http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V37k31746IM
It has been as always a very busy time.  Lots of seeds have been planted and some of them are growing and blossoming.  One of the things dear to my heart is the work I have been doing with sound.

I have been working with Mark Handler for the last 5 years learning about and putting into practice the use of Tibetan Singing Bowls and Tibetan Style Chant.  It has been a wonderful journey.

Last summer we recorded a Tibetan Style Chant with our dear friend Eva.  It was a day that I remember well.  I had not slept the night before, it was 90 plus degrees in the recording studio, and we had a very friendly fly that was bound and determined to get its own few minutes of fame by getting into the video. 
For one entire chant segment I had the little bugger crawling around on my face... trying to keep a stiff upper lip, straight face, and not get completely twitchy was pretty difficult... but doable.

It was a great experience.  I continue to marvel at how much Mark, Eva, and I have grown in our own sound experiences.  I am amazed at the things Mark is learning and sharing with us.  I continue to use my bowls, chants, Reiki, and meditations in my artwork.

I will be teaching an adult class this fall at NMC.  I will be combining everything I know about clay and the healing arts into a class called Broken Bowls the Zen of clay.

Please check out Mark's site right here on myspace.... http://www.myspace.com/tibetanbowlmaster
and if you are in the area... check out my class at http://www.nmc.edu/ees

Today I sit here glued to the TV. Today is a special day. I slipped on my bracelet, a very special gift from a good friend. On the bracelet the word peace is inscribed in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Spanish, and Russian. Today I have goose bumps as I hope that this day will mark a change... a change of heart... a change in thinking... a hope that we will all view the world from a different standpoint. As the sun shines and glistens on the snow... I feel the lifting of a huge cloud of darkness and anxiety. My hope is that we will be looking forward, that we will be expanding opportunities, that we will again be able to help set the standards for freedom. That we will be on the front line condemning torture. That we will honor our aged. That we will educate our children. That we will expand our horizons. That we will promote research on green energy and export it to all corners of our world. That we will move our concentration from greed and self and open our hands to community service. Blessings on all this day and all the days that will follow.

It has been a long time since I have written anything. It is time to gather in all of my observations and pick through them, weeding out the none essentials and cutting closer to the core of my own personal curiosity. I am and always have been curious about everything.

I have spent time staring out my front window studying my medium sized oak tree that sits close to the road. Not a spot I would have picked but it must have looked very good a a gray, black or red squirrel. This oak was a volunteer. It was either planted and stored for future use or dropped by accident. I have reaped the benefit from this random or purposeful act as I sip my coffee and watch it grow.

For a long time I was much taller and could have yanked it out when it had a few spindly branches and just as few leaves. My way is to let things be. Let them turn out to be whatever they need to be.

I have watched the leaves fall. I have watched the leaves on this tree dance in the frigid wind. I have been amazed to see a few of them still clinging to the tree storm after storm after storm. I think that I could count them now very easily. But counting would not answer my question. Why are they still there?

Are they afraid of falling? Are they afraid that all too soon they will become part of the mud, the dirt under the tree? Are they afraid that they and the tree will cease to exist if they give themselves over to natures forces and either drift or plunge to the ground amid icy gales?

Or... do they cling as a sign of hope? Are they the last memory for the tree of pale green spring, emerald summer, and rust and brown colored autumn? Are they there for us so that we hang in there waiting for the days to grow long and the sun to shine once again extending our days into warm summer nights?

Yes, I wonder as I raise my cup of coffee to the leaves and salute them. It does not really matter why they cling... for me it is enough to know that they do.

I am so excited that we have the possibility for change. I loved Obama's speech. We do need to accept this challenge with great humility, honor ourselves and accept responsibility for our own actions. We need to work together and work for understanding and compassion.
With loving kindness and compassion... may we all be well, may we all be happy, may we all be free from suffering, may our hearts be filled with loving kindness, may we be filled with joy, may we be at peace and at ease.
Blessings,
marcia

A week ago today my father left this world, for me it was a blessing and a great sorrow. When he left he gave my mother two very special gifts. He lived to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary and then he died two days later peacefully in his sleep. That was his second priceless gift to my mother... he gave her her life back. My mother had been his primary caregiver for the last 12 years.

Alzheimer's Disease is truly the long goodbye. I thought that I had cried all of my tears for my father at each parting. I lived a day away too far to be of much help. My life work as an artist and a teacher has honed my skills of observation. It was very painful to watch my father's slow decline.

