chopstick basket, part two

 

A friend on Facebook commented and asked about what it looked like, folded up. So, there it is. The chopstick basket folds up, and that's what it looks like when it does. So nifty! I love this basket more and more each day. And don't worry, Grandmaman, I have no intention whatsoever of painting this puppy.

***

Over on Kal Barteski's blog last week, people - mostly women - have been responding to Kal's request for "ugly beautiful truths." Kal started it off by admitting she writes thank-you cards but never mails them, she feels lots of pressure to keep up with the Internet's bloggers and crafters, and that she only washes the sheets once a month. It touched a chord in lots of her readers, and people felt compelled to leave their own ugly + beautiful truths. Some left their real names, some didn't. It's in the vein of "Post Secret", that website where people send in anonymous postcards with secrets. There is something very freeing about reading them, and also about writing your own. A release. 

It's gotten me thinking, certainly. Also this week, I started doing a writing exercise where I write for 10 to 15 minutes, just free writing, whatever comes to mind. Then at the end I rip up the page. Just rip it up so no-one can read it, or put it through the shredder. It's been really interesting - an exercise, literally, in letting go. I'm so used to writing in order to keep information, in order to be able to refer to it later. But with this, you really can't. You write it, then it's gone. No way to hold on to it. Even if you like the images, even if it would make a great poem, rip it up. Try it - it's really freeing.

Earlier this weekend I found myself in another town with a whole morning just to myself. No-one could reach me, I was on my own with a room (with an adjoining bathtub! So exciting for me, at home we only have a shower) and some time. So I took advantage of it. I did my daily writing exercise. As I was ripping it up, I liked the look of the random scraps, with little pieces of writing. Like mosaic shards. I arranged them. I took a picture to show you.

I also had the Globe and Mail, Saturday edition. Feeling a little guilty ("Oh, I'm ignoring world events!") but trying to let that feeling go, I only read the Style section. I came to a piece I really liked, about a designer who works with type and had made a table with her own letterforms etched in to it. I thought about keeping the page, and using it down the road in collage or somehow or other. But I decided instead to engage with it, then let it go. Here's what I did:

I didn't have any scissors. I just had my hands. So I ripped up the quote I wanted to save, and arranged it so I could fit it all in one photograph. Once I'd done that, well, there was nowhere else to go but into the recyclables. Rip up and squish the pretty, perfected plan. And then look - there's beauty there, too.

***

Then I got to writing. This past week was also International Women's Day. Some people question having such a day. "We don't need it anymore," they say. I feel like what happened on Kal's blog (what's still happening - have a look) dovetails with this holiday. Here's the free-writing I did that flowed from it.

The ugly beautiful truths

We are all here. We are imperfect. This is news? Yes, it is. Because: we live in an age of glossy magazines, of TVs that blare at us, we can't see for the glare of perfected images. Sexy and sexiness and giving in and giving it up for rewards - as women especially we are told to part our lips and make a low moaning sound. These roles can be fun but it is not all of it. It is not our every day reality.

The whole, the perfect product, comes after a lot of hard work. This is what the ugly beautiful truths is teaching me.

And I expect the opposite, I expect to just snap my fingers and have it be done. A great poem. A cake baked. A bed made. A relationship crafted and loved. A house dusted and vacuumed and kept that way. A body honed, toned. Babies raised and taught and helped to become good people. A world fair and just, with punishments for shitty deeds. A job where you feel competent and creative and conscious. A connection to the world around me, to the leaves and the trees. Actions made, having thought about them (instead of just posting crap out into the world, typing it out and hitting "post" or "send" without rereading, rethinking, letting time do its distillation of truth).

