stacks

Gary always told me to clean my $%@* up because when the physical stuff around you is out of order it means that your mind is out of order - you can help the second by gettin the first in order.  If my physical surroundings are a mirror for my state of mind, I must live most of my life in a state of disorder, busyness, and frustration.  I do feel overwhelmed and conflicted a lot of the time.  I have always found comfort in organization.  I love making piles of relevant things.  I like making stacks.  And anyone who knows me at all - knows that I love making lists.  Just the act of writing things down vertically, one after the other, soothes my anxieties and brightens my day.  Its like I can finally visualize the mountain I have to climb.

 

These photographs make me happy.  It is a beautiful thought,imagining these as pictures of what my mind could be.  Compartments will little drawers.  Pertinent facts organized in groups.  Memories stacked in piles.  Knowledge stored in books.

I will be taking three of these photos to hang at The 930 gallery this week.  They are hosting a "Open Mic Open Walls" event, inviting local artists of varying mediums to show off their work and receive honest feedback from an audience.  The event is open to all...come by if you can.

portraits: week 11

Family Portrait Style: The Percifuls.  Family portraits are an interesting thing - they are a mix of different personalities, different expressions, and different demeanors.  You also have the setting to think about - what setting would best describe this family?  Are they all wearing the same color?  Should they be posing or caught in a natural situation.  It is all very interesting.  Marissa and Jordan Perciful are two of my favorite-ist people...they are two of my best friends.  They have recently (4 weeks ago) expanded their family to 3 with the addition of baby Lucy.  They are a family that is joyful: for new life, a comfortable home, and a healthy family.  I was just trying to capture their joy along with their unique personalities. 

its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I love Christmas time: Christmas music, Christmas decorations, Christmas smells.  I have already started listening to Sufjan's Christmas albums and bought quite a few presents, wrapping paper, and lights.  This window display at Scout made me very happy.

portraits: 10

There is this beautiful little bird that flits in and out of my daily life.   She wears beautiful colors and smells of flowers.  Mon petit oiseau is Miss Ashton Balinger.  She dresses in the most beautiful things - lovely little dresses, dainty high heels, and feathers in her hair.  I like to watch Ashton leave or come home from work.  This is where the bird part comes in - she quickly passes through the living room, layers of fabric flowing behind her, clicking across the hardwood floor, and leaving a wave of floral scents behind her.

dirtying up the classroom

Sometimes the best part of my days are spent with people who can't read, can't tie their shoes, and are missing half their teeth.  Some of the most frustrating part of my days are spent with these people. But they are my little people and I love them.  They have the most fun when they get messy, and subsequently get me and the whole classroom messy.  At least "dirtying up the classroom" in art means that it just gets more colorful (I just have to wash off/out this kind of color...).  Hmmmm....getting your hands dirty....creating almost without thinking....sounds like something us big people should try too.

harriet the spider

here is a poem by Margie and me about this photograph:

Harriet the spider sometimes gets sad.
Placed next to the flowers,
she fades out of focus.

She goes a long time
without other spiders.
All she can see are the flowers all around her.
There are so many and they are all so beautiful.

She wonders if anyone will ever
think she is so beautiful;
Shining bright in the sun and
smelling sweetly in the breeze.

Standing on the edge of a pedal
Harriet thinks about her self.
"If I were a flower, then I would be happy."
...she tells herself.

But harriet doesn't know that she is lovely.
There are other spiders in the world that are lonely like her.
If only they could all be friends.

Today, she decides that she isn't lonely after all.
The flowers can be her friend.
Together they can make an even more beautiful picture.

portraits: week 10

Matt Jackson. What to say, what to say? Matt is a character in the very best sense of the word. He is a jokester, an entertainer, a comedian.  He is our resident DJ, our Captain Communicator, our faithful organizer, our team leader.  What would we do without Matt Jackson...I really don't know...probably not very much, probably just lame stuff.