Astoria Poet and Artist, Pat Stanton
Link to Noel Thomas' website: www.noelthomaspaints.com
07/31/2011
Astoria's 1st Annual Open Studio Tour
Saturday, July 30, was the first of a two-day open studio tour for Astoria, Oregon. A beautiful sunny day brought out many people to visit 33 Astoria artists at 18 different studios and locations throughout the peninsula. In addition, Astoria Visual Arts has an ongong event Coastal Fiberarts 2011. Contemporary weaving, quilts, baskets, wearable art, and more is on display Monday through Thursday until August 18, 2011 at Clatsop Community College Art Center Gallery.
Asoria's Open Studio Tour continues today, July 31, and it is worth a trip out of the house to meet our local artists and see what a wealth of talented and diversity we have in Astoria's art community. Yesterday I headed out on the tour, and stopped two doors down from me at artist, Chris Bryant's beautiful studio and home. I was impressed by the energy, diversity, and beautiful clarity of her work. I was also amazed and inspired by her organization (my Virgo Moon can't create without it--organization), and would recommend stopping by her studio, if not today, some time soon. She is a photographer, painter, and whimsical collagist. The range of her talents has to be seen rather than described. Her subject matter ranges from the natural beauty of her home along the river to the places she travels and visits in her search for beauty. Her painting includes oils, acrylics, pen and ink, and different schools of painting. Known as an excellent portraitist, she offers special packages for portraits for seniors and for families. Chris is also a commercial photographer who designs and produces for local businesses. She also produces videos and instructional media. Visit her website Artist, Chris Bryant, and contact her at Paradise Productions, (503) 325-3933.
Another artist whose studio I visited is watercolorist, Noel Thomas. He and his wife, poet, Pat Thomas, greeted the steady stream of visitors who made their way up the stairs of 249 14th Street in downtown Astoria. Noel's studio, one of those featured in the slideshow for this article, had the real feel of a working artist. His work table and lamp squarly in the middle of the studio, left no doubt about where the focus of his work lay. The walls of his studio are filled with a mix of sketches in progress, framed finished pieces, and a variety of wonderful pieces of works-in-progress. Light poured in from the windows that opened up to the street and the wind blew in from the river a block or two away. His dog, a sweet 2-year old, slept peacefully on a small bed set up in the corner of his office. Noel Thomas is a renowned for his water colors. His ink drawings are wonderful too, and my plan is to get a few for my own home and office. He captures, in just a few strokes, the funny and idiosyncratic quirks of those he meets and observes. His drawings are refreshing and fun.
Two other artists I met at a lovely set of galleries at 1172 Commercial Street, Suite 209, were Fiber Installation artist, painter, and gardener extraordinaire,
and her fellow fiber artist, Shannon Meeker. Shannon was busy creating fiber art when I walked into the studio. Using dyed wool, she was doing a process of creating art yarn figures which she said could be used on other pieces of fiber art. It was enjoyable to watch her creating. Jessica Schleif, whose gallery it is, is a Fiber Art Installation artist. She described an installation she performed as she showed me around her studio. She too, while primarily featuring her fiber art and talking about her recent installation, showed her painting, artistic rooftop garden, and a wide array of her own art as well as the art of her colleagues.
One person whom I had been wanting to visit was weaver, Margaret Thierry. Margaret was sitting at her loom, working on a beautiful piece, and was more than willing to share her art, her ideas, her studio, and ideas for how to get more involved in the local art community. I had seen her work before I met her, and heard about her way with color. Margaret loves her art, and loves to encourage others to try their hand. Fiber Artist and Weaver, Margaret Thierry For more information, visit Margaret's website.
Another artist I met was Anne Marie. Anne Marie is a painter, sculptor, and art collector. She had several of her pieces of art on display, but had a collection of Asian art, furniture, and a variety of art objects on display. One of my favorite things was a sculptor created of batk hand fans formed into a tree.
The person who we all owe a debt of gratitude for the success of the Open Studio Tour, is Drew Herzig from the Astoria Visaul Arts. He facilitated and coordinated all the event planning and preparations, and I heard from more than one artist, "It wouldn't have come off without him, All those emails, but he got us to get this together." The Open Studio Planning Team inlcuded Drew, Sheila Brown, Cheryl Siverblatt, Charles Schweigert, Cathy Nist, Roxanne Turner, Darren Orange, and Rebecca Rubens. Tim aMasuelli and Scott Leahing from Dots 'N Doodle provided meeting and exhibit space. Charles Schweigert designed the brochure and poster for this year's inaugural event, and Sheila (Kiki) Brown provided the cover art.