And reading these comments that women are leaving on Kal's website I see I am not the only one. We are all here, we are all imperfect. This is news? Yes, it's the daily news. It's breaking news, heart-breaking. And then, heart-making. (You've got to break things apart to make new things. Mosaics - sharp bits of ceramic.) We are all poems, we are all stories, we are all houses waiting to be dusted, we are each an equal and hearty part of a relationship in the middle of being crafted, loved. We are blood, we are feet and toes and hair and bellies, weight that stayed after making a baby, weight that came without warning, without reason, weight that won't go, weight that goes too fast, weight that just is without trying. We are hearts, minds, loves, hates, annoyed and convinced and contented and mild and strong and and and - all emotions and adjectives that men have too. We are the reason International Women's Day exists. Jill Scott asks "what would you do if I were gone?" I can't even believe the questions still exist, questioning that feminism has a need, a place.

But then again I can't believe all these amazing women have all these ugly, beautiful truths, and are ashamed of them,

and yet we do. I do.

I pick my nose.
I change my sheets three times a year, at best.
I am jealous of other women, who I should actually be supportive of.
I
I
I

I could keep going, for a long time. But I'm going to put that out there and use this exercise to get stronger. To get better at recognizing my own beauty. My own worth and inherent right to be here, imperfect as I am.

ice time

It's been a busy week! And I find myself blogging on my supper break at work, looking through recent photos to see if anything inspires me. I like these shots that I took a week ago - or was it two? I can't remember. Yikes.

Anyway, up until a week ago, we'd been having unseasonable warm weather and rain. We usually have big chunks of ice sitting on the deck, from where they've been formed in buckets. (It's a cheap way to have ice sculpture. I think. Actually, I'm not entirely sure why we do this.) This one had "calved" or broken off a piece of itself, like a glacier births icebergs. Then, the rain fell continuously on the "mama" piece, from a drip in the gutter, and the ice surface became smooth. I think it looks like a chair, don't you?


I really love taking close-up photos of things. I like revealing the detail that you can't see unless you get really close. Plus, small and tiny details become extraordinary when you see them large. They can end up looking like abstract art. These are air bubbles in that piece of ice.


Here is the piece that had calved off the bigger piece, also smoothed by warm weather and rain. The boards of the deck form the background. I love the light's quality, the silvers and whites, and the texture of the wood grain and the water frozen as ice.

So the weather was warm and wet, but last weekend it turned back around. Snow fell and was shovelled, winds blew it around, and the mercury has dropped back below zero. All is white again. I'm glad - I like enjoying the outdoors, and in winter there is nothing more depressing than snow-less woods and fields.

***

This week has been the second "GO/venture" week over at Kal's and Elise's blogs. They pick a different word prompt for each day and challenge each other to create original art every 24 hours. I've used the words as mental lozenges, if you will: something to mentally suck on and turn around and around, slowly releasing the medicinal properties. If the mood struck me I'd write in my two-dollar, drugstore notebook, which is where I do any writing exercises.

The words are:

Monday: WANDER
Tuesday: INVISIBLE
Wednesday: COINCIDENCE
Thursday: PERMANENT
Friday: WHOLE

I'd love to know what these words spark in you. Or what you do, in general, to spark your creativity.

***

I just took a short break from writing this, and put on my coat and scarf and went for a short walk. It was snowing and I hadn't been outside since I started work at noon. I like taking little walks around the village; especially at night, you can see snapshots of people's lives in their windows. A mum and daughter at a kitchen table. A cozy hallway lit by a red lamp throwing stained-glass shadows on the wall.

I didn't always like it here. When I was younger, I felt excluded and ashamed, not part of Baddeck. Not part of the "in crowd". I thought, the second I can get out of here, I will. And, for a time, I did leave. I travelled, I went away. But slowly things have shifted. Now I'm considering living right in the village, and I truly feel that this is my town. These are my people. I say hello to so many folks just in a walk down the main street, that I feel a little silly - like I'm playing the role of "stereotypical small town gal" or something. But I'm not playing a role. This is where my life has taken me, this is genuine, this is who I am.

