submissive to every thing, open, listening

The title of this post is taken from Belief and Technique for Modern Prose, List of Essentials by Jack Kerouac, a list that I have had taped to the walls of my various homes for almost 15 years.  It continues to be full of sage advice for surviving creatively.  This particular advice, #2 on his list, is how I'm approaching the end of 2012 as I prepare to set goals and clear my vision for the new year ahead.  As we all know, the end of a calendar is an arbitrary marker of time, but it also provides a defined moment in which to reflect, process, and gather one's strength to move forward.

Þhingvellir National Park, Iceland - mrll 2012

I know many people who beat themselves up for making the same resolutions year after year, but I think that renewing your resolve to be always improving is not something to be ashamed of, it is something to celebrate and a reminder of the power of our will and discipline.

After a wonderfully stimulating and lengthy phone conversation yesterday with one of my closest friends, I have a bit of a list for myself; a basic daily structure around which I can build my goals and plans for the new year.  She reminded me about the potent exercise of Morning Pages, taken from The Artist's Way, a book on my own personal list of essentials for creativity.  We encouraged each other to have faith in ourselves, to believe in possibility, and to persevere when things get tough.  We talked about going on a diet from the Internet (imagine!) and the amount of time that would free up for productive endeavours.  We discussed starting the day with yoga & a protein shake rather than coffee & sugary cereal.  She is a fellow photographer, and we will be collaborating on a photo-a-day project beginning January 1st that we will post on our respective blogs.

As 2013 rapidly approaches, I am taking the time to be thankful for the blessings that came into my life in 2012, and for all the successes and lessons of the past year.  I am looking for patterns and indicators of the direction to head next, for signs and signals, for opportunities and collaborations, for wonder and knowledge, for challenges and goals.  Most of all at the close of the year I feel thankful for the people in my life, my amazing friends and family, colleagues, mentors, and acquaintances, who are making this life so exciting, so uplifting, and so truly magical.  Happy New Year.

blocks are for building

canal house, Amsterdam - mrll 2012

Everyone knows about Writer's Block, it's hugely famous and has accounted for a lot of historical drinking by authors.  The thing is, you can get blocked doing anything creative.  I happen to be at the moment in a weird limbo place of feeling visually blocked, where I have just been kind of banging around in my studio and not actually hitting upon anything.  I know that the moment will pass, and in the meantime it's a great opportunity to tend to tedious admin tasks, like updating websites and CVs, and to explore the work of other artists, find inspiration, and participate in my community.

Recently a fellow Charlottetown artist, Donnalee Downe, and I teamed up to organize a 'support group' of sorts for isolated artists; a montly gathering for sharing and collaboration, and so we don't all go nuts holed up in our studios over the long, dark winter.  This kind of thing is what I miss most about being in school - having a constant community available for dialogue & collaboration.  Well, we'll just have to create it ourselves, 'tis the name of the game on small islands:  you want it, you build it.

And for inspiration?  O Internet, you magical beast full of goodies :)   Right now I'm getting fuel from amazing sculptural books, assemblage, residencies I want to attend like this one, and getting encouragement from projects like 100 Bad Paintings.

Every part of the process is a part of it, and no matter what, you must trust your own process - that much I know is true.

skipping stones

When you're building something from scratch (a fort, a relationship, a meal, a career, a song, a story, a house, etc.) there are two things that are crucial:  first, that you can imagine & visualize the end result.  Second, that you accept the fact that if you can imagine it, it can really happen.  This can be a hard thing to remember during the Dark Months, when the sky is grey and energy is low.

I'm working on a variety of submissions right now; art projects for which I must generate new & brilliant ideas.  I often find it challenging to allow myself to dream big for these projects - my inner critic will be telling me to tone it down, not to get ahead of myself, to start small, etc.  But big dreams are what make all the difference in this life.  So, when I'm at this point in my process I seek inspiration anywhere & everywhere I can find it.  Frequently it's artwork  or artists I greatly admire, other times it's something ridiculous that just cracks me up, and sometimes, like right now, it's the great tunes on CBC radio 2 on a Sunday afternoon.

