YES! I taught them to draw, see with their eyes, and to trust and love the right brain. the kids are totally obsessed with right and left brain now.
I even got a thank you note an jewelry some girls made for me. totally lovely, and look at those great finder lines drawn in to draw the face and their impression of me. I wish I had freckles, so they gave me some.
Amazing drawings done by 9 year olds - and although the week was stressful (95 degree temps) and little kids do not mix, they feel those temps so much more than older people do.
In the end it was worth it
So as you can see -
at the end of the week I looked TOTALLY beat, but still found some energy to paint some frogs for my and Ben's up coming show at Gallery 13. We've got a lot of space to fill, I have a few orders, another teaching gig next week and the Cannon Valley work to do, so busy is the word..
but today - I feel weary
kinda feeling sick to my stomach - warm and cold at the same time, and my head elsewhere.
feels like your chest feels the next day after a night of whole hearted crying.
I started to think about Kira when I was working. I think about her and Ted a lot. Friends that i was maybe more haunted by their art work both in their living years than I'd ever want to admit. Makes me not want to like friends work sometimes - bad luck you know.
when I make work, I do it with them in mind. Making work because of the talented people I knew who would totally be mad at me if I wasn't making work - make it because that thing I love to do, the raison d'etre could be snapped away in a second. physically and well - actually.
Anyway, the haunted feeling wasn't for any old reason. Sure enough - i went looking for Kira's web site to look at her work - she was taken from us 2 years ago tomorrow.
There's nothing i can do about that other than to plead to stop violence against women, and celebrate her work please.
check out her art & remember her. She was spunky and strong. She was a punker, a great artists and designer - who i respected - did funny little dances in her studio, who everyone was just gravitated towards. Everyone wanted to know her, be close to her and her energy. She was a tremendous person - and I think the world lost a lot of it's flare and bragging rights without her. Anyway
since the day is coming - remember her work, love the people closest to you - and for cellular's sake - Make some art.
- I'd like to show you some of her work that i admired and pulled from her web site - and encourage you to go look at it. Maybe that way she can be here just a little longer. I can't think of anything to say, we were not even close - but something about her passing broke my heart in a way I can't describe. Perhaps it's because so many of us woman have had near misses with violence, walk that fine line.... or perhaps its because this woman shined so brightly, it was hard not to love the light from any distance.
http://www.kirasimonian.com/index.html
Her Fine Art
http://www.kirasimonian.com/fineart1.html
Her design work
http://www.kirasimonian.com/design.html
In loving memory of Kira Simonian
we really miss you
Now - o.k. - I hear you - time to make some crazy frogs.
