Pepper's KidzArtz 2009 Photos!

Photos by Pepper of pepperpaints.com. Just click on the image to go to her set on flickr.

KidzArtz 2009 Pics!

www.flickr.com alissasorenson's kidzartz 2009 photoset

Many other MAW moms were taking pics on the day, and I hope they will post them here!

HERE IT COMES!!!

We are super stoked to be bringing you this event this weekend. A ton of work has been put into it by the kids and the planners alike, and this year's event looks like it's going to be huge! Check out the KidzArtz website to find out more information and to check out this year's amazing sponsors!

See you on Saturday!

Two March Shows ~ Save the Dates!

Melissa Vogley Woods will be having a solo exhibition of new work on March 15th at Ohio Dominican's Wehrle Gallery. Her reception will take place from 1:00 to 3:30. You can see some examples of her work below! I'm pretty sure that Melissa either has stolen Hermione's time turner or that she never sleeps. That girl is mad busy!

Sharon (that's me writing this!) is part of a group show (featuring Cowtown Lowbrow artists) at Chop Chop on March 28th. The reception for that will take place from 7:00 to 10:00. More details can be viewed on the postcards below.

Melissa's Vision Board

Here is my board. I had a great time doing this. I noticed that initially, I was drawn to a lot of phrases and words before I discovered images I felt drawn to. A lot of what I discovered about myself in this process was about uniting two halves of mysef, the domestic with the artist, or the two halves of a whole. There was also evidence of gaining freedom from a past "story" or belief of myself in favor letting my heart guide me. Faith and trust in my own journey...not waiting for permission or external validation.

The images that struck me most were of a dog holding up another smaller dog on its hind end and a woman chasing some sort of yak. The one of the dogs very clearly showed me that I have allowed myself to be the one holding others up. I chose the phrase "Free yourself of that load" to remind myself that I need not shoulder things that really are not mine to shoulder. I want to remember to free that energy for my creativity. The one of the woman chasing the yak reminded me that I have been the woman chasing...chasing...chasing...but now I want to be the yak. LOL! Running wild and free.

It was interesting to me that some of the phrases and images that I thought I would use, I did not. These choices spoke as clearly to me as the ones I put on the board. That was unexpected. For instance, I chose a phrase that said, "Searching for myself..." But it didn't fit. I realized I know who I am on this leg of my journey. This board is about how I share that with the rest of the world.

I found Vision Boarding to be a memorable, valuable exercise that I may call on now and again as a means of clarifying new insights and direction. The best part for me was sharing the experience and donuts with friends on a Saturday morning.

Vision Board Workshop

We had an awesome time at the vision board workshop this morning. Here's Kate, laboring on her Rebirth board:





And Judy, likewise, working wonders with rubber cement:





And Melissa, tearing it up:



Here's my board. We're all supposed to blog about our boards, so I'm going to sneak mine in right now.



I knew I needed to vision prosperity, but didn't want it to be about money. There is nothing wrong with money, and I know this, but I wanted it to be about something more. The word "harvest" came up, and "gold," and I knew where it was headed. There's a lot of spinning straw into gold in there.

There are images of fiber work by Eva Hesse, and the cliff repellers, side by side. I need a little risk, and I love the repelling ropes and how they mirror the fiber art.

The knitter with the birds in her hair is about listening to the little birds of ideas, and the gourd bird houses are, I think, about giving those ideas a place to nest before I turn them into something tangible. All this comes from the tear at the top right -- which is not so much about crying (although that's fine,) but more about it being a flow from vision.

I had brought some images of garden design to use. I love the tidy, drawn little plans, and thought, "If I could only design my life that way, with an aerial view, wouldn't that be great?" But during the process, I realized that was exactly what I needed to let go; words like flow and organic and process (although I didn't use it) began to surface. I also needed to include the word "ready." I know in the past, things have started to happen, and I didn't feel ready. I want to feel ready -- ready to reap and receive -- and, as it says in the bottom right corner, "walk my path."

I heART

On Valentine's Day evening, Junctionview Studios hosted a superfun event called "I heART". The artwork that was represented fell into one of three categories: Sweet, bitter, or hot. Fellow MAW member, Wendy Yeager and I (Sharon Bell) had pieces on display (both were bitter, no surprises there). Members of Couchfire Collective and other Junctionview residents did a bang up job preparing the space for the event, and it appeared as if all in attendance had a great time (some a bit TOO great...).
Wendy took a few pics featured here of the event before it got too crazy. She also took pics of our pieces. Mine's the hole in the chest one and hers is the beautiful ghostly figure one. She rules.