Art Journey - JEAN FRANK STARK

Art education, inspiration and encouragement for children and parents in Arlington, VA

JEAN FRANK STARK

Quietly Now

9/8/2019

A secret place in the garden where wonder captivates and invites.

The crickets are singing outside the open windows as I speak to you this day of the beauty of life within. There are many things we can do, and lists we can make to accomplish this and that, but at the end of the day when we lay our head on the pillow, we only want peace.

Art is like prayer when in the zone, there is peace in the doing because I'm not really "doing" anything, just "being" creative. To find inspiration and encouragement for making art it's necessary to let go of all that I've been thinking and doing, so I can just be. I take one day a week to have a day of rest and I make myself rest. It's work to rest-I have found-because I am so used to doing.

I read a lot, take naps. I fast. I go outside. I pet the cats. Nothing much happens on the outside, but on the inside I become more aware of my always talking mind. And after some time, I just feel like I do right now. The questions, examination and process just get quiet and I enjoy the sound of the refrigerator hum, the crickets, the typing of the key.

After a day like this, all the things I would have done are still there to do, but now I've been thoughtful with those things as they have crossed my mind during my day of rest. I have a different way of seeing those things, I might tackle a project differently, let it go completely. My mind is in newness and so is the world and how I approach it. It's a golden place to start.

Take a day of rest whenever possible. Don't wait until you are so tired you have to take a vacation. You will end up getting more work done by not working. When you go back to work, you will have a new and fresh approach and the work might change in direction. Being creative takes energy, rest is part of the process. Renewing and regenerating within, makes it possible to hear and feel the buzz and hum of flowing in gratitude.

Be thankful for all that is around, under and especially inside. This is the place to begin again.

Animals are naturally good at being in the state of grace.

Moving Forward

9/4/2019

A stranger will be living alone in my house, sleeping in my bed and cooking meals in my kitchen. This is what happens when a house sitter found on line enters into an agreement based on the ad I placed.

As soon as it dawned on me, I got to work. The recycle bin is full of dreams, experiments and opportunities that I once thought might come into fruition. A few pieces of art, less than ten, I'll keep. The really wonderful ones have sold. I'm exhausted and have a little more work to do.

I'm excited, scared, anxious and eager for this change in my life. Letting go means facing failure, rejection, understanding what I was invested in enough to keep going, and what things could have been but just weren't for lack of interest and opportunity. And there is the question, what's next?

I'd like to say there is a bright side to this, but right now I'm just tired. I can hear my mother's voice singing "life's a circle, some things come around and stay and then you let go and move on". My mother is a pro at non-attachment. She fully loves and embraces whatever comes and accepts it as is.

When her husband (my father) of 70 years passed she was sad and she grieved. And in her strength and wisdom, she was happy that he had a good life and was cared for deeply until the very end, that suffering would not be his lot in his last days.

My mother holds on to the things that matter most in her life and that is the present moment. She is always in it, fully and filled with light and life to share. With her in mind, I can easily see that I had wonderful moments in teaching and creating. I have grown up in my sixty years and while nothing is as expected, I no longer want to hold on to the past.

I'm not giving up or giving in to failure, I'm acknowledging that my own goals and desires are different now. I will pass the torch with the supplies to others who are on the journey.  This will free me up to explore the territory ahead. As soon as those recycling and trash bins are emptied, the debris of years will be hauled away for me. And when the donations are made, new life will be given those things.

I think about God and how His plans for us always exceed our own imaginings if we are brave enough to embrace His will. It's true in my life. I never would have planned on living where I do, having the experiences I've had just from my own imaginings.

As scared as it feels now, I will be free to make another choice and like my mother, to embrace what is as is, and to fully be with it...without that baggage. I already feel lighter as my home is transformed to more openness and space. And as my father would say, "keep the sunny side up" look ahead and not back. And so with that in mind, I"m going downstairs to finish up the task of starting new.

If you have to face a change in your life and it means starting all over again, I wish you the grace of God and wisdom of our mothers who have been there. It's possible to get beyond what we have thought things would be and to let it go. When we do, we can then turn our faces to the things that are beyond our understanding. The possibilities that are ever present in this moment.

Blueberry ink and dye - go ahead play with your food

9/4/2019

II'm just beginning my explorations into ink and dye making and I'm so excited! What I love about making ink from natural ingredients is that I can find what I need in my yard, the refrigerator, the sidewalk. I'll share two of my favorite resources and a short video here.

Making dye and ink is very sensual (sense-use-all) because it involves food, cooking in the kitchen, delicious smells, tastes, textures and colors. Playing with food has never been more fun. The only problem with making ink and dye from food is that sometimes it's difficult to focus on making a meal for the ideas that come about to use the food in other ways.

To make the blueberry ink, I make a shake for myself and I make another to filter. I double the filters and wait. I then simmer the liquid down to a nice thickness that I can call ink. For this batch, I filtered the ink again after about an hour of simmering. The entire simmer was for about three hours.

1. about 1 cup of blueberries
2. I cup of water
3. Blend
4. Filter through coffee filter
5. Heat on stove and let simmer for 1/2 hour
6. Add binder (I like gum arabic or alum)
7. Cool, add wintergreen or cloves to keep mold away.

Blueberry ink paints deep pink and dries to a deep blueberry blue purple. Dip a paper towel into the ink; and watch it dry to a deep magenta.

I hope you are inspired to create with food and natural ingredients you find handy. Exploring what the earth offers is a way of appreciating this planet we live on. Explore, discover, create and play with her and all that she so freely and lovingly offers.

There are so many sources of information on how to make an ink. My two favorite resources are listed here:
Make Ink, A Forager's Guide to Natural INkmaking by Jason logan
Kremer Pigments make pigments for all sorts of art supplies. They have excellent information and products.

Watch the video: youtu.be/aQkcdAP0Dr0

Art inspiration, teaching and encouragement in Arlington, Va