Birthday Party Thanks!

You are all so lovely to have joined me at my birthday party! Thank you so much for your good wishes. We have filled our list of 21 party favor recipients and I will be posting them ASAP!

If you commented earlier but haven't sent me your postal address, please do: robinsunne@robinsunne.com

Please think about attending Miss Vanessa's Mad Tea Party in a couple of weeks. Visit www.collagediva.com to pick up your invitation and the details. Vanessa's Tea Party is where I learned about blog parties! She is amazing!

Happy Solstice!

Birthday Party Favors

There are a few party favors left ... remember to send me your postal address - robinsunne@robinsunne.com - and I will send one off to you! Love, Robinsunne

Happy Birthday to me!!

Hi, hello! Welcome to my birthday party! I am so glad that you could come over for a visit.

May I get you some iced tea?

I have always loved my birthday because it falls in the early summer when the flowers are out and gardens are looking so, so beautiful. Will you come see?

My birthday is less than a week away from the Summer Solstice. This turning of the Wheel of the Seasons is all about our connections to water, the rivers, lakes, and oceans, and to the gods and goddesses who rule them. Blue and turquoise are the colors for this season. Please come in and see how the garden and the Great Wheel conspired in beauty for me this week:

Oh! And look! There is someone behind the flowers...

Why, it is two of my studio friends! They have been hanging out with me lately as I have been designing their clothes. I call it a Single line Doodle.

Here is a close-up (albeit a fuzzy one). I started at his heart and then moved out to the squiggle, on to some swirls, and leaves, and more squiggles. The trick is to never lift one's pen from beginning to end and fill the whole area with designs and writing - anything you like!

Both of these puppets are made of two triangles about 9" tall. I cut separate heads, hair and hands. I used doublestick tape to affix them to their sticks and planted them in an empty flower pot.

Well, let's have some cake, all right?

My birthday table has rose petals from another part of our garden, and that lucious cake was made by Boynton-McKay Restaurant on Main Street in Camden, Maine. I ordered it especially and one of the owners and her daughter invited me in back to help decorate it with these georgous flowers. Don't worry, it was after hours and I wasn't in the way at all. Boynton-McKay is one of Camden's hot spots, keeping locals and visitors well fed and happy.

Aren't the flowers great?

And look at this rose petal - it is a heart!

Will you have a slice? Look at all of these layers!! I love this cake! Perfect, perfect for a party. Thank you, Susan!

Later today, as a treat, some friends and I are going to go to Pizza Hut to support their very generous partnership with A Family For ME - the adoption program in the state of Maine to match children and families. If you are in Maine from 4 - 8 PM on June 16th, I hope that you will join us!!

Now I would love to give you a party favor. If you leave me a comment or write to me at robinsunne@robinsunne.com then I will send you one of the little packages I have... there are a couple of ATCs, a tiny book or two, a couple of postcards and some other treats from my studio. I have 21 little packages to mail out, because ... well ... I am over 21!

Thank you so much for spending some of my day with me. Send me a note and I will send you your little birthday gift!

Birthday Blog Party soon!!

Hi, Do you remember last fall when I had a blog party? And last year on my birthday I had an ATC give-away? Well, this year I thought that I would combine the two ideas and have a Birthday Blog Party! I am really excited about this: there are so many details to figure out: decorations, the menu, the guest list - well, that's easy: you!

So: my birthday is on June 16th and I invite you to stop by for some tea and cake. I have invited a few other friends as well who all would love to meet you (and, of course!!!) I will have some party gifts for you!

And in the meantime: I was interviewed by Anya this morning about ATCs for her magazine, and she told me about a website that I hadn't been to before. Check it out: http://www.europeanpapers.com/ Lots of ATC and collage in general materials. Have fun.

Belfast ATCs and other news

I had a lovely time yesterday at Natasia's Belfast, Maine Library ATC Swap. I arrived only a couple of minutes late and the room was jumping! I met lots of old and not quite so old friends ... Peggy, and Rachel and Laura and Chris. I got a wonderful trade from the girls at skipthechips. I made a couple of packing tape transfers with the group and finally found out that I have a tendency to rub too hard and take off the ink as well as the paper! I made a few cards and have a stack of half-made cards to work on later.

If you want to trade for one of the three atcs just send me an email: robinsunne@robinsunne.com.

We will trade addresses and get these babies on their way!

I am not at all sure why these last two pictures uploaded sideways ... it isn't the way they are oriented within my photo program or on my desktop ... very odd ... my electronics take on a mind of their own!

Anyway: a thrilling surprise showed up in my mailbox: amazon.com has just taken on the listing of my two books! Now the wierd thing about this is that both their listings for Nannee and The Great Library ATC Swap are more expensive than the places where I regularly sell them, because they have to make their cut, you know. So I will recommend etsy for Nannee and lulu for GLAS, but I really appreciate being tagged by amazon and hope to publish again in the future in a way that works out even better for our partnership.

My next book out is a picture book about Chang E. She is the Lady of the Moon and presides over the Chinese and Viet Namese Festival of the Full Moon in September. I actually wrote the book years ago for our local Full Moon Festival. My job now is to prepare it for print.

With sewing in between for meditation.

(And I was going to give you a peek at the latest, but now my camera has decided to glitch!! How does a card lock and how does one unlock it??) (I'll find out and get back to you.)

A Visit to Haystack

Oh My Goodness. The Universe conspired to give me a long weekend at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts this past weekend and I revel in my good fortune.

