“Rather than entering any situation wondering how it will serve you, let your entire motivation be to serve the greater good. Ask yourself constantly, how do I serve here, rather than how does this serve me and you put yourself in the great flow, which paradoxically causes life to serve you far better.”

Enjoy!

Finding of the week:

“We always need to remember that behind almost every great moment in history, there are heroic people doing really boring and frustrating things for a prolonged period of time.”

From New York Times, My Favorite August by Gail Collins.

If you want to get a real view of what an artist’s life is all about, check out Julian Dashper (1960-2009): It Is Life at MINUS SPACE. On view from August 7 until September 4, 2010. A must see, read, experience, feel.

In 2007, I wrote the post, Your Heart Makes Me Feel, after I read a wonderful tribute to artist Elizabeth Murray (1940-2007) in The Brooklyn Rail. Since then my feelings about the connection between art & life have only deepened more…

As Robert Gober wrote: “…art comes out of life, and that you had better pay attention.”

Image:
Julian Dashper (1960-2009): It Is Life, MINUS SPACE

The taste of summer is…

fresh
I’ve been giving life to those whispery notes/sketches I often add to my Eco Ciak. I love that little recycled paper sketchbook. It’s always a fun process to go back to the notes/sketches and try to understand the where/what/how/why.

warm
To me there is nothing like a simple and open conversation about interests, ideas and life as artists. I had the opportunity to moderate the virtual panel Resource: Where Abstract Art is (From) with a great group of artists: Glen Cunningham, Mark Dagley, Laura Fayer, Molly Herman, Lori Kirkbride, Ben LaRocco and Rachael Wren. All artists were part of Source, an exhibition curated by Susan Ross and Melissa Staiger. Both, exhibition and virtual panel, were presented and sponsored by PowerHouse Projects. Source was on view at The Halls at Bowling Green from April 22nd through May 28th. Check out the virtual panel and take a look at their websites. It’s all good!

sweet
I finally signed up my family to a CSA. The fruit begins to arrive next week. I’m excited and so looking forward to it…

The upcoming weeks and months look exciting and enriching as well. This fall, I’ll be taking a course on advocacy for children at Citizens Committee for Children of New York. This is such a great organization and resource in the city.

More soon and I wish you all a great rest of the summer.

Hope you’re all having a great summer. Here are some of my summer thoughts after having a wonderful time with family and at my favorite place: the beach.

It pleases me immensely to see how my boy loves the ocean. He was born in NYC, but his blood is Caribbean…and I truly love that!

Fruit and vegetable stands, surf shops and Rex Cream’s Ice Cream are my kind of places.

<3 running barefoot on the beach. I know I’ll be fine in a couple of days, but it was hard to run this morning and wear running shoes.

A bikini never goes out of fashion.

My nieces and nephews are awesome! When I grow up, I want to be just like them.

Photo:
7am swim with mama.

Swimming in the Caribbean. Surrounded by family and nature. I’m counting the days…

Where is yours?

Where is My Mind
By The Pixies

Oh
With your feet in the air and your head on the ground
Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Your head will collapse
But there’s nothing in it
And you’ll ask yourself

Where is my mind

Way out in the water
See it swimmin’

I was swimmin’ in the Caribbean
Animals were hiding behind the rocks
Except the little fish
But they told me, he swears
Tryin’ to talk to me, coy koi.

Where is my mind

Way out in the water
See it swimmin’ ?

With your feet in the air and your head on the ground
Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Your head will collapse
If there’s nothing in it
And you’ll ask yourself

Where is my mind

Oh
With your feet in the air and your head on the ground
Oh
Try this trick and spin it, yeah
Oh
Oh

“The critic has to educate the public; the artist has to educate the critic.”

-Oscar Wilde

“Yoga is about the union and integration of breath, movement and body, both on and off the mat. Our practice on the mat should hopefully guide us towards actions in the outside world: if we observe our actions on the mat, perhaps we can all try to apply them to the outside world, and together, in a united way, we can make a difference.”

Green Goa: Green Yoga, Karma Yoga and the Art of Transforming Practice to Life by Inna Costantini. UK Yoga Magazine, July 2010.

Happy summer!

Here I am, thinking of tomorrow’s NYRR New York Mini 10K. My first “big” race after baby. Feeling excited. I ran this race in 2008 and the experience was awesome. This is a women only race and it is truly amazing to see a sea of women running in Central Park.

My main goal tomorrow is to apply what I’ve learned from my active 15-month old boy and that we as adults forget to do often — run, run, run and just have fun!

A friend sent me this quote a couple of weeks ago — and it is so true:

“You should study not only that you become a mother when your child is born, but also that you become a child.”

-Dogen Zenji (1200 – 1253)

My first experiment with triangle pose was a couple of years ago. I created an installation with colored rubber bands entitled, Space Between. I didn’t set many rules while installing, I just knew I wanted to create a connection between triangles and colors. I began the installation — on what first felt as a huge wall space — slowly and carefully making triangles. But as I continued making triangles, the installation felt as a yoga practice — it began to flow naturally.

These days I continue to explore triangle pose — both — on my mat and in my home/studio. I’ll be posting images of this new set of triangles soon. I’m excited.

Oh, and how much I love google… While researching triangle pose, I found these great articles: Angle of Repose by Julie Gudmestad and Triangle Pose by Teri Leigh.

Enjoy!

Image:
Rossana Martinez
Space Between, 2007
Rubber bands

I dedicate my miles to the memory of a wonderful person — a great friend, brother, father, husband, son, and so much more. My dear brother-in-law, Victor González Nieves (1963-2010). We miss you so much!!

Finding of the week:

“A arte é a minha forma de conhecimento do mundo”

“Art is my way of understanding the world”

-Lygia Pape

Image:

Lygia Pape
Magnetized Spaces, 1968-2002
Spaces of the city

I’m glad to be back after a couple of weeks of too much happening at the same time. Here are some new discoveries that kept me balanced during busy days.

To begin a yoga practice at home, I got the podcast Yoga For Morning, Noon & Night with Jason Crandell. Each practice is twenty minutes and Crandell is such an excellent teacher. The noon practice is perfect during lunch break at work. The night practice feels great after a busy day.

I often find myself waiting for the bus to travel from the East side to the West side and viceversa. While I commute, I’m either reading or writing. But lately I’ve been looking and learning about NYC’s trees with the application for iPhone, Trees Near You. Watching how trees change in the spring is one of my favorite things and with this new application it feels magical.

With magic in mind, Nueva Luz, the photographic journal published by En Foco has always wonderful artists to discover. The current issue has a fantastic series by Pato Hebert entitled Trying to Catch Your Breath. Hebert describes breathing as a “manifestation of existence”. Wow! and to think that most of the time we take breathing for granted. Pato Hebert writes about the series:

“The images record my breath made visible when exhaled into the cold night air. This very simple but beautiful manifestation of existence moves me. Like my breath, which floats off into the chilly darkness, these images float between figuration and abstraction. They continue my explorations into the evocative and the ephemeral as it relates to our well-being. The title, Trying to Catch Your Breath, refers to the literal process of making the images, my effort to try to record my breath in photographic form. The title also alludes to the spiritual process of trying to catch my breath, to slow down and nourish a healthier, calmer mental state.

The hectic pace and imbalance in my daily living can lead to insecurities, anxieties and fear. Breathing is more of a process than a ‘thing.’ But in cold air, the breath is made visible. In this way the breath materializes and becomes a kind of thing, ephemeral yet palpable, unstable yet compelling. This chilly, condensed form of my breath is fascinating and magical to me, and I wanted to see how it would appear in photographically. These photographs reference the Buddhist meditation practice of focusing on one’s breathing as a technique for being more present and aware. By learning to listen to my own breathing and by remembering to breathe calmly and deeply instead of rushing or holding my breath, I am able to think and act more clearly. I have found this technique to be tremendously helpful in my efforts to improve my own awareness.”

