The Art of observing

Art created with the red tail wing in mind.
Art by Judith Parsons Art 2018

There is a red-tailed hawk in the city. He comes around every so often, and sits upon the railing of the fire-escape. He is looking for breakfast, very still and observant.

I will leave you with Jamie Sans and David Carsons wise words:

“Hawk medicine teaches you to be observant, to look at your surrounding. Observe the obvious in everything you do. Life is sending you signals.

Life is the initiation. Right now a clue about the magic of life is being brought to you. This magic can imbue you with the power to overcome a currently stressful or difficult situation. The test is your ability to observe the nuances if power lurking nearby. Is power the talent you have and are not using?”

They go on to say: “Hawk may be bringing you the message that you should circle over your life, and examine it from a higher perspective. From this vantage point you may be able to discern the hazards which bar you from freedom of flight.”

I hope the hawk has helped you see life with a clearer perspective.

Being aware of your emotions, allowing yourself to feel them. Letting the tears flow, so that the released fears can be seen. Assess and evaluate where you are. Are you content in this space in your life?

If so congratulations. If you feel you need more out of your life. Then make a list of what is it you want to achieve. Then question what needs to be learned in order to reach that goal.

When I walk to the kitchen and see the hawk majestically sitting there. I stop. I can’t help but stop. And nod a hello to the beautiful creature. I thank God for the messenger in my life. I smile-and blow a kiss…

I look forward to moving back to the land where red birds are prevalent and hawks are a regular sight.  Life is magical! There is so much art to be made!! Woooooohoooooooo!!! 

Clay Forever Trees.

My daughter teaches art at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in New Orleans.
These are ceramic Christmas trees that her students made.
Her photograph- my composition.

My daughter and I were talking about the ornaments you see here.

If you have even fired a kiln, and especially if you have had children's ornaments inside...then you know how tense the firing can be.

She had the children make a paper cone and then drape the clay worms around the paper cone.
The paper burnt out and what is left is extraordinary incredible pieces of art.

The feeling of relief was immense as she opened the lid of the kiln.

The shapes are fabulous and Dr. Suess like- they defy gravity in their unbalanced shapes.

They are INCREDIBLE!! Standing ovation to Margaret for her students work!

Now that we have the praise passed around let us get on to the real subject at hand. Christmas tree ornaments. I have heard from people over the years who have my ornaments upon their tree. The medium has been glass, clay, leather, and mirrored acrylic.

The lovely thing about Christmas is the fact that it only happens once a year. It isn't seen everyday. So pulling out a memory is special.

Then clay. Think of the medium. It has been fired. It has been put through the test. Those folks shifting through ash in CA- they are finding China and ceramic pieces of their past. They probably are finding ceramic ornaments.

Make something in clay, put it through the test of fire, and go hang it upon a tree. Think of it like this: the ornament you made your mom, will be passed down to your grand daughter. She will turn it over in her hand and she your name and the year you made it. She will smile, holding apart of your energy in her hand.

Art- it is am amazing gift. Let me help you make ornaments for your wee ones. Much Love Sweet Luvs!

Ladders Star

I grew up with rail road tracks
behind my house.

If you take the rail road ties and those parallel lines and stand them up, you have a ladder.

Moving along.

Just keep moving.

Take those feathery thoughts and write them down. Say them, own them.

Claim every single stepping stone.

Something lately has happened.
I stopped looking to others for approval.
Maybe it was the therapist. Maybe it was the star alignment. For whatever reason the anxiety that normally arrives as I open my eyes every darn morning, stopped.

I wish I could tell you what happened. Or how this enlightened state, or phase (as my mom would say) transpired. However, the energy has settled.

I don't need to brag and go on to my girl friend, my daughter, my boss or my friends. I am at a state of listening. (slow sigh) Maybe it is the season, the fall of the leaves, the letting go of one season and knowing this hibernating space is coming. Who knows?

For whatever reason I give you my latest sketch turned into art. Then turned into a star.

Do not use without permission. Please respect people's creations and original art.

Have a blessed day Sweet Friends! Much love and light-

Judith Parsons Art 2018 November 13

Swirling in the unknown.

Graphic composition created by Judith Parsons Art 2018.

The question make shape is the start of a swirl.

Take that great unknown and swirl upon it.

I have 30 good years left in me- to create art.

It is in
the kneading of the clay,
the excited muse of the design,
the wanting to create and weld in metal,
the combination of glass, clay and metal
and
the
creating
art
for blogs that make me happy.

Then there are the people who want to have adventures with me. The artists who want to open a studio with me. The family who wants to eat seafood with me (grinning), and the family that wants to go on long car rides and sing with me.

Then there are the friends I haven't met yet. The poetry men and women who write my soul. THEY seem to know me, under my skin sort of knowing. I so desire to meet them. And the wild wolfy sisters that love sitting around a camp fire and howling at the moon.

There are famous souls who I have met and I trust I can assist them in producing art that help to promote a better world.

Life is an adventure.
The spirit is young and wants to skip down the road holding your hand.
It need not be fraught with deep heavy intense thoughts.
It is in the moment of now. As you read these words that float down upon the river of your divine soul--we all are flowing and fluid and free.

Keep flowing sweet friends.

