So what have I been up to lately, artistically speaking, that is? Here are some tidbits:
I met today with Antonio Sacre, an awesome bi-lingual storyteller. I first met him at the Jonesborough International Storytelling Festival in Tennessee in 2007. He lives out here and makes his living telling stories, and I wanted to meet with him and pick his brain about just that. He was very generous with his brain, and gave me lots of info and advice, so this goal will be taking a priority over certain other artistic projects. I need to get my content ready, get a website and some video ready, and market myself to schools and libraries. I already have some content in the form of folktales. As some of you may know, I was a member of the KSU Tellers back in Georgia. But I need to find my voice as a storyteller. This may take a while, but for now, I can just do my best with the content I have.
Tonight I went to my weekly class for The Write Club. In this club, what we do is often storytelling, but it is called "solo performance", which as I've been told is actually different than storytelling. Solo performance can incorporate storytelling, but storytelling is much more of a specific craft. In The Write Club, we write stories, mostly personal narratives, or poems, or whatever, and perform them. Some of the works coming out of this class are amazing! This is an awesome class, and the fact that I was able to get in is a gift from above, I believe, because it is by invitation only. I'm learning so much here about crafting stories from my own experience.
When I first got to L.A., I tried several things right off the bat. I took an improv class, a different solo performance class, and did a showcase with some other actors of An Adult Evening of Shel Silverstein. Theatre out here is primarily performed in order to gain attention from film industry people, and thus showcases abound. Limits of money and time required that I make choices. I already know a lot about improv, the solo class was too expensive, and the showcase is remounting, but I opted out for the second go round. I am trying to narrow my options.
On the other hand, I'm picking up new ways to spend my time. I've joined a band, and have been working to advance my guitar skills, in addition to singing. Plus, there is my writing, which there never seems to be enough time for. I wonder why?
I'm still waiting to see if I get into that Warner Brothers television writing program, so I'll keep you posted about that, and these other endeavors. Hopefully God will make my path straight, because it gets tough being away from my family and the life I had in Georgia. But like my wise grandpa told me on the phone recently, "You can't have everything." At least not on earth, anyway.
Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Art. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
What's a Yart Sale?
Okay, I admit I have the shopping gene. Fortunately I also have the cheapskate bargain-hunter gene, too, so it usually works out okay. If there are others of you out there, I wanted to let you know about this fun online event.
Etsy is an online marketplace to sell handmade and vintage goods. They're having a yart sale from now through this Sunday, June 14. In case you're wondering, a yart sale is a combination yard sale and art sale. Vendors who choose to participate are doing all sorts of things: offering free shipping, discounts, special items on clearance.
If you want to check it out, go to Etsy and add the word "yart" to your search term, or just browse that term. You won't believe the amazing handmade and vintage goodies you can find.
And yes, my Etsy shop, Jasmine Showers, is participating, too. I'm offering 50% off of any one item in the shop.
So have fun!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Joy: Sampling the Eternal
Hey everybody. It's me again, Kristi. I thought I would share with you all today something I wrote a little over a year ago, while I was in school. It was for a Senior Seminar class, and we had been working all semester on figuring out where we as "artist/scholars" were at that present time, and where we wanted to go in our artistic endeavors. The term "artist/scholar" was big in our Theatre and Performance Studies department. We were pushed to strive for both.
This theme, though, is one I have been thinking a lot about lately, as I plan to move West very soon. It helps me to remember why I am going, and what my goals will hopefully always be- what they should be, I believe.
I focus on C.S. Lewis in this piece, because through his writing and discoveries, more than any other author's, I have made amazing realizations about who I am as an artist, and what I believe art is. I plan to write a lot about this on our blog, because it really is what we are trying to relate through Dimensions. (I think Robin would agree- I hope so, anyway!) I believe God led me to Lewis' writings, and enabled me to make these incredibly important connections. Maybe you can make some connections as well. They have truly been life-changing for me. For now, though, I hope you enjoy this post!
