30. aug.07

Karena A. Karras hails from Chicago, where she graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She also studied at the American Academy of Art, The Naguib School of Sculpture, and the Vogue School of Design. Her work is often compared to that of Surrealist painters such as Dorothea Tanning, Remedios Varo, and Leonora Carrington, but Karras doesn't follow the tenents of Surrealism herself. Rather, she's interested in expressing metaphysical ideas through the use of Jungian archetypes and mythic symbolism. As her website explains,"Through the utilization of the study of mythology, psychology, philosophy, metaphysics, fantasy, and the world of dreams, her work becomes a visual and tangible respresentation of an interplay between these worlds."

   Richard Kirk was born in Hull, England in 1962 and came to Canada at the age of 4. His work was influenced from an early age by the classic book illustrators and forms found in nature, particularly insects and their homes. It amazed him that creatures with weird, even monstrous, forms coexisted with the ordinary world of schools and gas stations. It was perhaps inevitable that his personal artistic explorations led him to explore fantastic and surrealist themes.

 

Tonight is a lunar eclipse. I hope you are ready to step deeply into a celebration of the real meaning of commitment to the enlightenment of all sentient beings. No doubt about it; this will be a very spiritually demanding Full Moon.

I cannot emphasize enough the demanding nature of this Full Moon, especially with the total lunar eclipse. All of North America will witness some portion of the eclipse, but mostly in the West. From the eastern USA, the Great Lakes region and Ontario, the Moon sets in total eclipse. Only observers to the west of the Rockies (including Alaska) will be treated to the entire event. All phases of the eclipse are also visible from islands of the Pacific Ocean, New Zealand and eastern Australia. Various stages of the eclipse are in progress at moonrise for eastern Asia. No eclipse is visible from Europe, Africa and western Asia.

Tonight represents a revolutionary call to bring awareness to the condition of your emotional mind in an effort to uplift all other minds on this planet. Mindfulness becomes extended to include attention to the quality of action and relationship.

This is the night to put into action all of your intentions and give your gifts in service to the enlightenment of all sentient beings So don't waste this Full Moon partying the night away in a drug or alcohol induced haze.

This is the Full Moon to join with others and be lifted out of denial and ignorance. The world is suffering and we all need to wake up and do what we can to relieve suffering. Take responsibility for your own suffering and the suffering of others. Love yourself by loving others. Do what you can to stay in the present and in your heart.

We are all connected and there is no security; for all things are uncertain. We are nothing and everything; full and empty. It is time we relearn to care for each other and start living communally in love and peace.

This Full Moon comes at the height of our harvest season and foreshadows the coming of nature's transition into the winter months of rest and renewal If you were unaware of how much you have, hopefully a quick remembrance of recent natural disasters, unnecessary wars, and general poverty around the globe will awaken your sense of gratefulness and a need for recognition of the impermanence of all things.

On this Full Moon it is important to recognize the fundamental relationship between gratefulness and non-attachment. Use this Full Moon to look at what you cling to and your fear of letting it go. Do you spend most of your time grabbing and craving for more things; trying to fill your inner emptiness with a multitude of possessions? We come here with nothing and leave with nothing. Why then do we hold so tight to things that will not last? This is a great time to ask, "What can I freely give away? What can I share?" Clean out closets, junk drawers, garages, etc. and give freely to charity.

Don't be surprised if you find yourself questioning everything on this night.

This is the Full Moon to practice compassion and selflessness by radiating peace and calm through prayer and meditation. If we waste our lives holding onto anger, resentment, and hatred, we will continue to create a world that reflects our own inner violence. Be aware that the hatred and anger in your heart is helping to feed the violence we see all over the world. It is time to stop the senseless killing we create all around us. Give up the label of victim and embrace your own part in continued killing. It is the first step to becoming a peacemaker. If you fearlessly open your heart and let compassion be your guide, you will automatically become an active peacemaker. Love is the language of selflessness. If each of us would practice this language daily, violence would surely end.

16.aug.07

i found something magical to share with you. for me, this is one of the most exciting artworks currently in progress, of those touching on the realms of faerie. In the form of a Flash multimedia presentation, comprising music, letters that scroll, video, and images both static and kinetic - I need to stop there and start the sentence again, as it sounds a little as though I am describing someone beautiful by telling that she comprises liver, kidney, pancreas, or rather, that she comprises hat, purple coat, shoes. I try again. Cobweb Forest is a beautiful poem/artpiece, very Victorian, very fantastical, and as a compelling tale it chronicles Helena's jumping offship while en route to her husband and her journey deep into the Cobweb Forest. Fragments of journal entry and letters to her still distant husband tell of her trials, her dreams by day and by night, and her awakenings. The project is a collaboration between the already well-established artists connie toebe, whose "boxes" are at once gothic, enchanting, and sometimes horrific, and lisa stock, who has developed some haunting independent films. To say nothing of the music.

15.aug.07

Boston-based artist Amy Ross is interested in the idea of artist as mad scientist. Her drawings offer a vision of what might happen if the DNA sequence of a plant were spliced with that of an animal. lately i've been very interested in tiny, detailed art.  you can read more on amy's blog nature morph.

09.august.07

a while ago i entered a country living contest, "mealtime traditions from your region" and yesterday waiting for me in the mail was a letter congratulating me as one of the winner representing new england. of course it has to be edited, but it's still good news.  and i win a country living quilt.  so keep your eyes out for the november issue and find out what my favorite new england tradition is....

15.july.07

japanese artist aya kato's illustrations are an amazing blend of manga and art nouveau. behold the impossibly ornate illustrations of aya kato. Her work is refreshingly original and breathtaking.

painter and illustrator audrey kawasaki  is known for ethereal oil-on-world paintings of women and girls that look more like watercolor than oil. with graceful curves and haunting porcelain doll faces, her figures are simulaneously vulnerable and seductive.