Gratitude for my gift of today...

I met with the curator of my pending exhibits gallery for lunch and we began the finalization of our countdown to the installation and opening of my exhibit. Lynne is a wonderful woman and has an enormous job on her plate. She has delivered a diverse selection of artists and their visions to our community. She works with the outreach program with youths dealing with issues, foster homes, drug and alcohol involvement, single parent home with the parent struggling with making ends meet or the loss of a job. Then Lynne opens a new door and shows them a way through making their voices heard by the processes in making Art. I want to give Lynne my very best work and support her in her role as a positive force in the evolution of our life and families of my beloved Newark.

Woo-Hoo! I was working in my studio tonight and found my beloved Wabi_Sabi book for artists, designers, poets and Philosophers. Re turning to this precious books after an interval where I worked outside my studio in the gallery to now when I am renewing my sense of self. I once again realize with the loss of my beloved job...I always said I had the best job in the whole world... I now have a new self directed focus of my time and energies. I do what I can to support everyone on the small art scene here but now I volunteering where I know my energies will promote a continuing rebirth of making the Arts visible and supporting the artists who are courageous enough live in the act of creation. Wabi-Sabi is a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete...it is a beauty of things modest and humble...it is a beauty of things unconventional. This spiritual path is a way of life that supports the visions and sacred marks we as artists affirm to make each day. I began a small assemblage tonight ...it is a raw beginning and yet just "doing it" energized my hands to keep moving forward... I love putting bits and pieces together to tell a story with layers to unveil as each viewers experiences guide their individual interpretation. I am making small simple things that move inward in my soul and hopefully invite the viewer to come closer and listen to my whispers and hear my echoes of the women speaking to me now.

I received a funny email tonight...No one loses anything, that eventually come back...and usually comes back bigger, better, and zippier. Have a quiet night and reflect on the gifts we all have received in our lives. Imagine and Live in Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart