FOUR WORD SELF HELP

FOUR WORD SELF HELP Simple Wisdom for Complex Lives. by Patti Digh

Author and blogger Patti Digh has created a sweet little book full of short pithy 4-word phrases of simple wisdom: "mean what you say" "stop counting, start including""get your fingernails dirty" and my fave (so far) "always assume positive intent."

I first met Patti--online--through her award winning blog 37 Days. I was soon hooked as her essays were both poetic and thoughtful, and here was someone who loved poetry as much as I did! Soon, I found myself checking her blog every morning to see if she had written something new and inspiring; next thing I knew I was commenting on her blog posts and soon we had an online conversation going.

Patti writes in her intro to this book that she "kept to her own 4 word advice" : 1. keep it very simple, 2. make them four words,  3. avoid the word don't, and 4. make each an action. Sounds simple, huh? but in reality...not so simple to write a book so simple with so much depth to it.

She addresses 12 issues in her book and has a thought provoking essay for each issue: Community, Love, Stress, Travel, Soul, Wellness, Success, Green, Activism, Children, Generosity, and Endings. In addition, each page of this book is wonderfully illustrated by readers of Patti's blog 37 Days.

I left this book out on the dining table for my housemates to read and soon would find one of them engrossed in the book---and all commented enthusiastically---they loved it! I suspect you will, also. (so, my advice to you: go out and buy it now!! at your local independent bookstore...) I plan to gift a few of these to special friends over the holidaze..."open doors for others"

37 days to wake up

I had been blogging here about a year or so when I stumbled on Patti Digh's wonderful soulful blog: 37 DAYS. Patti posed this question on her blog: "What would you be doing today if you only had 37 days to live? The death of her stepfather just 37 days after being diagnosed with cancer woke Patti Digh up, scared her, and made her examine her own life..." One result was her blog--37 DAYS--where she has touched thousands of readers lives with her inspiring life stories---and recipes for "living without regrets, no matter how many days you have left."

Now Patti has created a book--LIFE IS A VERB--- from her many inspirational blog posts. In the process of writing and creating her book she also invited her blog readers to contribute the art work for the book. Inspired by an artist trading card that blog reader Donna B. Miller sent her--she posted an invitation on her blog for others to create art---in the same artist trading card format---for various essays in the book. She received over 120 pieces of art in 2 weeks.

I was one of those artists who responded to Patti's invitation and created 2 illustrations--which I am proud to say are in this book (pp. 22 & 49).

Rather than explain the images and words I used in these two illustrations---I am instead urging you to buy Patti's book--LIFE IS A VERB--- and read the two essays that these accompany. This is one book you will never be sorry you purchased--one you will want to read over and over and write in the margins and dog-ear as it accompanies you through your life. Thanks Patti! for such a wonderful gift to us all and for being you.

Biblio-fun @ the Book Fair

papercut from the 19th century from the ephemera dealers ECLECTIBLES from Tolland, CT

I took my digital point-and-shoot camera to the San Francisco Antiquarian Book, Print, and Paper Fair this weekend ---and I just wandered around the Fair taking some photos of images that I thought were interesting. This Book Fair--as the title suggests---is so much more than just books! The artist/craftswomen part of me loves all the wonderful images at this Fair---from old maps, to gorgeous botanical prints, to illuminated manuscripts, to vintage valentines---this Fair has all of these and more.

I fell in love with these hand-drawn paperdolls from the 1950's---so quirky, with handlettered notes, and an "outsider art" type of appeal...also from ECLECTIBLES booth.

More movable ephemera from the ECLECTIBLES

and from ANTIQUARIAT BOTANICUM ---located in Lydnen, Washington --a lovely image from a BOOK OF PEONIES


plus, some lovely bindings from Turtle Island Books, Berkeley, Ca --the booth where I was working....why don't they make hardbacks with these lovely bindings now?



Here is a partial shot of Serendipity Books booth---a Berkeley landmark bookshop on University Ave.


There were many posters and vintage photos --like this one of poet Allen Ginsberg that Serendipity Books had for sale.


And original paintings...this one from Serendipity Books...I thought the folk art style in this painting was intriguing.