You see my father was my DADDY! He was honest, loyal, intelligent, quiet, an engineer. He was the person I always turned to when I had any questions. I always knew in his very quiet way that he loved me and would always be there for me... and then there was Alzheimer's.

It began slowly with him forgetting things - that we had ordered food in a restaurant - this progressed to him repeating the same things over and over again. There is a lighter side to Alzheimer's Disease. One of my favorite stories is of my aunt with Alzheimer's visiting my parents. She and my father began with the words... how are things where you live and the other would reply fine and ask the same question. They happily carried on this 2 sentence conversation until everyone else left the room. The other story would be the search for my brother's keys and wallet. When my brother would come to visit he would always drop them on the kitchen table. We were all visiting and planning on going out to dinner. My brother could not find his keys or wallet anywhere. We all searched the house. My brother's children teased him about forgetting where he put things. We all gathered again in the kitchen to decide what to do next. My Dad came in and said, "Well, I know where my keys are!" and proudly pulled my brother's keys from his pocket. Then he said, "and I have my wallet too." At this point he pulled out my brother's wallet and then his own. My mom would still put a few dollars in his wallet. The humorous stories were very few.

My father kept up a valiant battle to keep his mind. The repetitions faded and I found that if I could set our conversations 5 years in the past we talked and had real conversations. Then that too faded and my Dad would say, "I'm sorry I just can't remember." The memory of my children faded from his mind, then my husband, and then lastly me. He knew who I was when I called on the phone but when I visited in person the person he saw was not the person he knew in his mind to be me. As his memory faded I had gone back in his mental time machine to being a college kid, then a high school kid, and then I do not know for sure what he held as the last image of me in his mind.

I saw Alzheimer's Disease eat away at my father taking away his love of flying, computers, driving, golf, reading, and walking. He is now free. I will miss him for always.

I give my greatest respect to all that suffer from this disease and to all the loving caregivers that treat and care for them with honor and respect. My father was lucky. My Mom cared for him at home until his last breath. I hold the photos of my Daddy and me and know that I have always seen the world through his eyes, that I have always created my artwork with his hands. These are the lasting gifts that my father gave to me. Love you Daddy...

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=299199952&albumId=800284

I have just had an art work accepted for the exhibit "They Bomb Children, Don't They". I am including the invitation for anyone that would like to submit work.
The work I created shows hands in the namaste position holding back the bombs. Small peace lilies cover the base of the bombs and larger peace lilies give strength and support to the hands and are also repeated in the 4 corners holding it all in. The possible bomb blasts are changed into the celebration of fireworks encouraging life and exiling death and destruction.
When I was working on this piece I noticed how much these bombs looked like large metal balls or jingle bells. Very enticing for curious children.
Our country is killing and maiming children. We have not banned this bomb.
111 other nations have already signed.
To see some of the work already submitted
http://www.the-cause.org/cause2008/cause2008.htm
Additional information can be found at -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7423714.stm
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-05-30-cluster-agreement_N.htm
http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/index.php?sid=367096
 
Dear friends,
 
This is an invitation from the director of C.A.U.S.E., Coalition of Artists United for Social Engagement.
I took it upon myself to create a new project centered around the cruel issue of cluster bombs. In short: cluster bombs are bombs containing hundreds of smaller bombs and once exploded the smaller bombs spread through out the area and creating hundreds of victims of which 30% are children. This is not only during impact itself but also after, meaning that not all explode immediately but often later when children play on playgrounds, fields, and farmlands causing severe disability or death. An absolutely unacceptable situation!
 
At present there are a number of international conferences aiming at putting a complete ban on the production and use of cluster bombs. The final conference will take place on December 2nd and 3rd in Oslo, Norway, and to support an NGO especially centered around creating awareness and acting as a pressure group I decided to create a new art project titled "They bomb children, don't they?".
 
I therefore would like to invite you to participate and to visit a specially made information digital document where you will find extensive information about the issue itself, as well as how you can participate and contribute. You can view this at

http://www.the-cause.org/clusterinfo.swf
Note: if it opens in your browser it may look too small. To view it at full screen choose in your toolbar 'view' and 'full screen'.
 
I look forward to hear from you and to your participation. Please spead the word, invite your colleagues too!!
 