***

Also: There are plans afoot, and while I can't reveal all right now, let me just say that it looks likely that I'll soon have an item that I've been wanting for a long time, all to myself, and that it may or may not have four wheels. I'll post more about if and when I can. In the meantime: eeee!!

business time

Tuesday past, I was in North Sydney for part of the afternoon. I had about an hour to kill, and decided to pay a visit to a restaurant that's recently opened on the main street of the town, The Black Spoon Bistro (320 Commercial Street, North Sydney, 902-241-3300). I had been there once before, and taken away a mango fish burger for my dinner later that evening. It was delicious and now I wanted to try something else on the menu.

The weather was blustery, wet and cold. When I got to the Bistro, after only a short walk, I was soaked to the skin through my jeans and jacket. But the ambiance inside was warm and cozy. (And, they seated me next to the heater, bless them.) They manage to perfectly balance "down home" and "stepping out".

I ordered a decaf coffee and the Roasted Vegetable Panini, which comes with either the garden salad or the soup of the day. The panini was grilled and warm, with roasted zucchini, portobello mushroom, red onion and red pepper, as well as Swiss cheese and basil mayo. The flavour was incredible, the texture a great blend of crunchy and cheesy. And though usually I'm not a huge fan of garden salad (it's too easy to get it wrong), this one felt fresh and lively, even on a dreary January day. They julienne the carrot and zucchini, which gives the salad a "dressed up" feeling, yet it's also abundant with tomatoes, croutons and fresh greens. The coffee was tasty, and felt right in a basic white mug.

The waitstaff were friendly and helpful, and chatted happily with their tables as they worked. Though it was quiet this particular afternoon, I overheard the hostess tell two women that the upcoming six-course Valentine's Day dinner was already completely booked. And the restaurant had that hustle and bustle of a place that knows how to be busy.


After my meal I snapped some more pictures. The artwork on the walls is beautiful, as you can see. And the furnishings are simple, classic and comfortable.

This is a light fixture near the front door that won my heart! How cool is this?


I got talking with the owner, Monica Black, when I was paying my cheque. When I asked her who did all the wonderful art, she replied, "Me!" The above shot is the lovely Ms. Black with a gorgeous piece. The art is not yet for sale, but perhaps one day soon. Hopefully!

All in all, I will definitely be going back to The Black Spoon. Apparently their dessert of Peppered Strawberries is not to be missed. Description from the menu: "Freshly sliced strawberries flambeed in a benediction butter sauce with freshly ground peppercorns and served warm over a white cake with vanilla ice cream." Yes please!

If you live in Cape Breton, I strongly recommend getting yourself to North Sydney and checking out this place. If you're "from away," what are you waiting for? Come visit!

***


In other "local business and art" news, I'm helping some friends of mine start a blog! He is Burland Murphy, a local artist mostly known as "Murf," and she is his wife Linda. They have been friends of my family since I was a little girl. He has a storefront on Baddeck's main street, Chebucto St. I'm really excited about this project because I have always loved Murf's art - Cape Breton wildlife, so well-observed and finely detailed. In his first blog post, Murf writes about his "little Kestrel friend" and you can tell in his work that Murf really is a friend of all that he sees in nature.

Check him out at this blog: http://www.burlandmurphy.blogspot.com/

I'll be writing more about him in the future, for sure!

***

Local business - what does it take to create a truly awesome business? A business that, as Kal Barteski says, "Gets it!" A business that truly works within its community, that brings fresh air to the street it is on, that makes people sit up and take notice, like the two listed here? Especially in a place like Cape Breton, where the prevailing sense is that people with energy and verve are leaving, it can feel so awesome and inspiring when you hear of a business that is really kicking butt on so many levels!

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

three sheets to the wind

You've been patient. And now it's time to go to "Essence du Papier."


So I had serendipitously stumbled upon Dame Plume, a store and workshop near St. Viateur Bagels. And, since I have a love for stamps and inks, I asked them if they knew of anywhere in the city that might sell such things. They said they weren't sure, but perhaps someone at the store "Essence Du Papier" would know. So the next day, when my family and I decided to venture into the city again (to eat Schwartz's smoked meat sandwiches, but that's another story for perhaps another day), I asked if we might go on a bit of a treasure hunt.

