Earth Connection

a hopeful sprout!

photo by Rosa Phoenix

This little sprouting plant just emerged 

from the dark depths of the earth, 

and got its first rays of sunshine! 

Doesn't it look like a bird with wings outstretched, ready to fly?

Happy Earth Day!

This year, Earth Day has a special meaning for me. I'm enjoying new ways of connecting with the Earth. 

I've planted a small vegetable garden.

I spent many years in cities, living in apartments where I didn't have access to a backyard or garden. This is the first time I've planted anything in the ground.

The little sprout in the photo above is from a winter squash seed. I'm not sure what type of squash it is, I will just have to wait to find out.

I've considered myself a true city girl for a long time.

This year I felt a strong desire to re-connect with the Earth and plant a garden. I don't know why. Now I wake up early each morning and work in the garden. 

I really have no idea what I am doing.

I planted some things without understanding that I needed to first clear a patch of earth, dig up the soil, take out all the grass and enrich the soil. So, I did some things backwards.

I'm learning as I go along. It's an experiment, and I'm just watching to see what happens.

new life

I truly did not expect to see anything come from the seeds I planted.

Seeing the first sprouts emerge was very surprising!

I am awe-struck by the power of a seed.

How much potential is packed within! Roots and branches and leaves and flowers and fruits containing many more seeds. 

My reasons for planting the garden were to connect with the Earth, to learn how to grow my own food, and to have fresh, organic vegetables and herbs to eat. 

As I cultivate my garden, I am discovering so many small joys and satisfactions along the way.

Digging in the ground to clear my garden patch, I felt my body and muscles becoming stronger.

I felt gratitude for having the power to do this physical work. Visiting the garden center and choosing tools, soils, seeds and plants made me aware of the abundance and diversity that is available to us. I feel so fortunate to have so many choices.  

I choose to celebrate and cultivate life! 

I like to observe the creatures who visit my garden.  

There is a black and white cat (does she know about the catnip seeds I planted?) Bees constantly buzz around the lavender plant. The butterflies drink from the soil just after it has been watered. I saw the most beautiful beetle that looked like a flashing jewel. And a couple days ago, a hummingbird hovered in the mist from my garden hose to drink and take a quick shower.

 Early Girl tomatoes

I am beginning to feel more attuned to the cycles of the earth and the seasons.

By planting seeds, watering them and watching them grow, I'm developing patience, hope and faith.

By composting my kitchen and yard waste, I'm learning how the process of decay enriches new life.

When I'm in the garden I feel relaxed and at peace. 

I feel so blessed to be part of this continuing cycle of Life on Earth,

and to observe the magical transformations that are constantly taking place.

I began this blog two years ago, on Earth Day 2009. I'm happy to share this time on Earth with you! Blessings to you on this Earth Day!

How will you celebrate Earth Day?

Stylish Blog Award

I received a Stylish Blogger Award from Salvatore at Feng Shui Life Mapping. Wow! This is my first ever blog award!

I'm very honored, especially because I really enjoy Feng Shui Life Mapping blog. Lots of great info, not only about the art of placing things within your home, but about living a life of intention and positive direction. Do check it out!

According to the rules of this award, I am to list 7 things about myself. (Hmm, this is hard.)

1.  I wasn't allowed to watch much TV when I was a kid, so I had to invent other ways to be entertained. (Reading, writing, making stuff . . .)

2. I'm very skeptical of people who claim to have all the answers and tell others how life should be lived.

3. My favorite book of all time is the Mahabharata, condensed and translated by William Buck.

4. I love sour candy like lemon drops and Sour Patch Kids.

5. Sometimes when I am outside sketching, birds and other animals will come sit by me.

6. I have never had a cavity or a broken bone. Hope my good luck continues :-)

7. Rainbows make my heart sing!


Now, I get to pass on this award to 15 awesome blogs! (This is hard, because I love all the blogs that I visit, and there are so many of them.) Well, here are 15 that I like, they are all blogs about art, creativity, travel, nature, romance, dreaming, poetry, beauty and magic. You will probably enjoy them too, so please check them out if you have some time : )

1. Spirithelpers

2. The Purple Caravan

3. Quoteflections

4. Alexi Francis

5. Papaya Tree Limited

6. Bethany's Journal

7. Tommy Kane

8. afiori by Maria-Therese

9. Calligraphy in the Landscape

10. TeoStudio

11. Ces and Her Dishes

12. Kayla Coo

13. Lin's Art

14. Malice in Underland

15. Lalipourie




Rules for accepting this award are:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded it to you.
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pay it forward to 15 recently discovered great bloggers.
4. Contact those bloggers and tell them about their Blog Award!

