A Quick way to thank those who protect our democracy at home

This memorial day I am reflecting on the soldiers and politicans who work every day dedicating their lives to a cause bigger than themselves. I am very thankful. My grandparents immigrated here and fought in the world war. They saw first hand how dictatorships and totalitarianism can destroy communities and countries. Our democracy is a fragile idea with a noble ring to it. It takes all of us to keep it safe. With the recent people running the White House, congress and courts, I am struck even more by the need to step up and be a good citizen.

My mother's side of the family has been here for many generations and my great grandfather started newspapers. His sons ran and published many more. And until I was a young adult in the 1990's, our family was in the news business. The DesMoines Register was, and still is, an strong investigative voice in a sea of celebrity worship. I am very proud of the ethos of community responsibility that pervaded both the journalism and our family's culture. My family, under the matriarchal and patriarchal leadership, cared about their neighbors and sought to educate about the larger world issues. In full disclosure, the trend to infomercials and infotainment came with Grandaddy's Look Magazine and a little weekly "for busy readers", Quick.
But, I digress! I am today no longer in any news business except as a consumer... looking for a way to stay an informed citizen. It is not easy to know where to turn. In the midst of strong bias on both liberal and conservative sides I am very happy to know of FAIR- an organization that works as an unbiased watchdog pointing out the misleading focus of our current media. Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting is doing the soldiers work in keeping us aware of what lousy information we are being fed. They are a small group of readers who work on a shoestring and...they are my Memorial Day heroes. I am sure even my granddaddy would be a fan.
Please consider supporting our troups and also looking up FAIR and supporting them. They work to keep democracy as a viable idea and, if we pay attention, we can all keep democracy as a system of governing.

Bark Walk Art Walk in Ft Lauderdale this weekend

Bark Walk: dog-friendly artwalk event
Saturday, May 26, 2018, 5-8pm


Girls' Club presents Bark Walk, a block-wide event to benefit Pets Broward, 
a non-profit organization dedicated to saving shelter pets and creating a community 
where all pets and people are valued and treated with respect, kindness, and compassion.

The event is free and open to the public. 
Well-behaved pets welcomed and must remain on-leash and in-control at all times.

Adoptable Dog Parade at 6pm 
Best in Show: Dog-themed Art Exhibit at Girls' Club 
Human/Dog-Friendly Photo shoot with Alissa Alfonso at Girls' Club
Guest Artist Kerry Phillips at Madeline Denaro Studio
Art Making Activities for Humans/Dogs at Form Hair Studio
Doggy-and-Me Hair Specials at Form Hair Studio
Dog and Human Swim Specials at Montce Swim
Puppacino Specials at Wells Coffee

with Frankie Dogs, Vintage Pops and Sparkling Ice 

A new hot spot in Fort Lauderdale, the shops along NE 2 Avenue and Flagler Drive recently opened for business this past year with a craft coffee roaster and cafe Wells Coffee, a fit-focused swim shop Montce Swim, high-intensity functional HIIT studio The Fit Shop, a creative-thinking hair salon Form, the working artist studio of Madeline Denaro and the city's only private art collection/alternative art space Girls' Club Collection.

The Bark Walk coincides with the Last-Saturday artwalk, 
connecting with the FATVillage and the MASS District art neighborhoods 
of Fort Lauderdale for an epic evening out. 

www.girlsclubcollection.org/bark-walk/2018

I heard a faint knocking...

As artists, we dream of someone knocking on our lone studio door and screeching in joy at the treasures within. They will insist the work needs to be seen by a wider audience, and launch into a discussion of training, then reflect upon our personal/universal existence, and, then proclaim the work boundless in value.

But it rarely if ever happens.

But kinda....

I walked a couple doors down from my own studio and knocked on the stitching studio of Karla Caprali . There I joined in on a couple Miami Textile Association's embroidery workshops. #textileartists  They are held most every other Saturday. Karla is warm, smart and bakes a mean cake. In short order she has arrested some of my bad habits, taught me correct stitching and, introduced me to other smart and interesting women. One of MTA's regulars turns out to have gone to my high school in Virginia!!! (Now I am probably going to a local reunion this fall. Talking with my new friend made me laugh and recall details I had long forgotten. Small hints of who I am at the core of my being were raised!)

 Then... At school a young new teacher, TJ,  invited colleagues to stay after school and discuss pedagogy. Though I dragged myself there in somewhat of the cynical mind, I left an hour later full of inspiration and self-reflection. He brought me back  (after 22 years of this) to the core of why I teach and to thoughts of how I teach. Teachers Talking Teachin! It is an inspiration.

And...

Throwback to December 2016 when I answered a call by artist Kim Schoenstadt to be part of a group photo, Now Be Here #3,  at the Perez Museum. Schoenstadt had called for all the regions women artists and, despite torrential rains, 303 of us showed up! The only Florida institution that expresses an outright commitment to supporting local female-identifying artists was/is the Girls' Club, a private collection and alternative art space in Fort Lauderdale that helped whip up support for Now Be Here #3. 

The two ladies on either side of me in the line to register and enter have become sources of inspiration ever since.  Just last week one of those women, Meg Wallace of www.setfreeart.com  passed on information about a show at the Girls Club  that I have since entered. Three doggie paintings will now be for sale in their gallery space as part of a fundraiser to benefit Pets Broward, a non-profit organization dedicated to saving shelter pets. The show is May 26th.

The creative spark that helps my imagination needs to roam, play and join in discussion. It has been a full spring. Austin Kleon writes in his book Show Your Work,  that "you don't have to be a genius... be an amateur...get out of your league...defy perfection" and...the work will get shown!