Saturday, April 18, 2015

Into a world of warmth and color once again!


It's that kind-of-a leaving the hospital Saturday woohoo...

Don't rub it in my face - but apparently it is gorgeous outside and I'm still stuck in the hospital - but not for long!

Besides, I've got to get out for my opening reception at G & B Cultural Center for an Art Festival of Trees!  (and more at the City Lights Gallery - I may have just turned 28, but I'm still Forever YOUNG!)

Resilience...
Lord knows I've got a bit of resilience in me, so again, please check out Beechwood Arts Immersion Salon on Resilience and the Power of the Human Spirit!  I'm so excited about my art that will be featured there, my monologues I've written based on my journey, and some recipes I come up with to (ironically) deal with not being able to eat or drink, and I could not be more excited about the artists I'll be working with!


Art Inspiration...
No time for art yet today - I'd rather pack on outta here of course, but I have had plenty of time
to drool over these mixed media paper sculpture and altered books I've been seeing all over the internet!
From the CSS Design Awards - and well deserved!

From Kenjio's Etsy Site
Poetry and Art...
I've also been reading a ton of poetry lately, as well as writing my own. There are some beautiful mixed media prayer shrines that you can create yourself.  I love the site GoMakeSomething.com and they have some fun little articles on how to create your own "shrines" from anything at their link HERE.

Of course, I love this tree shrine from Lisa Buchanan Studio
Thinking of shrines inspired me to create a poem for myself today...




Prayer – as spoken to me by a vessel, and Santana
Amy Oestreicher 2015

oh god,
whose love is an ocean of glimmering light that pours from the sky,
please allow me to be an


oh-pen channel

 for your life and wonders, and let your waterfalls cleanse me and guide me straight ahead into my life which is unknown but not un-happening (aka-just-cuz-I-don’t have an exact itinerary or road map doesn’t mean it ain’t-gonna-happen)

and…
 let me hear you all the time so your voice will be my guiding power.

If you build it, they will come  
If You build it, they will come  
If you build it, they Will come  
If you build it, They will come  
If you build it, they will come  
Ifyoubuildit
Build it.


God, dear god, I will accept that your “contracts” 
and deals that I make with you are only one way and that I can try to make bargains with you while in fact my Soul is bartering with you on a deeper level that I cannot even comprehend,
(meaning) it is giving itself to you in ways that only it knows how to do, only as much as it is ready and in ways that I cannot control, and in turn, you will give me only what I am ready for,
(which) might not be exactly what I want right now but-I-Trust that you have a contract with my soul which you yourself created. 

You create it, so I’ll come.
                                    (If I create it, will you stay?)

And,
 you’ve done this “life” thing a few times before so I guess I trust you with my life if you happen to manage everyone else’s.

I will come…
Call me LILITH! 
Call me evil eye!

(Will you stay…?)

God,
I will clear a space for you in my heart. 
I will build an open channel in myself,
a sacred ark for you to shelter you from the dangerous flood
in Me,
so you will be dry and you can be the cozy light In a snuggly cave as shelter you from the cold and stormy weather outside,
if you will me my singing sweet lantern and heart up my heart.

And your song will be soft and subtle, but
lovely and hummingbird-like,
softness and warm light and music leak into my organs
(currently too busy with little monster pacman-boogie-mannish things running around my body, following the dots, eating the cherries in a timed Round 3)

but

your light will calm them and the game will stop and be OUT-OF-ORDER

and your song will overtake my whole body

and the dots will turn into lines

and the lines will turn into swishy swashy lines like watercolors or the lines that outline the waves in the water

that flows

and dances

and sways like swans,



and my body will just become an artist’s sketch in light blue pencil, that you animate in your masterful sketchbook of earth and I will become another glorious addition to your painter’s portfolio, at peace and in harmony with all of your creatures and conventions.  I will move like a penciled sketch of water spilling over itself.


I Built It.


AH-ME. (n)*

- by ME, (now) - okay, quick little hospital poem right there for ya :)

Finally I get to GO.
There is some beautiful art as I leave the hospital.  AND:  it's good to LEAVE.

Of course, I got a wonderful surprise visit from Jeanine and Frederic of Beechwood Arts, who surprised me with colorful crayon rings - woohoo, we do love color!  A beautiful scarf full of the rainbow from China, and a treasured MOM pin from Jeanine - which reads WOW, of course!
And some beautiful inspiration from the Celtic Tree of Life.

Explore!!!

Before I go, I wanted to share with you some ways to explore your own universe - as an artist, which you are from birth, seriously...
These views on seeing the world were inspired by one of my favorite Keri Smith books called How to Be an Explorer of the World: Portable Life Museum

It's a wonderful book all about different ways of "seeing" the world around us - which I feel is so essential to finding confidence as a creator on this earth - many of you have written to me saying that you don't know how you can possibly create - well, start with seeing - create your own view of the world - your OWN "portable life museum"!!!

These are activities that I wrote myself, which were inspired by Keri Smith's great book.  I have a ton more which I'll share every now and then - let me know which ones resonate for you!


1.)   pretend like you are discovering a new continent for the first time, have never seen anything before

2.)   you are an astronaut on Mars and have never seen any of this before
3.)   you are a kid who doesn’t know what anything is

4.)   you have the superhero five senses over your shoulder and they are your imaginary friends telling you about their view of the world
5.)   go through affirmations and talk about how they pertain to this specific moment

6.)   go through the alphabet and name something around you for each letter
7.)   name everything you are grateful for around you in that moment
8.)   try to find as many miracles around you in that specific moment

9.)   pretend you are in a video game and all the objects around you are part of the game

10.)                  pretend that god has planted these objects before you at this very second for symbolic reason and interpret what we are

Well, so sorry for the (relative) brevity, but I'm off now, to see to see the world, make some art, and most importantly, take care of THIS beautiful mess!
I am getting married in two months after all...

AND DON'T FORGET:






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