Inspiring Folks

How about some Monday inspiration on this chilly afternoon?  

I'd like to dedicate this post to some people and things that have inspired me.

Personally, it's been a long road.  A pretty carefree and happy childhood was intercepted by almost a decade of chaos, surgeries and whatnot.  And, like my one-woman show says, I wouldn't take it back for the world.  Everything that has occurred in this shaky time has built who I am.  Plus, I've done amazing things I never thought I would do and have met some truly extraordinary people.

Last year, I was given the amazing honor of receiving the Eastern Regional Great Comebacks Award sponsored by Convatec.  These awards were founded by Rolf Bernishke - a former NFL place-kicker who's life also took an unexpected turn, when faced with IBD and eventual ostomy surgery.

Rolf is an amazing guy, and because of him, I was able to meet four other young people from across the country who had all overcome their obstacles with flying colors - thriving as ostomates.

I had the pleasure of getting to know Jearlean Taylor, the National Recipient through these awards, and I'd like to share her story.  You can watch her video for Great Comebacks here, learn about her book Pretty Girl Blues, and gawk at her gorgeous modeling photos on her Facebook page.  You go girl!

The Awards night was a fun night at the famous Wildhorse Saloon in Nashville, TN

Me with Jearlean

All of the regional honorees at the Great Comebacks National Awards Ceremony in Nashville, TN

The second empoweringly creative woman I want to introduce you to is my fellow performer Yokko Yoshiko Usami.  I met her during the awards ceremony for the 2014 United Solo Festival, in which we both performed out our-woman shows.  Yokko used the Japanese dance art of Butoh to tell her own story of Medea, and her show swept virtually every award at the festival!  I had the pleasure of taking a workshop with her in Butoh, and was so inspired by using dance to express emotions in such a different way.  I'd love for you to visit her company website,  Ren Gyo Soh.  Officially, she's a Gyo Soh, an actress, Butoh Dancer, Choreographer, Solo performer, Movement Artist, Theatre Educator and certified Yoga instructor.  Phew!  

 This was me in my show, "Gutless & Grateful: A Musical Feast"

Yokko in her show!

I finally met Yokko at the Awards Ceremony for United Solo at Theatre Row Studios in November 2014.

It was so creatively stimulating to meet so many one-person performers from all over the world who each had a unique story to tell.  United Solo is the world's largest international showcase of one-person performances - from dance, drama, puppetry, comedy, musicals - and the heart, ingenuity and passion that goes into each show is incredible.  Each glimpse into these artist's souls immediately causes you to peer into your own.

The last wonderful woman I want to write about (saving the great creative men for next week!) is my childhood friend Jessie Novik.  Simply looking at her website can explain this.  Her art explores surreality and imagination in such a vivid and ironically realistic way.  She does everything from oil painting, drawing, clay, glass, and went to school for art therapy.  Check out her website, and her art will blow you out of the water!

There are so many more extraordinary individuals I could name right now, but I figure three at a time is enough.  But again, the hidden blessings of traveling alternate paths in life, is that trails intersect that wouldn't in any other case - and I am truly blessed for this navigational mixup!

In the studio...

This was a background I had started the other day

And this is what I came up with!

(Thanks to a new set of awesome paints...)

I do like these paintings together, actually.

I also picked up a bunch of canvases, so I started some prepwork on those - to be continued!

In other inspiring soul-candy, my playwriting professor at Hampshire shared a beautiful poem with me:

For What Binds Us

BY JANE HIRSHFIELD

There are names for what binds us:

strong forces, weak forces.

Look around, you can see them:

the skin that forms in a half-empty cup,

nails rusting into the places they join,

joints dovetailed on their own weight.

The way things stay so solidly

wherever they've been set down—

and gravity, scientists say, is weak.

And see how the flesh grows back

across a wound, with a great vehemence,

more strong

than the simple, untested surface before.

There's a name for it on horses,

when it comes back darker and raised: proud flesh,

as all flesh,

is proud of its wounds, wears them

as honors given out after battle,

small triumphs pinned to the chest—

And when two people have loved each other

see how it is like a

scar between their bodies,

stronger, darker, and proud;

how the black cord makes of them a single fabric

that nothing can tear or mend.

Jane Hirshfield, "For What Binds Us" from Of Gravity & Angels. Copyright © 1988 by Jane Hirshfield and reprinted by permission of Wesleyan University Press.

I resonated with this especially because of what my body itself has been through, but I think anyone can relate to this.  The body remembers - it remembers the good and the bad.  And anything can regenerate, anything can get better.  Things may not go back to how they once were, but can still come together beautifully, just different.  Like a mosaic.  

Speaking of economic creativity, these were actually some pretty nifty free date ideas!

And if you're a spendthrift won your nights out, perhaps one day you can save up for one of these house-related splurges - wow...this puts dream-house on a totally new level!