(Kissing you on the cheek)

Funky original design by Judith Parsons Art 2018
The feminine is awake. It is all about being born. 

Hello Sweet Friends! Thank you for stopping by to see the ramblings of a wild artist. I am typing this on the fly, no safety net. No revisions, just typing. The new election was fabulous for the feminine. For the longest of times, I don't think women had a lot of time to be involved with politics. We were too busy running a household, keeping the laundry clean, trying to work and bring home the money to pay for the mortgage.

Thankfully this new generation of men, are stepping up and helping the woman run the household. The world really is a brave new world now, with women stepping into the political arena. It should be some exciting times ahead.

Hopefully, more women will run for office and more women will have a voice in the majority of men realm. When I had my boy, I was a scared mom. I wasn't sure I could raise a boy. I wanted my boy to grow up strong with a voice. Though I was afraid he would be an extreme bully or a wimp. I wanted to raise a sensitive man yet, the same issues bubbled to the surface. How in the world does someone become a man these days?

My oldest brother is a hunter and fisherman. Those are his hobbies. My twin brother has enough land and animals upon that land to be called a "farmer". Though, truth be told, he doesn't call himself a farmer. Though, we all beg him for his homemade sausage.

I have to laugh as I am thinking what to say next- and how to say it. I don't talk to them about politics, because I am guessing they support Trump. And really, I just don't want to get into that whole messy muddy ugh discussion. I will "leave it be" and let it float away. Even, as I think they support another perspective in the political realm, they are southern gentlemen. 

They never use the word "slut" or "cunt" they offer their chair to the woman and they have manners.

My ex-husband is a gentleman. He was always a gentleman to me and that is probably the only thing that I can be certain of, that my boy will at least have "Southern Gentleman" qualities.

I can relax now that I have written this out.

I had two children. One per hand. A boy and a girl. I can safely say they turned out alright.

Hells bells, they turned out better than alright. THEY are amazing adults.

That is enough rambling on for now. My silly thoughts are down are paper...well- you know.
Thanks for stopping by. 

(Kissing you on the cheek) YOU really are something special.

I appreciate your reading.

 

learning to "fly"

I teach swimming for two reasons: First, I need a job that keeps me strong and healthy. Secondly, the challenged learners are really special as we both learn together how magical water is. When they “learn to trust the water” they FLY!

I am aware of the night. Elections. I feel buoyant. I feel this is a most appropriate blog for flying.

I will not venture further into the politic realm, we are all connected. Back to swimming.

I created this graphic to help you see the most basic lesson. With children who are on the autistic spectrum, I have tried many different techniques to try and get the student to “trust” their own buoyancy.

Water for me is magical. We are learning that water holds energy, we are learning that water is magical. If you want to be healed, go to a pool. Take the weight off of your body. Allow yourself a r-e-a-l stretch where you float upon your back in the water, your ears are under the water, and you listen to your heart beat. Lift your chin upward toward the ceiling. This will make your eyes go under the water, if you lift your chin and tilt your head back. BE aware! 

Now breathe in this position. Allow yourself to hear your heart beat. It is the best feeling, the rhythm is steady and calm. As you float with your first sounds in your ears, embrace this growth. YOU have come a long way. The first sound you heard was your own heart beat. Let the water bring you back to the origin of you. 

Now back to the ability to fly. Teaching a child how the water supports them is a difficult lesson for some children. After I have taught the child how to float on their front, with their face in the water and then I try and teach them to float upon their back. The back is an interesting position for them.

The water is in their ears.

Sure, their face is OUT of the water- but that feeling of lifting the feet and trusting the water to be solid enough to support and buoy the body—-is a little tricky to teach. (Especially for children with learning challenges.)

So. I have a tall child try and reach under the water to grab a toy off the bottom.

Most of the times, as the child reaches down, their body floats up. They are not able to reach down and grab the toy. I explain the air in their lungs keeping them from grabbing the toy.

Usually that works.

This new technique for teaching them how to move their arms, is showing them the movement and action and reaction ability.

I have the child point their feet toward the bottom, so their toes are touching the bottom. Then I ask them to try and lock their knees- so they aren’t keeping their feet upon the bottom. Then  ask them to push downward with their whole arms. As if they are flapping wings downward.

They will fill their bottom lift.

THEY have lift off.

Pretty amazing ability for some of my special kids. Just thought you might want to find a pool to swim in. Our Chinatown pool is saline based. Sure we have chlorine in the water, use not as much as some pools.

Or water has incredible healing abilities. I am a 58 years young woman becoming stronger and better with the water as my main panacea. 

Come back to the fluid, find your flow, flap your wings. Become a flying fish. Let yourself play and lay back upon the water. Take your ears back to the beginning, where you heard your mother’s heart beat. Smile as you float.

Breathe.

Heart your own heart beat.

YOU are strong.

You are buoyant.

SHE deserves better.

Created by Judith Parsons Art 2018
Created especially for this blog.

Daughter's wisdom.

She said; “She deserves better.”

Drop the phone. Oh my Dear Lord. How many times have I said those words?

I was shocked.

Lightning bolt time.

Out of her mouth, I was her, she was me. We had become a woman who apologized for who and what we are.

What the hell.

How did this happen?

Stop. Just everybody fricken stop. Put the brakes on. Get out of the car. Look that person in the eyes, put your hands upon that other persons shoulders, look at them and say these words:

“I am good enough.”

Now. 

If you can not say those words. Then go work on you.

Plain and simple.

You have to feel it on your own.

I can not make you feel anything.

I can try all day long. Talk until I am blue in the face.

However, YOU have to take care of you.

Yep.

I want you to be the best you can be- for you.

Now, back to the daughter.

That was more than a mouthful of words.

Throwing those words out there.

Take those words - reach for them. As they start to fly around you and weave themselves into a cocoon of protection. Let me grab those butterfly words and hold it still.

Stop time.

Let me stretch those words into another word: “confidence”

YOU are enough as is. YOU are better than you know. Let me hold up the mirror for you to see how incredible magnificent you are. Now- do you see your eyes? Are you looking into your own eyes? They are my eyes?

Our eyes overlap. We hold the mirror for one another. 

The illustration sort of conveys this back to back scene. We all reflect one another. What we see lacking or negative in someone else, generally is what we need to work on in ourselves.

You want to be strong and filled with light? Find those strong souls in your existence, call them, actually talk. I have called a few friends who have survived incredible health issues. Two women are good friends and they inspire me to grow stronger mentally and physically everyday.

Please see your worth, see your own strength. Don’t stay in a negative environment.

We all deserve better.

Distorting and pulling apart

Composition by Judith Parsons Art
San Francisco 2018

The computer realm of creating give us infinite possibilities. We can create something and distort it until our heart is content.

We can pull and stretch it apart.
Over and over again.
We can turn down the opacity so the layers become transparent.

Wouldn't it be nice in life- to see the transparency of another person?

We push things, we test boundaries. We are like toddlers wondering how much we can get away with. Until finally the other love says; "No".

Lately I am obsessed with the five point star. Five is my number. So - I create with that in mind.
This particular shape started out as a star. Then I morphed and twisted and distorted the star to come a wave shape. Then I took that shape and rotated it again to create what another star.

The pendulum has swung to the point of distortion. The balance is out of whack. People are looking to technology to save them.

When the hurricane hit - my sister and I spoke about how people in their neighborhood came together. The electricity was off. Social media was no an option. The coffee maker and microwave weren't working. The neighbor was real, every one walked out into the street to check on one another and connect.

Right next door, they all stopped and looked up from their devices and helped one another. Life is twisted. Horrible things are happening in this world. I don't know what the answers are. It is like we are all lost. Maybe we need some guiding stars.

It is too bad the nut cases who are out killing others aren't distorting art on computers or playing games instead of doing it in the physical world. Now with video games and social media so available we tend to look at our devices more than we look at one another.

I have no answers.
I wish I did.
I am going to play in photoshop and illustrator and create more distorted stars. That is exactly what we all are.
Distorted stars. Still shining. Every single one of you.

to-get-her

Original art by Judith Parsons Art • San Francisco 2018

To
Get
Her

together

It was the first three syllable word I learned to spell. I remember asking a blond headed boy in secondary school how he got A's on his spelling and he told me to break the word down into smaller bites.

He said: "Like the word- together- to-get-her"

It was a moment that stayed with me forever. You know how flash type memories get filed away in your memory.


To get "Her"...as I talk with my therapist I see all the females in my life, the mom, grandmom, sisters and aunties who have influenced me. Even the older moms who laughed and enjoyed their children- Lauren, you were that for me. A happy mom.

I didn't know one could be happy as a mom- until I met you. So I was determined to laugh and enjoy my children. Thank you for being a good parent. You have amazing daughters- (waving- Molly and Nai.)

Then I met a "her". It was someone outside of myself. Someone I wanted to understand, someone I wanted to capture.  "She"- a magnificent woman, clever and good with her hands. She fixes things easily, took it in stride that she could research it, take photos with her cell phone and figure out the details. I went searching for clever females.

Females have been traveling an interesting path as of late. All the scrutiny about us, how we trick and treat the males in our life. It is an interesting cross roads to be. All in all I admit I drank more than need be. As a young woman, I didn't like being a military wife, I hated the fricken moves. Just as soon as I found a cool as heck family to love, (waving Myers family) it would be time for us to move again. I hated that every hurricane season my husband was needed upon the ship, and I was left alone. Enough of the hate talk. The past is the past.
Let bygones be bygones.

Now, I am figuring out the "her" within me. What makes me happy, what makes me excited, what moves me to cry. I am learning that being a mother of two children is a glorious role to wear. It is a super power to have children. Sure, in this world more than ever- it is a tough trick to handle working and raising babies. However, more than ever, with internet and instant technology it is easier than ever to work from home.

I would stay up at night and layout magazines on my computer and awaken blurry eyed with my babies. I did. We can do it. And if you decide not to have babies then maybe you can become an "Aunty" to a friend and support her babies.

All-in-all we are together in this. It seems we need one another more than ever. We all need to our tribe of friends. People we can be silly and crazy with. Even drunk with- if you need to. Bit own it, take responsibility for your drinking. Maybe even give fair warning to your family that you are going under the spell of the foggy realm of drink.
Together we can become stronger and better.