More ephemera---(and oops! I'm not sure whose booth this was)--but you can get a notion of how much paper ephemera treasures there were to look at...if you like ephemera and vintage paper, or old trade cards, greeting cards, or postcards--you might check out the Ephemera Society of America's website.


Cobblestone Books from Sacramento, Ca had a trunk full of colorful vintage OZ books...(when I was child in the '50's I read every Oz book our local library had in stock--about 20 of them)


and some lovely lurid dime mystery magazines....


There were numerous antique maps, both large and small.......these ones from Alexandre Antique Prints, Maps & Books from Toronto, Cananda




and rare maps in books....this one from Antiquariaat FORUM from the Netherlands. This map is from a Folio --GEOGRAPHIA by Claudius PTOLEMAEUS, published in 1490. "One of the most important early editions of the world-famous atlas, based on Ptolemy's description of the world..."

Walking through the Book Fair and looking at historical treasures like this---is a stroll through history...one I never tire of. I am acutely aware I have the privilege of looking at museum quality books that are truly "rare."

Then we have the illuminated books and manuscripts--my most favorite part! This book from Phillip J. Pirages of McMinnville, Oregon.

He also has numerous illuminated vellum manuscript leafs....


and lastly, these "fine bindings" ---also from Phillip Pirages




I hope this has been a visual feast for you--blog reader! like the past weekend was for me...

37 Days Art

Over on her blog 37 Days, Patti Digh sent out an invite to artists to illustrate some of the essays from her blog for her forthcoming book. If you have never read her blog---get right on over there and check it out! she has some of the best thoughtful and poetic essay writing on the web, in my opinion.

I decided to try this challenge (as she termed it) and she sent me this essay titled Just Wave to illustrate. She wanted the illustrations to be ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) in size--and we had to have 37 days and the name of the essay somewhere in the illustration.

I chose to make mine a mixed media piece--with my own drawing and artwork, and lace and sewing on the papers with my sewing machine.

I created the art for this essay, Just Wave, in a "creative frenzy"---I just started selecting images from my stash of papers and old sketches, and added lace and started sewing. I sewed on more layers, cut off parts and sewed more--- the piece basically grew as I made it. I did start with an image in my mind, but only a vague image---which included hands and a house---or the shape of a house. The bird is a photocopy of a small part of another painting I made---and I'm still not sure how the bird relates to this essay, but it fit with the art, so into the piece it went. I worked on this all day without stopping at all--even to eat--until it was done, and I was totally absorbed in the creative process the whole time---"in the zone" is how I think of this state. This is one of the highest pleasures for me--finding that creative zone--completely in the moment, creating one piece of art. So for me, most of the time---art making is more about the process than the end product. I found this essay an inspiration, and so slipped into the zone easily and the piece just formed without much real effort like sometimes happens in the studio--on a very good day.

I created a computer illustration for another of her essays the next day; I created this one totally on the computer and I never quite got into "the creative zone." Upon reflecting on the 2 very different creative processes, I began to wonder if I require working with more tactile materials than a computer to find that zone.

Why I BLOG

Thanks to a thought provoking post on Sharon B's blog In A Minute Ago (one blog I read daily)----during the past few days I have been pondering the focus of my blog, and I realized I have been writing less, and just showing more photos of my crafts. This led me to wonder: what makes an interesting blog? what do I like about the blogs I read everyday? and what is the goal of my blogging?

I like a blog with both content and inspiring and beautiful images or photos.

1) I tend to read blogs I know will have links to other blogs with interesting content, craft tutorials, or art (In a Minute Ago, Art for Housewives, Whip Up, The Purl Bee)

2) I also like blogs--with good photography--that highlight design trends. (Design Sponge, Print and Pattern)

3) I enjoy blogs that are humorous and write about crafts ( Yarn Harlot) or show their craft process (The Lone Beader, Yarnstorm)

4) I read every post of one writer's blog--37 Days, and always check out the premier blog about bookselling--- Bibliophile Bullpen.

5) I really like a blog that posts a new entry everyday--like both In A Minute Ago or Whip Up do.

