Summer Update - Part 3

The next milestone after getting my studio in shape was to create a website for my artwork. That was certainly easier said than done! With a thousand page tome as my guide, I opened Dreamweaver and began to put it all together. Over to Illustrator to create a logo, into Photoshop to format the artwork, back to Dreamweaver. Trying to find a slide show application that I could afford (free) and that looked like I wanted took me through the internet feeling alot like Alice on a particularly bad day. Although there were times when I felt like I had bitten off more than I could chew, I finally was able to publish the site - www.whitemonkeyarts.com.

Why white monkey? Well, Carl Jung had a patient who recounted a dream in which a white monkey appeared. In the context of the dream, the monkey symbolized the positive qualities of childhood playfulness and was a symbol of creative experimentalism. For me, this little monkey seemed to be the perfect symbol for both my art and how I would like to live my life.

Summer Update - Part 2

After a great weekend with the Virginia posse, it was time to tackle the next big project - getting my studio cleaned up and organized. That meant getting rid of things that had been in my way, literally and figuratively. What I couldn't sell on Craigslist got picked up by Goodwill, including those shoes that I had promised myself to get rid of if I found a pair of yellow ones. Once all the unneeded stuff was gone, I started building work surfaces and storage units. Using 2x2s and fishing line, I made three separate units to house paintings. I had already built a flat file for works on paper and that fit perfectly under the hollow core doors that I used for the worksurface. Finally, I hung four more shelves and a second wall lamp. All my paintings and supplies now have a home and I have a 14' work surface to spread out on. It is glorious to have a workable studio space.

Summer Update - Part 1

With friends coming in for a long weekend in June, my "honey do" list took on aspects of Joyce's Ulysses - sort of a stream of conscious compilation of everything that needed to be done around the house. Curtains to be made, guest rooms redecorated - you know - stuff that had been on the "would be nice" list for years. True to form, I had a special project of my own - remaking the screen door on the back deck. I found the wood pieces at a local salvage yard which is just a treasure trove of random things. A few coats of sky blue paint, new screening and the scraps I had assembled and voila! I love it! It is just the right degree of funkiness to symbolize the change of direction that has occured in my life.

The Meaning of Shoes

Have you ever wondered about shoes? Not just about why women tend to have so many or why a man will buy the same pair again and again but rather about what shoes mean. I picked up this train of thought when I saw an ad for a pair of bright yellow, sling back, open toe high heels, very sexy, on sale, that I immediately lusted for. I certainly don’t need them. There are already about a hundred pair of shoes in my closet. I don’t have an outfit that would be perfected by them. In fact, if I bought these shoes, I’d have to shop for that perfect outfit. ..and I’d probably find another pair of shoes! Rinse and repeat.

For most of human history we got along without any shoes at all. Then, somewhere around 40,000 years ago, people began to wear basic sandals to protect their feet. By the time of the Egyptians, sandals had morphed from their role of prosaic pedal protectors to statements of social rank. The correlation of shoe style and social standing is as strong today as it was then although I am not aware of any current laws concerning who may wear what. Seriously, can you imagine being told by a police officer that it is against the law for you, a mere peon, to wear yellow or red or pointed or wide or high-heeled shoes or any shoes at all? Such laws have existed at one time or another in many societies. I remember my Italian aunts scolding us as children when we went barefoot, saying “You have shoes! Wear them!” Little did I realize that we were hearing the echoes of generations of Sicilian peasants.

When you choose a pair of shoes, do you think about what message you may be sending? After all, who wears socks and Birkenstocks? or Manolo Blahniks? or stilettos with shorts?

Even though the advent of mass production of shoes seems to have done away with proscriptions regarding who may wear them, giving those of us in the “developed” countries an almost unlimited selection, shoes remain more than just coverings for our feet. Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS Shoes, recognizes the importance of shoes. With shoes, people are able to walk long distances to get food, water and medical help. With shoes, people can avoid parasites and fungal infections. With shoes, children can go to school. As a model for social entrepreneurship, TOMS gives a new pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair purchased. So far, the company has given more than 300,000 pairs of shoes to children in South America, Africa, the US and Haiti. There are also many charities to be found on the web which accept donations of shoes for people, children and adults, who need them.

So, before I give in to temptation and buy those sexy, yellow shoes, I am going to go through the ones I already own and give some of them away.