Lani Puppetmaker's Blog Spot

Morning Gifts - Sunlight at last

2009-07-10T07:18:00.006-03:00

Morning pages collage by Lani

Finally the sun came out yesterday morning, shining through Edward's strawberry rhubarb jam (strawberries we picked the day before yesterday, rhubarb from his garden). Color is more intense in the sunlight.

The Bergamasco Boys were delighted with all the sunlight.

The orchids looked more beautiful in sunlight.

And art making was more fun in sunlight as well!

Here's my contribution to Christine's Wreck This Journal, more about that over on 14 Secrets Blog.

A little adventure yesterday, picking strawberries

2009-07-08T21:44:00.004-03:00

Morning pages collage by Lani

A little adventure yesterday, took the Bergamasco boys picking strawberries. Lovely fields of berries as far as the eye could see. We stopped at the Tangled Garden for a quiet walk through the garden and to replenish our Cassis supply.

Foxgloves

Prospero and Edward

Every corner has something lovely to discover. Sort of like life.

You never know what will be around the next corner. Today I worked on art exchanges and played with some old drawings. This one has a medieval recipe for joy, drink celery juice frequently. Hmmm. Sounds easy enough!

Another morning pages collage by Lani

Do you remember the Guardian Angel Swap back in February?

2009-07-07T08:09:00.000-03:00

Several friends were going through extreme hard times then. Fellow art therapist, Carol Lark was struggling with leukemia at that time. Today, oh happy day, she was given the official IN REMISSION all clear! I'm sure your healing Guardian Angels helped as did the Healing Tags that the 14 Secrets artists sent! Thank you so much, all who participated in these two art swaps!

Wild Orchids For Carol Lark

2009-07-06T16:54:00.003-03:00

Here you are Carol, orchids and more orchids just for you.

And a photo of Bruzzi the Bergamasco among the orchids, just for perspective.

Art as a Gift

2009-07-05T08:16:00.010-03:00

Morning pages collage by Lani

Thinking some more about Erika's question (see comments on previous post) about making art as a gift for her father who may have early onset Alzheimer's, I revisited the sites I suggested Erika visit. Then I thought they deserved better links in a real post. While exploring these sites I also visited Kate diCamillo's journal where in April she made reference to visiting her mother in the hospital before she died. She wrote about needing to mark those special times when she felt her heart open or stop because the love and beauty was so intense. Kate uses words to mark these moments... very beautifully. And I think as visual artists, we can mark those moments with our artwork. And we probably even should do so if we can.

So here are the links for the gift that Leslie made for her mother, a beautiful memory book based on what she had learned from Judy Wilkenfeld. The beginnings are here, then there's more, and even more, and then finally the gift and her mother opens it. Beautiful and exactly one of those moments in life where you need a marker of some kind.

And here are Judy's links to Red Velvet and Visual Anthologies. Here you will find art as a gift and marker for a cultural history. This also needs to be marked. If you can take a class with her, do!

And finally, here's a link to Lynne Perrella's Altered Portraits, tributes to regal female fortitude and stature. I think we need that. We need to remember our fortitude and stature, maybe even mark it with the gift of art work.

So thank you Erika, for leaving your question on my blog. I've enjoyed the search for the answers very much. Now I'll go do some art work.

How do you live a life of freedom and simplicity?

2009-07-02T17:43:00.006-03:00

Collage by Lani from morning pages and photo from friends on http://alteredbits.ning.com/.

I had a delightful conversation over on facebook. (I sometimes go over there, if a sibling or friend has left a message, and sometimes I get caught up in a silly game, but mostly I stare at this prompt: "What's on your mind?" So on impulse I typed out "I used to have a life filled with drama. Now I study happiness." I was thinking that might be a really nice, short autobiography. Two sentences. Anyway my friend Nicole Brandstrup left a message.

"How did you make the change? What benefits have you noticed? What was key to let go of? Did you need to change the way you make a living, if so, how? i have always been interested in your journey...."

