Saturday, February 21, 2009
"Strange Dreams and..."
Joan slept in to 8:00am, but what strange dreams I had. I think I was influenced by Julia's channel hopping last night. Flower pod people and...
A friend commented:
I replied 'at 8:37am February 21':
So I gave them a chance. I'm not sure the pods showed up, unless you count the 'floating eye' in this drawing:
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Man, those were crazy dreams, though. Julia and I went to a restaurant (were we in Casa Grande?) where we were to meet someone. There was someone riding along in the back seat (who looked like Laura's son Anton), but didn't want to go to the restaurant, he just wanted to nap. So we let him nap. The restaurant had polished dark wood furniture. I think we met up with someone we knew in Casa Grande, (who has since passed away in real life). I can't remember what we ate, so I suspect it was ordinary. We returned to the car, and found a layer of green plants had begun to grow all over our napper's body. We expressed alarm, but he assured us he got what he came for. The next scene, we were at our old house on Azalea street in Casa Grande. The back seat rider had transformed into a flying flower pot pod person, and he was doing surveillance for the government. I'm not sure we felt all that much safer!
Sunday, February 22, 2009 A
"Morning Routine"
 In the background, you can see our crowded house...
In addition to the photo gallery, I now have the Boyce Thompson Southwestern Arboretum pages and the Canyon Lake photos up on the joanlansberry.com domain and improved. I was not able to find original photos for all, but I was for many. Also I improved the Canyon Lake index page. It had been a long string of teeny tiny thumbnails, so I made the thumbnails a little bigger and put them into a three-across table. Some of those photos taken with old cameras are kinda antiquated by today's web standards, but even though small and sometimes a bit pixelated, they are capturing beautiful places, and hence for me, worthy of perservation.
Sunday, February 22, 2009 B
"Afternoon Outing"
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At first the sky was overcast, but by the end of our outing, it was sunny and warm, 78°F( 25°C). Most of the flowers were blooming, and the bees were very active:
 Granted, they're quite a bit smaller than the ones Julia was carving on earlier this morning...
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 A
"Understanding the Process I"
It was several years before I toyed with that idea again, October 5, 2003:
"For many years I've known the value of what is sometimes called 'automatic writing', in which the writer just takes down the words as they come to her. Now I am learning the value of 'automatic drawing', in which I just let the pen move where it wants. I created two doodles last night which prove reflective of my inner mood:  ''Illuminaria Looks Outside, Worried''
"She has cause to be worried, for tomorrow we learn the results of Julia's biopsy. I hope these doodles are only recording my inner worried state... "In any case, this is a new way to record the truth of my inner self, and one which I'll use often. "(Note from the future . Yes, the test results are good!) In January, 2006, I learned I wasn't the only one to get this idea:
 "I'm not sure how these things happen. I followed a link from a link from a link, and there I was at some page discussing automatic drawing:
"So Automatic drawing, one of the simplest of psychic phenomena, is a means of characteristic expression, and if used with courage and honesty, of recording supconscious activities in the mind. The mental mechanisms used are those common in dreams, which create quick perception of relations in the unexpected, as wit, and psycho-neurotic symptoms. Hence it appears that single or non-consciousness is an essential condition and as in all inspiration the product of involution not invention." Spare and Carter say further:
"An "automatic" scribble of twisting and interlacing lines permits the germ of an idea in the subconscious mind to express, or at least suggest itself to the consciousness.""You know how it is, I get weary of words, and want images. I reached for the pen. Here are some words to help explain my image: "The ongoing (see infinity sign) process of dialogue with mySelf (see 'two heads', indicating the two forms of consciousness...): This is how I view the 'automatic' process. This is NOT 'non-conscious', as S.& C. say, but a Different type of consciousness. Self talks to self. See there the one with the crown has her mouth open. "Meanwhile, surface mind must get itself out of the way. It must listen. It maintains only the basic function of keeping hand and pen to the paper, and then it steps out of the way for the 'subconscious', which speaks mostly in symbols, to step forth. Mostly, it seems, I wait for transmission of impulse to make a line." The 'subconscious' speaks in symbols, as I discovered December, 2006:
 Sometimes the process of trying to grab hold of a Concept does feel all disjointed...
Since my initial experiments, this technique has proven a very rich resource. One of my favorite artists, Jean Cocteau, (1889-1963) has said:
"Art is a marriage of the conscious and the unconscious."