We found it. We went in. And oh the paper! I mean, just look at the rainbow of paper and envelopes in the picture above! I swooned. I wanted to pick up nearly everything in the store, but my bank account wouldn't really allow me to take it all home with me. So I limited myself, and went with a selection of goodies. Once I got home, I took photos of these goodies.

They didn't, in the end, have any inkpads or stamps, nor did the other store they suggested, so perhaps I'll just have to make a special trip to New York City to visit The Ink Pad. (That plus my family just outside the city might be reason enough!) So, as you'll see after the photos of paper goodies, I decided to satisfy my ink/stamp cravings and yours, and took a shot of the first stamp I ever bought, a cute little berry twig. It's just the berries!

These are greeting cards with blank insides. I love the psychedelic/Indian/Moroccan prints and colors. They're also sparkly. I'm using these to decorate my room, actually, and may never send them to anyone!


This is a sheet of paper where the print is actually pretty faint until you hold it up to the light. It is pinned to the clothesline and the bright sun is shining through from the other side.

These are the three sheets I did buy at Essence du Papier. It was pretty tough to limit myself, but I decided just to grab the first three that caught my eye, and go with it.


The envelopes are from the section of the store pictured above, with the rainbow-display. Again I went with "I don't have much time, so I'm going to have to just pick some and hope for the best." The cards were the same - so many cards! So little time! (And money...)

Ducks detail.

When I saw this calendar, I had to have it. The Helvetica, the colors, the form! My 2010 needs more art and more graphic design. Starting with this.

And here we are. One little stamp picture to finish it off. I wonder what it is about stamps that I love so much? Is it that I'm making a mark on the world when I use them? Is it the do-it-yourself-art that appeals? I'm not sure. But I'll keep stamping to figure it out. And to have fun.

the essence of paper, part one: dame plume

I have a thing about paper.

Well, it's not just about paper. It's about ink, stamps, books, prints, text, fonts, pages, bindings. It's about stores that sell paper - the colors, the textures, the possibilities. It's about art, and people's drawings, and writings. It's about that scritchy-scratchy sound of pen on paper.

We landed in Montreal and I asked my uncle if we could go find St. Viateur bagels. I had never had Montreal bagels and felt this was an experience I should have. So on our way from the train station to his house on the North Shore, he called a friend who knew bagels, and she told him where to find the place I had read about. We parked, and crossed the slushy street to go to it. And there, just two stores down from the bagel establishment, was a storefront called "Dame Plume".

"Oh -" I said, "After the bagels? I'm going to have to go in there."

Cards with handsewing. Cutouts. Hand-made books. Calligraphic pens and inks. Lots of natural light. I looked behind the counter at their workspace and wanted so much to have a place like this in my own village, where I could work. My family dutifully followed me in and looked around. I felt like I was bringing new initiates into a temple. They looked and liked - but I looked and lusted.

This book is titled "Recettes". The drawings of the woman cracking an egg form a flip-book. I almost don't want to write in it, because the blank space is so perfect. But that's life, isn't it? There is no such thing as perfect, and the blank space is meant to be filled.

This is one of the Moleskin books that they customize. I liked them all, but I liked this one particularly. The yellow elastic is also neat. It reminds me of an organic life form of some kind.


Some of the books are made by this company (or person?), Terrain Vague. It doesn't appear that the website is fully operational, but perhaps soon.

I asked the ladies at Dame Plume if they knew of any stores that sold ink and stamps. (Once, when I was in New York City, I found this store called The Ink Pad, and I was hoping to stumble upon a similar treasure here.) They told me about L'Essence de Papier, and I wrote down the address.

Next post: What I found there!

Tell me: do you love paper, books, ink, stamps, writing? What are your favorite stores for such things?

thursdays with leah

So I've decided that Thursdays are my blog day. I like the idea of a weekly deadline, and have for the last month or so been finding that it gets me to sit down and write - which is, after all, an integral part of the writing process. If you don't sit down and write, big surprise: nothing gets written!