“In speaking of this desire for our own far off country… even now I feel a certain shyness. I am almost committing an indecency. I am trying to rip open the inconsolable secret in each one of you—the secret which hurts so much that you take your revenge on it by calling it names like nostalgia and romanticism and adolescence. The secret we cannot hide and cannot tell, though we desire to do both. We cannot tell it because it is a desire for something that has never actually appeared in our experience. We cannot hide it because our experience is constantly longing for it. And we betray ourselves like lovers at the mention of the name, “Heaven.”
C.S. Lewis
The students from Dead Poets Society who stood on the tops of their desks, quoting Walt Whitman in a show of support for their teacher, understood the concept of yearning, of the “inconsolable secret”- what the artist/scholar C.S. Lewis called “Joy” (with a capital J)- specifically brought about by encounters with art. Lewis had experienced this Joy in art, and his efforts to find its true source, to understand this Joy, eventually led to his conversion from Atheism to Theism, and finally to Christianity. These experiences of what he calls that “unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction” were the central story of Lewis’ life. In his autobiographical work Surprised by Joy, Lewis writes:
I had become fond of Longfellow’s Saga of King Olaf: fond of it in
a casual, shallow way for its story and its vigorous rhythms. But then,
and quite different from such pleasures, and like a voice from far
more distant regions, there came a moment when I idly turned the
pages of the book and found…
‘I heard a voice that cried,
Balder the Beautiful,
Is dead, is dead’
…instantly I was uplifted into huge regions of northern sky, I desired with almost sickening intensity something never to be described…and then…found myself at the very same moment already falling out of that desire and wishing I were back in it.”
For Lewis, there was no doubt that Joy was a desire, but a desire for what? Did he really long to be inside of the poem, at the moment when Balder fell? Did he long for the things, people, and places he found there? Did he long for Joy itself? After many years of searching, he wrote that “the form of the desired is in the desire”, and that “it is the object which makes the desire harsh or sweet, coarse or choice, ‘high’ or ‘low’… Inexorably Joy proclaimed, ‘You want- I myself am your want of- something other, outside, not you nor any state of you.’”
My own run-ins with Joy after certain artistic events have led me on a similar search. I have lived through powerful, emotional days, sometimes weeks, of bittersweet agony after some of these moments. I wondered, “What is this I am feeling? What is it that I want?” Though I was already approaching the question as a Christian, I did not immediately make the connection. I began at basically the same place as Lewis. If I have one such experience while watching Out of Africa, it must be for Africa I long. But then when I remember that I do not even like camping that much, and that I greatly enjoy the comforts of an air-conditioned room, I must conclude that African safari is not the desired object. Then what is?
Certainly, we as humans relate to the beauty of love between dear old friends, and the great loss experienced when one dies. We long for the kinship that exists among unlikely comrades, and we ache at the mere existence of a so-called impossible bond. But there is more than simply relating. These instances of Joy go beyond empathy, beyond understanding. These moments are, as Lewis describes them, “something quite different from ordinary life and even from ordinary pleasure; something… ‘in another dimension.’” Though this “broken and exalted” Joy has come to me at moments in various art forms-animation, children’s literature, epic films, paintings, music- I list heavily toward the genre of science-fiction/ fantasy. The connection between this artistic realm and the heavenly realm is there. Considering Lewis’ search for the Source of Joy, it is natural that he would have made that connection. In his book Of Other Worlds, Lewis writes about the brilliance of the author David Lindsay and his book Voyage to Arcturus:
"His Tormance is a region of the spirit. He is the first writer to discover what ‘other planets’ are really good for in fiction. No merely physical strangeness or merely spatial distance will realize that idea of otherness which is what we are always trying to grasp in a story about voyaging through space: you must go into another dimension. To construct plausible and moving ‘other worlds’ you must draw on the only real ‘other world’ we know, that of the spirit."
