Shamsi

Okay, so, today I am bailing on AEDM!  So there, nahhhh.

Yesterday I had a beautiful “SocialCOREUption” class.  The class was great, and Gwenda came in full of stories about her recent trip to Peru… amazing.  We could have spent the whole class just listening to her stories.  I’ve recently been under the spell of fluid-core-movement practice, born of my Dancemeditation(TM) Skyping sessions with Kate.  I’m just loving this practice, I’ll blog more on it later, but for me, this is about as creative as one can be with core fitness   I’m sure there are loads of other programs doing the same, but since I am currently a creature of an experiential nature, I will go with what I do.

When I got home I cooked up some mean tacos (after watching a bit of Bill Cosby’s reception of the Mark Twain awards show).  My only shortcoming was that I did not realize we were very nearly out of tortillas and so instead I personally had a taco salad on a base of tortilla chips! HA!  Take that!  I felt like a kid doing something totally bad… and that made supper fun

Anyway – today I am wrapping things up because tomorrow I leave for Los Angel-es – so very excited.  Birkan Tore is holding one of his first ever “OM” Oracle Messenger classes this weekend and I felt a strong desire to be there.  I think primarily the desire to be there came from a longing to physically meet of a group of people I consider one of my Soul Families.  They are all truly amazing humans (Angels in human form for certain) and I would love to see their faces in person.  So, a class – the information from which should be outstanding to say the least – is a bonus as far as I am concerned.  This is Birkan’s first trip to the states (he lives in Amsterdam) and I didn’t feel I could pass up the opportunity.

SO!  Tomorrow after work, I leave immediately for the airport and I am trying to: finish up all desk-job projects, wrap up things that must be done for the studio before I leave and think of all that I must pack for my 2day-2night whirlwind trip to L.A.  Fortunately I washed all my clothes last night.  Too funny.  I’m a nut, but there it is.

I imagine myself on the airplane with my art supplies and my iPod loaded up with books on tape and music galore.   I of course will have my camera (it’s on my check list) so I have no doubt I will find some crumb of time available for ‘art’.

So there it is, nah :p bailing on AEDM today so that I can prepare for my adventure!

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DAY 5 – DO-OVER!

Wow, so totally nix that last bit… well, not totally, but the bit about me bailing today.  Who knew that such focus could allow for the most precious 15 minutes of creativity?

I just went out to run my “lunch errands” and did them with such apparent efficiency that I had time left over to stop at one of my favorite Salad and Sandwich shops (Counter Culture – it’s really a yogurt shop in disguise of an S&S shop) and pick up a salad.  I dragged my sketch book and pencils in figuring I might have a few minutes while I waited.  Lo and behold there were approximately 5 minutes!  So, I began doodling around this ‘Stamp’ I’d made of the outside of my hand the other night.  I had it my head to do little pictures like when we were kids and made the little foot out of the side of our curled pinkie finger and then toes added on with a little finger print.  Well, I didn’t have an ink pad (but now see I must get one) so I just colored with a marker on the side of my hand… my Sig-O thought I was mad.  I only got one really good stamp out of it and then another much more faded one.  Anyway, I left it.  I didn’t know entirely what to do afterwards.  I kept seeing this image of turning it into a rooster, but never did.

So, sitting at the table with my 5 minutes, I began doodling around the stamp.  That was kind of entertaining, but then all of these fragments of phrases kept floating in my head and the only way to get them to go away typically is to write them down or sing them.

as a total aside here and to explain the words on the picture – I’ve often felt like the butterfly from The Last Unicorn. 

That was an entertaining bit of ‘just getting it out.’  When I walked out and got into my truck I noticed a bit of yellow flowers on the side of the building along the property line next to an empty lot.  I almost didn’t, but then I thought that I just wanted to chronicle the appearance of this bit of beauty in the middle of town.  So I hopped out and took a few shots.

Who knew?

Today there was no ink or pencil put to paper, but lots of mental processes about the Dancemeditation class I taught this evening.  The practices were simple tonight… stretching and breathing, following the breath in our own movements and then the spinal winding and unwinding followed by free movement.  The space was nice, even if not everyone there was completely into it.

Later when I arrived home it was to S. full-on in guitar-mode in the studio.  After inquiring and finding that spaghetti was not a first choice I ended up working with some thin-cut pork-chops I’d purchased yesterday.

I’ve no photographs of this although there should have been.  I was happy with the breading of chops, they came out looking quite nice.  And as a garnish and to add a little flavor I cut up a couple of gala apples and placed them around the chops.  With those in the oven I sliced up a tomato, some Romain lettuce and an avocado.

Ta-da!  South of I-10 Girlie-queue with the creative supper on the quick.  I never realized until I was an adult with a job and a Sig-o that my step-mother had given me these great ‘quick-meal’ skills… fortunately I’ve gone one step further and my meals aren’t as greasy or calorie filled and contain fresh vegetables.  You won’t find me knocking what she did ever though, with 6 people to feed after a 12 hour nurse’s shift on not a whole lot of money.

Henna Design Flower

My Day 2 project for Art Everyday Month (AEDM).  I was inspired earlier this year after taking a “Simple Henna Designs” class with Mychele Boardman at 3rd Coast Tribal.  I’ve had henna designs stuck in my head for this entire year and almost every time I draw, some form or fashion of henna design comes out.  So, this is my little “Henna Flower.”  Oh, this was done with straight up coloured pencil.  I’ve been all about the pencil watercolours lately, but this is just plain ol’ coloured pencils.

“I define art broadly here, so while you may choose to work in one medium throughout the month, you may also want to mix it up with creativity such as printmaking, doodling, cooking, dancing, knitting, decorating, sculpting, painting, writing, book-making, etc… Have fun with the process. This is also a low-pressure, no-guilt challenge. Yes, I want to challenge you to create art every day for the month, but if you happen to miss a day (or a week), don’t feel like all is lost. Simply brush yourself off and jump back in. The priority here is to bring more creativity into your life, not to be perfect.”