It’s Wednesday my sweetums…and you KNOW what that means…ta-da….RANDOM ACTS OF ART! Whoo-hoo, that’s right. Time to spread some luvvvv one arty token at a time.
RANDOM ACTS OF ART…make a little arty something. Hide it in public where someone can eventually find it. Photograph the hidey spot and share it with the rest of us online.
In my case, that means little bitty painted heart rocks. Easy to make. Easy to hide. And weatherproof.
This week I decided to plant some love at the local hospital. I mean, who doesn’t need cheering up when they’re sick, right? And it just so happens I had an excuse to be there. Friend Amee’s Granny took up temporary residence with a broken leg. And I am a sucker for little old ladies. I took care of Mama for seven years and one thing I know for sure is they love company. Doesn’t matter if they know you or not. Someone popping in to say hi and hold a hand for a few minutes is a day-maker for sure.
So I drove to the hospital after work. I planted the first rock on a concrete thing just off the walkway between the parking lot and the main building. Plain site hide if someone is looking at the ground.
This is the entrance to the main building. The blue benches on the left are a bus stop.
Well, someone waiting for the bus after visiting their loved one could use a little cheering up, don’t you think?
As I walked through the lobby I left one on the newspaper rack. Maybe it would balance out the ugly stuff in the paper.
I found Granny’s room. Walked in an introduced myself. Then I reached in my pocket and gave her a rock.
Here it is on the bedside table. Seeing her there reminded me so much of Mama. Oh man, I love little old ladies. We chatted for a couple of minutes but I didn’t want to wear her out. I told her I’d be back and next time I’ll bring her a cookie.
On the way out I stopped at the nurse’s station. I explained what I was doing, what Random Acts of Art is all about. YAY! They were enthusiastic. Oh, yes they were! I gave them the last rocks I had in my pocket and they promised to hand them out in the unit. Who knows…maybe I have a couple more RAA converts on board.
Okay, now it’s your turn. Yes indeed! Do you have any Random Acts of Art to share this week? If you posted them on your blog enter the URL of the POST down below where it says You are next. Click Here. Follow the directions and what d’ya know…just like magic your link will appear. Everyone in the universe who reads Arty Life can then read your blog. The blog hop link will remain open until midnight Saturday, California time (PST)
If you want to join us but don’t have a blog, no problem. Send your photos and a brief description to me before Tuesday of next week and I’ll add them to my gallery in my next RAAW post. Please be sure the photos show the hiding spot. Much more interesting that way.
And be sure to spread the word. Get your kids to do it. Your friends. We want to spread luvvv all around the world. One arty token at a time.
Before I go, don’t forget to check out my FaceBook page. There’s always something new there, usually art. And if you like what you see, please do me a HUGE favor and click the ‘like’ button at the top of the page. I’ve got enough ‘likes’ now for a toaster but I’m saving up for a blender. Or maybe a puppy.
It’s been almost a year since I brewed a cup of tea in Mama’s house, the cottage that’s been serving as my temporary studio ever since she died. I’d bring my own tea when I came down to paint. And when I finished it I’d walk up the hill to my house and make another cup.
Even though Mama has a complete kitchen. Even though this was a place of countless cups of tea.
It didn’t cross my mind to put the kettle on down here. Until today. Today I decided to be brave.
Well, actually it was the assignment in Bloom True, Flora Bowley’s on-line painting class. Today we were to face our creative fears and paint them anyway. Embrace whatever emotions the process brings up, head on. So I decided to take the horse picture from last week, the one that was in the early stages, and see if I could finish it. Because it’s easy for me to start paintings, much harder to finish them. Especially a painting that challenges me to find it in the marks, to let it be a dance between paint and canvas.
It’s still not finished. But it’s richer. Much richer.
Here’s how it looked last week.
Here’s what I did today. Think the color is off in the photo. It’s not quite this yellow. This gives you the idea.
But this post isn’t about the painting. It’s about being brave. About letting things come up, And facing them when they do.
One of the first things I do when I come down to the studio is put on some music. Music and painting go together. Dancing too. I’m a multi-tasker. Today I chose Glen Miller. Big band stuff. Mama’s music. Just appealed to me for some reason. Then I put the kettle on. Her kettle. Her stove.
I brewed a cup and sipped on it as I painted. Got carried away with the painting and the music. Eventually the tea grew cold. I put the kettle back on to hot up the tea and as I was filling the cup with the boiling water it hit me…the last cup of tea I had with my mom. Or the last one we talked about having.
It was a day, maybe two, before she died. The days were all running into each other by that point and it’s hard to distinguish one from another. One sister was up at my house taking a much needed break, the other was enroute from Norway. All I know is I was alone with my mother and she was dying.
She struggled to get comfortable in the hospital bed we’d set up in her living room. As I helped her adjust her position she asked me why was her body doing this? She looked so perplexed it nearly broke my heart.
Why was her body doing this? Why was it finally giving out after nearly 96 years…
Because you’re so damn old, Mama. I said it lovingly. Jokingly.
But she needed more than that. I needed more than that. Because we had danced around the inevitable for years but never openly discussed it. She’d moved into the cottage seven years earlier so I could take care of her during her final days. It was the elephant in the room. And he was getting bigger every day.
She didn’t need me to give her the church position. She’d had plenty of visits from her priest, the deacon from her church, the spiritual advisor from Hospice. She knew all about the heaven and Jesus thing. But she wanted to know what I thought.
So I told her about an experience I had once when I thought I was dying. When I realized I couldn’t control what was happening to my body but I still had a choice how I could react. When I realized I could embrace the unknown with fear. Or with love. And I chose love.
“Oh, I like that”, she said with a beautiful smile. “Choose love.” And then she told me to put the kettle on. “Make us some tea. And we’ll drink it with love.”
So I did. But by the time it was ready she’d drifted off to sleep. So I sat there on the sofa within arm’s reach of her bed and drank the tea for the two of us. With love.
Ah, my sweetums….my most loved readers and friends…happy LUVVVVVVVVV day to you!
Today. And EVERY day. Every single freakin’ BLESSED day. No partner? No problem. Because the kind of luvvvv I’m taking about is the kind that feeds you down to your soul. Curls your celestial toes with heavenly bliss.
I’m talkin’ the ZING!!! that wakes you up happy just because you’re here. And alive.
The magical mystery tour (can you tell I’m in a Beatles mood) that comes from the grand adventure of appreciating the wonder–the starburst BLINDING non-judgmental WONDER that is you.
With. No. Apologies.
The take yourself-out-on-a-date kind of love. Because you ENJOY your own company. With a special thanks to friend Emma for sharing this wonderful video.
But…but…THIS IS VALENTINE’S DAY. I want candy! Flowers! A Hallmark card! I want my significant other to make a fuss and tell me how wonderful I am.
I don’t want no stinkin’ New Age date with myself. I WANT TRADITION!
Tradition? Very well then. You can read all about that here.
And while you read about Valentines’s day tradition, I’m going to indulge in some self lovin’ that doesn’t involve dead goats and naked Romans.
Yesterday I said there might be some new collages to show off today. Guess what–ain’t gonna happen. Umm-hmm, that’s right. I overestimated my super-human artistic capabilities when it comes to time. Tick-tock. The wheels on the clock went ’round and ’round while I was running my butt all over town.
Apologies to little children everywhere for mutilating their beloved song.
So where did I go that was more important than making stuff? How about here. The Artists’ Studios in the Foothills, AKA, As If Studios. Had never really been there before. Thought it was just a place where artists rent studio space. They do but it’s much more than that. There are classes, a gift shop, a gallery. I’d discovered their shows are not limited to resident artists and that the current one, the Small Works Holiday Show was taking new work. Because the stuff sells off the walls for Christmas and they’re constantly replenishing.
Well, turns out I had a bunch of small pieces (4X4) I made a couple years ago for the studio tour and the ones that didn’t sell were banished to the attic. Basically forgotten. I dunno why. If buyers only KNEW what was up there, they’d be banging on my door begging for a look see upstairs.
Trouble with these pieces is they don’t photograph well. Covered with gloss medium that looks great in person but sucks when it comes to reproduction. Rather than risk rejection with the photos I just stuck the pieces in a grocery bag and headed on over.
Pretty ballsy, eh? Just walking into a gallery with a sack of art and saying here I am. So unlike me. But the very nice owner/manager Amanda told me to leave the bag and she’d get back to me tomorrow. Then she saw what I had and said she’d take ten pieces for the show. Ten.
YAY!
So here’s a few of the chosen. Crappy Photo Alert.
The pieces are all based around the theme LIVE LOVE DREAM DANCE. The LIVE series consists of houses and symbols of self.
LOVE series speaks for itself.
DREAM series is full of pyramids, boats and other symbols.
And then there’s DANCE. I loves me my dancers!
So if you’re in the area come on by the AS IF Studios, 940 Idaho-Maryland Rd, Grass Valley. Lots of fun work by lots of good artists. Prices are good, just in time for Christmas!