So--why do I blog? what is the reward for me? One reward has been all the new artists I "meet" (virtually) who leave a comment on my blog. And I must admit, I find the admiring and encouraging comments folks leave about my art and crafted items to be a boost to my creativity. Especially in the winter, I tend to just stay at home and create all sorts of crafty items in my studio---and so don't get much feedback on what I create---until I photograph my latest creation and upload it to my blog--then I almost always get a reaction or a comment or two. I also like the sense I get that someone is listening when I write---or that I do have an audience for my creations. So, I suppose blogging --for me--is also about connections between people on a global scale.

I love that I can write ---from my home--- and people from all over the world can stumble upon my blog, and then by reading my blog, become acquainted with me and what I create.

Sharon B says about her blogging "From my own point view I think the goal of a blog has to be bigger than just recording my life or promoting my work." I suppose the goals for me--at this point--(I did not start out with these goals in mind, and this could certainly change) are : to promote connection and friendship between artists and crafters, to use my art to critique our culture, and to promote respect for our Mother Earth.

TODAYS QUOTE:
"Friendship exists outside our modern economy of scarcity... It's not about apportioning vanishing resources of time and energy. Friendship is a blessed relic of the ancient economy of the gift, and the time freely given to people dear to you actually creates magical abundance." ----VICTOR HUGO

BAFAB Week

Buy a Friend a Book Week is October 1-7 (as well as the first weeks of January, April, and July). During this week, you’re encouraged to buy a friend a book for no good reason. Not for their birthday, not because it’s a holiday, not to cheer them up–just because it’s a book.

How to participate in BAFAB Week

Celebrating BAFAB is easy. Just get yourself to a real-life or virtual book store during Buy a Friend a Book Week (the first weeks of January, April, July, and October) and, well, buy a friend a book! But here's the fun part: you can't buy your friend a book because it's their birthday or they just graduated or got engaged or had a baby or anything else. You have to give them a book for no good reason. In fact, this present out of the blue from you should shock the pants off of whomever you decide to give it to. And it'll make them happy. And that's the point: promote reading, promote friendships. Just make sure to let them know about Buy a Friend a Book Week, so they can spread the joy in turn.

Writing Letters

I have a new penpal---and I haven't had an actual PENPAL since I was a little girl! Thanks to Felicia Sullivan--who sponsored a penpal sign up awhile back--she then paired people who responded to her penpal swap blog post. I am finding it so much fun to get acquainted with someone clear across the county from me, with a very different life than mine. And I have not had to describe--in writing---my life, where I live, and some of my life history to another person in quite awhile. What a pleasant way to be reflective and take some stock of my life and where I am now. Writing about myself and my life is very different than talking about the same subjects. What is it about writing a letter--in longhand, with a pen (!) and then mailing the letter that is so satisfying?

And receiving a handwritten letter is just as agreeable.
To quote Vanessa Bell writing to her sister, Virginia Woolf in 1908:
"I had a charming long letter from you this morning with flattering hints of rose-gardens and daylight round corners and I don't know what all. I purr all down my back when I get such gems of imagery thrown at my feet."

I must admit there is certain thrill when I see that envelope--(or any envelope, really) with handwriting on it--addressed to me...a letter! but then when it is a nice long, loverly descriptive letter--what a joy!

Perhaps my love of letter writing--and receiving letters---is from living in the Alaskan bush for so long (over 15 years!) where "mail day" was a big event and handwritten letters really were our lifeline to the outside world. This was before the days of the internet and e-mail, so I soon found out that if I wanted to receive letters from my family and friends who lived in other places, I had to write letters to them. So, write I did. Or maybe my fondness for letters comes from the letters my beloved Grandmother (Gram) wrote me every week when I was a very young (18) newly married and somewhat homesick women---since I had moved far away from all my family and friends.

I also take delight in creating envelopes--some I just make from "repurposed" colorful calendars, or from wrapping or scrapbook papers---and some I draw and then make copies, like this one.




And on the subject of envelopes, I recommend this book:


"Open this book and you will discover a most curious and diverting collection of decorated envelopes, all of which have been sent through the United Kingdom's Royal Mail."

Here is an image or 2 from inside the book to whet your appetite:



And somewhere along the way--I think at a garage sale--I picked up this delightful and inspirational book--a book of "warm, witty and loving letters from women to women through the ages, with some envelopes and facsimiles of original handwritten letters..." This book is an interesting compendium of excerpts of many famous women writers and artists letters to friends and family.


