La La Land

Interview on The Whirling Blog

2012-01-23T19:25:00.000-05:00

I was interviewed by my artist friend Gene Manuel for his beautiful site, The Whirling Blog.
I went deep with my sharing about art, love, life and the other side of suffering. The interview is here.

The Dance Move for 2012!!

2011-12-31T17:32:00.002-05:00

For those of you who want to celebrate the new year with a dance for the future, follow these simple steps: out with the old, in with the new. Celebrate 2012!

A masterpiece by my former teacher and mentor, Kam Mak

2011-12-28T09:48:00.000-05:00

Jane Bixby by Kam Mak

Kam Mak is a hugely talented painter. Everything I know about painting I learned in Kam's classes. I used to gape at his work. It is breathtakingly delicate and full of color and feeling. He is also a thoughtful, generous and wonderful person. In 2003, he submitted a painting I made to the Society of Illustrators student scholarship competition, months after I painted it and without my knowledge. The painting won a couple awards. One was a scholarship to study at the Illustration Academy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Kam believed in me as an artist, which inspired me to work hard and changed my life. See more of Kam Mak's work on his website.

Billy On The Street

2011-12-15T20:12:00.001-05:00

I hope they post his episodes online for those of us who don't get Fuse.

Self portrait 12-12-11

2011-12-14T13:07:00.001-05:00

Robyn

2011-12-13T12:07:00.000-05:00

Homeless Family Occupies Foreclosed Home in Brooklyn

2011-12-12T20:11:00.000-05:00

You can go back

2011-12-08T12:06:00.001-05:00

I went back to Succasunna, New Jersey, to the house where I grew up.

It was the peak of Fall. The street was peaceful and beautiful.

James Levy & The Blood Red Rose, featuring Allison Pierce

2011-11-29T17:46:00.001-05:00

We painted a library

2011-11-22T21:14:00.003-05:00

PS 130 X in the Bronx opened their new library this month. The teacher responsible for the library picked out the first lines from some popular children's books. Raquel, Wendy and I painted them on the walls.

I wish every child who visits the library the same unbounded inspiration I experience in libraries and books.

Chauncey Jacks - "Basement"

2011-11-21T16:28:00.001-05:00

Meanwhile, down at Occupy Wall Street

2011-11-11T19:53:00.001-05:00

We brought Arts & Dreams to OWS with the help of James Rose and the Arts & Culture Guild. We wanted to give anyone there a chance to express themselves, to feel good about themselves, and to depict their visions of a positive outcome. They made art that makes them feel empowered and inspired. Turns out that some schools were out for election day so we met a lot of kids and their parents. It was an honor and so much fun. And amazingly, after planning and attending OWS meetings, this came together on November 8th which was the 11th anniversary of my brother Jeff's suicide. A beautiful tribute show of love for Jeff.

Photos © Patricia Geremia

Later that day, David Crosby and Graham Nash played some songs in the park. I agree with what David Crosby said on Olbermann abut it: "I felt fantastic. I felt like I was doing my job."

Sunday funday - Oct 23

2011-10-21T14:15:00.001-04:00

Yes! Arts & Dreams is teaming up with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention again with aworkshop at the New York City Walk this Sunday.

I created Arts & Dreams to heal and serve people by helping them learn how to love themselves using their natural creativity. I am honored to partner with AFSP again!

Join us on October 23, 2011 to prevent hopelessness by uplifting spirits. Arts & Dreams uses art-making to grow self-love, positivity and hope. No art experience necessary. We want to empower you to lead joyful and successful lives. And we're going to have fun doing it.

Where:

Cadman Plaza Park (click the link for Google map)
Brooklyn, New York

Starts: 10/23/2011 @ 3:00 pm
Ends: 5:00 pm

Arts & Dreams Empowering Art Workshop:
2pm - 3pm

Walk Registration:
2pm - 3pm

Opening Ceremony:
2:45pm - 3pm

Walk begins at 3pm

Subway Directions:

A, C to High Street - 2,3 to Clark Street - N, R to Court Street - F to York Street. Since it is a Sunday, be sure to check mta.info

The Out of the Darkness Community Walks are 3-5 mile walks taking place in over 200 communities across the country this year, with the proceeds benefiting the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). By walking in the Out of the Darkness Community Walks, you will be walking with thousands of other walkers nationwide to raise money for AFSP's vital research and education programs to prevent suicide and save lives, increase national awareness about depression and suicide and provide support for survivors of suicide loss. In deciding to walk you are taking us a step closer to making suicide prevention a national priority. You are welcome to register for the walk here.

Arts & Dreams is proud to support AFSP! We invite you to donate to AFSP.

Chris Hedges in Times Square

2011-10-19T13:49:00.001-04:00

Wonderful, informative.

Occupy TVNY has this interview with Chris Hedges, who, during the major global protests on Saturday, compared Occupy Wall Street to the other movements he’s covered around the world, from Eastern Europe to the Middle East. source: Truthdig

Today's self portrait:

2011-10-17T22:06:00.000-04:00

oil pastels on watercolor paper

Get Your Wellness On

2011-10-17T22:04:00.000-04:00

I'm in this video, talking about Jeff Baran, my brother who died 11 years ago by jumping off the George Washington Bridge, and how I heal negative thoughts by making art. This event was a joy. It was organized by the Founder of Get Your Wellness On, Esmeralda Signore Williamson-Noble, in cooperation with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. I wrote more about it here.

Crooked Fingers: "Bad Blood"

2011-10-11T16:53:00.003-04:00

Crooked Fingers: "Bad Blood"

Alex Katz at Gavin Brown's enterprise

2011-10-08T15:40:00.000-04:00

Hell and Back Again

2011-10-07T10:15:00.001-04:00

HELL AND BACK AGAIN Trailer from Danfung Dennis on Vimeo.

El May - Diagnosis for the Doctor

2011-10-06T16:31:00.000-04:00

The Pierces - Come As You Are (Nirvana cover)

2011-10-06T16:28:00.004-04:00

Thank you, Steve.

2011-10-05T20:32:00.000-04:00

"You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."
Steve Jobs

Francesco Clemente

2011-10-03T11:16:00.001-04:00

www.francescoclemente.net
So beautiful and inpiring.

I choose to create.

2011-09-30T17:08:00.001-04:00

I'm delighted that Arts & Dreams will share two Empowering Affirmation Art Workshops at Space on White's Community Event: R E C E S S !

