variety of Aquariums. Such a cool way to keep fish! Here is a flashback with a few more added…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More wonderful unique aquariums at https://wp.me/p5LGaO-2E. 

 

 

Ah-Ha vs. Good Grief

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 11 Comments

I am usually happy with who I am. From a writer and painter to a bleeding heart animal lover to unicorn collector, I’ve finally become comfortable with myself.

That is, until I take the backwards road to find an answer to something.

I’ve often said I am of the “pretzel logic” variety — I get to the same place everyone else does, but it takes me longer, for I take side roads, open closed doors, and often get stuck in the mud or in a sandstorm.

I have developed a patience for this lifestyle, but at times I frustrate myself to death. Like “Why didn’t I think of finding that information the easy way?”

Today was a great example of this. I wasted an hour trying to find the original publisher of a book I wanted to credit in a novel I’m writing. Instead of looking in the Library of Congress, a catchall for any book you want to research, I went to this website and that website and read a dozen articles that never once said the publisher was Brace and Company.

That’s in the same category as “Why doesn’t this thing turn on?” when all I had to do was find the hidden switch, or “Why did I drive five miles out of my way when I could have cut over on Highway D?”

Why do I waste so much time going the pretzel way?

Some have attributed this half-conscious sabotage on moving before thinking. Or speaking before thinking. Or acting before thinking. But, being 67, I have slowed down. Thought things out. Reasoned and Researched.

It’s not only my age. I’ve been pretzelling for 40 years or more. Probably even when I  was a teenager. My sons are really good at what they do and how they speak and how they react. So I know it’s not genetic.

But there are times when, by the time I get there, the answer is so obvious I am embarrassed to have shown up at all. That the answer is so obvious my grandkids could have answered it while I was still fooling around.

Now, there is nothing wrong with being this way. Obviously we finish what we’ve started/where we’re going/what we want to do. It just takes us sooooo much longer to get there.

Do you ever feel that way? That you “take the long way home” like Supertramp sings, even if you’re looking for the shortcut way?

I can’t really “hurry up” any more. I mean, I can find more efficient and direct ways to do things, but time is not something I can control. I also can take on fewer tasks in general, which I’m trying to do, with limited success. 

If you find a way to straighten your pretzelly path without taking away from who you are, let me know.

Until then, I will just hope that my “ah-ha!” moments catch up with my “good grief” moments.

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments

Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669) was a Dutch draughtsman, painter, and printmaker.

An innovative and prolific master, he is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in the history of art and the most important in Dutch art history.Rembrandt’s works depict a wide range of style and subject matter, from portraits and self-portraits to landscapes, genre scenes, allegorical and historical scenes, and biblical and mythological themes.Rembrandt’s portraits of his contemporaries, self-portraits, and scenes from the Bible are regarded as his greatest creative triumphs.Rembrandt’s foremost contribution in the history of printmaking was his transformation of the etching process from a relatively new reproductive technique into a true art form.He was also an avid art collector and dealer. Rembrandt lived beyond his means, buying art, prints, and rarities, which probably helped his bankruptcy in 1656, by selling most of his paintings and large collection of antiquities which included Old Master paintings and drawings, busts of the Roman Emperors, suits of Japanese armor, and collections of natural history and minerals.Unfortunately, the end of his life was far from the famous painter he would become.Rembrandt died in 1669 in Amsterdam and was buried as a poor man in an unknown grave in the Westerkerk. After twenty years, his remains were taken away and destroyed, as was customary with the remains of poor people at the time.

More of Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn’s amazing life and art can be found at http://www.rembrandtpainting.net/ and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rembrandt.

Faerie Paths — Gardeners

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 9 Comments

 

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.

~Marcel Proust
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Sunday Evening Art Gallery (flashback) — Numen / For Use

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 3 Comments

Back in November 2014 I came across a group of artists that did amazing things with tape. Yes, clear package tape. Going back to their website, I was pleased to see they have expanded their repertoire, filling their site with more — tape art. Take a look at their marvelous work!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More unusual art — tape and more — at http://www.numen.eu/.

Faerie Paths — Vitality

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 14 Comments

 

 

There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost.

― Martha Graham

 

 

You Can’t Go Wrong With the Arts

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 14 Comments

Since we all can’t be out dancing in the street or go to the movies or even hang at the pub with our friends, what are you all doing to keep busy and out of trouble?

I am hoping you have either found a hobby/art/creative outlet for your cooped up creativity, or are working on the outlet you already have.

I remember hesitating and angsting and worrying about researching and writing my next novel. It was too overwhelming. Too confusing. My real life and pretend life were getting too mixed up.

Has that ever happened to you? 

You decide to step out of your comfort zone and try something bigger, better, more challenging, only to be knocked back by the logistics of the whole thing?

I was ready to give up. After all — who can buck the tide? Climb the mountain? Swim the ocean?

Well, after I calmed down, I found out that ~I~ could buck the tide, etc., etc. 

All it took was taking a step back, then moving forward one step at a time. I’m still doing a lot of research before each chapter — I want it to sound right, feel right. 

And most importantly, I wanted to have fun with it.

You may get to a point where you can’t control where your story goes, what you really want your painting to look like. You might get frustrated at not being able to find exactly the right shape or color or material to make your work move forward. 

And you do get to that point where you want to chuck it all in the garbage. After all, it’s easier to do something you know. Something you feel comfortable with.

I am living proof to not give up. To not listen to that little demon on your shoulder that tells you what you want just doesn’t exist.

The arts are a little easier to maneuver through than, say, swimming the ocean. It’s more creative, more forgiving, more expansive, more liberal. And you don’t have to risk life or death to make a point.

I hope that during this lock down quarantine period of your life you are taking care of what matters most in this world. You. Your creativity. Your mind.