I wish I'd been able to get to more of the venues, and I plan to go to several more today, but wanted to capture my responses and get the word out there early in the day in hopes that more will enjoy this year's Astoria Open Studio Tour. This year it is free; hopefully next year they'll start charging so the local art community can make some much-needed money to support art and artists in the community. Artists are often not comfortable with marketing our own work, and it is important that we support one another and take ourselve seriously enough to realize our work has worth, beyond the aesthetic joy we get from creating.
07/29/2011
Reflections on Caring for Ourselves
Currently, I'm suffering from overextending so that it's difficult to write at all. So I'm looking for other ways to create and develop while my hand heals. Realizing that I'm nearly totally dependent and focused on the use of my writing/right hand, I now am exploring other ways to write. Soon I will have voice software to help me out. I'll let you know how that goes.
Today, I'm inspired to rearrange and sort, organize and beautify my home and office. Maybe its the influence of Friday, the approaching new Moon in Leo, the progressing of my sun through the last days of Taurus before it enters its 30 year cycle into Gemini, or just a typical day or feeling the urge to sort and sift and beautify my home and office. This summer I've been teaching an early morning class in Portland, a nice long drive from where I wake up in the morning. I've seen a few sunrises, but generally don't wake up into full consciousness until some time after 10. Needless to say, it's been a long summer. The end is in sight, and I'm actually enjoying the people who get themselves up early to join in our conversations and search to understand the spiritual paths we're all on.
In conversations, I find myself sharing ideas for what works to develop those aspects of ourselves that we long to wake up, explore, or express. There are three things that have been stable methods for me to develop the writing discipline and the practice of self care needed to maintain an artist's life. First is my regular writing practice. Regular journal writing (recording dreams, making lists, writing about life, writing, and more writing). At first, it was hard to get started (20 years ago); now it's hard to find a substitute. Started an online journal that I can speak into, but for now I'm using photography as a daily journal. Second, handwriting and typing, rewriting even dreams into online folders. Looking at what I do, there is very little that does not involve either handwriting or typing. Third, living life normally. What I call normal is being able to open a package, use a can opener (okay, sometimes I use canned goods. Sue me), slicing onions or even a banana. Driving my car (I have a stick shift). Buttoning or unbuttoning, zipping or unzipping. By now, you get the idea.
So how does a writer live without writing? Once I went from the present tense to the past, ( I am working too hard to I worked too hard), the damage had been done. My bad habits caught up with me. So now, to heal and reorient myself, I am learning how to do just about everything differently. This is not an article on complaining, for my simple problem with a hand is not the end of the world, and is nothing in contrast to what others suffer. For an artist, the proper care of the body, the tools, the resources, the talent, the skills, and the heart and mind, is as necessary as it is for other humans who depend upon their physical, mental, emotional, and socioeconomic health to live.
Quite simply, the needs are pretty simple. As William of Occam, a medieval philosopher suggested in his Occam's Razor: "The correct explanation to any problem was usually the one that made the simplest use of the available information," and I would add, resources. Here's my plan for healing:
1. Rest and get enough sleep. As anyone who experiences pain will tell you, pain zaps our energy. Rest more, take regular breaks (even if you have to set a timer, as C. Hope Clark suggested to me), and spend more time relaxing and sleeping;
2. Listen to your body. Don't work into and beyond pain. There used to be a silly suggestion among athletes, "no pain, no gain." This is just not true. Many times we artists try to separate ourselves from our physical being and needs. Not a good idea. Our body is the main resource we have to create. Listen to what it tells you. Notice how you turn off your pain receptors by working past tired, pain, and good sense;
3. Treat yourself well. Get regular exercise and fresh air. Get up from your work every hour, at least. for every minute you spend hunkered over a desk, workbench, potter's wheel, or computer, spend at least as much time moving your body in the opposite directions. Learn some healthy stretches, yoga moves, or physical therapy exercises that will not only alleviate pain you get into but also will prevent the pain in the first place. Eat properly and regularly. Keep hydrated. Take a bath or shower, or better yet, go for a swim. Walk. Organize taking care of yourself into your daily calendar of things to do;
4. Remember that wonderful doctor, therapist, spiritual advisor, psychic, consultant, mentor, or guide you found and paid good money? Remember and follow their good advice. The best $75 I ever paid was to an osteopath 25 years ago who taught me a simple stretching exercise to do in the shower to keep from getting back and neck pain. When I remember to do it, it works. More recently, my wonderful Dr. Taylor Rabbetz and my healer daughter, Shanie Chambers (Z Health) both have taught me about how my body works and how my brain can be retrained to help me keep balanced, whole and healed. Listen to and follow the path you say you believe in. Practice what you believe to be true;
5. Live more harmoniously. Balance is not a destination, it is a way of living. We seek balance as if it is a place or condition that we can achieve and then maintain. Life isn't like that, and balance isn't an end goal. Balance is a way of living gracefully. Living gracefully is done when we move from one activity and state of being to another, and when we face the areas of life which signal imbalance. Imbalance is indicated when we are out of sorts emotionally, physically, mentally, relationally, economically, or in any way that disrupts and disturbs our lives. Draw a chart and indicate in any 24-hour period how much time you spend doing what you do. Start now. Don't describe your ideal day; describe the life you actually are living. Notice where you spend the most time; the least. Make a list of your key priorities for being healthy, happy, and in harmony. Then rearrange the way you live accordingly. Find ways to live more harmoniously;
I started this article as a result of spending time sorting and rearranging my office and home, but what it has actually ended up being is a sorting of my own priorities. As I have gone through folders, notebooks, lists, and dreams of the last year, I have found words of inspiration, words of encouragement, and words and images that have touched me and led me to a wonderful new home. What I only envisioned, has become my reality. I sit in my own home, looking out at the river and the mountains, the sky and the birds, and realize that from my imagination, my hopes, my dreams has come the reality of my life. Now to preserve this and to ensure that I can keep writing and doing my photography and art, I must honor my limits as well as my opportunities and talents. I must give vent to happiness as well as to the expression creativity. I must embrace relationship as well as my individuality and independence.
I found this lovely poetry that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote of a woman he loved. For me, it is true of anyone we love, anything we love enough to take care of ourselves so we may love another day.
Dall su a pace la mia depende
Chel che a lei paice
vita mi rende,
quel che le incresce morte mi da.
S'ella sospira, sopiro anch io,
e ma quell' ira,
quel piato e mio
e non ho bene s'ella nonl'ha.
My peace depends upon hers [his};
What pleases her[him], gives me life. That which pains her[him] gives me death.
If she[he[ sighs, I will sigh as well.
Her [his] angers and her[his] sorrows are mine
And I have no joys unless she [he] shares it.
From the opera, Don Giovanni, by Mozart
Now, I'm off to practice what I preach, taking a walk, getting out for some fresh air and sunshine on this beautiful summer day in July. Let me know how you take care of yourself and your art.
05/08/2011
Reflections on Stages of Life and Mothering
Reading a biography on Coco Chanel, The Gospel According to Coco I was struck by the perspective of the writer, Karen Karbo, on the life of a woman at various stages of Mademoiselle Chanel's life. In her time, Chanel who like many other fashion designers in France came from an impoverished background, sought to overcome the poverty and distress of her childhood by finding a purpose and creating beautiful, functional clothes for women. Born in the late 1800s, she came of age during the early part of the Twentieth Century. She was from the generation of my own grandmothers, and was a trend setter when my mother was a young woman. She "invented" the little black dress, and the lovely handsewn jackets and straight skirts (ala Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis). She created the fragrance, Chanel No. 5, and later, Chanel No. 19. Beyond that, the way she lived her life was typical of women of the time who had to choose between a career they felt destined for and a more conventional role of wife and mother. She had one true love and lovers, but made decisions according to her dedication to her business. Often her choices were made for her by the men in her life who chose more conventional, "acceptable" wives.
This is, of course, the short version of a very long and interesting life. And when I got to the final pages of her story, I watched as she lost those who were closest to her, one by one. One dear friend, an actress died, and Coco Chanel went to her house, ordered everyone out of the room. She proceeded to use ice to remove the tension, pain, and creases from her friend's face, then dressed her in her finest white clothes and jewlery, and created a final scene for her friend to receive her mourning friends who were invited in once Chanel had prepared her friend. Mme. Chanel died at the age of 87, having dressed to the nines in her trademark suit, strands of pearls, and hat. She took off her high heels, and set them beside the bed, and laid down to meet her destiny, saying something to the effect that "this is the life I've lived."
