Friday, January 30, 2009

Creative Generosity

I just posted a new issue of AHN NEWS on the Arts and Healing Network. I am particularly inspired by the topic this time – CREATIVE GENEROSITY. These times we find ourselves in our full of change and challenge, especially economically. It’s easy to give way to fear and feelings of scarcity. One of the best antidotes I know is generosity. The act of giving takes me outside myself - beyond the place of preserving and tightening around what I have – to opening up and connecting with others and being of service. I really do believe it is this kind of generosity of spirit that will make all the difference right now as we go through so much intense transformation in our country.

I was really delighted to feature a Britt Bravo's interview with Cami Walker, founder of the 29-Day Giving Challenge. Last year, Cami gave away 29 gifts in 29 days. She found this experience so healing and transformative, that she invited everyone to join her in this process and created an online community around the practice of giving. Today, the 29-Day Giving Challenge is a global giving movement with an active online community where people have shared over 3500 stories of giving along with artwork and videos. As Cami says. “What I notice is that the people who are taking part in this, what is common amongst us all, is that we all count our blessings. We practice gratitude. We feel like our lives are full no matter what we have.”


Also in this issue of AHN News is a write-up on the Federation of Students and Nominally or Unemployed Artists - a group of 10 artists who took giving into their own hands by raising $100 each, pooling their money ($1000 total), and giving it away as instant art grants of $10-$60 in a public park. All an applicant had to do was tell the story of his/her creative need and then he/she received a grant on the spot, along with an official handshake (see photo here). I love how artists took it into their own hands to support and give back to other artists in a fun, creative way - what a nice model of collaboration and spontaneity.

I hope you will get a chance to read this issue of AHN NEWS by clicking here. May it fill you with a sense of abundance and possibility.

(photo above from www.generosityfoundation.org)

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Photography Gathering

Last night, I left cozy Muir Beach to head toward downtown San Francisco for a gathering of photographers at Gallery 291. One of the hardest parts about living in Muir Beach for me is leaving. It is such a beautiful, soothing place to be, and it takes a fifteen minute drive on a windy road to get over Mount Tam to Mill Valley and then onto the city. Most often, once I overcome the inertia, I am truly glad I ventured out. Last night was no exception.

This group gathered for many years at the studio of RJ Muna and has recently shifted to Gallery 291 – a very elegant space on Union Square. I was last there a year ago for a wonderful exhibit of Beth Moon’s work (pictured here) – at the time my belly was like a big moon, swelling with my growing daughter. Now, she sleeps outside me, in her own crib and for many hours in a row at night – which makes it so much easier to break away from home-tending and reengage my creative life.


I have been thinking lately, how the path back to my creative life after giving birth may not be as simple as the flagstone path connecting my home to my studio. Instead, it may look more like driving to San Francisco on a winter’s night to gather with other artists who remind me about why we make work, and how much we all appreciate a fine print, a well-executed image, and the power of beauty. I left the evening full of excitement about the craft of photography – the making of art objects.

(photo above from www.gallery291.net)

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Los Angeles Art Fairs

A quick post to share this photograph from last weekend's Photo LA art fair. Work from my series Mapping the Body was on display at the booth for Modern Book gallery. Artist Joanne Koltnow was kind enough to take this photograph for me so that I could get a glimpse of the event from afar. The work on the wall next to mine is hand colored photographs by Brigitte Carnochan, and the matted work on the table is Joanne's.

If you are in the Los Angeles area and missed this fair, you have another chance to see my work at
Modern Book's booth at FADA: LA Art Show at the Los Angeles Convention Center from January 21-25. These fairs are a great opportunity to see tons of great art all in one concentrated space - a real treat for art lovers' eyes.