Still tossing possibilities around? Stop tossing and start choosing. Make a poster or outfit or put together an art show or start a blog. Try learning that new piano piece or building that jewelry box — stop thinking about it and just do it. Don’t let fear intimidate you. 

Remember — you can’t go wrong with the Arts.

Any of them.

Let me know what projects you have finally undertaken …. 

Blue — A Poem

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 8 Comments

 

Blue
Not really royal
Or cadet or sea
More of a misty dust
No real color at all
Uncertainty on the horizon
Beneath our feet
Always dancing
Just out of sight
In her shadowed dress
Blue
Not really royal
Or cadet or sea
More of a misty dress
No real fabric at all
Gauzy and transparent
Just enough to
Brush your heart
And make you ask why
Blue
Not really royal
Or cadet or sea
More of misty feeling
No real depth at all
Incoherent and transparent
Just enough to
Turn your mind
Away from your thoughts.
Blue
Not really royal
Or cadet or sea
More of a misty dust
No real sense at all.
A touch of reality
An eternity of dreams
Fills your soul
With cerulean hints of hope

 

©Claudia 2020

Sunday Evening Art Gallery (midweek) — Jade

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 11 Comments

Jade is the name shared by two distinctly different minerals – Nephrite, a calcium magnesium silicate, and Jadeite, a sodium aluminum silicate.

Though they have different compositions, hardness, density, and crystal structures, both are exceptionally tough stones, similar in appearance, and equally valuable in metaphysical properties.

Both occur in the beautiful olive shades we’ve come to recognize as jade green, but have some distinctions.

Nephrite generally occurs in creamy white, mid- to deep olive green, brown and black. It has a smooth surface polish with a waxy sheen and is more commonly found.

Jadeite may be a white-gray green, leafy green, blue or blue-green, emerald green, lavender, pink, red, orange, greenish-black or black. It is hard and lustrous, rarer than Nephrite, and usually more expensive.

Translucent, emerald green Jadeite, colored by traces of chromium, is called Imperial Jade and is the rarest and most valuable.Jade is said to bless whatever it touches, serving mankind across the globe for nearly 6,000 years.It is the ultimate “Dream Stone,” revered in ancient cultures, as well as today, to access the spiritual world, gain insight into ritualistic knowledge, encourage creativity, and dream-solve. It is the stone of calm in the midst of storm. Its action balances nerves and soothes cardiac rhythm. No matter what its metaphysical properties, it is an eternal, beautiful stone.

Faerie Paths — Make Believe

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https://www.deviantart.com/milenkadelic

 

Make-believe colors the past with innocent distortion, and it swirls ahead of us in a thousand ways – in science, in politics, in every bold intention.

~ Shirley Temple

 

 

 

Watch What You Say

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 16 Comments

Earlier today I wrote a blog which, after thinking about it for a while, deleted.

I have that instant temper thing; it rarely comes out, but when it does, I want to tell the person — or the world — what I think. I take a lot of baloney from the world, most of which I try to ignore. Let it roll off my proverbial back. Mostly because I can’t do anything about ignorance and ignorant people.

But I’m seeing so many people these days making blanket statements about people and situations that they know nothing about. Hearsay. Second hand information. Guess work. And what they are saying is hurtful.

We all make guesses about everyday things. We’re not there in the front row — guesses are often all we have. Even when we have all the facts.

It’s hard staying optimistic during these trying times. It’s hard staying in a good mood. We do our best, even though the world is falling apart around us. 

Sometimes I think the answer is staying away from the media. Social media, print media, broadcast media. For every positive story about people doing their best to help each other out, there are other stories of people being nasty to each other just because they don’t see eye-to-eye.

This world makes me sad, sometimes.

We all have the best intentions, but sometimes, in a crisis like what we’re all going through, those intentions get mashed up with our fears and insecurities until we don’t even recognize ourselves.

I know I hate being cooped up inside. I hate wearing masks. I hate not seeing my family. I hate that some of my friends are unemployed because of this virus. I hate that my friend’s kids won’t have a graduation party or can’t try out for the soccer team because there is no soccer team.

But we can’t break down now.

We can’t start being mean and selfish just because we can.

I know I’ve written about this before. Usually I spout and move on. That’s what you have to do these days. We’re not world leaders; we’re not doctors or lawyers or policy makers. We are regular people with regular fears and loves and dreams.

But I seem to find I’m having a harder time moving on these days.

Maybe it’s being on lock down. Maybe it’s too much Internet and not enough painting or writing or needle-pointing. Maybe it’s too much focus on a virus that may or may not get me.

I know someone who had C-19 and recovered. That should give me hope. It’s almost summer. That should give me hope, too.

Think before you post. Before you speak. Before you call. If not for the other person, for yourself. Turn off, delete, block. Don’t let others control your reactions by their actions. Find your golden rule and stick to it. Be nice to each other.

We’re all we’ve got.

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — James Michalopoulos

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 7 Comments

Painter and sculptor James Michalopoulos was born in 1951 in Pennsylvania. Michalopoulos received a BA from Bowdoin College. After managing the Boston Food Co-op for two years, he began to sketch. He has never stopped making art.

In 1981 he was drawn to New Orleans as the last bastion of hippie bohemian culture in America.He began sketching artists and musicians, houses and street corners.Fascinated with the duality of beauty and decay, the architecture of the city became his muse.Capturing the spirit and the essence of his subject in layer upon layer of thick impasto paint, a portrait of the city appeared, brimming with color and energy.In the early 1990’s Michalopoulos operated a studio out of Lausanne, Switzerland, and exhibited both there and in Geneva, London and Berlin. Today he divides his time between New Orleans and Burgundy.The French countryside, with its Roman era stone buildings and verdant fields, has become a large focus of his work, but there is nothing better than New Orleans.

More of James Michalopoulos‘  wonderful art can be found at https://www.michalopoulos.com/.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Get Creative and Share!