So I answered:

It's a process. I suspect working in mental health helped create a lot of drama. Going from a precariously funded large mental health agency in Manhattan to private practice in Canada and workshops where ever they are needed, was a big shift away from drama. At some point I was googling endorphin release and creativity and stumbled upon the field of positive psychology. That was a real eye opener. People were actually studying our positive emotions and what we can do to encourage them. Makes very good sense. As for changing the way I make a living, yes, that had to change. Becoming my own boss, although not as secure, freed me up from lots and lots of drama.
I've talked with many artists who have taken this plunge into the unknown, and started living by their art and wits, and NONE of them regretted the move at all.
That would make some fun research. Talk to people who have made a choice towards simplicity and freedom, and ask them if they have any regrets!

Nicole answered back:

very very helpful. i think i am in the transitional space between agency work and being self-employed. i usually hold tight to pragmatism and yet, i am finding that something is not fitting. i am for sure in the "what is next phase" where do i go from here? how do i get there? your snippet is helpful. and I like the idea of interviewing others. thanks for the boost.

So I've thought about this a little more, and I wandered over to Kindness Girl's blog (Patience Salgado), oh my, what a fantastic inspiration! The perfect way to continue this conversation. I'd scrolled down to George, the farm and living your values... where I read about a baker of flatbread who lives his values in Vermont. Wonderful to read. I immediately wanted to pack my bag for a road trip. Here's some of what she wrote:

I ate his flatbread, I slept in his inn (in a room named Kindness), I talked to his staff and friends, and I soaked in all of his values…and I was blessed and renewed. It reminded me that I too can hold to what is most important to me. There is no rush and each time I follow what I know to be true, I can create something beautiful. I wake each morning with a new day inviting me to create, to listen to myself and the world, to speak and be heard, to act in grace, kindness and love.
I came home and thought of all the places and tiny ways we fall away from living the life and way we want. And I asked, What Would George Do? He would probably write a little note telling himself and the world what is most important to him. So I’m writing mine now…signed by P. You can write one too. Let’s trade tomorrow, shall we?

OK, so here's mine:
I once had a life filled with drama. Now I study happiness. It feels free and simple.

Collage by Lani from morning pages and photo from friends on http://alteredbits.ning.com/.

"What would I love to create?"

2009-06-30T11:01:00.004-03:00

Collage by Lani

"What would I love to create?" This question comes from Eric Maisel's Everyday Creative card pack. He believes that while creating, everything is permitted, that during the creative process we are truly free. And if we assert, protect, and encourage our freedom, then we also be helping our creativity. Sounds great to me. So I'm going to just sit quietly with this question and see what emerges and follow that.

Dear Kerin, Seth, and Alicia,

2009-06-28T08:13:00.003-03:00

Thank you Kerin, Seth, and Alicia!

Thank you so much for your kind comments on the previous post.
I'd rent an apartment in any of your blogs and groups!

Do you ever get memories popping up at the most unexpected times? Here's one that popped up recently. When I was in kindergarten we had "show and tell". I don't know if kids even do this any more but then we'd bring in some old treasure or collection or something we were proud of to show our class mates. I remember having a particularly treasured, beat up, distressed, old cigar box in which I had created little scrolls of old looking paper, photographs, marbles, and pipe cleaner dolls. I had aged the bits of paper by rolling them and rubbing them a lot with dirty hands. I was so excited to show my box and its contents that I gave no thought to how it would be received. Of course there were no other mixed media artists in my class so none of the other kids got it and what I really remember was the teacher REALLY not getting it. So I kind of let my love of creating old beat up stuff go dormant for a while (longer than I care to think). It's only since discovering other mixed media artists and lovers of old paper on the internet that I feel as though I've found my way home.

So thank you very much, Kerin, Seth, and Alicia, for being a part of this experience of "home"!!!

More inspiration from Altered Bits

2009-06-24T21:59:00.009-03:00

Here's another collage, and the central image is from a collage sheet from Altered Bits! It was a digital collage sheet and as you can see the quality is excellent (well maybe you can't see it since I altered the image a bit, but it had good resolution to it before I went to work on it). And here's some great news for newcomers to Altered Bits, the owner, Alicia Caudle, has a blog, a "by invitation only" ning group (which just makes me curious, what are they doing in there and can I play?), and an etsy shop. So if you can't find me in the next day or so, I'm probably lost in Altered Bits!

More inspiration - for journaling, bees wax, and books

2009-06-23T09:39:00.006-03:00

Journal every day - collage by Lani

Wandered over to Seth Apter's blog. (Part of this eCourse I'm in has us identify our favorite blogs and what we like about them.) So I'm studying Seth's blog, his wonderful books, art and links and then I start clicking on the links. The result is I was lost for hours and I have collected lot's more inspiration. THAT's what I love about some blogs out there. Not only are they inspiring because of art and ideas but they also send you off on treasure hunts to find more wonders.

So my first stop was Contemplating the Moon; The Art Journal of Bridgette Guerzon Mills where I can feast my eyes on encuastics. Mmmmmm, I can almost smell the bees wax. She's also got a journal making business and a blog for that. You can find Seth's travel journal in the journal blog and it is inspiring. I've got to go make a journal right now. Well, in a minute. I should finish this first.

Back at Seth's site he's got a little button where you click to find a particular blog entry that has inspired him. He changes this, so you have to check the button on a regular basis. I clicked and ended up at Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails a wonderful book binder's blog! It's a treat for book binders and dog lovers and my favorite posting is here. I love art that is a gift for someone dear and I love art that is meaningful, probably because it is for someone special. Lovely post Leslie.

Finally here's a link via Seth for Altered Bits! WOW! This is an amazing place. The image above, which I love, was originally a tintype freebie download. There are great collage sheets, some which are digital. The quality is excellent. This spot deserves some concentrated exploration!
There are free eZines there along with other amazing treats. Go have a look and tell me if I'm wrong!

A Heartening thought

2009-06-22T07:26:00.006-03:00

Mound Bayou Remembered by Lani

Here's my new learnings from Marisa's (Creative Thursday) E-Course, "In the Fishbowl:: Life as an Artist". Have you ever felt your artist self slip away quietly in the night? And you awaken feeling lost and existentially adrift? Well Marisa has the perfect answer. Just answer the questions in the earlier post and you will find "well-being in a moment", you will be on your feet, in your own art, life, and world just like that.

Mound Bayou Remembered* (close up)

*The beautifully rusted crucifix is from Judy Wilkenfeld's Etsy shop, and what a lovely shop it is!

Autumn Workshops

2009-06-21T10:28:00.003-03:00

Susan Anand and I will be presenting puppet and story book making workshops in two venues this fall. The first will be in September for the Buckeye Art Therapy Association, where we will give you all the tools to create your own puppets and books and to create your own workshops. The second venue will be in Dallas at the AATA conference. It will be a full day pre-conference course where the subjects of puppets, stories, books, animation, and art therapy will be explored in depth.

We hope to provide tools and inspiration which you can use in your search for resilience narratives in your own practice. We will focus on finding and developing characters which embody strength and flexibility, creating therapeutic metaphors which can speak directly to the inner artist, and we will look at techniques for putting the resilience narratives into a format which can be easily shared and reviewed, whether that is a story book or a video on youtube. The advantage of using imagery, stories, ideas, and characters from the individuals you are working with, is that strengths and assets are acknowledged, stories are valued, and the learning is therefore "inside out". As a consequence, individuals are engaged and participate more fully in their own therapy or learning (Gerity 2006).

This full-day course will include an introductory narrative with various kinds of puppets, giving participants a range of puppet possibilities. We will provide examples of simple book structures including a book created with one piece of paper, simple pamphlet binding, and an "altered" child's board book - all of which are suitable for most art rooms and most budgets.

The first half of the day will focus on making puppets and characters, using a variety of collage techniques with card stock. Once the characters are developed, participants will create the storybook as a companion art piece for the paper puppet. Participants will experience the ease of eliciting narratives of resilience, healing, and strength, while learning how to create playful paper puppet characters and a simple book structure. Group stories will be created when the puppets and characters come together in small groups. The instructions will be fairly simple so this course can be replicated in most art settings and with limited budgets.

The final discussion will allow for sharing of creations and how resilience, healing, and strength may be discovered when working with puppets and narratives.

For more information, see the BATA SYMPOSIUM website and the AATA CONFERENCE website or email me. Both events look fabulous! Take a look at the keynotes for both! I'm certainly glad to be going. Hope to see you there!

