International Women's Day, Courage and Aging

image courtesy of Arnold Newman getty

As I hope many of you know this past Sunday was International Women's Day.
A glorious celbration of women and thier achievements as well as their potential.

I've been thinking a lot about the state of women today throughout the world and particularly in our own country. It appauls me that women will not make equal salaries to their male counterparts until the year 2056. Why are more women not up in arms about this? Why aren't they out there protesting and making this an issue. Wouldn't it help our econmy to have the majority work force making more money to spend? But what is most important is just WHY? Do you have an answer?

The process of aging has kind of knocked me for a loop over the past year. I know it's not old but I will be 50 soon enough. My looks have changed and I struggle to think of myself as, well I know this sounds a little cocky, but "formerly hot." I know a few people once thought of me as "hot!" So I feel I can at least say this with the support of those few people. I've never been vain, never even owned a full length mirror, so the thought that the change of my looks was bothering me just really pissed me off! How could I be that shallow?

image courtesy of Janice Sexton Art

I've been studying a lot of artists lately and I fell upon this picture of Georgia O'Keefe in her last decade. And my initial reaction without even thinking was look at how beautiful she is. The light bulb went off in my head...it's all just a different definition of what beauty is. 

So I've moved on for the most part. I'll just let the changes happen, can't really do much about it anyway. Decided I'll just be glad I'm still here to see them happen.

So what are your thoughts on aging? Do you have any secrets you want to share?

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Evelyn McCPeters Art

Inner Peace

Inner Peace:

If you can start the day without caffeine,

If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains,

If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles,

If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it,

If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time,

If you can take criticism and blame without resentment,

If you can conquer tension without medical help,

If you can relax without liquor,

If you can sleep without the aid of drugs,

Then you are probably....

The family dog

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The Happy, Fun, Crazy, Relationships We Carry With Our "Stuff"

What would you take from a burning house?

A We Scout Wednesday topic from Tara Gentile!

I ponder that question sometimes as I look at the "stuff" that surrounds me. There has been a lot of it lately, and I've been on a crusade to share some, to find them a new life and home. But there has also been plenty of times when there wasn't any stuff surrounding me, and I do mean, not, any. 

My life has been largely unplanned, no let me correct that it has been totally unplanned since about the time I left college to run away and join the circus.  Being on the road for five years was the height of my no stuff phase. I left with basically the clothes on my back and living in a 5' X 7' room on a train doesn't let you accumulate much stuff. And I have never, not one day since, felt as free as I did then.

Once I started to establish a more normal life, I wanted stuff! But not just any stuff, I wanted objects that meant something to me. So I surrounded myself with my art, other people's art, family photos and some things I inherited from family members; family treasures or things that they had made themselves.

I am incredibly proud of the family I come from, they are a wonderful bunch of smart, caring, and at times wacky people. The ones that have left us remain with me still not just in thought but also because I am lucky enough to have something from them. My grandparents piano is my prized possession. I can feel them with me every time I look at it. I don't play, but I remember sitting on that bench with my grandmother playing chopsticks. She was the most joyful person I've ever known and thoughts of her always make me smile. The photos that family members and friends have taken that sit on this piano make me so happy that they took the time to make them. My grandparents continue to be my moral compass and this piano has somehow helped to keep me on the right path. 

I can pretty much give away any thing, but I do have some odd connections. Books, I have a TON of books. And cars, I get a real weird emotional attachment to them. Must be genetic, because every car any member of my fathers large family had ended up at the farm of my grandparents, but oh the stories they could tell. I also had an unhealthy connection to the mattress I had when I was single (also...the stories it could tell, but we won't go there). When it came time to let that go, it was like a chapter of my life was closing. I also really, really miss my apartment in Delaware.

I think that is what stuff is largely about for me, stages of life. I'm in a new stage now. Almost eight years ago I married a wonderful man. My life is not so normal once again, his business is a traveling shark show. Yes, I met him in the circus. Now the stuff around me sometimes speaks to my past, but much of it speaks to this new life I've built. I continue to collect things that are created by special people. But now the stuff represents a shared appreciation and it feels a bit less selfish.

What I realize now that life has taken a new turn is that what I would grab if my house was on fire is very simple. It would be my husband and my two dogs...because without them all the stuff in the world really doesn't amount to much of anything at all.







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Summer in Black & White

Summer in Black & White...

