This is a little different than what you are used to seeing at The Napkin. But it is something I created for a charity auction and thought you might like to see it. It is titled ‘The Singing Inside’ and consists of the painted body cast set inside a frame made from the wood of an old piano. It is a lamp as well, with a rope light wound around the two supports holding the cast in place.
Here is the story. I was asked to participate in a breast cancer charity auction. ‘Breast Impressions’ of Tulsa and its founder, Judy Grove, created body casts of various celebrities in the Tulsa area. Artist’s around town then ‘adopted’ a cast, painted it and put it up for auction with the proceeds going to the charity. I adopted this one. I had no idea who the model was and the rule is the artist wouldn’t know unless the model actually wanted it to be known. In this case the model, a well known TV news reporter, and I knew each other and when she found out I was the artist that had picked her piece she contacted me and let me know it was her. That added a cool personal element to creating the image. I thought about her personality and character and it helped form my ideas for the piece.
It started out as just a plain white plaster of paris cast of her torso. That was given to me with no restrictions on what I could do with it. I had done some sculptures years before that used translucent mannequin bodies. In those I had ended up making one into a lamp so I had thought I would try that in this instance as well.
Here is a close up of the painting with two of my oldest and favorite characters, Talking Turtle and Singing Snake. I also included on of my recurring images, a volcano. It seemed perfect for the idea of something coming from the inside.
I even got an engraved title plate for the piece.
I figured it was almost like a person so it should be buckled up for the trip to the exhibition site. If it had a head I might have been tempted to drive in the HOV lane!
It was on display at the Woodland Hills Mall in Tulsa, Oklahoma in September and October of 2009. The auction took place in the center court of the mall and was a great success. My piece was purchased by a wealthy donor who then gave it to the Abbie, the woman who initially modeled for the piece. She still proudly displays it in her home.
Of course, you can’t compare it to death, since you don’t know what death is like yet. All you can do is compare your life to other people’s lives. And then you soon find that out the obvious, that it is harder than some, easier than others.
The important question isn’t whether your life is hard or not, it’s what is making it hard.
Is it physically hard, as in poverty, squalor, malnutrition, destitution, abuse, disease?
Is it socially hard as in no friends, no family, no support, no relief, no connections?
Is it intellectually hard as in losing your religion, feeling alone in the uncaring universe, not understanding things being taught to you?
Is it emotionally hard as in feeling unloved, betrayed, misunderstood, alone, depressed?
If ALL those things (and more) are true of your life, then yes – YOUR life is hard. But if just a few of those things are true, then a PART of your life is hard. What about the other part? What can you learn about coping, healing, fixing, understanding the hard parts by looking at the parts that aren’t hard. What are you doing in those areas that make it easy, good, fun? Can you apply that mentality, approach, feeling, to the hard parts?
The main thing to remember is that it isn’t ‘life’ that is hard or not. It is YOUR life that is hard or not. That means YOU are the deciding factor.
When my kids were growing up we did not have cable. We didn’t have MTV and I never saw many of the Jackson collection of videos. I did however see him on TV, in particular the Motown 25th Anniversary show.
I remember being so completely amazed at his dancing, his style, his incredible presence. That is what I am talking about today. We all have our demons, our ‘bads’ and our evils. He had his and no excuses need be given for them.
But he could dance and he could sing and he could entertain. Nothing wrong with celebrating that.
My daughter, Chelsea Coleman, owns ‘Bootstrap Farm’ with her husband, Don Drury. They grow organic and natural veggies and sell them to the local restaurants and at the Cherry Street farmer’s market here in Tulsa.
She was part of a panel discussion last night during Local Food Week here in Tulsa. I was very proud of her and her contribution to the discussion. Oh, and yes. I take credit for all that she is, of course.
A big part of the discussion was about the health and environmental benefits of buying locally grown foods as much as possible. The processing, shipping and storing of food coming from far away can make diseases and spoilage more frequent among other problems.
The best reason to buy and eat locally though is to become part of your community. Day to day not knowing your neighbors or farmers or small business owners may not be a big deal. But over years you realize that you have no connections to your world, your land or your town. It isn’t a good feeling. Get out and connect, enjoy, meet, buy, frequent, get to know and love where you are planted and see if you don’t grow better than before as well!
“Shipping is a terrible thing to do to a vegetable. Think of the jet lag!” – variation of a quote from Elizabeth Barry
“Time heals all wounds and gives a scar to always learn from.” – Marty Coleman
No matter the wound, if it heals, a scar will remain. Funny enough sometimes the scar will be almost imperceptible when you are young, but as you age it will show up more an more.
I fell off the top bunk when I was 10, hitting a dresser on the way down and getting 10 stitches on my brow/bridge of my nose area. That scar is now one of my age lines, wasn’t even there for about 25 years, then started to show itself. I like it because it reminds me of getting to stay up late that night after coming home from the hospital and watching Johnny Carson on TV. I didn’t learn much from it, but to keep the guard rail up on the bunk bed.
Other scars I learned a lot from. I was burned on 70% of my body when I was 18 years old. I have a LOT of scars from that little mishap. I am not always thinking of lessons when I think about them, but often I do.
Scars are physical memories and as such can teach us lessons from our lives, new lessons each time we consider them.
“Pay attention to what you see, not to what you know about what you see.” – Marty Coleman
What we know about something can often get in the way of seeingit. We see a figure in a drawing class and we know many things. We know: nude, naked, skin, body, human, woman. All those havedefinitions that come with you when you see that person standing there. They are the filter through which you see her.
But they are also in the way of you seeing her. Do you see her body language, embarrassment, humor, age, color, angle, happiness, history, the space around her?
This doesn’t just apply to artmaking of course. How do you see yourchild? Your co-worker? Your backyard? Your city? Do you let the definitions that come easy and you know decide what yousee? How do you go about seeing with fresh eyes?
“Rejection is more often about the rejecter than the rejectee.” – Marty Coleman
To all those of my friends and strangers who are getting rejected for jobs, relationships, loans, and more, just remember that the judgment is coming from a specific person, not a whole company, not a whole community, not the world. It is one person making a judgment. You are no less worthy or valuable because one person didn’t like your interview skills or your drawing style or your way of laughing.
There are over 6 billion people in the world, and millions of companies. Keep looking for the person, company, community that sees you as you are at your best. Find that and you will be nourished. It isn’t easy but the alternative is to live a diminished life where you think you are less than someone or something else. You don’t want that.
