A post full of nuthin'

1) Muse has decided she's done with abstract for awhile. Got me all worked up and full of ideas and dropped it like a hot potato.

* Interesting bit of trivia - did you know the humble spud is a member of the Nightshade family, as in Atropa belladonna, which is poisonous? The family includes the Jimson weed, eggplant, mandrake, deadly nightshade, potato, tobacco, tomato and petunia, to name a few.

I digress ...

Yep, Muse decided she was ready for portrait work, preferably a slight fantasyish image of a Goddess. She gave me two choices - Kuan Yin or Persephone. Now, I have no idea why it had to be either of these two, but she seemed fairly adamant about it. I asked, she didn't explain. I went as far as suggesting a couple of others, but noooooo, she would have none of my suggestions. All right then, I picked Kuan Yin, the Buddhist Goddess of Compassion.

* It is unfortunate that Buddhism's most enduring (and universal) contribution to the world has been insufficiently translated as compassion. The original Sanskrit word is 'karuna,' which holds within itself traces of the fragment 'ru,' meaning to weep. While the Oxford dictionary describes compassion as pity bordering on the merciful, karuna is actually our ability to relate to another in so intense a measure that the plight of the other affects us as much as if it had been our own.

The term karuna is central to the entire Buddhist tradition. It is frequently described as a love for all beings, equal in intensity to a mother's affection for her child. However, it is quite unlike conventional love (Sanskrit: priya, kama or trishna), which is rooted in dualistic thinking and is egoistic, possessive and exclusive, in contrast to the all-encompassing nature of compassion. The root meaning of karuna is said to be the anguished cry of deep sorrow and understanding that can only come from an unblemished sense of oneness with others.

It remains a historical fact that Kuan Yin is the Chinese version of the male god Avalokiteshvara, whom the ancient texts eulogize as the patron deity of compassion. It is fascinating however to observe that nowhere in India (where he originated) or Tibet (where he remains the most popular deity) is the latter ever deified as a female figure. In China too, his worship began as a male god, but over time, changed into a goddess and by the ninth century her popularity had prevailed over that of Avalokiteshvara's.

Excuse me, I digress, again ....

Thing is, Muse is also insistent that this representation of Kuan Yin not be 'typical', more a Kuan Yin for the 21st Century. I'm not disliking the concept but I'm wasn't sure how to go about it. I ask, "How do I do that, Muse?" She gives me an image in my head of an Asian woman I'd found a picture on in the internet a couple of years ago. I searched through my CD's of images I've collected, found it, played with it in Photoshop, printed it, got out a canvas (yes, Muse is still favoring acrylics), sketched off the image, and started painting last night. I think I'm very much liking what's happening ... to the point that I'm concerned I may screw it up.

Do other artists ever do that? Like something they are working on so much they are afraid they'll totally muck it up?

2) The abstracts are finally dry and I was able sign them today. Lots of paint on those puppies. This afternoon I took them outside in the sun and sprayed them with a couple of coats of varnish. Some of the paint I used was Dr. pH Martins Hydrus Watercolor, which is not designed for painting on non-porous canvas, thus needs varnish to seal and protect it. Now I need to install wire on the back so that I can hang them. .*Note to self, must put that on my list.

3) I was a Weed Killing Goddess this morning. I really hate to use weed killer (Round-Up herbicide), but I have areas in my 'yard' that are being taken over with weeds faster than I can pull 'em. There is also an infestation of grass. I told the husband when we got this place there was to be NO GRASS ... unless it was the kind I could smoke! (*hee hee* joking - I don't smoke that stuff anymore, really) He didn't have a problem with it. I wanted the landscaping to be as natural as possible, with low maintenance, etc. While I realize weeds are indeed 'natural', they aren't part of the plan, so they have to die.

4) The Hummingbirds have, at long last, shown up again. I've kept out feeders, cleaning them and changing the nectar mixture every week. I've seen only a few, random and sporadically since April. Y'all know I love my Hummers! It's been so frustrating, so disheartening to not have them around as I did last year. One would have thought I'd opened up a Hummer Motel 6 with the numbers I had zipping around. They were so beautiful, entertaining to watch, though a bit tough to dodge in the evenings when I'd be out watering the plants. Well, I've tried to keep a positive attitude, have patience, and it's paid off. This evening I've had about seven flying around, fighting over the feeders, and checking out the flowers I've got growing. Rah! Hello Hummers! Welcome Home!

5) The Bluebirds have come back, too! There are two pair who come early in the spring, hang out a couple of months, then I don't seen them anymore. Surprisingly, they are back. I even had one land on the gravel not ten feet away from me this evening when I was sitting on the front steps watching the Hummers. He/She only stayed for a minute, but it was thrilling nonetheless. They are also beautiful birds. There is a saying, "The Blue Bird of Happiness is so elusive, but once one flies by you the memory of that joy remains forever." Nice, huh?

6) I've contracted to teach an acrylic painting class at the local college this fall. The exact schedule is not set, but it will probably be starting at the end of August or the first of September when the Fall Semester begins. It's offered through the Continuing Education Program so I don't have to worry about recruiting people to take the class - the school does that for me. Lorrie, who is the coordinator for the program, said she thinks there will most likely be at least ten 'students' (or more) registering to take the class. The pay isn't all that much, not like it would be if I were teaching the Graphics classes again, but I have absolutely no interest in teaching those classes. Too much drama.

With this acrylic class, it's also only one day/night a week, couple hours a night, for about eight - ten weeks. Most likely, it will be a bunch of beginners, so I'll have to keep things simple. I'm thinking about possibly doing three small projects; wooden Christmas ornament, a greeting card and a small collage. With it being close to Christmas, the ornaments and cards would be something useful yet easy to do. The collage would help them learn to be creative, to see there are more than strictly paint-on-canvas options. I don't know for sure about it yet, but I think it may be fun to do.

7) My Godson, Zachary, turned three this past Monday. The munchkin'. Since his birthday fell on a week day, Sue (my other best buddy and his Mom) decided to have his birthday party this Saturday. I've had his presents in the closet for a couple of months now ... a twelve-pack of Sparklers; a set of Toy Story 2 figures of Woody and Jessie; a Go Diego Go! snuggle blanket; a Buzz Lightyear toy cell phone; and a Happy Feet Mumble stuffed penguin. What can I say? I'm not normally a birthday gift giver (I like to give gifts at odd times in the year for absolutely no reason other than to give the gift), but Zachary is special to me ... he's my son.

Sue told me this cute story a few days ago; She was putting him in his car seat and she asked him, "Who loves you?" Fulling expecting his usual reply of, "You do, Mommie!", she was a bit surprised when he looked at her rather seriously and said, "Me Me." (That's what he calls me, just so y'all know) Now, how could that not melt your heart? Whatta' sweetie, my boy.

8) Getting a new porch built for my back door! Rah! Actually, it's more of a landing, but that's exactly what I want. One of my neighbors gave me some extra lumber she had from having her own porch built a couple of years ago. Very nice of her. My other neighbor, woodworking Phil, is helping to built it. Very nice of him. I've been waiting for this porch for seven years. It's a long story.

9) That's all.

Namaste' y'all.

The past couple of days have been dry days. Had a short burst of happenings and then nuthin'. Poof. Kali can't come up with good blog material. Eck! I've sat down in front of this computer a dozen times and keep coming up blank. What's to be done? Must blog. I've become addicted to it, I confess. I may not have anything of value to say, but since when has that stopped me??? So this evening, while I'm being a Domestic Laundry Goddess (*hee hee* multi-tasking!) I figured I would just start typing and see what happens.

Most times it's not a problem for me to expound to great length about a subject, or two, or three. Give me a random thought, a song lyric, anything, and I can write enough to keep y'all reading for a little while. Then sometimes it's difficult coming up with exciting and adventure filled entries for your reading pleasure. Y'all disappear, comments dry up like autumn leaves, and I'm left scratching my head and wandering aimlessly around the house in my fuzzy socks and sweat pants (yes, in the middle of summer, thank.you.very.much). It's sad.