Perception

I have mentioned before that I have a fondness for cryptozoology and other odd things. I was watching one of those shows on TV tonight in fact. I am always amazed by one constant factor in every person's story they interview on any of these shows. They can always rattle off a size or distance when asked. Maybe it's just me, and I am unusual in that I have no concept of distance or size, but honestly if I saw a giant bird/alien/sea monster/bigfoot and someone asked me how big it was or how far away I wouldn't have a clue.

Now you would think that someone who works with material that comes in yards and inches would be able to calculate such things. Especially someone with my IQ. I don't even know how people do it.

The ironic thing is that on this show they decided to put it to a test. Someone made a giant bird kite and asked passers by to estimate how big it was. Some people came fairly close but not one person out of the dozens asked got it right.

So I have to wonder, am I odd in the respect that I can't tell the size or distance, or am I odd in the respect that I admit I can't? Hmm...

~*~ Jingle Kringle ~*~

Jingle also went up on ebay tonight:

Click to visit him

On A Wing And A Prayer

I have been insanely busy getting ready for this upcoming show so I haven't been posting properly. But the last few days something has been nagging me to tell a particular story about something that happened a few years ago. I am not sure why I keep feeling this urge to tell this...maybe someone out there needs to read it. I don't know, but at any rate I am giving in to the impulse:

Sometimes in our lives we come across something that we were taught at an early age that we have always taken to be absolute fact and then one day we discover that isn't true and it rocks our world.

I was raised with the notion that every person has their own guardian angel. But one day I discovered that it doesn't say that anywhere in the Bible. There is a phrase that could be interpreted to mean that, but it might not. For some reason finding this out really bothered me. To a degree it rocked my faith, I don't even know why. Not my faith in God maybe, perhaps just in knowing what all I had been taught is true. It's hard to explain in typed words exactly what I was feeling. But I wanted to know for an absolute certainty whether we have one or not. (I know what you're thinking; there is no way to ever know for certain right?) I didn't really stop to think about that part, I was on a tangent I wanted to KNOW. So I started looking at all these books on angels. I learned a great deal about angels and how they apply to many religions. The concept of angels has been around much longer than Christianity even.

Through my research I came across a book written by a man who was supposed to be THE authority on the subject. If anyone had answers it would be him. The problem was the book was out of print. I looked on ebay, I looked on Amazon, I called book stores and no one could get the book. I started going to the used bookstores around town trying to find the book.

By the time I got to the last used bookstore in town that I hadn't looked in I was feeling pretty despirited about it. I felt as if I would never have my answer if I couldn't find the book. So in I went.

Now I have always believed that miracles aren't so much about what happens, but more the timing of what happens. I think that sometimes the best miracles are small.

So I went into this last bookstore and asked about the book. The lady behind the counter said she didn't have it, but she must have seen the look of determination on my face so she kindly offered to go with me to double check the shelf anyway. The book wasn't there.

I went back out to my car and got in. I sat there for a moment then turned over the key. That's when I noticed it on my windshield. There was a white feather sitting on it directly in my line of sight. Now I know it was from a passing bird or the wind blew it there. But somehow it was like confirmation. It was as if an angel was passing by and just wanted to say don't worry we are watching over you. It calmed my concerns, restored my faith and I have been content ever since in the knowledge that one way or another something IS watching over us.

Happy Halloween!

Here it is Halloween. It doesn't really feel like it. Of course it's been fairly warm the last few days so that's a good thing. I had company all weekend and despite my having a rough time of it with the flu, we still managed to have a good time and do some things.

Today everyone left and I was all alone. I just took it kind of easy and didn't do much other than laundry and dishes. I rested up and watched some TV. I watched the special History had on this supposed lost book of Nostradamus. They proved three times during the show that the book couldn't possibly have originated from him despite the fact that his name was on the cover. Although they kept asserting that it had to be his. It made no sense to me. The book had some rather cryptic pictures in the back that they managed to translate as being the prediction for the end of the world which conveniently coincided with the Mayan doomsday. Of course the Mayans never technically said that December 21st, 2012 is the end of the word, it's simply the end of a long count (the end of a planetary "wobble") and we align precisely with the middle of the milky way on that day and the "dark road" opens . The reason we assume that is the end of the world is because they never recorded anything about the 15th long count. But then again we don't even know for certain that is true since the Spaniards destroyed about 90% of their writings.

