Art Of The Day

This is a graphite drawing I did from an old photo of an Ouled Nail female dancer, an ancient tribe in Algeria.

No TV Here!

I have been in a bit of a creative slump and haven't had much to write about on here. Spring is soon to arrive and well my Winter monochrome doldrum will lift.

I've been enjoying watching my little garden seedlings grow. They are looking more perky every day. It warms my heart to see things growing in Winter in hopes of planting my garden, which I dearly love.

I have been listening alot to the radio which is my main media these days, no TV for me, in many months now. A lot of positives doing this, not soo many negatives really. It's rather amazing how much you learn and focused you become on your environment when you don't have TV for diversion. It's all about learning for me, balance, creativity, life my environment and learning are all interdependent and related.

I was listening to the radio last week, the CBC call in show, Maritime Noon. It was all about Artists and the question posed was, why Artist's are not given the monentary value for work produced. The average Artist's income is $22,000. I thought wow, if I could make that I'd feel rich! The fellow Artist on CBC said, he and his wife are both Artists and he had the same sentiment, stating that between him and his wife, they make a total of $22,000. This is not at all surprising to me, nor I'm sure, not to most working Artists. There are so many reasons for this, regardless of how Artists contribute to the creative economy. There is now a report that has come out of NSCAN from many within the artistic community and those that support it. Here is the link. http://www.novascotiacan.ca/pdfs/report.pdf

Wowkwis

Wowkwis is Mi'kmaq for Fox

Where I live I see her often and she looks right at me. I love her very much.

The Red Road/New Work Today

" Long road winding began in the stars, spilled on to the mountain tops, was carried in the snow to the rivers, to the ocean..."

Kindred Spirits

kindred spirits

like my brother

like your sister

two, more like one

becoming


an understanding language of one another's soul

laughing inside each other's heart

laughing inside our laughter


if I could kiss your lips

sweet of honey on a rose

touching fingertips

washing over us

bringing us to shore

the sea of love

this heady delight, if not love, then what

two, more like one

becoming



catherine meyers

Some Favourite Quotes

This is "Harry" a painting of an anonymous Hairless dog I did for a friend.

To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong - Joseph Chilton Pearce Every child is an artist, the problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.- Pablo Picasso Painting is just another way of keeping a diary. - Pablo Picasso What we play is life. - Louis Armstrong The position of the artist is humble. He is essentially a channel. Piet Mondrian The cross is heavy for he who drags it, and light for he who embraces it. Worrying people don't pray, praying people don't worry. This a picture I took close to where I live of a little girl drawing a picture of the lighthouse there on a beautiful summer's Nova Scotia day, by the sea last year. I am doing a a painting of her. The beauty of the environment is very conducive to being creative.

Groovy Life Changing Books I Have Read!

Don't ya just love that word groovy! Ok...no? I'm stuck in a time warp...

Here's a list of some of the books that changed my life, I thought I'd share with you. Maybe you've read a few yourself and could share them with me?


1. Father's Daughters by Maureen Murdock, she is a Jungian writer.

2. She Flys Without Wings, by Mary Midkiff; a book about women and the connections they have with horses.

3. The Artist's Way, by Julie Cameron. A fantastic and empowering book for anyone wanting to learn more about reclaiming your own creativity and how to follow the creative path. This book truly changed my life.

4. The Hierarchy Of Needs, by Abraham Maslow, is a book I read the first years of Art College, and it helped me to understand the human condition and develop my own personal philosophy.

5. The Opposite Of Everything Is True, by William H. Crisman. This is a book about denial and living with alcoholism. A very powerful book.

6. The Spirituality Of Imperfection. A very significant book to me and the Author, William Kurntz, was the only person non-alcoholic, allowed access to the AA Archives. It is about the power and importance of story telling in helping us find our way. The stories are from a wide range of story tellers.

7. Traveling Mercies, Some Thoughts On Faith by Anne Lamott; she is a unique, wonderfully humourous writer, the book is real laugh out loud read.

8. Bird By Bird, is also by Anne Lamott and is all about the writing process. It is very enlightening and full of practical help and suggestions for those who write.

9. Writing Down The Bones, by Natalie Goldberg. A book about writing and being an Artist. A fabulous book.

10. Becoming A Writer by Dorthea Brande. This book was written first in 1934, in 1961 and in 1981. It is as relevant now to anyone who writes, as it was in the past.

11. Women That Run With The Wolves, by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, another Jungian...love those Jungians! She is a what is called a Cantedora which means" Keeper Of The Old Tales" and writes all about Fairytales/Fables/ Women's Spirituality. Am amazing book.

12. Zen & The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert Pursig. This book examines Classical and Romantic thought. This was a required reading the first year of my first painting class, with a wonderful instructor Dana Loomis. He was a student of William De Kooning. I consider myself very fortunate to have had him as a teacher and mentor. This book framed my whole experience in Art school and as an artist.

13. The Path To Love by Deepak Chopra. A very spiritually empowering book.

Art Online In Action

Here is the neatest link with the making of a drawing in action!

http://fcmx.net/vec/get.swf?i=003702

Kind Regards - Catherine

Printcasting

I was listening to the CBC radio show Spark, with Nora Young and found out about this new site that has started, and will be up and fully running to use in 2010.
It's all about enabling anyone to print their own newspapers and magazines using blogs, stories, events etc., on various topics, the average person can write and print about local and special interests. Really an exciting concept and worthwhile learning about. Here's the link. http://www.printcasting.com

Happy reading and writing, Catherine