tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9841704155761181222024-03-08T04:08:06.284-08:00Magenta Colour BoxTrying to force myself into blogland to actually blog, experiencing as much resistance as creating.Magentahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05615331954550284169noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-984170415576118122.post-40139946854083589682010-12-02T01:21:00.000-08:002010-12-02T01:27:15.839-08:00Séraphine Louis "Séraphine de Senlis"Highly recommend a French film about the artist Seraphine de Senlis, as she became known.<br />
In <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009" title="2009">2009</a>, the French biographical film <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9raphine_%28film%29" title="Séraphine (film)">Séraphine</a></i> by director <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Provost" title="Martin Provost">Martin Provost</a> won seven <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A9sar_Award" title="César Award">César Awards</a>, including Best Film and Best Actress for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yolande_Moreau" title="Yolande Moreau">Yolande Moreau</a> who starred in the title role. <br />
<h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Biography">Biography <span style="font-size: small;">taken from Wikipedia</span></span></h2>Séraphine Louis was born in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arsy" title="Arsy">Arsy</a> (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oise" title="Oise">Oise</a>) on September 3, 1864. Her father was a manual laborer and her mother came from a farmworking background. Séraphine's mother died on her first birthday and her father, who remarried, also died before she was seven; at which point, she came under the charge of her eldest sister. She first worked as a <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepherdess" title="Shepherdess">shepherdess</a> but, by 1881, she was engaged as a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_worker" title="Domestic worker">domestic worker</a> at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convent" title="Convent">convent</a> of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisters_of_Providence" title="Sisters of Providence">Sisters of Providence</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clermont,_Oise" title="Clermont, Oise">Clermont</a> (Oise). Beginning in 1901, she was employed as a housekeeper for middle class families in the city of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senlis,_Oise" title="Senlis, Oise">Senlis</a>.<br />
Alongside her arduous day jobs, Séraphine painted by candlelight, largely in secret isolation, until her considerable body of work was discovered in 1912 by German art collector <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Uhde" title="Wilhelm Uhde">Wilhelm Uhde</a>.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Hamilton_0-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9raphine_Louis#cite_note-Hamilton-0">[1]</a></sup> While in Senlis, Uhde saw a still-life of apples at his neighbor's house and was astonished to learn that Séraphine, his housecleaner, was the artist.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Greer_1-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9raphine_Louis#cite_note-Greer-1">[2]</a></sup> His support had barely begun to lift her horizons when he was forced to leave France in August 1914; the war between France and Germany had made him an unwelcome outsider in Senlis, much as Séraphine was, given her eccentric persona. They only reestablished contact in 1927 when Uhde – back in France and living in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chantilly,_Oise" title="Chantilly, Oise">Chantilly</a> - visited an exhibition of local artists in Senlis and, seeing Séraphine's work, realized that she had survived and her art had flourished. Under Uhde's patronage, Séraphine began painting large canvases as large as two meters high, and she achieved prominence as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Na%C3%AFve_art" title="Naïve art">naïve painter</a> of her day. In 1929, Uhde organized an exhibition, "Painters of the Sacred Heart," that featured Séraphine's art, launching her into a period of financial success she had never known - and was ill prepared to manage. Then, in 1930, with the effects of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression_in_France" title="Great Depression in France">Great Depression</a> destroying the finances of her patrons, Uhde had no choice but to stop buying her paintings.<br />
In 1932, Séraphine was admitted for "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychosis" title="Psychosis">chronic psychosis</a>" to the <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychiatric_ward" title="Psychiatric ward">psychiatric ward</a> of a geriatric hospital at Clermont, where her artistry found no outlet. Although Uhde reported that she had died in 1934, Séraphine actually lived until 1942 in a hospital annex at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erquery" title="Erquery">Villers-sous-Erquery</a>, where she died friendless and alone<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Greer_1-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9raphine_Louis#cite_note-Greer-1">[2]</a></sup>. (Some sources <a class="external autonumber" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dalbera/3496879432/in/set-72157608175279314/" rel="nofollow">[1]</a><br />
<div style="cursor: pointer; display: inline; height: 16px; padding-right: 16px; width: 16px;"></div>still state she died in 1934.) She was buried in a common grave. Uhde continued to exhibit her work: in 1932, at the exhibition "The Modern Primitives" in Paris; in 1937-38 in an exhibition titled "The Popular Masters of Reality" which showed in Paris, Zurich, and New York (at <a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MoMA" title="MoMA">MoMA</a>); in 1942, at the "Primitives of the 20th Century" exhibit in Paris, and finally, in 1945, in a solo exhibition of her work in ParisMagentahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05615331954550284169noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-984170415576118122.post-59203685442135428882010-11-02T11:58:00.003-07:002010-11-02T11:58:07.533-07:00<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: x-large;">I felt my lungs inflate with the onrush of scenery—air, mountains, trees, people. </span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;">I thought, "This is what it is to be happy." </span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sylvia Plath, <i>The Bell Jar</i><br />