This week's We Scout Wednesday from Scoutie Girl asked others to express the summer season in black and white! Head on over

http://www.scoutiegirl.com/2010/08/summer-black-white-iphone-photography.html

and share your black and white summer!

And check out the wonderful Scoutie Girl blog...she's awesome, terrific philosophy on handmade!

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No Rest for the Weary!

Print Rosieweary

Print was downloaded from this fabulous blog "Daisy Janie" which I read about on the blog "Scoutie Girl!"






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A Parent's Prayer | The Old Scout | A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor, from American Public Media

A Parent's Prayer The Old Scout A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor, from American Public Media

A perfect shiny summer day and a crowd of jittery children in clusters on the corner, about to board a yellow bus, their backpacks in a pile, their mothers giving urgent last-minute reassurances, and I stop and stare at this Large Life Event. Kids from nice homes being abandoned by their mothers in broad daylight and sent off to summer camp and God Knows What...

I'm Featured on Pocketfulla Posy!

I don't really remember how I found "Pocketfulla Posy" but I know that I'm truly glad I did! Angela is a wonderful woman with a terrific writing style and a darn good knitter! She celebrates the handmade lifestyle in each and every post, dedicated to a purposeful way of life.

Angela has made me rethink my blog a bit and I am going to reach out of the "art box" a bit in future posts. I know those who follow my blog, which I once again humbly thank you for, are used to my art features, which of course will continue. But I though it may be time to share a little bit about the ten million other things that happen here at "Barking Dog Ranch!" My life is intensely not boring!

So I thank you Angela. Your commitment to expressing what's important to you has turned me on a new path, and after all I think that's what all this sharing should be about...don't you?

Please visit Pocketfulla Posy and follow her blog!
Here's a link to Angela's other blogs:

Try Handmade
The Quixotic Philosopher






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Not Smart? Not a Problem | The Old Scout | A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor, from American Public Media

"A terrific smile will take you a long way in this world. If Barack Obama had grown up fundamentalist in Minnesota, he would not be the Leader of the Free World, he'd be reading the news on an AM station in St. Cloud right now and doing commercials for fertilizer and used car lots."...

Not Smart? Not a Problem The Old Scout A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor, from American Public Media

New Directions...

I am starting a new project tomorrow, something a little different that I've been wanting to try for a long time. I look forward to sharing my process with you, so stay tuned! My muses of course will be assisting!

As the Oil Spill Situation in the Gulf Worsens, A Reflection...

The oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico is devastating to see. I know that everyone, regardless of political affiliations, their view on sources of power, or their overall view of the concept of global warming, are saddened by what is happening.

BP says they will be there until it is fixed. I guess that means they will be there until the end of time, because this cannot be fixed. I recently saw a piece on the news where someone was visiting the site of the Exxon Valdeze spill that occured approximately twenty years ago. On the surface the view was pristine, with beautiful waters, sky and wildlife. But as they dug into the soil, only an inch down there was a film of oil everywhere.

The pictures of struggling wildlife, and the hopeless faces of those living on the coast brings me to tears. This spill is not only destroying nature and wild life, it is destroying literal ways of life that have been practiced on the Gulf Coast for generations. For some, fishing and living off the land is all they know. They are at a complete loss as to what to do. The jobs that tourism has provided will all but disappear.

I live on the gulf coast, about an hour south of Tampa, a little inland from Sarasota beaches. On a good day, I am at the beach in half an hour. I usually visit Siesta Key, which is rated as one of the whitest sand beaches in the world. I've always gone here, when I lived here first 24 years ago and I go there now. My husband asked me to marry him on this beach because he knew it was my favorite.

I will be completely honest, Florida is not my favorite place to live. It is just too insufferably hot in the summer, and the overall age gap of those who can afford to live here can make me feel old before my time. It is rare that I see children or people of other parts of the world. I am a girl from the Northeast and I am proud of that....yes, I am a Yankee. I miss the diversity that my home can have.

But I have come to appreciate the beauty and sultry differences of where I live. A state park is ten miles from my home and by walking here I have learned that southwest Florida does have changes in the season, they are just more subtle and you have to look a little harder. The wildlife here is amazing, the flora and fauna of where I lived has inspired my art as soon as I had the courage to embrace it.

The thought that there may soon be tar balls rolling onto the beach of Siesta Key is a dark and daunting reality. The business my husband and I have depends on the health of the waters around us. My art has become to depend on the beauty of the place I live. The welfare of many, many people depends on the nature of the coast, and that is quickly becoming a thing of the past, most likely for as long as you or I can imagine and beyond.