On many occasions, Chanel had been down and out. Time and time again, her loyal friends came to help her live out her dream. In her late 60s, when women were supposed to be 'old and act like it" she started over once more at least three times. Up until her death, she continued to create beautiful designs that she worked on with her own hands and attention. She took risks, and sometimes failed. She stuck to her principles of going for style rather than fashion, noting that fashion was passing but style transcended time and was always appropriate. She allowed others to copy her ideas believing that every woman regardless of her financial status deserved to dress nicely. She believed that when we take care of ourselves, inside and out, we felt better. While Chanel never had children, she nevertheless is a woman who set trends that affect all women. Though my life is far from that of Chanel, I find her ability to keep on going without losing sight of her dreams comforting.
Another recent influence has been a BBC production of Victoria and Albert. Queen Victoria who ascended the throne as a young woman, was often reminded by her nanny to "Remember who you are." And that piece of advice seems to me to be the crux of what we writers and artists have to do in order to keep on keeping on. As a mother and grandmother, and a wife-in-abstentia, I feel myself drawn to many different callings, emotional pulls, intellectual conflicts, and spirtual ambiguity, but I think at the heart of it all is the eternal call to remember who I am, and to honor that along with honoring those I love, the work I do, and the responsibilities I am obliged to
In our times, each generation has steadily made improvements in the ways that women are allowed to move into new directions. Unfortunately, this has been at a cost. We now expect ourselves and each other to do and be good at everything. As a woman aging, I have nearly exhausted myself in running through the list of expectations that I have set for myself. I watch as my daughter lives in a state of exhaustion trying to take care of her family, herself, her work, while holding onto her dreams. It has always been my goal as a mother to set an example for my daughter and granddaughter of what is possible. And now I am moving to live from the center of my own being. To write, to do my photography, to create my home, and to find harmony and balance in the way I live. I seek to reconnect while releasing that which no longer has a place in my life. I let go of responsibilities that now belong to someone else, I give myself permission to find a different way to live life...while being true to my dreams, desires, and spiritual callings. With more of life behind me than ahead, I seek to sort through what I've left undone or unsaid. I seek to understand what I have left to pass along and what can be passed along by others. I seek to find a way to release unhealed pain, to forgive myself and others for whatever I have done that caused pain, and to live with full awareness of gratitude and appreciation for all the gifts of my life and those I love.
For me that love lies in my family and close friends, in the beauty of the world, in the mystical and magical experiences that make up our lives, and in the endless stories that make up who we are.
My own mother passed away over two decades ago, when I was still a young woman. I miss being with her. I miss knowing who she was and what I didn't know about her. I appreciate her gentle, wise spirit and the decisions she made that gave me more freedom than I might otherwise have had. I love the story she left behind, and the family line she shared with us. We each are like a bead on a long string of endless pearls that connect us to those who came before and tie us to those who will follow us. My mother gave me a beautiful ring that held an abalone pearl in a setting of obsidian and Black Hills gold. It links me to my mother, grandmother, daughter, and granddaughter.
May we each grow, as pearls, to beauty through even the most difficult and challenging moments of life, through the struggle we each have to live our soul purpose, remembering who we are. Remember who you are.
05/02/2011
04/26/2011
04/21/2011
04/14/2011
Is reorganizing becomes a distraction?
At first I thought, all the reorganizing that I seem to get caught up in and write about was a distraction. Really? Upon reflection, I doubt it. The time spent moving things around or looking for the best way to organize the next project, is time spent in oscillating between physical or directed activity and the creative drifting into the realm of searching, probing, reflecting, meditating, day dreaming, or pondering...all those creative realms where we travel when we're not yet ready to put the next step in place. Organizing, clearing out, letting go, cleaning, decluttering, setting up shop or setting down goals, are all part of the process of turning ideas into form and shape.
This morning I've been sitting in my favorite coffee shop, sorting through ideas, projects, searching for material to use later, and having short and meaningful conversations with a few people who provide a lovely atmosphere for me to reorganize my thoughts, get lost in dreaming on paper, and nourishing myself, body, mind, and spirit. Such a rich and lovely time.