If you know a military wife, take her under your wing, she REALLY needs you. On that I will sign out, I adore you readers.

On Friday I am doing a coronary angiogram, so please keep me in your prayers. It seems the heart needs a little fixing maybe. So we gots to figure it all out.

Oh- I have some glasses I have made a Saints Star. It is an original design. I have a friend in New Orleans who is laser etching the glasses. $75. for 4  or $125. for 8.

Email me.
Judithparsonsart@gmail.com

Ride the energy. Dance.

Original design by Judith Parsons Art • 2018 San Francisco

This art is made from five fleur-de-lis. I have taken the art and swirled and distorted its shape.

Dancing is a great activity I wished I had learned. Whilst growing up they had “Arthur Murray Dance Studios” in Savannah, Georgia. I always yearned to have a man who knew how to swirl me around the dance floor.

It is an incredible talent to be able to dance. I never found someone who could place his/her hand against my lower back and pull me effortlessly around the dance floor. Wait, wait, wait…there was one person. And it was a taste of what being moved around the dance floor should be like. It was a “let me show you how its done” sort of 5 minutes. And I will never forget the powerful feeling it was- to be moved so persuadably.

Whew. 

Now I just dance to the music that is being played around the pool. It makes me silly, as I goof about and ask the children to dance when they need a silly break from swimming laps. All in all moving feels good.

I don’t think I am alone as someone over 50 years old, and closer to 60 than I would like to admit. We are still riding the wave of energy. We still have 35 year old hearts beating and wanting more.

I had 30 minutes today where I could float and enjoy the sound of my heart beat in my ears. I only took 10 minutes to let the energy of the fluid calm me. It is rejuvenating to allow oneself to be buoyed by the water. Rest. Close your eyes. See yourself in the ocean moving along the surface of the water. Be relaxed. Exhale. Let those shoulders drop.

There is no point here. Well- on the art composition there are points- as limbs moving about…however, we are dancing into another season soon. 

Red into purple. 

Like leaves falling, changing becoming what they need to become. Fall. A good time to rest.

Let the squirrels busy themselves with gathering and preparing for hibernation. We have the wood and goal ready for our hearth. The winter months will be upon us soon enough.

The hearth will be the place to create a nest. 

For now soak up the last of the Indian summer. Find a warm place in the sun to melt. Breathe in your luxuries. Your car, your many roomed house, your back garden, your balcony, your own bathroom, these are not small things to people who do not have them.

All things change, evolve and move on. (sighing)

Walking along the beach, I pick up that piece of drift wood. I imagine it will produce beautiful greens in the coming winters fire. 

Keep dancing…

on the water

on the flames of future wishes

on your dreams.

The heart with teeth in it.

Original one-of-a-kind art
By Judith Parsons Art
San Francisco 2018

I redrew the fleur-de-lis, I took the arms of the symbol and made sure the shape was a crescent.

The curve was made by over lapping two perfect circles. Then the band which goes across the center was changed to represent a heart.

I let the tips of the crescent arms dip down into the heart.
The tips resemble teeth. It might be hard to see in this graphic.

Though when we mature and grow, we realize that that young innocent love. That naive love, HAS to be naive.

If anyone knew from the start what they were getting into -they would fricken run away screaming- with their hands up in the air.

Love does require reciprocation. It is a two way street. It requires acquiescing and backing down from a huge argument. Someone has to break the silent frozen tit for tat zone.

Yeah. Relationships can be a pain in the ass.

Yet. They can also be a comfort. Someone to snuggle against. Someone to cry to.

You have to constantly weight out- does the bad out weight the good and vice versa. Constantly you have to hold up the mirror and say: “Did you just say blah blah blah…”

When we are young and are starting out on the relationship path- we WANT someone to rescue us.

Ugh.

I admit it. It want a place to run away to without stress and strife. That first place, that white beach place eventually turns cold. Seasons change.

One can understand why people flock to the southern white sandy beaches in Florida. It is a Panacea. A cure all, and yes, there is actually a beach called “panacea.” It is gorgeous too.

That is enough rambling on for the day. The older I become the less I know.

Yesterday, whilst floating in the water, awaiting my next private lesson to arrive, I let the water talk to me. The water knows me, it buoys me. It supports my grand life wish for all people to be as comfortable resting in its liquid. I felt whole (holy) yesterday.

Enjoy the fleur-des-lis design...If you want it, pay me for it...

The heart has tiger teeth in it. You LSU fans...you know you want it.

Keep swimming, shining, singing...Love y'all!

Writing Love

Original one of a kind art created by
Judith Parsons Art 2018
San FranciscoWe do what we love.

Look at what you spend your day doing.

There you have it.

That is what you love.

Sounds simple.

It is.

I create in photoshop and illustrator almost every single day.
It can't be helped.

Creators create.
If I had a studio I'd be creating in clay or with a digital laser cutter.

For now- all I have is a lap top.


Writing. It is a hobby of mine. Sometimes I have great ideas and wonderful wisdom. Most of the time I write to download the thoughts about poetry from friends.

I am excited because I have a pen pal. I look forward to spending 30 minutes writing to him. Even if it is only- "I have nothing to say." It helps to have someone respond.
(Waving) Thank you Rex for being a friend.

