A Few Words on Chocolate

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I don’t know what took me so long to talk about chocolate. After all, I was pretty much weaned on the stuff. Maybe because it’s such an integral part of my world, I didn’t give it any special thought. (Not that chocolate doesn’t deserve special thought.) But when it’s woven into the fabric of your life, it doesn’t pop out and say “hey, what about me?” It’s already there.

Personally, I like my chocolate “pure”. No liqueurs sneaking around inside my truffles, please. Just chocolate. Preferably in the form of fudgy brownies, an exquisite lava cake, or my favorite almost-always-on-the-stove homemade hot fudge sauce (ice cream optional – ha!)

No, chocolate has never suffered the fate of neglect around here.

Originally brewed as a frothy-type beer for the elite in ancient Aztec and Mayan cultures, today it’s not only a delicious vegetable source (from the cocoa bean), it’s full of endorphins and anti-oxidants (so I’m told, which I’m more than happy to believe), and it’s inspiring. How could you go wrong?

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chocolate=joy

 
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Tuesdays with Chris: “Advice for Young Artists”

A delightful spectrum of views from do what you love, to stay vulnerable, to never give up, to make friends, to don’t do it for free ~ you’re gonna love these snippets of advice for young artists. :  )

(If you missed my introduction about Chris Staley, master potter, educator and Penn State Laureate 2012-2013, you can read that here.)  Enjoy!

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How To Slow Down Time

I don’t really have the final answer to this idea of slowing down time, although finding one has been on my mind a lot lately as we all keep moving, moving, moving, keeping up a brisk pace only to pause for dinner or maybe even some sleep. It’s just not right to me, all this constant motion, this world that moves so very fast, this world of instant news (and too much news), a wild sea of images and thoughts and appointments and gadgets, gadgets, gadgets. This very real sense that there isn’t enough time in the day. So I thought, it being Monday, that maybe Pooh has the best idea yet….

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It’s a nice idea, isn’t it? But napping intrudes on time; time that moves so quickly, so furiously full. One could argue that a nap leaves you refreshed, better able to accomplish all those things that need accomplishing ~ and I find no fault there. But what about slowing down time so you don’t “need” a nap ~ like Pooh, you could take one just because it feels like a good thing to do?

What about slowing time at will, right here and now, without having to go on holiday to find it, and without detriment to your clients, your families, your peace of mind?

There are only a few ways I know that effectively slow down time. One is a fabulous snowfall ~ but this requires a northern climate and Mother Nature’s whim. The ocean has a similar effect, as does being on a mountaintop.

Another, more “here and now” way, is meditation. And of course, for me, there’s drawing. Or painting or playing the piano… when you’re cocooned in the embrace of creativity, it’s very much like a meditation; time simply doesn’t exist in that space. So I’m not sure if it’s actually slowing down time, or merely alleviating the consciousness of the ongoing tick-tock. But I do know that it’s good for the soul, and that practically amounts to the same thing. I think Pooh might agree.

Oh and there is one other way I know about for slowing down time. What you do is believe you have all the time you need. Saying it out loud can help. With conviction and slow, deep breaths. It’s almost like conspiring with the universe. You may laugh, and that’s fine, because I have no scientific explanation ~ but it’s not all that silly if it works, and it has for me.

And now that I’ve reminded myself of this ability, I just need to harness and command it more often!  … After my nap.

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Happy Birthday Maya Angelou

I could spend hours playing with Maya Angelou quotes… such a wise and beautiful soul! But I have many chores today, so have picked just two quotes and three posters to share with you, in honor of this lovely, inspirational woman on her 85th birthday. We are blessed to have her in our midst!

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liflovestobetaken


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Tuesdays with Chris: “Learning to Learn”

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How do we learn? In particular, how does someone who might be unfamiliar with art learn to express themselves through an art class setting? With the premise that art is about a sense of wonder and the asking of questions, Chris shares a number of fun exercises he’s used to help students find their own voice.

Whether experienced or beginning artists, I get the distinct impression that Chris has a talent, not only for clay, but for gently drawing out people’s creativity, allowing them to discover what may lie sleeping deep beneath the surface.

(If you missed my introduction about Chris Staley, master potter, educator and Penn State Laureate 2012-2013, you can read that here.)  Enjoy!

