Zinger of Truth
Hands down, this was my most favorite part of the last debate:
Just is
Intelligencer and the bungling of the COVID-19 response:
Humor
Here’s a beer aisle. We have to keep laughing.
Surreal
For curiosity, I went into a large Safeway a couple of days ago to check on the supply of TP and other paper goods. Store by store, this scene of empty shelves is quickly becoming prevalent.
Hysteria
Yesterday, feeling uncertain, discombobulated, frustrated with the messy bits of life, and inundated especially with 24/7 COVID-19 news, I reached for my paints and a new canvas. Breaking through the first few months of 2020 and inertia, I started pouring and squirting layer after layer of acrylics. When completed, Messy came to mind as a title followed by Hysteria. The latter seemed more appropriate.
Acupuncture
A few days ago I visited my super duper, master acupuncturist for a treatment. Feeling considerably more optimistic and buoyant after, I met my son for lunch. We ordered and were preparing to sit at a table, at which point he looked at me and said, “Mom, you’ve got something on your head. Actually, there are 2 needles sticking out.” Bewildered, I reached up, felt the needles and gently removed them. Then I started laughing, realizing that this was an “Oops”. My acupuncturist told me at the beginning of the treatment that they needed to stay in for a while, but he and I both forgot they were still in as we concluded our session talking about politics, basketball, and the Warriors.
This small 8”x10” piece immediately came to mind, and I’m thinking about giving it to him. Collaborating with him for over 20 years, I feel confident in his sense of humor and perspective.
(Also posted on oops-art.com/stories).
Oops Power
In 2016 my son showed up at my place just as I was finishing an Oops painting. He seemed quite taken with it and the concept. I talked with him about the epiphany I had when the word flowed from my acrylic marker, allowing for immediate levity, laughter, relaxation, compassion and forgiveness for myself and other key players. I underestimated the impact on his well-being which continues to this day.
A short time after that, he send me a text. He said, “So I had an Oops earlier today and thought of your art after - I was eating cereal and was on the couch. I decided to get up and grab something in the kitchen. And as I got up with the semi-full bowl of cereal and soy milk in one hand, I knocked the bowl so it flew and did a backflip in the air. The cereal, soy milk, bowl and spoon go flying forward in the air - everything going splat on the coffee table and floor and my socks. I cleaned it up quickly, and then laughed at myself.”
Using his words as a base, I superimposed this image on a wood panel:
Prelude To Swirl And Challenging Times
Each of us is having to figure out how to stay sane, stable, and strong in confronting the many influences within our own country and the worldwide collective. Now more than ever I understand the blessings from experiencing the tough travails that forced deep internal work and coming to terms with internal v external safety. In this ever evolving process, I rely on this work to remain out of fear and retain buoyancy.