<i><br />
</i></div>Magentahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05615331954550284169noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-984170415576118122.post-39675259148556002412010-11-02T11:09:00.000-07:002010-11-02T11:09:30.998-07:00I'm so Excited and I Think I Like ItJust received Creative is a Verb byPatti Digh. I can hardly touch it, it is so awesome, I wish I could have this feeling of excitement and optimism every day! Fantastic art, inspirational quotes and simply good stories. Don't know why it took five days to cross Canada after being dispatched though, only takes this long from the UK. <br />
Excerpt from the book by contributor, Maya Stein:<br />
<br />
<b>Irreverent Baker </b><br />
I should be upstairs with others, drumming up ways<br />
to heal the world, save the animals, pray for water<br />
in a far off continent, devote the remainder of my days<br />
to a catalog of restorations. But this morning, it was the matter<br />
of scones that drew my gaze, and my feet remained<br />
planted in the kitchen. One must never ignore the instinct<br />
to create, is what I told myself, and soon the counter was stained<br />
with flour, my hands sticky with dough, the house inked<br />
with the smell of blueberry possibility, and I knew I was not wrong.<br />
This was my prayer, my act of healing, my offering, my song. <br />
<br />
How beautiful and relevant is this to those of us who feel we never do good things, are not good enough and keep looking for opportunities to help others when maybe we are already doing it. Thank you Maya Stein.Magentahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05615331954550284169noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-984170415576118122.post-74473319566858189102010-10-26T14:56:00.000-07:002010-10-26T22:01:08.947-07:00Kelly and the Dark BirdKelly Moore is at the top of my artist rating list, both for her art and words. Her posts bring a smile to my face and a little reality and meaning back to my small, shallow existence. Check her out: http://kellymoore.net/MOMMA_New_York_City.htm I love this:<br />
<br />
<div align="center" class="style17">april 25th 2010</div><div align="center" class="style17" style="margin-bottom: 0pt;"><br />
</div><div align="center" class="style19" style="margin-top: 0pt;">"i have been tould by educated artist </div><div align="center" class="style19">that i am dangerously close</div><div align="center" class="style19">to becoming a crappy folk artist</div><div align="center" class="style19">and not being</div><div align="center" class="style19">nearly "<i><b>dangerous</b></i>" enough to be</div><div align="center" class="style19">good contemptory art</div><div align="center" class="style19">so in order to show ms anne temkin just how</div><div align="center" class="style19">dangerous i am and i am letting her know</div><div align="center" class="style19">that i work in risky conditions at the flea market</div><div align="center" class="style19">where all sorts of varmits </div><div align="center" class="style19">that may or may not carry the <b>plague </b>(BLACK DEATH!!!)</div><div align="center" class="style19">routinely get into my shed</div><div align="center" class="style19">and crap all over everything....</div><div align="center" class="style19">therefore<i><b> i am dangerous" </b></i></div><div align="center" class="style19"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">excerpt taken from Kelly Moore's page</span></b></i></div><br />
Miz Katie: mizkatie.com is another artist I love, she picture below-<br />
<h2><a href="http://www.mizkatie.com/2010/10/18/pink-pantie/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to Pink Pantie">antie</a></h2><div class="entry"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.mizkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/cheers-to-you.jpg" rel="shadowbox[post-8152];player=img;" title="cheers to you"><img alt="cheers to you" class="size-full wp-image-8153 aligncenter" height="576" src="http://www.mizkatie.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/cheers-to-you.jpg" title="cheers to you" width="439" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Greg said her drink is called a Pink Pantie.<br />
lol<br />
He looked it up online.<br />
pink lemonade, Sprite, vodka.<br />
Sounds yummy!<br />
I must try it sometime soon.</div></div><br />
<br />
I also love Mystele of Gut Art, a lovely person with video classes to suit anyone wanting to create and needing a little push. I also love her art. Upcoming classes are expected for December/January. Check her out at http://littleglimpsesstudio.ning.com/ <br />
<br />
Suzi Blu is one of my favourites since I discovered her You Tube vids three or more years ago. She offers great on-line classes and is a super fun, wacky person. http://suziblu.typepad.com/<br />
<br />
Tam at http://willowing.ning.com/ has a <b>FREE five week online art course</b>....week two is up, but there is plenty of time to join, the videos are expected to stay up for a while after the five weeks. Tam is lovely, gentle and compassionate.<br />
<br />
Gary Reef has a great art community at http://www.lovingmixedmedia.com/ I love Gary's stenciled art and video tutorials. Has a great Halloweeny theme now. <br />
<br />