Away back in 1980 I attended my first workshop at Haystack with Barbara Shawcroft: "Knotted Sculpture". My world spun differently after that. I made sense there. In 1982 I was able to go back and studied "Celebrations" with Debra Frasier, Dan Bailey and Peter Adams. That class started me on a long path that led me to San Francisco from Boston, through adding a couple of new pierces to my right ear, on to changing my name and then to moving to Maine. Where I have written books, and stitched hundreds of thousands of beads, and made prayer and family.

Back in February I received an email from the Maine Crafts Association to invite us all to a May weekend of art to juice our '09 Season. I am a single mom. Trips away from my Dear Ones don't come often. Nigh on never. But I thought that I would ask around and see how our May shaped up for the possibility anyway. The children needed care: their various schedules needed accomodating, their various needs had to be met... One by one every person I asked for help said yes. Every situation that at once seemed problematical became smoothed. I'd go along with it all, and then think, "No, this cannot be correct. Surely I am pressing too hard." And yet consistantly I kept hearing the Instruction to keep trying, to allow this to happen. A week ago I thought I'd faint for the pressure of setting all of this goodness in motion, but just kept following my Instruction.

This is the opening view of the Haystack decks. It is something like a gasp to come up the steps and see the Gulf of Maine beyond the trees, islands dotting the bay like stepping stones on one's visual trip out to the Atlantic and the Great World Beyond. I began remembering. Years of attending Haystack workshops in the summer and fall. Friendships, and sunny days - and more weather than that, for the coast of Maine can't be confined more than a couple of hours in that way - and the projects I have made from tiny embroideries to huge masks, pencil drawings, desktop environments. I have been bewildered on that campus, hurt, entranced, lovely, challenged in every way and always, always so content doing this work of color, texture and philosophy. I don't argue in my head so much when I am there. God/dess exists inside my hands and no one seems to be quite so pissed about that. What an excellent reprieve.

My workshop this past weekend was again with Debra Frasier, this time in collaboration with Catharine Ellis. Debra became a writer and illustrator in those intervening 27 years. Catharine is a dyer and weaver. We learned Osage, and Cochineal, and Indigo, and the words that those colors speak to us. Catherine taught us shibori dye techniques, and Debra passed out colored papers with the writing lessons and prompts. We listened to each other as we wrote. Millions of plants can make a yellow dye, the Cochineal is a bug that dyes that rich red, though there are other ways of getting reds, but indigo is one of only two plants, worldwide, that through a long, complicated and somewhat toxic process can give us blue.

I was both confused and absolutely sure while I was there. I am so correct here at home again and ever so much in our agenda. I toss a bit. The edges and details swerve and dip as they do.

I will send you more. The shibori was a gift of delight. I want to show you. The words came at me ... I want to tell you.

I will.

Healing through artmaking

Oh, My. Go read this. And look at this slideshow. (Thank you for passing this along, Red Thread)

Ross Bleckner has been chosen to be the next United Nations Goodwill Ambassador: he has been painting with children who were abducted and conscripted in war.


These from the NY Times article linked above:


Mr. Bleckner said that when United Nations officials first approached him, they asked him whether he thought art could perform a useful role in drawing attention to the plague of human trafficking, which they said still receives too little attention, despite the widespread use of children in many conflicts in Africa.

“And I said to them that if art can’t perform a role like that, then it has no role at all,” he said on Tuesday.


He said that after several days of teaching them rudimentary painting and drawing skills, many began to open up to him and to create work that powerfully expressed their experiences.


Mr. Bleckner said that he planned to return to the area early next year to enlarge the painting project and that — in his role as ambassador — he hoped to enlist many more artists to become involved in efforts to fight child enslavement and trafficking.


And it is more than stopping the child abuse: Mr Bleckner wrote this in the catalog of 200 of the children's paintings to be sold in New York for their benefit, “It is a personal interaction which gives someone the tools to create something that they can be proud of, and which can help them on the arduous path to restoring their dignity and sense of self-worth.”


Art Saves Lives

I took part in the Interdependence Tree Project that the International Fiber Collaborative. I made some leaves to put on this tree!

More info here:
www.internationalfibercollaborative.com

The tree is 28'x25'x25'. There were more then 7,000 leaves in total from 23 Countries & 39 US States!

They had a grand opening this past weekend and then will be installing it permanently in the Earlyworks Childrens Museum in Huntsville, AL in August.

What a cool idea.

beaded embroideries with trash

Now there's a lovely title ... ! But look here:

Some more photos of Asteroids.

Even a little bit of feather stitch - which I love.

I learned a couple of years ago that most of the asteroids in our solar system hang out all together in a gang that orbits between Mars and Jupiter: between the last of the rock planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars) and the start of the gas planets (Jupiter, Saturn Uranus and Neptune).

And a little bit more to show you from the piece titled "Your Name Here":

I edged that blue and like it so much better.

And tucked in these green beads here which work nicely I think.

Embroiderings

I have been sewing, and embroidering, and beading, and have one movie and one book to pass along. But before I do, let me tell you of a career milestone here:

I got an email two days ago from Gina Brown, who, with her co-author Sandra Salamony, is writing a book called 1000 Artisan Textiles for Quarry Books. Gina wanted to personally invite me to submit. Wow.

She had seen my work in the Lark book !Molas! and found me on the internet and here we are. Wow, again. Breathe. Submit - of course!

Well, let me show you a bit of stitchery:

This first one I called "asteroids" - I'm reading a book called Earth: The Biography. It is sooo interesting and amazing. So asteroids are on the brain a bit. This one will get beads for sure, but no trash as yet.

However, the next one is getting nice and chunky with all manner of plastic, card and metal refuse: see the chocolate coin wrapper? The plastic pill packaging? The fake credit card? The inventory code strip? The plastic coated wire? It keeps me entertained.

