Hi everyone, and happy 2011! I know it has been over 4 weeks since I last posted, but I have been working hard behind the scenes to regroup after the experience that was November 2010 and the craft fair. I am slowly, slowly, slowly making my way through piles of paper scraps and fabric scraps and cardstock and buttons and pens and receipts and books and magazines and ephemera and on and on to RE-ORGANIZE my art space. So I haven't been creating a lot lately. My mission has been to figure out how my space can work even better for me, especially considering my un-tidy nature. Along the way, I've made a box of "half-started projects" that I aspire to work on every once in awhile over the next few months. Shorts and socks to mend, a snap to put on a shirt, a few card fronts to be sewn to cardstock, my very first paper-piecing that I never did anything with...
Sometime in the next month, I hope to show you a progression of what I've done to my art room. But for now, I'll show you the one project I have done: an art pillow for my mom, made completely of scraps. This is how it started:
Here is the view of three sides of the pillow. That was actually one of my favorite parts, the surprise of the way the sides came together.
Please stick with me for the rest of this post to hear about two things I can't wait to share: I Am, a most amazing documentary I saw last week, and the latest development in The Beckoning of Lovely project.
The film I Am was created by a guy who is famous in Hollywood for directing lots of comedies, especially with Jim Carey in them. He had a bike accident, and his injuries afterward got him to take action to share his thoughts about the world before he died (something he thought was soon to happen). He spoke with researchers, scholars, religious leaders, business leaders, and scientists to ask, "What is wrong with the world?" and "What can we do about it?" I got to see it with three of my close Fort Collins friends, and we were overwhelmed by how much it affected and inspired us. It gave us all hope. While watching it, I cried, laughed, cringed, smiled, nodded, and cried some more. I wanted to see it immediately again, and I can't wait till I get to. Please at least go to the website to watch the preview, and I implore you to find a way to see the movie, whether it is at a screening in your city or, if we're lucky, it comes out in mainstream theaters. Because of this movie, I want to strive to be a better person, love more, be kind and compassionate, cooperate and build even more community, and love my enemy. Incidentally, the director recovered from his injuries while he was in production. Here is the website:
You've heard me talk about The Beckoning of Lovely project before. There's a link to their site on the right side of this blog. I recently saw the video of their 10/10/10 event in Chicago, and it is right in line with what I Am is about. There are people out there making a lot of right in the world, and I hope you'll take the 10 minutes it takes to watch this video on YouTube. It is so so worth it. You will be so glad you did.
The Beckoning of Lovely, 10/10/10 (10 min)
If you want to see the original video, or the one that happened in '09, here they are too, for easy clicking/viewing:
The Beckoning of Lovely, 08/08/08 (7:15 minutes)
The Beckoning of Lovely, 09/09/09 (2:35 minutes)
I am definitely considering being in Chicago on 11/11/11. Wanna come with?
