The following quotes are from an article I found online when I searched for information and insight about the quote that says, "The glory of God is man fully alive":
"What we need is not the notion of a world that ought to be but the capacity to see the dimension of grace within the world that is."
"The film director Kurosawa said that the “artist is the one who does not look away.” The artist maintains her gaze at human neediness and dependency and through the honesty and the beauty of the form she creates enables us to connect that need with its true source and lasting fulfillment."
"To paraphrase the art historian Hans Rookmaaker, 'Christ did not come to make us Christians; he came to make us human beings.'"
"The artist does not show us the world as it ought to be; she shows us the world as it is, here and now, and enables us to see that our redemption is always present, always available. It is not a message to be communicated but a presence and a mystery to be experienced. Art at its best is a place where presence and mystery can be encountered and received."
The first stop I made was a park that my town acquired for a million dollars. It used to be a private camp. There is a lake, a playground, a stream, cabins, tennis courts, boating, picnicking... it is such a wonderful place. Definitely a family favorite. It was worth it for the town to purchase, saving this place from becoming a developed community.
I go back to the stream that we did not discover immediately. It flows in constant movement and I think of how this is life, fluidity, always flowing. I find red berries in bubbles, which makes me happy. Everything is perfectly in order just as it is, wild.
There is peace in these moments and in studying these placements. I photograph beauty in the tree with its red berries. I take pictures of the water moving and realize how difficult it is to capture the movement. The fluidity photographs gorgeously. There is some ice on the edges although it's unseasonably warm this mid-winter day. I capture some reflections. It is fun to play. I am thankful for digital cameras. I can click away, knowing there's no harm in it.
I drive to a new store that sells the works of local artists. There are beautiful handmade items like glass business card holders, pins wrapped with wire and beads, lego berettes, handpainted gourd birdhouses, wooden breadboards and trivets... The store was closed and I was disappointed, but I photographed the roots of a fallen tree. I thought there must be some reason for this, acknowledging Spirit-orchestration, and I'd come back later. So I went driving.
I drove past locations that did not appeal to me at the moment, and drove back up the mountain. Approaching Loch Lomond, I thought about how I'd never stopped there, although I'd driven past often, heading up and down this mountain.
Oh. oh. oh.
The Loch was a still, completely open surface, reflecting the sky... The sun was so bright at first that all I did was point and click because I couldn't see what picture was being captured; all I could see was a reflection of me in the camera's screen - the sun was so bright. The pictures are dazzling, I am smiling. It's like I was close to the sky, so close I could touch it.
Upside-down kingdom thoughts enter in as I snap photos of trees reflected in water clear as glass. So still. Messages of fluid, constant movement, then stillness, have been combined during this outing. Being completely still and reflecting. Pure beauty. Even at one point a bird flew overhead and I see it in the photo; its reflection in the water as it flew in the sky. The water can reflect but the sky can't and I wonder what volumes that speaks, but come up with nothing to verbalize. And some cloud photos look like I've photographed the sky until you notice the rocks below the surface showing through. I think of illusions and vulnerability and peeking through, allowing others to see, for self to be seen - tearing the veil. Oh how these moments fill me.
A local community college recently hosted a screening of films chosen to be included in the 31st annual Black Maria Film + Video Festival. My sister and I went, not knowing what to expect. The day before we went, I received an email from the college offering tickets for the event at 60% off, and I ordered them. Our price was $4 each, but after attending, I know that in the future, paying even $20 for a ticket would be worth it.
On this evening, 10 films were chosen in a particular order by John Columbus, the Director/Founder of the Black Maria Film Fest. By the way, the Fest is a program of the Edison Media Arts Consortium, honoring Thomas Edison's original idea. The original Black Maria trailer still exists at the Thomas Edison National Historical Park.
i was here.
I'd like to collect here, over a course of weeks, the thoughts that emerged from the 10 films we were shown. The way that these pieces where curated by John Columbus added meaning, so I am going to post each one in the order it was shown. Hearing from the Black Maria's Founder/Director was a special treat. To have his insights shared, his reasoning into each film's placement, and the excitement that emanates from him about the independent film truly added to the whole experience of attending.
The first film shown was Anima Mundi, a 4 minute kaleidoscope montage of, as described in the festival's program guide, "vivid flower images.. compressed in multiple layers and butterflies in a crazy profusion of color and motion," and sounds too: frogs croaking, insects humming, wind chimes ringing. This short piece was awesome, and I cannot imagine the intricate detail and amount of time that must have gone into its creation.