This morning I was reading some Deepak Chopra and his theory of the Seven Spiritual Laws of Success.  Sunday is the day of the Law of Pure Potentiality, a day of non-judgement, which was ideal for the brainstorming I needed to do today.  I took a drive to the shore & sat a while just looking at the water, coming in & pulling back, coming in & pulling back, the gentlest sound, the softest wind.  Found some perfectly flat and round stones, skipped them across the still surface of the water - always a miracle that it works, no matter how often I do it.  Reminding myself that if I can imagine it, it can happen. 

getting back on a speeding horse

abandoned tower, Sardegna - ml 2012

With the speed of life these days, I sometimes find keeping an up-to-date blog nearly impossible, but then there are all these highly active bloggers who have a bunch of children & a full-time job & still manage to post regularly.  So, here I am, getting back on the horse.  I have a bit of an excuse, seeing as I've had a whirlwind few months:  got married, took a 3 week honeymoon to Europe, installed an exhibition, and now I'm catching my breath.  While I do that, here are some links for you on a variety of topics:



getting started
setting goals
to relax
participate in a neat project
listen on a rainy day

Riding Icelandic ponies outside Reykjavik

And I'll get back to you sooner next time :)

in the footsteps of giants

footprints, Sandbanks - mrll 2011

I recently was selected as the 2012 recipient of the Nel Oudemans Award, presented by the Sheila Hugh Mackay Foundation in New Brunswick. 

Here is what I knew about the award when I submitted my portfolio for review:

The annual $2,000 Nel Oudemans Award acknowledges the extraordinary contribution of Fredericton weaver Nel Oudemans to Canada’s applied arts field, as well as to fine arts & craft education in New Brunswick.  To mark her association since 1947 with the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design, the Award will recognize the pursuit of excellence in the fields of fine craft, design, and the visual arts by the College’s recent graduates.

During my 3 years at NBCCD I heard the name of Nel Oudemans frequently, particularly in the Textiles studio, where there was a photo of her on the wall.  Since the press release has come out, people have written me to tell me what an extraordinary woman Nel was and how generous and essential she was to her community. 

Yesterday I conducted a brief interview about the award for the Telegraph-Journal, and it was brought up that I had been heavily involved in the arts community in NB while I was in school, volunteering & why had I done all that etc.  When I heard those words from the reporter, I realized how, at the time, you just do it for no other reason than because you believe it is important and should be done, and that, very likely, that would have been the case for Nel also, while she was blazing her own trail & inspiring others.  How it is so important to act, that our actions are what define us to ourselves and to others.  How the action is what seals the belief, the value, confirms it. 

I am so honoured to receive an award in the memory of a woman who acted, and made the world a more beautiful place through her actions.  May I be so blessed, so moved, so inspired to do the same.

in the thick of it

So, I am without Internet most of the time this summer, as evidenced by the fact my last post was a month ago.  That's one reason I haven't written.  The other reason is that I'm getting married in September.  Which is, well, soon.

me & my husband-to-be

See, I've had friends get married & have heard them exclaim through their murky fog of stress, anxiety, and advance planning, "it's so much work!"  and have thought to myself, "bah.  can't be that much work."  But now that I'm in the thick of the aforementioned fog, ah, there's the rub.  It's even more work than my friends let on.  Preparing for a wedding is a crazy thing.  You're throwing a one-shot party for the most important folks in your life and you know in advance that you'll remember it forever.  I'm suddenly spending hours deciding on a certain precise shade of blue, cutting out fabric leaf shapes for handmade boutonnières, designing a wedding logo, trying out different updos, choosing cake toppers, and the list goes on.  Luckily I love to make things and do graphic design and paw through decor magazines and daydream about personalized touches to traditional events.  A lot of it is trying to strike a fine balance between DIY-until-you-fall-down-dead and spending-yourself-into-a-black-hole-of-debt.  Either you have time or you have money, right?

me at the PEI Pottery Studio making tiles for our wedding favours

a sneak peek at our wedding favour tiles!