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The Easter Bonnet

In your easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it,
You’ll be the grandest lady in the easter parade.
I’ll be all in clover and when they look you over,
I’ll be the proudest fellow in the easter parade.
On the avenue, fifth avenue, the photographers will snap us,
And you’ll find that you’re in the rotogravure.
Oh, I could write a sonnet about your easter bonnet,
And of the girl I’m taking to the easter parade. 

~ Irving Berlin

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Easter seems to have come much too early this year. Whoever is in charge of the calendar must have gotten mixed up. Regardless, it is upon us; and it’s generally one of the brightest, loveliest, most cheerful holidays.

Depending on your religious association, it can also be one of the grandest. I remember one year being in Athens on Easter. There were fireworks and loud celebrations throughout the night. I had no idea! And there I’d mistakenly thought I’d get some sleep to recover from jet-lag. Apparently it’s their holiest, and most joyful celebration, a much bigger deal to the Greeks than Christmas.

My own Easter experience has been fairly mild. Happy, but certainly void of fireworks. And while not lost, bunnies and baskets and colored egg hunts seem to have masked the deeper meaning; Easter relegated to consumerism. parades and pretty pastel dresses. But at its core is “joy” ~ whether the welcoming of spring, honoring new life, or the ressurection of Jesus ~ the celebratory nature is one of hope and love and light, and all our modern material expressions are rooted in ancient history. Eggs and chicks for new life and rebirth, rabbits for fertility and abundance, and of course the less seen but still relevant Easter Bonnet.

Easter bonnets were worn long before we began celebrating Easter. The first bonnets were made by weaving a circular wreath of leaves and flowers in celebration of the coming of spring, the round shape symbolizing the cycle of the seasons, the sun’s path around the earth. While today’s Easter honors life and rebirth in more biblical terms, the symbolism remains jubilant, and the Easter bonnet is still typically round, still decorated with flowers and still a burst of pretty springtime color.

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Happy Easter to you all! Wishing you much love, light and peace ~ Patricia

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Tuesdays with Chris: “Tight or Loose Pots”

Every art form has two distinct expressions on either side of the creative spectrum: the articulate and the free form. Like ballet to modern dance or abstract painting to realism, a potter’s work can be tight or loose. And what can set a piece apart is what Chris calls a “sense of gesture”.

There’s an ongoing process of being in control and out of control. There’s presentation, and there’s representation. Chris is a master of both.

(If you missed my introduction about Chris Staley, master potter, educator and Penn State Laureate 2012-2013, you can read that here.)  Enjoy!

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Random Inspiration

I was going to write about how busy I’ve been. How I can’t see past my nose, my plate is overflowing with this that and the other. How there isn’t enough time in the day. How when you’re not getting enough sleep things bother you more – like the fact that ice cream cartons are smaller and lines are longer or that kids rely on electronics too much. Frenzied cleaning binges are also a tell-tale sign of overload.

But then I realized that to some degree, almost everyone I know is feeling a sense of too many to-do’s ~ and how boring it would be to recite mine, however poetically expressed.

So I decided instead to share some cool art, something inspiring, a random artistic discovery. Italy-based street artist Kenny Random, to be precise.

Maybe it’s not new to you, but it was the first I’d seen his work and I fell a little head-over-heels. It feels fresh and charming and raw all at once. Brilliant, actually. Free-spirited and fun. It gives me a happy feeling. And this is something art should do – make us glad we’re here, give a respite from the madness. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.


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All art  © Kenny Random.

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Tuesdays with Chris: “Body as Vessel”

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In this video, Chris eloquently describes the symbolic correlation between pots (vessels) and ourselves, and teaches that the strongest piece of pottery has a sense of breathing, of expanding and contracting. Personally, I found this one particularly intriguing, as I’ve long had a fascination with painting pots (on canvas) ~ something I eventually understood as subconscious expressions of the body as a vessel. So I was really interested in his point of view!

In the making of pottery, “the answer lies inside the pot”. Listen and learn why.

(If you missed my introduction about Chris Staley, master potter, educator and Penn State Laureate 2012-2013, you can read that here.)  Enjoy!

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Tuesdays with Chris: “Unconscious Muses”

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Today Chris shares a couple of personal stories that revolve around the concept of triggers, epiphanies, and threads that weave consistently throughout our lives, our work and our psyche. The unconscious muses, as he calls them.

We all may recognize something of ourselves in what he says. And I’ll bet that my fellow artists out there will relate to his insights at the end ~ I know I did!

(If you missed my introduction about Chris Staley, master potter, educator and Penn State Laureate 2012-2013, you can read that here.)  Enjoy!

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