I really just wanted to take a moment and this opportunity to say how sad and yes, scared, I am about what is happening along this coast. I realize that one never truly appreciates others circumstances until they are actually living their experience. Selfishly I hope and pray I will not know the overwhelming despair that others along the coast of Louisiana are now going through. I also hope and pray that they will find some peace and much help as they rebuild their lives.

Thanks for stopping by and letting me share my thoughts with you. I would love to hear your thoughts on what's happening....if you can, leave a comment.

Help support the President's call for Clean Energy:

Stand up for Clean Energy: Write your Senators

Robert Genn ~ Twice Weekly Letter: "Sunny Side Up"

I tend to be an overly optimistic person. For the most part I think this is a great thing, but I realize I sometimes really get on people's nerves. My family has always called me their "Polyanna." Recently they found a letter I wrote to Santa when I was seven. I ended saying that what I really wanted was for everyone to have a Merry Christmas. When rereading it before the holiday, my family all uniformly groaned at that point. My sister (who is not overly optimistic, a bit sarcastic, although with a great sense of humor), said she was surprised I didn't put "and world peace." (all references in this post have links to explore!)

I'm sure many of you know about the 140hours art auctions generated on Twitter by @140hours. I believe this is an awesome program! It promotes artists in an exciting way and gives to charities. I "retweet" like mad during this event trying to support my fellow artists. I tweeted to @MagZoxBrownArt, artist Margaret Zox Brown, that I found her success inspirational. She tweeted back the following comment: "It's all in the mind you know. You think it, believe it, feel it and so it is! Really." I stopped and thought, she is absolutely right. I guess that's why I keep plugging along hoping for the best!

Robert Genn's current "twice weekly letter" hit on this very same subject so I thought I would post it here. We all need reminders sometimes to keep our chins up, especially when it's freezing outside, even here in Southwest Florida!

Sunny side up


January 12, 2010

Dear Evelyn,

Our attitudes determine our accomplishments. Recent emails about shared studio spaces, male-female dynamics, creative progress etc., showed us those who see the glass half empty and those who see it half full. Could it be, we wondered, that the half-empty folks were destined to have emptier and emptier glasses, while the half-full folks were bound to have fuller and fuller ones?

Could there be truth in such a simple and timeworn concept?

Maybe it's the time of year--dark days in the Northern Hemisphere (right now our Down Under subscribers are generally upbeat). Anyway, a lot of negativity is out there. Okay, so maybe it's tough being an artist, but maybe we need to delude ourselves that it isn't tough at all--like it's a joy, a privilege, an opportunity to enrich those around us, and a lot of fun to boot.

Psychologists tell us we tend to believe what we say, especially when we chant it over and over. It doesn't seem to matter how unlikely the stuff is either--actions following words is one of the hazards of speaking, writing and thinking.

Here in the dark days of winter are a few words that might just keep your sunny side up:

Have a decent ego; cultivate self-esteem and individualism.
Keep an open mind; there's more than one way to do things.
Focus on your processes; that's where the joy comes in.
Be kind; it never hurts to give to others, even praise.
Be innocent; have a childlike--not childish--approach.
Be thankful, even for the smallest of blessings.
Be a perpetual student--be curious and seeking.
Filter your priorities--and don't suffer fools.
Be creative. It's the highest form of life.
Honour and respect time; it's the main gift.
Be optimistic; the opposite holds no charms.
Develop good habits--they will develop you.
Be thrifty--waste not, want not.
Work to please yourself.
Be hard to please.

Best regards,


Robert

PS: "Keep your thoughts positive, because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive, because your words become your behaviours. Keep your behaviours positive, because your behaviours become your habits. Keep your habits positive, because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive, because your values become your destiny." (Mahatma Gandhi)

Esoterica: A note regarding the clickbacks: We treasure all our mail. Very often, depending on which one of us is looking after it, we assemble the clickbacks from the first 50 or so letters that come in each time. We try for a range of opinion, new angles, fresh insights. Other times we're dealing with conventional wisdom. Further, many excellent letters are too late for inclusion. As you may have noticed, we sometimes add these to the live comments. Wisdom and humour are always appreciated. Recently, an anonymous subscriber reminded us: "People who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it."

Happy New Year! Robert Genn Twice Weekly Letter ~ "The Mystery of the Non-depressed Men."

Just liked the sentiments of this letter.
I hope all had a wonderful holiday. I wish you all peace, love, tolerance and compassion in the new year.