R E C E S S ! theatre | dance | visual art | music | play!

Sunday, October 2
2:00pm – 6:00pm
Space on White (map)
81 White Street (Broadway & Lafayette)
New York, NY
Free with RSVP via Facebook!

Remember when you first discovered art? From handprint turkeys to xylophone scales, when we were kids, art was for everyone and being creative was always fun! Spark your imagination and invite your inner child to RECESS!, a special Space on White event for artists and non-artists to play, create, laugh, learn, discover, and have a great time reconnecting to the artist in all of us. Drop in on a workshop or stay for the whole day of easy, fun workshops exploring art, music, dance, and theatre, taught by our own community of artists!

CLASS SCHEDULE

subject to change
All classes are 45 minutes – sign up is day-of: first-come, first on the list!

ART
Period 1 – 2:00: ARTS & DREAMS
Period 2 – 3:00: ARTS & DREAMS
Period 3 – 4:00: SHOELACE PROJECT
Period 4 – 5:00: EXQUISITE CORPSE

DANCE
Period 1 – 2:00: OFF THE WALL
Period 2 – 3:00: WEIGHTLESS
Period 3 – 4:00: MIDDLE EASTERN DANCE
Period 4 – 5:00: DANCE WORKSHOP

THEATER
Period 1 – 2:00: SHAKESPEARE FOR FUN
Period 2 – 3:00: COLLABORATIVE WRITING
Period 3 – 4:00: IMPROV
Period 4 – 5:00: PLAYING WITH REALITY

PLAY
Open crafts including MAKE YOUR OWN LIPGLOSS

MEET
Mix & mingle with the Space on White community while enjoying snacks, music, and special surprises…

CLASS DESCRIPTION

ARTS & DREAMS
Empowering Affirmation Art Workshop
Participants in Arts & Dreams workshops learn to love and accept themselves with positive statements called affirmations, which they will then use to create their own affirmation art. Laura Baran talks about how using affirmations can help heal negative thoughts in a creative way. Everyone makes affirmation artwork of their own – drawing with markers, crayons, pastels, pencils and glitter. No experience necessary!
Taught by Laura Baran with Patricia Geremia

For more information on the other classes at R E C E S S ! click here.

Free with RSVP via Facebook!

This gave me chills.

2011-09-30T17:04:00.003-04:00

An Evening with Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer

2011-09-22T14:20:00.000-04:00

Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer. What an awesome duo. I love them and all the inspiring things they create and do. I just supported their mini-tour on Kickstarter. West coast folks are in for a treat!

My Dream is Here

2011-09-13T14:57:00.001-04:00

This happened: I got to bring my vision for suicide prevention to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention's Community Wellness Fair in Washington Square Park. With Patricia Geremia, my creative collaborator and my dear friend, and Matt Green, my generous volunteer and my dear boyfriend. This happened on September 10, 2011. Let me start 11 years ago.

This a drawing I made of Jeff, my brother. Jeff took his own life on November 8, 2000. My world fell apart. A year later on September 11, the whole world kind of fell apart, too. Fast forward to 2006. I was well into my healing, bolstered and nurtured by the support system I amassed: Samaritans meetings for survivors of suicide, therapy, therapy, and more therapy - family counseling, psychologist, psychiatrist, and multiple visits per week - the love and open ears of my amazing friends, a short stint on anti-depressants, writing, art making, music making, crying, spiritual inventory. Denial was not an option.

I remember sitting in a suicide survivor meeting, months after Jeff's death, listening to a girl talk about losing her brother 8 years ago and not dealing with it at that time. She seemed detached and cold with an underlying desperation and regret. She said it was hitting her so hard that she felt she had no choice but to finally look at it. I thought that girl was so interesting because that was so not me. I needed to grieve and I needed to feel. There are many ways that people handle trauma.

In 2006 I turned a corner. I made the decision to try, just to experiment and try, to believe that I was okay, and that the world was a benevolent place overall. My spiritual overhaul became a total immersion in forgiveness, self-love, self-approval, self-acceptance. Louise Hay's book You Can Heal Your Life was revelatory. Patricia invited me over to her apartment to read it along with 2 other ladies as a women's group. And that book spoke to me. I dove into the tools and suggested practices, like affirmations. Some days I would repeat "I love and approve of myself" in my head 300 times. I wanted to re-train my thoughts. I wanted to believe in something loving. I needed a new definition of higher power, the universe, god, love. This one felt good. I decided to try feeling good. It was new, I hadn't done it before, and I felt like I had nothing to lose. And for the first time, I felt like I wanted to gain.

I sure gained. And now I'm giving. If hopelessness was what Jeff said was, in his suicide letter and in conversations with me, the one thing that pushed him over the edge, then how can we create hope? How can we grow hope? What is hope? Over several discussions with Patricia, lamenting over the fact that there was no Louise Hay when we were growing up and imagining that perhaps our lives would have been more manageable and successful had we been aware of her tools and ideas, the vision for Arts & Dreams became clear. We were going to do it ourselves. Art was an obvious choice - I am an artist. Making art brought me immeasurable comfort throughout my life. I decided that bringing positive empowerment through creative expression to kids would plant seeds of hope, with its by-products big dreaming and joy.

Cut to now. Arts & Dreams is a real life dream that is right here. And we've visited schools in Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx, with more to come. I wanted to connect with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention for a long time. We were invited to participate in AFSP's Community Wellness Fair this weekend. Pictures and more about that incredibly gratifying experience here. What an honor. What a celebration. What a personal triumph for me to share this with my dear friend and loving boyfriend, having their compassion and presence when emotions surfaced.

I know this is a heavy blog and I appreciate you reading it. I love my growing ability to rise above negative thoughts about myself and just share, share, share. And to be able to give. Thank you for being here in my dream with me.

If we're not here to enjoy life, what are we here for? -- Henry Miller

2011-09-12T22:41:00.000-04:00

Thank you, David Lyle!

Studio Visit: Ryan Schneider

2011-09-08T12:24:00.004-04:00

Studio Visit: Ryan Schneider

“I can go look at Picasso, and maybe there isn’t an emotional experience, but the visual experience is an emotional experience for me.”

“A couple of years ago I was making paintings – painting for me was always therapeutic. I was painting about my life, personal stuff, like drugs, alcohol, my girlfriend. Now I see a therapist once a week and when I come to the studio I make the paintings I want to see. The paintings are less about me now.”

Free Arts & Dreams for all!

