spring exhibition - movement

i probably didn't really tell you that at last i found a group of creative people to hang out with. it's weird,  i'm no longer compelled in the same way to share every aspect of my analogue life here (probably because i spend a lot less time alone in a hotel room). but i have indeed found a group of creative people to spend time with. yesterday, i helped out with setting up for the spring exhibition, which takes place today. i mostly helped out by photographing the process and then sharing it on facebook and encouraging people to attend.

i don't have anything of my own in the exhibition. i have to admit that since the vast majority of the group are painters, i didn't feel like anything i might have contributed would fit. i hadn't really seen one of their exhibitions before, so i also wanted to get the lay of the land before jumping in. that, and i've been very busy with work-related things of late. i know. that's quite a collection of excuses. but suffice it to say that i didn't feel ready to be part of the exhibition this time around.

but i will be the next time. because if there's one thing that i learned, it's that there is an enormous variety of styles involved. the theme this time around is "movement" (bevægelse), so i could easily have contributed photos of horse feet, nicely framed. i also had an idea of making a whole lot of teeny tiny origami birds and hanging them by threads, so that they would move when people passed by. but all of the writing i've been doing this week on various projects and proposals prevented that idea from materializing.  (hmm, there's those excuses again.) i am content to be the official event photographer.

there are talented painters and some less talented, but what's common to all is that they dare to show their work and that the group is open to everyone's level. all of the works were cheerfully accepted and something positive was seen in all of them. they have been carefully hung to their best advantage and today, there will be a reception where friends, family and the whole town can come and have a look. they represent a diversity of styles and passions and i find it comforting to be involved with a group where there is room and a welcoming spirit for all. it's so refreshing and it's what this whole culture house thing is really about.

next year, i'm definitely going to show some of my work too. who knows, maybe i'll even paint something!

a pretty as a picture

amanita muscaria - gorgeous. and not as deadly a beauty as i thought. if the reindeer can eat them, why not us? they sure are plentiful this year.

the coolest and fresh insanity

i forgot i had this shirt. i think i bought it ages ago in manila. i may have pretended it was for husband, but really, it was for me. and i by no means mean to make fun of people with a psychiatric diagnosis - but i think that we could all use a bit of insanity in our lives. a bit of the good kind - not the madness that has become politics and the financial sector.

the kind that makes you dare to go for something you really want, but which to others seems impossible. the kind that sends you out on a limb. the kind where you are scared, but you do it anyway. the kind that makes your heart race and makes you a little dizzy to think of your own bravery.

i'm working on that. are you?

bunny metaphors

there comes a time when you have to leave the safety of the group...

and venture out on your own. of course, it helps if you have a bit of support.

it seems there really is something to the notion that in closing one door, another one opens. sometimes it just takes awhile to figure out which one to open next.

i think i've been afraid for so long to leave the support of a system provided by a company and just trust in my own abilities. but that's almost over now. and already i can tell that it's going to be a good thing.

i'm not sure if good things come to those who wait so much as good things come to those who make them happen.

get out there and meet someone new

after my recent paradigm shift, i've been thinking about ways to be more active in my local surroundings. because previously, when i haven't found the human interaction i felt i needed in my everyday life, i turned to the blogosphere for such things. (easy now, i'm not abandoning that!) but husband has long teased me that i should find creative people in my area and hang out with them.

late last week, i stumbled onto the brooklyn brainery website and through it, found the society for the advancement of social studies and i longed for there to be such organizations in my area - somewhere to hang out with interesting people, to learn something esoteric, to teach about something i love (like blogging? or how to go about a 365 photo project?). and on facebook, i lamented that if there were to be such a thing in my area, i'd have to start it.

after more than a decade of closing myself off in order not to feel that feeling of rejection from the at times cold culture around me, i screwed up my courage and went to the library. i go to the library all the time, so it's not that bit that required courage. i knew that one of the women who works there is involved in the local "culture house," and i decided that i'd talk to her and share my ideas with her and ask how i could get involved. just out of the blue. like that. opening myself to rejection and everything.

and guess what? she was totally cool about it! she gave me her card and invited me to their january meeting where they will elect a new board and discuss the coming year. she said there are also possibilities for such activities through the library and not only through the local culture house (they managed to get their hands on the quaint old city hall building in our little town). and so last night, i sent her a mail with some ideas. and i'll talk to her some more on thursday. and i'm feeling pretty excited about it.

sometimes you just have to dare to get out there and meet someone new.

radical change

i've been coloring my hair blonde since i was a junior in high school.
that was a long time ago.
today, that all changed.

and i have to tell you that i feel incredibly liberated.
who knew a color and cut could free up so much baggage?
baggage i didn't even know i was carrying around.
and definitely didn't attach to my hair color.

i seriously feel like a new person.

mostly it feels pretty good that i finally really dared something.
and it feels like just the beginning.

~ photos by sabin.

what i learned at the market

1.  pick a perfect, sunny day that's not too windy.

2.  make a fetching display.

 3.  pick partners with whom you are proud to display your wares.

4.  think creatively when it comes to displays.

5. expect (and perhaps fear) colorful characters.

6.  find a market that fits what you're selling (this is where we went wrong).

7.  be slightly worried if it's before 12 and your potential customers are on their 4th beer.

8.  let a guy who looks a bit like john lennon and isn't afraid to wear your girly sunglasses to shield his winter eyes from the sun design some awesome shopping bags with pictures of local fishing boats - because those will sell like hotcakes. (plus, he can totally change a tire. - thank you!)

which brings us to:

9.  have products that the locals can relate to.

10.  two 'tweens will get bored and have to be sent to the beach.
where they will, without supervision, get into the water, at least up to their knees.
and they will probably also want a sausage.
regardless of the quality of said sausage.

the market was not the success sales-wise that we had hoped, but we had a lovely day, learned a lot and are not afraid to try again. plus, we raised the caliber of the whole thing by about a thousand percent. and that's something we can be proud of.  a big thank you to judith and elizabeth for a wonderful day and for being partners with me and giving me courage to do this. and for the inspiration. you guys rock.

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on the bright side, tomorrow my various shops (see the shop tab above) will be well-stocked with fish and birds and garlands and photos and quilts and scarves and more!

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and a bonus lesson: you can never go wrong when you're wearing chucks: