My boss brought in a bunch of branches of silver-dollar eucalyptus that she scored from a neighbor's trash bin. i was removing it from the back of her van when a tiny glint of crimson caught my eye, shimmering in the dusty light. It was a tiny hummingbird, stiff and still and lifeless. Did that glimmer, that great color, cause me to have a burst of energy? i felt it, and sensed it.

So, something from nothing.

i wanted to bury him (her?) that night, under the meteor shower. Instead it was cloudy and we stayed in. i will inter that tiny body under dirt that weighs ten times more than it. The color will go dark, and feed the worms who will nourish the soil that will spring up flowers, full of nectar for the next little hummingbird.

...and taste it some more.

Here is a link to a post on Drawn!, probably my favorite art blog. The artist's name here is Ginette Lapalme, and is she ever adorable; i love the sweet, watery rainbow colors she's got goin' on – and the painted sticks! Well, words cannot express. Hope you enjoy.

Be more colorful.

Taste the rainbow.

Fact: i am pretty smitten with the Amish (and i suppose, the Mennonites and other various 'plain' cultures). A long time ago at a stained glass store far, far away, my friend Sherri, a thin bookkeeper with artsy glasses and short hair, gave me a book called Plain and Simple.

i read that thing from cover to cover in a couple of days, easy. Inhaled it. The thought that there could be another way of life, free from stuff: free from technology and advertisements, traffic noise and ATMs, swimming pools, brand names and artificial colors and flavors, free from all things hustle-bustle, really invigorated me. In a powerful way, i yearned for that life. Yarn, oxen, wood and grass felt very real, and very close.

As an entirely non-religious person, however, it was a conflicting feeling. i have never understood the need to believe in something that somehow 'explains' 'it all'. The 'answers' are all around us, all of the time. It seems to me that faith in one's self should be first and foremost; without that, what do you really have? On the other hand, losing yourself so completely to a shared way of life with the close-knit community around you sounds mighty appealing to someone like me: a self-centered anxious hermit crab who is always wondering what everything 'means'.

All of these feelings were refreshed by the book Nat recently gave me, The Riddle of Amish Culture, by Donald B. Kraybill. Written in 1989, it certainly feels a bit dated, and being that it is a sociology book, it leans heavily on the history, customs, and belief systems of the Amish, really quite different fare from the personal, day-to-day quirks i had read about years ago in Plain and Simple.

Not surprisingly, there is a fair amount of bloodshed and martyrdom in those old (Protestant) roots – religion tends to have a stain of that wherever you find it. The belief system is really quite simple: obedience to Christ. They separate themselves from the evil (modern, outside) world, and excommunicate errant members of their society (shunning*). Sounds severe, no? But they value hard work, patience, and humility, three things which i live by.

Then i came across one simple sentence that flipped a switch in my mind: it reminded readers that in Amish society, wives are meant to be subservient to their husbands. [an insider discussion here.] Obviously, this is not unique to the Amish people, but it got me thinking: did a religion exist in which women held equal sway? After all my waxing romantic over the Pennsylvania Dutch, i was suddenly left hotly bitter.

With a bit of searching, the only one i could turn up was the Bahá'í faith, a religion formed (quite recently) in 19th-century Persia. In fact, if i was forced to ascribe to a 'recognized' spiritual belief system, it would probably be this one. The unity of humankind seems like a pretty simple idea to me, and one worth striving for. i'm sure i'll find my problems with it, though, just like i have with every other religion, faith, and creed out there.

For now i suppose i'll stick with my particular blend of heathen nature-worship. It's what i do best, certainly, and it's carried me this far... i am filled with reverence every single day, and it's never once felt forced. Having a healthy spiritual life has never really figured far up on the ladder for me, but maybe it was there all along, quietly flowing. That wistful Amish life i'd always dreamed of will remain a fantasy, and i will have to be content with mooning over the Mennonites at the farmer's market of my hometown in Montana, offering their beautiful jars of rose-hip jelly. Our religious differences don't have to be an impasse - it doesn't mean we can't still connect as human beings.