Oh--and did I mention I also SAVE letters I receive? yep, I have quite a few in the bottom of a file drawer...I see this as recording my life for my great great great grandchildren...who I imagine finding in their mother's attic a box tied with musty rose colored ribbons...full of letters to me which tell a story of a life long ago...

And finally-- here is a nice link to a great website with a directory of sites about all types of letter writing, a bibliography of books about letter writing and letters, mail art, penpals and more---so now go and hand write a letter to someone and then mail it! You just might get a letter back...

Bookish Meme

I haven't blogged about books and reading for awhile but I liked this blog meme I came across on a blog I like---Naked Without Books, and decided it was time a for a bookish blog post. This is what the blogger at Naked Without Books says about this meme:
"I stole (then shamelessly altered) this meme from Bookfool who in turn stole it from another blog. Now you know what to do, right?"
So here goes:

A book that made you cry: Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (I read this one in fifth grade, it was my first encounter with a novel that did not end happily)

A book that scared you: Hiroshima by John Hersey, An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore

A book that made you laugh: Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

A book that surprised you with its plot twist: The Family Tree by Sheri S. Tepper

A book you loved as a preschooler: Many Moons by James Thurber

A book you loved in elementary school: Black Beauty by Anna Sewell, Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum

A book you loved in middle school: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

A book you loved in high school: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

A book you hated in high school: The Lord of the Flies by William Golding

A book you loved in college: The Great Cosmic Mother by Monica Sjoo and Barbara Mor

A book that challenged your identity: The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan

A book you have that's all worn out and falling apart and bound together with duct tape, but you refuse to part with it: my first copy of The Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer

A series you love: The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien ( I recently found an old poloroid of me in high school--1967? and I was wearing a button that said: "Frodo lives!")

Favorite SF: The Gate to Women's County by Sheri S. Tepper

Favorite fantasy: The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Favorite comic book: any Wonder Women comics

Favorite mystery: currently, Maisie Dobbbs by Jacqueline Winspear

Favorite classic: Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Favorite book of poetry: New and Selected Poems by Mary Oliver, Sisters of the Earth ed. by Lorraine Anderson (So hard to pick here-I have so many favorite poets!)

Favorite romance: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Favorite Art History book: The Power of Feminist Art by Norma Broude and Mary D. Garrard

Favorite Craft Book: 500 Beaded Objects ed. by Terry Krautwurst

Favorite Nature Writing: Refuge by Terry Tempest Williams, Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez

Favorite Alaskan Book : Raven by Dale DeArmond

A book that's not on this list: Traveling Mercies by Ann Lamott


Quote for the Day:
“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.” -- Jorge Luis Borges

Two Butterflies went out at Noon— (533)
by Emily Dickinson

Two Butterflies went out at Noon—
And waltzed above a Farm—
Then stepped straight through the Firmament
And rested on a Beam—

And then—together bore away
Upon a shining Sea—
Though never yet, in any Port—
Their coming mentioned—be—

If spoken by the distant Bird—
If met in Ether Sea
By Frigate, or by Merchantman—
No notice—was—to me—

Art Explained

Why I Am Not a Painter
by Frank O’Hara

I am not a painter, I am a poet.
Why? I think I would rather be
a painter, but I am not. Well,

for instance, Mike Goldberg
is starting a painting. I drop in.
“Sit down and have a drink” he
says. I drink; we drink. I look
up. “You have SARDINES in it.”
“Yes, it needed something there.”
“Oh.” I go and the days go by
and I drop in again. The painting
is going on, and I go, and the days
go by. I drop in. The painting is
finished. “Where’s SARDINES?”
All that’s left is just
letters, “It was too much,” Mike says.

But me? One day I am thinking of
a color: orange. I write a line
about orange. Pretty soon it is a
whole page of words, not lines.
Then another page. There should be
so much more, not of orange, of
words, of how terrible orange is
and life. Days go by. It is even in
prose, I am a real poet. My poem
is finished and I haven’t mentioned
orange yet. It’s twelve poems, I call
it ORANGES. And one day in a gallery
I see Mike’s painting, called SARDINES.