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T08:57:00.005-03:00

"And know they love you"

For all the fathers here and no longer here, may you have a lovely day and know that you are loved.

Artist Dreaming...

2009-06-20T21:11:00.005-03:00

"Dreaming of Travel" by Lani

I'm in Marisa's (Creative Thursday) E-Course, "In the Fishbowl:: Life as an Artist". The first class was this past Thursday and we got some questions to ponder. (One of my favorite things, pondering questions!!)

So here are two questions.
1. Why do you love what you create?
2. What are you working on when you get into the flow zone, when you lose track of time?

I love what I create because or when it mirrors something positive back to me, something which helps me understand myself and the world a little better and perhaps when there is a feeling of possibilities about it. It's pretty neat to create something and see it as really outside of myself, existing in real life, on its own, not just in my head, and I get a little rush of excitement, you know, like, "yes, I did this!" "Here is something that wasn't here moments ago, and if that is possible then just imagine what else might be possible." A wonderful feeling!

Something I also love about creating in general is how it leads me into a feeling of flow, of everything being right with the world. It is such a gift to be able to create and to be able to feel that feeling! This leads to Marisa's question "what are you working on when you lose track of time, or when you hit that flow zone?" At first I thought sort of concretely, what sort of art was I making and I made a little list: contour drawings, working with bees wax, creating a book... But then I thought it's most things art related. And then I noticed while walking my dogs this morning, looking for subject matter for my camera, that I was getting into that zone quite easily in the "treasure hunting" mode, in the looking for subjects, and it was there when I found my subjects, and then while continuing the walk and imagining how I might crop my subjects or play with them in photo shop... So really many things put me in that space, for which I am grateful!

And here are some examples:

Prospero, my very funny Bergamasco Buddy

The wild iris are blooming like mad on the headland.

And the tiny wild orchids are just beginning to pop up .

All of these put me in that timeless space. I love this time of year! And here's to a great class. Thanks Marisa and all my fellow goldfish!

A question from Patricia Seggebruch's blog.

2009-06-15T18:23:00.005-03:00

I was pursuing links on encaustic work and I came across Patricia Seggebruch's book and blog. The book is all about using wax in art (looks wonderful) while the blog is about her love of her ginger headed boys, food, and art. In it was a wonderful question. So here's my attempt to play with this question.

"What is the one thing that always makes you smile?"

So I thought of a short list of things but started to have a little discussion with myself. Chocolate doesn't always make me smile, especially if I'm trying not to eat it. In fact most things that I could think of make me smile most of the time, not all of the time. So it's actually a tough question.

But then I thought, wait a minute, if these things aren't around but I think of them, I can smile. Or sometimes I'm grumpy because they aren't around. Do they make me grumpy?
But the main thing is when I smile, it's coming from me, it's me that's smiling. So it's me that makes me smile more than anything else. In fact I always make me smile. That's a pretty freeing idea!

Do you know someone who may be needing a good wish or a prayer?

2009-06-13T07:33:00.003-03:00

You can light a candle by clicking on these candles.

I've been thinking that so many of us are struggling with one thing or another, that maybe a little corner of this blog could be devoted to good wishes for people, ourselves included of course (it is important to take care of ourselves), would be a wonderful thing. Not really sure how to do that, yet, but meanwhile there is this wonderful website, Gratefulness.Org, which has a place where you can light candles for people or for what ever you would like to light a candle for. Try it out, it's a lovely spot of candlelight on the internet.

http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/enter.cfm?l=eng

Positive Psychology & Art Therapy Altered Book Round Robin

2009-06-12T12:09:00.003-03:00

Here's the work I did in the PP&AT round robin. All about positive feelings and art making. A very positive, creative, and potent combination! Thank you, Gioia, for hosting this round robin and to Rachel, Emery, Melanie, Gretchen, and Gioia for letting me play in your books!

For more details see Gretchen's wonderful blog! She's described the process so well.

Do you know Rima Staines?

2009-06-12T07:46:00.006-03:00

A poster from Rima's Etsy Store.

In preparation for the 14 Secrets Wreck This Journal mail out, I'd wandered over to Keri Smith's blog for some last minute wrecking tips and followed a link to Rima Staines' blog, The Hermitage and from there I've been lost for days. Her blog is a delightful story filled exploration of the world from a wonderful looking caravan.

Oh to have a set of wheels like this!

Rima has a blog containing her BA thesis in Misrule, Mockery & Monstrosity in Marginal Medieval Art, a cool website about her clocks that makes the greatest ticking sounds (the website makes these sounds), wind chimes sounds and scratching sounds, partner Tui's website also makes the most intriguing sounds, and an Etsy store.

A poster from Rima's Etsy Store.

Games that Nurture Our Creative Souls

2009-06-08T17:25:00.004-03:00

More TtV and Collage fun by Lani

One of the most fun things I did recently was play a game called "Princess" with family members which was OK for kids of 3-7. At first I thought I was just filling up a spot, and helping keep order among the 2 & 5 year old, and that a game for 3-7 year old's couldn't really engage me. Well I was wrong. The cool thing about this game (and this company) is that it's all about problem solving together, and there's something in the mythic story that unfolds that captures the imagination. Here's how it works, there's a castle in the middle of the board which gets transformed from a daytime image to a nighttime image as the players land on certain squares. The point of the game is to release the princess who lives at the center of this castle, from a magic spell before night completely covers the castle. There are certain challenges to get past in order to do this, and there are certain tools as well. The whole thing unfolds like a well crafted narrative. Wonderful!

So I ordered their catalog and couldn't believe the number of games they produce and the variety! If they even come close to "Princess" in delivery of fun, then I can see what Christmas will be looking like!

Here are the games that are particularly intriguing in the $10.00 (Canadian) range: Hugs and Tickles (about chasing away bad moods), Caves and Claws (about archeologists exploring caves), Secret Door (a mystery game), and Galaxy (cooperative card games with vintage style graphics). And then in the $22.50 - $24 range: Eagle Eye and Diplomatic Mission. These are both more complex than the $10 games but look extremely interesting. The website is a little awkward to navigate, but well worth the effort. Heck, just order the catalogs and have fun.

Nic Askew has a lovely short film with a question...

2009-06-08T07:47:00.000-03:00

Here you are, too beautiful not to see!!!

'lighter or darker' from Nic Askew on Vimeo.

More on CreativeTherapy

2009-06-07T07:53:00.005-03:00

TtV photoshop collage by Lani

In my last post I mentioned, at the very bottom, the CreativeTherapy website. Here's a little story from Karen Grunberg about starting the CreativeTherapy blog/catalyst website. She had a certain rather negative idea about her childhood which came from a group of children who were excluding her from their play. She carried this negative belief around with her for years. Then one day she found a box of old photos, and there she was, a happy, laughing child with people around her, arms on her sholder, including her. She belonged, she was loved after all. So she took the photos and glued them into a book and journaled for 7 hours, straight. She felt energized and the experience was life-changing!
Karen decided to create a place where we can drop in and find creativity prompts which will do for us what her experience did for her. She doesn't call them challenges but rather catalysts, a delightful word which implies transformation.
She's got a whole crew of artists and guest artists helping her! What a marvelous treasure trove this is!

So here's a wee challenge/catalyst based on her story. Revisit your beliefs about your life or yourself and look for evidence of a kind which will loosen up and help you release unhelpful beliefs.

Links and Inspiration

2009-06-06T08:13:00.008-03:00

"All Life Matters" Photoshop fun by Lani

Sometimes someone gives you a present and that present turns out to be a great way to pass on some wonderful links and inspiration! So here's the gift that Erika gave me:
The first inspiration comes from Erika's site, a link to "Inner Links " where you can pick a daily angel card or order a whole pack of angel cards. I own a pack so I picked a card and here's what popped up, which I then used in the image at the top:

Respect
Cultivate deep listening and act in ways that acknowledge and esteem yourself and others. Everyone and all life matters. Recognize, honor, elicit the best.

Erika also gave this KreativBlogger award to Judy Wise which is an excellent choice! Check out Judy's blog if you are interested in the overlap of art and life with a little encaustic art journaling thrown in (and if you like being here, you need to go there!) I ditto that award presentation!

Now for some of my own ferreting out creative blogs to award the KreativBlogger to:
Dr. Brene Brown's inspiring blog Ordinary Courage is all about living a rather extra-ordinary authentic and brave life, and knowing you are not alone in your being drawn to such a life. Very heartening blog!

For the doll artists/puppetmakers among us there's this delightful blog, Fractured Fairytales. She gets a KreativBlogger award from me.

And then there's another KreativBlogger award for Irma Gruenholz's beautiful clay and plasticine illustration blog, also great fun for doll artists/puppetmakers. Irma also has a flickr site. Lovely!

Irma's "Birds on the Head"

For the fontaholics amongst us there's Eduardo Recife's work and fonts & freebies. I am hoping to stumble on a blog one day... but I reckon he's a busy guy! For fontaholic mail artists there's this collection of dingbats. And this link for awesome free hand written fonts came from Deb Gilchrist whose Paper and Soul blog has wonderful treasures. I vote to give her blog a KreativBlogger award! (I love SteamPunk)

And of course there's Judy Wilkenfeld who always inspires me. What I didn't realize was that she has a blog devoted to her Visual Anthologies TM. Absolutely breathtaking!!! Let's give Judy a KreativeBlogger award!

And finally there's this great link for old photo collectors that came from Adela ! Thank you Adela! After poking around happily, I ended up at the Brooklyn Museum's photostream where I found this lovely and immediately started playing with it.

"Live the life you imagined" by Lani

And here's one last link for great inspiration!

CreativeTherapy! Wonderful creative catalysts for change through art! Awesome website!!!

Treasure from my Taiwanese childhood.

2009-05-23T18:20:00.008-03:00

I've been studying Judy Wilkenfeld's Guo-Guo, a "visual anthology"TM, as well as Nina Baley's "Destination: Journey" and I was thinking that it would be really good to do something with the treasures of my childhood, so that they could tell a story, or at the very least, they could come out and play in an art piece.
So I tried covering a box with some interesting tribal cloth scored from a local Frenchy's...

And began adding some odds and ends. I found this great star fish in Port Townsend during Artfest and button/closure piece from Lynn Davis on Etsy (she's got some really cool stuff happening all the time).

While struggling with my box and its contents, suddenly a box from my childhood friend Kiki turns up on my doorstep. WOW! So now I'm thinking about switching boxes, redoing the cloth one... hmmmm... so many possibilities!
Here's a little bit of the contents from Kiki's box. As kids we would spend many Saturdays, as best as I can remember, eating dumplings with hot and sour soup and exploring pawn shops and old junk shops looking for snuff bottles and other mysteries.
Thank you Kiki! I love all of it but this little stone monkey is probably my favorite piece, expressing my childhood experience as a foreign ghost so well. Mischievous and playful, with a big grin. What fun.

Art Challenge: Making friends with freedom and uncertainty.

2009-05-21T17:54:00.006-03:00

Collage by Lani

This art challenge comes from SARK. Do you ever find yourself hesitating before beginning a new project or do you ever experience fearfulness before the unknown? Here's SARK's idea and it's a great one!

"Turn "freedom" and "uncertainty" into friends by CREATING them, yourself! Start by imagining: if "freedom" and "uncertainty" were actual friends that you could hang out with and play with, what would they look like? Now CREATE them... "

Isn't that great? Can you imagine creating two art dolls, one "freedom" and the other "uncertainty"? My "freedom" will have wings and my "uncertainty" will have a most mischievous expression on her face!

Do you believe in Magic? Hummingbird magic?

2009-05-20T16:08:00.000-03:00

Hummingbird feeder on the side of the house and cloisonné hummingbird hanging in the foreground.

Last summer Edward put up a hummingbird feeder on the side of the house. Nothing happened. He attached bright red streamers to it. Still nothing happened. While visiting my sister in Ann Arbor, I picked up a cloisonné hummingbird. I figured that we could at least have one hummingbird around, or perhaps if this little object was imbued with any magic it might call to the hummingbirds in the environment and they would come to Edward's feeder. We put it up and that day hummingbirds started coming.

A couple of weeks ago, when we'd heard the hummingbirds were back, Edward put the feeder back up. Nothing. Then I remembered the magical cloisonné creature so we hung it up again and sure enough, the hummingbirds are back at Edwards feeder!

Got to have a little magic in our lives!