And here is the book I spoke about in the 1st paragraph: Sarah Vowell's The Wordy Shipmates. I have an audio book version. A lovely way to get a chunk of history. Hilarious. Reverent. She, Sarah Vowell, reads this audiobook, her speaking voice adding perfect layers to her written voice. (Also some other actors' voices including Dermot Mulroney's. Yum. Really. I'd be pleased to hear the man read the phone book.)

And the movie: Lost in Austin. Pride and Prejudice re-work. Not purist Jane Austin, but lovely and romantic. Heroine gets pulled into the book, chaos ensues, several happy endings. >sigh<

I am teaching a bunch of children how to sew doll clothes today. Bringing lunches, fabric, thread, buttons... Just settling in for the day.

I am bringing my own Waldorf style doll of course. (Yes, I know, she needs her hair. I need to knit, wet, and unravel some black wool to get it nice and curly for her. Thanks, Pam! Long and luxurious, Whoopie.)

But today: another dress for my dollie. Hard to tell who will have more fun: the children, me, or my doll. :)

Sew-Breathing Again

I am working on a small beaded embroidery and I feel like I am breathing again after a very long time.

I would love to show you, but I am on my new computer - cost 1/3 what my old one cost and has many more bells and whistles - but those bells and whistles are running on a Vista program and I have to go to the library to update my old scanner, printer, and camera programs in order to be photo capable. Could be a while.

So how do they do that? 1/3 the price. My phone company sold out to another and in the transition they are giving me a free new phone! How can all of this technology be getting cheaper even to the point of becoming free? I went for a prescription the other day and was charged less than $9! It was on "sale" or some such. One of the other options that my NP and I had discussed would have cost $80! (I have a stuffed, O.K. very stuffed, up nose.)

My health insurance is going up by 20% in July. When I first got out of college and started paying for my own insurance I had one of those 80% - 20% plans where they would pay for 80% of any bill until I reached my deductable. A program like that now would cost me a bit over $1700.00 per month. That is more than $20,000.00 per year.

I am thinking that $175.00 phones for free, cut prices on computers, chokingly expensive and/or "sale" drugs, and health insurance that is so high as to be either prohibitive or ironic have something in common. With AIG. With Haliburton. With boxing organic, free range eggs in clear plastic boxes.

What are we thinking?

I heard New Dimensions Radio interview Fr. John Dear. You can find him here. He was encouraging us all to follow in the non-violent teachings of Jesus. He talked about how, sure, war is violent, and so are certain other business and interpersonal practices. (He explained that Constantine was instrumental in changing to a message of justifiable force for The Church in 325 CE.) Fr. John talked a bit about practicing non-violence in our own communities (choose one action or group) and with our selves. Which brought me back to thinking about how we (children, adults, any of us) don't behave in cranky or violent ways when we are well in our worlds. That crabby or greedy behavior is a call for help in my children or my former president. Or me.

And one of the things that makes my world turn a bit more easily is when I am getting my needs met with a needle and thread. So I have been sewing again. With colors that I like. And I am breathing better these days.

A woman I know sang yesterday to benefit our childrens' school. Her gift turned into our gift. I wish us all sufficient venue to practice our gifts and meditate with the Loving Universe that made us. More abundance. More sanity. Less crabby. More peaceful.

Trees

I was listening to a report on NPR last week about an American family who moved to Fair Isle, (way northern Scotland), and while a friend and I were indulging our so-not-gonna-happen-fantasies they talked about how Fair Isle has no trees. I keep thinking about that. Wondering about that. At first I wondered what that would look like, but then I started to realize that I would miss the trees! I actually would feel uncomfortable without them.

This is a revelation to me: I am sooo not the outdoorsy type. But I do love my trees. I love them when they sway and dance when the summer so'westers come in. I am held and wrapped in their beauty when their leaves come out. I am even captivated by their length and strength all throughout our enormous grey and white winters.

Yesterday was Maple Syrup Sunday in Maine. An article in the paper said that the trees aren't harmed if tapped properly, among other things not until they are about 40 years old. And then the article went on to say that there is a tree nearby which has been tapped for over 100 years. Now that is a friendship. Someone has been taking good care of that tree. Several someones.

And my other tree thought for this early morning is that I finished my "Cousin Tree" for all of my cousins - a new rendering of about 400 years of family history that blossomed from the Huguenot very great grandparents who left France and travelled across an ocean to see if they could figure out a way to live within their spiritual truths.

I am reading a novel about the languages of human, animal, plant and element. That sometimes we understand each other, even across the species, but always that the languages are here.

I believe that. I love knowing that the language of trees is being spoken nearby.

Art At The Library

Well, Molly is the best Librarian any town could want: Iris and I moved books, book racks, and furniture this way and that at the Library yesterday, and while I was laying plastic on the floor, tables and along a line of shelves I mentioned my admiration for Molly's sense of adventure letting a bunch of artists with paint into her space: and she had nothing but encouragement for us all.

Yesterday we had our first segment of the Artist Journals workshop. I am going to sit here and wax poetic about the way we grow 'em artistic in these parts. Wow! Not only was our class full - it was over-bursting! (There is a waiting list that I think is still growing and we are promising a second or even third workshop later this spring and summer. Let the Library know if you want to join us.) We had several decades between the oldest and the youngest of our group, we had professional artists, professional elementary school students, and a couple of other employment groups represented as well. And we had lots of fun art supplies thanks to our wonderful grant.

Next, I have to tell you that even the socially shy amongst us were gleefully pushing the edges of that Art Envelope. Everyone came along on the ride as we tested out several techniques of getting color and texture onto pages for our journals. We all came up with excellent versions of laying paint on, and lifting paint off, our pages that will make for some fascinating backgrounds upon which to later collage, draw and write.