Enjoy and Happy Earth Day!

We’ve been having glorious days filled with beautiful colors and sun. The weather always inspires me to choose what to experiment with in the kitchen. I have two new favorites: quinoa and kale. Cooking them is simple, their benefits are plenty and they taste great.

I was about to write about the benefits of kale when I found all I wanted to say (and more) in the great Brooklyn blog — Butter Beans Kitchen. This is a must read blog if you love real food. I agree with what they write about their blog:

“…If we want quality lives full of goodness, we have got to learn to make good choices about the food we plant and the food we eat. We have got to spend some more time in the kitchen and appreciating the food we have.

We have to teach our children, in a way that makes them want to celebrate. What could be more magical than the colors and tastes and sights that the Earth produces with sunshine, rain and a few pairs of dedicated hands…”

And here is the information about kale:

Kale — in April’s glow by Butter Beans Kitchen. They will add kale recipes this month.

Enjoy!

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others,
even to the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

***************

For Barbara Rose, who loved this beautiful poem. Thanks Janet for sharing it with me!

Everything feels so new in the spring. My curious boy has been showing me the world from a new perspective. This weekend, we spent long hours with friends, playing in the park, and looking at fresh bits of color — trees, magnolias, daffodils. Very refreshing!

The beautiful sun has inspired me to introduce him to the magic of running. So I’m looking for a running stroller and would love to hear about your experiences. Here are some of the qualities I’m looking for:

*lightweight (mama is petite and our charming neighborhood is old — streets have different levels)
*easy storage (we live in Brooklyn = small apartment)
*reasonable price

I really appreciate any suggestions and/or recommendations.

Thanks and happy spring to all!

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
-Marcel Proust

The last couple of weeks have been full of creativity. I found some time to draw, run outside and explore for titles. I like titles especially for abstract work. To me, titles are the little things that tell our story. They help us share ideas with others, and begin a dialogue…

Finding of the week:

“What is often overlooked in this modern world is that everything and everybody has value, that each atom in the universe does indeed have a place…”

-Aadil Palkhivala

Lately, the weather has been warmer than usual — perfect to run outside. Last Sunday morning was a beautiful and sunny fall morning. I managed to run five miles and felt I could keep going. I enjoyed the longer run, but now that the weather is changing again, I’m looking for ways to trick my brain to enjoy running in the cold.

In the I’m a Runner section of Runner’s World, I found an interview with Wolfgang Ketterle, Nobel Prize-winning physicist from MIT where he says:

“It’s quite nice running when it’s cold out. I like the contrast of the warm body, which is at a wonderful operating temperature, with the chill on the skin.”

I like the beautiful way he describes running in the cold. It also sounds like good material for a performance. I’m definitely going to remember his words while I’m out there pushing to get to the six mile…And maybe when I think of my next performance/drawings.

I was sleepy too and left my sleepiness guide me through the streets of Brooklyn. I set my iPod to shuffle songs. The cool air woke me up when I found myself in DUMBO right in front of the water. I stopped for a couple of minutes to look at the view. It felt as if I was right in the center between the Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge. I’m petite, but at that moment I felt so small. What an amazing place, I thought.

Bruce Springsteen’s song, Working on a Dream started playing. The song’s lyrics are beautiful and I love his voice when he sings: “I’m working on a dream, though trouble can feel like it’s here to stay…” The song reminded me of yesterday’s yoga class when the instructor asked us to find intention before we began the class. The purpose of my practice was to have strength and patience when life seems tough.

So here I am today, ready to do all I can to help a friend. I invite you to join Art Movement on Sunday, September 13, for the 19th annual 5K run/walk — Komen New York City Race for the Cure.

To join us or to make a gift, please visit Art Movement’s Race for the Cure. If you can’t be with us on that morning, please consider making a donation.

Every dollar counts! The money will help local organizations provide breast health education, screening and treatment.

Let’s be active, be part of the change, and help make the dream of a world without breast cancer true.

THANK YOU!