New Creative twist!

Nothing like spring to throw me into a creative frenzy! Wow! The studio has been like a tornado zone as I have been making jewelry and multimedia wall pieces. Beach glass, stones, feathers, chain, wire, and beads EVERYWHERE! But look at what I've been up to............

Hey World.........

There's nothing I say as well as this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01FE9cPXE3M

The things that stay

One thing I've really come to believe is that we are not all separate souls living in separate bodies. I feel very strongly--I have seen evidence of it in so many ways--that we are one soul, like a giant piece of cloth, and our bodies just latch on to it, here and there wherever they are meant to, assisting the soul in doing and experiencing whatever it is meant to do-- both giving it shape and allowing it to navigate around and through itself, so it can connect and interact with other pieces of itself. Communicating, learning, creating, loving, conflicting. Flux and flow. There is not really any you or I, nor us and them. Just a giant oneness. An entity which creates and destroys, loves and hates itself infinitely.

I think of our bodies as clothespins, which, left out in the elements, eventually rot and fall off, but the cloth they were clamped on and the line beneath it remains, and always will. MOre pins come as others fall off, on and on into eternity. There is no beginning or ending to any of us, ether in space or in time.
I thought of this as I hung out my laundry one day recently. I found a piece of laundry that had been left on the line over the winter. I thought about going out to get it when i realized it was out there, but it was just an old towel, and I wanted to see what the elements would do to it. It beached on the upper side to near white, and kept most of it's color underneath. Interestingly, all of the clothespins rotted and fell off, and there was only one rusty metal spring still left on the line. The poetic part of the whole thing was this: the clothes pins were gone, and yet the towel still hung there after the wind and snow, freezing and thawing of a whole winter. It had begun to unravel as it whipped about in the wind, and the fibers turned to fringe. In time, the fringe wrapped around the clothesline and held on, even when the clothes pins did not. It formed a defiant little fist, and that's all that held it there.

Thumbs DOWN, Google!

Just tried to open a gmail account (since yahoo won't let me in my own account half the time, and I keep having to change my password) and google insists on verifying the account to a cell phone, which is not possible. (How about offering more than one option, such as alternate email? ) There is no service to ANY cell phone on the planet where I live. I am not quite in the middle of nowhere but you can see it plain as day from here. Thanks, google. I was counting on you to make my life easier. Sigh.

A blog interview....

I haven't been posting much lately. Spring has sprung early and I've found it very hard to sit still at the computer. Here is a blog interview someone conducted recently that you might enjoy..........

http://athoughtfullife.com/?p=1004

Big Top Magic

There is something very thrilling and a little scary about circuses, carnivals and traveling shows; Whenever those trailers come to town, and tents start going up, like a tiny city lit by thousands of colored lights, you can't resist the pull of it. The strange klezmer music, the people in cheery, yet sort of creepy makeup and costumes lure you like a scary movie . The biggest thrill of course, is the RIDES. That's what separates the brave from the cowards. To ride on every single ride at least once is a true badge of courage, where I come from. Carnival and circus rides just seem scarier when compared to the rides at amusement parks. They travel thousands of miles on trucks, from town to town, and are put up and torn down, over and over again. They often look a little worse for the wear, too. Just enough rust and flaking paint to give you the chills as you stand in line, waiting your turn.

I have always loved carnivals at night--they seem all that much more magical. Riding the High Roller coaster or the ferris wheel at night when all the lights are lit is as good as it gets. The blur of the lights as the rides roar through the air, whirling, twirling and hurtling through space, as screams and laughter pierce the night air. The combined smell of cotton candy, popcorn, corn dogs and beer wafts through the breeze--the aroma of sinful delights. Far below, the carnies shout out their temptations: Ring Toss! 4 for a dollar! Drown the Clown in the dunk tank: 10 balls for 2 dollars! See The Great Firenzo, the fire magician: Show starts in five minutes in the red tent!

For some reason, lately these are the images that have been drifting through my dreams, so I created these two paintings which can be hung together or separately. One is a continuation of the other, but each holds it own individual charm. the one with the ferris wheel is nearly twice the size of the one with the High Roller coaster, and the smaller one is 2 inches thick where the larger one is 1 inch thick. I work with what I have. It all adds to the funky offbeat festiveness.

Perhaps I am drawn to carnivals because I love color so much. I always seem to paint in carnival colors.....