Here we find the call to destiny on a greater scale. Though we may relate to this call, the imagined world is larger than life- a world apart. And when the enemy must be faced there- and the enemy must always be faced there, the stakes of the battle take on epic importance. The hero comes to the edge of defeat, but here the risk of loss knows only the limits of the imagination. And finally, after an otherworldly quest has been undertaken and the heightened battle fought, victory is that much more rewarding- to have fought against all odds and returned from the edge victorious, he is able to share in camaraderie with those who have struggled by his side. We have participated in something known and relatable, yet somehow totally foreign. Lewis himself loved this genre so much that he created his own imaginary world, in The Chronicles of Narnia.
Then, there are those episodes of Joy sparked by that occasional piece which brings together all of the elements in one grand synthesis. Why am I an artist? So that perhaps one day I can create something as wonderful as Michael Mann’s film Last of the Mohicans- a piece in which all of the elements speak to the spirit, and all of the technical elements come together to create a whole which is greater than its parts- something which may spark in someone else that which has been sparked in me- something by which I could whisper a hint of that “inconsolable secret” into the ear of another.
The artistic realm is the only place I have ever experienced these moments, these “road signs” which point “to something other and outer.” The artist has been given a unique gift- the gift of creation, a sampling of the eternal. Perhaps as a creator, the artist represents one meaning in the Truth that man is created in God’s Image. My hope is to point others, through my creations, to Him Who is greater than me, Who is Other, Outside of, and Higher than me- the Master Artist, the Great Creator. To show others the Joy which has been shown to me- this is my goal as an artist.
This theme, though, is one I have been thinking a lot about lately, as I plan to move West very soon. It helps me to remember why I am going, and what my goals will hopefully always be- what they should be, I believe.
I focus on C.S. Lewis in this piece, because through his writing and discoveries, more than any other author's, I have made amazing realizations about who I am as an artist, and what I believe art is. I plan to write a lot about this on our blog, because it really is what we are trying to relate through Dimensions. (I think Robin would agree- I hope so, anyway!) I believe God led me to Lewis' writings, and enabled me to make these incredibly important connections. Maybe you can make some connections as well. They have truly been life-changing for me. For now, though, I hope you enjoy this post!
“In speaking of this desire for our own far off country… even now I feel a certain shyness. I am almost committing an indecency. I am trying to rip open the inconsolable secret in each one of you—the secret which hurts so much that you take your revenge on it by calling it names like nostalgia and romanticism and adolescence. The secret we cannot hide and cannot tell, though we desire to do both. We cannot tell it because it is a desire for something that has never actually appeared in our experience. We cannot hide it because our experience is constantly longing for it. And we betray ourselves like lovers at the mention of the name, “Heaven.”
C.S. Lewis
The students from Dead Poets Society who stood on the tops of their desks, quoting Walt Whitman in a show of support for their teacher, understood the concept of yearning, of the “inconsolable secret”- what the artist/scholar C.S. Lewis called “Joy” (with a capital J)- specifically brought about by encounters with art. Lewis had experienced this Joy in art, and his efforts to find its true source, to understand this Joy, eventually led to his conversion from Atheism to Theism, and finally to Christianity. These experiences of what he calls that “unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction” were the central story of Lewis’ life. In his autobiographical work Surprised by Joy, Lewis writes:
I had become fond of Longfellow’s Saga of King Olaf: fond of it in
a casual, shallow way for its story and its vigorous rhythms. But then,
and quite different from such pleasures, and like a voice from far
more distant regions, there came a moment when I idly turned the
pages of the book and found…
‘I heard a voice that cried,
Balder the Beautiful,
Is dead, is dead’
…instantly I was uplifted into huge regions of northern sky, I desired with almost sickening intensity something never to be described…and then…found myself at the very same moment already falling out of that desire and wishing I were back in it.”
For Lewis, there was no doubt that Joy was a desire, but a desire for what? Did he really long to be inside of the poem, at the moment when Balder fell? Did he long for the things, people, and places he found there? Did he long for Joy itself? After many years of searching, he wrote that “the form of the desired is in the desire”, and that “it is the object which makes the desire harsh or sweet, coarse or choice, ‘high’ or ‘low’… Inexorably Joy proclaimed, ‘You want- I myself am your want of- something other, outside, not you nor any state of you.’”