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 12 Comments

Grandkids Get Creative

Today — Every day — is for sharing. Sometimes I’m not up to it, other days I’m buzzing around like a bee with pollen. Today is a pollen day.

I’d like to share some of my blogger friends’ finished artwork. I enjoy following them, and I really appreciate their efforts to bring beauty into the world. I know I might miss some, but that share is for another day. Take a look — follow the links — and enjoy their work for yourself.

 

https://dailyfiberfun.wordpress.com/

 

https://friendlyfairytales.com/

Seeing the same four walls
in this endless
pandemic confinement,
but imagining far fields……………

 

https://ivors20.wordpress.com/

There must be a number of silent masks around

Yesterday an old mask flew away at the speed of sound

From behind, the real pieces of what we perceive……………

 

https://gwenniesgardenworld.wordpress.com/

 

https://chaoticshapes.com/

 

https://anthonygrootelaar.blog/

 

https://rakupottery.ca/

 

https://leafandtwig.wordpress.com/

the flowers’ shadows
write their own poem
on the book’s pages

 

https://brushparkwatercolors.wordpress.com/

 

https://thelonelyauthorblog.com/

i will love you
in the silence of your reflection
in the echoes of your pain………………………….

 

https://rothpoetry.wordpress.com/

Painting // passing time
Waiting for Summer release
Ready for a hug

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery (flashback) — Stilettos/High Heels

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 10 Comments

My Sunday Evening Art Gallery is not only for unique artists and their work — it’s also a show-off gallery of odd, beautiful, and unusual collectibles that fit into one topic.  My first fun Gallery was Stilettos back in  November of 2014. Try these on for size!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More stilettos at https://wp.me/p5LGaO-2H.

Faerie Paths — Perfection

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 8 Comments

 

 

I am careful not to confuse excellence with perfection. Excellence, I can reach for; perfection is God’s business.
~ Michael J. Fox

Keep Your Glitter!

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 14 Comments

How are you all doing this fine stay-at-home day? 

One thing I am discovering on my quarantine vacation is that now that I have the time to finally do all of the things I’ve wanted to do in 40 years I don’t feel like doing anything.

That includes TV marathons, long walks in the woods, cleaning and rearranging closets and drawers and rooms (for the 4th time), writing, crafting — even eating.

That’s not right.

I feel so blasé about everything. Except my stress. 

THAT I can’t seem to control. 

Between my brother-in-law in ICU for C-19 and the article I just read about rehab after ICU and my cat in the midst of dying and driving 200 miles round trip to clean twice a week, I’d say there’s just a little to be stressed about.

I’m sure your caseload is just as stressful. If not more so.

It seems to cluster and peak when you can least do anything about it. 

I guess it’s called going through $hit. We all have to do it, deal with it, move through it and past it. Standing still, running backwards, or beating your head against the proverbial wall does not make it go away. 

So you still have to go through it. 

You HAVE to find ways to go through it.

After writing this piece, I’m going downstairs and sponge painting my bedroom that I’m turning into a library. I will be making a forward motion in my stand-still world. I can take my time, pretend I’m Picasso, and leave the stress behind for an hour or two.

You have to do that, too.

Even though your energy level may have changed in this lock-down phase of life, you can’t let blasé-ism get you down.

Even if you have to listen to Benny Goodman or Ozzie or Justin Bieber, you’ve got to find your beat and jiggle it. Wiggle it. Paint it or dig-in-the-garden it or calligraphy it. 

You won’t be living under the blanket of C-19 forever.

But you will be living with yourself.

You’ve got to vent it somehow. Scream it or whine it or cry it or babble it. It doesn’t matter how you get it out — just GET IT OUT.

Make your  going through $hit colorful and sparkly. Like a rainbow or glitter or fluorescent painting. Make your statement loud and clear. Work it out! Get through it! We’re all in this together. And we’ll all get through this together.

Even if we all don’t like glitter.

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Charles Vickery

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 4 Comments

 

Charles Vickery (1913-1998) was an American painter born in Hinsdale, Illinois.

He is best known for his naturalistic depictions of historic ships in the open ocean and crashing waves in all types of weather and times of day.Vickery studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the American Academy of Fine Arts.Recognized as the “finest seascape artist of our time” by the Los Angeles Maritime Museum, Vickery was known for his dramatic paintings of the sea.Vickery brought a new meaning to the term “marine art” as he submerged himself in the study of the constant interplay of nature — the sun, sky, wind and water all working together.He deeply loved the ocean, saying, “All the colors of water come from the sky because every color of the sky is reflected in that water. And the sky has all the colors of the rainbow in it.”

In his lifetime, Vickery saw his works grace the walls of galleries, embassies and private residences.

More of Charles Vickery‘s masterpieces can be found at https://www.vickeryart.com.

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery (flashback) — Louise Bourgeois

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 6 Comments

Louise Bourgeois  has done a number of different art styles in her lifetime — her monumental abstract and often biomorphic works deal with the relationships of men and women.

My favorite works of hers will always be the giant spiders. They are truly Magnificent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dreaming

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 11 Comments

Vladimir Rumyantsev

This is my first spring being “retired.” I’ve been teased with a few warm days, but today it’s slipped back into cold and sleety and snowy, as spring always does, here in the Midwest.

These days I notice that there are quite a few things that have changed since my work days. 

I dream a lot more about work. Not my last job, particularly, but I’m always “at work.” Sometimes I’m being reprimanded for, I don’t know — misbehaving, I suppose. In other dreams I’m quite successful, pulling off a stunning career at 67. 

I often hear that our most private desires come out in our dreams.

I also hear that our biggest fears come out in our dreams.

I think what’s most frustrating with this quarantined retirement is that I’m not getting a chance to make a final stand, so-to-speak. To join clubs or groups I’ve always thought about but never got around to being a part of. To take classes at the nearby university just for fun. To make new friends that are my age who are going through what all of us go through at one time or another.

And with the weather misbehaving at the moment, I can’t even get outside and putz around making gardens like I promised myself I would. 

That will all come, I know. I talk to family and friends on a regular basis, keep in touch on Facebook. I keep in motion, I keep busy. If you don’t use it you lose it, and all that.

The biggest difference between quarantine and retirement is that I am lonely in quarantine. I mean I have a great relationship with my hubby. But outside of him. I’m not a big social person to begin with, but I realize how much we all need human contact to continue to grow. Everyone doesn’t have to be your best friend, but it’s nice sometimes to exchange pleasantries in person.

Like when I was working.

I might not have been best friends with my co-workers, but we shared parts of our lives with each other. We brought a different point of view, a different life, into the conversation. We shared ideas, places to visit, birthday parties and new craft projects and all sorts of stuff that stimulated my curiosity. We gossiped and complained about work and it was all quite entertaining.

What I miss is the choice of exposure these days. The choice of meeting for coffee or sitting on my deck by myself. The choice of working together for a common cause or striking it out on my own. The choice of asking how someone’s grandma was or minding my own business. The choice of hanging with my grandkids here or at their house.

Maybe that’s the big difference between retirement and quarantine.

Choice.

Working all my life just to have this new avenue of choice open up to me, and finding the gate is still locked. 

I know that sooner or later the gate will open and opportunity will greet me on the other side. But things will have changed. The world will have changed. And my retirement will be different than what I thought it would be.

But at least it will be. Better later than not at all. 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery (flashback) — Fabergé Eggs

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 16 Comments

I don’t often do repeats on the original Sunday Gallery, but since today is Easter, nothing is more befitting than the beauty of Fabergé Eggs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Am I/I Am Overthinking

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 3 Comments

Sometimes I wonder just what kind of writer I am. I make myself laugh. In weird ways.

I’ve been writing all my life. I’ve written mostly fiction, although there have been a few non-fictions along the way. I have no problem inventing people, places, and situations in the fictional world. Even fiction in a non-fiction real world don’t hold me back.

Except this stupid novel I’m still trying to get off the ground.

I have actually started writing, having done a lot of basic research, and using everything from Google Maps to traveler’s websites to be as accurate as possible.

The story is fiction. About a non-fiction person. Me. Going on a vacation. Fiction. To a real place — Paris. Non-fiction. Visiting romantic restaurants and museums that really exist. Non-fiction. Running into manifestations of people who have passed on. Fiction.

In the past I have written about not being able to kill off people in my novels. I dunno — it’s just not me. Fine. Now I have to write a fiction book about things that never really happened as though they really did happen. But I want them to sound real.

Somewhere I’ve gotten lost between fiction and non-fiction.

I have no problem making things up if my work is considered fiction. The sky’s the limit. Right?

But when I really want to be as truthful as can be, I feel like I’m fibbing if I don’t exactly explain what this museum looks like or that restaurant feels like.

Why can’t I just pretend and be done with it?

Does it really matter in the story if Rue Saint-Guillaume actually intersects with Rue Perronet? I mean, I have one story about a woman being transported from Earth to a different part of the galaxy, for Pete’s Sake! Why does it matter if my character goes to a real live close restaurant or happens to walk a block or two to a place that, on a map, is three miles away?

I think I’ve got to get back to the basics of fiction vs non-fiction. That one is one and the other is another and you are either/or. That unless it’s 100% true it’s fiction. And no one cares.

As long as it’s readable and enjoyable, no one is going to care. After all, that’s how ~I~ read books. How do I know if the Barrymore Theater on Broadway is on 47th Street or 45th Street? Do I care, when the heroine is kidnapped by a Phantom of the Opera wannabe?

I know I overthink everything. I think many of you do, too. Not on purpose — it’s just that you want whatever you’re working on to be as perfect and “right” as it can be. Are you cheating on your stitching? Are you calling your work one thing when it technically should be something else?

Let it go. I have to just stop thinking and start writing. And you have to do the same thing. Stop overthinking everything. As long as you finish what you started, no one will know — or care.

And even if YOU do care, don’t. Don’t they say the best non-fiction is usually fiction anyhow?

 

 

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery (flashback) — Gary Greenburg

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 9 Comments

www.sandgrains.com.

Way back on October 14, 2014, I highlighted the microscope photography of Dr. Gary Greenburg. His website, Sandgrains, has fascinating explanations of something we take for granted every day — sand. You must stop by his website and read the explanations yourself.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check out more at Sunday Evening Art Gallery.

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Rice Patty Art

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 10 Comments

Rice Paddy Art, called as “Tanbo Art” in Japanese,  is a work of art in which gigantic pictures are drawn on the rice field as canvas by mixing different colors of rice plants instead of paint.

Its detailed description and high artistic quality bring a large number of tourists every year.Rice paddy art began in 1993 when purple and yellow rice plants were used to make a picture of Mt. Iwaki along with letters on rice paddies.This curious art style, started in a village called Inakadate in Aomori Prefecture drew in so many people, the topic spread all across Japan, Korea and Taiwan.The main purpose behind the creation was to take advantage of the tradition of manual work in rice cultivation to give people an opportunity to learn more about rice farming and agriculture.The massive pictures are elaborately designed using perspective drawing methods to make them look their best when seen from the observation platform.

These days there are over 100 locations doing rice paddy art. 

Behavior During the Pandemic

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 23 Comments

This Coronavirus thing just keeps getting scarier and scarier. There is no doubt that it has affected all of us in some way or another.

But within all the bad energy floating around there has to be some pockets of fresh air and bling. So here are a few of the things that I ~personally~ have noticed.

More positive posts on social media.  While there are plenty of warnings still being passed around on Facebook, Twitter, and others, there has been more funny videos, pictures, and statements to lighten up our load. Dreams of dancing once the epidemic is over, cats getting tired of their humans being around all the time, and dogs exhausted from taking 10 walks a day, all put a smile on those of us quarantined at home.