RADIATING

I have been working on a theory, and I think it's working. I am trying to hold in my mind an image of myself glowing, radiating positive, creative energy in a spiral, both drawing in good energy and shedding bad energy at the same time. I have been passing this energy on to friends who are now also experimenting with it, and it seems to be working for all of us. ***I realize this is not a NEW theory or practice, but it is new to ME. Since I have started this practice, I have had more energy, my thoughts have been much clearer, and I've been in a far better mood. I feel downright invincible! I've been snowshoeing vigorously every day, painting like a can of Red Devil falling off a ladder, and making jewelry. Oh, and I've had FOUR seven letter words in the four scrabble games I currently have going online. (I'm an addict)

The first painting is SPACIAL RELATIONS, a visual commentary about the impact Mercury in retrograde and a partial lunar eclipse seemed to have on pretty much everybody last week. WHEW!

The second painting is ASYMMETRY, A necessary element in my life. I don't feel comfortable in a room unless at least one piece of furniture is ascew. Office buildings and waiting rooms make me want to SCREAM.

The third is RADIANT ENERGY. A visual analogy of my latest personal quest, which I just explained.

The forth is MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO.... This piece is all sillouettes made by toys or game pieces, including two Barrel O'Monkeys. A fun menagerie!

The fifth painting is VISION OF TIBET I'm not sure why, but this reminds me of a prayer flag, or perhaps some sort of stamp.

On SPACIAL RELATIONS, the painting wraps around the sides, so no frame is necessary.
RADIANT ENERGY is one side of a suitcase, a work in progress. (Stay tuned)

ASYMMETRY, MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO and VISION OF TIBET were all created using post-consumer scrap plywood from a cabinet maker (Thanks, Bob!) and some post-consumer spray paint. (Thanks, Louise!)

These paintings and others can be purchased on www.artbreak.com/azzutaluna or www.azzutaluna.etsy.com and my One of a kind assembled art jewelry made with found and/or discarded objects can be found at www.restlessnative.etsy.com

Cheers! (Don't forget to RADIATE!)

Diane Marie

Here you see the fallout of my radiation: 4 spray paintings and an acrylic painting.

Finders keepers.....

I was telling some friends of mine about some treasures I have found over the years in my travels, generally while cleaning beaches. ( I am the official adopt-a-beach cleaner for Madeline Island. )

Here you see a tiny headless doll made of solid porcelain. I was walking on the beach and found it with only it's butt sticking up out of the sand. I thought "well that's either the crown of a tooth or its a BUTT" and it WAS a butt.

I have also found numerous pieces of clay pipes that I researched and found to be the tobacco pipes of the voyageurs. They could be anywhere from 150-400 years old.

The last picture is of a bears tooth. Again, I researched this, and give the shape of the tooth, it is most likely from a bear. Wolves teeth are more curved and not as broad because wolves are primarily carnivores--meat eaters. Bears are omnivores--they eat anything and everything.

WeeeeeHOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

2010 is starting off really well. I have had jewelry and art sales SINCE CHRISTMAS (which is usually unheard of) and I am very happy about that.

<----------This is the painting I sold, called "NORTHERN YEAR". I call this a "timeline" painting, and as soon as it's a little warmer in my studio, I will be in there, painting> I guess I could wear my fingerless gloves. I've done that before.

Anyone who has spent any year round time in the northern midwest will be able to relate to this painting Right now, the snow keeps falling, falling. Powder snow, and lots of it. Other days, it's heavier, or possibly mixed with rain. Later in the season, toward spring, we get the "three sisters" storms: HUGE snowstorms that last for days, and usually come in threes, generally getting bigger with each storm. There is a tiny reprieve between storms--just enough to shovel out, before the next one comes.

Right now, the temps have dropped, but the "lake effect" snow keeps coming as the lake freezes. Soon, with luck and if the weather stays cold enough--as it should-- we will be driving to the mainland instead of taking the ferry. I call this the "freeway". Emphasis on FREE!!!

Above, I have also posted a one of a kind charm bracelet that I sold this past week. 2010 is looking up! I couldn't be more pleased. Dare I even DREAM that making a tiny living as an artist is POSSIBLE?

I have all sorts of new art projects and jewelry designs in the works. It's been really cold in my studio, however, and I keep blowing fuses with the space heater, so it's been difficult to work in there, now that the temps have been hanging in the single digits and dipping down around ZERO. I've been using this time to promote my work on my various internet venues. I guess it it's beginning to pay off! Have a look...

www.artbreak.com/azzutaluna

www.artbreak.com/restlessnative

www.azzutaluna.etsy.com

www.restlessnative.etsy.com

Let me know what you think about the different sites/profiles and which is more appealing to you, and why. There could be a giveaway in it for you!

Cheers~~ Diane Marie