2011-08-30T13:56:00.007-04:00

You might know that a couple years ago I created Arts & Dreams, a series of empowering art workshops that, along with my amazing cohort Patricia Geremia, we have since held in schools throughout New York City. Check out some of the results of our efforts with kids here. The purpose is to build hope and a positive sense of self-worth through creativity. Welp, I'm super excited to announce that we are joining forces with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention at the Community Wellness Fair in Washington Square Park next month. I AM SUPER STOKED about this! I formed Arts & Dreams as an active way to prevent hopelessness by boosting feelings of empowerment in kids through self expression. And now we get to pair up with AFSP to hang out and share some affirmation drawings and stories and laughs with YOU for FREE in Washington Sq Park on September 10th. YAY! Dream come true. Details are below.

Free Arts & Dreams Sep 10 in Washington Sq Park

Arts & Dreams will be a part of the NYC Community Wellness Fair on September 10, 2011!

Community Wellness Fair

Saturday, September 10, 2011 · 1:00pm - 5:00pm

Washington Square Park, Holley Plaza (Map)

New York, NY
View the event on facebook

Come visit us at the Arts & Dreams table and make an affirmation drawing for free! The NYC Chapter of The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is a main sponsor of this Fair, which will consist of music, yoga classes, massages, and tables with important information on mental health and suicide prevention for the people of New York City in Washington Square Park on Saturday, September 10th from 1-5pm.

For more information about the AFSP, click the button below.

Please share this/blog it/tweet it/ repost it.

See you Sept. 10th!

Sing into the ruler for maximum artmaking fun!

2011-08-29T16:41:00.003-04:00

Billy Joel and a Blessing Wand.

2011-08-27T17:35:00.003-04:00

Ready!

Update: these 2 things calmed me down in prep for the Hurricane, which was downgraded to a Tropical Storm and passed through my neighborhood without even waking me up. Very. Grateful.

Dream outfit today

2011-08-25T19:48:00.001-04:00

Dream outfit today by laurabaran featuring cross jewelry

Fairground dress
$129 - generalpants.com.au

Tan shoes
£20 - office.co.uk

Zipper bag
£135 - toast.co.uk

Low Luv x Erin Wasson cross jewelry
$155 - endless.com

Low Luv x Erin Wasson gold jewelry
$49 - shopthetrendboutique.com

A.Ok wayfare sunglasses
$18 - oaknyc.com

LE VERNIS Nail Colour – Morning Rose - CHANEL - What's New - Makeup -...
£17 - selfridges.com

Moroccan Light Blue/ Ivory Dhurrie Wool Rug (6' x 9') | Overstock.com
overstock.com

Say Something Nice

2011-08-22T23:05:00.000-04:00

Polyvore is fun

2011-08-22T19:26:00.002-04:00

love by laurabaran featuring crystal jewelry

Isabel Marant Etoile wool dress
€243 - matchesfashion.com

Gee wa wa high heel boots
$265 - solestruck.com

Emilio Pucci shoulder handbag
€1.250 - luisaviaroma.com

Dannijo brass necklace
$395 - dannijo.com

Dannijo crystal jewelry
$216 - shopbop.com

Josh Fadem "Microphone"

2011-08-19T16:30:00.001-04:00

Josh Fadem "Microphone" from CleftClips on Vimeo.

Hot City Nights - "Facebook Friends"

2011-08-11T19:52:00.001-04:00

Hot City Nights - "Facebook Friends" from Douggpound on Vimeo.

Oprah interviewing Ainslie MacLeod is finally back on the 'net! After a mysterious disappearance! I'm stoked! I loved this when I saw it.

2011-08-05T20:49:00.007-04:00

Untitled from Ainslie MacLeod on Vimeo.

Ainslie MacLeod Video Part 2 from Ainslie MacLeod on Vimeo.

GAahhhh so good

2011-08-04T10:56:00.001-04:00

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

New drawing

2011-07-24T14:53:00.002-04:00

Why would poor hungry Haitian farmers burn seeds?

2011-07-20T13:47:00.001-04:00

Sunflower Dress

2011-07-15T09:49:00.001-04:00

Fresh

2011-07-14T20:05:00.000-04:00

Fresh The Movie

Finding Joe

2011-07-12T16:15:00.002-04:00

Finding Joe is an exploration of famed Mythologist Joseph Campbell’s studies and their continuing impact on our culture. A film by Patrick Takaya Solomon.

It Will Not Be Forgotten by The Pierces

2011-07-08T13:11:00.001-04:00

Drawing: Ross

2011-07-08T11:02:00.002-04:00

Wayne Dyer "No One Knows Enough to be a Pessimist"

2011-07-08T10:47:00.000-04:00

Ithaca, NY

2011-07-07T15:16:00.010-04:00

Behold the natural beauty.Sculptures made by Cornell undergraduate architecture students in the '60s.

Saturn from the Sagan Planet Walk

This used to be Carl Sagan's house.

What a magical place.

Zana Bayne Leather Fall/Winter 2011 Presentation at Le Bain at The Standard Hotel June 30, 2011

2011-07-06T11:07:00.006-04:00

Zana Bayne Leather

Free as a bird

2011-06-29T20:01:00.003-04:00

“The wild women are crucified, the docile are never heard, I am your mother free as a bird”
-- Raquel Nave

Photo from Raquel Nave’s show titled How Did I Get Here in New York this past weekend taken by Mollie Gondi.

Remember that you were filled with courage and you were full of love and you adored yourself when you were little. - Louise Hay

2011-06-28T14:22:00.000-04:00

I am proud!

2011-06-27T12:50:00.002-04:00

photos by Terry Richardson

Reading

2011-06-23T17:02:00.005-04:00

"Using it to heal people, and not hurt"

2011-06-23T10:01:00.002-04:00

Backdrops

2011-06-20T11:55:00.004-04:00

Saturday. I'm at the beach.Sunday. I'm in a lavender field.

I found these 2 great backdrops in the city this weekend. I'm there in my mind!

Studio in the mid afternoon

2011-06-18T15:00:00.002-04:00

photo by Matt Green

Touch

2011-06-15T15:38:00.001-04:00

Belle and Sebastian - Come on Sister

2011-06-10T12:32:00.002-04:00

Shed

2011-06-03T09:38:00.006-04:00

There was a shed in Times Square last November. I didn't even remember it till Ross sent me these photos yesterday. We found the shed when we came out of Tim & Eric's live Chrimbus Spectacular. It was truly spectacular. It set the tone for super stoked shed excitement. I was listening to a message, excited about discovering the shed.

