October Flies By

Last night we had the first Pecha Kucha Night in Salisbury (and the 2nd in NC - our friends at Point8 in Charlotte beat us to the punch). Over 100 people watched 10 presenters on topics ranging from "Wayfarin' Stranger" to "Adventures in SurRealism". That's me doing my presentation, "Color in Translation". Take a look on http://www.eastsquareartworks.com/ or http://www.pechakucha.com/ for a full explanation of this combination powerpoint/slide show/poetry slam event that is now held world wide. Going to Singapore, or Berlin, or Tokyo or San Francisco, or Salisbury, NC........check and see when their next PKN is scheduled....it's a great way to meet new people involved in a wealth of creative endeavors.

Time Flies

Hard to believe that it's Sept already! NC heat is abating somewhat and soon I'll be able to open the big garage door on my studio. Can't imagine what it was like working in this climate pre-air conditioning days!

The Loveland Invitational Sculpture Show was a great success for my first year and I was very glad I made that long drive. We actually packed all the sculpture and ourselves into our Toyota Scion (!) and got 35 mpg. I had been hoping, as we drove, for respite from the heat but we got to CO in time for a heat wave and the humidity was only slightly less extreme than NC. Wonderful to see the mountains though and the wide open spaces.

And it was also good to hear a broader range of political views. It's an important election. Please take the time to track down facts, investigate stories, demand that your questions be answered by both sides, and ask yourself, in this shrinking world, if your personal issue is really the most important one to make voting decisions on. Or, could it be that foreign policy might be more pertinent this time around?

Gourd Workshops & Classes

At last! The Gourd Workshops have begun! Click on Workshops & Classes to see what's coming in September. We'll have a great time and you will love Salisbury in the Fall!

"Seven Poppies"

Here is one view of the finished Poppy piece. It's debut will be at the Loveland Invitational Sculpture Show & Sale, Aug.8-10, Loveland, CO. I hope you'll get a chance to see this breakthrough work. This is, of course, a one of a kind piece. There is no mold of it and it will not be cast in anything. The beauty of working with gourds as material is that they give inspiration by the very nature of what they are. I choose to honor that by valuing each piece for its individuality.

Working on new Poppy Sculpture

Here's a sculpture in progress - poppies. This is very much a additive/subtractive way of working, both with the sculpture medium and the paint process. Messy - and I HATE having messy hands - but it works for me and allows me to create the piece as I go, changing details as well as mass. I'll have it finished for the Loveland Sculpture Invitational Aug. 8-10, so I'd better get back to work. Weather's still great here in NC - heat coming soon, I'm sure.

Best Laid Plans and all that....

So much for the best laid plans! Saturday we got only as far as Charlotte on our way to Malaysia, and today we're back in Salisbury, without having passed Go or Malaysia or Dubai! (No collecting $200 either.) Air traffic control problems in D.C. caused us to miss our international connection. No seats available till 6/8 (which is the day we were leaving Malaysia for Dubai). Couldn't readjust our summer schedule. Trip cancelled. Bummer.

We were so bummed that we went to three (yes, THREE) movies on Sunday and ate out at a Malaysian restaurant in Charlotte. Our favorite Charlotte movie theater, the Manner, was showing Son of Rambow (yes, that's the correct spelling), and The Visitor. Rambow was a charming young-boy-finding-his-creative-self film that touched on bullying, religious narrowness, sibling relationships, isolation and ultimately the meaning of friendship. The Visitor is a moving film about surviving grief, the many sides of immigration and compassion. The acting is superb, the topics handled with balance and attention to avoiding stereotyping. Not to be missed. Third was The Fall, a sumptuously filmed thousand-and-one-nights funny, touching story telling with an absolutely runaway performance by the little girl. Acting all round was excellent but she ran away with the film. I would see it again and again.

Having, by now, recovered from our anticipation of the jet lag not experienced, we are back at work in the studio. We'll be here. Where are you?

COMMUNITY

Community and election year - sometimes that seems like an oxymoron. I've been on the phone bank for Obama before this KY primary and I'm both amazed and encouraged by the number of people heartily concerned with the idea of our country as Community.

One woman said to me that she felt confused and apart from her neighbors regarding the election choices, that she wasn't a "political person" and maybe she just shouldn't participate because she didn't watch t.v. and wasn't really up on the issues.

What response is there to her and so many others who feel confused and manipulated by the media? She didn't feel comfortable speaking with her neighbors since people seemed so angry about so much. In the last eight years many of my friends have fallen into this trap - afraid of being labeled unpatriotic - and have kept still on decisions and policies that affect everyone. I was one of those, too. Afraid. That sums up the last eight years. Afraid of (and you can check all that apply): terrorists, Muslims, born-again Christians, radicals (yikes! how many things can we put in this huge category?),global-warming, food additives, the "Godless", the Other, rapists, bedlam, blacks, whites, Mexicans, illegals, guns, hurricanes, the government, Cary, Bush, Clinton(s), Obama, McCain, scientists, sharks, earthquakes....where is the end of the list?

The list is so long and burdensome that there is no space for home, no tiny increment of time for the possibility of Concensus, of movement toward what my grandmother used to call a "meeting of the minds."

Back to the woman from KY - and then, about ten minutes into the conversation, I heard her find Possibility, and the tone in her voice lightened. I could literally hear her walk into that space of What Might We Change if we wern't crouching in fear. That light of Possibility, the belief that you and I may not agree on many, many things but we could be willing to come together to talk, to find common ground encourages me to stand up and be counted.

Don't be afraid to recognize, to face, to admit that the Other (whomever that is for you) wants peace, family, home, compassion and hope - just as you do. Can you make the first step towards the Other, just to listen for the possibility of coming together? Let's, together, step out of the anger and darkness of Fear and into the power and energy of Possibility.

DUBAI

Exciting venture coming up...we're going to Dubai to research galleries and the art haps on our way back from Malaysia! We'll keep you posted.