December 29, 2009


Dear Evelyn,
Research at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology has determined artistic men are less likely to be depressed than artistic women. Professor Jostein Holmen and others studied the lifestyle and mental health of 50,000 folks. While both men and women benefitted from attention to music, literature and painting, it was the men who ended up sunny and optimistic.

This can't be right, I thought. I always figured depression was an equal-opportunity condition. Then I started thinking it must be the men who were under-reporting their depression. Just yesterday, for example, I painted a particularly lousy painting. Feeling myself slipping into my usual post-painting depression, I quickly phoned a couple of friends and told them I had just painted a dandy. They believed me, and I was soon back on the sunny side of the river.

Later, with the help of eggnog, I was reading an interview with Garrison Keillor in a recent edition of Time. Keillor is a guy who always picks me up and makes me feel the universe is a benign and pleasant place to hang out. Asked, "How did you master both writing and oral storytelling," Keillor replied: "I didn't. There's no mastery to be had. You love the attempt. You don't master a story any more than you master a river. You feel lucky to canoe down it."

Speaking of canoeing down a river, have you ever taken part in the creative act of couple-canoeing? Ninety percent of the time the woman gets to be in the bow, "for the power," while the man is in the stern, "for the control." So there you have it, the woman is up front taking in the first mouthfuls of mosquitoes, while the guy sits aft just happy to be there. But then again the guy has control. He can point that Grumman anywhere he wants. He can even shout over and tell the other canoeists he knows what he's doing.

Apparently, one of the great anti-depressants released by art is the feeling of community--of being part of a greater whole. One would think with all the sophisticated networking going on with women artists in North America, they'd be the most under-depressed on the planet. Are Norwegian females defying the trend and working alone in snowbound cabins? And why do North American male artists insist on paddling their own canoes?

Best regards,

Robert

PS: "There is less depression among men who participate in cultural activities, although this is not true for women." (Professor Jostein Holmen)

Esoterica: I've always held a secret belief that men are more prone to self-delusion than women. When push comes to shove, most of the male artists I know are legends in their own minds. Contrary to the conventional wisdom they're losing their marbles, the condition may be the glue that keeps them together. I'd appreciate if you would keep my secret belief under your mosquito net, as I'm just about to go into the studio and paint another dandy.

The Old Scout ~ Garrison Keillor

I don't usually put other people's writings on my blog, somehow it just doesn't feel right. Every once in a while you read something that speaks to you, or makes you laugh, and you just want to share. Garrison Keillor often does that for me, the simplicity of the sentiment, or anger, or diatribe of the times presented in crisp, clear language, how all writing should be on some level. What follows below is a pretty good summation of the complexity, tolerance and compassion of a family Thanksgiving. (With a little Sarah Palin thrown in...yeah, he's a liberal, and I have to say I'm real happy about that!) Also, here's my completed Snapping Turtle, I'll be doing a post later today to show her progress, she was kinda speedy for a turtle!

A Celebration of Simple Goodness

November 24, 2009

We now interrupt Mrs. Palin's book tour to bring you Thanksgiving, a grand old holiday, and we in the book business are thankful for her, that a busy woman who wanted to tell her story chose the medium of ink and paper between hard covers. Her tour is not about politics. It's about books.

Those big crowds waiting in the cold outside bookstores were looking forward to cozying up to her book and savoring the intense intimate pleasure of a memoir, the feeling that you and the author are close personal friends. You don't get that feeling from watching someone on TV; you get it from a book. Mrs. Palin's job was not to impress book reviewers or stake a claim to the Republican Party but to give pleasure to people who already love her, which evidently she did. Good for her.

And that's the challenge of Thanksgiving — to gather among our kin who know us a little too well and have an amiable occasion enjoyed equally by all, at which nobody is stabbed through the heart with a carving knife...
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What Ever Happened To Cheap Local Television?: A Philadelphia Story - Monkey See Blog : NPR

Just a little touch of nostalgia...really only for those of us who grew up in the Philadelphia area.
What Ever Happened To Cheap Local Television?: A Philadelphia Story - Monkey See Blog : NPR
by Linda Holmes
News broke this weekend of the death of Al Alberts -- a development that probably means absolutely nothing to you unless you were a child within the Philadelphia viewing area between about the mid-70s and the early '90s, in which case you know that Al Alberts was the host of the long-running (like, really long-running) Al Alberts Showcase....
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