This is the original shed shot taken by Ross: "I kinda feel like this lady is me sometimes."
Shed & sky, by Ross

Ross took this photo yesterday. The shed is gone. The dream lives on.

Do you know what a GMO is?

2011-06-02T12:33:00.006-04:00

GMOs are genetically modified organisms. They are in almost everything you eat and they aren't labeled in the US. So you probably don't know you're eating them.

Lots of people think genetically modified crops will solve world hunger. GMOs contain toxic pesticides which are built into crops at the cell level, supposed to kill insects who feed off produce and help more food to grow.

I just came across a concise list on why America must demand GMO labeling. It's from the Organic Consumers Association. This list sums up a lot of what I have been reading about for a couple years and why I'm pretty sure GMOs are a complete danger to human and environmental health.

#1 Monsanto's Bt-toxin, in its Bt-producing GMO corn and cotton (used in food in the form of cottonseed oil), was found by Canadian doctors in the blood of 93% of pregnant women and 80% of the umbilical blood of their babies.

#2 The authors of the Canadian study conclude that the women and their babies were exposed to Monsanto's GMO Bt-toxin through a "normal" non-organic Canadian diet, including non-organic (so-called "natural" and "conventional") meat, egg, and dairy products from animals fed Bt corn.

#3 Monsanto's GMO "Bt" corn and cotton plants are engineered to produce a insecticide in every cell of the plant that kills insects by breaking open their stomachs.

#4 Mice fed Monsanto's Bt corn had elevated levels of immune system substances that are also higher in humans who suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis, cancer, allergies, Lou Gehrig's disease, autoimmune disease, and colitis.

#5 Young mice in the same study had elevated T-cells, which are increased in people with asthma, and in children with food allergies, juvenile arthritis, and connective tissue diseases.

#6 Monsanto's GMO Bt-toxin has properties of known allergens - it actually fails the World Health Organization's allergen screening tests.

#7 Monsanto's GMO Bt-toxin has been found to bind with the small intestines in mice and with intestinal tissue in rhesus monkeys.

#8 In addition to its GMO "Bt" crops which are engineered to produce insecticide, Monsanto also produces GMO "RoundUp Ready" crops, engineered with a bacterial DNA that allows it to survive otherwise deadly doses of its herbicide RoundUp.

#9 In the only human feeding study ever published on GMOs, Monsanto's GMO "RoundUp Ready" soybeans were found to transfer Monsanto's "RoundUp Ready" DNA to the bacteria living inside human intestines.

#10 According to Jeffrey Smith of the Institute for Responsible Technology, the transfer of Monsanto's GMO Bt DNA to human digestive bacteria could create a "living pesticide factory" that could be responsible for the "increase in gastrointestinal problems, autoimmune diseases, food allergies, and childhood learning disorders - since 1996 when Bt crops came on the market."

Plant This Movie

2011-05-31T13:50:00.005-04:00

Karney Hatch made a movie called "Overdrawn!" which I loved and learned from and actually put to practical use when I got 6 overdraft charges in one day from Chase. This is his latest project: "Plant This Movie" and I'm honored to be the first supporter on Kickstarter.

Karney Hatch says:

"Plant This Movie", really? Yes, really! Every DVD will ship with a packet of vegetable seeds, and I'm planning on soaking the cardboard DVD covers in a nutrient solution, so just like those roll-out flower beds, you'll be able to use the DVD cover and the seeds to start your own little urban farm.

How cool is that?

Real Lovers!

2011-05-27T13:15:00.001-04:00

I've got prints for you.

2011-05-26T13:50:00.003-04:00

Some paintings of mine are available as high-quality prints on Society6.
There's a sale now till Sunday: $5 off every purchase. Inexpensive, easy way to own art and support artists, if you're interested.

Bukowski Love

2011-05-17T21:44:00.002-04:00

Happiness

2011-05-06T10:25:00.007-04:00

True and awesome story:
Mike, my friend since high school, a lovely and hilarious warm-hearted person, asked me in 1998 to create a painting of this poster, his favorite movie "Happiness".
Mike asked me to paint him in with the cast of characters. I was excited about it. It was fun to make. We were both pleased with the result, even though I didn't compose Jon Lovitz into the space as well as I could have. Acrylic on canvas. And he paid me, which was a thrill. It was probably the 2nd or 3rd piece I ever sold. That was 1998. In 2002 I worked for several months at Noho Star restaurant. I had the awesome pleasure of serving Todd Solondz, director and writer of Happiness and other films that I love. I never broke the waitress/customer barrier to tell him I thought he was so talented. I was just happy to serve him.

Cut to 2011. Mike is married, has a beautiful daughter and lives in Los Angeles. I was in LA in February. When I visited Mike, he took out the Happiness painting. I kinda forgot about it! So I took a picture of it:
Notice the Jon Lovitz squeeze. That's Mike, wearing the blue hat on the left and smiling.

Maybe a week after I got home to NY, I was having lunch in the Chelsea Market and Todd Solondz came in and ordered take-out. He was waiting for his order alone, right in front of me. I had JUST been talking about his movies with Mike in LA, and I had just taken a picture of the Happiness painting I made. I wanted to show him the picture on my iPod touch. I was with Matt, who encouraged me to go for it. So, I approached Todd Solondz, told him I was a fan of his work, explained that my friend Mike commissioned a painting and showed him the pic. He laughed and said Mike was funny. I felt happy and warm. And that's a true and awesome story.

Good Morning by Chauncey Jacks

2011-05-03T12:24:00.004-04:00

Fresh from the presses! Debut cd of incredibly talented Chauncey Jacks, who is also my very best friend. Chauncey Jacks and writing partner/producer Karen Swerdlow created a gorgeous, timeless record. Available on iTunes - Chauncey Jacks.
Photographs by me! Such an honor to collaborate and contribute to this project.

Picasso and Marie-Thérèse at Gagosian

2011-05-02T09:34:00.000-04:00

Beauuutiful.

Picasso and Marie-Thérèse at Gagosian Gallery 522 West 21st Street, New York

Wall Street Meditators

2011-04-29T11:50:00.002-04:00

Hello, my name is Laura and I'm a meditator.
I even do it at work.

