Day 1420: Get thee to thy journal ...

"Chaos", graphite & collage in altered journal spread.

I have kept journals in different forms & formats 

for many, many years.

Officially working now in journal #87.

some of my journals

But there were many before that ...

notebooks, diaries, lost, unappreciated & discarded.

It has always been a safe place for expression.

journal written spread

Initially just writing, but in the past 20 years ... 

journal page

pages & pages of "anything goes"!

six journal spreads

Looking back, I can almost feel the emotions of each page.

journal page

So today, when I am still heavy-hearted ...

and wanting to vegetate ...

I will play and take solace in my journal.

"Chaos", graphite & collage in altered journal spread.

It may not be pretty, but it helps.
A sort of therapy?

A thought for Wednesday ...

  
 

Day 1418: Another heavy heart ...

"Heavyheart", acrylic, drawing & digital

Another senseless tragedy, another heavy heart.

Hunting hard for positives ...

 

#1.  A thank you from 18 year old Grandhunk #1 

addressed to just "Gramma"! ♥

How many 18 years old young men write thank yous?

#2.  A thank you note from Vicky for a postcard sent. 

She sent me collage paper and stamps!

Thanks Vicky! ♥

A thought for Monday ...

Day 1355: The end of an era.

"dot-graffiti", iPad collage

In my pretty long life, I have deduced a few things.

One for sure, most of us don't like change.

Some of us put it out of out minds for as long as possible.

On some level we realize it's inevitable,

but we push it to the back of our thought process.

And then, wham, it's happening.

Whether we are ready or not.

Hombu Dojo, photo by Thanh Nguyen

Such is the case with this  humble little house 
converted into our hombu dojo. A relic of the fifties.

A sort of time capsule.   See here.

Demura Sensei's hombu dojo

Beloved as home to many of us, for so many years.

Worn bald by years of strenuous training ...
a safe place, a constant, a home.

The wall were lined with significant plaques & tradition.

dojo with empty walls, photo by Mei Okumura

Now training continues, but the walls look bare.

Packing up has been in progress for awhile.

The tiny office walls, once covered with magazine covers & awards ...

are now bare.

The City of Santa Ana took the property through 
eminent domain, to widen Bristol Street for traffic.
A wider street for the city, a lost home for us.
We have known for a while, but now it's real.

The property next door is already leveled and fenced off.
We face the same after May 31, 2016.

Change isn't easy.

Hard to envision our new future, but

already missing our past.

For the 30 Faces in 30 Days Challenge ... Day 10

Day 10    Silence

Silence, ink & wash

This is that face I see when someone stays silent but ...

you can see they have something they would like to say?

A smile for Sunday ...

Day 1208: Can you be ...

sought, digital collage

Can you be old and feel like a little kid?

Yep!

Childishly, I want some grown-up to make it all okay.

I want to make sense of it all.

I want the neck tension and headaches to go away.

I want people to be kind.

I want my grandsons not to accept this as normal.

I had hoped I'd be smarter by now.

A thought for Monday ...

Day 1206: Not a judge,but I juried anyway ...

trying to cope, graphite on canvas

has two annual shows ...

held in the beautiful, iconic Huntington Beach Library.

artist check in, photo my Dan Kee

hanging, Gary Sohl, photo by Dan Kee

As an exhibiting artist, we are asked to 

gallery-sit 2 hours during the show.

So, during my stay, I do my own judging ...

mixed media by Marj Lightle

mixed media by Jo Ann Rossi

by Kristy Arroyo

by Ede Streife

by Joy Wellhoefer

by Joy Wellhoefer

by Betty Viers

pastel by Marj Lightle

watercolor by Carrol Wolf

mixed media by Norm Jacky

photography by Dan Kee

and these are my top 12 ... just sayin'.

This little game makes my time of duty fly by.

You can visit the ongoing show and pick your own!

...

Thanks for stopping by ... I apologize

this post was done before the senseless tragedy in Paris, 

overwhelmed & saddened, it seems silly now.

by Jean Jullien

A thought for Saturday ...