The art actually says "I write Rex." It is abstract...however it is readable.

Go ahead and do you. Write- create- paint- build- repurpose old stuff.

Break old china and make mosaics.

The tune "Sentimental journey" is in my head...and I am singing do-do-do along with the tune.

Have a blessed Sunday Sweet Luvs.

Don't Wait

"Do not wait until pain has become a friend."
Original artwork created by Judith Parsons Art 2018
San Francisco

I don't know if this has occurred to you. You are in a new relationship and everything is going along fine and dandy.

Then you start disconnecting. Something has gone wrong. You are looking around trying to figure out how to plug back into the wonderful beginnings.

Something has changed. There could be a zillion reasons, however, something has shifted.

You keep telling yourself: "I can keep loving this person."

So you do.

Whew. You got over that bumpy place.

Then you hit another snag, another huge pot hole along your journey. And you keep patching it, you keep apologizing and trying to get along.

How long do you do this?

This is a hard cold mirror reflecting the way we are in life. There might be a kazillion reasons why things aren't as smooth as they once were.

However, the pain is settling in. In fact, you tend to see yourself standing knee deep in hot boiling water and you keep putting on frozen ice boots to get through it...but they melt.

What the heck is happening? How come you are hurting? How come the water is so hot?

That is what the art is about. I read poetry by Joe Wilson. He is a fabulous writer in the "Serious Lovers of Poetry" group in facebook. He actually wrote about becoming friends with the pain. It made me gulp. I thought -holy moly, this is what you used to do Jude.

The key word is "used".

And then I wanted to run around to all of the people I love and cherish and say: "Do not wait! Stop the pain! Don't become friends with it."

So- there you have it.

Thats all I have got. Don't become numb. Don't dive into the foggy realm of drink and drugs to numb yourself. The pain is there to tell you to CHANGE something.

Thank you Joe Wilson for writing your poetry! Thank you Joe for throwing this amazing pearl into my waters!

We need one another. We are connected on so many incredible levels. Keep loving! (And if you are the person CAUSING the pain- stop it. It is simple. Be nice. Support and encourage.)

That is all.

Keep smiling, soaring, shining, singing and sashaying!
Love you all!

3 into 1 The other side of the camera

Two weeks ago I was on the beach with Anita. She is my long distance, half way around the world girl friend. I try to get over to Ireland regularly and we are figuring out the details of the relationship, but that isn't what this is about.

This is about being on the other side of the camera.

She is the photographer and I am the person who takes the images into photoshop and illustrator and plays with them.  It was a fun morning taking photos of painted rocks. The sun was bright and the beach deserted.

A lovely morning to play and be crazy upon the beach. I combined 3 photos into one. Her head is down and moving upward. As we fly through information these days. This way you see her laughing and and lowering her head in her fit of uncontrolled laughter.

Truthfully I was telling her to "work it" like fashion photographers tend to do.

Bless Anita's heart for putting up with me-- half way around the world. She is an incredible compassionate woman who loves a crazy-off-the-wall artist. I am blessed to have her love me.

I shake my head, why on earth would she put herself through me. Doesn't she know I am ricocheting  off the wall right and left with a kazillion project ideas all the time?

Divine Art week 3

Original one-of-a-kind art by Judith Parsons Art.
San Francisco 2018
#ArtPriestess

This art took a few days to create.

Becoming one with the process, enjoying the time that it takes to create complicated art is the sign of a mature artist.

I am figuring out the niche I am good at.

Precision is something -I never thought much about. It took returning to college to acquire my graduate degree, to finally embrace the .005 line of perfection.

With the laser cutter, I learned the art of exact puzzle pieces.

It is a process, learning. We can't jump into the deep end with out first learning to swim. It is all making wonderful sense.

Truth be told, it is easier to do precision work with out the fog of additives. Just trust me on this one. Don't delve into the foggy realm of trying to soften reality. The fog covers everything up. The world becomes silent. Eventually isolation of the white out shrouds everything. Making life very difficult.

Try your best to life straight up, no additives of drugs. I have restarted a few times, when I do partake of drink, I awaken feeling frustrated. Wondering why I make the choices I make. When I KNOW they aren't good for me. Having said that, why do we do what we do?

So. Here I go again. This is week 3 of being "on the dry wagon." (Who makes up these strange sayings?) Divinity, serenity, trinity. Stripping off the foggy layer.

This is it. The raw, scrubbed clean baby born yet again. I stand a toddler in essence, in week 3 of no drink, my nights I spend drawing upon my laptop in illustrator. I am SO dang awake now. My evenings in my one bedroom seem to last for days.

Just do yourself a divine favor, walk away form the fog. Let the precise spot light of love burn it all away. Look into the camp fire awake, with no additives. Listen to the evening summer sounds with no muffled fog. Breathe in a big lung full of crisp air and smile. You don't need any fog now.

You have this!
You really do!

One week

Original one-of-a-kind art by Judith Parsons Art 2018 San Francisco
Art Priestess

Finding
the
Art
Priestess.

She
is
striping
away
ev-ver-ry-thing.

Down and down we peel
We reveal
Nothing and everything.

Week One

All the ties that bind.
All the concrete that kept me teethered
All the fog that kept me blinded
All the blah blah blah

Because we ALL know...yep. Actions speak louder than words.
(You know just what I mean.)

Figurative

Graphic created by Judith Parsons Art • San Francisco 2018
Line 13 from Margaret Parsons Artist statement.

Line 13

My lines are figurative.

Egg. Breath of Compassion

The simple "Y" branch
Original art by Judith Parsons Art 2018 San Francisco

The Shape of the letter "Y". Arms outreaching like a toddle wanting to be picked up.

You've seen the toddle, head back, on the verge of tears. Tired. Just wanting mom to pick him up.

The shape also a perfect small tree. Two branches reaching upward.

The Y, (laughing) the place I work. The one place where children connect me to my truest most real self.

This past week has been filled with self struggles. Tears, as you know, prepare for sacred transformation.

I am stronger for the "Y" of the world.

I have made appointments to search through the why of what is going on.

Playing in illustrator - I started this art so I could make an animation. This is step 20. I loved the egg shape that bubbled to the surface.

The shapes in the corner remind me of the "breath of compassion". A lovely sacred geometry shape.
I suppose I am going back to the egg, the cocoon and figuring out what is working and what is not working.

Life is connected by "y"s...branches and arms...reaching out. Always wanting more.

Play those tunes luvs. Let the music take you away. Save yourself with self care.

Dragon Lotus

The Dragon Lotus.

Art that found itself sketched out. Drawn with Walter Anderson's acorn swirl over crossing pattern in mind.

The beauty of the lotus bites.
Life bites.
We found ourselves
loosing
gaining
loosing
straining.

Trying to figure out this one thing:
What is the purpose of life.

How do we best live, our best life.

Perhaps we are all afraid we will loose our "wild side". I guess I am.

I looked in lots of places, found all these "me's"- these faces looking back. I knew one thing, the bond between mother and child is a golden light that reaches into the center of the earth.

I want to have what a friend has, she has amazing incredible memories and traveled the world with her mom. I want to have that sort of relationship with my children. The dragon wild side will blend with the beauty of the lotus, there will be a path, it will be unique and one-of-a-kind. The dragon will fly and the lotus will grow its roots.

Perhaps the roots grow into the flames of the dragon. That makes a little sense.

Shaking my head. A little sense is all I have at the moment. So. We. Shall. Leave. It . Here.

Keep soaring wild lotus dragons. Keep finding the music of your soul.

Merging with another is a complicated dance. I hope you succeed.

Freedom_ line 10

I started making a spider's web, then it turned into this.
Original graphic created by:
Judith Parsons Art • San Francisco 2018

Line ten

“My lines are begging to be free, my lines are for freedom.”

I am playing with these lines, they surprisingly coincide with the events that are happening in my life.

I thought I could carry the extra energy of another soul again.

I would make statements, “overall- the good outweighs the bad. So all-in-all I kept swimming with this extra energy, using my arms to hold my love close to my chest. Time and time again the waters would rise, the winds would come and the waves would smash us in the face.

I felt I acquiesced over and over. I started to see, it didn’t matter to me- that there was a right and a wrong, I just wanted peace. 

But, that didn’t happen. Time and time again something would cause the storm to flare up. I guess, I wasn’t showing enough love, or wasn’t doing enough. It was always me not performing enough. not doing something enough.

Many times I kept telling myself I could gather all my strength in and keep carrying her in my arms. However, with every storm I took on water. I was becoming weaker and weaker with each storm.

I cried and prayed upon my back - floating and gasping for air, as the wind and the waves of the storm kept washing over me. I knew, that the all-in-all wasn’t balanced anymore. The bad was out weighing the good. I was the weaker one, I lost confidence in myself.  I was exhausted carrying this love that was no longer buoyant.

I felt heavy and sad. I sank. I kept holding on and let the storm take me down.

We keep hurting one another. I don’t want to give you false hope. 

Have we outgrown one another? We have changed one another forever. I am forever sad now, when I think of  us. How we will be on guard with one another. 

How we will wish and want for our love to be good, we will want for the good to outweigh the bad.

There is a shield up now. You probably have one now too. To protect your heart, because you also know we are dragging one another through the mud. 

I have never really thought of myself as stupid or ignorant. However, the love I held close to my chest revealed the slow learner, whilst we did the paper work. 

I realized I really became an artist because I really was slow, deficient in reading fast. I thought I had over come my learning challenges, and here they were - painfully in sight. 

Here I was back in elementary school, sitting in the library with head phones on, trying to learn to read. Back to square one. I could not answer your questions fast enough.

Finding that one paragraph in a stack of 12 pages was making my hands shake. 

You were angry and kept telling me you’d take care of it. Dismissing me. Like you were the parent. I tried, I kept gulping down my anger, grinding my teeth and reading through the answers. When right then I should have stopped and said;

“Listen to your gut J. Put it away, walk away. Let it all go.” 

It is time for divinity. Time to release everything. Time to just be.

We know.

The artist hands. Created by Judith Parsons Art
San Francisco 2018

Line 10

Margaret Parsons Artist Statement

"My
lines
hold,
kneel,
pray."

We pray
when we are at a cross roads.
We ask for divine guidance.
Deep down in our belly, we know when things
are
flowing.