My own run-ins with Joy after certain artistic events have led me on a similar search. I have lived through powerful, emotional days, sometimes weeks, of bittersweet agony after some of these moments. I wondered, “What is this I am feeling? What is it that I want?” Though I was already approaching the question as a Christian, I did not immediately make the connection. I began at basically the same place as Lewis. If I have one such experience while watching Out of Africa, it must be for Africa I long. But then when I remember that I do not even like camping that much, and that I greatly enjoy the comforts of an air-conditioned room, I must conclude that African safari is not the desired object. Then what is?
Certainly, we as humans relate to the beauty of love between dear old friends, and the great loss experienced when one dies. We long for the kinship that exists among unlikely comrades, and we ache at the mere existence of a so-called impossible bond. But there is more than simply relating. These instances of Joy go beyond empathy, beyond understanding. These moments are, as Lewis describes them, “something quite different from ordinary life and even from ordinary pleasure; something… ‘in another dimension.’” Though this “broken and exalted” Joy has come to me at moments in various art forms-animation, children’s literature, epic films, paintings, music- I list heavily toward the genre of science-fiction/ fantasy. The connection between this artistic realm and the heavenly realm is there. Considering Lewis’ search for the Source of Joy, it is natural that he would have made that connection. In his book Of Other Worlds, Lewis writes about the brilliance of the author David Lindsay and his book Voyage to Arcturus:
"His Tormance is a region of the spirit. He is the first writer to discover what ‘other planets’ are really good for in fiction. No merely physical strangeness or merely spatial distance will realize that idea of otherness which is what we are always trying to grasp in a story about voyaging through space: you must go into another dimension. To construct plausible and moving ‘other worlds’ you must draw on the only real ‘other world’ we know, that of the spirit."
Here we find the call to destiny on a greater scale. Though we may relate to this call, the imagined world is larger than life- a world apart. And when the enemy must be faced there- and the enemy must always be faced there, the stakes of the battle take on epic importance. The hero comes to the edge of defeat, but here the risk of loss knows only the limits of the imagination. And finally, after an otherworldly quest has been undertaken and the heightened battle fought, victory is that much more rewarding- to have fought against all odds and returned from the edge victorious, he is able to share in camaraderie with those who have struggled by his side. We have participated in something known and relatable, yet somehow totally foreign. Lewis himself loved this genre so much that he created his own imaginary world, in The Chronicles of Narnia.
Then, there are those episodes of Joy sparked by that occasional piece which brings together all of the elements in one grand synthesis. Why am I an artist? So that perhaps one day I can create something as wonderful as Michael Mann’s film Last of the Mohicans- a piece in which all of the elements speak to the spirit, and all of the technical elements come together to create a whole which is greater than its parts- something which may spark in someone else that which has been sparked in me- something by which I could whisper a hint of that “inconsolable secret” into the ear of another.
The artistic realm is the only place I have ever experienced these moments, these “road signs” which point “to something other and outer.” The artist has been given a unique gift- the gift of creation, a sampling of the eternal. Perhaps as a creator, the artist represents one meaning in the Truth that man is created in God’s Image. My hope is to point others, through my creations, to Him Who is greater than me, Who is Other, Outside of, and Higher than me- the Master Artist, the Great Creator. To show others the Joy which has been shown to me- this is my goal as an artist.
Monday, March 9, 2009
What Was I Thinking? I'm Terrified!
I absolutely adore the name of our new blog. Dimensions: Art and Eternity. Sounds like the sort of profound, spine-tingling, spiritual and artistic quest-type blog I'd love to read--if C.S. Lewis or Madeleine L'Engle were writing it.
Unfortunately, it's just Kristi and me.
Kristi just got out of college so maybe some of that deep thinking is still ingrained in her. But me? Yikes! What have I gotten myself into here?