The Pierces sing "It Will Not Be Forgotten"

2011-04-22T12:03:00.002-04:00

the twelve year anniversary of columbine by Amanda Palmer

2011-04-20T12:22:00.001-04:00

marilyn manson said, when asked by michael moore in (“Bowling for Columbine”) what he would say to eric harris and dylan klebold if he’d had the chance to talk to them:

“I wouldn’t say a single word. I would listen to what they have to say, and that’s what no one did.”

do not stop listening.

if you don’t listen, they notice.

if you don’t listen, they get angry.

if you don’t listen, they turn the darkness inside out.

eventually, if you don’t listen, they shoot at you.

listen.
everywhere.
all the time.

until you fall dead in the ground, until your fingers fall off and your head hurts:
give the darkness an airtime, a venue, a canvas.

listen.

look.

listen.

you will hear what you what you need to hear.

stand your ground

do not fire unless fired upon

but if they mean to have a war….

BRING YOUR WEAPON

it’s going to get ugly.

by Amanda Palmer

Unify Earth

2011-04-17T12:16:00.001-04:00

Awesome blog on www.unifyearth.com.

A Bunch of Delights (Antidotes to Sadness)

2011-04-08T13:51:00.007-04:00

Fresh flowers

Red LipstickThe smell and taste of coffee

A walk in the sun

Sitting under a tree

A clean bathroom

A fresh manicure

The color of the sky right after the sun sets
Liquid eyeliner

A nice blush
A hot bath
(extra: with lavender and sandalwood oil)
Watching a dog

Watching a baby

One deep breath

Robyn O'Brien TED Talk

2011-04-08T09:51:00.010-04:00

Robyn O'Brien gives an interesting and eloquent summary of the food situation in our country. We don't have labeling on food packages to identify new proteins like milk made with bovine growth hormones and genetically engineered soybeans with built-in pesticides that feed our livestock. No human trials have been conducted on these new proteins. And we have the highest rates of cancer in the world. Cancer that isn't genetically passed down. This isn't happening in other countries. It's not food. It's product meant to drive profits. It's toxic. We have to educate ourselves.

"Someone Else" by Henry Wolfe

2011-04-05T09:51:00.000-04:00

How to Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon

2011-03-31T15:19:00.007-04:00

HOW TO STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST
(AND 9 OTHER THINGS NOBODY TOLD ME)
by Austin Kleon

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

2011-03-30T16:32:00.002-04:00

Morgan Spurlock's latest documentary.

Take Daily Actions Towards Your Vision

2011-03-29T10:13:00.002-04:00

I got to contribute to Gene-Manuel Whirling's Dream Into Action blog! I shared all about the fabulous Julie-Anne Lee Kinney. ♥

I AM

2011-03-25T12:49:00.010-04:00

I saw it last weekend. It was so so so so good.
Tom Shadyac's blog is a great read too.

Discussion on painting in New York with Jules de Balincourt, Hope Gangloff, Ryan Schneider, and Chuck Webster

2011-03-24T00:00:00.000-04:00

Add caption

Discussion on painting in New York with Jules de Balincourt, Hope Gangloff, Ryan Schneider, and Chuck Webster at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe. I took notes. These quotes are all out of context, sorry to the painters.

"There is a whole world desperate for pure image." -- Jules de Balincourt

"The way that someone paints is like a fingerprint." -- Hope Gangloff

"Painting is as crazy as anyone's mind." -- Hope Gangloff

"Whatever you want to do, there are people who will support it. The artists share the power." -- Ryan Schneider

REINCARNATION, REACTORS, AND REDEMPTION by Ainslie MacLeod

2011-03-23T10:07:00.003-04:00

REINCARNATION, REACTORS, AND REDEMPTION by Ainslie MacLeod

It’s old news, but I only just heard about it. Apparently the Chinese government, in an attempt to control the selection of future Dalai Lamas, has banned reincarnation. (At least without government permission.)

Good luck. You have as much a chance of banning reincarnation as you have banning breathing. It’s a fact of life, and it’s not going to go away because you make it illegal.

New Dalai Lamas are, by tradition, chosen after the previous holder of the title has died. A qualified successor is found by older monks, then taught what he (it’s always a boy) needs to know about the job. The system has worked pretty well for centuries. Now the Chinese authorities want to get involved.

The political reasons are so obvious they’re hardly worth going into. Since Chinese troops invaded Tibet in 1950, and the 14^th Dalai Lama left the Potala Palace for India a few years later, the Chinese government has gone to great lengths to suppress opposition to its rule. It has accused the Dalai Lama of being a political, not religious figure, bent on destroying Chinese national unity. Once he’s gone, they clearly don’t want another one like him.

Reincarnation is not new. It’s been around literally forever. It’s how we humans develop knowledge through earthly experience. Thanks to reincarnation, we come back time and time again until we reach a point at which we no longer need to be here. It may take well over a hundred lifetimes before our souls feel there’s nothing more left to learn.

If you’ve ever wondered about the deep divisions that seem to separate us, you’ll find that it all comes down to reincarnation. Younger souls, with fewer lifetimes behind them, tend to be more conservative, religious, and materialistic, while older souls, those with at least half their lives completed, lean toward being progressive, spiritual rather than simply religious, and less caught up in the race to accumulate wealth.

Tibet, a place conducive to old soul values, was invaded by younger souls from China. Level 5 souls are drawn to positions of power, and that’s why you’ll find them in charge of the world’s armies. In the case of China’s People’s Liberation Army, what you have are Level 5 leaders (following orders from predominantly Level 5 civilians) in charge of Level 3, 4, and 5 troops.

With fewer incarnations in their past, younger souls have still to learn that violence solves nothing, and that invading other countries creates resentment, fuels nationalism and results, more often than not, in an equal and opposite reaction. Older souls, having more earthly experience, gravitate toward nonviolence, preferring diplomacy and cooperation to violent coercion.

As the soul ages, it gradually develops a stronger sense of concern for the future. Knowing it will keep returning to the Physical Plane, it wants to do its part to create a healthier and safer environment for future generations. And in its last incarnations, the awareness that we’re all connected pushes it to work for a better future, not out of concern for itself, but out of altruism.

The inability to truly connect with the future is a major reason younger souls will seek immediate gratification, with little concern for long-term consequences.

We have affordable food, cars, electronic gadgets, computers, and suchlike because the true cost is not factored into the price we pay. The hidden environmental costs, for example, are invariably ignored in the pursuit of profit.