Anyway, it's no big news that summer is a busy time on PEI, no matter what your jam is.  Somehow we carve out an afternoon here & there to go to the beach, sit on the deck with friends, lay in the hammock, work in the garden.  And thank goodness for that, because when my stress levels get high, all I want to do is putter about in my garden & make cocktails using my freshly grown herbs.  Luxurious relaxation techniques that will no doubt come in handy as we get closer and closer....

art is an honesty contest

The title of this post is taken from an amazing interview I recently read with Ran Ortner (this guy is an incredible artist, well worth checking out) in The Sun where, when asked how what weight he places on commercial/art institution success/approval, he says:

"Art is not a skill contest, nor an innovation contest.  Art is an honesty contest.  If we can be precisely who we are, in the most intimate and candid and courageous way, we will start to connect to the universal...In the compression of the intensely personal, heat is generated, and at a certain point it becomes expansive.  The work goes from the intimately personal to what's personal to all of us." 

summer basket - mrl 2012

Well, that's what I've been thinking about lately.  I'm Artist-in-Residence for the summer this year  at the gallery/shop of a good friend, Hutchinson Pottery & Gallery in North Milton, PEI.  It's in a beautiful old schoolhouse, about a 15 min. drive from my house, in a gorgeous, peaceful area, and it has no internet - but it does have a hammock! 

Hutchinson Pottery & Gallery - mrll 2012

It's made me realize how much time & mental energy I spend just exploring the internet & how little time I actually take to process any of it.  Since I started this week at the gallery I've enjoyed many a good Sit n' Think by the window or out front in the Adirondack chair.  It's wonderful.  I have time to read, reflect, and best of all, to make my art.  People drop by in no rush at all & chat with me & look at the wares. 

my studio for the summer - mrll 2012

I feel very personal about the work that I make, and sometimes, when thinking about the Big Bad Art World, making personal work seems trite or not in fashion, but for me it's where I connect with the flow of creativity, where I get my best ideas, where I relax and understand things.  It's honest for me.  I believe that the best thing the individual can do for the world is to become the best self that they can be, to dig deeply within, and 100% of the time, what is extracted from that core is universal to all of us. 

my winnipeg

tulips in Assiniboine Park - ml 2012

I'm just two days back from Winnipeg and PEI has already swept me up in the enchantment of summer such that it's hard to imagine being anywhere else.  However, while I was out there, I cheated a little bit on my island, and gave my heart to the Peg while I was in it. 

Winnipeg often gets a bad rap; people think it's cold, barren, inhospitable to human life.  It's totally untrue.  First of all, the weather is actually pretty great.  Winters are very cold, yes, but also dry, so it doesn't feel anywhere near as cold as, say, Montreal, and the other three seasons are spectacular.  It is full of elm trees, which may well be the most beautiful of all the trees.  Winnipeg has amazing restaurants, galleries, shops, nightlife, some of the most innovative architecture I've ever seen anywhere, and one of the most thriving and interesting cultural scenes in North America.  You can cycle all over the place on beautiful trails.  You can have a bonfire on the riverbank, right in the city.  Now that is civilized.

I've been there 5 times now, so I'm a bit of an expert :)
Here are some of my favorite spots:

The Exchange District - I'm nuts about this part of town.
Toad Hall Toys - you could easily spend a whole afternoon in there.
Ragpickers - one of the best vintage stores in the country.  A bit of a counter-culture institution.
Platform:  Centre for Photographic & Digital Arts - one of the most interesting artist-run centres in Canada.
Mondragon - a yummy vegan cafe & radical/anarchist bookstore

copperplate entryway at the Martha St. Studio - ml 2012

Martha Street Studio - home of the Manitoba Printmakers Association, also has a gallery & shop & really kind people.  Printmaking heaven.

Then you can shoot up to Osborne Village, get some sweet clothes/books/papers at Kustom Kulture, check out the weird old stuff (my fave!) in the gigantic Osborne Antiques Mart
and then have the most delicious Ethiopian food at Massawa - but be prepared for a bit of a wait for your food, they're notorious for taking a long time.  It's soooo worth it though ;)

playful cubs in the Leo Mol Sculpture Garden, Assiniboine Park - ml 2012

Of course, no visit to Winnipeg is complete without a beer at Cousin's Deli in Wolseley/West Broadway, an afternoon trip to the WAG and its neighbour, Plug In ICA, pastries from Tall Grass Bakery, either in Wolseley or at the Forks (while you're there you can gaze in awe at the new Canadian Museum for Human Rights ), groceries for a picnic in Vimy Ridge Park from Deluca's & Organic Planet, and a stroll through the stunning and enormous Assiniboine Park.