More inventive socialization.  People in Italy singing to each other from their balconies. Apartment complexes flashing their lights at different times for the emergency workers getting off shift. People standing in their driveways and waving to passers-by. Anything to get out of the house and reconnected to the world around us.

More men watching interesting TV shows. There is no football. No soccer. No basketball. No baseball. What is a healthy male supposed to watch on Sunday afternoons?  I walked into the living room the other day and my husband pointed to the TV, saying, “Look at that recipe! And see how she cut that zucchini? We could make that!” I’ve heard other tales of men binging  on Downton Abbey and Gordon Ramsay, too. 

Kids being bored. What child doesn’t love staying home from school? Except when sick, hooky is a rite of passage for every boy and girl. By now, though, half the kids are sick of their brothers and sisters, TV shows, and doing schoolwork at the kitchen table. Plus somehow, amazingly, mom’s art projects suddenly look lame compared with their art teacher’s ideas. 

More people are downloading and reading books. And I don’t mean just the latest sensations. More people are publishing e-books and more people are desperate for escapism. I imagine the numbers of classics downloaded these past weeks has increased as well. Heck — I downloaded “Anna Karenina ” by Leo Tolstoy the other day. I’d seen the movie with Vivian Leigh, and was curious to see how a man wrote about female infidelity in 1878.

More kindness and religious posts. Whether we are praying/thanking God or spreading hearts and kindness, people are putting a positive spin on what is hurting us. People are leaving painted stone hearts at fire stations and hospital doors, passing on thank yous in the most imaginative ways.

Less people are posting, though. Although there are a number of people I follow who haven’t posted in quite some time, I am noticing the chatty ones are slowing down as well. I suppose it’s hard to be witty and clever and say something significant when there is death and illness popping up all over the place. I know ~I~ have slipped into more art gallery posts and less chit chat.

Houses are cleaner than they’ve ever been. I am no exception to this observation. I have cleaned drawers and closets and hidden spaces I never knew existed since I’ve been home. I’ve set out plastic chairs and empty planters on my deck like I was going to be in House Beautiful. I have put my videos in alphabetical order and gone through toy boxes and recycled items that should have been recycled out years ago. It’s amazing what I and my friends have accomplished these past few weeks.

I am not making fun of the pandemic; I am merely reflecting how people are coping with it. It will run its course sooner or later, and we can all go back to being screaming-at-the-TV-football fans or getting that haircut we desperately need.

But we can smile, too. That’s something no one can take away from us.

Have you seen anything interesting these days?

Sunday Evening Art Gallery (flashback) — Bubbles

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On February 11, 2014, I published a delightful blog called “Bubbles.” Do we believe everything we see? Or do we merely wish it to be so?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More at Sunday Evening Art Gallery

Faerie Paths — Morning Meadows

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When I first open my eyes upon the morning meadows and look out upon the beautiful world, I thank God I am alive.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Is This Retirement?

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From the outside, being newly retired and being under lockdown for the Coronavirus are the same thing.

In both, you get to sleep in. I’ve kept up with my cleaning, I’m cooking more homemade and sometimes fancy meals, go for walks with my dog, stay up late, binge on TV shows and movie series, and continue to search for my circadian rhythm.

Sounds perfect, doesn’t it? It was all I wanted when I was putting in full days behind the computer.

But under the surface they feel different. They are different.

And it all comes down to one’s interpretation of personal freedom.

I have a lot of that under lockdown. My husband has to still go to work at night, so I’m alone 3-4 evenings a week, so that has turned into my personal time. Writing, wandering, reading, lower-energy things for evening time. I take naps, text and call friends, research books, and binge on the Ming Dynasty if I want.

But I don’t feel free.

Retirement meant going out and meet friends for coffee whenever I wanted. It meant getting a little more active in my community, joining groups like the local Art Alliance and going to a meeting or two. Being retired meant running to the store for bling supplies mid-task or stopping by my grandkids house Saturday mornings for a playtime or two. It meant taking off for a couple of days and visiting a new place or a week off at the cabin.

Now I’m not free to do any of those things. 

Believe me, my staying at home mode is more me than the governor’s decree. I’m a little older, a little slower, and have had my share of medical scares. I am not going to jeopardize my future with my kids and friends and my blogging friends by hanging where the virus may be lurking. 

I want this virus to go away. I want my friends and family and even people I don’t know to stay healthy and not be affected by it. I don’t want to accidentally spread it nor accidentally get it.

Bur I want chocolate shakes with friends and evenings with music to be on my schedule, not some virus’s. I want to be that retired person who has ten times more things to do than when I worked in the world. I want to pop into the store to buy something fresh for dinner and throw parties for my family and volunteer at the local art gallery and take off for Las Vegas for the weekend if I want.

I want to be retired the old-fashioned way.

Not this way.

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Forrest Bess

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Forrest Clemenger Bess (1911–1977) was an American painter and fisherman.

Burning Bush

 

He is known for his abstract, symbol-laden paintings based on what he called “visions.”

Matilda

 

Bess made his own frames and worked mostly with dark, brooding pigments, which he sometimes mixed with sand or varnish for texture. 

And All the Things I Have Forgotten

 

Throughout his life as an artist, Bess developed a complex visual vocabulary to accompany his obsessive devotion to beliefs and theories that separated him from society around him. 

Dedication to Van Gogh

 

Bess believed his visions and the resulting paintings came to represent a pictorial language that had universal significance.

Premonition

 

He also he believed his imagery formed a blueprint for an ideal human state, with the potential to relieve mankind of suffering and death.

I Can See Through Myself

 

He is now regarded as a unique visionary, an artist who cannot be grouped with any one school but who belongs to his own vivid, personal vision.

