Today our studio submitted two works for consideration into Tacoma’s Portable Art Collection. Here’s their link: https://tacomaarts.submittable.com/submit
Wish us luck! 🙂
Angela Yoder
She is…
She is a very pretty girl. I think her life is perfect. But, it is not. She carries pain and wounds unseen by us. Disappointment sits beside her, gently whispering, “It doesn’t matter. It will never happen.” And she listens. She listens too much. And her heart breaks every day with every broken promise. So, the tears flow, down the crevices and dips of her cheeks, splashing on her hands and feet. And she is left with sorrow and glittered tears under her finger nails.
What now?
Sadness.
There is so much sadness. Tears and salt. Sniffles and streaks. The river begins in her eyes. It trickles at first. Then gains speed with her wails and weeping. The flood gates are opened and the rushing torrent knocks all around her off their feet. They are swept away by her sorrow. No one can stop it. The flood waters reach the highest point and no one is safe. It washes all of it away. There is nothing left…well, not nothing, just fish bait.
Water
When you tell me I have no passion, my heart breaks a little. Because, you do not see it. I am not a rain torrent. Nor am I the ferocious sea with wave after wave of destruction and noise. No, I am the tear drop, A slow, constant drip on the stone that will wear it down after time. My soft release and small splash will slowly erode the earth. But you will not see it. I am not a fire, raging through and gutting everything around me. No, but my passion simmers in my belly, every day. You just do not see it. I do not scream it from the mountain tops. I do not demand the attention of the billions with a shouting voice. No, I whisper it in on the breeze while you sleep and it is heard by the reeds along the river. It is carried by the wind over walls into places that need to hear it. I walk quietly in the trees and I tell the tiny life living there all my dreams and desires. And they hear me. And they don’t have to say a word for me to know that they did. I pray to the stars and the darkness above me in the sky and I know those waves of worry and hope sore up to ears I cannot see, yet I know they hear me. I feel it. Every. Day. Twinkle Twinkle, little star…how I wonder…and I know who you are…
No passion? You don’t see it. I live it every day. You just don’t, or won’t see me. –Ay
Do You Know Your Heart?
I gotta let this out…I am so confused. I see us dividing, it concerns me greatly, and I’m wondering why it’s happening. Is it perception? Is it fear? Is it greed? Our country is inflamed with anger and passion. We, literally, are at a tyrannical impasse. What do we do? The first thing that comes to mind is;
Forgive.
Forgive your neighbor. Did you let that sink in?
Forgive your family. Can you?
Forgive yourself. You are worthy..
Then Forgive. And then Forgive again. And then again. And again…
We are not a Christian nation. We are NOT. Christianity has been warped and made into something I can only describe as hateful and unloving. Jesus did NOT walk and talk the path of killing someone you do not agree with. Jesus did NOT ever say to take a life because you are fearful of skin color or garments. Jesus did NOT turn away from anyone. This is what I see; Christians stuck in the Old Testament. You have made it your very life to separate yourself from other people. Honestly, you have separated from your own Self. Tell me, did you forget that there are only two commandments in the New Testament? 1. Love your God with All of Your Heart, Mind, and Soul? This is the greatest commandment and 2. Love your neighbor as Yourself? Did you let that sink in? The current American Christianity is zealous and confrontational. It is divisive, judgmental, and mean. And it is radical. Radical like ISIS. Radical like any group bent on hurting or killing other people because they don’t think like you do. Did you let that sink in?
Are you feeling guilt, regret, or shame at your choice of President? If you aren’t, I really question the basis of your belief system, and I am very, very unhappy with you. But, I don’t hate you. I will make you soup and invite you to have a bowl because you need to eat, too. And I will ask you a lot of questions because I really don’t understand you. Our entire political system is fucked up and the two-party system is a dinosaur. I can’t help you with any of that, but I can forgive. Forgive the process. Forgive the Electoral College. Forgive you…
Our spectrum of beliefs I wish I could call a rainbow, but all I see are shades of gray and red. Conservative or liberal, we are fed bias news at every turn. Depending on where you are on the belief spectrum will determine where you prefer to get your dose of news. I found this interesting chart I want to share with you:
http://m.imgur.com/gallery/7xHaUXf
Credit to Mark Fraudenfelder from boingboing.net
I don’t have any answers for you. I do not know what is in your heart. I am just sharing what I see and feel. My heart is breaking every damn day because we don’t Love Each Other. I am tired of it. This world makes me so sad. And then, I can step back from the dramas and look at my family and I feel Love still there. And every day I see examples of Love in the world, of people being kind and humane, and loving. Yes, I see it.
I don’t talk about praying, ever. (Matthew 6:5-15) But, dear God, if you are a praying person, please, can we come together, without our own desires or agendas, and just hold and uplift each other as people for the good of our country and the entire planet? Please? We all want Peace and a way to take care of our families. Isn’t that common-enough-ground?
Simply, there are two forces in the Universe; Love and Fear. Despite all the fear I see being played out all over the globe, I also see Love and I choose to walk with it and remember that Love is where I come from and so do you. I choose to see It and I choose to be It.
May All Beings Everywhere Be Happy and Free.
Lil’ Lit
Small book. Tiny handwriting. What does it say?
Haiku and small poems about my daily bus ride to Olympia. Over the last 4 years I’ve logged thousands of miles up and down I-5 and hundreds and hundreds of trips.
Here are some in process photos of the making of “The Commute-Tacoma, Olympia”:
As I am making, all the while I’m thinking about the smells, sounds, rhythmic rocking, and views out the window that I see over and over again. How can I capture it within such a small work, and one I want to fit into a small box?
This book was created for the 2017 Puget Sound Book Artists Exhibit, Northwest Musings. Come see this book and many other beauties through through July at the Collins Library, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma. <3
#aberdeen
#weareanationofimmigrants
Carving Again
I fell in love with printmaking at The Evergreen State College. The ink smell, cleaning “green” using cooking oil, the sound of the presses, hand-cranking them across damp paper, the inspiration of antiquated art-forms… Thanks, Colleen!
Rubber and Speed Ball.
We The People Are Greater Than Fear
I won’t just sit and watch these next four years.
Making Small Books
I did something that I have wanted to do for two years; I finally joined the Puget Sound Book Artists, PSBA. The annual meeting was yesterday and I met some folks I have known about and watched their art careers forever, it seems. It was a very gratifying day. There were a lot of nice people, good food, and amazingly beautiful items for auction and show-and-tell. Handmade books, boxes, papers…<3 My art has been wanting to go this direction for a long time. This is the yearl
My welcome letter had instructions and cut circles to create a book. Below are some pictures of the project as I put it together. It was really easy and came out so cute. My intentions for the year are written inside and I can read them to remind myself any time I want. What intentions do you have for 2017?
yellowstone
art space
retail
sewing
loving my family
