I'm inviting community folk to join in a voice project that will culminate in a book to accompany the Voiceweaving Cards I've shared over the years, and have now reformatted into a 30-card deck. Whew! I would LOVE to have you join in this next phase of the Voiceweaving Elements project. To find out more, click the image below or just click here.
Playwright Jennifer LeBlanc has adapted Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale, focusing on the female storylines in the play. It was recently staged through a grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council at Cerimon House in Portland, OR. Directed by Randall Stuart, Founding Director and creative visionary at Cerimon House, the play was staged in the round and performed by a wonderful cast of actors. I had the privilege of creating projected images for settings in the play, borrowing from a variety of sources, merging, revising and digitizing them to complete the project within a tight timeline. Here are a few of those images: I'm very pleased to share that my proposal to RACC (The Regional Arts & Culture Council) to write/publish a book about artist Betty Chilstrom has been funded. Thank You, RACC, and Thanks to the City of Portland.
The image-rich book will chronicle her work as a mid-to-late century regional painter over a 50-year period. Book launch will be in the Fall of 2018 at NE Portland's Cerimon House with a showing of selected paintings and drawings to run concurrently. We'll close the show with a community conversation about neighborhood development, livability and ongoing preservation efforts. I'll keep you posted!
We are here to care for one another, to learn to Love and Trust and that is not always easy. The tides of fear are rising and we are being asked to look deep and find willingness to stay open and trust. Here is a beautiful message to that end:
Geographer Danny Dorling has written a number of books on social justice, inequality and most recently, "A Better Politics, how government can make us happier."
Creating Maps that help us visualize population mass, energy usages, and (below) ancient migratory patterns he offers a set of fascinating keys that helped me understand how the world has changed and continues to evolve. The Ted Talk is well worth 15 minutes of your time. (link below) Click the image below to see a wonderful Ted Talk given by Forest Ecologist Suzanne Simard. "A forest is much more than what you see," says ecologist Suzanne Simard. Her 30 years of research in Canadian forests have led to an astounding discovery -- trees communicate with each other, often and over vast distances. Learn about the harmonious, complex social lives of trees and prepare to see the natural world with new eyes. For those of us who have grown up in the Pacific NW, hiking into the same forests for years, this is powerful confirmation for the preservation of Old Growth stands and wise harvesting practices. Forest secrets discovered by a woman whose fascination with trees began when she just a child...thanks to her Grandpa and her own ever-curious mind. Thanks, Suzanne! As we move forward in life, something to remember... At the beginning of 2016 I was reminded once again to honor the gifts given. We are, each one, filled with the potential to share the most potent, honest, revealing and beautiful parts of our ourselves, our truths. It is in our nature to share with one another and (for me) a core need to connect with you at a heart level. I lag behind my heart, however as my mind burrows into a maze of preoccupation, a never-ending stream of alternatives to paying deeper attention. It is not hard, I whisper to myself, to listen and respond to the gifts within. But it takes willingness and practice and respect to take the time to shape the flowing energies and share them. I ask you to remember that your beauty, your wisdom, your gifts are needed in the world. As we journey on through this decade, let’s remind each other that we are all part of the evolving story; we are all needed. When any one of us is marginalized or disregarded we lose a part our ourselves. Setting the sparks of action and inspiration that will light our way into the future will take all of us speaking our truths and acting on them. I’m sure we’re all aware of the soul-shattering trauma that is forcing change on peoples and other living beings worldwide. The patterns of chaos are raging. But they are patterns and patterns inevitably change. We can shape new patterns, consciously, but it will take time. So, I ask you to keep sharing your light with all of us…keep us posted on your journey. Share your discoveries, your challenges, your beauty, your dreams and visions, and I will do the same. Welcoming in the New Years Gifts, I share a little experiment created in the maze of preoccupation. Photos are from the Department of the Interior twitter site and Hans Silvester (the Omo People) Reposted from the Voiceweaving Blog, 1/3/2016
Every time I pass the ReBuilding Center in my Portland, OR, hometown, I smile.
They are the center for creative reuse of building materials in Portland and also offer deconstruction services. Interior woodworking, windows, metal details created by artisans of the past are being salvaged and reused today. Don't 'cha like that? If you'd like more information click on the link above. Writing about my own experiences as a maker of things I thought about the small but meaningful hand-made gifts I received as a child. A hand-tooled child-size leather bag made by my grandpa, a hand-painted cloth doll from mom, a goofy toss-toy from an aunt and uncle. With dad we brewed our own root beer and hammered and nailed odd bits of this and that together to make unexpected "somethings" that could be a wagon, a boat, a railroad car...whatever we imagined it was. All of those hand-made things were unique, down to the one-of-a-kind labels on the root beer bottles. A good thing to do every so often. So, I've designed a newer, simpler website to share work and stay in touch with you. Welcome to the new! Life is often filled with unexpected challenges and sometimes the outcomes are surprising.
Recovering from a dislocated hip, I practiced with a new tool. . .yah, OK. . . It's the I-pencil. I usually render pencil drawings by hand, then color manually or digitally. Surprised how flexible a tool it is, I was able to render character sketches with a pencil setting that have the feel of actual drawings. Here's a spirit being in digital watercolor who visited while my hip was mending. |