Jan 30, 2012
I took down the Matthew drawings at Chakra Khan tonight.
I found the post-it I’d stuck up by the photos of Matthew and the milagros…it’s from p. 59 of my copy John Berger’s The Shape of a Pocket. Fitting for the show, of course, and that’s why I’d posted it there, but fitting for this particular week as well.
The sudden anguish of missing what is no longer there is like suddenly coming upon a jar which has fallen and broken into fragments. Alone you collect the pieces, discover how to fit them together and then carefully stick them to one another, one by one. Eventually the jar is reassembled but it is not the same as it was before. It has become both flawed and more precious. Something comparable happens to the image of a loved place or loved person when kept in memory after separation.
I miss you, buddy! Thanks for leaving so many wonderful creations.
love,
j
Jan 9, 2012
Jan 8, 2012
Sarina is awesome, and so am I, and so are you, so let’s get together next Saturday and do something great!
I’m referring to what will be our final retreat (for awhile). It’s Saturday the 14th, from 4-8pm, which turns out to be the perfect time for such a thing–we finally get it right (haha). Come along and tap into your inner awesomeness!
If you are hesitant to do this just for yourself, do it for me, too, because I find these retreats to be such a TREAT. We end with a little show-and-tell, my favorite part, and each time I am moved by what people have created and discovered. I’m sure you’ve heard me say this before. So why don’t you come and be amazed, too?
We have a few spaces left–join us, and bring a friend or partner–it’s a great way to spend time together. Sarina’s going to make her famous veggie chili, too.
Below are some pics from yesterday’s retreat, which was wonderful, and below that, the details about next Saturday’s retreat.
Happy 2012!
love,
julie
The pics were taken by Sarina. Let’s see what she captured from yesterday’s retreat about making a plan for a year’s worth of self care:
oh, the comforting space that is chakra khan! here’s the book about Shanghai hiding behind a philodendron. the cover is one of the people who apparently hang out in their PJs in the evening on the streets in Shanghai. i can’t wait to discover them!
this retreat participant cleverly made a “take one-give one” pocket at the back of her self-care calendar, for notes of encouragement and congratulations.
we have all kinds of materials to create with at our retreats. this “love” print i made years ago in a monoprint workshop became the cover of someone’s self-care calendar–she’d just chosen LOVE as her “word of the year” so that worked out perfectly.
a page from a self-care calendar. our projects typically have a loose structure, so you can create them according to your needs and inclinations. sarina talked about four areas of self care: mental/intellectual, spiritual, physical, and emotional.
cutting and pasting is FUN!
DETAILS:
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Julie Kesti and Sarina LaMarche
are excited to announce our
Create Your Year Retreats:two fabulous retreats to support you in making 2012 an amazing year of growth, care and creativity.Retreats include an amazing shiatsu massage, wine and treats, and time for reflection, journaling and art-making.
A Guide for Your Year: Reflecting back and looking forward
Saturday, January 14th from 4-8 pm
Explore through writing, collage, drawing, doodling or whatever you please, the things you’d like to let go of from 2011, what gifts you want to bring with you into 2012, and what you want to create in the New Year. This retreat will involve lots of writing, with creative prompts to guide you in your reflection & get your pen moving, followed up by building images from your writing. These images (and writing, too, should you choose) will also be bound into a book you can continue to work with throughout the new year. Get inspired and start your year with a little more clarity!
* intuitive collage with journaling to look back on 2011
* decide what to leave behind in 2011, and what to bring with you into 2012
* creative prompts to inspire you to begin to make goals for 2012–mental, physical, emotional and/or spiritual
* vision board for the new year
Writing prompts, creative inspiration, and all supplies included!
Reserve your spot here.
Fee: $125
Payment and registration required in advance. Please register online, and we’ll email you about payment.
Minimum of 5 people per retreat. Bring a friend!
