She still dances at age 89!

Marj
at our booth at Strawberry Festival
my painting is in the background

Barely 5' tall and 120 pounds soaking wet (she thinks she's overweight!) this young woman is still dancing at age 89! That's my mom! She's set the bar pretty high, don't you think?

And now she plans to be in a play! I don't think she has been in a play since high school! She will be the old lady ("type casting," she says) in A Child's Christmas in Wales, adapted for stage, to be performed Dec 19-26th on Vashon Island.

That's my mom. She does Qi Gung daily, and is working on her 3rd historical novel. She plays the stock market and wins, writes a regular cooking column for a local paper. And she always has an answer when I need a natural remedy for what ails me.  

I would only believe in a God who knew how to dance.

drummer

Friedrich Nietzsche
: Without music, life would be a mistake… I would only believe in a God who knew how to dance.

I have been having such fun at the Dances of Universal Peace! These are circle dances, easy to learn and to sing, from traditions all over the world,  prayers in song and motion. I love this quote from Rumi:

“Dance, when you're broken open. Dance, if you've torn the bandage off. Dance in the middle of the fighting. Dance in your blood. Dance when you're perfectly free.”
― Rumi

musicians and dance leaders preparing for the dance

A typical Dance evening might include movements to Ava Maria from the Catholic tradition,  La illa ha il Allah from Muslim worship, a Celtic earth song, a Hindu song, and a Jewish song. Each short song is taught by a trained dance leader, then danced and sung several times until there is an easy synergy flowing among the dancers. The dances are easy to learn. Musicians accompany the dances to keep the beat and the melody.

And they are coming to Vashon! Rifaat and I are organizing for dances every month starting in January. Musicians will come from Seattle, and everyone is invited! Initially we will dance in my living room, and will find a larger venue as needed. 

musicians preparing for the dance

http://dancesofuniversalpeacena.org

Healing Memories in the Forest

A forest trail at Burfoot Park, Olympia, WA
A place of beauty, A place to heal

September 2013: I wrote this several months ago--then felt too vulnerable to print it.

April 2013:  It has been a long day. My head throbs. My stomach is in knots. Ancient sorrows and terrors have begun to surface. I need some green growing...I need some nature.

I am in Olympia training to work with people caught in domestic violence. What ever possessed me? Just because I've had some....um...interesting experiences, like being in what I thought was a common law marriage with someone who insisted on growing marijuana illegally. Like getting busted for said marijuana and nearly losing my children. Like being on and off of welfare until I finally learned to make a decent living for my family-- and now own my home free and clear.

I thought I might have something to offer women who are struggling as single moms through some of the same issues. So I volunteered where my skills might be useful, and found that the greatest need is working with people caught in domestic violence situations.

Trillium growing in the forest

I didn't know the training would bring up those long buried memories. I didn't know how these memories would affect me physically and emotionally. I did not at first know why I am exhausted and my head hurts. I knew only that I need wild, I need green growing things, I need trees.

I drive away from the city, past the house I once lived in, a house that carries some of those memories, past the school where my children went, to the park I remember. Walking down the trail through the woods to the beach, some of my tension eases. The beauty of the woods engulfs me. I touch again that deep joy that lives within me.


Can the beauty of these woods help to heal other people? Might I share this beauty some how, through my paintings, with people who need green as I do? Who need healing from...um....interesting experiences?

Elf Island Journaling Society: the Art of Going in Many Directions at Once

So....I spent some time this afternoon (instead of the much needed studio cleaning) thinking about where I am going with my art. The trouble is not lack of inspiration; it's TOO MUCH inspiration. Focus on one thing? Ummmmm ......How? I want to do them all! Or at least most of them!


I am tired of scarves. At least scarves for the sake of scarves. I am excited by the landscape photos I took this summer, and byWendy Pini's Elf Quest stories and illustrations. OH MY HEAVENS she is a wonderful artist! her characters rock! the expressions on their faces perfect! Her stories have depth, pathos, adventure, romance, and more! Homer, move over! I can't think of a classical writer that is better in any way, or an artist who expresses herself better!

I love Fantasy. And story telling.

Last Spring, a friend and I began a story telling group we are calling the Elf Island Journaling Society. A group of 8-9 people get together to explore a mythical place we call Elf Island, creating a story as we go. We had three meetings before we stopped for the summer, creating three stories.

And this summer when I had a booth at the farmer's market, I took lots of photos so that I can do a series of watercolors featuring the people and ambiance of the market.

And I am still interested in painting with dyes on silk. And on cotton. And using natural dyes. And

Shibori.

And I want to somehow share the lessons life has taught me so that others can experience the JOY that comes from deep inside.

