Daily Aesthetics. 

As a little girl, I often visited my Grandma Gracie.  And when I’d wake up in the morning to the smell of brewing coffee and baking bisquits, I’d think:  Ah, what a wonderful day!  You know, those simple things that make life special.       Like readymades or found art, aesthetics are all around us just waiting to be recognized.  And their recognition comes  from our senses, or rather, from how our senses have been educated.       Our senses are like invisible threads that help us create a rapport with the world around us.  And their stimulation (or lack of) can change the quality of our daily life.  Senses are not meant to be stagnant.  They’re meant to evolve.  And their evolution is determined, in part, by personal experience…the more your senses are exercised, the more they evolve.     And how can we exercise our senses?  Well, for example, via 52 Projects.  “52 Projects, Random Acts of Everyday Creativity” is not only a website but now, a book as well.   It’s author, Jeffrey Yamaguchi, states that:  "The projects provide a way to take stock of something that has happened in the past; to creatively explore the things that matter to you most in order to figure out where to take your life next; or to turn the run-of-the-mill ordinary into something to celebrate and further enrich your life.”   Jeffrey’s book emphasizes the need to consume less and to create more.  The value of Homemade now surpasses that of Boutique Bought.  Because “homemade” signifies not just a material object but, more importantly, an attitude towards life.  Making is a means of participating in daily life, of being protagonist and not just spectator.  It is also good therapy because working with the hands is a form of Active Meditation.  Research shows that activities such as knitting, for example, and other craft related activities transforms our brain frequencies into those same frequencies that are induced by traditional meditation.     Not only do we create, we also purify our mind.  We acquire internal peace via external activity.      Art is the proof that existence alone is not enough.  And the creative process provides  a means of going beyond the drudgeries of daily routines.    Just think of THE QUILTS FROM GEE’S BEND . In the book with the same name, we’re told about a quiltmaker who, after having worked in the fields all day, walked home thinking not albout how tired she was but, instead, about the quilt she was making.  Not only does a project keep you company but “creating something from nothing is the world’s primary survival strategy.”         So, if your own creativity is still unplugged, activate it with one of Jeffrey’s projects.  My favourite is #20:  Write some anonymous letters then secretly place them in books at the library or a used book store.  Who ever eventually finds the letter is automatically transformed into a kind of voyeur left to imagine the life of the letter’s unknown author.  Fun!        Oh yes, teasing the imagination can be quite entertaining. And revolutionary, too. Because, you know, that’s where all change begins. So create some new dendrites by shaking off your dust and making something!  And don’t forget, matter is energy!            -30-

other:  hand and spirit studio collages-----THE KATRINA ARTISTS BLOG....This is a free space for Gulf Coast artists in the tri-state area affected by Hurricane Katrina to post information about their work, to let customers know where they are now and to sell their work online. If you would like to feature your work here, e-mail katrinaartists@gmail.com for more information.-----

 ego:      And my thanks to Nancy for her references to me in the last issue of The Practically Creative Quarterly!  And while you're there, check out The TIDE Series from artist, Mary Bogdan....Mary - painter & assemblageur - says of herself as an artist: I am a “glaneuse”, a gleaner… In scrap heaps of abandoned or demolished buildings, alleyways and flea markets, I find rare treasure. Garbage. Remnants of wood and metal, books, boxes, old paintings, all that have been discarded are interesting to me. My work deals with obsolescence. Each “found” object has out-lived its time and has therefore been scrapped. Dead. I rescue and assemble them with collected items from my own past. I sense the object’s energy guiding its reincarnation to a higher purpose. Art. These artifacts that have chosen me, tell stories of where they have been, where I have been, where I am and where I am going.   more of mary

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