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Jan 4, 2012
trio of matthew pics from the current show
learning to fly / MK / maps
Dec 31, 2011
Randy is working on some web updates with me–we’re tweaking the pages a little in preparation for my upcoming adventure. Have you ever checked out the thumbnails view on the art page? This seems like a looking-back-end-of-the-year kinda image, I think.
Have some wonderful last hours of 2011, and Happy 2012!
–julie
Dec 30, 2011
art by julie, photo by tanyavillanophotography.com
Dec 29, 2011
Dec 27, 2011
Dec 21, 2011
Tanya from Tanya Villano Photography recently came to Chakra Khan to photograph my artwork.
Here’s a selection of them–hopefully they will brighten your day.
Look for more to appear in the art gallery soon!
–j
Dec 20, 2011
The photo above is a “double-headed serpent Aztec figurine from Mexico (A.D. 1400-1600) made of about 2,000 small pieces of turquoise on a curved wooden frame.” It was featured in the New York Times, as part of a series called “The History of the World in 100 Objects.”
It’s a stunningly beautiful object (though maybe a little scary for any of you who have a snake phobia.) I like it for its beauty, but it’s also sticking with me because of the story it tells. I’ve not looked into the suspected meaning of it for the Aztecs, all I know is the blurb I quoted above. To me it depicts well this time of year, when we reflect on the year coming to a close, and begin to look ahead to what’s coming.
Did you ever read The Little Prince? Remember when he drew the hat that was really a boa constrictor eating an elephant?
It is a great image, too! I shouldn’t distract you too much with it, but I thought of it because at times lately, if I get overwhelmed, I feel a bit like I’m in the long belly of the double-headed serpent, making a hat-shaped lump! However if I take a deep breath and remind myself to take one step at a time, I feel more like I am the double-headed serpent. I prepare to close things up here for awhile before I fly across our little earth to see what Shanghai has to offer. Looking back at all that’s come before, I try to troubleshoot all the little details I should tend to before leaving. Facing forward with my eyes open and my teeth shined up, I get ready to take a bite outta what’s coming.
As you know if you’ve been reading my blog, this month was the third anniversary of the passing of my nephew Matthew, who is part of my current art show at Chakra Khan. My mom recently shared with me something she picked up at my brother’s church in South Minneapolis, which is where Matthew’s funeral was, and this year, his new little brother’s baptism. The essay my mom picked up was written by their wonderful pastor, about grief and loss. In it she talks about the idea that maybe “closure” and leaving things in the past isn’t what grieving is really about. She suggests that perhaps we can instead acknowledge that we carry all that we lose with us into the future–our loved ones, our failures, our youth–they don’t entirely go away, but they exist within us and around us, even as we continue forward seemingly “without” them.
When I think about that, I start to see an image of millions of overlapping lifetime snakes, the timelines of all the people throughout history, so many that they start to look like waves that roll together and make up an entire ocean. This imagery of course could go on and on–some waves touch each other and some never will, some batches of water will evaporate and hang in the air awhile and later return, the ocean is one, but it is many. . . and let’s not forget snakes shedding their skins. . . what useful images, the oceans, the snakes. . .
Back to that belly–are you feeling inside of the snake? Or are you feeling like you are the snake? Take a deep breath. In. Out. One step at a time. The year is closing, it’s dark, breathe it in. The light will grow and the new year will open up. Breathe out of your one mouth, into all that came before that created you. Breathe out of your other mouth into all that is in store for you, all that you will create, all those you will love, all with which you will fill your heart.
And–if you’d like to dive into these ideas a little more, with art and creativity, you may want to check out the two retreats Sarina and I are offering in January. In the first one you will craft a beautiful calendar-plan of self care for the year. In the second one you will spend time looking out of both eyes of the snake–what you want to move forward from in 2011, what you want to carry with you into 2012, and what do you envision for the year ahead. Read more in the previous post.
Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy this snake as much as I do.
with love,
julie