If you've had prejudices about this city and have never been, give it another chance.  The sunsets alone are worth the trip.  And don't even get me started on the trip I took up north through Riding Mountain!

one of the many lakes in Riding Mountain National Park - ml 2012

dangling your toes in the water

When you're a kid, your parents are always trying to teach you things.  Some of them you pick up of course, but others you completely ignore.  And then, when you're in your thirties, you'll wish that you had paid attention and learned those things. 

My Dad especially was/is always generous about sharing his skill and knowledge with me.  Over the years he has taught me how to drive, negotiate, shingle a house, make my own shoes, compose a photo, and appreciate the luxuries in life.  Still, there are things I wish I had learned from him when I had the chance.  For instance, he used to have a sailboat when I was little, and was always offering to teach me and my sister how to sail.  I was usually preoccupied with dangling my toes in the water off the bow and didn't want to learn how to do anything but just sit there and enjoy the sensations of water and wind and sun.  But now?  Boy, I wish I knew how to sail. 

north shore - mrll 2011

 Recently I've been watching all the nominated films for the Vimeo Awards, prompted by the fact that a very talented filmmaker friend, Millefiore Clarkes, is up for an award in the lyrical category.  You can watch her brilliant and beautiful film, December in Toronto, here. 

Watching all these incredible short films has brought to mind another thing I wish I had really learned from my Dad when I had the chance.  Up until I was around twenty-two, my Dad worked in the film industry.  He started out as a cinematographer, then worked his way into directing, and later producing.  When he began, he did everything himself, so he knew about lighting, art direction, editing, etc., which made him a great leader on set.  I started working with him when I was about twelve or thirteen, and worked on TV and feature film productions large and small right up until he got out of the business.  It was, by then, time for me to get out too.  The film industry in Montreal was a little too fast and furious for the twenty-year-old introvert that I was, and I retreated for years into yoga and free-wheeling travel instead. 

into toronto - mrll 2011

I mean, I learned a lot working on set all those years - I did a tiny bit of acting, worked in production office, and for several years as an assistant director -  but what I really wish, now that I'm interested in it, is that I had taken one of the many chances I had to get behind the camera.  There is so much that goes into making a film, you could easily spend your whole life learning about it.  I suppose, though, that it's never too late.  And inspiration goes a long way to making up for lost time...

what gets in

If you bring forth that which is within you, what you bring forth will save you.  If you do not bring forth that which is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.  ~ Gospel of Thomas

If you can't see God in All, you can't see God at all. - Yogi Bhajan

the one they cut down - mrll 2011

Recently I've had good reason to count my blessings.  A few weeks ago I taught a Yoga & Creativity workshop in Souris, PEI at the Fortune Bridge Yoga Studio.  And then shortly after that I went with some folks out to the Trailside Cafe, which is just about the coziest, friendliest place you could ever want to have dinner & listen to some tunes.  Mitch Schurman opened up with some heart-wrenching songs, and then Catherine Maclellan finished off the night with her usual grace and humour.  I live in one of the safest, most beautiful places in the entire world.  I'm making good headway with my studio practice.  I have an abundance of friends and family who love me and support me.  I am marrying my incredible partner who is also my best friend.  I do what I love as my job.  I love my life, I really do. 

The thing is, though, I have anxiety, fear, anger, sadness, pain, just like anyone.  Having your ideal circumstances doesn't exempt you from carrying the weight that we all carry as human beings.  So, as much as  I would rather insulate myself and not listen to the news and the horrible things we humans do to each other, it gets in.  Worry about what will happen next gets in.  A highway that might get built right through some beautiful, fragile land that I deeply love.  Sorrow for the pain and loss of others gets in.  Today, it's a story about a man beaten to death by another man outside a bar in Halifax.  I don't really know what to do about any of this except to do better in my own life.  Try to be more kind, more available, more understanding, more compassionate.  Try to forgive everyone.  Try to forgive myself.  Try to talk about it, so we all know we're not alone.  Try to bring forth that which is within me, and to say something about what I saw and felt and knew while I was here in this world.  Damn but if it doesn't get rough sometimes.

spatial awareness

installation-in-progress - mrll 2012

I spent last week in Fredericton, NB installing my show, The Sky is Always Moving, at the UNB Art Centre Gallery.  I was in the East Gallery, which has these dark charcoal walls that were perfect for showcasing the work - I used natural dyes for everything, so the colours are soft and muted. 

