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Showing posts from May, 2007

Work in Progress

untitled -- collage

My Favorite Mother Teresa Quotes

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is beauty, admire it. Life is bliss, taste it. Life is a dream, realize it. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a duty, complete it. Life is a game, play it. Life is a promise, fulfill it. Life is sorrow, overcome it. Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is a tragedy, confront it. Life is an adventure, dare it. Life is luck, make it. Life is too precious, do not destroy it. Life is life, fight for it. --Mother Teresa People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you succeed, you will win some false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway. >What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight. Build anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, others may be jealous. Be happy anyway. >The good you do today, peo

Chinese Ink Painting

I learned Chinese Ink Painting when I lived in Sapporo, on the island of Hokkaido in Japan. I was lucky to have gotten a very patient and kind teacher. I have been painting watercolors on rice paper ever since then. I now live in Sendai on the main island of Honshu, Japan. I recently joined a Chinese Ink Painting class to brush up on this art. I haven't done any traditional paintings since Sapporo and am happy to be in touch with that art form again. My teacher in Sendai is very kind (I have been lucky again). She is at least 60 years old and about four feet tall. All the students have been in her class for years; and I feel, as though, I have joined a family. When I am in the States, I order my rice paper and brushes from Oriental Art Supply . You can order paper samplers which gives you a chance to test and find the paper you prefer. For watercolors, their Japanese Cake Watercolors are very nice. I use these in addition to western watercolors in my paintings.

Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz

One woman whom I esteem is Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz. She was born out of wedlock in 1651 to a family of modest means in Mexico City. Juana's beauty, as well as her intelligence, attracted the Viceroy. In 1664, the Viceroy invited Juana to court as a lady-in-waiting. She had expressed her “total disinclination to marriage” and her wish to have nothing interfere with her pursuit of learning. In 1667, Juana began her life as a Nun. Octavio Paz wrote: " La Respuesta a Sor Filotea de la Cruz es el último escrito de Sor Juana. Y, con el Primero Sueño, su obra más significativa. Autobiografía crítica, defensa de su derecho al saber ..." Octavio Paz wrote: The Reply to Sister Filotea de la Cruz is the last work of Sor Juana. And, along with The First Dream , is the most famous work of Sor Juana's. Written to defend her right to intellectual endeavors ... Books on Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz

Gravity

What keeps me unable to move past this place? My steps quiet now. I reach down to smooth the earth. I had been running from what I had learned. Not wanting to face this new view of me. Words said I couldn’t retract. And for the first time, You held up a mirror So that I could see Myself, My relationship with you, Our shared past. The reflection who I thought I was Shattered. I take out the pieces Place them on the ground. May 8, 2007

before and after that moment: losing my Father to cancer

I remember a dream that I had late last year. My Sister, My Mother and I were outside in front of our house. We were looking out at the neighborhood when I noticed, that in the sky, there were some violent clouds forming. As I watched, the clouds started to form into a shape. I soon realized that they were forming into a tornado; the tornado was coming our way. We ran into the house and hid where we could, as the tornado ripped through our house. At the same time, I was wondering where my Dad was. The tornado passed. We were fine. I went looking for my Dad in the house. He was in his usual place doing his usual thing: reading the newspaper in his bed, as though nothing had happened. At this point I woke up from the dream. At first, I felt angry. But as days passed and I thought more about the dream, I realized that my Dad had made peace with his situation. It was me that hadn't made peace with the situation. I must deal with the displacement of what my world had been and face my wo