December 31, 2008

Kwanzaa Day 6

Kuumba
(Creativity)
To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.

Happy New Year

December 30, 2008

Photo by Sharon Lee
Wilkinsburg, PA

Kwanzaa Day 5

Nia
(Purpose)
To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

December 29, 2008

Photo by Sharon Lee
State College, PA

Kwanzaa Day 4

Ujamaa
(Cooperative Economics)
To build and maintain our own stores, shops and other businesses and to profit from them together

December 28, 2008

Photo by SharonLee
Scotia Range, central Pennsylvania
Kwanzaa Day 3

Ujima
(Collective Work and Responsibility)

To build and maintain our community together and make our brother's and sister's problems our problems and to solve them together

December 27, 2008

Internal Dialog
2004
acrylic on masonite
48" x 48"

Kwanzaa Day 2

Kujichagulia

(Self-Determination)

To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves and speak for ourselves

December 26, 2008

Photo by Sharon Lee
Installation at Phipps Conservatory
Pittsburgh, PA
Dale Chilhuly, artist

Day 1 of Kwanzaa

(Unity)
To strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.

December 25, 2008

There has been only one Christmas - the rest are anniversaries.

~W.J. Cameron

Peace Always


Sharon

December 24, 2008

From the very day my daughter was born until she was about 13 or 14 when she asked me to stop, I read to my daughter for about an hour before she fell asleep. Although she did not grow up to be an avid reader as I was told and expected, I always felt the power of the word through her imagination and vocabulary.

During the holidays we switched our reading choices to holiday themed books. In December those books were concentrated on the holidays of Chanaka and Christmas. One of our favorite discoveries was L. Frank Baum's "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus." "Claus" as he is known to the wood creatures was found in the woods and raised by Necile who needed someone to love. It is a charming story and I highly recommend getting copy and reading it regardless of your age.

Happy Holidays

Peace Always

Sharon

December 23, 2008

The Eve before Christmas Eve.............

For the past few nights I have been waking up mid sleep with a sentence or phrase that I thought would work better in the book "Adventures of Sophie". Two night ago I woke up and having found no writing utensil or paper besides my bed I went back to sleep sure I would remember what I had thought of and how i was worded. Last night the same thing happened only this time I used the land line to cal my cell phone and leave a message. Just listened to it a few hours ago-makes total sense and I will gladly use it to replace some of the story that seemed to not flow. This is the page where Sophie leaves her house and crosses her yard to go to the neighbor's yard to visit with the dog that lives there. What I recorded was " The journey was short though not without distractions.

Peace Always

Sharon

December 22, 2008

Photo of Sophie for back cover of book
By Sharon Lee

Finished the bulk of illustrations and writing of "Adventures Of Sophie". All that's left until I switch things over to the computer is to design a cover, spine, back cover and rewrite one of the pages. My goal has been to get all the hard copy stuff (illustrations and writing) done before I start school (re-entering college as an ancient student) mid-January. Next week I will take the illustrations which are black ink on vellum and have them scanned at the photo place in town.

I'm happy with the illustrations, fairly pleased with the writing and think it is a good solid book with potential for series. Used the characters from "Adventures of Sophie" in my Christmas cards this year created for friends and family. Good practice getting to know the lines of the characters as well I got to explore a bit with color of which at this point the book has none of. Will be taking the next few days off, tomorrow to clean an apartment (gotta make the fakin' bacon) and then Christmas and Christmas Eve for food prep., gift exchanging and general insanity.

Happy Chanaka
Peace Always

Sharon

December 21, 2008

Todd Rundgren at the Birchmere
Arlington, Virigina
Photo by Sharon Lee

Having been an active supporter of Todd Rundgren's music for the past 31 years, the impact his work has had as important to my life as any friend or family member. There is not a time in the past 31 years that Todd's music was not playing in the background like some kind of theme music for my life.I had assumed that his fans would share my feelings about his body of work. But of course this is by no means true. Whenever I go to a live show or read a review or internet post I am over and over again hit with this reality. Thing is whether or not I like each and every bit of song that Todd creates, I still respect and appreciate the man as an artist. Some things work and some things don't but I always feel that what is made is a genuine reflection of his creativity. Even an album like "Deface the Music" which was an obligatory album made with attitude has many things of merit.

It's common for artists to be strongly criticized but good to remember that sometimes things that don't work at first morph into something amazing.

Peace Always

Sharon

December 20, 2008

Adventures of Sophie
Play Date with Bella
page 7 & 8

In the wood milieu
Dwelled Sophie and Bella 'longside

In translation...

In the middle of a beautiful forest setting lived Sophie and Bella in homes that were situated next to each other.

While many men, women and children battled the crowds for some last minute shopping, I spent a good part of today working on "Adventures of Sophie". Finally finished the linquistic part which for me was the most difficult part. I created a book that has some depth in it so as it is read more things are realized both linquistically as well as visually making the read entertaining enough to last for multiple readings. When my daughter was young we read favorite books over and over. One such book was Peter Spier, "Grunt, Growl, Gobble", which sustained both our interests through perhaps 40 or so readings.

Peace Always

Sharon

December 19, 2008

Photo of construction worker, Cape May, New Jersey.
From the "Construction Series"
By Sharon Lee

Spent the day snowed in doing a combination of computer stuff, shoveling, wood managing, working on book, cooking and yoga.
Very tired...not much else to say.

The idle man does not know what it is to enjoy rest.--Albert Einstein

Peace Always

Sharon

December 18, 2008

Todd Rundgren
Rachel Haden and Kasim Sultan
Birchmere
Alexandria, Virigina
Photos by Sharon Lee

Yesterday my family and I took an overnight vacation and went to see Todd Rundgren a the Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia. Living a rural area is much different in many ways than living in a city though my theory about living in different places is ultimately that you still get out of the same bed in the morning and eat the same breakfast no matter what your address is. Nonetheless we got a night in the suburbs (Alexandria, Virginia) and day in the city (Washington D.C.) and will spend the next many days back in rural PA.

Highlights of the trip

*Todd Rundgren (of course-fabulous as always with a great band: Jesse Gress (guitar), Kasim Sultan (guitar, keyboard and laptop), Prairie Prince (drums) and Rachel Hayden (bass)

*table in front of us at the Birchemere-at one end a guy playing wicked air drums and at the other end a beautiful lesbian couple comfortably sitting with the arms around each other.

*passing the George W. Bush Center for Intelligence driving into D.C.

*Sticky Fingers Bakery in D.C. all vegan!

*Pink house across the street.

*Ethiopian food somewhere in a great ethnic neighborhood on 14th (couldn't tell if it was N,S,E, or W) with no less than 25 television sets wall to wall around the perimeter of the top of the room.

*Finding my daughter's purse at the bottom of her suitcase (several hours after leaving D.C.)

Peace Always

Sharon

December 16, 2008

Illustration of "Red Bear"
from Adventures with Sophie
Playdate with Bella
by Sharon Lee

Thus far this winter, my creativity has been expressed through the writing and illustrating of a children's book. It is a series called "Adventures of Sophie", the first installment named "Playdate with Bella."

The process of making a book is very different from painting and I find myself retraining my focus as I work on the various components of the book. While writing I need silent though when I paint I prefer music or podcasts. Because my house and studio tends to be cold I find myself working on this project in the inner sanctum of my bedroom where I can stretch out my legs and prop up my back comfortably and my studio where I paint sits cold, dark and dusty. Doing a book at this time is also forcing me to learn computer programs and websites that I have until now ignored. The beauty of painting is that it is a timeless activity very much the same as it was many many years ago.

Peace Always

Sharonhie
Playdate with Bella
Sharon Lee

December 14, 2008

Big Gulp
2008
acrylic on organic cotton and hemp
38" x 38"

From what I have learned (and please excuse me that the information comes to me slowly) Myspace is used for several purposes: youth, music and comedian networking. It's interesting to quote the pharmaceutical industry the "off label" uses that can be construe as technology progresses and expands. It took me the better part of the day to get a simple Myspace page up and running and I expect to be making many changes in the near future.

Peace

Always

December 11, 2008

Amidst the holiday hullabaloo, several groups shows, thorough winter cleaning I have managed to begin the processes of writing a Children's book. To date I have most of the drawings comprehensively drawn minus backgrounds (will make sense hopefully later when all is combined together. The most difficult part for me is sitting quietly and writing the book. Finished a few pages today.

Adventures of Sophie
by Sharon Lee
Page #20

Yip yip yip grrrrr yip yip yip grrrrr yip yip yip grrrrr yip yip yip grrrrr yip yip yip grrrrr yip yip yip grrrrr yip yip yip grrrrr yip yip yip grrrrr yip yip yip grrrrr yip yip yip grrrrr

Peace Always

Sharon

December 10, 2008

Day Without Gay

Peace Always,


Sharon

December 9, 2008

Photo taken by Rick Brandt at the English Embassy wall in Prague, CZ

Sandwiched between the anniversary of the death of John Lennon with a nationwide "Day Without Gay", today is, for me, a reflective one. As many do I always wonder what great songs would have J.L. written had he more of his life here on earth. Although plenty of people would argue this case, I believe most of his best work was done A.B. In much I have read the common consensus was the John was a flawed man, probably the very reason for his large appeal. If alive today in 2008 I believe he would be speaking out once again in support of civil right. Maybe even write a song.

Peace Always

Sharon

December 8, 2008

The Nativity
1996
acrylic on cabinet door with plastic hula skirt
18" x 12"

Currently I have a nativity piece show in a very small local show in the nearby town of Bellefonte. 1998 I was last asked to participate with this annual show. That is when I created nativity. I have always been interested in how artists used the time after birth to portrait. Anyone who has been at a life birth will know that the moment of birth is magic. I would imagine the birth of Jesus even more so.