We know.

line 9 No more rain.

Graphic designed and created by Judith Parsons Art • San Francisco 2018

I am taking my time, creating art for each sentence of my daughter's artist statement.

Her statement
is helping me
create and write my own.

Every Line of her statement
is about her "lines"

Line 9 is:
"My lines prod, investigate and caress."

Prod.
Such a lovely word. When someone"prods" along...what do you think of?
I think of a heavy pair of welding boots upon my feet, and trying to walk up these San Francisco hills.

I will never forget, one rainy night, after a long day in a metal welding class...I was walking to my apartment. And I was dragging my ass up the hill, moving slower than every one. My head was hung, and I was beat up tired. I will never forget the homeless man telling me not to give up. To keep going.
I raised my head, patted him on the arm. So dang tired, I smiled and nodded. and whispered: "Thank you."

It stayed with me, that night. The rain was refreshing. It was a cleansing sort of soft rain, not hard enough to run away from it. Just a nice easy rain.

So sorry, I got off track. Margaret's words, they heal me like water does. Her words caress me, they slip underneath my skin, they stay with me. She is ALWAYS supportive. I have never ever heard her say a negative word, EVER.

You know, that is an incredible energy to know, and I am so blessed to have her incredible love and support. I think I need to think upon heading toward the south, closer to where my daughter is. I want an adventuresome life. I want to travel the globe and do spiritual pilgrimages. I want to inspire folks and create incredible art.

For now, I am using my laptop and creating art from my bed. I do not have a studio, or a place to make art. So I use what I have. for now, I am deconstructing Margaret's artist statement...line by line.

Prodding along. Investigating the future by trusting in what feels right. Not fighting anything anymore. No more, standing under rain...just trusting in what is good and right.

The universe prods along, we investigate and hopefully find a soft cheek to caress along the way.

Pulling apart bodies.

Graphic composition created by Judith Parsons Art 2018
San Francisco. (Do not use without permission)

Line 8

“My

lines 

build

bodies

and pull them apart.”

The next creation, deconstructing Margaret Parson’s artist statement.

I went looking for art that stretched and pulled apart goo. Yes. Something elastic and rubbery and sort of hold-able. I found a photo of orange plastic looking stuff. A woman held it upon her two hands. It was stretched in between her hands.

The LINE part of the other 7 pages, I placed over the orange area and then “pulled it apart”.

Stretching the “LINES”. Trying to convey some sort of elasticity.

Margaret’s art isn’t messy or complicated like my art. Your eye follows her lines, which are sequential most of the time. There are places of crossing, which require you to stop, pause- as if at a four-way stop.

Though, generally she pulls the thread of energy deliciously. She keeps feeding it energy so that it never ends.

She is magic.

My daughter, is a genius. 

Follow her on instagram: marrrge or mparsonsart

Line seven

Created by Judith Parsons Art 2018
San Francisco

Last week I watched a video about Japan. The Suicide Forest was a place where people tied a string to a tree then they walked into the forest.

The string was their life line back out of the forest, it was also a string to help others find the body - if they indeed decided to end their existence.

 Margaret's artist statement:

"My
lines
are
intense,
perhaps
evoking
violence."

Today I have created a graphic which takes
you into the dark woods.

What string do you carry in your hand? What is the texture of the string? Is it a spool of ribbon? Is it basic kite string? Look at that line in your hand.

Now, drop the string and glance toward the sky. Be thankful for your beautiful existence, be thankful for your connections and your relationships.

The contrast of life and death give us intense perspective. Thank you Margaret for your intense words.

Line 6 Savor the sound.

Margaret Parsons Artist Statement Deconstructed.
Created by Judith Parsons Art 2018
San Francisco

Lines are enveloping. Like sound.

As I glance at the words I see my daughter smiling and standing in the waves, of sound and ocean. Her lines connect me to the sound waves of God.

These words are flying off my fingertips as I try and convey the way her light wraps around me, much like diving into the green endless sea of seeing into infinity.

Her art, her laughter, her love for love is everything. The tears are running down my face in gratitude, they want to transform me into the ocean of light and love of my daughter.

The love of sound and singing is where we are born. When we sing we are crying in tune. When we are babies we have no conception of crying in a way that is organized and enveloping.

This makes no sense. It is okay as everything flows and streams and moves in its waves of endlessness.

There is no marking of time, beside the can of coffee needing to be replenished. The days run into years and we see our mother’s in the bathroom mirror.

My mother sang her songs of her spirit. When she sang and when she swam she was in her element, she was enveloped in her self. Letting the spirit move her beyond the mundane into her realm of magnificence.

My daughter’s lines, her artist statement connects and wraps around me in the woven light of love. I am savoring the deconstruction of her sentences, her words, her self…

I wonder if she sees me in herself. Dang it, those eyes, they keep leaking.

Tears prepare for sacred transformation. Time to step up my life a bit. Maybe I will go stand upon the sand and let the water tickle my toes, and I will sing for her, for my mom and for my sisters and their daughters too.

Sing. Savor the lines.

Line 5 out of 31

Line 5 Margaret Parson's Artist Statement
Created by Judith Parsons Art • San Francisco 2018

Creating art because it moves me.

My daughter’s artist statement is a marvelous mission. She has always had the ability to spin magical spells with her words.

