Every Great Idea I Have Is Awsome

I came across this on my friend Brande Jackson's Flickr site and thought it was just about the best thing I've seen in a long time. It's the first page of a journal by one of her 4th grade students named Chris. You can read more about Brande's afterschool art program here.

I am going to use this as my mantra from now on. So often I don't honor or give credence to the ideas that I have and, really, why not? If I don't back my great ideas and see them through to their appropriate ends, who will? I'd rather take a chance on an idea than have it poured down the drain into the crevices of my mind -- that place forlorn Great Ideas go to die.

Zambia

Old news but still .... I was in Zambia, Africa, for about 3 weeks last summer. You can read about some of my adventures here. It's wasn't officially an art venture but a friend of mine reminded me today that there are no delineations in The Process. It's one and the same. This informs my stance in the world and that in turn informs my voice as an artist (I hope).

This video clip is from a women's conference we participated in while in Kabwe. Thanks to Young Mi Chi for providing this footage. For some beautiful photos of Zambians, visit Jess Barnard's website: www.jessbarnard.com.

Brazil in Time

Wow, I can't believe it's been a whole year since my last post. I guess the search for art has not been very fruitful in my case. Which brings me to this: for someone who considers herself an artist and general creative creature, it's amazing how lacking I am in the culture department. Back in March, thanks to my good friend Hank, I made my way to the Armand Hammer Museum for the first time in Y-E-A-R-S. I still mean to go check out the Kara Walker show (please do check it out -- it looks A-mazing) but I did get to see a documentary called Brazil in Time. It is late in the day, it was awhile ago but it is worth mentioning. Unfortunately, it had a limited showing and there isn't much info out there. The film was about many things -- most obviously about DJs and percussionists coming together in Sao Paulo, Brazil -- but the thing that struck me was the way in which the creative process transcends age, generation, cultures and aesthetics/genre. I don't know of many other processes in our day and age that allows for such synergy. A bit more info here.

Oh, and something else worth mentioning: stay tuned for some p(r)etty photos from a project I'm attempting (please, USPS, be good to us) with fellow artist Brande Jackson.