Despite the time of year, this is useful information for anyone who may be interested in setting up outdoor shelters for community cats. The materials you will need are: large plastic storage tote insulation foam or board straw measuring tape duct tape utility knife sandpaper 6-inch diameter PVC coupler (optional) bri…

Lines 1–4 Ὦ ἄνα, Λητοῦς υἱέ, Διὸς τέκος, οὔποτε σεῖο λήσομαι ἀρχόμενος οὐδ᾽ ἀποπαυόμενος, ἀλλ᾽ αἰεὶ πρῶτόν τε καὶ ὕστατον ἔν τε μέσοισιν ἀείσω: σὺ δέ μοι κλῦθι καὶ ἐσθλὰ δίδου. O lord, son of Leto, child of Zeus, never will I forget you, neither beginning nor ending, but always both first and last and in the midst…

I am continuing with the whole “old is new” trend, utilizing items that I have amassed over the years. Now, I am using a couple of boxes of Southworth resume paper to create art journals. I had made passport-sized inserts with this paper previously. At the time, I knew I was pushing it with thirteen sheets of thir…

Stesichoros tells the tale of Geryon in his Geryoneis , composed in the sixth century BCE. The details from that myth are the known facts that we have now, and which Anne Carson’s Geryon carries in her Autobiography of Red . For millennia, Geryon has lived that cycle repeatedly until Carson gave him the volition to ch…

In Autobiography of Red , Anne Carson presents us with a modern version of Geryon. In myth, he is a red, winged, three-headed monster, famously slain by Herakles as the hero’s tenth labor. Here, Geryon is still red and still winged but human, experiencing familiar human insecurities and emotions. Geryon is a preco…

One may perceive eros as sexual, and it very well may be. However, eros is a specific action or state of being—that of desiring, of lack. Anne Carson states in her tome, Eros the Bittersweet : . . . The Greek word eros denotes ‘want,’ ‘lack,’ ‘desire for that which is missing.’ The lover wants what he does not h…

Inspired by the Pocket Palette by Art Toolkit, we opted for a do-it-yourself version. If you’re up for a mini project, then read on. If not and are curious about this pocketable palette, then check out the Pocket Palette and its siblings, the Demi Palette and Folio Palette. Materials: business card holder magneti…

Gabriella Paiella interviewed John Malkovich for GQ, which was published in late May. What follows is an excerpt that seems a poignant reflection on the idea of self. I was reading an old Rolling Stone profile of you and Charlie Kaufman is quoted as saying that he wrote Being John Malkovich because, you “have thi…

This week, I decided to use the Fountain Tarot , which features lush, subtle, and muted tones in the artwork. To me, its energy is less frenetic than other decks, and its soothing quality seemed appropriate given the current tenor of our times. The Two of Wands represents two choices. Both of the options are sou…

I am pulling a card from the Open Portals deck again this week. This time, I got, “The Myth of Kaaos.” The Myth of Kaaos is about the cyclical nature of the world and is useful in understanding that beginnings and endings are linked. ↓ Take it as a warning: you will always have less control than you think you do.…

I am working with the Open Portals deck by James R. Eads. This week’s card is “Portal for the Heartbroken.” The Portal for the Heartbroken is full of catastrophic emotions and reeks of sadness. ↓ This kind of loss wears on the soul. If you have opened this portal you may need to take time to bathe yourself in it…

I was listening to episode 71 of the Be Ultimate Podcast where Travis Eliot offers an introduction to the seven energy centers, or chakras, wheels or centers of energy along the spine. This topic can seem out there for some, but he presents the material rationally and a bit scientifically and shares experiences that …

As touched upon previously, Eros can be considered a creative power rather than a deity that is often perceived as an infliction. For a different view, let us turn to the words of Audre Lorde. In “The Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power,” Lorde writes: There are many kinds of power, used and unused, acknowle…

Anger is an emotion that we all experience. The emotion itself is not good or bad, but the effects it has on how we behave may be called into question. Anger is typically perceived negatively, as something to be avoided. We don’t go around wishing anger on others, y’know? In his Rhetoric , Aristotle writes of an…

Eros is often associated with romantic love, and that is an area I would like to explore later. Right now, I want to look at Eros as a creative power, as described in ancient cosmogonies, beginning with Hesiod's Theogony . We are most familiar with Eros as the winged youth, targeting unsuspecting gods and mo…

I have a confession. I didn’t do any painting until the latter part of last week. Even though I have it scheduled on my calendar and have been pretty good about adhering to it, time got away from me. What happened? The maze of my thoughts distracted me. Well, my meditation practice fell off, particularly meditat…

You’ve decided that you would like to paint with watercolors, but it isn’t yet a part of your routine. Let’s see how you can develop a mindful and meaningful practice. Some would call it a habit, but I feel as though that word suggests automation and mindlessness. A habit is an action that occurs without much on…

In meditation, it is common to focus on the breath, which is readily available and serves as an anchor for our overactive and overstimulated minds. In Pali, the language of ancient India, the word for breath is anapana . Specifically, ana refers to the inhalation, and apana refers to the exhalation. Thus, the tw…

During the days leading up to Christmas, I finally went through with a project that I had been teasing to do for over a year: watercolor paintings on ceramic tiles. I figured that they would be nice decorative gifts for my relatives. I took the time to apply three thin, even layers of watercolor ground to the tile…