This is a little primer on some alternative mental health therapies - art, drama, wilderness, laughter - hey, laughter healed me! There was really no road map for what I went through.  I wasn't "sick" and I didn't have a "disease" with a diagnosis.  Furthermore, I didn't have a timeline or game plan for how I was supposed to heal, or if I would, or what the picture of healing and being "healed" even looked like for me.  So I used art and creativity as a lifeline - as an anchor, to pass the time, an outlet, expression, connecting with the world, with my self, to find an identity, reclaim my old one, find some peace of mind when I couldn't find anything else, be messy, and just have fun.  I believe that the body cannot heal without the mind.  There is SO much power in positive thinking.  Medicine had no magic cure - but I found magic in the mystery - I had not choice but not to.  And art is the best way to embrace life's mysteries, I think.  What do you think?

On a cold day like this, pop in some warm cinnamon rolls

This way you can use your ice cube tray for something else.  Here are 23 alternative ideas!

Speaking of repurposing, these are some great other recipes for muffin tins - besides muffins, of course.

And before I go, let me leave you with a song with words I think we should all live by - thank you John Denver.  "Sweet Surrender."

Minimalism...

Second day back and still going strong!  I'm very excited to share with you what I've been up to in the studio lately.  I am playing with a very foreign concept - for me at least.  And we shall call that...

"Minimalism."

What is Minimalism?
(I have no idea.  Really.  In every sense.

1. • min·i·mal·ism ˈminəməˌlizəm/ noun 1. a trend in sculpture and painting that arose in the 1950s and used simple, typically massive, forms. 2. an avant-garde movement in music characterized by the repetition of very short phrases that change gradually, producing a hypnotic effect. Hmmm...I'm thinking more..."simplicity." sim·plic·i·ty simˈplisədē/ noun the quality or condition of being easy to understand or do. the quality or condition of being plain or natural. a thing that is plain, natural, or easy to understand. And for those of you who know me, that's not exactly my strength.  In and out of the studio, I tend to amass "stuff."  And don't we all though?  But me especially, I must admit.  In my writing (which I'm often told could use "more word economy", in my messy room, in my pantry full of every food known to man, and in my hectic schedule - there's much, much "stuff" in it.   So I like to use art as therapy in many ways - and one way is, I like to create art based on how I'd like to start living my life.  Meaning that my cluttered art: makes my psyche feel a bit cluttered.  While my more whimsical art: Uplifts me with a sense of dreamlike, childlike wonder.  Like anything is possible. There's always a lot in my head.  'Tis the life of an artist.  Head, heart, soul brimming with "things" - whether it be inspiration, ideas, thoughts, emotions, or dinner-planning.  Now, I am challenging myself to the task of.... "Simplicity" Less Pollock, More Rothko? Jackson Pollock Mark Rothko

     Well, I'm at least going to try.  And this morning was a start.  I love making inchies.  You can see a bunch of pieces I've made featuring my inchies on the gallery site of my website (amyoes.com) here:  http://amyoes.com/Artist/InchiesGallery

   
   
2. Inchies are a wonderful little art project.  So you want to know what exactly my "inchies" are -
   they're ridiculously easy to make for anyone, and what you make of
   them, how you make them, why you make them is entirely up to you - the
   possibilities are endless and it can be an infinitely open-ended
   project/hobby.  Here's a good place to get you started.
3. 
   
4. For my first art solo art show in 2011, Journey Into Daylight, I created a massive piece featuring tons of inchies called Laugh At Fear.
   
   
   It's very interesting to look at, and it's very big.

I was advised by Jeanine Esposito, working with me at Beechwood Arts, as well as my painting professor at Hampshire College, that I should stretch myself and try to be more minimalistic with my art - (WHAT???!!!!)  And let me just say that it's harder than it looks!!!!  (For me.)  Jeanine suggested that my inchies are so detailed individually, that putting them all on one canvas detracts from them, so just experiment with putting one or two inchies on a single canvas.  As soon as she said that, my mind just went into Zen/Empty/Peace/Clear mode - and suddenly I felt the firsthand experience of how art can be used therapeutically, as a metaphor for one's own life.  

So anyway, this morning, I attempted such a crazy idea (again, for ME) and boy did I struggle!

These were some "bare" (well, to me at least) canvases I started out with.  And honestly, I really did try to do as little as possible to them!  I don't hate how they came out, they're just not..."minimal."  I guess.

Hey, if I have a style and it works for me, why change anything.  Yet, shouldn't we always push ourselves to continually grow as artists, and more important, as individuals?

“My turn shall also come:
I sense the spreading of a wing.” 
― Osip Mandelstam, The Selected Poems

 Then, for me, this was the more bare minimal background I could manage:

 And I did "very little" (again, FOR ME) with it.  I do like it though:

Okay, and now for the inchies.  I painted a few "bare" backgrounds.  Bare in my perspective, of course.

Honestly, I did cheat.  I put one or two inchies on each canvas...But...the canvases are so small that they really can only fit one.  Oh well.  You have to start somewhere right?  

 So...what do you think?  Is it always all or nothing?  If I wanted complete minimalism.  I can just grab a sheet of paper.  This is me.  

(But...)

I'm always willing to grow!  And this was a first step.  In...what's that word again?  Oh yeah.  "Minimalism."

