Back from NYC

There's a terrible longing in my daily actions for NYC.  Living in Brooklyn, training at the Renzo Gracie Academy,  all the Unicorns?  Its just that, all the Unicorns.  Denver is full of them for sure, just NYC has more of them!  I liked the crowds, bold speech, and fast pace from one thing to the next.  See, that's just it... Where is everybody in NYC going?  And why so fast?? All these unicorns are galloping too and fro, on their own time? I don't know...  We're all working for ourselves, so watch how our light surfaces and glows.  No one's there to drag us down, so its time to go, I guess.  This is mostly insight for myself, since many of you were right, "you're going to NYC? You'll fit right in!"  

On the airplane ride home, I read Faith Stone's Rudi and the Green Apple, cover to cover, surprisingly for this slow reader! The story had all my favorite characters, descriptions of incredible Hindu and Buddhist art, and took place in Manhattan and Rudi grew up in Brooklyn.  The book was a perfect ending for my recent trip to NYC.

Why though?  Well a theme powerful for me was loving the self amongst all the energies that distract us and dampen our light.  Persuading a horizontal exchange of energy, rather than vertical can leave one depleted, constantly reaching for more light externally, instead of internally.  Faith suggested (paraphrasing) to imagine a delicious fruit in your chest, where your heart is.  Every time you think of that fruit, a ripe papaya with lime after surfing in Kauai is what I chose, it reminds you life is to be enjoyed and your juicy sweetness comes from inside.  What is inside becomes outside and without it, the body dies. So when I look into your eyes, I see the light that resides.

Its good to be home, NYC can't resist me and all I have to offer so I know I will be back to Brooklyn soon.  Meanwhile, I am supported and loved by my colleagues in Denver and Boulder.  There is much to do busy with the Art District on Santa Fe Dr, a demo at the Denver Art Museum first two weeks in July 2018.  Spectra's 420 show install... pause... one shout out to Spectra: I have the best experiences there!  Such a great vibe, crew, and they have great taste in art!  Oh and Pancakes and Booze was wonderful to see familiar faces and meet new ones.  

As you can see, I'm a very busy Unicorn galloping from one place to the next.  Thanks for reading and being part of my adventures through the Rainbow.

Pancakes and Booze tonight

Back to Denver after two weeks of adventures through the NYC art scene.  My art stimuli are blown open wide and my vision much broader and slightly exclusive after NY.  Definitely savoring the experience and hungry for more.  Denver and Boulder are home however, and tonight is Pancakes and Booze Denver, 8 pm - 2 am, Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom.  See you there right?!  Waiting in the April sunshine made me glow like a gnome happy to be home.  P&B brings together so many artists from not just Colorado, but I've met Unicorns from Utah, Kansas, Nebraska, and Montana.  Its going to be a wonderful spring evening with free pancakes and toppings washed down with drinks and an affordable door price of $10!  

After install I had a lovely brunch at the Mercury Cafe, a Denver Institution!  My craving for Eggs Benedict had carried over from Thursday morning in Williamsburg.  Thankfully, the Mercury cafe's delicious hollandaise sauce quenched my craving.  Creamy and thick with homemade hot sauce.  On my way out, the door had my favorite poster about How to Build Community surrounded by the vibrant souls who have passed through the cafe.  Next to it was another poster I hadn't seen before: How to Build a Global Community.  Just so beautiful to have the two posters side by side met by barrels of spring flowers as the door opened to the sidewalk.

Supporting Unicorns and their Adventures: The Wealth of NYC

Been enjoying Williamsburg, Brooklyn for two weeks now.  The mission?  Set up an international networking and exhibition space for artists through the Artifications Studio at 63 N 3 St, basement. 

Something that struck me, as I commute around the city, is the incredible sense of wealth of resources.  This wealth feeds a fantastic culture of supporting fellow Unicorns and their magical adventures.  Anything in this city can be acquired for free given time, creativity, and resource-fullness.  Here's a story... We had our Artifications Digable Weekend exhibition Apr 5 - 7.  As the exhibit concluded, we needed packing material to return artwork home. I was walking back from jiu jitsu at the Renzo Gracie Academy, the best training yet, and found some thin packing foam, rolled up and ready for trash pick up.  Seeing as the foam had rolled into the walk way, I decided to pick it up and move it.  Recognizing its usefulness, I carried half of the bounty back to the gallery, yay!  To complete my goal of mailing artwork to our lovely artists, I selected the appropriate sized cardboard from the stacks outside nearly every business.  My urban foraging trip saved the gallery money and tidied the streets. 

Thanks NYC, you make dreams come true in the spirit of supporting fellow unicorns!  

Denver Art Society

The Denver Art Society is an entirely volunteer run Arts Education Nonprofit that was established in 2009 in the La Alma neighborhood. The La Alma Neighborhood includes Denver's culturally most diverse area for many decades with a large immigrant population.  The Denver Art Society (DAS) brings together a multitude of membership from all economic, social, and political backgrounds.  We provide a venue for a diverse group of artists to use as performance, teaching, and display space while volunteering in the Denver Community.  An influential project of the Denver Art Society has been the monthly Alley Rallies, which turns cleaning up the alley and gallery into a community event.  Alley Rallies are all day events one Saturday per month where local visual and performance artists attend to paint murals, perform music, and collaborate on beautifying the alley behind the Denver Art Society.  All artists and residents of the neighborhood help pay for the cost of trash removal and volunteer their labor for clean up.

As a member of the Denver Art Society for four years, Grace has been on the Steering Committee from 2014-2017 and was recently appointed to the interim Board of Directors Jan 2017.  She has been an activist in Colorado and Oregon for mental health, sustainable/affordable food and housing, and art for over a decade.  Equal representation and access to the arts is Grace's passion and she spends nearly every day working towards building community through art.

Drawing 101 Class

ANNOUNCEMENT! I will be teaching Drawing at Denver Art Society, Sundays 5-7 pm through the month of March. 

 What we'll do
Beginning Drawing Class

Goal: learn how to draw, make drawing fun and accessible.
Session 1

Gesture Drawing
Blind contour
Expressive line
Weight of line and shape

Session 1 is the first in a 4 week class providing a comprehensive overview of drawing. This class will hone anyone's drawing skills no matter your experience level and supplies will be provided as part of session tuition.

• What to bring
Supplies included: full pencil set 4H through 6B hardness, newsprint sketchbook, vine charcoal

• Important to know
Everyone can draw and I am excited to meet you!

Surrender the limitations

The magical side of reality is being brought to Boulder.  I just broke into the scene yesterday at Umba (https://umbalove.com/password) and Old Tibet http://oldtibetboulder.com/, wow, SO grateful and honored.