Recent events in Japan illustrate this only too well. Without knowing how to safely store spent fuel, or what to do when the unexpected happens, profit-motivated corporations built nuclear reactors that now, after the earthquake and subsequent tsunami, threaten not just Japan, but the entire world.

Building nuclear reactors on fault lines where major earthquakes are not just likely, but guaranteed, is a folly of the greatest magnitude. The San Onofre nuclear plant, just a short distance from Los Angeles, is supposedly secure behind a 25-foot tsunami wall. Its owners assure us that it can withstand a 7.0 magnitude earthquake.

The quake that hit Japan was 9.0. The tsunami that followed (according to the International Herald Tribune) was at least 76 feet high.

And in case you think that the industry knows what it’s doing, let me tell you that Bechtel, the company that built the San Onofre plant, managed to install a 420-ton nuclear-reactor vessel backwards!

Are these people insane? No, just greedy. There’s big bucks in the nuclear industry. Not because it’s particularly successful, but because we, the taxpayers, underwrite the overruns and, through massive subsidies, we make the whole business pretty much risk free. At least to its investors.

The true cost of nuclear power is impossible to calculate. Will the industry invest in hospitals and medical care for generations of human beings exposed to dangerous levels of radiation? Will Southern California Edison build a new city and pay to relocate the inhabitants of Los Angeles if or when the San Onofre plant blows? Of course not.

The true cost is not factored in because younger souls have a real problem seeing beyond this lifetime. Unaware that this is one of many lives, or that the laws of karma mean they’ll return to the “scene of the crime” to experience the effects of the problems they created, they may behave recklessly, focused on short-term profit and little else.

If you’ve been following the news from Japan, you’ll have realized that it’s hard to get an accurate assessment of the dangers from the damaged reactors. One expert who studied the Chernobyl disaster said of the current crisis, “There’s an awful lot of misinformation, I think, being put out.”

Since the same corporations (CBS, NBC, CNBC, MSNBC) that bring you the news also build nuclear reactors, don’t expect the truth to be piped into your home anytime soon. The truth might impact the bottom line.

The truth is that nuclear power is immensely risky. Not a single reactor would ever have been built if the public knew the dangers. Consequently, the industry relies on lies and cover-ups to push through its agenda. In Japan, the government and the nuclear industry created a short animé cartoon film in which a character called Mr. Pluto reassures viewers that plutonium, a highly toxic substance, is totally safe. Just to prove the point, he even gives a cartoon kid a glass of plutonium-laced water to drink.

In the U.K, back in the 1950s, the government assured the public that there was no danger from nuclear power. So confident were they in their assessment that they built the Dounreay reactor just about as far away from the Houses of Parliament as was possible. (It was housed just up the road from where I grew up on the most northerly and remote part of Scotland.)

Now the reactor is being shut down. Beaches around the area are closed due to contamination, and the owners have been fined for illegal dumping. During its lifetime, there was at least one major blast, and numerous accidents were covered up by the Official Secrets Act.

I asked my spirit guides for their take on what’s happening in Japan. “The Soul World is one-hundred percent opposed to the use of nuclear energy,” they said. “There have been many more accidents than have ever been reported. The risk to humanity from the use of nuclear power is considerable. The disaster in Japan has poisoned the food and water in the region and will impact humans for millennia. This is spiritually unacceptable. All energy should be renewable--without exception.”

I got a chill when my spirit guides said that there is a serious danger that nuclear accidents will result in the planet no longer being viable. In other words, we could lose the only home we have.

On the subject of the San Onofre nuclear plant, my spirit guides were emphatic. “The reactor should be shut down immediately.”

Currently, heroic souls, both young and old, are fighting to prevent the risk of catastrophic explosions from the damaged Japanese reactors. Many of them are balancing karma. In the past they might have been involved in the decision to build nuclear reactors. They might even have been a part of the Manhattan Project, America’s effort to develop the atomic bomb during World War 2. Now, thanks to their soul’s desire to understand the principle of cause and effect, they will be part of the solution and not the problem.

Reincarnation allows the soul to balance experiences, fix damage, and pay back debts from prior misdemeanors. It lets us learn from our mistakes. It makes personal evolution possible. Over many lifetimes, the process shifts our perspective from “me to we,” until we’re finally ready to move on.

Which takes us back to the Dalai Lama. This particular old soul is on his last life. He is finally ready to return to the Astral Plane (from whence he came) for the last time. The Dalai Lama, himself, has stated that he doesn’t expect to return after this incarnation. That, however, is no reason for the Chinese authorities to drop their guard.

Old souls will continue to reincarnate regardless of efforts to ban the practice. And in a chaotic world of greed and short-sighted materialism, it’s those wiser, older souls (like the Dalai Lama) who others will look to for guidance. All of which bodes well for humanity, but not so well for totalitarian and militaristic younger souls who will continue to see their authority challenged and undermined by those they lack the experience to understand.

The nuclear industry will need to watch its back, too. In the future, souls who’ve been negatively impacted by the effects of nuclear fallout will return to actively lobby against destructive energy policies, in favor of wind, tide, solar and other safer, more reliable, and sustainable forms of power. And there’s not a thing the nuclear industry (or the Chinese government) can do about it.

What is it good for?

2011-03-21T13:21:00.001-04:00

“It is hard to imagine that Congress, during the current contentious debate over deficits and budget cutting, would agree to plunge America into still another war, especially since America will spend trillions in total for the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and incursions into Pakistan.

“The last thing we need is to be embroiled in yet another intervention in another Muslim country. The American people have had enough. First it was Afghanistan, then Iraq. Then bombs began to fall in Pakistan, then Yemen, and soon it seems bombs could be falling in Libya. Our nation simply cannot afford another war, economically, diplomatically or spiritually.”

-- Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)

source: The Nation

Wheel of Co-Creation

2011-03-17T20:44:00.004-04:00

I'm not sure what this means, but I like it.
from Humanity's Team

Kindness Poem by Naomi Shihab Nye

2011-03-11T10:38:00.001-05:00

This morning I heard Geneen Roth recite this poem by Naomi Shihab Nye on a Sounds True podcast.

Kindness
Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop,
the passengers eating maize and chicken
will stare out the window forever.

Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,
you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho
lies dead by the side of the road.
You must see how this could be you,
how he too was someone
who journeyed through the night with plans
and the simple breath that kept him alive.

Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.

Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to mail letters and purchase bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
it is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you every where
like a shadow or a friend.