And, I've been finding that once I imposed this "limit" on myself, the ideas just started flowing! All the time now I'll think: yeah, that would make a great blog post! And so would that! And that! It's almost like, now that I know I only have to create something once a week - instead of feeling like I have to do it every day, or every few days, which was an unrealistic expectation, as I never actually met it - I actually want to create. Imposing a limit actually gives you freedom. Weird how that works.

So anyway. How has the week been going? It's been going well. The weather is moving towards Fall and cooler temperatures, and although I'm a big fan of summer, I have to admit that I love this yearly transition to Autumn. I love: the earlier sunsets and that 9'0'clock is darkness again, the cravings for fuzzy blankets and loose, comfy jeans, sweaters and textures and tweeds. I love bare feet on the grass, a little bit of exposure still, even though the nights are cooler and the frost is starting to threaten.

I love: meadows full of goldenrod and joe pie weed, the muted and the bright side-by-side. Leggy plants with unruly, colored flower-heads, and everything from the wild to the gardens growing, overgrowing, filling up space with tendrils and leaves and big stalks and fruits. I love making way for apples - bushels of apples. (Doesn't that phrase just TASTE good?)


My job is shifting too. All summer I coordinated and managed eight young interns, all between the ages of 18 and 23. It was busy - like having eight kids, or so I imagine. (Likely having eight children is a tonne more work - for one thing, you don't leave it at the end of the day. For another, you certainly don't get paid for it. And for one more - I didn't have to deal with vomit, diapers, poop or crying.) In any case, whether or not there is any parallel between my job and octo-motherhood, I was constantly shifting my attention from one to another. As well I was communicating with them over distances, as they were all in CAP Sites around the county. One was a two-and-a-half-hour drive away. Two others were an hour's drive. It took a lot more time and energy than I had thought, just to do that!

Four of the interns have already left, and the remaining four finish tomorrow. Then I'm on my own for three more weeks, wrapping up the summer's projects and preparing for the Fall and Winter projects. I'll miss the interns, for sure. Even if it was busy, and even tiresome at times, at least it was always exciting. It's strange now to actually answer all the emails in my inbox, for one thing, and then to spend a few seconds gazing at its clean, neat non-clutteredness, and then - have it stay that way for an hour! Or two!

Anyway. The work was good. I learned a lot. I'll miss it, but better things are coming down the pike. I can just feel it.

In the book, "poemcrazy: freeing your life with words," by Susan G. Wooldridge, the author talks about collecting words and creating a wordpool.

The great thing about collecting words is they're free; you can borrow them, trade them in or toss them out... Words are lightweight, unbreakable, portable, and they're everywhere. You can even make them up. Frebent, bezoncular, zurber. Someone made up the word padiddle... I take words from everywhere. I might steal steel, spelled both ways. Unscrupulous, I'll toss in iron, metal and magnolias. Whatever flies into my mind. Haystack, surge, sidewinder. A sound, splash. A color, magenta. Here's a chair. Velvet. Plush.

I'm kind of in love with this idea. Ever since I read this back in the spring, I do this - sometimes I write them down, make long "wordpool" word lists. Sometimes I just say them out loud - float free from one word to another.

So if summer's word list could be: hot, sweat, lazy, sarong, beach-sand, ice-cream, then Fall could start with... cool, rustle, frost, opaque tights, cast-iron pans, pumpkin.

Oh and - I bought the September issue of Vogue. It's got me all wound up now - and here come some more words. Ideas, fashion, colors, texture. Gloss - escapism - photographs - culture - New York City - design - skyscraper - suit - angle - lip.