Here are a couple of photos of what I did, and please check out Iris's blog and our page at the Library's site for more photos. Above is color spritzed with water and then pulled off with scrunched up paper towel, then more color applied with scrunched up newspaper dipped in a small amount of blue: "dry scrunched". There is a little dry brushing over there on the right.

The photo below looks like writing, doesn't it? It isn't, quite. I painted my gessoed 70# paper yellow and then tried to thrill that up with blue, or turn it turquoise or something. That didn't really work and so I sprayed it with water and ended up letting it sit for a minute or so longer than I had intended. I finally decided to get newspaper flyer (the coated, shiny paper), twisted it up and when I started daubing it into the watered paint it made these great marks that you see. Another woman found that regular newpaper paper, just the black and white stuff, worked best for her. We just kept trying everything!

So as well as my appreciation to all the participants, and to Molly, our Director, I just want you to know what a fabulous crafting-librarian we have in Iris. She makes these classes I dream up over-the-top-wonderful. Iris culled a georgous series of diaries and journals from the Library's collection - for both adult and young readers. Many of us took some out to read over the next couple of weeks while we let our further painting at home dry. Iris remembers everyone's name and everyone's best loved books, works indefatigably to help me get everything in order, and is a happy, talented artist herself who continues to inspire the rest of us. Her enthusiasm for art at the Library, at home, on her blog and at school events makes us all the richer. Thank you, Iris!

A couple more pictures here. I had to make some papers for examples for the class and then I had to start doing something with them!! As well as making pages for my journal (below) I started making small collages, here. (As I finish them they'll be available at my etsy site.)

And here is part of one of the actual journal pages that I am working on. You can see over there on the left that there are holes punched - we are going to keep our pages in three ring binders. Oh! Good work all of you! What fun it is to work ... I mean play with you!

Whoooopee! We - I - we are in the newspaper! CHECK IT OUT!!: http://knox.villagesoup.com/AandE/story.cfm?storyID=149906 (It is an article about our Art At The Library program in general and the Artist Journal classes in particular.)

How fabulous is that?

Thank you Dagney!!

And just because 'what is an art-blog without photography?' here is a little eye candy for you:

And another:

These are all 11" square and on display in an office in nearby Rockland.

The beads and medallions in these pieces are blends of polymer clay. The tiny beads are 14K goldfill.

And the one here: Hope Bird has hand drawn #6 (shrinky dink) plastic medallions. Let me go get the Bird ..

The sewing on these three is all by hand.

So listen: if you are anywhere near Rockport, and any sort of an interested paper artist or diarist (is that a word?) you gotta come to our, now well publicised, Artist Journal Classes at the Library. Call them, 236-3642, and sign up. If we hit our max, I have promised Molly that I will teach the class again this summer. Yum.

I have been having such challenges lately: my computer is about as full as it can stand, I am a pack rat and have such a process to get rid of anything, and am trying to choose the most financially appropriate remedy. One of the things that this means is that I have to be really stingy with downloading photos from camera chips into our photo program until I fix the memory problem.

But all that said: here is a low-rez pic of some leaves I sewed for the International Fiber Collaborative. They are making a tree covered with leaves made by people from all over the world. The link that I made for you above will take you to page one of some of the leaves that they have received.

Some leaves are fabric, some are made from shopping bags fused together, painted and stitched, others are crocheted, knit, woven from wire ... oh! the list goes on. Lots of inspiration there!

I have sewn tiny polymer beads, candy wrappers, puzzle pieces and smaller felt leaves onto larger felt leaves. I sent them off today with an ATC of needlefelted wool to the artist friend who gave some brightly colored wool roving to our Library ATC group last month. Also in that mail were some ATCs for "my soldier". (I write letters for Soldiers Angels.) ArtMail. Thank God.

My studio has been getting a workout lately: I have been planning and prepping for our Art at the Library mini-course in Artist Journals this spring. Of course that means I have to make samples to show everyone! Wanna see?

There we go: the page on the left is on drawing paper.
1. Gesso

2. Very cheap yellow acrylic paint.

3. 2 different colors of green acrylic smushed and scrunched onto (and off of) the paper with crumpled paper towel.

4. Some vellum envelopes with tiny notes, and pictures, and items of interest.

The middle page is:

1. Gesso on drawing paper.

2. Yellow acrylic as a base with orange and then red paint swooshed on (that's a technical term, isn't it??)

3. Water spritzed then the droplets (and a layer of paint) dabbed off with paper towel leaving curious, unpredictable, roundish yellow marks.

And the page on the right, also on drawing paper, has:

1. Gesso.

2. Yellow.

3. Green swooshes.

4. Gold, hand-carved rubber stampings.

5. A jewel and two rubber stamp impressed craft foam medallions.

6. I think that there was some water spritzing going on there too.

Oh I am having soooo much fun. And I'm only in prep so far. E Gad. The class list is filling up and space is limited in our little (but fab) Library. Get in touch with the Library if you would like to join in. So far we have some completely fearless and remarkable young artists (I have seen them work: I am so not kidding about the remarkable part) (shows you what that Waldorf education can do to a kid) and some glad and skillful adults that I am excited to work with. Here is what Iris wrote for our press release:

Continuing with the Art at the Library 2009 program, the Rockport Public Library is offering four classes in a mini-course on Artist Journals, beginning on March 21. Artist journals can be created around any theme or just as a place to try new ideas, using many techniques from various media with as much or as little text as the artist so chooses; the class will explore our own definitions of a journal, through visual media, daily record keeping, and written/visual thoughts. The four classes (March 21, April 18, May 16, June 20) will build upon techniques you may have encountered in your explorations with ATCs (Artist Trading Cards). Additional inspiration may be derived from the many journals, diaries, and narratives in the Rockport Public Library's collection. Children younger than 5th grade should be accompanied by an adult partner/buddy. Space is limited to 12 participants. Call the library with questions or to sign up at 236-3642. The Rockport Public Library is located at One Limerock Street in Rockport, and is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday 9:00 to 5:30, and Wednesday from 11:00 to 8:00.