“Out of your vulnerabilities will come your strength.” 

― Sigmund Freud

Well, hello again!

Hey everyone!  I know. it's been quite a while since I've updated this blog.  But, now that I am painting, cooking, and having adventures again, I figured now would be a great time to pick back up again!

The opening gala of Pairings at Blue Lemon (Westport, CT) was a success, and it was such an honor being featured with nine amazing local artists.

Here's me with an old favorite of mine: "Can We Trust"

 "Dancing Girl", "World In Her Hands" and "Bloom" all explore duality - the theme of this show.

 Me with the amazing Jeanine Esposito, founder of Beechwood Arts - who made this all possible!

You can view more photos of the event and the other art featured here.

I will be working with Jeanine again this Spring for her Arts Immersion Salon on May 31st 3-7 for an art exhibit centered on "Resilience", exploring the impact and influence of the arts at the crux of personal crisis.

Another exciting event coming up - in a week actually, is my artist's reception at Tusk & Cup Fine Coffee in Ridgefield, CT.
http://newcanaanite.com/new-canaan-event/opening-reception-for-canvas-talk-a-forum-of-dreams-at-ridgefields-tusk-cup-fine-coffee
Saturday February 28th from 5-8pm, there will be food, music (thank you Matt Oestreicher, you awesome brother you) and it's a great hangout - so stop by if you're around!

This is the mischief we've been cooking up there...

 The inchies just sold last week (on the left wall) so I've been hard at work on another set.

 My parents, brother and fiance were hard at work hanging, nailing, arranging...I was good at pointing...and eating.  And those are important skills too.

 Me with Laura, the owner, pausing for a quick picture between pointing and eating.

 It was tough selecting 30 pieces - I'm not the best at editing my work...  :)

With Brandon, my DIY fiance taking the lead, it all got done eventually!

Hope you all can make it out - if not, my art will be there until the end of March.

So lots of art now, lots of painting, lots of washing and re-washing my poor paint-stained sweaters, you know.

So that's it for my first recent blog post - it's good to be back in cyber-space!

But before I go, I'd like to leave you with some random inspiration.  How about some dream-culinary jobs, sexy lasagna (apparently), an awesome funk-lovin' teacher, insanely clever kitchen gadgets, crazy inventions to keep you warm in the office, weird origins of popular sayings, get ready to go "awww" at this kiddie love story, speaking of kids, these guys have their priorities straight, cleverly creative ways to rethink your bed, and to end this post with a splash of color - try a rainbow recipe - or 27!!!

A little update from my journey...

Yeah, I know - it's been a long time...but things haven't exactly been peachy lately.  I am in the definition of LIMBO - still not eating and anxiously waiting for one of the potential surgeons to get back to me and say whether he can do this operation or not.  It's tough to feel like you are "stuck."  However, in my last yoga class, the teacher read this poem by Mary Oliver that really inspired me:

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
       love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild gees, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

I thought it was very nice.  I've also been experimenting with pastels lately.  I haven't finished it yet, but I started a simple still life of art supplies:

 This is what I've got so far:

 It's gotten difficult to be in the kitchen lately because my hunger pangs have been going through the roof.  However, I did end up making croissants and danishes for my family - which they loved.

 Making croissants might be the most labor-intensive thing I've ever done in the kitchen.  I'm not recommending trying these at home folks.  They are quite a chore!

Danishes were a TAD easier...but not by much!

Yup.  This is me getting chased by wild turkeys on my morning walk...

 And this is me dyeing my hair (slightly) red!  Because I needed a change and I'm too wimpy to get a tattoo.

I am hoping that this waiting-period will be relatively short.  But my medical history doesn't take two seconds to review!  I'm quite a complicated case, but I am hoping that the right surgeon will come along SOON and I will be able to eat...by the end of the summer...please!!!!

Still life is done!

Still life #6 I think?  I am really pleased with how it turned out.  I love the earthy colors and the complex arrangement.  Everything looks really solid.

Tada!!!!!!

To be honest, I've taken a break from blogging because things haven't exactly been peachy lately.  It turns out that after all of this, I might actually need surgery to really heal this fistula.  Tomorrow I go into the city for an upper GI study.  Wish me luck...

On a positive note, Monday I start my 200-hour yoga teaching certification program!!!  I am hoping all of the "zen-ness" will help clear my mind and get me mentally ready for surgery and help me to live with all of this uncertainty.

Art show...pretty soon!

I just found out that "Picture This" in Westport Connecticut is going to have a one day showing of my work in September - very excited!

This is what I've done so far on my still life - it's interesting how I did the grapes.  Instead of painting each individual circle, I blocked in the whole  grape "shape" first, then shadowed in where it was the darkest, then brushed through where it was the lightest.  After that, I mixed the darkest shade of purple and drew little circles.  Finally, I mixed a bright light purple and added the bright white accents.

I painted this background for another inchies piece.

Voila!  Almost there...

 Then I made Spinach Lasagna with Bolognese sauce...

(yum.)