Unfortunately, however, this can be the reality in our world. But maybe next time instead of worrying that a Plain teenager will balk at (or silently judge) my bright pink hair and sparkly eyeshadow, i should just strike up a conversation about, say, goldfinches, and see where it takes us.



















*Check out Devil's Playground for a modern, somewhat sensational portrayal on Rumspringa, the period during which a young Amish person 'grows up', and decides whether to live their life within or without.

More talent.

i am digging this guy's art. Jon Han. Love the color and the geometry of it.

rampant color.

One really should always have a camera on them, to catch things that you will never, ever see again.

Like yesterday, late afternoon: Nat and i are sitting in Starbuck's (shut up, you know you've been in one), drinking chocolatey drinks and talking about the math behind the Mandelbrot Set. A girl comes out of the Vons nearby, and i am pleased to see that she is carrying a rather large bunch of balloons, all in pastels. They were in three colors: yellow, green, and pink, but the amazing part was her shirt: a bright, deep teal. She was unlocking her bike, which was a pearly bubblegum pink, and i could have died at the sheer matchy-matchiness of it all. At one point her head was completely hidden behind the cloud of colorful latex bubbles and the effect was at once surreal and euphoric.

i watched for a few minutes as she struggled to tie the tangle of shining ribbons to her handlebars so that her vision would not become obscured. Finally, she climbed on and rode away into the sunset (i am not kidding), with the balloons bobbing and streaming behind her. It was weirdly mesmerizing and magical.

Either that or i was just really tired.

Anyway, about twenty minutes later, another burst of colorful shapes caught my eye. Walking out of another exit, two Indian women left the Vons store carrying a bunch of balloons, but this time the colors were all very different: all dark greens, purples, and bright reds and blues. They had on saris the color of peacocks, with red and gold accents all over. It was rather striking.

i wondered why i had seen more balloons in one afternoon than an entire year, and how different the occasions were: someone's birthday? Perhaps a new baby? Co-worker retiring? Or just. . . a party? For the fun of it? And do people even do that?

Earlier in the day, i'd been at work, where–surprise!–we have balloons. And i almost never blow them up. Maybe every other week or so. People don't seem to ask for them very often (and thank goodness, because i'm always afraid of one popping in my face while i inflate it). But it just so happens that it was The Slowest Work Day of My Entire Life. The Chargers were playing the Jets in a Superbowl playoff game, so everyone in town was indoors watching the game. A storm was brewing, so the wind was making everyone edgy and moody. i think i had two sales, and at one point i even scrubbed down the microwave, which i never really use. It was slow, to say the least. So at about 1:30, half an hour from quittin' time, i blew up. . . Chargers-colored balloons.

::cringe::

Yep. It's true. i chose four: a pearly white, a metallic dark blue, a regular blue, and a regular yellow. Blew 'em up, tied them with their same-colored ribbon. Somewhere around the 3rd balloon, i lost my bravery; they were floating, hidden, on the ceiling when my co-worker came in to relieve me at 2:15. When i left, i tied them to a post in front of the shop, and walked home among the first timid raindrops.



Super Secret Bonus Balloon Page!

∞art∞

Some links to make you feel worse about yout artistic skills:

~Dan Park. My 4 faves here are Share, Swim, Jenny Lewis, and Subway Dreams. Frakkin' amazing! Seriously, otherworldly good.

~Simon Schubert's scored paper craft... go ahead, click on one! Whoever said that nothing couldn't be something?

~John Reinfurt. Check out his portfolio (my fave is The Contortionist), and sketchbook (of which "Firebear" and "Mythological Creature No. 7" are personal standouts)... this guy's got talent coming out of his ears. His use of color is extraordinary, and the attention to detail is clear and simply perfect... i want to gaze at them all day long.

~Craig Kanarick's Candy Art. Mostly just photographs of candy, but if you like candy like i like candy, then you'll probably be enthused! His composition is pretty fab, plus: there is such a thing as Italian silver licorice?!

~Veronique Meignaud. Wow. The colors! i especially love "Column Atmosphere".


That being said, all art is subjective. So where did i find all of this amazingness? Drawn!, that's where. So go and find your own favorite stuff. It is chock-full, i tell you: chock. full. Happy hunting...