What are your Fall words?

kal inspires me

Lately I've been inspired by Kal Barteski, and not just in a creative way. It seems my life is getting into a faster mode than it has been in the last few years. Her blog, if you read it at all, and oh I do, is all about her life as a self-employed artist, designer and web-business-lady + mom of two girls under two + recently married (like, in the past three years). As you might imagine, it's a pretty busy life, and she's always talking about how they planned to spend the day, versus how the day was actually spent. It sounds like a bit of madness over in Winnipeg with the Barteski-Kostenchuk clan!

However - Kal is also always talking about her creative life, and describing how she manages (or doesn't - on the stressful days) to find time to create. Not only that, but she frequently talks about how her life, as full as it is, will unexpectedly inspire her, especially since you never know from one day to the next how things will go - and you never know where your next ideas will jump from.

In Kal's case, the creating is painting, drawing and making art out of pictures and words using her computer and camera. She also sells stuff - books, magnets, artwork. I got started reading her blog when my cousin Maile (also a creative genius and busy mom - read her blog if you get the chance for more almost-daily photographs and wisdom and real-life insight) sent me Kal's book "LoveLife" as an early Christmas gift. I was immediately intrigued and checked out the blog, and have been hooked ever since. (It helps that Kal posts pretty much every day - she took a break to give birth, then she was back a week later and hasn't stopped since!) Then in May my brother and I bought one of Kal's "Awesome Mom" prints for our own mum.

So - I read Kal's work on pretty much a daily basis, and her artwork is in my home. It was inevitable that some of her busy-ness, as well as her full-on "Bulletproof Positive Attitude" would rub off on me! I was already a passionate writer and exploring photography, scrapbooking and combining the two. And, this last year, I've been coming back into a busy life, taking on a full-time job, as well as being very active in my community, as part of several different groups. I'm also practicing living a life that's directed by my deep desires - in other words, trying to live authentically. (Long story short: I got really sick in 2007, and as a result of that illness and subsequent soul-searching and counselling, realized that I'm happiest when I'm in certain places doing certain things, and started steering my life closer to those things I love so much. If you're not a regular reader, those things would be: Cape Breton, community, local, organic food, my own creativity, family and friends, the natural world.)


Now, I'm starting to see dividends: I'm happy in my work and personal life. But what that really means is that I feel a range of emotions, happy, sad and in between. The balance is not static, not a state of zero-gravity where you just float, buddha-like. It's actually all about making decisions, each day, each hour, and then dealing with the consequences. It's about movement, the flow of moments. Riding those waves. Sometimes you do it well, and sometimes you plug your nose and go under. Other times the waves catch you by surprise and you splutter and snort. Always, you learn

"I no longer fear the storms, for I know how to sail my own ship." This quote from Louisa May Alcott once caught my eye from the whiteboard in my counsellor's office, back in university, and it's stayed with me. While I still fear the storms, at least the really big ones, I know that my sailing skills are multiplying moment by moment. And, life is growing busier, but I'm practicing making decisions to make space for myself.

Space for what? Space for: alone time. Creating. Lying on a dock reading a book. Staying up too late (well, til 2 am) every now and again reading Coronation Street character profiles on Wikipedia - yes, that's right. But - that's what brings me joy. These spaces are part of hectic, real life - and hectic, real life is what continues to inspire me, continues to give me fodder for my own unfolding creative life, continues to make its way into my soul and then squeeze out of me through writing, drawing, photographing, collage-ing.


So this is me saying: Thanks, Kal. You've helped to make the Internet, and blogs, exciting again.

i heart art, part two

Here we are, ladies and jellyspoons: the art shots I couldn't upload last time!

What I ended up doing was taking new pictures of my collage, and then going through the usual process of uploading them to my computer, and then onto Blogger. I really do not know what small glitch of code somewhere in the bowels of the software made it so my other photos loaded sideways, and I've come to terms with the fact that I'll probably NEVER know. That's OK.

Above is the entire piece. In real life it's 24 inches by 18 inches, or 2 feet by 1 and 1/2 feet.

Below are some detail shots.