A New Look

painting by Rosa Phoenix

Happy New Year!

It is time for a new look! 


A new look could mean many different things. A clearer vision. A fresh, changed perspective. A different appearance and image. A focus that wasn't there before.

For me, all of these meanings apply.


I got new glasses. As an artist and visual person, it's especially important to make sure my eyes are healthy. With my new specs, I feel I am seeing clearly again, with new eyes! Everything looks clearer, sharper, more true! I am not getting the tension headaches I used to get. Please, get your eyes checked regularly!

I have a new design for my website, www.rosaphoenix.com  I actually made my new site on Blogger. I wanted to make changes easily, and put the focus on my art. Blogger allows me to do this. I can't believe how much work I put into designing and building my old site in HTML, and I definitely could be working smarter, not harder. My new mantra is K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Sweetie) and this is definitely more simple.

I'm excited to announce a new service: writing for artists. This combines my love for art and writing, and my fondness for artists, my kindred spirits. I do all kinds of writing for artists including art essays, artist interviews, press releases, web content . . . whatever helps the artist communicate with collectors and the public!

Please visit www.artistwriting.com for more information.

2010 was an exciting year for me. I launched my business and learned a lot. It was a year of exploration and figuring out how best to focus my energies. I decided to concentrate on creating my own art, and writing for artists.

I will probably be blogging less frequently, and more thoughtfully, in 2011. I hope that I will be able to write more articles about creativity for this blog and 365 just show up, and more art reviews and artist interviews for Artists Up Rising.

Please bear with me, while I'm finding my way. I so appreciate all your kind and supportive comments, as well as the inspiration I get from seeing your art and reading your thoughts. This is really a wonderful experience for me, and while I may know you only "virtually" for me the connection is real and meaningful.

What changes will you be making in 2011?

Happy Holidays!

Tree House

self portrait drawing (felt tip markers on paper)

by Rosa Phoenix

Happy Holidays!

I can't believe it's already the end of 2010! I'm very grateful to connect with you and share art and ideas with you, here in the blogosphere.

I hope for a peaceful holiday season and new year for you, your family and friends.

I have a holiday gift for you: in honor of you and all the good spirits who help me in my life journey, I am donating funds to plant 500 trees in Haiti, with the help of Trees for the Future.

Thanks for sharing your time, energy and art with me in 2010, and I can't wait to connect with you again in 2011!

Warmest wishes,

Rosa Phoenix

Selma Brown's 1960's Art

Selma Brown

San Francisco Artist

It isn't every day that I get a scoop on a newly discovered historical cache of 1960's original San Francisco art!

Selma Brown arrived in San Francisco's Hippie Haight Ashbury District more than 40 years ago, during the "Summer of Love."

She is a San Francisco treasure who has contributed to many of the city's famous murals. 

I've had the good fortune to befriend this lovely artist.

She has taught me a lot about art and life. She continually inspires me with her creativity and productivity. She is always working and experimenting with new techniques and ideas. And I love to visit her in her cozy, colorful apartment that is filled with her art.

Recently she called me with news that she had found a portfolio of paintings in a closet, that she hadn't seen in about 40 years!

Seeing the work filled her with emotion.

She thought these pieces had a freedom and intensity that truly reflected the turbulent 1960's and the spirit of San Francisco.

Of course, I had to interview Selma and feature these works on my blog, Artists Up Rising. 

Click on the link below to get the full story and see the paintings!

Selma Brown's 1960's Art

Water: Blog Action Day 2010

Today is Blog Action Day. This year's topic is Water.


WATER
is
LIFE!

Nothing is more precious!
 

Change.org|Start Petition

365 just show up: Transform Your Life with Color

 photo by Rosa Phoenix

I am guest blogging on 365 just show up. Please click on the link below for "Transform Your Life with Color"

http://365justshowup.blogspot.com/2010/09/transform-your-life-with-color.html

Analog Girl in a Digital World

 Phoenix Fire

digital image by Rosa Phoenix

I grew up in a mostly analog world. 

I was born around the time that the first personal computers were coming onto the scene, although most people didn't have one at that time. 

