Meri's Musings

Here's another encaustic mixed media piece  from my exploration last weekend. It combines layers of clear wax,  a touch of red, yellow-gold and lots  of titanium white encaustic paint,  layered handmade paper with Asian chop  and medallion images, and layered text  printed on tissue paper with words like hidden knowledge soul sacred energies Atop all these layers of paper and wax,  all fused to the board one at a time with a heat gun, I distressed the surface,  then rubbed it with graphite.  I removed the excess graphite  with super-fine steel wool. Voilà - the finished piece. The way I see it, it never hurts to embed a bit of soul and a lot of sacred energy into an art piece.

Haiku My Heart will touch yours. Click HERE to find a list of participants so you can visit each and every one. arms reaching skyward swaying, arching, tasting joy wind provides music

Joy comes in many packages. Tree fingers reaching for an icy blue sky when your breath makes little clouds. Things seen through the cloudy haze of memory and things that are merely imagined. Things reminiscent of times past. Pale blue and green glass. Full moons on nights when the clouds give way to let the heavens sparkle. In what wrappings did you find JOY this week? Share the JOY. To play along: 1. do a post that tells and shows us what gives you joy. 2. capture the URL of the specific post  and paste it into the  Mr. Linky box  along with your name. 3. visit other players -- as many as possible --  and let their joy infect you.   Leave them a comment about their post. Let's start an epidemic of joy!

Even though it was billed as a Photo Encaustic workshop,   since there was plenty of encaustic paint,  a huge supply   of post card-sized board, and I was in a "what if?" mood  I tried my hand at plain old  Untitled #1 © 2011 Meri Arnett-Kremian encaustic painting  in miniature. Untitled # 3 © 2011 Meri Arnett-Kremian You have only minimal control over the outcome once you put multiple colors on the surface and apply heat. A nightmare for some. . . . but there's a gift in going with the flow.

I've been in an art cocoon the past few days. Drove to Seattle for a photo encaustic workshop at Northwest Encaustics in West Seattle with an artist named Daniel Santjer . Made two 11 x 14 pieces from my photos that Daniel printed and mounted to cradled board. But the most fun came from just playing  on post card-sized boards, doing encaustic minis. . . I don't want to overload you, so I'll share more as the week goes along. The piece above consisted of two base layers of titanium white wax, each fused with heat. Next came some gold, yellow and orange encaustic colors plus a heat session. Next I placed some tissue layers or decorative papers  with Asian writing one at a time with clear medium (plus heat). The figures are from a toner copy burnished in and then rubbed with water until all the paper rubs away.  I lightly fused it (too much heat and the toner moves). The final step was to lightly mark up the edges with a wire brush and then rub in some dry pig...

It fills me with JOY that one of my inspirations Maya Angelou received the Medal of Freedom this week. Photo from Maya Angelou.com photo gallery It fills me with JOY to remember that the winds of Seattle's Inauguration Day storm in 1993 waited to blow out the power until after  Dr. Angelou  had delivered her inaugural poem. It fills me with JOY to remember a wonderful Black History Week during which my employer brought Maya Angelou to recite poetry in the headquarters auditorium and I was able to sit in silent awe and let her powerful words and the sound of her velvety musical voice wash over me. Photo from Maya Angelou.com photo gallery. It fills me with JOY to hear her say in Oprah's Master Class segment Words have power. Use them carefully. Love liberates. It doesn't bind. Prepare yourself to be the rainbow in someone's cloud. because she unwaveringly   gives voice to truths that reside in my heart. What gives you JOY? What makes you arrive...

Today is the anniversary of the birth of Susan Brownell Anthony, the 19th and early 20th Century women's rights activist who worked tirelessly to secure the vote for women. In 1872, she was tried for having attempted to vote. She died in 1906, fourteen years  before the 19th Amendment was ratified.

Sending you love and the pink roses of friendship this Valentine's Day. May you be showered with love from a special person, may you return that love and then some, may your love multiply and blanket the world.

Yesterday someone dropped by with her puppy and now I've got at least  a moderate case  of puppy lust. My Bichon Latté died in June at 14  and I've gotten used  to not reflexively reaching  for the dog treats  when I go to the store. I no longer expect to see her dancing in joy when I open the door. . I'm loving not having to worry about getting home to let her out after three or four hours. But a shadow of her still hangs around, reminding me of the companionship she offered. I really don't want the dog-mom responsibilities, but still. . . .

To revel in the beauty of words strung together like carefully matched pearls visit  Haiku My Heart . Then, flush with inspiration, join in with words of your own. Philae at Dawn © 2009 Meri Arnett-Kremian sunrise brings a new day governments fall, people cheer ancient stones listen

What gives me JOY? A feeling of sufficiency with regard to basic needs. Books to read and a mug of something warm to drink. Walking at the place where water and land meet. Stumbling across evidence that love still thrives. There are endless sources of JOY, and at least A Thousand Beautiful Things to celebrate. Won't you spend a little time looking for JOY and sharing it with us? To play along: 1. do a post that tells and shows us what gives you joy. 2. capture the URL of the specific post  and paste it into the  Mr. Linky box  along with your name. 3. visit other players -- as many as possible --  and let their joy infect you.   Leave them a comment about their post. Let's start an epidemic of joy!

© 2010 Meri Arnett-Kremian Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity... © 2010 Meri Arnett-Kremian It turns problems into  gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Retablo (photograph © 2010 Meri Arnett-Kremian) Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow. Melody Beattie Image © 2010 Meri Arnett-Kremian