the world is so alive

I went for a morning hike at Buttercup yesterday - the first in several months. I've been paranoid about ticks, and it's been hot. But humid as it was, I needed a dose of the outdoors, and some solo time.
Sometimes I can't believe I am so lucky and blessed to live so close to this sanctuary. Even though you can hear the cars whizzing by on Route 82, until you get to a certain point on the trails, this place is a haven. The grasses are tall and filled with wild flowers; red winged blackbirds, mourning doves and countless others whose calls I don't yet know; the buzzing of bugs (infernal sweat bees!).
Yesterday was a feather day. After a few minutes of walking I came upon four white feathers - not sure what kind. Swan maybe. I don't know what other bird around here is white. And later on my way back down, two gorgeous turkey feathers.
I was paying too much attention to close up macros of wild flowers with my new camera, and missed the doe who I actually heard snorting behind me, and was probably very close until I saw her bounding away up the hill. And another one an hour or so later (Larry had called on my cell phone wanting to know if I was going to the grocery store!) walked right in front of me.
Pics uploading later in the week when Larry arrives in the city with my laptop - too much to carry on the train by myself this morning.

Ark of Hope
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The Water Carriers

While dropping off an art postcard for the A.I.R. Gallery's upcoming benefit exhibition, I happened upon The Water Carriers, a collaborative installation created by the Marymount School community with students from the Tunza 2004 UN Children's International Conference on the Environment in conjunction with the Earth Child Institute. It was a moving exhibition, raising awareness of gender and political issues surrounding water. It's a subject I've been dealing with in my Sacred Water Vessels, on a much more personal vs. global level. Exit Art has a call for proposals for "The Drop" to explore issues of water, to which I've submitted one, and have another brewing. So water is on my mind and I will blog more about when I next get back to the virtual world. At the moment, the real world is calling.

Symbolic Sari
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Tenemos Book
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Tenemos Book
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Watershed of Promise
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The Water Carriers at A.I.R. Gallery
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view from queens
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reclaimed washers for street bling
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Street Bling

For the last year or so I have been making necklaces from found street metal, mostly washers. I give them as gifts and have a bit of a collection going. Some are really wacky - like the bicycle petal - and others truly sublime. Finding these detritus jewels is haphazard, and I have a great opportunity to sell a quantity of them to Aveda for an annual conference so I drove out to Queens to Build It Green and found a great assortment. Not quite as artfully rusted as I would find on the street, but I hope to be able to leave them out in the yard and let nature work her magic over the next several weeks.
You can see some pics above, along with a riverside view back toward Manhattan and the industrial area where BIG is located. I scavenged around in the parking lot a bit and found some antique key holes as well. Got lost going, and went in circles coming back, but it was a nice little adventure for a summer city Friday.

What the Bleep Do We Know?

I missed it for the moment it appeared in local theatres, but I've been jones-ing to see this movie since talking with my freind Rhianna about it. So last night on a somewhat balmy summer city night, Larry and I cuddled up in the air conditioning to have a look-see.
For those of you who are spiritual skeptics, this is a science flik. Quantum physics, actually. For those of you who are more spiritually inclined, as I am, it's an amazing peak into the science of what we've known in our hearts all along.
I had just this week picked up a copy of The Hidden Messages in Water by Masuru Emoto, which is just one of the research projects covered in the documentary. He'd just been at Omega when I started my residency and I'd missed his talk by a morning, but heard that he was just amazing.
Check out the book, rent the movie. Open your mind, your heart, your eyes.

Hum Sah

I've been back from Omega a week and still haven't really caught my breath. Larry left early tonight to go into the city for a karate event that's required for black belts, but I decided to skip out this year in favor of some quiet time.
It was the week of Riva, with my birthday on Thursday, so this is a nice way to wrap it up. It's a bit astonishing to me that after two weeks of at least 3 hours, sometimes 6 or more, of art a day, I am back into a time of no art making.
It was a short week, with Memorial Day at the front end, so I didn't really get a full day off to devote to art making. Perhaps next week will there will be more breathing room.
Omega was wonderful of course. This year even more than last in different ways. The workshops I presented were much more exciting, and I felt much calmer in the presentation of them. Much more in my own skin. Much more confident that I was opening up new worlds. It felt like I got a lot more work done this year, but somehow it didn't look it when I unpacked. I may just expect more of myself now, since I am working more consistently overall.
I'm onto a whole new series of lint work which I am pretty excited about, although it is a bit - how can I call it? - well, it's saleable looking. The pieces are square, tile like, on cardboard from Hudson Valley Materials Exchange, that is quite three dimensional, so it has some depth. And I've played around with wax, and glue in new ways. As soon as I can get Larry to take some pics, I'll upload.
I can tell by my writing that I've not had enough contemplative time, as I'm not really getting to the crux of things here. Just telling trivia. I will get back to this when I feel more in that skin.

The War Magician

Ever thought that what can a magician do during war? Think magic is just an entertainment? Read this:"Jasper Maskelyne, was born in 1902 in England, a music hall conjurer, never fired a shot in battle, but his amazing feats played a key role in the Allied victory in Africa. Among his many triumphs, Maskelyne “hid” the Suez Canal and conjured up illusions of armies and battleships, fooling German