My family's first computer was a Commodore Vic 20. You couldn't do much with it, except play some primitive video games like Frogger. I learned how to type on a manual typewriter in my dad's medical office.

When I was a kid, I learned BASIC programming. My brother used it to create a picture of the space shuttle, programming it line by line, pixel by pixel, a slow and arduous process.

In high school I created a zine. I printed out the text on the computer, in columns, and literally cut and pasted them into my pages, and I used the photocopy machine to produce some blurry copies.

I learned photography with real film, and we processed the film in a darkroom, with chemicals. You wouldn't see your image until you saw it emerge in the chemical bath, under the eerie red light of the darkroom.

I moved to New York in the 1990's. When I was 18, I took a summer film class and we filmed with 16 mm black and white film. We edited by literally cutting the film with a blade, and splicing the cuts together with tape.

"When we go to digital, everything will change" the instructors were always saying. 

Everyone in the film industry was looking forward to this magical future age, when everything could be changed with the push of a button.

BookBook MacBook case

by Twelve South

I worked for a publishing house for a little while. 

The people there, editors and publishers, also spoke of the coming digital age. 

They weren't looking forward to it. Publishing was already a dying industry. 

They knew these were the last days of print, that e-books would kill the publishing business. They didn't know how much time they had left, but they knew that it wouldn't be long. Soon their jobs would be obsolete.

Everything about the publishing house was agonizingly slow. Stacks of manuscripts were marked with red pencils, and then they were typed all over again with the corrections. Paper was everywhere. 

Going from manuscript, to galley, to published book, to distribution, could take a year.

Unsolicited submissions came in the mail in big mailbags and bins, and were promptly thrown in the garbage.  

These wanna-be authors didn't know how to get their novel in front of the editors. 

They didn't have an agent, they didn't know the editors, they didn't have the right connections. 

No one had the time to read their words and stories.

digital collage by Rosa Phoenix

Now the digital world is here. Our whole world is changing fast.

There is nostalgia, there are things that I love about analog. 

I prefer the tactile pleasures of painting with paint and brush, to making digital art on the computer. 

But I love my computer too. I love the creative programs like PhotoShop and Illustrator, with its layers, the Undo button, changes that can be made with the click of a button. To me it's magic.

I love books and print, but I don't miss the cultural gatekeepers who determined which stories would be told and shared with the world, and which would never see the light of day.

fire girl image by MISHA
digital collage by Rosa Phoenix

I love self-publishing on my blog and my website.  

I love the democratization of expression that the digital age makes possible. 

 I love reaching people all around the world, who I would never get to meet in person, and share my art and ideas with them. 

I love not having to go through the middlemen--the agents, the editors, the cultural gatekeepers, who have to look out for the bottom line and ask the question "will it sell?" 

That isn't a concern that I have.

I know now that I've been waiting for this day to come, all my life.  

I was born in an analog world, and I am also a part of the digital revolution. 

I love to use my hands and heart to create, and I also love my computer, which is another creative tool, that also allows me to reach the wider world.

P.S. the title of this blog post comes from a song by the fabulous Erykah Badu, who has embraced digital media.

New Blog! Cole Valley Art Blog

Cole Valley House by Rosa Phoenix

I made a new blog! It's a blog for the artists of Cole Valley (my neighborhood in San Francisco). Cole Valley seems to be a magnet for artists and creative people. So I thought that a blog would be a nice way to showcase the wonderful work that is made right in our local area.

Check it out, and more artwork coming soon!

http://www.colevalleyart.blogspot.com/

365 just show up: How to find your Muse

Burst of Blue

painting by Rosa Phoenix

I'm guest blogging on 365 just show up. It's a new blog about the creative practice.

Maybe some of you also follow Audrey Low, who has the fabulous blogs Papaya Tree Limited and Wildhoop Productions. Audrey created 365 just show up to encourage people on the creative journey. (Audrey creates a lot of fascinating work herself, as an ethnographer, writer, photographer and documentary filmmaker!)

Click on the link below to read my post, How to find your Muse:

http://365justshowup.blogspot.com/2010/08/how-to-find-your-muse.html

Bethany Vanderputten's "Expressive Art to Capture the Heart"

Bethany Vanderputten in her San Francisco art studio

photo by Rosa Phoenix

I'm excited to announce Bethany Vanderputten's upcoming art show, opening on July 1 at Gallery 688 in San Francisco!