My friend invited me out onto the pier to help throw some dead and dying daffodils into the river...a little salad for the sea lions, she said. The rain was coming down, the whole scene before us was made up of shades of grays and whites. Later the sun would come out creating a wholly different scene and mood. That's what life is like along the river, ever changing. I like that.
Each of us has a process...a way we engage our craft, whatever it may be. Last night I got a frantic message from a friend who was trying to finish a piece of research writing...She was struggling, as many of us do, with the dryness of putting together structured, academic pieces of work. She was questioning her entire existence, whether or not she should just give it up or not, and trying to reorganize her whole life, instead of getting back to finishing the piece. After her brief rant, she got back to finishing the paper. She said one thing that made me reflect on how differently we process or come to completion in our creativity and lives. She described her sense of feeling let down when she was finished with a piece of art or other creation. I, on the contrary, love the sense of finishing up something. I find it energizing, not let down. We each take in informtaion, process it, express it, and come to completion in different ways.
How does your process help you create?
Now back to capturing those ideas, connections, and shaping them into something worth the time and energy. Time to pick up pieces of life to that have already been formed and see how they fit together in a piece of writing, a photograph to hang on the wall, or a thought to weave into a gift for someone I love. Clearing, reorganizing, and shaping the outer parts of my life fill me with creative energy, and manifest the beauty of my environment to nurture and entertain me.
This morning I woke before dawn. Just as the first light was beginning to rise over the hills and river, I heard the calling of the wild birds. I opened the window of my living room to the cacophony of the birds flocking all along the river. Greeting the break of day, and taking flight in large, elongated, vee-shaped flocks, their sounds formed the morning call. The crows began their daily search for food, the ducks began their loud calls to one another, and the rippling sound of the river lapping against the shore as the tide came in, was my morning call as well. Feeling the morning air and smelling the woodsy smells of the river bank woke my senses and made me feel at peace.
Reorganizing our lives can be experienced as disruption and may feel chaotic or upsetting. It may take time to adjust to new places, loss of the familiar and dear, or a new way of living and creating. Listening to the call of the soul...the call to move more in the rhythms of daily life woven with pieces of art, craft, beauty, and reflection has been an opening for my senses and for my understanding of what creativity, beauty, and art is all about. Learning to move to the motion of the tides, river, light patterns, weather, and seasons, feeds me and helps me awaken to new ideas, new parts of life, and appreciation for the gifts of life.
04/07/2011
Spring Lights
Spring Lights
This morning as I stood at my kitchen window, my hands warmed by the water as I washed up a few dishes, I felt something on my face that I hadn’t felt in ages. I felt the warmth of the sun. As the sun rose over the lush green hillside to the west, I stood with my eyes closed and saw the color red brightly shining. It reminded me of being a young girl when I loved to play with light and colors...the sun’s ray filtering through a lace curtain, or dust fairies riding into my bedroom on a shaft of light. I remember the kaleidoscope patterns of light and shapes that would result from rubbing my eyes together, or the color my hand would turn when I held a flashlight over it in the dark. I remember the contrast at twilight when the sky turns that beautiful indigo blue, and life seems to stand still and breathless for a few moments.
As I stood taking in the sun’s warmth, studying the red glow that it sent through my closed eyelids, I felt my bare feet on the cold kitchen floor, and sensed the power of the grounding between heaven and earth. Welcoming warmth, light, energy, and color; standing with a firm sense of my place on earth; watching as light filtered and covered every nook and cranny. Sunlight finding it’s way. like a watery deluge bringing spring. Gone for now darkness and shadows, gray, icy slush. Chunks of winter now melting and flowing down moss-covered granite walls into culverts, streams, and rivers. Winter disappearing over the horizon...moving southward to the other side of Earth.
Red, the color of blood, life force. Red the color of love, life’s passion. Red, the color of Mudlahara, the base, grounding chakra that whirls with energy connecting us to our earthly home, our temporary home where we take in nourishment and create our lives. Red the color of a rose in summer, the promise ahead. Red the color of the dried, dead, falling leaves of autumn, the passing of the ages, seasons, past. Red the color of the warm knit shawl given me by my daughter...With all these
I wrap myself in the warmth of the cycles of life. ............................................
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