Ryan Schneider at Volta NY

2011-03-05T18:01:00.006-05:00

Ryan Schneider was my favorite at Volta NY. Epic beautiful color and expression. Right??!

CRAFTING by Dallas Clayton

2011-02-24T16:44:00.004-05:00

CRAFTING

When you don’t have much to say
or you’re not sure how to say it
it can be easier to let your camera,
or your guitar,
or your paintbrush do the talking
and hope that somewhere between your open mouth
and your unsteady hand
words might emerge
that make perfect sense
to all the right people
and just in the nick of time.

-- words and illustration by Dallas Clayton

The Memory Project

2011-02-19T15:20:00.003-05:00

I was so moved when I found out about The Memory Project, a non-profit that organizes portraits for children living in orphanages around the world. Ben Schumaker founded it after working in an orphanage. A man who previously lived there as a boy told Ben he wished he had personal mementos from childhood. The Memory Project connects high school students in the U.S. to create portraits of the kids. Ben sends photos of the children from the orphanages and the students create the portraits in art class.

I contacted Ben to ask if I could do a couple portraits. He sent pictures of Jasmine and Jagdish. Aren't they beautiful?

I made pencil drawings on watercolor paper.

Then I painted in oils on top of the drawings. This was an honor. I loved looking into their eyes and wishing them amazing lives while painting.

The finished portraits:

Last month, Ben hand-delivered the portraits in India along with many others done by many other artists. Imagine how incredibly moved I was to see these photos of Jagdish and Jasmine holding the portraits I painted:

This is a video Ben made about delivering the portraits.

The Memory Project is amazing. I am so humbled and thrilled to have been a part of it. I can't wait to make more.

For the Love of the World

2011-02-15T12:12:00.004-05:00

For the Love of the World by Charlotte Tall Mountain

For the love of a tree,
she went out on a limb.

For the love of the sea,
she rocked the boat.

For the love of the earth,
she dug deeper.

For the love of community,
she mended fences.

For the love of the stars,
she let her light shine.

For the love of spirit,
she nurtured her soul.

For the love of a good time,
she sowed seeds of happiness.

For the love of the Goddess,
she drew down the moon.

For the love of nature,
she made compost.

For the love of a good meal,
she gave thanks.

For the love of family,
she reconciled differences.

For the love of creativity,
she entertained new possibilities.

For the love of her enemies,
she suspended judgment.

For the love of herself,
she acknowledged her worth.

And the world was richer for her.

Sunny by Bobby Hebb

2011-02-14T21:18:00.002-05:00

Perfect Valentine's Day song.

The Pierces - You'll Be Mine

2011-01-28T10:47:00.001-05:00

Tim and Eric at Sundance

2011-01-26T18:59:00.001-05:00

"Welcome to tubes"

Question

2011-01-18T22:25:00.001-05:00

What is the balance between responsibility and creativity? Between having somewhere to go and some public function to serve and reveling in your ideas and play-making?

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

2011-01-17T20:02:00.007-05:00

I had the pleasure of going to a WNYC event at the Brooklyn Museum yesterday called "King’s Dream in Today’s Economy." We know Dr. King was a civil rights leader but we rarely hear about his economic vision. A very distinguished panel spoke about King's economic justice ideas. It was so inspiring. There was a slide show of images.

The most striking image I saw.

Here's a great excerpt from a Guernica magazine article about this by Jeff Cohen and Norman Solomon, written in 2007:

After passage of civil rights acts in 1964 and 1965, King began challenging the nation’s fundamental priorities. He maintained that civil rights laws were empty without “human rights”—including economic rights. For people too poor to eat at a restaurant or afford a decent home, King said, anti-discrimination laws were hollow.
Noting that a majority of Americans below the poverty line were white, King developed a class perspective. He decried the huge income gaps between rich and poor, and called for “radical changes in the structure of our society” to redistribute wealth and power.
“True compassion,” King declared, “is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”
By 1967, King had also become the country’s most prominent opponent of the Vietnam War, and a staunch critic of overall US foreign policy, which he deemed militaristic. In his “Beyond Vietnam” speech delivered at New York’s Riverside Church on April 4, 1967—a year to the day before he was murdered—King called the United States “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.” (Full text/audio here.)
From Vietnam to South Africa to Latin America, King said, the U.S. was “on the wrong side of a world revolution.” King questioned “our alliance with the landed gentry of Latin America,” and asked why the U.S. was suppressing revolutions “of the shirtless and barefoot people” in the Third World, instead of supporting them.
In foreign policy, King also offered an economic critique, complaining about “capitalists of the West investing huge sums of money in Asia, Africa, and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries.”
You haven’t heard the “Beyond Vietnam” speech on network news retrospectives, but national media heard it loud and clear back in 1967—and loudly denounced it. Time magazine called it “demagogic slander that sounded like a script for Radio Hanoi.” The Washington Post patronized that “King has diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people.”
In his last months, King was organizing the most militant project of his life: the Poor People’s Campaign. He crisscrossed the country to assemble “a multiracial army of the poor” that would descend on Washington—engaging in nonviolent civil disobedience at the Capitol, if need be—until Congress enacted a poor people’s bill of rights. Reader’s Digest warned of an “insurrection.”
King’s economic bill of rights called for massive government jobs programs to rebuild America’s cities. He saw a crying need to confront a Congress that had demonstrated its “hostility to the poor”—appropriating “military funds with alacrity and generosity,” but providing “poverty funds with miserliness.”
How familiar that sounds today, nearly 40 years after King’s efforts on behalf of the poor people’s mobilization were cut short by an assassin’s bullet.
In 2007, in this nation of immense wealth, the White House and most in Congress continue to accept the perpetuation of poverty. They fund foreign wars with “alacrity and generosity,” while being miserly in dispensing funds for education and health care and environmental cleanup.
And those priorities are largely unquestioned by mainstream media. No surprise that they tell us so little about the last years of Martin Luther King’s life.

___________________________

PS: Dr. King was a big advocate of speaking up.

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

I have really felt embarrassed and shy writing about things that matter to me, fearing they are too intense, too deep, too preachy. I don't post as often as I would like. I feel good being open about that. I want to share honestly about things that mean something to me. So, I will keep it up. And I know it will become more comfortable.

Elizabeth Lesser: Take "the Other" to Lunch

2011-01-16T12:47:00.001-05:00

Home

2011-01-09T15:50:00.001-05:00

BEAUTIFUL father and daughter Jorge and Alexa Narvaez

I WANT TO

2011-01-09T01:55:00.004-05:00

From Billy Bride

OH YEAH!