Well, I'm off. I have some journaling to do...

Snow and Art

Art and Snow.
This is about what it comes down to up here in certain weeks. Here's the view SW out our back door:

Pretty, yes? Wet and heavy, so: not such a peach to shovel, but glorious to look at. And here is the view SE:We don't actually have a dog. I think faeries live there now. Or wood sprites. Someone like that.

As for the art side of things, making Artist Trading Cards at the Rockport Public Library was so much fun last year (the book is still available: there is a book button over there on the left) that we are continuing this year with Art At The Library. Iris, my artist-librarian cohort wrote a lovely blog about it, and she remembered to bring her camera. Click the link to see what we did with needlefelting our ATCs yesterday afternoon.

We have 4 months of artist journaling coming up. Please do sign up at the library as space for these 4 workshops will be limited. Iris and I were planning yesterday. And smiling. This is gonna be so much fun. There will be a very short supply list at the library desk for those who sign up - mostly recyclables and a couple of basics that are probably in your art stash already. See you then.

In my own art world I have been working on another embellished art quilt in my Prayers series. I have been dragging myself through it for ages. This has been one of those lows we artists hit now and again. Or at least this is what I am telling myself. Sometimes the lifeswing ... well, I don't know. That was one smack upside the head of a holiday season. It has taken me a week of fever to haul myself out. (Waldorf educational theory has an idea about fevers and broken bones releasing negative energy...) I am not entirely sure what to do with what I have learned: sew it into the Prayer, I guess. But I think that I am not knocking against walls anymore, which is something of an emotional bonus, to say nothing of the physical relief.

I'd show you the applique work so far, but I don't think that I will challenge my dial-up service any more this morning, so watch for those pictures later.

There is an orange-y ochre, a very dark brown, and a dark red. Not my usual colors. But I guess this isn't my usual prayer.

Hi to all my cousins. - The other lovely piece of artwork I have been working on is a family tree that is scrunching all of the ancestors from Poncet and Eugenie (who arrived in the Colonies from France in 1645)(that would be the Dutch colony in N America) down to our grandparents into the lower trunk, and then letting the cousins and seconds and now a couple of baby third cousins branch out all over the page. Family trees are very pretty. I'm still in the sketching stage as two cousins are getting ready to email me their family stats - aren't you?

See ya later.

On racial equality

So: I am the European American mom of two Asian American children. As I stroll with them through our lives I am more conscious of inter-racial practices than I used to be.

Tell me this: have you ever told a story and if the person was a different race than you are: you mentioned it, but otherwise you didn't? Have you ever told North American History as if it started with European travels?

Here is something I would like to hear often: white people called European American as often as black people are called African American. And Asian Americans too. And European Africans, and European Australians. And on. For example: "The first president of the U.S. was a European American."

Kinda changes one's perceptions, eh?

Because I have noticed that in telling my children North American history, when I say "the Americans did thus and so", and then "the African's did..." or the "Native Americans did..." I am differentiating everybody but me. I am making everybody different but me. But we European Americans are about as different and the same as people of African American heritage, and have been hanging out on this continent a fraction of the time that Asian Americans have, to say nothing of the folk who lived here before them.

The point is that we are making uncomfortable assumptions if we qualify everyone but ourselves.

My children's racial ancestors didn't come from "away" any more than mine did.

And here is another question: If having a father who is African American makes one black, then how come having a European American mother doesn't make one white??

Just wondering.

I love quotes. I like to put them on my ATCs. My stufio has, over the years been lined with them. As a little Gregorian New Year present I am going to share a recent collection of them with you. May you have a deep and glorious 2009. Blessed Be.

(Oh. And sorry if I have quoted and not given credit: most of these came to me without an author.)

Be kinder than necessary as everyone is fighting some sort of battle of their own.

Compassion is the highest form of intelligence and the truest sign of genius.
Robin Brown

Say what you want & be who you are. Because those who mind don't matter & those who matter don't mind.
Dr. Seuss

Don't worry what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and DO THAT.
Because the world needs people who have come alive. Howard Thurman

Take into account that great love and great achievement involve great risk.

When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

3. Follow the three R’s
Respect for self.
Respect for others.
Responsibility for all your actions.

Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

Don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship.

When you realize that you have made a mistake take immediate steps to correct it.

Spend some time alone everyday.

Open your arms to change but don’t let go of your values.

Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

Live a good honorable life and then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.

A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.

Share your knowledge. It is a way to achieve immortality.

Be gentle with the Earth.

Once a year go somewhere you have never been before.

Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

A Treat For You

Lisa Vollrath is an amazing woman. Check out this page for some free! Christmas time art printables! Now I have got to go and print a few myself to play with...

Wow. There is sooo much snow outside.

I have been so far away ... here are some pictures for you ...We had an ice storm. It blew out my telephone, but we kept our power. Odd thing about the beauty of events like these ... crystal shimmers on every last thing it touches, but heavy and devastating if one or another cannot hold the weight. Something here about bending under the force of it, accepting that it marks and changes us, and we unbend in the sun that melts the ice later. But refuse to let the heaviness move us and we are liable to snap.

Can our homes melt ice we refuse to bring inside? Can Love heal a wound we hide?

It is time. It is time.

May you have some peaceful quiet this Solstice weekend in which to unbend from any storms which may have overtaken you. May the blessings of sleep and dreams heal you and lead you to your new year.

God bless us all, everyone.

Winners!

Here are the winners of my comment drawing for the All Hallows Blog Party! Thanks to everyone who left comments.
#2 Marci Glenn
#3 Kathry Antyr
#5 Vicki
#7 3rdeyemuse
#9 Francine Cronos
#10 Altered Route
#12 Sarah Whitmire
#13 Jane B
#20 S Smith
So give me your postal address at robinsunne@robinsunne.com and your partyprize envelope will be on its way to you! Congratulations to you all and thank you to everyone for all of the comments!
Love,
Robinsunne

ATCs at the library tonight

As the year draws to a close in the Old Calendar, they say that the veils between the Worlds get very thin, allowing all of us on this side or that chances for possible contact. Some historians say that centuries ago we humans were afraid of the contact with "others". Never mind centuries ago - we are still not so great at that. Anyway, that is why all the noise and scary costumes: to scare those "others" away.

But what if we approach this as an opportunity. What if my ancestors were able to reach out in Love to offer support, companionship, or even just curiosity. I know that I'd be curious about my daughter, or my great, great granddaughter.

So this month at the Library we are going to take our imaginations on a walk over to the Veil. We are going to bring photos of ancestors - well, copies of these photos - and have a bit of conversation with those who have preceeded us. For those who don't have ancestor photos we could imagine meeting great leaders of the past: Sojourner Truth, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Gandhi, the Buddha, Jesus ben Joseph, whoever seems interesting to you.

So the idea is to dress your relative in clothes or surround her/him with the accoutrements of your imagined conversation. Here is Sarah:Sarah is my great, great grandmother - my mother's father's father's mother. She was pretty intelligent and well educated, I think. She married a judge who's first wife had died and ended up having 7 children and step-children. In her photo she was wearing a pretty severe dress (as was the custom back in that day) and it occurred to me that she might like some of the dressing freedoms that we have today. I chose some light blue print for her but then seemed to hear about how she would actually like to try on this red. here she is turning this way and that in the mirror, as we will do, testing the look on her. I think that Sarah was an amazing woman and that I would have like getting to know her. Her best friend was Helen:Helen is another of my great, great grandmothers - my mother's father's mother's mother. Helen and Sarah spent some time in Logansport, Indiana befor Helen moved to Neenah, Wisconsin with her husband. They did that thing of marrying their children to one and other. Perhaps not the best of ideas for Nellie and Zach, but that's what happened. Anyway, when I started my conversation with Helen, it turned out that she was very interested with the fact that my two children were born in Asia. Helen wanted to be dresed in Chinese or Viet Namese clothes. Pretty sweet. Helen was an avid gardener and ended up moving to southern California in 1905. When my great aunt (Emma, but we called her Bob - I wish that I knew that story) was still alive I had a chance to visit that house A. Maz. Ing.

Helen also had 7 children: JohnnyNellieJimmyJessieNannyLuluBob. Like that. (John, Helen, James, Jessica, Nancy, Lucy, Mary Emma) (And I am pretty full with two!) I imagine that Helen and Sarah were great friends indeed. I wish that I had known them, but through my cards maybe I have. *Kisses to you both.*

I have 9! envelopes of ephemera, ATC, and whatever else I can stuff in there as comment-prizes for the All Hallows Blog Party post below. Leave a comment and I will put you in the hat to get a chance to be drawn for the prizes on All Hallow Eve. I will contact you by email if I can or leave a post here of the winners on November 1st to get your mailing addresses.

See you at the Library-Swap tonight!

All Hallows Eve Blog Party

Welcome All! I am so happy to have you come to visit!

Please come in and sit with me for a cup of tea. I have some lovely African red roobios tea with almond and vanilla brewing.

Here, Let's sit at my holiday table. This is the celebration of the Third, and final, Harvest in the northern hemisphere. The last of the "crops" are in and we prepare for the dark months when the sun shines less, it gets cold, and the inner work of the year begins. We celebrate the abundance of a year of our work. Some of it was difficult, some of it a joy, but the dreams we had last year have produced the abundance upon which we will survive the winter ahead. Would you like to drink from a cup of abundance? Sip from the cup of your dreams?This year, for my party with you, I drew upon some work I did about 30 years ago. This is a twisted column vase. I figured out how to make crochet spiral up to the Heavens! I like how it looks. Yes, I crocheted all of these pots for the party; I have had this long fascination with vessels. They are all about holding something precious. Also, they symbolize for me the sacredness of Women's Work.I hadn't done any crocheting in a long time and it was good to have an excuse to do it again. I thought that I might send them out into the world. What do you think? Pass on a bit of the bounty.
Oh! Who is that at the door?

Why, it is the Junque Couture girls from next door! Please come in! Meet my friends!This is Shanna, who wishes you Glad Harvest. Her dress was embellished with buttons, keys and other fripperies from my junk drawer.Please meet Franna, who, as her bird so boldly exclaims, is the voting fairy. She wants you to know that she heard on public radio that the polls only indicate the probable voting preferances of those of us who are registered to vote, while the choices of those who are actually, statistically, most likely to vote show a slightly different picture. This year's presidential election is therefore possibly in the feet of the "under 30, unmarried and non-white" crowd. This is what Shanna has to say to you: "Get your feets to the polls on the 4th of November!!!" In case you are wondering, Franna's dress is made from cut paper snippetts left over from an ATC making foray. Her wings and the golden eagle coin on her stand are color photocopies of a bead ribbon and chocolate coin wrapper that I had - yeah, in my junk drawer. Here is Roxanna. Her dress is a luscious blend of paper cut snippetts, leftovers from the flag-string behind her and some sparkles from my junk drawer. Her wings and bird were found in my prototype book Your Artist Journal which is in redesign at the moment.
And finally meet Deeanna, who is another Voter/Woman of Power. Her Junque Couture includes color photocopies of ancient Chinese key reproductions, a glass heart, that bead ribbon again, an iron gear whatchamacallit and a copper colored foil candy wrapper.

Hey! May I give you a "party favorite"? (This term was coined by a 5 year old friend.) Well, I am so glad that you have stopped by, and the Junque Girls would love some company (politically fierce or not). Well, here you go: click on this image, download it to your computer and print it out. The instructions are there on the page.

Check out the wall paper: What IS that noise outside? Com'on. Let's go check it out ... What is that over there?Oh! It is the Gnomies!Hi Gnomies! How are you all this fine fall day?
Mamma Gnomie reports that they are all well. She wanted to know if their mining work had disturbed us. It really didn't, I just forgot that Autumn is the best time for them to gather their gold for the year. Young Gnomie showed us shere the King was: He is offering us a tour. Shall we see what they have been up to?Someone scouts from above, and, using ancient Gnomie methods, locates where to dig.Look what Green Gnomie found!!It is getting close to suppertime. I have a big feast laid out - will you all come back to my house and share it with me? Yes? Great! Oh! No! There are the squashes! I forgot to make the soup! - Hey, you all wouldn't mind if I got out my magic wand and kinda, well, made it that way, would you?

Yes, you are correct: I think that a little dollop of magic tastes good too.

Well then: zzzzz... rrrrr ... uuuuu ... jjjjj!Oh, look what the Gnomies brought: over there on the left - some gold coins! How generous they are. You can see how much they love what they do:And they loooove that Little Lad's popcorn! They get right into it!! Now for dessert: I have made you some Great Wheel cookies. The Great Wheel is how the Old Ones in north-western Europe imagined the year and the turning of the seasons. Here, let me show you: See how we move around the wheel?

Well, the Wheel is moving into the time of slowing down, turning inward: indeed, we are moving into the time of dreaming. Birds are the symbol, especially at this time of year, of journeys, and, because they are inhabitants of the skies, of Heaven.

So take a cookie,

Let the bell ring to start your Winter's Journey into the dream ...

Take a coin - the Gnomies have invited us to share their wealth ...

And join them at their fire on this quiet, sweet night.

Thank you for your company. I have other gatherings over the course of the next month, so stay in touch. I also have gifts for random posters of comments to this blog post. I have lots! So do let me know that you stopped by. (Comments in person count too, for those of you close enough to do so!)

Sweet Dreams!

New Gadgets!

(I get so excited about this stuff.)

If you check over there to the left you will see three new gadgets! Excellent Iris showed me at the Library yesterday how to figure it all out. You can now fly straight over to lulu.com to check out and buy my ATC how-to book, and/or you can buzz directly over to my etsy shop (which will soon have some dreamy, Novembery, late autumnish treats from this Sunday's blog party!!!) AND/or you can meet our All-Hallows Blog Party Hostess: Ms. Kathryn Antyr at her blog party, and get all of the links to the other parties to visit!

I just feel so smart. And contemporary. And I'm sure I know 1/10th of what you know. Still: I am proud of myself for learning new, cool stuff. Especially because I have been working hard - or playing a lot - at getting this party ready!

Want another sneak peek or two?

O.K. ... wait a moment ... I just put on some Andreas Vollenweider music, "Book of Roses" which I got at one of the library book sales last summer. Listen, breathe, relax, I'll be back soon.

Here we are. So, first came the dreaming ...

Planning the party atmosphere with some of the guests ...We have been making decorations. (I am a Geminii. I can use the royal "we" with myself.)

And, quite precisely: I haven't been the only one making party decorations this season ...But I have been working on some particular embellishments!See you Sunday morning, on the button!

feedjit

I will get back to work, promise, but I too a few minutes to look at my "Feedjit" map over there on the left. Here is the list of where you all are from. Wow!
United States [67%]
United Kingdom [8%]
Canada [6%]
France [2%]
Australia [2%]
Brazil [2%]
Ecuador [1%]
Malaysia [1%]
Sweden [1%]
Italy [1%]
Vietnam [1%]
Belgium [1%]
Taiwan [1%]
Estonia [1%]
Portugal [1%]
Germany [1%]
Luxembourg [1%]
Singapore [1%]
United Arab Emirates [1%]
Even someone from Viet Nam, where my own sweet son was born! A while ago there was also someone from Beijing, China, where my own sweet daughter was born. :)

You all must speak English, because I only know one language to blog in and that is it. I am so impressed. I tried speaking music for a couple of years there, and recently have decided to give it up. I guess that it is OK to not do everything ... but they say learning music keeps our brains in full gear as we get older. I thought that it would be good preventative medicine. I guess that I will have to wait until I am 70. Perchance I will have a few less items ranging around in my brain keeping me busy then ...?? Well, probably not.

After all, I just found out about Blog Parties and I will still be throwing those ... OH!!! and a mom friend of mine showed me her EXTRAordinarily exciting laptop yesterday. It is just like the one in the movie "Read It and Weep": you can twist the screen around and flip it closed and then take the stylus and WRITE which it will then change to a type font and scoot into your document, or you can DRAW!!!

You are laughing at me. I can tell. These computers have been out for years. There are computers now that will iron tomorrow's clothes and wrap birthday gifts for you. But drawing!

Yeah, but can they bead?

Perhaps not, but they can read your handwriting! And preserve all of your little doodles ...

sigh.

So thank you for visiting with me Estonians, and Portugese and Ecuadorians and Britishers and French and, and everyone else, and of course all of you lovely US folk.

Now, back to my party decorations...

Blog Party Thrill

I had never heard of a blog party before a week or two ago, but if you want some serious visual thrill in your life check out http://www.collagediva.com/ and http://afancifultwist.typepad.com/

There is some serious partying goin' on!!

And I have been working hard on some treats and delights for my own party. Here is a glimpse of my yarn basket:And a peek at what I am working on this morning:And who is wandering around in my felt collection??Stay tuned... My party is scheduled for Sunday the 26th, along with the other Soul Journalers

Icon doll is finished

Well, the class is over and "Our Lady of Beauty" has been finished. Here she is: She stands about a foot tall on a deep, midnight blue stand with a sparkly golden star. Her background rays were made with colored tissue, her face frame was drawn on metal tape over dark pink cardstock.
I painted her face and curled her hands of metal taped card. Her dress glows with papercut flowers, colored tissue and a good deal of our favorite gel medium.
I wish that she will grant you your beauty: free and clear and entrancing.

I accomplished my goal in making Her: I found beauty in what I already had. I didn't spend any money at all. An important meditation in the coming times, I think, if I am to believe the news on the BBC.

All Hallows Blog Party!

Kathryn Antyr of www.collagediva.com is hostessing a blog party on October 26th and you are invited. All of the details are here on her blog, but the short version is that we each devise a Halloween/All Hallows/Final Harvest party atmosphere which we will photograph and display on our blogs on the 26th!

June, a reader of my ATC how-to book: The Great Library ATC Swap and I came up with the idea of working on this week's project for the ATC Swap together, even though June lives far away from Rockport and can't get to the Library on Saturday at 2:30 for the Swap I will lead there.

We will be making the ATC Puppets and Jointed ATC Personalities described in the book and dressing them in fanciful Halloween costumes. Then we will photograph them and post them on our blogs on the 26th for the All Hallows Blog Party! Whoo Hoo! So far I have one Witch in black, two faeries, a princess in purple shimmer, and the Goddess Tara.

Do come to the Rockport Library this Saturday to make costumed ATC Puppets with us!

And I heartily invite you to my Blog Party on October 26th! I will set up a lovely tea table so that we can all sit around and chat and I will have treats and prizes for those of you who comment on my blog! There will be links around so that you can visit all of the other Hallow's Eve parties.

Icon Doll Class with Chaska Peacock

O.K. I have been having some fun with making a doll this weekend. I am taking an online class with Chaska Peacock whose dolls are just so glorious.

Now, I looked all over around here for the materials, and there Chaska had written out a perfect materials list, but folks around here didn't have the correct things, and I got to thinking about all the gas money just to get to Michael's and back, NEVER MIND how dangerous it is to let me loose in a store like that, so I said to myself," Dearest Self, we must get clever here and make do with what we have got:. "Not a problem." replied me, and off we, er, I, went.

First: I rolled up a piece of cardboard and taped it:Then I snipped a circle with tabs for the bottomAnd used some shipping newsprint with gel medium as if I was putting papier mache over all:Half way done:I added some flowers cut from thick paper, for texture:And colored tissue on top of that for some color:These are not Chaska's instructions. Don't follow all this if you want to make what she did. This is just, well, my mind's eye says that this will be great, you just maybe don't know that yet.

And thennnn:
I couldn't follow Kathryn Antyr's directions either on her Soul Journaling blog. But I had a great time:

I want to be a Soul Journaler when I grow up.

And a doll maker.

And a writer,

collager,

swimmer,

traveller,

vessel-maker,

ATC-ist,

and mixed media art quilt "seamstress" (That's most of them).

Well then, I'll be on about it then, yes?

Tag! I'm it!

I've been tagged! Aaaahhhhh!

No, not really so bad, fun even. Iris tagged me to tell you all 6 Random Things About Me. Rules and my tagees at the end of this post.

I have a Quan Yin statue from Ha Noi, Viet Nam. (Yes, I got Her on my trip to meet and adopt my son!) She is the Goddess of Compassion and, possibly linked, spiritually and philosophically, with both Tara and the Black Madonna. I have a Tara and a Black Madonna too.

I am a clutterbug. I actually think of it as being very, very creative and forgetful of the clean-up portion of my play. Sometimes this works, and at othertimes I get pretty frustrated with myself. I am frustrated today and so I will not show you a picture of my desktop.

I dreamed of seeing dozens and dozens of my stitcheries this morning - like the camera was just speeding along the tabletops in my studio. Wow. I was good.

I used to have a 28 minute swimming mile. I am a bit out of shape, ahem. I had to give up those 6 AM swims when I became a mom, doubly so when I became a single mom. But I still swim on occasion... Funny, no picture here either.

I find God in the Kitchen. And in the car while driving. And in my studio, especially while sewing. I don't get to church much anymore. Kind of confusing to find one that works for me. (Also I really am not a Christian anymore. I am just having too much disagreement with how many people get killed on Christian Agendas: 11 million "infidels", 14 million Witches, 9 million Jews, and how many million Arabs in the oil states?? Maybe I should give up Christmas and Easter and go back to the Solstices and Equinoxes. I have always had an interest in Wicca ...)

These are bead ribbons that I made:

You should feel them! They are heavy.

There: 6 random things.

The rules are as follows:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.

2. Post the rules on your blog.

3. Write six random things about yourself.

4. Tag six people at the end of your post.

5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

6. Let the tagger know your entry is up.

Here are my tagees:

Susan

Griselda

Carla

Anna

MaiLiis

Kathryn

Phew! On dial-up this is a big project!