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Petal Loops
Doodling is good medicine. When you need a mental break from whatever you’re currently stressed about or trying to work through, art is a valuable refuge. And you don’t need to be an artist to get there. A Drawing Meditation like this one, gives your logical, conscious brain some rules to follow. While your logical…
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Yogic art and movement
Every morning as part of the Satoyama Yoga warm-up sequence, we twist our spine in a movement I call Washing Machine. It’s a direct descendent of a Kundalini kriya. Last weekend, we practiced art meditation and I unexpectedly drew the pose and I like it. I thought I’d share Washing Machine and also how to…
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Foraged fiber cord
I’ve become interested in the fiber plants that grow wild at 555. Over the late summer, I learned that the nettles which grow like weeds all around the property are useful. They are food in spring, but as they grow they become excellent fiber plants. With enough processing, they can be used to make baskets,…
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DIY Custom Daybook
Do you use an appointment book, journal or diary for your daily planning? From the time I started working in an office (last century!) to my current life as a freelance designer, I have used an assortment of calendar books, diaries, and executive planners to keep track of tasks and appointments. Though I have updated…
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Happy 2023
Due to a death in the family in 2022, we did not send nengajou this year. However in the interest of keeping the 12 year series complete, I drew one for posting today. Let’s make 2023, Year of the Rabbit, memorable in the best way.
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NFI, a new project
I am sick and tired of NFTs on the blockchain: digital baseball cards, apes, and real-world objects that you “own” but don’t actually own. So let’s get real. I mean really REAL. Jump on my bandwagon and invest in an NFI – Non Fake Item. This is a grab bag selection of my art and…
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Mandala meditation
Once a month, I put on two hats at once and lead a Satoyama Yoga class that incorporates Drawing Meditation. Today we worked with mandalas. Before we started to draw, each of us set an intention or asked a question by writing it on the back of our sheet. The seed of my drawing reflected…
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Platitudes for Failure
My latest art project is a snarky perspective on trite phrases. What can you say to someone when they fail, fuck up, or falter? Why not use some platitudes that sound positive and supportive on the surface, but have a multitude of other meanings between the lines. “C’est la vie.”You failed and don’t want to…
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Witch’s broom
Amongst the many branches I ran through the chipper last month, I found one that I set aside. It was the perfect shape my my hand and a good length to become a handle for something. After the jichinsai, the bamboo altar was dismantled and tossed on the burn pile. Before burning, I took a…
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I made the most beautiful post box
The other day, Tod got a call from the water company. They had noticed that we had a new service at a different address and wanted to know where to send the bills and put the meter reading slips. Clearly, it was time to mount a mailbox somewhere at 555. But we don’t have a…
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