This was my first experience with installation work - the show includes photography, mixed media sculpture, and video projection.  For the video I collaborated with Julie Scriver, who did some wonderful choreography, my fiancé Devon Ross who (along with helping me install the show!) composed and performed the music as well as performing the choreography along with Celine Gorham.  An example of the materials I used for this show:  plaster, plywood, cotton, silk, felt, handmade paper, antique lace, and found pointe shoes.  :)

still image from the body cage (your body holds you back) - monica lacey 2012

The exhibit grew out of a personal introspection where I was thinking back on my long history with dance.  I grew up studying ballet, modern dance, and jazz, for many years, and then stopped taking classes in my early twenties, but would go out dancing regularly to live music.  But then for several years I just wasn't dancing at all, not even in my living room.  And I missed it.  And I wanted to know why I wasn't dancing.  So I started asking myself some questions about the nature of dance, and then opened it up & began talking to other dancers, both trained and recreational, and the responses were really interesting.  

all the reasons why (detail) - monica lacey 2012

Everyone had something to say about dance and about why you might engage in it or not.  I then distilled the answers I was given, combined with my own, and worked out three sections to the exhibit that offer a perspective on why one would resist the natural human urge to move to rhythm:  part 1. the body cage (your body holds you back); part 2. the heavy heart (your heart weighs you down); part 3. the haunted mind (your thoughts exhaust you).  I recently received a Creation Grant from the PEI Council of the Arts to continue and expand my work on this project, so I'll be adding to it and evolving it.  The exhibit at the UNB Art Centre runs until April 20th.

the haunted mind - monica lacey 2012

slowly but surely

camp kitchen, abandoned series - mrll 2010

I know, I know, the whole point of a blog is to be updating it regularly.  These days I'm lucky if I manage to get out to check my mail and get a coffee.  I have a solo exhibition coming up (in less than 2 weeks!!) at the UNB Art Centre in Fredericton, NB.  Therefore, I have not left my studio in quite some time. 

The pressure on an artist is immense.  Even if you somehow succeed in not caring what others think of you and your work, your own inner critic can be incredibly harsh, saying things like, "oh, look at the nice drawing you made.  Bet you'll never be able to do that again."  Or, "if this work isn't amazing, you'll probably never, ever get another show."  So, to soothe that unruly inner beast, I spend a lot of time just thinking about the work I'm creating.  Sitting in my studio and examining it, looking for anything I may have missed or overlooked is when I often get my best ideas, insights that can advance a project and fuel me with inspiration. 

As I've mentioned before, being a full-time artist consists of an insane amount of administrative work:  applying for exhibitions, grants, residencies, etc.  can easily take up half of my week.  However, now and then it really pays off:  I recently was awarded a Creation Grant I had applied for from the PEI Council of the Arts!  Basically this is amazing validation for my work, and also financial support to help me spend more time in my studio creating said work.  I'm thankful to the Council of course, but also thankful to the Me who slaved over the application last October, revising and rewording well into the wee hours.  Good things are happening.  Now, I have to get back to my studio! 

learn from your elders

sunset at thunder cove - mrl 2011

I've been teaching a felting course to seniors (the youngest is about 50, oldest is 99) at a day program (meaning these folks still live at home & come for the day) for the past several weeks.  Some of them have pretty serious ailments/pain/disabilities/degenerative illness etc. and some are just in their 'golden years' and starting to wind down a bit. 