2011-01-08T13:03:00.002-05:00

A Letter to John Boehner by Rob Delaney

2011-01-05T14:31:00.001-05:00

Dear Speaker Boehner:

It’s ok with me that you don’t like the new health care bill; there’s plenty that’s lousy about it. But all you’re talking about doing is repealing it. It’s not a matter of debate that health care costs are a nightmare for millions of American voters, both Republican, Democrat, and otherwise. So may we trouble you for an alternative plan to affordably insure more Americans? Or rather, how about we demand it, as you are our employee, serving at our discretion? ”Strength” is a word I hear Republicans use a lot. If you’d like to have a strong nation, as you often say, it is important that your citizens be healthy. If you do not aim, as part of your job, every single day, to help get and keep them healthy, then you may not say you want a strong nation. You would be lying. I mean, you’re 61 years old, so you know that good physical health is an indispensable ingredient in the foundation of a happy, hard worker’s life. So please get to work crafting that alternative to “Obamacare,” a word you say with the disdain normally reserved for car farts. While the bill isn’t perfect, if you taketh without giving us something, you will be fired or perhaps eaten.
Rob Delaney

(pic source: joemande)

I LOVE THIS SO MUCH

2010-12-30T19:08:00.002-05:00

Zana Bayne

2010-12-30T15:55:00.007-05:00

Zana Bayne is a force of nature. I don't know how to express the love I feel for her and her designs and her work ethic and her overall awesomeness. I now own one of her treasures!
She is blowing up, get on this.

I've only had it for a week and I'm wearing it every day. Thank you Zana you legend you.

Giving

2010-12-25T13:56:00.002-05:00

My friend Patricia (photographer and half of our Arts & Dreams team) recently came back to work in the office with me, where we originally met in 2004. It's been great fun having her back in my everyday life. We've been meditating in the conference room using Euphoria Atmospheric's lavender smelling salts, giggling like kids and cleaning up the office. Christmas is Patricia's favorite holiday, that much I know. But I learned something new - she and her mom have been playing Santa to homeless people for more than 20 years. They buys socks, hats, gloves, sometimes towels, and wrap the gifts with a candy cane. On Christmas Eve Patricia walks around the city asking homeless folks if they would accept a Christmas gift. Isn't that wonderful? I was inspired to join in this year.

Patricia's bag of gifts

Adorable!

This is one of mine. I don't enjoy wrapping (I do enjoy rapping) so I got festive bags. I put in thermals, socks, gloves, and a 24-pack of crayola crayons with a notebook.

Patricia and I handed out gifts in our separate neighborhoods throughout the week and then got together for a joint run Thursday after the office closed early. It was a magical experience. Giving is awesome. It's the eye contact and the humanity. We found 2 recipients around Battery Park and shared the joy of seeing faces light up after being offered not one but two gifts.

Then we split up. Patricia filled me in via email: "Gave 3 more gifts on the way home - one guy in a wheelchair in Chinatown panhandling idling cars waiting for the red light. He kept yelling after me - God Bless You! Merry Christmas to you and your family. Be Safe. Merry Christmas...was so cute. He is tied with the woman we gave gifts to for my fav moments right now. I am so glad that we got to share that moment. Nothing like it. No drug in the world could come close."

I loved being Santa. Thanks for the inspiration, Patricia.

La La Land

Interview on The Whirling Blog

The Dance Move for 2012!!

A masterpiece by my former teacher and mentor, Kam Mak

Billy On The Street

Self portrait 12-12-11

Robyn

Homeless Family Occupies Foreclosed Home in Brooklyn

You can go back

James Levy & The Blood Red Rose, featuring Allison Pierce

We painted a library

Chauncey Jacks - "Basement"

Meanwhile, down at Occupy Wall Street

Sunday funday - Oct 23

Where:

Arts & Dreams Empowering Art Workshop: 2pm - 3pm

Walk Registration:2pm - 3pm

Opening Ceremony:2:45pm - 3pm

Walk begins at 3pmSubway Directions:

Chris Hedges in Times Square

Today's self portrait:

Get Your Wellness On

Crooked Fingers: "Bad Blood"

Alex Katz at Gavin Brown's enterprise

Hell and Back Again

El May - Diagnosis for the Doctor

The Pierces - Come As You Are (Nirvana cover)

Thank you, Steve.

Francesco Clemente

I choose to create.

R E C E S S ! theatre | dance | visual art | music | play!

CLASS SCHEDULE

CLASS DESCRIPTION

This gave me chills.

An Evening with Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer

My Dream is Here

If we're not here to enjoy life, what are we here for? -- Henry Miller

Studio Visit: Ryan Schneider

Free Arts & Dreams for all!

Please share this/blog it/tweet it/ repost it.

See you Sept. 10th!

Sing into the ruler for maximum artmaking fun!

Billy Joel and a Blessing Wand.

Dream outfit today

Say Something Nice

Polyvore is fun

Josh Fadem "Microphone"

Hot City Nights - "Facebook Friends"

Oprah interviewing Ainslie MacLeod is finally back on the 'net! After a mysterious disappearance! I'm stoked! I loved this when I saw it.

GAahhhh so good

New drawing

Why would poor hungry Haitian farmers burn seeds?

Sunflower Dress

Fresh

Finding Joe

It Will Not Be Forgotten by The Pierces

Drawing: Ross

Wayne Dyer "No One Knows Enough to be a Pessimist"

Ithaca, NY

Zana Bayne Leather Fall/Winter 2011 Presentation at Le Bain at The Standard Hotel June 30, 2011

Free as a bird

Remember that you were filled with courage and you were full of love and you adored yourself when you were little. - Louise Hay

I am proud!

Reading

"Using it to heal people, and not hurt"

Backdrops

Studio in the mid afternoon

Touch

Belle and Sebastian - Come on Sister

Shed

Do you know what a GMO is?

Plant This Movie

Real Lovers!

I've got prints for you.

Bukowski Love

Happiness

Good Morning by Chauncey Jacks

Picasso and Marie-Thérèse at Gagosian

Wall Street Meditators

The Pierces sing "It Will Not Be Forgotten"

Arts & Dreams Empowering Art Workshop:
2pm - 3pm

Walk Registration:
2pm - 3pm

Opening Ceremony:
2:45pm - 3pm

Walk begins at 3pm

Subway Directions: