Quoth The Raven...Nevermore

"And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming, And the lamplight o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor; And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor Shall be lifted — nevermore!"

-Edgar Allen Poe

My SSS contribution this week: The Raven.

In Western European culture, we know the Raven to be a symbol of loss, death and war. However, in other cultures, it is venerated as a solar and oracular symbol. In Greek mythology, he is the messenger bird of Apollo and is also linked to the Roman Cult of Mithras. In some African cultures, the Raven is a guide. In the Innuit culture, they refer to a creator god as the Raven Father and killing a Raven would bring bad weather.*

In Edgar Allen Poe's poem of The Raven, wherein, an unknown narrator confronts,denies, grieves and laments of his loss of love, Lenore (quoth the Raven, "Nevermore").

It is a wonder that in nearly every western publication for the arts and crafters (Somerset Studio is one that comes to mind), there is a sizeable amount of published art submissions from the readers that contain images of Ravens. So many of us use the raven image without even giving a thought as to why we are using it (ok, an assumption on my part). But, do we know? Yep, it's a cool image to use, no doubt.

But, I think it is worthy of self examination as to why we use it. I'd like to think that the why we use it is more in alignment with the African cultural context of a "guide". Perhaps with an added, modern meaning of, "muse". Be it my muse, your muse, or someone else's muse.

Don't you think it's interesting, though? This prolific use of the raven image in contemporary collage work? Something our art history teachers haven't caught up to yet. Perhaps, in a few decades someone will connect the dots for us!

I welcome anyone else's insight into this topic. It will be interesting to hear what others have to say.

*"The Complete Encyclopedia of Signs and Symbols: Identification and Analysis of the Visual Vocabulary That Formulates Our Thoughts and Dictates Our Reactions to the World Around Us" by Mark O'Connell and Raje Airey, Herme House, 2006.

Happy Thanksgiving

I really don't have anything profound or clever to say. But, I will offer you this image as a reminder to contiune to celebrate all that life has to offer be it mundane or mind boggling.

In spite of the turmoil our world has, there is still peace and sanity to be found. It can be found in the mundane things around you if you slow down long enough to notice.

Blessings to you all!

Salt

I am posting this image specifically for Photo Friday. This week's call is for "food".

I have tons of images of food. But, I wanted to go a little bit beyond the obvious. For, what is our food without salt? For most of us, it is flat and without taste. Salt is an essential ingredient to the foods that we eat.

This is what I use: Hawaiian salt. From my homeland. I keep it in an olivewood container by my cooktop. Hawaiian salt doesn't have the sharpness of table salt and I like it better than kosher salt. It's softer and less abrupt.

You can call me a salt snob if you like. Just don't call me late for dinner! ; )

Opening the Heart Center

"According to yoga scriptures, the heart center can be opened indirectly by cultivating compassion and kindness, calmness and dispassion, or directly through the focused practice of pranayama, or both." Berly Bender Birch

It would seem like this week's post for SSS is intentional in relation to last Sunday's post. But, really, it is much more random than it appears to be. At least, in my eyes it seems. And, although it is still Saturday as I write this, in Austrailia, it is indeed already Sunday. I'm good to go!

Fall is still unfolding itself to us here. Winter is getting closer as the biggest milestone for us at the homestead is the advent of our fruitless mulberry tree dropping its leaves. It usually does so right before Thanksgiving. And, when it does, it drops ALL its leaves in one day. It's weird as when it does this, it looks like the tree is raining leaves all day. I had hoped to do a time lasp image of the leaves dropping, but most of it occured during the night as I slept. I guess I'll have to wait another year to try it again.

My parting shot is going back to the quote at the beginning of this post. The question is, how does one live this in our daily lives? I think for me, the answer is to ask myself in each and every action, does it fit this criteria or not? If not, then I need to go back and keep trying to incorporate this practice into my day to day life.

TA DA!!! The Backsplash

Oh! The backsplash for the back of my cooktop has arrived!! This is the cherry on top of the cake of the kitchen remodel saga (blah, blah blah, huh?).

This woman's work is so astounding! Her name is Erica and I hope you connect to the link I listed here to at least read her story as to how she came into this medium.

Instead of having her do the mosaic work directly onto the wall, I asked her to make it as a hanging piece so that it would be treated as art (which it is).

What a lovely thing to look at, isn't it? If you're curious as to what kind of glass she uses, it's tempered glass that is broken. Now, that's what I call recycling!

Shadow Shot Sunday

Ssssshhhhhh...(imagine this being said in Elmer Fudd's voice). Be very, very quiet! I'm hunting shadows!

My submission for Shadow Shot Sunday.

Truly, I've always hunted down shadows. I have images from 30 years ago to prove it! But, not this one. This one is fairly recent. I took a few shots of this image; this one is a bit more abstract than the others I took since the entire image is not in full view. I liked the mystery it evoked.

It's a fan (the kind that are on a stand) that is behind a shoji screen with the morning sun giving it it's silouette.

For some reason (I've yet to figure out why), the image conjures up to the days when all there was for entertainment was the radio. I wasn't born then, but I do know that families would gather around the radio to listen to the news and dramas that were acted out on the radio.

Anway, be sure to check out the others who've submitted to SSS (link via this post or the icon on the sidebar).

Happy shadow hunting!

More News in Regards to The Cradle Project

From Naomi Natalie who bravely ventured forward on a very ambitious and altruistic endeavor:

"First I would just like say how grateful The Cradle Project is for all of your support. The Cradle Project was a huge success, with 555 contributing artists and more than 5,000 visitors during the course of the exhibit. On the opening day of the exhibit alone we counted over 2,000 people walking through the doors!

Thanks to all of your creative support, encouragement, and donations, The Cradle Project raised over $90,000 through sponsorships, our cradle auction, and sales of The Cradle Project publication. All of these funds were donated to our partner organization, the Firelight Foundation. For those of you who are unfamiliar with our partner, The Firelight Foundation awards grants to small grassroots initiatives that are directly addressing the needs of children affected by HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. http://www.firelightfoundation.org/ <http://www.firelightfoundation.org/>

On behalf of all of us who volunteered to make this project a success we cannot thank you enough for your continued and overwhelming support. The final exhibit was an incredibly moving experience for many of the artists volunteers and viewers.After organizing this project and its many details for nearly three years, it was through the brimming eyes of the exhibit's visitors that I finally realized the tremendous impact The Cradle Project had on our community.

Thank you again for the many ways that you helped realize this vision for The Cradle Project. I do apologize for the belated nature of this email as I'm sure you have all been wondering about the final outcome of the project. The beautiful full color publication that highlights eighty of the cradles is still available for sale through the Firelight Foundation's website. If you have not yet seen this book, I highly recommend you check it out."

It was thrilling to be a part of this venture! Even more thrilling knowing how much money it raised. Although, I can't help but think how much MORE money it would've raised had it been held in New York City. But, if it was, I would not have been able to have seen the exhibit which was awesome (for lack of better words). I hope you consider purchasing the book that was published from some of the submissions for this project. Only eighty submissions were selected for the book.

Here's what my submission looked like when I started out on it:

And here's a detail of the finished product:

If you want to see the post on this and the finished product, click here.

It is truly amazing what can happen when people come together. I have more news in regards to the Cigar Box Shrine project, but that will have to wait for another post! : )

Pratyahara

"Withdrawing the senses, mind, and consciousness from contact with external objects, and then drawing them inwards towards the seer, is pratyahara." (Yoga Sutras)

Better still, from Wikipedia:

"Pratyahara is the fifth element among the Eight stages of Patanjali's Ashtanga Yoga. At this stage, the consciousness of the individual is internalized in order that the sensations from the senses of taste, touch, sight, hearing and smell don't reach their respective centers in the brain. It is also termed as the 'withdrawal of the senses'. With this, the Sadhaka, or disciple, is free to meditate without distractions."

Given our fast paced, sensory overloaded lifestyles, this whole concept of pratyahara seems so unattainable. We never sit still long enough to just be. If we do sit still for a spell, we are still adding to our sensory input (excluding sleep) by way of conversation, reading, watching tv or whatever.

We all wail the same complaint that we never have time to sit and just be. Why is that?

Me? I am guilty as charged. I can't even get myself to practice daily meditation, so how can I ever expect to get to this stage? But, hope springs eternal. I figure if I at least put it on the horizon, somewhere along the line it will be a closer target.

I can't help but think how lovely it would be to be able to achieve such a state where the world's distractions do not exist; at least they are suspended somewhere in time like call waiting. Where I have the luxury to wander within my own mind and explore what is in it. On one hand, it sounds so grand and glorious.

On the other, it seems totally terrifying!

Kitchen Remodel

An all consumptive process that sucked up more than nine consecutive weeks of my life! Not to mention finances...

But, I did end up with something that I really love and spend a lot of time in!

There are a few more tweaks that need to be done, but for all intensive purposes, we can call this project "DONE"! If you click on the button that says, "view all images" you'll get a better 'tour' of the slide show as you will see the captions that go with the images. I tired to do the same shots thoughout the process and there is a series of the same view from start to finish. Just to give you some sense of perspective.

It was worth waiting fourteen years for!

Dia De Bloglandia

The more I learn about the Mexican Festival of the Day of the Dead, the more I 'get it'. When I moved to the mainland from Hawaii, my first exposure to the festival was in Los Angeles in a store that specialized in selling wares related to Day of the Dead stuff. So, for the longest time, I thought of it as a commercial thing, much like Halloween is. That's the way I perceived of it for so many years.

Living in New Mexico has given me a closer exposure to it along with other connections to Mexico via a trip and by way of others who travel Oaxaca regularly. Over time, the layers build up of what the festival is all about.

As I am now past my mid-life marker, the list of those who have gone before me has grown considerably. Some of the anniversaries are tough to get through, such as the one for my mother. I've gone from being mildly fascinated by the Festival of the Dead to a full comprehension and embrace of what it is. It makes sense to me, to have one day out of the year to remember all that have gone before me. Celebrating all the anniversaries of their death is too much to do emotionally. Celebrating their lives on one day makes total sense to me. And thank you, Susanna for your heartfelt explanation of this celebration. It has connected ALL of the dots for me. And to Stephanie too who, together with Susanna, organized the Dia de Bloglandia event!

"El Vaquero" 16" x 20" mixed media created for South Broadway Cultural Center Annual Day of the Dead Exhibit (show opens on Nov. 2).

"Remembering". An ATC I did in 2007 for our October theme which we called "Spirits". She is someone from circa 1909-1918 from a stash of glass negatives that I have from a photography studio (not known as to which one it is) that was located on Gold St. in downtown Albuquerque. This is all of the image on that negative as it was one that experienced quite a bit of deterioration over the years.

"Requiem". Another ATC done in October 2005 (we dared to name that theme Day of the Dead).

To my Aunty Nila. My cousin Margie. My friend, Terry Price. My Grandmother, Emiliana. My Uncle Big Boy. My Aunty Trinining. My cousin Joanne. My Unlce Alfredo. My Uncle Pablo. My Uncle Ted. My dear friend, Ernie Drube. My friend, Theresa Oda. Her brother, Chris. Her sister, Damien. Her brother Gerard. Her mother, Jayne. My cousin, Jerry. My cousin, Arlene. My mother. The list goes on...I cannot recall all of the names at this moment in time. There are too many...

"Pie Jesu Dominie, dona eis requiem".

Gentle Lord Jesus, grant them rest.