In the past I've mainly taught kids & teenagers, occasionally adults, but recently I've felt called to work with our elder population.  Maybe because I'm getting older myself, maybe because I'm curious about what it's going to be like to get really old.  At any rate, they are teaching me a lot about life & how to be good at it.  Here are some of the prime lessons I've gathered from them so far:

1.  If you think you have a problem, really what you have is an attitude problem.  A good attitude can get you through anything.  Anything.
2.  As you get older, you will become more and more yourself.  Your personality will become amplified.  Therefore, if there is any quality, trait, or part of yourself you want to work on, cultivate, or let go of, start right now. 
3.  Have a great sense of humour.  Putting a smile on the faces of those around you is one of the best gifts you can give. 
4.  Be open to new things.  Be interested, not afraid. 
5.  Keep your mind sharp.  Solve puzzles, play games, read often, engage in conversation with people who challenge you. 
6.  When they say stay young at heart and you won't get old, it is 100% true.  Be playful, stay loose, laugh, have some fun!
7.  Cultivate and nourish your friendships.  These will be the people you will spend the most time with.  You will need each other.  Be kind and don't take each other for granted.  Never hold a grudge. 
8.  Love your life.  Befriend your soul.  Enjoy yourself!

given the time you need

a good adventure - mrl 2010

I spend a lot of time on the internet looking at the work of other artists.  I can't say whether this helps or hinders my own work, but I do find it fascinating and engaging and I love to see the different perspectives people are presenting.  Today I found myself engrossed by a project by JP King called Free Paper, which asked "participants to examine the way in which we mediate our lives – either through money, objects, people and work – and most often all four of these themes." 

I'm often interested in how people choose to spend their time in the world, be it creating, investigating, documenting, researching, teaching, managing, selling, socializing, worrying, transporting, or, say, putting bread on their cat's face(really?  I mean really? Yes, really).

In fact, I find I'm thinking about time quite a bit these days.  I recently re-read Borderliners by Peter Høeg - a truly wonderful book about education, time, and awareness told from the perspective of a young boy.  Also, I'm in the midst of teaching a felting course to senior citizens and they are in turn teaching me a significant amount about people, time, and the power of a good attitude.  Some days I can muster a really great attitude and am met, in return, with exactly the time I need to accomplish everything.  Other days it's harder, and time behaves either like a weight you drag around by your ankles or like a wild animal you can never quite catch. 

Right now I have a deadline, a big one, staring me down.  In such instances time becomes a creature you must somehow win over, somehow gain as an ally.  How am I accomplishing this daunting task?  By procrastinating of course.  Writing artful letters to strangers via sendsomething, trying out a new wine, playing music, watching movie trailers, writing this blog...I can't explain it, but I know that through some alchemical reaction, these things actually will lead to eventual inspiration, and to me having productive days in the studio later this week.  That in order to have the time I need, I must not look directly at it.  Time, like so many other precious things, is easily spooked, prone to galloping away.   

planets hiding behind the sun

what we found - mrl 2010

Tonight my partner & I treated ourselves to a double feature of Melancholia and the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (award-winning commercials).  The commercials were the perfect antidote to the first film which has some, let's say, heavy themes.  It was about, among other things, the end of the world, and many of the short commercials were about rebuilding, about the human spirit, and about saving the world.  Of course, they were using these uplifting themes to sell a product or a service.  But lots of food for thought about the times we're living in.  Who can say what the heck will happen next.  We have to do our best and trust the process.  Be kind to each other.  Help out when and where we can.  Always be generous of spirit.  Love our lives.  Learn as much as we can from it all.

I love my job.  I love my life and all the amazing people I get to spend it with.  I have to say, as much as it is a struggle sometimes working for myself in a highly competitive, tenuous, uncertain field, I would not trade it for anything.  I don't make as much as a lawyer, for instance, but I will one day.  You watch ;)

charlottetown morning - mrl 2010

I've been asked a few times recently about 'how one goes about working full-time as an artist' and while I'm just getting started on this road, I thought I'd post some of what I do, which can be taken either as hopefully-helpful tips for fellow artists, or as info for the curious. 

First of all, you organize yourself. You need this organization because you will be doing a ton of admin work on top of your beloved studio work.  You constantly research submission/exhibition opportunities.  You subscribe to mailing lists, blogs, anyone who is compiling said opportunities.  You support fellow artists when you can.  You discern and prioritize and then submit to everything on your priority list.  You surround yourself with people who uplift you and make you laugh so you don't go nuts.  You spend time with other artists.  You teach.  You network.  You blog.  You use resources that are available to you.  You are professional and reliable.  You edit your work so that it is always improving.  You get perspective.  You diversify.  You specialize.  You take courses and workshops and grow your skills.  You do residencies.  You volunteer.  You sit on boards of arts organizations.  You get involved.  You focus.  You go to galleries and other artists' openings.  You put your self-doubt aside and get out there.  You put your ego aside and let the quality of your work speak for itself.  You promote yourself.  You learn to talk about your work in a way that is accurate and insightful.  You say yes when opportunity comes knocking and if it doesn't, you go after it.  It takes an immense amount of energy, so you make sure you get a good night's sleep :)

ain't got time to get the blues

twin shores, PEI - mrl 2012

 

You must concentrate upon and consecrate yourself wholly to each day, as though a fire were raging in your hair.  - Deshimaru

January is one of those months:  there isn't much light, we're all starved for Vitamin D, everyone is in hibernation mode, it can be kind of a downer.  After spending a few winters in the southern US, I realized that this 'January blues' effect happens whether or not it's cold & snowy.  It happens in warm climates too, only you have nothing to blame but yourself, which is worse - trust me.  So maybe we all need the downtime.  Maybe the communal suffering makes us just a little more compassionate toward each other. 

north shore, PEI - mrl 2011

This year I feel pretty fortunate to be so busy that I have barely had time to notice the spin of the earth or the overcast skies.  I'm working on a couple of shows - a group printmaking exhibit (opens January 20th) at Gallery 78 in Fredericton, NB, a solo installation show (opens March 16th) at the UNB Art Centre, also in Fredericton, and a crow-themed group exhibit (opens on February 16th) at Details Past and Present Art Gallery here in Charlottetown. 

I just started taking a painting class (I've been in withdrawal since I graduated!  Give me assignments!!) with Henry Purdy, who is a true Master of his craft & a wonderful teacher.  I'm playing music once a week with some friends & getting really uplifted by both the company and the music itself.  And today I began teaching an 8-week felting course at a Senior Citizens' day program - there are some wise-cracking guys in the group, which I adore as a character trait, so I think we'll all have a good time together ;)  Felt is a material I really love working with & I'm thankful to have the opportunity to share it with these folks!

But let me level with you:  the real reason, at the heart of it, for my chipper attitude is that I have begun (and am now in week 2) of the P90X program.  That's right, I'm doing it.  It's an intense workout and a full diet regime, and I feel fantastic!  Sore, yes, but fantastic.  Ten years ago this year I quit smoking after 11 years of about a pack & a half a day.  I had had fluid in my lungs before I finally decided to quit.  Now I can run for an hour straight, and I'm doing this training program.  Exercise will make you feel great, no doubt about it, but the link between quitting smoking and doing this program is something else, and that is where I find my true center & my true strength.  Self-discipline.  It took me a long time to get the hang of it, but now I know it to be the most powerful force there is.  It is a force that requires regular maintenance, but the return is outstanding.


Everyone has been made for some particular work, and the desire for that work has been put in every heart. - Rumi

and then it was 2012

view from my studio in 2011 - mrl 2011

I can remember a time when I thought we'd never make it to 2012.  Before the year 2000 - Y2K - it seemed like things were going to veer off course for the world in an irreparable way, with technology crashing to a halt and the environment melting like it was in a microwave.  Yet, here we are, another year with its arbitrary Gregorian number.  At the beginning of this new millennium, 12 years ago today, I was waking up groggily in a tent in a field in the Big Cypress National Preserve in the Florida Everglades after watching Phish bring in the new year and being filmed from above by news helicopters covering the biggest Y2K events.  Today I woke up happily in my bed next to my fiancé, got up to make coffee, and wandered into my studio to see what the news of the world was and marvel at the still-green grass outside.  

No question we're living in some crazy times; unpredictable, volatile, percolating times.  I feel incredibly blessed to be able to live where I live and how I want to live:  on a beautiful island in the Atlantic ocean with a peaceful atmosphere surrounded by people I love.  To be able to live here and be working as an artist; to be able to live in a creative way with minimal stress - I am aware this is a luxury, a blessing, and I am thankful for it every day.  


As this is the Year of the Dragon, I'm getting ready to implement some serious routine & discipline into my work and my life.  I'll be starting a lot of new projects, including P90X, so I'll be needing all the belly fire I can get to stay focused and keep up.  Happy New Year - may all these blessings shine on you.  

It's not a new one, but here's a song for the day - from the late great R.L. Burnside: