Pictures of my friend's lazure painted house

Back in May, my friend Becca decided to paint some of her walls with a lazure technique which produces walls of very light pastel color with a luminous quality. It involves diluting paint many times with water and applying several coats over time to the wall with a special brush. The light will catch the color different ways depending on the angle you are looking from. There's a much better description on the websites I found through Google, such as: http://www.lazure.com/
http://www.lazurepainting.com/
http://www.lazurebylogsdon.com/

These websites have beautiful pictures of the work of these lazure artists, so check it out if you can.

The lazure painting technique is used widely in Europe to add a healing atmosphere to hospitals, etc. as well as to bring relaxation and creativity to Waldorf Schools and business conference rooms and, and of course, to bring charm and a meditative quality to bedrooms and other rooms in private homes. (My friend actually had it done mainly in her living room, front hall, and dining nook. She used yellow, green, blue, rose/crimson, and purple for beautiful effect.)

More photos of her house can be seen at my Flickr webpage: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lauradeanne (also see Links to the right)

summertime photos

This is Esperanza and me. She is a friend of mine, actually niece to a friend. We are having a good time visiting at her aunt's office at the University of Texas.

Artists talk about where to show their work

Artist Robert Genn's "click-backs" on his last week's newsletter on Context -
This particular newsletter is about deciding where to show your (art) work and what kind of response you might get. Many artists from all over the country (and the world) responded and he posted their responses on his website at http://clicks.robertgenn.com/context.php.

Wonderful - the feedback I read from all these artists. Gave me great insight into how they view their work and the type of decisions to be made in doing artwork that you want to sell.

one of my closest friends and my son

Needless to say, I'm very proud of him.

Wholistic Art Group

Come join the ** Wholistic Art Group ** on Sunday, June 24, 3:30-5:30pm at The Work Shop, 1211 W 6th St., Austin, Texas. (www.theworkshopaustin.com)

We will be making art in this wonderful new space and enjoying a blissful respite from the heat!

I want to create art within an empowered community of kindred spirits. What is important is that we have a shared purpose, a time to get together, and each other for encouragement, ideas, and support.

My intention is to allow it to evolve according to what I learn as I go, and one big change is to add healing as part of my vision of art-making in community.

(See Art as a Healing Force, http://www.artashealing.org/)

wildflower excursions

New photos! These were taken on the University of Texas campus. The tree was at the bridge by San Jacinto going west and toward the running track.

The flowers are part of the Blanton Museum grounds near where I work at MLK, Jr. Blvd. So nice of them to let that portion of their grounds be all wildflowers!

Identity

Identity. What is it? Things you tell yourself about who you are? What other people have told you? What you learned as a child? How do we form our identities and then depend on them so much to get us through?

What stories do you tell yourself about who you are? What aspects make you feel "good" about yourself and what aspects make you feel "bad," ie, things you like and things you don't like.

Why are we identified with those roles, self-images, pictures of ourselves, unless something happens to us which make us question them?

I'm not the strong, silent, independent person I thought I was, and yet I'm stronger in a different way, and self-reliant, and yet also can remember the me that feels weak, that feels like whining, that feels dependent upon someone to take care of me. These are all inside, but the exact combination of "strong" that I used to think I was, is no more. There is no need for it, because I've learned that it is a fake "strong." It was a "strong" based on how it looked on the outside, based on how others looked on the outside, based on being a certain way and looking a certain way. That shell has long cracked and a more fluid sense of self has emerged instead.

Could that be what they're talking about in The Hidden Side of Happiness: Pleasure only gets you so far. A rich, rewarding life often requires a messy battle with adversity, in Psychology Today online (see Favorite Links).

This article was thought-provoking, because I didn't expect pop psychology to address what seems the antithesis of pop psychology - a situation where there are no easy answers. An experience, a concept more similar to a spiritual experience or a philosophy than a "scientific" study. But oh, so liberating....

It reminded me of about 10 different books I have read and several workshops I have participated in.