Peace Always

Sharon

December 6, 2008

Day without Gay

In response to Prop 8, the removal of civil rights for the gay community, on December 10, 2008 the gay community will take a historic stance against hatred calling in to work "gay" donating that time for community service.

If you are unfamiliar with basically the past election passed anti gay legislation initiatives in California, Arizona Florida, and Arkansas. Whether you are LGBT or LGBT friendly support equal rights and show the world how wide the gay community's influence is in a country that professes equal rights.

Peace Always

Sharon

December 5, 2008

Often I question the label "artist" I place on myself for no other reason that every minute of every day I am not sitting in front of my easel cranking out paintings. And there are many reasons for me that this is not possible. One: I have to supplement my income through freelancing, selling yoga props, cleaning apartments, making camera equipment deliveries, etc. basically anything, within reason, that will help pay my bills. Other reasons include costs of art supplies, keeping art fresh, physical challenge of sitting or standing for hours and lastly other interests. Among the interests I have also expressions of creativity are: sewing, photography, knitting, gardening and cooking.

I have been cooking since I was about 12 years old. Because my mother worked until 4:30 or 5pm it was my responsibility to get supper started. This was particularly difficult as I wanted to experiment with food preparation and presentation and my family liked things "plain and simple". I remember more than once my sister exclaiming, "Why can't you just make things regular!" Fortunately other people have come into my life who appreciate my creativity in the kitchen and are quite pleased to eat the results.

About a week before Thanksgiving my $10 food processor broke unexpectedly. I've had it for at least five years and accepted my loss with grace. There were challenges preparing the Thanksgiving meal without the processor and some recipes that simply could not be made (blender had broke a few weeks earlier and I don't own a mixer.) ***Last week I decided to make the plunge and get a replacement so I could create without restriction (other than dietary ones) for the upcoming holidays. Looking through the "Compassionate Cooks" website I was able to link to a recommended 12 cup Kitchen Aid Processor. This sold for a little over $200. I found the same machine refurbished for $139 made my purchase and a few days it arrived. What a dream! I had saved up 1/2 of a buttercup squash and some yams from Thanksgiving and immediately set to work making a squash pie. The dough attachment made a crust in minutes and once processed the squash and yam had a great consistency. Next beasts to tackle are humus, sunflower seed pate and tofu cheesecake over the next few days. And as one always feels when they have procured the right tool for the job what a joy!

Peace Always

Sharon

December 4, 2008

Today was my day for Christmas shopping. Being crowd adverse the computer has been a blessing as I can shop from the comfort of my home, sipping a hot cup of organic Jasmine Silver Needle tea and listening to some fabulous music. I started out at the Itunes store hoping to find a Christmas Classic album that would set the proper mood. After listening a bit I reassessed my listening needs and settled on Todd Rundgren's double album from 1974, Todd. A wonderful collection of songs and I was glad that the cold outside encouraged people to close their windows, avoiding hearing my off key singing. *

One of the wonderful things about being a Todd fan is that you can't count on him playing at the end of the year. I once read in his wife's blog that Todd does not like Christmas and choses to tour during the holiday season. On the 17th of December Todd is playing at the Birchmere, outside of DC in northern Virginia (Alexandria) and as part of annual mini vaca for my family we plan to be there.

As I listened to the album Todd, ordering Christmas presents and looking ahead to the 17th I realized the irony that Todd was very much a part of my Christmas, the very thing he avoided for himself.

Peace Always

Sharon

December 3, 2008

Photo by Sharon Lee

As a vegan, living surrounded by hunters is difficult especially during the busiest hunting season. Today I found her hanging from the back steps of my neighbor's house. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Peace Always

Sharon

December 2, 2008

Photograph by Rick Brandt


Just finished reading of a wonderful organization: Combat Papermakers. Using the recycled uniformd of war veterans they craft hand-made paper which is used to create meaningful art to express their thoughts of war. I love discovering artists who create and or encourage art to be used for self expression.

For more information go to:
http://www.combatpaper.org
Combat Paper Project
18 Howard St, Burlington, VT 05401
802.316.1124

Peace Always

Sharon

December 1, 2008

First off, please excuse my tangents off the subject of art. As an artist it is hard to separate life from art and as a result my blog is a combination of the two.


After 18 years I found a friend of mine through Facebook. I can't tell you what a delight it is to reconnect. My friend was very special to me and supported me through challenging times. Her motto was truly "Seize the day", in fact I could tell story after story of seizing the day and taking a trip to Bakersfield, California from Prescott, Arizona by the way of Laughlin, Nevada, going to Mexico with about $10 between us and many. many trips up the mountain to Jerome, Arizona to dance in the streets to our favorite local band, Major Lingo. My times with Lori were truly the stuff novels are made from.

Peace Always

Sharon