They say a picture says a thousand words. Bethany Vanderputten's naturalistic acrylic paintings go deeper than words. They are explorations of the inner and outer world.

Bethany's paintings glow softly with luminous colors, expressive brushwork and textures that hint at layers of multiple meanings.

Ideas and emotions seem to drift fluidly just beneath the surface. Experiencing these paintings, we travel back and forth across the border of what is real and what is imagined, dreamed, or felt emotionally.

Bethany's art is inspired by her love of travel and adventure, music (she sings and plays piano), heroic stories and quotations from literature and poetry.

Bethany was kind enough to let me interview her in her San Francisco art studio. This interview is on my other blog, Artists Up Rising.

Click here for the interview with artist Bethany Vanderputten, see examples of her art and get the full details of her upcomiing art show in San Francisco.

I'm an Urban Sketcher!

pen and ink sketch by Rosa Phoenix

I'm now a member of Urban Sketchers! If you have been following my blog you know I have mentioned this site before. There are so many terrific artists on this site, who all enjoy sketching the world around them.

Urban Sketchers members list is arranged by country and then city, with links to the artists' blogs or flickr pages. So, people who want to look at San Francisco sketches will be able to find my work.

Check it out, you'll see the best sketches!

Urban Sketchers

I'm a Featured Artist of the Northern California Graphic Artists Guild

Graphic Artists Guild

I joined the Graphic Artists Guild. It's a professional organization of graphic artists and designers. I went to the meeting for the Northern California chapter, and met some really cool people: graphic designers, web designers, photographers, cartoonists and illustrators.

I'm the newest featured artist on the website! There is a bio, some artwork, see for yourself.

Northern California Graphic Artists Guild Featured Artist

My Etsy Shop Is Open!

World Mother Greeting Cards

by Rosa Phoenix

I opened an Etsy shop! If you don't know about Etsy, please check it out! It is a great marketplace for artists and craftspeople, who are selling mostly handmade, original artworks and products.

The very first item for sale is a set of 8 blank greeting cards and envelopes printed with the image of  "World Mother." Affordable art, you can save one to put in a frame, and give away the others.
 

This is my original painting that debuted at my 2008 Earth Day Art Show. That show was a milestone for me. It was my first art show, and we raised money for Trees for the Future to plant 1,000 trees. In 2009, for Earth Day, "World Mother" was also my very first blog post. So, for Earth Day 2010, "World Mother" makes her debut on Etsy!

There are so many reasons to support artists. The Earth is one reason.

Just say NO! to factory-produced, mass-market garbage! Many of the artists on Etsy re-use, recycle and re-purpose materials that would otherwise go to the landfill. Instead of creating trash, they create treasures.

LINKS

Rosa Phoenix Shop on Etsy

Etsy

Trees for the Future

Enlightening Links

photo by Warwick Lister-Kaye

We're all spiders weaving this World Wide Web, connecting our thoughts, ideas, experiences. We're casting our threads of silk out into space, and they connect with other threads, becoming nets and pathways. We're all connected.

I learn a lot from other people. The World Wide Web has been a great source of inspiration and information. A couple of years ago, I made a choice to try to live a more healthy, conscious, creative, productive life. Luckily, there are a lot of great spirits shining their light, generously sharing their knowledge and ideas.

2009 has been important to me in terms of this connection. This year I established my web presence through this blog. I've also created another blog of my writing and art reviews, Rosa Phoenix Words On Art. Soon, these blogs will be linked up to my main website, www.rosaphoenix.com. I look forward to sharing the highlights of my creative journey with you in 2010 and beyond!

My year-end gift to you is this list of links. Note that these sites are in addition to all the great blogs I'm following, which you can see in my profile. I will continue to update this list as I find more great stuff. From now on I will keep a link to this post on the front page of my blog, under the archives.

Enlightening Links:

Ideas + News:

Ted.com

Refdesk

Tools for Creating New Ideas



Design + Architecture:

Eugene Tsui

Inhabitat

Web Urbanist 

Toxel


Artists:

Joanne Mattera Art Blog

KQED Spark

Daily Art Muse

Make Zine

Artists Who Blog

Nate Williams' methodology for creating new ideas



Helping the Earth:

Trees for the Future



My Friends:

Ear Candle Productions Sounds of San Francisco

Chad Cameron Illustrator

Lotus Pie Jewelry + Art Marketplace

Rio Vista Graphics

www.coloraday.com