Should I Continue to Blog or Not?

I've been wondering if I should keep this blog up.  Now with all these other social media platforms, it feels a little redundant.  But, I also like it as a slice of my brain from time to time.  So here's at least one more entry.

The election.  I don't really want to talk about it, but to say that it has given me a renewed energy that is surprising.  An energy to create and express and share.  An energy to not procrastinate but to move and activate, engage with others and put my own doubts and despair aside.  I wonder how long this will last...

Here are a few photos of things I have been working on.   As usual, there are cards being made.

In September, I participated again in the Luna Park Chalk Festival.  This year's theme was inspired by our residency at Lotus Preschool.  I loved working with those kids, ages 3-5.  They are so open and lovely.  And funny!

I painted this the day after the election.  "Peace and Love Fish."  Swimming upstream together, against the tide.  I wanted to wash away the connotations of blue and red.  I love blue and red.

And the painting urge continued to make this Taiko Garden.  The night after the election, I had to go to the studio to play taiko.  I imagined how the founders of San Jose Taiko felt when they started the group, to do something.  To make something beautiful to express all these feelings.

We have to get to know each other better in order for things to happen, but you can't get to know me if I stay quiet.

Why I Make Cards

Almost 8 years ago, I wrote a post on "Why I Make Art."  I've been promising myself I'd write a follow-up with more about how I got this obsession of making cards.  Well here we are.

When I was young, our family did not have a lot of money.  That meant that we did not have a lot of toys.  In fact, most things were shared between my sister and myself.  We had a few of our own things like dolls or stuffed animals but we also had things we shared with my brother.  Sometimes we would play a game we made up called "Time's Up" where we would crouch over a catalogue and someone would say, "One, two, three, time's up!" and we would point to the thing on the page we liked best.  We would start at the beginning of the catalogue and go through all the sections including housewares, clothing, jewelry, etc.

Anyway, having things was something I learned to not expect.

One of my prized possessions was a stationery set that I inherited from someplace - I think the daughter of my mother's friend.  In a folded plastic case, she had been collecting different kinds of Japanese notepaper and envelopes, bearing images like Hello Kitty and other cute Japanese cartoon characters.  I don't remember writing many notes but I do remember looking in my folder a lot, just admiring the paper and the envelopes especially.

Sometimes, my mom would have to kick us out of the living room onto the porch or upstairs because she taught piano lessons.  I remember her giving us some paper and a small bowl of rice and saying, "Make something."  The rice was sticky, it was good as glue.  So my sister and I would make envelopes to add to the collection.  Envelopes of different sizes, made from different types of paper.  Today, I can still make envelopes very quickly but I don't use rice anymore.

Envelopes recently whipped up for giving gifts in.

I think the card-making came after the envelope-making because I needed something to do with the envelopes that I was making.

Card and envelope made around 2001.

I never bought materials for making cards.  They were always made from things I found around the house.  This is how my mother did things.  This is how I still mostly do things...

Cards made for SJT event for my song "Wabisabi Wagamama."

Making things has always been a compulsion.  Collecting papers also.  Looking at my fine and interesting papers makes me feel rich in possessions.  Even the tiniest of pieces.

Creative Energy

I stumbled across this article on the internet, about the paradoxical traits of creative people.  I very much relate to these traits, especially this one:

Creative people have a great deal of physical energy, but they're also often quiet and at rest.

In the flurry of busyness leading up to a huge concert this weekend, I find myself working on cards.  I enjoy looking at the stamps as mini artworks and thinking about their journey on a letter, from Japan to someone here.  From that person who carefully kept them and gave them to me, and from me to someone else buying the cards to yet another person.  They may take one short look and toss in the recycling or keep it in a box, who knows?  That part doesn't bother me.  I just like the idea of the creative energy that is released into the universe.

Cards Cards Cards Cards Cards

Winter.  Time to keep busy and stay warm.

Why I haven't posted in 3 months...

Unpainted utility box at the corner of 7th and Taylor Streets in San Jose.  Soon to become part of the SJ Art Box Project.

Maneki Neko, Taiko style.

After the first day of painting.

Koi fish.

Well, this is part of the reason.  Also, I've been madly making cards!

Since I last blogged, I've made 612 cards.  Do I tire of it?  I still can't wait to get back to my desk to get back to cutting and pasting and rummaging through papers and fabrics.

Something I wrote down a few months ago:

"What do you do when you have a piece of material that you think is ugly?  What do you do with a piece of paper that has scribbles or rips on it?  What do you do with something that is cheap or old?"

This is the game I play with myself when making cards - how do I make these things part of the composition?  And manipulate my eyes to make something I want to throw away, into part of something I want to share?