Actually, it's the word "art" that scares me. Dimensions and eternity--well, that's stuff that God is in control of. I can have fun exploring, thinking about it, but in the end I know that none of us can really grasp it. No need to pretend.
But art? Am I saying that my poor little romance novel is art? Am I saying that I understand art? Do I even really know what it is? In my experience, "art" is something you stand in awe of, that you spend years studying and that requires a special vocabulary, and that professors can write hundreds of books about and still not really grasp. Art hangs in museums and when you go visit it, you speak in hushed tones.
Will people who do know about art visit this site, lured in by the title, and then laugh their heads off when they see my little musings?
Fortunately, just as I was reaching panic level, I opened a nifty little book I'm reading which is called, oddly enough, Art & Fear. I am not making this up: in the first paragraphs of the introduction, authors David Bayles and Ted Orland say, "This is a book about making art. Ordinary art. Ordinary art means something like: all art not made by Mozart. After all, art is rarely made by Mozart-like people--essentially (statistically speaking) there aren't any people like that. But while geniuses may get made once-a-century or so, good art gets made all the time."
This is a blog about art like that. Art made by ordinary people. By folks like me, who love to tell stories or string together beads, because arranging the stunning colors of jade and quartz and agates lets me participate in God's handiwork. Because the brilliance reflected in a row of golden glass beads reminds me that Heaven is real and beautiful. Because my funny romance novel tells me that He made us for joy and that for those of us who love Him, there really is a happily ever after.
I want this to be that kind of blog.
And since their book fortified me to actually start blogging, I've decided that the first week's give-away is going to be a copy of Bayles' and Orland's book, Art & Fear. I'll hold a drawing at the end of this week for the book, so be sure to post a comment to be entered. (And make sure I know how to contact you if you win.)
As always, subscribers to the blog automatically receive an entry in the drawing. But every comment you leave between now and Sunday will get you one more!
Unfortunately, it's just Kristi and me.
Kristi just got out of college so maybe some of that deep thinking is still ingrained in her. But me? Yikes! What have I gotten myself into here?
Actually, it's the word "art" that scares me. Dimensions and eternity--well, that's stuff that God is in control of. I can have fun exploring, thinking about it, but in the end I know that none of us can really grasp it. No need to pretend.
But art? Am I saying that my poor little romance novel is art? Am I saying that I understand art? Do I even really know what it is? In my experience, "art" is something you stand in awe of, that you spend years studying and that requires a special vocabulary, and that professors can write hundreds of books about and still not really grasp. Art hangs in museums and when you go visit it, you speak in hushed tones.
Will people who do know about art visit this site, lured in by the title, and then laugh their heads off when they see my little musings?
Fortunately, just as I was reaching panic level, I opened a nifty little book I'm reading which is called, oddly enough, Art & Fear. I am not making this up: in the first paragraphs of the introduction, authors David Bayles and Ted Orland say, "This is a book about making art. Ordinary art. Ordinary art means something like: all art not made by Mozart. After all, art is rarely made by Mozart-like people--essentially (statistically speaking) there aren't any people like that. But while geniuses may get made once-a-century or so, good art gets made all the time."
This is a blog about art like that. Art made by ordinary people. By folks like me, who love to tell stories or string together beads, because arranging the stunning colors of jade and quartz and agates lets me participate in God's handiwork. Because the brilliance reflected in a row of golden glass beads reminds me that Heaven is real and beautiful. Because my funny romance novel tells me that He made us for joy and that for those of us who love Him, there really is a happily ever after.
I want this to be that kind of blog.
And since their book fortified me to actually start blogging, I've decided that the first week's give-away is going to be a copy of Bayles' and Orland's book, Art & Fear. I'll hold a drawing at the end of this week for the book, so be sure to post a comment to be entered. (And make sure I know how to contact you if you win.)
As always, subscribers to the blog automatically receive an entry in the drawing. But every comment you leave between now and Sunday will get you one more!
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