The Art of a fun weekend

6-8-09 re-creation brain
Friday night was our first street party of the summer. We call it Beaveritaville, since we live in the neighborhood of “Beaverdale” and this is our Jimmy Buffet type Margarita Party. Many people were willing to dress the part and have their pictures taken. The party this year was held in the backyard deck of one of our newest neighbors, Deb, who has proven herself to be a supreme hostess! Of course we all pitched in, but Deb went that extra mile. I can’t believe I managed to stay awake until 11:30 PM, that’s when the last 6 of us decided it was well past our bedtimes.



So I was in bed about midnight, and awake at 5:00AM to hear the start of the rain that was predicted. I was please with this, since it meant I could roll over and sleep for several more hours….. there was nothing urgent to do Saturday morning.

Finally late Saturday morning, the rain had stopped, and Greg and I got ourselves together to attend the British Car Club auto show. For the past 5 years it has been held in Beaverdale, but this year someone new had organized it out in West Des Moines in the new shopping area “West Glen”, by the new Jordan Creek Mall. We hung out for about 3 hours there with our Mini Cooper friends. We discovered the most wonderful Mediterranean Restaurant named “Adonis”. Mmmmmm…. It was so good! I had the best pita wrap and salad.

After doing a few errands late Saturday afternoon, which included shoe shopping at DSW, we decided we were too worn out to attend another potluck party with people we knew from the Drake University MPA program, so we just walked over to the local Mexican restaurant close to our house for dinner. Then we remembered that the Greek Festival was this weekend, so we found enough energy to get on our bikes to ride a mile or so to that event in hopes of getting some baklava dessert. Sad to say they had run out of this, so we were forced to bike a bit farther to find some ice cream at a local Italian shop, Marino’s.

So Saturday night I was in bed reading by 9:30, after soaking my tired muscles in a warm bath, and there I stayed until 12 hours later. We ignored the alarm clock and did not make church today….. but I did enjoy a leisurely Sabbath. I didn’t even try to accomplish anything until Sunday evening when I did force myself to pick up the house, do a few loads of laundry and blog. Now that was a fun weekend!

PS: Friday night I had two co-workers, Renee and Lori walking in the “Relay for Life”, the cancer all night walk held in Iowa Falls. I was thinking I should have been with them, but to show my support, while I was drinking a margarita, I was wearing my PINK breast cancer wrist band! (Maybe next year I’ll join them!?)

The Art of Diplomacy

6-6-09 inspired brain

I heard much of President Obama’s speech this week from his visit to Egypt and was happy to see him represent the America I love and I believe in: The America that emits light in a world of darkness and the America that inspires freedom and peace, rather than fear and revenge.

Speaking of “Art and Spirit” yesterday in my blog….. Here is an example of the spirit that came through me a few days after 9-11-2001 and this poem was created with my hand, not necessary by my hand.

I know no one is perfect, but with Obama, I’m happy to see our country being lead towards, justice,... liberty,... life,... and love.



“It’s About Time” -America
By Judy Sebern Beachy

Thank you SEPTEMBER ELEVENTH for awakening me from my comfortable middle-age nap.

I was couch potato like-
Drowsy,
Lulled into complacency by the rich meal of prosperity,
Over fed by my middle class life.

Groggy as I was-
I didn’t even know I was chosen.
Too sedated to care much of the “other world’s” woes.

The alarm came-
Shocking and too loud to ignore.
No snooze button to be found.
Time to stretch, rub the sleep from my eyes.

Yes, I am now awake-
Called to stand up, summoned to make a difference.
Justice to be prayed for, liberty to protect.
Life to be grateful for, love to spread.



Addendum: For those of you with short memories or who are still in denial, see my fellow blogger’s post from June 5th: http://womenofcertainage.blogspot.com/

Church Art

6-5-09 inspired brain
Still speaking again of Art today, Pentecost Sunday was last week at church. Pentecost is the festival that marks the birth of the Christian church by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is one of my favorite church days since it’s all about "spirit” (holy spirit, advocate, spirit of truth)….. Something I strongly believe in, experience and use when I am creating art.

I am amazed at those times when a poem seems to be placed in my brain fully intact, and the words flow through me, not from me. I remember the exact first time (in 1998) when I, as an inexperienced art student, felt a shift in my brain while working on a piece. Before, I would be using my intellect, mental power, while I painted…. After, I now feel a spirit guiding me. This sounds weird I know, but it’s hard to explain with words.

In 2003, my church challenged a few of us artists, who were members, to create some symbols for Pentecost. At my church, Westminster Presbyterian, we have a strong Fine Arts Programs which includes music, drama and the visual arts. I enjoyed working on the piece called “FIRE” since it was different than anything I had done before. This is four foot high and made from a woodwork cutout. Here was my description below from the church program.



FIRE- Tongues of fire, drawn like water pouring out from the cross is an interpretation of the Scripture..."I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh...." The cross symbolizes God, the source of the Spirit. The cross is green to reflect the spring season of newness and rebirth. Confetti (balloons, streamers and music notes) are embedded in the paint of the cross to remind us of the celebration of Pentecost.

Safe Art

6-4-09 no-brain
After my unsuccessful attempt at “Nature Art” I decided I would create some no-brainer art. On my weekend trip to my hometown I had found some fun flower decals at a cute little shop called the “Rustic Corner”. I was probably drawn to these because of my childhood love the 60’s flower child clothes, love beads and mod art as illustrated by this "Flower Power" image.

These fun flower decals were very easy to work with and are easily removed. I decided to decorate the back door entry into the kitchen, since this is were we always enter the house and this is also the stairs going down to the basement. Maybe this addition of color would improve the Fung Shui energy.

This seems to put a smile on my face when I walk in the door.

BEFORE.....


AFTER.....

Nature Art part 2

6-3-09 inspired brain
So a few weeks ago as I was sweeping up some whirly-bird Maple seeds and found myself thinking about Andrew Goldsworthy (from yesterday's post). Here I had an ample supply of natural material, what would Goldsworthy do with this?



I thought in order to do anything, I'd need a glue gun.... but that probably would break the "natural material" rules for this form of art. After a day or two of looking at the swept up pile of seeds I had a vision of those popcorn balls we'd eat as kids. I wasn't sure of the recipe, but after consulting my Betty Crocker Cookbook, I decided I would try to make a LARGE ball of whirly-birds. I went off to the the store to buy two large bottles of corn syrup. I cooked my sugar mixture on the stove until I thought it was done (guess it wasn't)....

Thank goodness Greg was not around to witness the the mess I created on the back porch. I had a large tub I used to stir the mixture together, then laid out on a plastic bag to try to form my ball. I had greased my gardening gloves so I would not get all stuck together.



Sadly my ball did not hold..... so I just pile up the sticky mess in a pot and put behind the garage to wait and see if any animals would be enticed to eat the whirly-bird candy treat.


Well, you win some and you lose some, even Andrew Goldsworthy can have an unsuccessful day as showed in this YouTube clip.

Nature Art part 1

6-2-08 creative brain
I was introduced to an artist about 8 years ago, by my friend Steve who lives in Alaska. Steve and I grew up in same neighborhood and attended school, K-12 grades, together in northern Iowa. Steve has been a teacher in Alaska for 20+ years, and he was visiting Iowa for the summer. He invited Greg and I to attend an evening lecture by Andrew Goldsworthy held at Drake University, only a few miles from our house. Goldsworthy actually had been in Des Moines several months creating an outdoors “sculpture” at the DM Art Center which is similar to this one.


I was so fascinated by Goldsworthy’s lecture and the slides of his work, that I became an instant fan. To summarize, I’d describe Goldsworthy as an artist who works with nature and natural materials to create temporary art. The idea of temporary art becomes more and more appealing to me as my house gets filled with too much stuff.


Goldsworthy was the subject of a documentary film back around 2001 called "Rivers and Tides". It’s breathtaking and awe-inspiring. Here is a YouTube clip from that movie to give you a flavor of his work.

I feel gross!

6-1-09 reassured brain

Friday evening we were going out for a causal dinner with friends. I couldn’t decide what to wear. First it was shorts, then it was capri pants, then it was long pants. It was one of those days…. I hated my face, my hair, my muffin top, and my clothes.
I finally settled on khaki pants with turquoise top with sandals. Feeling gross, I headed down stairs trying to get into a pleasant mood. As I walked into the sunroom, Greg said “I like your hair”.

It’s amazing when someone else sees you different than you see yourself! Was he just being nice, or did he really mean it?


Since Greg is always honest with me, I took his compliment and trusted that he knew best and then I decided to stop worrying about how I looked. We enjoyed a lovely evening with Ann and Roy eating dinner over at one of our local restaurants “Chef’s”. We then took a stroll around the neighborhood and then off to bed early so we could rise at a decent time with plans to attend the Des Moines Farmer’s Market.

Well, the alarm went off at 7:30AM, our idea of getting up early on the weekend, and I was actively dreaming! I couldn't get out of bed, I was still dead tired. It had been one of those nights, which happen from time to time, when I woke up at 3:00AM and laid there not sleeping, finally I decide to get up and go into the office and do some art. I finally went back to bed at 5:30AM, thinking 2 hours of sleep would help, but I think I felt worse.

Finally, I was able to force myself out of bed at 8:30 and we were down to the Farmer's Market by 9:30AM and we connected up with our friend Ann (a different Ann from last night). It was a beautiful weekend here in Iowa. Warm, sunny with a light breeze. I really should have been, and wanted to be out in the garden weeding that morning, but Greg convinced me to "play" instead. As an adult, it is easy to forget how important play is to our mental health!

I am grateful to have someone in my life who is honest, distracts me from work, reminds me to have fun.... and also likes my hair when it is messy!