Sincerely,
 
Gino d'Artali
Director C.A.U.S.E.
www.the-cause.org
info@the-cause.org

OK, I have now gone totally crazy. I bought a nice Artista portable potter's wheel and am making tiny miniature pots. I love making pottery but have no place to store large bowls, plates, mugs, etc. I also have a very tiny kiln. You might ask how tiny is tiny. It has a firing chamber of 6 inches by 6 inches by 4 inches. It is just right for small pots. Opening up a small ball of clay is not as easy as one would expect and trimming the little buggers is also a challenge. I am starting to make a few tiny tools and will make more as time goes on. I have made a calipers that is 50% the size of a regular one and will probably make one that is even a bit smaller to get a more exact measurement for making lids that fit. I am on the second set of pots and will do a bisque when I get at least the bottom of my kiln filled. Check out my new pics to see some of the tiny things. The coin you see is a dime. I am having a great time and have made my first teapot and the second one will be finished today... Stay tuned and see how these little pots change as I get more and more proficient at wheel throwing and trimming them.
..

I am tired... this spring has seemed a very long time in coming.

There has been much upheaval in many different environments, with different people (those that support you and those that seem to enjoy digging deep holes around and under your feet and everyone else's... as if that some how will elevate them).

Finally, here comes the rain.

I can hear the beginnings of thunder along with the splat of large drops. I am waiting for the major strikes of lightning followed by the roaring, rolling thunder. I am looking forward to it washing the world clean... maybe wiping away the accumulation of dirt.

Political dirt, territorial dirt, prideful dirt, fearful dirt, obsessive control dirt, all the dirt that we dig up out of our own experiences, our own view of the world, our own stubborn natures.

I, all on my own, created a small disaster a few weeks ago. It was done with the intention of learning and being a responsible helping individual to an on going bad situation. My attempts failed rather miserably.

It would have been so very simple to walk away... that is not my way.

So I treated the water with Reiki. I played my Tibetan Singing Bowls and chanted over the water alone and with friends. I called on my mentors for assistance. I expressed gratitude and forgiveness and began to wash away the dirt of fear, anxiety, anger, aggression, and hopefully left the studio fresh and clean with the words of peace, unity, compassion, forgiveness, gratitude, and hope deeply rooted in the walls, the floor, the shelves, and every nook and cranny... And now I have let the dirt go and I feel clean.

I do not know for sure (because winter has had its bony long claws into us for a long time this year) but I think it just might be spring.

The warm weather has gotten me down into my basement studio cleaning it out and preparing it for the spring rush. It is the time when I begin to put together all the bits and pieces I have made through out the winter. I need to decide which pieces stand alone and which ones need a little bit of this or a little bit of that to move it from "so yeah, a necklace" to a piece of fine hand crafted jewelry.

It is also the time when the creative juices thaw and start running once again. There is a new urge to do something new, something different, something that takes everything I have done to a new level. It may be that one added new technique that makes something interesting into something that transcends this place and this time.

I don't want to throw everything out and start over... no I really love drawing, painting, metalwork, and clay. I just want to open those creative windows and let a fresh new breeze blow through. I want it to ruffle my edges, blow out the old cobwebs and clear some space for a few new ideas.

I did that yesterday. I made some ceramic molds for glass jewelry and tried them out. I had a 1 out of 5 success rate. Not good - but not bad... I learned a great deal... use more kiln wash, watch the kiln like a hawk, and try, try again. I crisped the other 4... they have very ratty edges from over firing... but they are new and challenging and as soon as I finish my painting... I will try it again... and I cannot wait to see how it works this time.

Here's to summertime and the liven is easy...

Standing out in the cold watching the lights fade in Toronto both chilled and energized my spirit...
Crowds gathered in Dundas Square watching as each billboard became a ghost of itself. Large advertising screens went to black and the sky line of buildings darkened to emergency lights while restaurants either dimmed their lights or went to romantic candlelight...
The hustle and bustle on the streets didn’t change only when you looked up did you notice the difference. Walking the streets to the City Hall I stopped and listened to an outdoor concert with about 6000 other men, women, and children... peering into the darkness it took time to read the sign over the stage that said, "See the World in a New Light..." and I did... I looked up and in downtown Toronto I saw the big dipper standing handle up... that sight... right there... made all the difference in the world to my trip to Toronto... I was one of many moving to the beat, in the cold darkness, under the stars... I did see the world in a new light... for 60 minutes I thought about what I waste and what I hold dear... what I want... and what I really need...
Who will it change???? I know that looking up and seeing the stars moved something in me... did some child sitting on a parent’s shoulders feel the same thing I did... a pull to do something however small to make things better... I don’t know... but our future seems to be getting closer and closer to our now... only time will tell... and maybe some day a story will be told to a future grandchild about a night when the stars held their own in a large city.