So...how can I combine my watercolor painting, natural dyes, story telling, landscapes of the Puget Sound area, textures of tide flats, the luxurious feel of silk, character development (visual and written), and my experiences at the market all into one focus?

What if.....I made Elf Island the focus. I can write stories and do illustrations for those stories. I can create a whole visual culture for Elf Island, complete with art motifs, clothing, mythology....a written language...... architecture....markets....

And I don't really have to do all the creating. Perhaps there are others who would like to join me?

After Three Days Alone

I woke up this morning wondering, am I still married? Did we really do that thing--that Wedding thing? Is it really REAL??

I get that way after the third night sleeping alone. Maybe because being married is still new.

We are not sharing a house full time yet. He has a house and business north of Seattle, and I live on this island. He's moving over, slowly. Getting his house ready to rent out. Taking care of business. Wishing he was always here. But he's not. Yet.

Then I look at our Vows, framed and hanging on the wall by the door.

           On this day, June 22, 2013
   Suzanna Leigh and Rifaat Rich Osborne
                declare that we will,
with the help of God and our friends and family,
          be true and faithful partners, 
 creating a living and growing life-long union
    that expresses and is an instrument of
                      Divine Love

Yes. Yes that's it. That's what I am about. What we are about together. Creating a living and growing life-long union that expresses and is an instrument of Divine Love.


---And he just called!

OK, So Who Am I TODAY? Thoughts on Business and the Artist

I'm in Limbo once again..... Sometimes not even sure I am an artist! I mean....there is so much else demanding my time!

Summer's nearly gone, tourist buying season nearly over,  and I just can't seem to get the hang of this business thing with art. The demands of business don't fit with how I want to spend my time, what I want to create. The things I want to do don't bring in income, and I'm not sure I want them to.

One of my scarves at
 the Heron's Nest, Vashon, WA

I've been reading Sacred Economics, by Charles Eisenstein. Some of what he talks about I've known inside for quite sometime. Business based on constant growth is not sustainable for the planet. Not ethical for the people. Business thinking means privatizing the things we used to get for free, the "commons", so that some one can make money--and we all need to make money so that we can pay for the things that used to be free. The idea that I need to make an income with my art or I'm not really an "artist" is born of business thinking. We are defined by what we do for income.

bullharky! I want to create art for the joy of creating art and to give to those I love. But I can create so much more than my loves can absorb! Then what?

I'm tired of making scarves for the market. I think I want to return to making beautiful that which is needed. To design patterns on the cloth for the clothing I wear, the curtains for my house. What else?

But I do miss those extra few dollars the business brings in. Is there a balance somewhere?

Discovering Community in the South Sound

Sailing on Eli-Oh this year, we added a whole new dimension to sailing.

When I've sailed the South Sound before, it was pure peace. Except for brief conversations with strangers, it was just me and my late husband or me and my son. And it was nice. Peaceful. Like a Quaker Meeting or a Buddist retreat, or a ....well, just pure peace.

 This year we had the Peaceful times, yes, and we also had community.

We visited family: we dropped anchor in the shallow waters of Van Geldern Cove and rowed ashore to a family gathering in the little town of Home. It was wonderful to meet my new husband Rifaat's aunts, uncles, and cousins, and to hear family memories shared. I fell in love with a little girl less than a year old named Jewel, and her parents, Mindy and Steve.

the galley on Eli-Oh

We visited old friends: The next day we sailed into Olympia to visit with friends we had not seen in 30 years. We tied up at Boston Harbor Marina, where people took shelter from the sun under awnings and listened to music, talked with strangers, nibbled on freshly grilled hot dogs. Children and dogs played on the beach, fishermen bought bait, people sat on benches on the docks and visited or just sat. Some one sang and strummed on a guitar.

As I was recovering from a long sail in too much sun, some one called, "Anyone interested in splitting a 5 pound salmon?" I was. As I carried my half down to the boat, I met a woman coming up the dock. "Oh," she said, eyeing my salmon fillet,  "you got the half salmon." I split it with her and ended up with just enough salmon for our supper and a little for omelets the next day. Perfect for a galley with no refrigeration.

Every morning, James, who has a ham radio license, tuned in to a marine network. We listened to people all over the Sound checking in from their boats, giving weather reports. Sometimes it was "fog so thick I can't see 100 yards", or "It's a beautiful day here. Bright sun, not a cloud in the sky, no wind." (Hunh? bright sun and no wind is not so beautiful to this sailor!)

We had some mini adventures, too. Sometime in the night while tied to a bouy at Penrose Point, we heard splashing. In the morning, the dingy was full of water!  Did an otter or seal visit us during the night and try out the dingy?

We hoisted it up by the spinaker halyard to dump out the water.

On Tuesday, we motored back through the Narrows with gps, compass,  and chart to guide us through fog so thick we could not see either side of the pass!