I'd noted some of his pieces remind me of my 'automatic drawings', and I'm not the first one to note this, as:
"The French critic Milorad
My google-search turned up more about Cocteau:
"'I explore the void,' Cocteau announced, creating a work in which the artist searches for himself in secret: 'there one
sinks into one's self, toward the diamond, toward the fire-damp.'" (Simone de Beauvoir By Deirdre Bair, page 126)
What comes from the portal of the 'unconscious' must be merged with the clarity of consciousness, and then true creativity results. I look forward to further strengthening this 'marriage' in all aspects of my artistic endeavors.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 B
"Understanding the Process II"
But it is not nearly as bad as it could have been. Since quitting microwaved food, my digestive system is much stronger than it used to be. I am drinking soothing green tea, and gradually feeling better. In my webtravels, I found an interesting art quote in a favorite journal:
"There is no mystery in a looking glass until someone looks into it. Then, though it remains the same glass, it presents a different face to each man who holds it in front of him. The same is true of a work of art. It has no proper existence as art until someone is reflected in it—and no two will ever be reflected in the same way. However much we all see in common in such a work, at the center we behold a fragment of our own soul, and the greater the art the greater the fragment."
Perhaps the more we are able to pull up truths from our intuitive side and integrate them with our reasoning side, the more our own artist's soul is revealed, and the more we reveal, the more others may be able to respond to it, sensing a commonality.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
"Set and Horus Silhouetted"
I doubt I'd have the patience or the accuracy to attempt the following design freehand, but perhaps I can make use of such a cutter:
Horus and Set with Ramesses the Third seen at the Global Egyptian Museum website,housed in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo Granite, height 195cm, width 72cm, originally found at Medinet Habu
Friday, February 27, 2009
"Artful and Unusual"
It was a wide variety of art. I liked most three copper pyramids with colorful glowing benbens. They were engraved with several Anubises (Anubi?), a Xeper scarab and hieroglyphs, along with some cute crawling lizards. I enjoyed the snacks, the veggies and spinach dip, the cheese and jalapeno crisps, and ooh, the brownies were divine. That wasn't the only festivities. A street fair was going on, with belly dancers and later, a rock band. After the food for the soul and bod Julia and I ambled to the Wine Cellar, and had the six samples. We saw a friend there and enjoyed a bit of conversation. Afterwards, we walked up to the Main Street Cinema, where we each got the lemony 'Mike Myers' smoothie. It was too stuffy to sit inside, so we sat outside to enjoy the cool, fresh air. I could hear the musicians in the distance, and watched cars entering, not seeing the 'road closed' signs in time. Several had to turn around and exit. But the most spectacular sight was the smiling moon, with its sparkling 'playmate' so close:
 Julia knew even without consulting her star programs that it was Moon conjunct Venus in Pisces
Saturday, February 28, 2009
"Greatly Restored"
That print order off, I wanted to get walking. The fresh air and nice scenary would if not help my sinuses, at least distract me. So we headed off to Gateway Park. I didn't understand why so many of the roads were blocked off at first, until I realized the 'North End' bicycle race was on. So I turned around and headed back to Giss parkway. Julia thought I should try to go up to Gila, that we'd get access there. But I wanted to go the usual way. We had to park a good way away from the park, however. The start/finish station for the race was near there. I didn't mind, for we could watch the bicylists, so lean and fast with their chiseled muscles and their skinny wheeled bikes. As we got up to the park entrance, Julia noticed before I did, yes Gila street had not been blocked off. I didn't mind, though. While on the walk, we observed the progress on the hotel. It's coming along, and maybe it will open soon. While walking, I noticed bicylists on the park trail, as well. They, however, weren't young, lean and on thin wheel bikes. But I imagine they enjoyed the fresh air and scenery a good deal more on their sturdy bikes and relaxed pace. The walk did help my sinuses, and I found myself both thirsty and hungry. I was glad Julia suggested going to Jeannie Wah's restaurant, instead of just a smoothie shop. I tried shrimp and broccoli, and Julia had a spicy fish dish. I liked her fish more than I did my own, and she was happy to lend most of it to me, as it was breaded. I don't mind breading, as long as it isn't greasy. When we got home, I spent enough time to look again at photos. Being refreshed, I could see right away, one I had been considering was much too busy, and the other was busy, but an interesting sort of busy, with a clear central visual element. So I sent for a print of it as well. After checking my email, I tucked in for a long nap and then a bath. I now feel greatly restored.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
"Sick with Cold"
"Too achy to be much creative, I instead did 'grunt work' the past couple of nights." Sick with cold, I am doing such today. I removed quite a bit of web litter that I left when I moved this journal over to the joanlansberry.com domain. After I got bored with that, I moved the balloon photos from 2002 and from 2006 over here. Someday, somewhen, I'll get this mess organized the way I want. But I've done enough organizing for tonight, and will watch TV and a movie we borrowed from the library. Stay well, all of you. (Get well soon, if you're ailing!)
Monday, March 2, 2009
"Cough, Cough, Cough"
In between naps, I played some more with my silhouette design. If it will be used for a jewelry pendant, the design requires simplication. So I have:
I will make another attempt for sleep...
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