I am reading each sentence and composing a piece of art for myself. The thing about art, is each one of us perceives and interprets what we see based upon previous cognitive development.

That is why art is so incredible.

Margaret and I had lots of hours in the car, listening to music, hand dancing and screaming with Sheryl Crow’s song “Ordinary Morning!”

THEN, this morning- I watched seven little one minute video’s about Japan. It was magical. There was one day video that he discussed the “Suicide Forest”. The person walks into the forest with a string, to help them retrace their steps, in case they decide NOT to kill themselves.

THAT string also becomes a string that can be traced to recover bodies.  Another line that will affect my next composition!

LINES...A very important string that connects heaven and earth.(sighing) 

Between 3 and 5

Original one-of-a-kind art, by
Judith Parsons Art • San Francisco 2018

Line 4

Lines describe becoming.

This art project is deconstructing my daughter’s artist statement. Taking each sentence and building upon the previous art to create another composition.

Line 4. The number between 3 and 5. Three and five are numbers dear to my heart. Three is the Trinity, which defines a huge part of me. It is also my Beloved’s number. Five is my number, I was the fifth child in the line up. 

I am creating art on the fly. With no preconceived ideas about what the next composition will be. Well, that is not entirely true. I do start out thinking of a design. 

Originally I was going to take a ribbon and twirl it into a shape that resembled sun glasses. Then as soon as I looked at Margaret’s typed artist statement, the “I” letters popped up…saying…look!!

So then the “Lines Describe Becoming” become about I.

Deep stuff huh? (laughing) That is why I like discovering art while playing. 

It takes on its whole other self…

Thank you Margaret - for allowing me to deconstruct your artist statement. It is a glorious process of self discovery!

Play.

Descendent of mermaids

Original art by Judith Parsons Art • San Francisco 2018
Composed with Margaret Parsons in mind. Line 3

Remember the wonder woman commercial from the 90’s, Lynda Carter, coming up from underneath the water? She lifts her face gracefully up from the pool and rises from the water.

It is a slow motion sort of capture. The water is shiny sparkling and dripping magically off her face.

That sort of feeling. That slow motion magical moment happened with my mother and daughter. 

I am certain now that I am descended from the clan of mermaids. As a child, my mother took us swimming. I would watch her like a hawk, the memory of her gliding gracefully through the water has always been in my heart. A soulful memory that reminds me of who I come from. Even as an older woman, when my parents built a pool, she would rise up from underneath the water and have that slow motion “being birthed” look upon her face. She was in her element, she was fluid and whole, or holy.

The grin was immediate, the water had a soothing transformative ability. It truly washed away the stress and static from my mother’s life.

My daughter and I were at the beach a few weeks back and the same magical feeling of “being birthed” happened with Margaret. We were playing like children, we acted like ballerinas and twirled and spun around when the waves lifted us. We frolicked like children do. We let the water transform us.

There were many slow motion moments, when Margaret would rise up from underneath the water. Her hair slicked back all shiny and sparkling. Her smile radiate and pure. We were both children in the ocean. We were in the arms of mother ocean. Jumping and silly in her lolling waves. We were buoyant upon her as we floated and held hands. We were one with our mermaid mothers of years ago.

Connect to your children in the salty waves this summer. Find some magical time to float and play. Make memories that your daughter will always carry in her heart. I am forever changed by that day.

I will leave you with the 3rd line of Margaret’s artist statement: “They direct attention, they chart a path, record a path of time, of before and afters”.

Todays art was created with the watery waves and sparkling transformation moments in mind.

Holy ground...or holy water.

Original fish art by Judith Parsons Art
San Francisco 2018

Everything has energy. I remember hearing on NPR this theory, that every single thing on earth has energy. It was nice to know I wasn’t mental. It confirmed my crazy idea that a chair could have energy. However, I would like to take this idea one step further. Perhaps that chair is imbued with extra special energy based on its use.

For example, a chair that is someones reading chair, that they sat in every single day. That they dreamed in, that they read out-loud in, would absorb their presence by osmosis. Then consider the chair as it was used in a sacred ritual. Praying in that chair, receiving and giving healing in that chair. One could imagine the chair absorbing more energy as it is a different sacred energy.

Now, lets consider our food. Blessing one’s food. Certainly plants have energy. We know that by their amazing ability to grow and photosynthesis. And we all know how healthy broccoli is! So let us stop and consider putting your intention of energy toward healing prayer into the food. 

Something as simple as. “Thank you for the food we are about to receive, may it nourish our bodies.”

The prayer can continue- you can add whatever extra healing you would like. Personally, if I am with someone, I like to hold hands. There is a lovely connect when we hold hands. For me, I instantly breathe in a huge breath and allow the energy to flow throughout my body.

Today I played with the fish image in Illustrator then taking it into photoshop to rotate it around. I love how the tail creates a wavy circle. We are all whole or holy. I love that Deepak Chopra said: “When we create we are on holy ground.”

This flowing fish is all of us, overlapping in our multiple criss-cross colors. We are all connected in this lovely inter-net that has ensnared us in love and light. Have a blessed day beautiful friends! 

Create. Use your super-power of energy wisely. I can feel you all the way over here!