MIXED BAG... 
February 9, 2012  

 "Happy there's no snow..."  NOT ME!

What an extraordinary winter! Here we are in the snow belt of Central New York, annual victim of  lake-effect snow (from Lake Ontario,) and we're still waiting!! We live in the nation's snowiest metropolitan region, averaging 114.6 inches every winter (...and we love to talk about it!!) I can remember years when we had snow on MOTHER'S DAY...October to May is always fair game!!! Our snowiest winter on record  blanketed our fair city with 192.1 inches...that was in 1992-1993. 

THIS winter, we've only had a mere 31.8 inches...unacceptable! Most people who read this blog KNOW that I love the snow!! I miss it, but I'm certain that between now and Mother's Day 2012, we'll see more of the beautiful, fluffy white stuff...we have to put to use the biggest snow plow IN THE WORLD, (or so they claim,) that sits at our airport. It's a 32-foot, 3-inch blade attached to a payloader. The 48-inch tall piece of steel can clear 8,500 cubic yards of snow in an hour!! That's equivalent to about 4 feet of snow covering an entire football field...it would take 850 standard sized dump trucks to haul all that snow away!! Can you imagine? 

Enough snow talk... moving on to this week's artistic challenges!  SUNDAY POSTCARD ART tasked artists to create a piece based on the movie classics...here are two!

CRAZY AMIGOS asked us to concentrate on Charles Dickens... I remembered "Hard Times"  that took place during England's Industrial Revolution. Unlike many of his other books, it had no scenes set in London, but takes place, rather, in "Coketown," a fictitious,  Victorian industrial  mill-town in Northern England. 

Shorter than most of his other novels, it's a good one to sit down and read with a cup of COFFEE...

TAKE A WORD's challenge for the week...coffee!

COLLAGE OBSESSION challenged us to play with a theme of TANGERINE TANGO...

F

Finally, in one of my online Yahoo art GROUPS, PAPER TRADERS, I've joined a page swap involving creating 7 coasters with a Wild West theme. They're not due until March, but here are some of my creations..

This was a good week for art...if not for snow! We'll see what next week brings. Thanks again for stopping by.

XOX,

abbyj 

STILL EARLY WINTER

CHALLENGING MOMENTS... 
January 31st, 2012 

 "spring is still a distant thought"

Welcome back, folks! This week, Central New York has been blessed with spring-like weather, just in time for IMBOLC, an ancient Celtic festival  associated with SPRING and new beginnings. Groundhog Day is right around the corner as well...what will the verdict be...6 more weeks of winter, or will spring be on its way?  I personally celebrate each of our 4 seasons and can't imagine living in a place with any less...

The online challenge blogs continue to inspire willing artists to participate in their calls for pieces art with a variety of themes...throughout all the seasons. Here are the current pieces...

4X4 FRIDAY has challenged artists to create a representation of what IMBOLC means to them... to me, it's still time to gather firewood to keep warm... perhaps Groundhog Day will determine that this won't have to continue for much longer. Note the new crocus shoots...

 winter melts to spring

earth awakens from slumber...

STILL winter in New York

SOARTFUL CHALLENGES is paying tribute to artist, Geogria O'Keeffe. I created my personal tribute to one of our country's great artists...

She said, "I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way- things I had no words for."

SUNDAY POSTCARD ART ... a bit nostalgic with the "As Time Goes By" theme. I was equally nostalgic about the 60's!

 A musical theme was declared by THREE MUSES...

In case you're wondering, Jason and Little Chops are my family!  :o)

TAKE A WORD  wanted to feel that REGAL touch, so I gave them a Queen...on a KING card- two for one!

COLLAGE OBSESSION was thinking of the everyday picture with their call for art about TOOLS... how about gears?

 

Finally, I came across this photo I took in Myanmar (Burma)  many years ago, played with it because I think this man has a great face... and thought I'd share it with you. My goal was to make it resemble  the style of  famous American photographer, Alfred Stieglitz. (He did many photos of Georgia O'Keeffe!!)

Thanks for stopping by...hope to see you next time!

Take care...

xox,

abbyj

A HIDDEN PLACE

MYSTERY and CULTUREJanuary 24, 2012 

Bright colors bring my soul joy...

Who can resist the mysterious, romantic and often "bad boy" lure of Gypsies... Hollywood has painted such an iconic picture of this interesting and inaccessible culture. 

 soul's music, dancing

dressed in freedom and joy

feet caressing earth

In a tiny corner of the United Kingdom, there's another, much smaller kingdom that doesn't appear on any map...a kingdom within a kingdom...a Gypsy kingdom.

This KINGDOM of GIRELLYGOG's royal family is that of the fair-minded, gentle King Yoska Jinnypen.

It's a kingdom that's existed for about 1,000 years and throughout that time, it has been mostly invisible. Even here in their newest location, they continue to be remote and unknown to their British neighbors...they like it that way! They're one of the U.K.'s best kept secrets...this Rom or Gypsy town. (In the U.K., Gypsies are called TRAVELERS.) 

They live just west of Givrngreskey, England now, but their roots are actually in the ancient Indian city of Drobwilanty... that's why they call themselves  DROBS and call the center of their town, Drobwilanty.

It's a place I just happened upon and was fortunate enough to be welcomed by one of it's younger residents, then 19 year old Layla. 

 

She took me under her wing, invited me into her home to meet her family (and extended family- there seemed to be hundreds of them,) and they've all been family to me ever since!

I'd like to share with you a look at the real Rom or Gypsy life, in Layla's words:

My ancestors called no place their own and everywhere their home. They lived in wagons (vardos) and traveled  with the dawn.

They left little trace of themselves as they moved throughout the world. Today, we continue to honor our customs and traditions...our way of life. We dance to the music in our souls, 

repeat the stories of our ancestors ...

and we sing the songs of our lives.

We tell fortunes to those who seek our wisdom;

several of us have started up our old repair businesses for the locals within and we just started venturing into neighboring Givengreskey...a major step for us.

Our livestock and horses continue to be healthy and productive

and new permanent homes are sprouting up like weeds all over our fields and valleys...

but many still prefer their tents and vardos. Most of todays Drobs walk in two worlds...our world and the one where houses never move. We're keepers of time lost, happily unconcerned with everything but our own here and now, our relationships and family ties.

Contrary to popular belief, social control is very important to us...justice, fidelity and morality are included in the Gypsy Code of Ethics. But, as with any small population, those who err stand out more than in a large population. Our days and weeks flow into each other without punctuation. The general population of the Kingdom of Girellygog ebbs and flows, but we are an ever-adapting, lasting entity. From the 335 wagons and homes I remember from my childhood, our numbers have dwindled to 97. But we continue to grow as other Rom wayfarers find us, arriving from all corners of the world.

Our kingdom...our community is small but strong. And Drob imaginations still spark with songs and stories of the past, sung and told with the rituals of the present, weaving a vision and language of the future. We're grateful that we're all free to live as we wish, in peace with one another and...little by little...our neighbors.

I hope you've enjoyed this glimpse of Gypsy life...it continues to fascinate me! The Kingdom of Girellygog, (developed for an online art group hosted by Trudi Sissons and based on extensive research on my part,) is a very real place IN MY IMAGINATION. Layla and I remain close and I continue to study and learn all I can about her amazing, colorful culture. Thanks for joining me...

xox,

abbyj