There are so many people who inspire me, these are a few.Magentahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05615331954550284169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-984170415576118122.post-79850626646124639672010-10-25T20:19:00.000-07:002010-10-26T10:18:55.377-07:00The Open Door<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The door opened revealing the sun drenched day outside. Inside the space was vast and black, the only stream of light came from the half open door above. Silver lay motionless, stunned by the trickle of light penetrating her eyes causing her to wince. In another place, another time, she might have seen the light as hope and devised a plan to escape. Now she lay at the bottom of a seemingly dark pit and peered at the opening, her mind dulled by the trauma of her situation. Inch by inch she dragged herself forward, tearing her skin on the sharp gravel floor beneath her, beads of sweat dripped in her eyes. The floor above her was gone, only fragments of what had existed jutted out from the edges. She was indeed below ground level. Her movements were slow and labored, though she moved, the door did not come closer. Her fears intensified as she felt the weight of darkness and the taste of blood in her mouth. Exhausted, cold and confused, she collapsed into a coiled heap in the dirt and stopped moving.</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Days later Silver was found by a neighbour. She lay curled in the darkest corner of her room, a trickle of sunlight touched her face. Gentle Reader, I leave you with this, was there a door or had the door to her mind closed her off from the hope that comes from the light? Without hope can one see a way out? </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://magpietales.blogspot.com/">http://magpietales.blogspot.com</a> </span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Above is my little contribution in response to the photo, which refuses to appear here, on Magpie Tales. I am no writer!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>Magentahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05615331954550284169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-984170415576118122.post-1388540658345516542010-10-18T00:12:00.000-07:002010-10-18T00:17:08.408-07:00Blogging ResistanceHaving semi created five or six blogs in as many years I find myself wondering if I will ever do it, blog. My problem is no different from creating, of which I do little. Instead I wander blog halls and alleys ooing and rring, getting generally dispondent and totally stupid because my 'stuff" isn't like the 'stuff' I like. Do I want cloned creations!? Absolutely not! Then why can't I accept my humble creations and be more accepting. I think I need my midnight blog fix.Magentahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05615331954550284169noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-984170415576118122.post-90216918062244016542010-06-05T00:17:00.000-07:002010-06-05T00:17:44.024-07:00The Importance of Being Unremarkable<h1 class="entry-title"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This was sent to me this week and seemed to speak to me. It comes from: http://www.illuminatedmind.net/2010/05/20/importance-of-being-unremarkable/</span> </h1><h1 class="entry-title">The Importance of Being Unremarkable</h1><div class="entry-content"> There is a lot of pressure to do epic things; to achieve amazing, record-breaking success. And it often gets in the way of doing unremarkable, important things.<br />
When I sat down to write today, I was trying to think of something interesting or remarkable to write about. I wanted to share something, but I felt inadequate because I didn’t have anything profound or mind-blowing to say. Nothing innovative or particularly uncommon flowed into my consciousness.<br />
It made me feel pretty inadequate and unuseful. Everything you do is supposed to stand out, be amazing, and mind-blowing, right? That’s the way I feel most of the time.<br />
It got me to thinking, this focus we have of doing great things and living awesome lives is all well and good, but sometimes that can take us away from the really extraordinary, unremarkable things in life. It can cause us to view the meaningful, quiet, unexceptional things we engage in as unimportant or without much worth.<br />
When we’re focusing too much on doing epic shit, we can lose sight of the truly epic things that aren’t outwardly or obviously epic.<br />
Some of those things might be…<br />
<ul><li>Spending time encouraging someone to follow their heart, and believing in their potential.</li>
<li>Feeling your breath.</li>
<li>Taking care of your family and loved ones.</li>
<li>Being useful in your business, or serving people in a way that is unassuming and not in a way that seems particularly game-changing.</li>
<li>Feeling the ground beneath your feet, becoming aware of the love and abundance that exists in this moment.</li>
<li>Creating something that isn’t groundbreaking, but allows you to express yourself authentically and joyfully.</li>
<li>Doing what makes you come alive, whether or not it’s unique, unheard of, or at a masterful level.</li>
</ul>Sometimes by focusing on having each moment be <em>amazing,</em> you overlook the possibility that each moment is <em>already</em> amazing, without you having to do anything about it.<br />
This is the way I feel much of the time. When I’m trying to <em>make</em> things amazing, I feel stifled by my self-imposed pressure. When I allow things to be as awesome <strong>as they are</strong>, I feel connected and in touch with their inherent qualities. That’s truthful, genuine awesomeness. It’s not manufactured or forced. It’s beautiful as it is. Already. Right now.<br />
Sometimes the quickest way to change the world is to accept how incredible it already is.<br />
So, when I write, <a href="http://www.illuminatedmind.net/limit-breaking-sessions/">when I coach others</a>, and when I live, I want to focus more on the still, subtle, essential awesomeness that is already there… without me having to try to do anything about it.<br />
I think I’m much happier that way. It takes a lot of the pressure off of being game-changing, epic, and remarkable all the time. Most importantly, it allows those things to unfold in a way that is much more joyful.<br />
Because when you give all of your heart, all of yourself to whatever it is you want to create, you can trust that if something is quietly amazing, only slightly elevating your feet off the ground, that is as it should be. If it shakes the earth from its very foundations, then it does. But trying to create planetary tilting results is often the surest way to keep it spinning firmly on its axis.<br />
I think I’m going to have more faith in the divinely intrinsic remarkableness. I’ll leave it to others to decide whether it’s remarkable or not. <br />
<div class="tweetmeme_button"><iframe frameborder="0" height="61" scrolling="no" src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/button.js?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.illuminatedmind.net%2F2010%2F05%2F20%2Fimportance-of-being-unremarkable%2F&source=jonathanmead&style=normal&service=bit.ly" width="50"><br></iframe></div></div>Magentahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05615331954550284169noreply@blogger.com3