The images I used all came from magazines I had collected over the years: Glamour, Vogue, Chatelaine, and a copy of a magazine that I think is now defunct, Women's Sport and Fitness. I used acrylic paints and regular glue sticks. I want to use some sort of varnish to paint over the whole thing, so the glued-on pieces won't come off randomly. Does anyone know about art varnishes?

I think it's really important for people in general, but in this case women, to create images that represent us, and to put images out there that show what we WANT or NEED to see, images of strong women, of different bodies, of older women, of handicapped women. There are so many images in our society, most of them part of advertising, and for the most part those images represent a world view that hurts us, that makes us think of ourselves as less, and as not worthy of love and a place in the world.

It starts with us. It starts with glue sticks and cut-out images. It starts with art.

Also: these images, like everything else on my blog, is copyright (c) 2009, Leah Noble. However, I give permission for you to copy these images onto your computer or to print them out, and use them in a non-profit way. I also hereby give you permission to be inspired to make your own art!

i heart art

I seem to be having trouble uploading photographs, so you will have to sit tight on the picture front.

It's frustrating because I wanted to show a detail of a collage piece I made on the weekend. I don't know why Blogger is doing this, as other photos are loading fine, but photos in this one particular file on my computer are loading sideways. No matter what I do, whenever I load these photos, they come out rotated either to the left or right. Grr! I hate it when software has a strange little bug in it that I can't sort out, and not for lack of trying, either. You try a bunch of options, each time getting more annoyed, and you can't ask the bloody thing what's wrong, either. Bah!

Oh, well. I'll tell the story, anyway.

I didn't set out to make art for International Women's Day, but halfway through my afternoon of cloistering myself in my room in order to play with collage and paint, I remembered that it was, indeed, March 8th. Not only that, but the piece taking shape beneath my hands happened to be about women's bodies and about loving yourself, loving your strong body for what it can do. It seemed like a sweet little coincidence. I went with it.

I'd been collecting photos from magazines, photos of women's bodies that are different from the norm - those that are hefty, big, curvy, plump, muscular, short, et cetera. Any body other than the ubiquitous "tall and thin", in other words.

(And there's nothing wrong with being tall and thin if that's your body's true shape. But there IS something wrong with only one representation of the Ideal Woman's Body, and I'm sure all sensible tall and thin women would agree.)

As I'd been collecting the photos these past few months, an idea had been hibernating in my head, an idea to make a collage showing the variety and diversity of women's bodies, as an affirmation of the difference you can find when you look outside the magazines. (Ironically, the photos are all taken from magazines. Perhaps future versions can improve on that, by taking photos myself, or in some other way. Open to suggestions!)

I was having a grumpy-pants weekend, and feeling this definite need coming up out of myself, a need to be BY MYSELF and MAKE ART. So, I listened. I cancelled the plans I'd made to see a friend, and made sure I had all the art supplies I needed. I shut my bedroom door, and took out the big drawing paper pad. I sorted out all the images and words I already had, and started playing, laying them on the paper, moving them around, cutting out more. When I had it where I liked it, I started gluing pieces down.

(And, I wish I could show you a part of it. Let's all shake our fists at Blogger for being buggy!)

The next day, I took another few hours in the afternoon to paint onto the piece. I took out some bright acrylic paints and my paintbrushes, and got some water into a jar. I thought, "My god, it's been years and years since I've used these paintbrushes." I laid on bright pink, orange, blue, cherry red, purple, in the white spaces between the photos. The sight of the color on the white styrofoam tray made me really, really happy.

I realized how much I want to make more pieces like this. The subject matter, definitely: our bodies, our strengths. I want to make images that contradict the poisonous images in so many magazines and on TV. And also, I want to make more art pieces in general. Doing this one got me thinking about high school, when I took an art class each of my three years there, and got to paint or draw or sketch for an hour and fifteen minutes EVERY DAY. And art got made! That's what happens when you commit to your own art, your own craft. One day at a time, you make stuff. It's not perfect. But then, nothing is, AND then it's outside of you! You birthed it.

So here's to women, and to art. To the birthing process.