As a collage artist who is secretly obsessed with kaleidoscopes and fractals, this was like a peek into my mind that I am unable to explain or describe. Afterwards, my sister said it reminded her of my collages, and YES. She totally got it. It's obvious that I loved this Anima Mundi by Kate Balsley. Here are a couple of pictures from the film that I found online, which I hope I'm not overstepping any boundaries by posting.
So, that's Part 1 of 10 for the Black Maria Film Festival I'll be posting, "Fueling the Independent Spirit Since 1980."
Update: I contacted Kate Balsley to share how much I enjoyed this film of hers and to ask if there was anyway to view it again - online? on a DVD I could purchase? She generously sent me a DVD of this film, for which I am so grateful. Now I can show my loved ones what it looks and sounds like in my head when fractalized kaleidoscope thoughts enter in and I enjoy them.
I've been writing since as far back as I can remember... journals... poems... starting stories, then stopping...
I made an attempt at blogging before This Is My Offering, but it was just not ... just not ... Some stuff I wrote came out cohesively, other words were pieced together like a hot mess, my feelings pouring out like a volcano, and it just wasn't... the right time or place.
The way I had set up my previous blog made me feel pretentious, and it was not a space in which I could fully "be myself". I didn't know how to be real in the blogosphere; it's a complicated space, for newcomers especially. I am learning to navigate within this virtual space, and how to use it to my creative advantage. It is a process, but now I am enjoying it and discovering possibilities for self-expression.
Then I started a blog to collect what I was doing with the kids in pictures and to organize information for future reference. I liked it but keeping up with it got boring.
I thought I had to have some big, fancy idea in order to blog successfully, and don't even know why I thought this. When the idea This Is My Offering came to me softly, and Paul's words to the Romans followed, I thought - yeah... I can do this... My everyday life? I'm living it anyway... So here I am, blogging.
And I'm loving it! I have begun to see blogging differently. It's a new creative space. It's opening up my mind, to think different things, imagine different things, feel different things, see differently. I've been frustrated by lack of space for me to create, and I can't keep up with the desires that burn within to make art.
My blog is an online art space, in which I've found an outlet to share my thoughts that wouldn't usually come out in conversation, like "I love to collect the fleeting," or describing a painting I saw and how ephemeral it is. It's a place where I can share my art, like my collages, and create new art by combining words and images. (It's also encouraged me to take lots more photographs, which makes for much adventure.)
I also like the idea of having this space to come back to as a piece of history. I imagine blogging for 20 years and then saying to my kids, all grown, go ahead and look. It's always going to be here (I think), existing in cyberspace, as something I can share with them, with family, and with friends.
I am not blogging for comments, although I do hope to gain community and would love for some conversation to be started from blog posts. I have seen how wonderfully other bloggers have created and experienced community - people who comment, they read each other blogs, they help each other grow. I want to be part of that. I have lots of friends, but not everyone's a writer, or an active artist, or interested in my blogging (I am thankful that I have one loyal friend who I know reads, another who's peeked, and a sister who will look when she can...) People I've seen in the blog community are writers, artists, and bloggers, obviously, and I hope to find those friends I'm meant to meet up with on this leg of our journeys.
Blogging opens up a whole new world of opportunity. I can piece together my photographic images, and describe elements, experiences, adventures. I can redefine myself and this place has become an extension of myself, really. A more that I didn't realize existed. A new branch growing... and all that comes with it.
Narnia was on the evening prior to the outing I mentioned,
and the day I made the collage pictured at the top of the page,
and the occurrence of catching the tail end
of that Rainbow Brite episode.
I am always transported when it comes to Narnia,
having grown up on those stories,
traveling there in my imagination.
Lucy's character captures me
with her raw sense of wonder and possibility.
She doesn't doubt what could be.
Recently I splurged on a special pre-order package by my favorite singer-songwriter, Sara Groves. The offer included the ability to download her newest CD, Invisible Empires, as well as receive the CD in the mail with a signed album insert, a t-shirt, and an extra CD with commentary by Sara and her husband Troy. The $25 spent was more than worth it. It is wonderful to find artists who are able to speak to your spirit, can put into words (or music, or images) the thoughts you are thinking, and Sara Groves does this for me. This new album was beyond extraordinary for me, and listening to the commentary brought it to another level.
to have fun, enjoy laughter, giggles, and happiness.
enjoy
in-joy
Psst... I found this, a collection of video performances of the song "Smile" by Charlie Chaplin. From Glee, to Josh Groban, to Michael Jackson performing the song, and even Charlie Chaplin's original, you are sure to find a smile as you watch these.
