if you knew what you were doing you wouldn't be an artist

eeebee print
A friend of mine was recently interviewed by a jewelry making magazine and one of the questions she was asked referred to her as an artist.

This word artist made her uncomfortable and she changed it to craftsperson.

I have done stuff like this myself.

(I love the word craftsperson, too, and grew into that one with calluses and hand tools and time - I earned that one, but artist ... )

The word artist always resonates inside me as ARTIST!!! Capital letters and exclamation points and expectations

and the probability that if I dared to claim this word for myself it was only a matter of time before someone would come along and yank open the curtain and there I would be on a step stool and my tippy toes all wobbly and sweaty and stammering about how I really was an artist .... really.

This is some scary shit.

"art is difficult, risky and frightening -
it's also the only option if we choose to care."
-seth godin

The first time I visited a museum I was in the 4th grade. I was uber excited for this class trip and wore a green plaid vinyl raincoat with a green corduroy collar and carried a Josie and the Pussycats lunchbox.

(that unbeknownst - is that a word, I think so, I just love those 11 letters-to me housed a cheese on white bread sandwich, although I had begged my mother for anything except a cheese on white bread sandwich and she had assured me that it was most decidedly not a cheese on white bread sandwich)

I wandered past the African art and the Asian art and the art of Ancient Egypt and the paintings and sculptures of the European masters.

The paintings were hanging behind ropes and men with uniforms and stern faces stood watch. They were beautiful and amazing and flawless and they were untouchable.

After lunch we clamored into another wing. The boys were laughing and pushing and pointing and pronouncing this stuff was definitely "not art - we could make this stuff", they laughed.

I was mesmerized - this stuff I could understand, this stuff I could touch, was art? I asked the teacher, "what do you call this art?" and he said, "this is called modern art - this is art that has something to say".

Modern art - art that had something to say - I liked the sound of that and I definitely wasn't laughing.

If modern art was something that everybody could make then maybe even a little girl with a crooked hair cut and a Josie and the Pussycats lunchbox with a cheese on white bread sandwich still lying uneaten inside could make it, too.

Part II - what are we saying?

ways to work with today's new moon ...

print by revigorer
Today's New Moon in Aquarius is too good to miss. To make the most of this energy use affirmations that reflect the Aquarius archetype and then take some action in support of that affirmation.

These are the ones I am working with, so you can see what I mean:

I am aware of new trends and easily cooperate with them.
(energy - the future, technology, trends)

I easily see the actions that will give meaning to my life. I have the courage to take these actions.
(energy - long range goals, follow heart)

I create wonderful win-wins with other people.
(energy - humanitarian)

I easily attract exciting, revolutionary experiences.
(energy - rebel)
(this one could get interesting but let's be bold - it is an Aquarius new moon after all)

I attract and begin happy and healthy new friendships.
(energy - friendship)

I enjoy clear, right insights that lead to my dream of ____ coming true.
(energy - objectivity)

I am easily able to consider other people's opinions.
(energy - detachment)

I enjoy perfect circulatory, vein, ankle, calf (all things ruled by the amazing Aquarius archetype) health.

xo

better sorry than safe ... (plus that lucky new moon)

print by ink the print
Lessons learned this week month:

1. Always ask a doctor who is ordering a test involving radiation what exactly this test will tell us and what exactly our action after this test might be because if the action is something we can do without the test - then can we just do that and see if it works and avoid the radiation

(this actually worked for me this week to avoid a CT scan of my eyes because the treatment was exactly the same at this point regardless of the scan results - I think docs can be a little radiation happy)

2. I went to an Etsy Wholesale meet-up for NYIGF sellers, yes, you heard me, even though this was the kind of social-function thing I avoid at all costs I put on my big girl pants and drove into the city.

(and the weather was very similar to my last drive to Etsy - the time I got lost and never got there)

"How bad can this be, really?" I asked myself which is the same optimistic attitude I take to every social event, all buffet restaurants and most all Nicolas Cage movies.

The meeting was in a hotel in Brooklyn - I was thinking hotel meeting room, chairs, power-point, snacks. It was hotel lobby, standing room only, postcard not power-point and I think I saw an appetizer tray at one point but the only thing I was ingesting were my fingernails.

But I muddled through dear readers so I could report back to you with the following:

1. The new Etsy Wholesale site will be juried
2. Makers can be designers and have the work outsourced
3. There will be a flat monthly fee not a percentage of sales
4. We will be able to print out the pages like linesheets
5. They have many buyers lined up (unclear how new buyers will be sourced)
6. Customers can order without paying (pay at shipment, etc, whatever shop's terms are)
7. Unclear if buyers can see prices without registering

That's all I know and who knows how much of this is subject to change. They are in the planning stages, but I know they have a whole hell of a lot of programmers now, so maybe things will fall together quickly.

The meeting left me with many more questions than answers but on the plus side I got to meet Amy (thepeachtree), who I knew from my old treasury days; she works at Etsy now and is super sweet and positive and not prone to any fingernail ingesting that I could see.

3. Get your Vitamin D level checked.

OK, on to the New Moon tomorrow in my beloved birth sign of Aquarius.  The new moon is when the sun and the moon are in the same constellation - the moon goes dark - things can feel a little less light, a little less hopeful maybe and there is a lot of Pisces stuff happening right now with Mercury and Mars so there may be a little guilt, showing of vulnerabilities, a little intuition

(things may look better than they actually are with Pisces so don't bet the farm - unless you have one of those dire factory farms where the chickens don't get any sunlight, then bet away)

fears creeping in, sensitive feelings getting hurt and then BAM which could feel more like bam depending on where this falls in our personal charts and that is ok, too - we have this wonderful new moon in an air sign to uplift us and help us to innovate, think outside the box, hell, toss recycle the box.

The moon also trines Ceres so we have luck, timing and the ability to bounce back here, too. No sign is better than Aquarius for positive leaps!

Aquarius rules the house of friendship, relationships, humanity, think long range goals, commitments, win-wins and networking.

Aquarius is the cycle to raise our energy; to get unstuck. The cycle to begin something. It doesn't matter what it is we start - what matters is our motivation.

The most important thing is to get moving (you can't choose the wrong road) - in story books (and astrological charts) action is almost always followed by the semi-sextile, the kind of half-opportunity that could look more like stumbling upon a gaggle of hungry ogres (yes, they move in gaggles like geese those ogres) - the sort of road blocks "time to take our medicine, pay our dues, show us how badly we want this" that may cause us to turn back, find another way or push through

(any of which are totally appropriate decisions depending on the circumstances) - at this part of our journey, the new moon - we start.

Take some action step, we don't have to do everything now - the new moon is the time of darkness, like winter, the time of germination - if you want to work with this energy - just do something.

I'll get back to Saturn Saturday next week- sorry to everyone I have left hanging for their charts!

I was supposed to live to be 102 and be shot by a jealous wife

bookplate at vintage inclination
I am taking a little blog break this week to

1. celebrate a very big birthday (yes, I said very)

(although my memory is mostly still intact because just yesterday I was reminiscing about another birthday morning when I put on my red striped Jackson Arts & Craft Camp t-shirt, a pair of denim overalls with white socks and looked at my recently permed reflection, yes a Toni home job, and solemnly wished that I would look like that forever ... )

2. gather information about this "grave" thyroid prognosis I have just been given

(which started when an eye doctor while looking at my eyelids asked "do you have a rash on your shin" - I do - and yes, I said eye doctor and yes I said shin - the auto immune system is a tricky thing folks - when she asked me such random correctness I actually felt my teeth chatter - I thought she was about to rip off her face and confess herself an alien - it was the same feeling I had when riding in the car with my father many years ago listening to the radio and he said "what year is this?" - I thought he had lost his mind on the way to the mall - and I stammered "...uh, 1986" and he said, "It is?! I thought this song was older." - which is totally unconnected, but a totally scary moment, and again this is the birthday season of reminiscing folks)

I am pulling this week's giveaway and will bring it back when I have the time to give it a proper promotion (and yes, this involves t-shirts and balloons and the Miss America pageant hand-wave).

There is a LUCKY new moon this Sunday (I know you are thinking, not another new moon), but trust me this one is a goodie - you must be starting something new now - you must - this is the time - I will post more on this later.