Untitled

 

Bess was formally diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic late in his life. As an alcoholic and increasingly disturbed, he experienced frequent hallucinations, visions that often translated into art.

Seascape With Sun

 

More of Forrest Bess‘s visionary art can be found at http://www.forrestbess.org.

Sunday Evening Art Gallery Midweek — Doug Rowell

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Doug Rowell is a sculptor and woodcarver.He has carved such impressive pieces as the coffee table from the TV show “Sons of Anarchy” and a solid body, non-electric banjo for Steve Martin.More importantly, Rowell  is internationally known for his custom electric guitar bodies.He carves each guitar one at a time, and each is one of a kind.His commitment to detail and individuality for each client is evident in every piece.The engraving is a truly remarkable work of art so much so that most of his customers choose to hang them on their walls rather than play them.More of Doug Roswell‘s amazing carvings can be found at carverdoug.com.

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery (flashback) — Kurt Wenner

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https://kurtwenner.com/

 

Kurt Wenner was my first Sunday Evening Art Gallery blog back in August, 2014. His amazing ability to create 3-D art on sidewalks and pavement got me hooked into the world of amazing, unique art.

His art gallery has expanded since then. Be sure to check him out! You will be amazed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

More at Sunday Evening Art Gallery – Kurt Wenner

More Art for the Stay at Home Crowd

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 2 Comments

I am home bound (like most of you), and see no exit for the foreseeable future (except to grocery shop). The world is stressing all of us out, and I myself can do nothing about it except to stay inside and away from the virus.

So…..

I have decided to post a few more Sunday Evening Gallery artists during the next few weeks. We need more beauty, more creativity in our lives. We can’t do much about what’s going around except stay in and stay away, so why not fill your world with unique and beautiful art?

On days I don’t introduce someone new I will repost some of my early Gallery artists so you can revisit their unique beauty.

Stay in, stay safe, and dream of green fields and fresh air.

We’ll be set lose soon enough.

 

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Ken H. Leung

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Born on May 14, 1933, in Canton, China, Ken H. Leung moved to Hong Kong in 1949 to become involved in the city’s vital young artistic community.

Largely self-taught, his first oil paintings went on display in a Hong Kong gallery in 1960.

Within a year, Leung’s fishing villages and coastal community scenes were a sensation in art circles, and the leading art gallery of Hong Kong started to represent his art.

Over the years, H. Leung exhibited his oil paintings across several countries, and he received numerous honors and distinctions along the way.

His choice of colors is bold, his strokes smooth, bringing his love of his home country through in every painting.


Today, H. Leung is recognized as one of the premiere neo-impressionism artists. 

Leung is a master of the enchanted landscape, dreamy moods, and magic reflections of light and color.

More of Ken H. Leung‘s incredible landscape paintings can be found at http://leungstudio.com/.

 

Amazing Nature!

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 3 Comments

Something beautiful to start your weekend….

purpleraysblog's avatarPurplerays

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”

~ Lao Tzu

Text and image source: Jain 108 Mathemagics http://www.jain108.com/
📸: @subariwahid (Instagram)

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Free Time To Do … What?

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Depending on what country you live in, most of us are on (voluntary) shut down. So what are you doing with your free time?

Our last few days have been filled with — cleaning. Yes. What time to start spring cleaning than on the first day of spring. Because I’ve been going through a stuffed-house situation in another state, I am now tending to get rid of too much in my own abode. 

Like you, I’ve kept way too much for way too long. Clothes that don’t fit, nic-nacs that don’t fit my current way of life, baby toys for grandkids who are not babies anymore. 

Now with this new state of mind, I’m able to let go of things that will never fit, blend, mix, or make it to the junk drawer. 

It feels good.

I’ve been saying I want to take advantage of my time home to get more creative. Writing, of course, is my top priority. But it’s not flowing as I had hoped, so on to the next project. I’ve got an idea (and supplies) for wind sparklers (I don’t know what to call them yet), so I should be starting this craft in a day or two.

I’ve finished reading an e-book I’ve been hitting for a few weeks, and am all ready for the next one. I also have a dozen hard covers waiting to be read (or reread, as the case may be), so I am certain to be hitting them during the coming days.  

I’m learning to cook again. I’ve always known how to put hot dogs and beans together, but since my husband and I have more time together, I’ve decided to try things like Parmesan Lemon Chicken and Lasagna Roll Ups.

My dog is not used to me being home and inside day after day too. So needless to say, there are more fetchy days, more treats, and more pets. 

I have also started binge watching series I never would have time to watch. You know me — Chinese/Japanese/Korean period pieces with English subtitles are always high on my list. (Ever watch The Ming Dynasty? That’s where i am now.) Downton Abbey and The Sopranos are also good candidates.

Of course, I’ve watched more stupid movies than I usually do. I’m not a B movie watcher by trade, but there has been time to slip in a dumb zombie or punk love movie now and then. I know — many of you will say you’d rather turn the TV off and sit in silence than waste time on junk. Agreed. But with a glass of wine and the Internet on my lap, you may be able to stay inside and away from the virus and have a laugh or two, too.

There is a lot of scary information crossing the airwaves these days. I myself have never seen such a pandemic during my lifetime. And you can only keep up with so much information. Every one says it won’t happen to them. I certainly hope this virus doesn’t introduce itself to any of my readers, that’s for sure. 

But you never know. So be smart. Stay inside and away from group play for a while. Find a way to improve your own living quarters, and expand your own mind. Explore worlds you haven’t had time to explore before.

What are you doing these days? Share Share Share! Give us some ideas!

Faerie Paths — Ocean

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Alfred Jansen

 

Blue, green, grey, white, or black; smooth, ruffled, or mountainous; that ocean is not silent.      ~H. P. Lovecraft

 

 

 

Bling a Little Bling

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Well, now that we are all on “lockdown” for a few weeks, how are you planning on taking advantage of this extra “me” time?

Besides the obvious writing, which is slow in coming, I’m working on my Boho.

I have referred to this shabby-chic style quite a few times in the past. The last reference I can find is from 2014, Old Lady BoHo, where I was inspired by Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks.

Of course, that was six years ago. Plenty of time to get the wardrobe going, eh?

Here it is March 2020 and I can finally say I’m on my way.

Why does it take some of us longer than others to change? What are we waiting for?

We spend so much time “talking” about change in whatever form is necessary, but it takes us so dang long to get off the ground. We are going to change job fields. We are going to spend a little extra money and finally make that recipe we’ve held onto for five years. We are finally going to stop by that new pub that opened six years ago.

I myself have done plenty of talking through the years. Some goals I’ve met; others I’m still working on.

Still working on. Like Still working on losing weight. Or working on getting published. Some things never really move forward, even though we pretend they do.

But working on my wardrobe is at least one thing in my life that’s moving forward. I’m having fun reinventing myself. Just like I’m having fun writing. Or planning a garden.

I think it’s not so much what you do, but that you do it. It’s important to find a past time that is enjoyable and productive. I have one friend who is taking cooking lessons. Another who just took up quilting. Another who has slipped (temporarily I imagine) from poetry to painting.

Creative people are always reinventing themselves. Adapting and finding new ways to express themselves.

I myself am having fun bringing bling and fringe and beads into the world. My past is more a spread of gray and black, a conservative spread that came from my parents. Now I want to sparkle when I walk, When I talk. When I write. I have been uncomfortable with all three most of my life. And I’m tired of feeling second rate in everything I do.

Now those things can only come from within. I know that. Bling and fringe will not make me more confident or smarter. Only my heart can do that.

But if my sparkle can make someone else smile, if my bling reflects the sparkle of the world around me, why not push away that conservative shell and give it a try?

You should try giving yourself a change, too. Just learning from the beginning or pursuing something you’ve always thought about changes your whole perspective about life. And yourself.

And who couldn’t use a little extra bling in their life?

Stop Yelling at Me

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 20 Comments

Well, the madness about the Coronavirus is taking over like a runaway train, smashing down gates, panicking everyone, along with  showing many people’s true colors.

It has also has spotlighted one of my (many) character flaws… Im getting hurt way too easily. What a baby.

You would think a chick in her mid-late-60s would have her $hit together enough to not let the panic of the pandemic rattle her cage.

Well, my friends, my cage has been rattled.

One thing I’ve noticed is that people are getting very opinionated and vocal about this pandemic. I am reading responses (this happens to be on Facebook) from people that are bordering on nasty. And like a runaway train, it keeps on going. Faster and faster.

Schools are already closed in my state, along with churches, restaurants, and activities of any sort. Now the discussion/debate is whether we should be “social distancing.” If we should stay away from public gathering places like restaurants in order to not get/spread this virus. I gave my simpleton response to someone’s FB question and was dutifully pounced on for it.

Look. I am old(er). My family and friends are either getting up here or past me. I have young kids and younger grandkids. We are all concerned. We are all in various stages of understanding something like this, and are doing our best.

But there are increasing numbers of people who are losing patience. People who are yelling and scolding online to people they don’t even know. Even people who make jokes to get through the darkness are being sent to the woodshed. The big bravado provided from behind a computer screen makes people pull that “what’s the matter with you?” card.

It makes me hesitant to post anything anymore.

 I understand the reasoning behind ultra caution. What I don’t understand is the bullying.

Look, people. I’ve survived cancer, family members dying,  car rollovers, and surgeries. I will survive the coronavirus, too, without stocking up for Armageddon.

Everybody gets it. This is a bad time for healthcare. World War II and Vietnam and the Holocaust were bad times for healthcare, too. But we survived.

There is no need to get naughty and nasty about sharing your opinions. These are your fellow human beings you’re talking to. I don’t want us to become a world isolated from itself because some still don’t “get it.”  We need to share ideas and opinions so we can learn. So we can grow.

Stop yelling at me. Or my friends. Or at people I don’t know.

Stop being a bully.

This, too, shall pass. But the hurt feelings won’t.

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Melissa Schmidt

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Lamp worker and designer Melissa Schmidt works out of her 120 year+ studio  in St.Louis, Missouri.

Inspired by her antique blown glass buttons, her work is whimsical and unexpected as the buttons she found two decades ago.

Her glass mastery is mostly self taught, having experimented with years of refining techniques.

Schmidt’s work is at once tactile, visual and auditory as movement creates delight for the wearer and observer.

She uses borosilicate glass material with frit, glass powder, grinding, sewing, and 35 mm slide film, as well as foils and precious metals.

Schmidt’s creativity is a delight to the eye, a unique sparkle in the world of jewelry.

More of Melissa Schmidt‘s amazing glass work can be found at http://www.melissaschmidtstudio.com/.

Faerie Paths — Doorways

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Every present moment will offer itself as a window onto eternity, a doorway to the infinite.

    ~Deepak Chopra

 

 

 

People and the Coronavirus

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Wednesday or Thursday evening has become my grocery shopping night. I’m either on my way back from cleaning the Chicago house or spending some time with the grandkids, so why not stop on my way home and save a trip tomorrow?

So hubby and I stopped in a big superstore in Waukesha, a fairly big and bubbling city in Wisconsin.

The above picture was the scene for the check out line. It ended at the far wall of the superstore, in the last frozen food aisle. See where the arrow is pointing? That is the beginning of the check out turnstyles.

People kept falling in line behind the last one in line. And on and on. We wandered to the front of the store where there were way shorter lines and got out in a jiffy.

But everyone was buying water and disinfectant. And toilet paper.

Toilet paper.

Standing in line for over an hour just for toilet paper. Limit 2.

People, people, people. What is going on?

I understand using caution with the coronavirus. People are popping up with this infection all over the place. In the U.S., everything from March Madness basketball games to local choral concerts to music concerts to Little League Championship Baseball Tournaments have been cancelled. Universities are closing immediately until further notice. (My niece is one who is being sent home today).

Cases in the U.S: (updated on March 13 at 9:30 .a.m., WebMD)

Deaths in the U.S.:

Washington state: 31. Twenty-two are associated with the Life Care Center skilled nursing facility in King County, Washington
Florida: 2. One is a previously known patient in Santa Rosa County who had recently been on an international trip The other is a person in their 70s who tested positive in Lee County, also after an international trip.California: 4. One was in an elderly person from Placer County who had recently gone on a Princess cruise to Mexico. The other is a woman in her 60s from Santa Clara County. The third was in a woman in her 90s who lived in assisted living. The fourth was in a woman in her 60s who had traveled overseas. She died in Los Angeles County but is not a resident there.

New Jersey: 1. The state’s first death is in a man in his 60s from Bergen County.

Georgia: 1. The state’s first death is in a man in his 60s with underlying conditions.

South Dakota: 1. A man in his 60s from Pennington County. Gov. Kristi Noem said he had underlying health conditions.

Compare that to:

So far, the CDC has estimated (based on weekly influenza surveillance data) that at least 12,000 people have died from influenza between Oct. 1, 2019 through Feb. 1, 2020, and the number of deaths may be as high as 30,000.    (Health, 2020).

I am not downplaying the seriousness of any virus. Not at all. I’m old and am at risk just like everyone else.

But PLEASE. Standing in line for an hour just in case you are kept in your house for a week or two? Stocking up on water — like your faucet won’t work?

I was amazed, appalled, astounded, astonished, alarmed, and basically just freaked out by how many people were stockpiling. Each one looked at the forever-line and just fell in behind them.

What is happening?

It’s as easy to catch the flu as it is to catch the coronavirus. And just as easy to prevent it. We’re not talking about those who are weakened by another condition, just to be taken by the flu or the virus. We are not talking about those with weak immune systems.

We are talking about John Q. Public.

Wash your hands. All the time. Sanitize the air if you must. Stay away from large crowds if you must. Even if you get the virus, the chances are ENORMOUSLY RARE that will you die from it. You probably will get hit by a car before expiring from the virus.

All I’m saying — I think many of us are saying — is just use COMMON SENSE and we will all get through this.

Now excuse me while  I sanitize my insides with a little Moscato Wine….

 

Inspiration from Downton Abbey

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In my later years I have become a big fan of Downton Abbey.

For those of you not familiar with the PBS series that ran from 2010 through 2015, Downton Abbey is a chronicle of the lives of an aristocratic family and their servants in the early 1900s.

You would think a television series about snotty but loving rich people and crabby but loving servants would be boring, to say the least. But I’ve watched this series twice already, and am enthralled by the people and their morals and choices during that time period. It is well acted and easy to be pulled into their mini dramas.

The Vox website calls Downton Abbey “… maudlin, sentimental, and overwrought.” That may be true, but my point is not the “right” or “wrong” of the serie’s intentions.

I love a book or movie that can actually bring you into another time, another world. A storyline that makes you reflect on what you believe today compared to what they believed “back then.”

I often bristled at their morals, their choices, their personalities. The series hits upon everyone’s weak spot. This person is such a beast, this one is such a simpleton. This one is hiding an out-of-wedlock child, this one can’t read.

But I found that I don’t have to agree with their way of life to enjoy their way of life. A true storyteller brings you into their world with little effort on your part. Their effort, on the other hand, is often amazing. They research the time period, the language, the location, and the morals of the time. They research the gossip of the time, the belief systems, and even the weather.

Downton Abbey has made me rethink some of the things I have written in the past. Or perhaps has made me question my presentation of the times my characters landed in. Not that anything I have written is wrong — it just makes me want to be as accurate and accepting of the times as the stories deserve.

I have seen movies where modern lingo is meshed into ancient Rome and Egypt. I have read books where modern morals take the place of puritan values just so the lovers can meet — and  love. And although the end result is still entertaining, it’s not reflective of the beauty of times other than ours.

I am smart enough to know that there was indeed — and still is, to some extent — a large divide between the upper class and the working/lower class. That not all rich people are as accommodating as the Crawleys. That not everyone who was a cook or lady’s maid enjoyed their position in life. But it is a glimpse of the prejudice and morals of the early 20th century.

I will be done with the second round of D.A. soon. I have learned a lot from the Crawleys and their life from 1912 through 1925. And I look forward to the next series that will give me ideas from their era. I will listen to the thoughts and emotions of those who lived all those years ago, and try to hone my characters closer to the truth.

Are there any shows, books, or movies that have influenced your creativity?

Sunday Evening Art Gallery — Wenqin Chen

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Wenqin Chen studied at the Art & Design School of Fuzhou University 1995-1999.

 Since 2000’s, Chen has used Chinese calligraphy, sculpture and installation to explore the relationship between life, art and their diversity.

The being of life, the wonder of the human experience, and tensions in our living environment are intrinsic to and evident in his work.

As a source of inspiration and research, Chen studied extensively the human body, various scientific journals and statements, real life examples, and countless images.Working in mostly stainless steel, Chen’s sculpting is a process of comprehending and elaborating on the vastness of life.

“Everything has life, life is everywhere,” is the truth he consistently explores in his work.He  has successfully combined his art and pursuit of academia with ancient Chinese culture and contemporary western art.

More of Wenqin Chen‘s work can be found at http://wenqinchen.com/.

Faerie Paths — Saturday and Sunday

~ humoringthegoddess ~ 11 Comments

 

Imagine living a life where every day are your Saturdays and Sundays. Make every day your weekend. Make every day a play-day. – James A. Murphy