I think I was attracted to this poem because I struggle most of the time to "title" my own artwork--usually after the work is done. For me, much of the time, an artwork's title provides some clue to the artist's intent--but shouldn't the artwork do this without words?

April Easter Poem

A RITUAL TO READ TO EACH OTHER
by William Stafford

If you don't know the kind of person I am
and I don't know the kind of person you are
a pattern that others made may prevail in the world
and following the wrong god home we may miss our star.

For there are many a small betrayal in the mind,
a shrug that lets the fragile sequence break
sending with shouts the horrible errors of childhood
storming out to play through the broken dike.

And as elephants parade holding each elephant's tail,
but if one wanders the circus won't find the park,
I call it cruel and maybe the root of cruelty
to know what occurs but not recognize the fact.

And so I appeal to a voice, to something shadowy,
a remote important region in all who talk:
though we fool each other, we should consider----
lest the parade of our mutual life get lost in the dark.

For it is important that awake people be awake,
or a breaking line may discourage them back to sleep;
the signals we give--yes or no, or maybe---
should be clear: the darkness around us is deep.

Another poem for April Poetry Month

How hard is this? a poem a day for National Poetry Month? (just a nice short one today...) the heart quilt square here created recently by my daughter--with my help-- for a friendship quilt.

I MAY, I MIGHT, I MUST
by Marianne Moore

If you will tell me why the fen
appears impassable, I then
will tell you why I think that I
can get across if I try.

National Poetry Month

Spring
by Edna St. Vincent Millay

To what purpose, April, do you return again?
Beauty is not enough.
You can no longer quiet me with the redness
Of little leaves opening stickily.
I know what I know.
The sun is hot on my neck as I observe
The spikes of the crocus.
The smell of the earth is good.
It is apparent that there is no death.
But what does that signify?
Not only under ground are the brains of men
Eaten by maggots.
Life in itself
Is nothing,
An empty cup, a flight of uncarpeted stairs.
It is not enough that yearly, down this hill,
April
Comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers.


April is NATIONAL POETRY MONTH

Since I love poetry and I always celebrate National Poetry Month by reading a new poem every day--I have decided to spotlight a few poetry resources I have discovered while surfing around the web.

One of my favorite sites is Poets.org--the website for the National Poetry Foundation--a great place to look up your favorite poet's poems, search for poems to read at that special occasion, or read interview's of poets or sign up to have a poem a day delivered to your inbox for the month of April. The National Poetry Foundation established April as the National Poetry Month in 1996.

Another great poetry resource is The Poetry Foundation---they have a blog, articles, news, and you can search thousands of poems in their archives---by subject, occasion or author.



"Poetry is not an expression of the party line. It's that time of night, lying in bed, thinking what you really think, making the private world public, that's what the poet does."
—Allen Ginsberg, Ginsberg: A Biography, Barry Miles (1989).

For great animated visuals while poet Billy Collins read his poetry try Billy Collins Action Poetry or listen to Garrison Keillor's weekly podcast of The Writer's Almanac. Create your own poem at the Magnetic Poetry Board....looking for that perfect word to rhyme with blog? check out the Online Rhyming Dictionary.

I also highly recommend the Poets' Corner, "one of the largest and oldest text resources on the web. The goal of this project is to create a user-friendly library of works that promotes browsing and exploring through a site that spans thousands of works by hundreds of authors covering thousands of years." At Poetry Daily--you can read a new poem every day! (not just during April). Poets Against War "continues the tradition of socially engaged poetry by creating venues for poetry as a voice against war, tyranny and oppression."

Or join NaPoWriMo---National Poetry Writing Month! Write a poem every day (or at least try to) and post it to your blog if you dare...this dare is from the blog 32 Poems Poetry Magazine.


LIFE, believe, is not a dream,
So dark as sages say;
Oft a little morning rain
Foretells a pleasant day:
Sometimes there are clouds of gloom,
But these are transient all;
If the shower will make the roses bloom,
Oh, why lament its fall?
Rapidly, merrily,
Life's sunny hours flit by,
Gratefully, cheerily,
Enjoy them as they fly.

----From LIFE by Charlotte Bronte