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.
3 comments:
Abbi,
Thanks for the nice post about Kira! Kira was my best friend, and I've been feeling haunted and uneasy myself for the past few weeks as the anniversary of her death approached. It makes me happy to be reminded that she touched so many people while she was here, and I know she'd really love hearing that her artwork is still inspiring others. Thanks for brightening my day! -Bryan
Dear Bryan,
You were lucky to have known her better. She and I had a lot of common interests (music, art etc...), and it was always one of those "one day we'll get together when we're not so busy..." yeah, makes you feel different about being busy...
Her work really just kicked my ass, I loved it! She was really beginning to not only make huge strides in her own work but really break into the field in such a huge way. She made me want to hustle. She was ambitious, but never negative about it. The 'come on people, lets move together' kind of ambitious. magnetic.
Saturday I got this overwhelming need to see her work again. I played some of the bands she listed as her favorites on the radio show last night, but had technical errors to no end. I hope it wasn't offensive that i'm such an idiot on air sometimes. I had nothing to say (*which will TOTALLY get me in trouble with the station, but oh well.)
I hope somewhere she got a kick out of knowing i'm still a little awe-struck around her, and never seem to know what to say. She's still powerful, even after she's gone.
you were so so so lucky to have known and loved her. put on a good record, have a 'favorite beverage', and have a good laugh from a great memory. if you're feeling ambitious, tell me a story.
Nah - forget her, someone like her - who could?
take care
-A
Yeah, one of the hardest parts about losing her (among a long list of hard parts) was that she was finally doing what she always wanted to do. She really struggled to get accepted to an MFA program (believe it or not) and she took it very seriously once she moved to Minne. Her art was really developing in new and exciting ways. My prized possession is a portrait of me that she did years ago. It's the blue/green/black 'mask' painting among her older work.
Love of music was a big part of our friendship. It was great having a musically like-minded friend to share new bands with. Finding a new band to love just doesn't feel the same without having Kira to share them with. In the 10+ years I knew her we probably went to 100 shows together. Kira was great at forging a trail to the stage, and always called lame bands on their bullshit (I'm looing at you, I Am Spoonbender)- not to mention obnoxious people in general. She almost got me in a fight once cuz she was throwing ice at this obnoxious fratboy trying to mosh. I think that was a Rapture show, or Presets, or something like that. If you & she shared musical tastes, I'd be happy to burn you copies of some of the mixes she made me in the past few years. Wow, a set of all Kira music. Wish I could've heard that! Yeah, it was great to have known her as long as I did. I'm sorry you didn't have more time with her to let your friendship grow! -Bryan (contraption@mindspring.com)
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