Still Stuck in the Pricker Bush

yet still stubbornly trying to work my way out of/through it.

Raining, Pouring, the Bunnies are. . . huddled under an umbrella. Run, little mouse, run!

We are expecting some raaaather extreme storms in a bit so I’m gonna keep this short — little baby computer doesn’t like lightening so I unplug him.

I want to share with you today an artist whose work often makes me laugh and who can’t use a good laugh? Her name is Sandra Arteaga and I want you to go read about her latest doll creation: Stanley White. Go right now, this very minute.

I really, really, love Stanley White; partly because I recently had to give up eating his relatives for the good of my sad old teeth. (It’s a very good thing they make rice cakes in Buttered P**c**n flavor.) Mostly though I adore Stanley because I love the movies too. Well, not exactly going to the movies but just watching movies especially old, old movies. To me Stanley looks very “vintage golden age movie palace”. I hope you enjoy him and his story.

Artistic Inspiration and Individual Style

This is meant to be just a short little post to redirect you over to Muddy Colors for today. Watch this kinda ancient documentary short by Walt Disney on the importance of pursuing individual style.

Do not be put off by the rather dated documentary filming technique or the somewhat wooden narration of the four Disney artists involved. Instead concentrate on what they are saying; the reasons why they are all interpreting the same subject in different ways.

Also vitally important to me is how the beginning portion of the film talks about how when working as a team on a project each member must subvert their own personal style in order to make a cohesive whole. Collaboration is interesting for that very reason; sometimes we can create so very much more as a group then we would have as individuals. However, it is so very very important for all of us to make time for developing our own work. To find that voice that is entirely and uniquely our own.

On Being Stuck

It’s a sad state of affairs to be sure.

I wish that I felt like this:

Lying around in a soft meadow, the warm sunlight on my face, the moist delectable smell of dirt rising up from under the grass, sniffing and occasionally eating a violet. A particularly good spring feeling that possibilities are endless and that life is truly fine.

Instead I am stuck here:

Right smack dab in a pricker bush. And worse, every time I start to crawl out and brush off; something bungs me right back in. Just lately while I’m lying there still stunned and thinking “What the bugger am I doing back here??” someone/thing kicks me in the head a few times for good measure. And they aren’t even considerate enough to wipe the mud off their boots first.

It’s a tiny bit hard to take. Still it is somewhat hopeful that I am persisting in my attempts to crawl out. If only hope were enough. Good thing I’m terribly stubborn.

a TED talk video you really need to watch

Yes, I’m still around — miserably ill and in pain for a very, very long time. Since the end of January but it seems like forever.

Nothing for anyone to stress over; it’s a combination of dental hell and that horrible massively nasty flu that hit a great many of us this year. Seriously, no worries but what a major pain in the backside.

Anyway, go here (crafty pods blog) and watch this TED talk from Feb 2013 by Amanda Palmer. It is so entirely worth 13+ minutes of your life; it might even open up some things inside for you. I sincerely hope so.

Happy Valentines Day!

In case you haven’t yet seen the Disney animated short Paperman, go watch it on you-tube here.

I enjoyed it and hope you will too.

I heard today on TV that this is the worst cold/flu season we’ve had in years. If you are having the same Valentines luck as me — go eat chicken soup and feel better.

January is slumpish

It’s cold, so cold, my feet are blocks of ice.

OK, so it’s not so cold as January used to be. Realistically it should be colder and we absolutely should have more snow (we need the water). Not so cold or so much snow as that one year when we got 15 inches of snow in two days. I’m not even remotely saying that I want anything resembling that. But my feet are still so cold; I need to dig out my poor old Harry Potter slippers (black with gold glittery stars).

I guess what I’m really saying is that I feel slumpish. Really, fold up in a heap, pull a blanket over my head and well . . . slump.

It’s a bit scary, feeling like this.

Conceptual art by Mary Blair for Alice in Wonderland

I know I need to get off my backside and get some stuff done. But I’m also fairly certain I’m not quite ready to plunge down the rabbit hole just yet. It looks damn deep and I flat out don’t have the energy needed for that sort of adventure.

Not at the moment anyway — maybe in a little bit I’ll feel braver.

Happy Boxing Day!

Michael Sowa — Tigerhase

Personally I am choosing to spend this Boxing Day immersed deep in an introspective meditation.

Sure, outwardly it may look like I’m just curled up on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, watching old movies but inside the wheels are spinning in furious fashion.