Now they showed the pictures, and I wasn't quite so certain of their translation of them. As we all know art is subjective...much like Nostradamus's predictions. I have always had a problem with that notion. They explain that he had to write things in riddle form because if they knew at the time what he was doing by way of prophesying, he would be jailed or worse. But I have to wonder, if the man had this much ability to see into the future and predict events with such supposed precision, why couldn't he "see" a way around the problem and find a way to tell us straight forwardly what to expect. Lets go a step further even and take a leap of faith and say that he could predict all this vague stuff we have applied to history and one has to ask oneself...why him? Why out of all the people on the planet would the powers that be choose to bestow this information on him? If this information was so critical that we needed to have it, why isn't it given to all of us, or at very least a lot more of us? The whole thing just doesn't work for me. I keep hearing the phrase "Beware of false prophets" reverberating through my head.

I truly believe that if you make any statement about something in the future that will happen...if you wait long enough you can find an event to apply it to. If you read any ancient prediction you can find any current event it fits. We have some sort of strange gene that makes us incredibly fatalistic. Since the dawn of time we have been convinced the end is near. I don't think it is. I know a lot of things are happening that fit with the end of days predictions in Revelations, but that can be said of any time. If you look back at history, we live in that state. We are always at war, there are always famines and pestilence and drought and inhumanities of every unspeakable nature. But I am not quite ready to pick up my sandwich board proclaiming the end is near just yet.

To be honest with you I don't think the times we live in right now are so dire. I think we are doing pretty good. I still believe there are more good people than bad. I just think the perception that there are more bad than good is because we see the handful of bad ones in the media all the time. I think that the Internet has gone a long way to misinterpreting people's natures and intents when they speak because we don't hear voice inflection. But I think we still live in a degree of innocence. I wouldn't want to rely on the kindness of strangers in New York City or LA, but I think they are still out there.

We have come a long way, and we will still go a long way. Halloween is a testament to that fact, we still let our children go trick or treating to complete strangers houses. Houses that open the doors to complete strangers. If we didn't have a little faith and a little trust in each other we wouldn't do that! In the mean time have a fun filled holiday and don't eat too much candy.

~*~ Little Red Bird ~*~

I finally designed my bird I wanted, and I made one for Fall! I put it on ebay.

Click here

Looking For A Hair In An Artstack

I read this afternoon that someone was trying to figure out what happened to the Mona Lisa's eyebrows and eyelashes. Apparently they aren't sure if she ever had any or not, and they are trying to find out. I suspect she never had any, it was probably the fashion of the day and gave the appearance of an even higher forhead. I don't really see the problem, Whoopi Goldberg doesn't have any eyebrows and she seems just fine. They also seemed surprised to discover that the sky was a brighter blue and her skin was more of a pink when he originally painted it. Yeah shocker, cause 500 years of oxidation wouldn't change a thing.

I have always been utterly fascinated with Leo. Long since before Dan Brown got ahold of him. I guess I can relate to him on some level because he is an artist with a scientific mind. What irks me a bit is that now all anyone seems to focus on, other than the eyebrow guy, is the painting of the last supper thanks to the Da Vinci Code. I don't know why people put so much stock into it as proof of anything Jesus did. It's not as if Leo was sittin there painting it while they were eating. About 1400 years or so passed in between the main course and Leo's art du jour, so he really had no more information than we have now.

There has been a lot of discussion about art in my realm lately. I am sure Jung would be thrilled to know synchronicity is still alive and well, but I digress. The question discussed today was how we in the bear community could be taken more seriously as artists. I used to joke and say if it costs over $100 it's art. But in truth, I think the first step is to take yourself seriously as an artist. In the beginning I thought of myself as a toy maker, much like Drosselmeyer from the Nutcracker. While I like that fanciful notion, the truth is as I developed my style I also became a true artist. All my works involve unique, original pattern design, shaping and sculpting to turn a two dimentional piece of mohair into a three dimentional work. Painting to accentuate it, and embellishment in a myriad of varieties. I make one of a kind pieces almost exclusively. So, a quarter of a centure late, what in there makes me any less of a bonafide artist than a painter or sculpter?

All too often I think we get hung up on labels, and details like looking for Mona's missing eyebrows. We need to simply sit back and enjoy the things that the creative side of people's nature inspires them to bring to life without definition. Art is subjective, it always has been. The mystique of art is it's undefinable nature. When you think about it Drosselmeyer was an artist too, and Mona won't be any less of a work of art whether her eyebrows have faded over the years or if she never had any at all.

~*~ Paris ~*~

I've put Paris on ebay:
Click here