REDONDOWRITER'S SACRED ORDINARY

Too Bright to Hear, Too Loud to See by Juliann Garey

I just finished reading "Too Bright to Hear, Too Loud To See," a first novel by Juliann Garey. It is a harrowing read about a brilliant man with bipolar disorder, a Hollywood mogul-type named Greyson Todd, who hid behind his illness for 20 years before totally going off the rails. The novel intricately weaves together three timelines: the story of Greyson's travels (Rome, Israel, Santiago, Thailand, Uganda); the progressive unraveling of his own father seen through Greyson's eyes as a child; and the intimacies and estrangements of his marriage. It's a very unique way to write a book, but it totally works. 

I had never heard of Juliann Garey before, but when I was reading the book, which is incredibly suspenseful and often raunchy enough to make me groan with disgust, I knew Garey had to have had personal knowledge of bipolar disease. I waited to Google until I had finished the book; I didn't want that knowledge to affect the reading experience. I read a LOT for three nights as I was working during the day. I was born in Los Angeles and she wrote those parts so purely that I actually thought I was there. The same with New York City. In the 10 years Greyson Todd roams the world to places I've never been, I sure as heck felt I'd been there now, but not as a regular tourist, but in the body of a tortured man. By the way, I'm always impressed with writers who can successfully write in the opposite gender. She pulled it off sublimely.

The first article I hit was Salon.com's "Going Off Meds to Write my Book," and yes, Juliann Garey has a very intimate knowledge of the disease. She has lived with it all her life and there is a strong genetic component. 

The next article I hit was Los Angeles Magazine's "Four Questions of Juliann Garey." 

All I can say is that I rate this book very highly, uncomfortable as it often was to read. Garey is an excellent writer and I strongly identified with all his characters. 

Read it if you have the courage to frequently be uncomfortable. It probably helps that I've had close friends with bipolar disease and friends whose now adult children have it. Thank God science has brought powerful medications and treatments to those who suffer, but--the meds apparently have dulled even Garey. 

If you do read this book, I'd love to have your feedback. By the way, I read about this book in The Los Angeles Times and waited only a few weeks on the list at the Palos Verdes Peninsula Library District to check it out. I always love to give my local libraries credit. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sophia the Art Mannikin: Partying Before Mardi Gras

My poor Sophia, so neglected, my dear fashion inspiration, an older woman's version of a giant doll. When I am old--I will dress an art mannikin! And believe me, I'm old. She finally got out of her Christmas outfit last week and here she is in a sparkly turquoise dress with a flapper headband. 

That's actually my own faux fur and my own vintage necklace and pin on her headband. In fact, the pin was my grandmother's and the necklace was given to me by a boyfriend when I was 18 years old. 

Sophia stands near the area that sprung a ceiling leak a few weeks back. It wasn't rain, but a copper pipe that got a significant leak. The plumber had to open a large chunk of the ceiling, repair the pipes, and then a contractor came in and repaired the ceiling--and a few other places in the house that had significant dings. 

Sopia said she was grateful she didn't get all wet. Wasn't there a witch in some story who disappeared when she got wet? Wizard of Oz witch? Damn, my memory is poor these days. 

Still in a very high learning curve with Polyvore but how fun that has been to become part of that community. I have discovered that I can use some of my collages in my regular art and in my art journals. Because I am concerned about copyright issues, I have also been using images that are public domain. 

And here's a close-up of beautiful Sophia. And yes, her arms do get tired. And what I wouldn't give to fit into her size 6 dress--and I did once fit into that size. 

Here's a close-up of her lovely face.

 

An F--- Word Story I Can't Get Off My Mind

First of all, though I rarely use the F word in regular conversation myself, I am not shocked when it is used in people's stories, writing, in film, etc.  It's such a common word in our languages now. I do think, however, that it is often overused. I'll admit that when I am really angry, I have used it--and sometimes imprudently. When our young children and grandchildren are acting out I often hear the term, "Use your words," to explain how they are really feeling. The F word seems a substitute for anger, but when a woman of a certain age, like me, uses it, it probably is a little shocking. To me it's so darned vulgar. 

Sometimes its use can be downright funny, I'll admit. I love to read the Facebook page for "I Fucking Love Science." Paired with science, it always makes me smile. 

But, I was deeply disturbed to see it used visually recently. In fact, I can't get the incident out of my mind; it has struck the very core of me. I was waiting in Little Company of Mary's diagnostic center recently to be checked in for an echocardiagram and a young man was checking in with his back to me. I was so taken aback to see the word in bright, bold, red letters against his black shirt, that I got out my iPhone and silently took a photo so I could muse later on why it disturbed me so. 

Another young man was sitting nearby and he grinned at me when I snapped the photo. This is some of what flashed through my mind. Life is so extremely precious to me and his shirt seemed so irreverant given we were sitting inside a hospital where life and death issues were going on all around us. When I was in my early 30s, I battled a severe depression and at that time I began to question whether life was worth living--only I didn't wear a shirt expressing my despair, I simply went inward and kept it hidden. Fortunately, I was treated for that depression and it lifted although I have carried mild depression my entire life. The older I get, the more precious life becomes. Not only have I fought death down more than a few times, I have seen life wind down for so many of my family and friends. Even in the worst of times, they wanted to LIVE. 

I'm making too much of this. The man was obviously there for some diagnostic testing himself and maybe his life had turned to shit. Maybe he was expressing his anger through that shirt. Being a writer/journalist, I wrote all kinds of scenarios in my head. I tend to overanalyze things. But, you know what? Probably someone gave the shirt to him as a gift and that was the one that he put on that morning because it was the top one in his drawer--nothing more. 

But, with all this "stuff" going around in my head then--and since--I have repeatedly whispered gratitude to God for my precious life and whoever he is, I have prayed for him to realize what a precious life he has, too. Seeing him was a mini-wake up call, perhaps just for me. 

How does all this strike you? 

 

Polyvore No. 4 - Yesterday and Today

This is my fourth collage on Polyvore and I cross posted to Pinterest, Facebook and Tumblr. The interesting thing about creating Polyvore digital collages is that it has vastly improved my art journal and general collage techniques. I'm really beginning to understand the concept of layering, I think. I'm now going back to re-learn the Photoshop class I took a few years ago with Marie Otero, Lost Aussie.  

Rain Treaux, a long-time blogging buddy of mine at Rainy Day Thoughts, brought up very some very interesting comments yesterday regarding copyright and the rapidly-expanding social media sites where artists and photographers post their work--and, of course, don't want us copying it, not even a tiny portion of it. There are multiple warnings on the Internet about copyright, including one I posted in my comments yesterday in reply to Rain's concerns. But, she referred me to an EBSQ site about infringement regarding Polyvore and other social media sites. If you are interested, it is very enlightening. Many sites do not allow the Polyvore clipper tool which I am all for.

I often post SoulCollage cards, art journal pages an collage I make here as well and, technically speaking, copyright also applies to these kinds of collages. I do not do any of this for sale and use only public domain images in the few pieces I do sell. I do not intend to curtail my own creative endeavors because of the sheer pleasure I get in creating art the way I do, I must admit. I think I would probably have gone stark, raving mad long ago if it wasn't for my writing and art. But, I am totally looking at my creations more cautiously thanks to the issues Rain, who is a working writer and artist, brings up. Fortunately, I have a sizeable archive of public domain art stored in my computer so I will be drawing from this more and less from social media sites. I also use a lot of my own photography and art. Since I don't make my living with blogging or art, I have no issues with others clipping from my own personal pins on the blog or Pinterest. 

Wow, can you imagine the fields of law that have opened up because of the Internet? Hey, I'm having fun here, not trying to infringe on anyone else's creations. I hope you'll continue to enjoy this non-artist's creative endeavors as much as I enjoy creating them. 

Polyvore: The Woman Who Reads

The book lover in me, and the library volunteer that I am, prompted me to create this collage on Polyvore. A lot of sites (and I fully understand) won't allow images to be imported into Polyvore to be used in our creations, but I know there are work-arounds I haven't figured out yet. 

Have any of you tried Polyvore yet? 

Polyvore: Lady in Red or Anastasia of the Steppes

Playing with Polyvore a little more tonight and did manage to figure out how to import items and images from other sites, but not from my own stash of photos. I guess I have to put them in a photo sharing program first, or on Pinterest. 

I call this Lady in Red and I think her name is Anastasia of the Steppes. You'll have to analyze me to find out why. 

Redondowriter's Femmage No. 1 with Polyvore

How can I ever thank Meri Magic enough for sharing her Polyvore creations with me, patiently e-mailing how Polyvore works and how to gather items to make a collage. I first saw Meri's collages at Rebecca's Recuerda mi Corazon and though I use PhotoShop and could make collages there, this appeared simpler. Polyvore was created as a place to post and sell fashion, but it has morped into many things including a lucious playground for digital artist folks. 

A blogger at Wikia says, "So what s Polyvore? It is the greatest website ever. Polyvore is a very easy-to-use web-based application that allows its users to mix and match pictures from all over the web to create very creative, unique, stylish and artistic sets. It is a lively community for creative people.

It doesn't have to be a set, on fashion, it could be artistic portraits. It could be anything. Polyvore is the place, where creative and stylish minds get to share their style with others all around the world."

If you like doing art and want to horse around with digital art without having PhotoShop or PhotoShop Elements, Polyvore is intuitive for people who are accustomed to using content management systems. Be sure to check out Meri Magic's Polyvore galleries at Pinterest. 

Though I don't spend a lot of time on Pinterest, I am adding a Polyvore gallery at my own Redondowriter's Pinterest. 

 

 

Haiku My Heart Friday: Amaryllis

One of Fran aka Redondowriter's Christmas customs is to force a red amaryllis to bloom each year inside the house around Christmas. This beauty is from the local Trader Joe's and she's magnificent. There's another whole bud opening on the opposite side which will probably be a little smaller than this one. Talk about sacred ordinary. 

Amaryllis fire

Red Lion-like each Christmas 

Blessedly blooms sacred.

Be sure to stop by Rebecca's Recuerda mi Corazon for the Friday gathering of haiku writers. 

Sophia the Art Mannikin: Goodbye Christmas!

Poor Sophia, the art mannikin. She got dressed early for Christmas and has stayed in the same outfit ever since. Did you think I had forgotten about her? Not yet, but I am selling her sister soon. How bad is that?

She is wearing a long black and red Mexican folk art vest that I usually wear at Christmas myself, but I really had nowhere to wear it this year. My friend Linda, now in Colorado, and I bought these vests in San Diego's Old Town ages ago. I wonder if Linda still has hers? 

How I wish I had Sophia's big sexy lips and she says she has had no augmentation or work done. My youngest son and his family entertained for Christmas, so no one got to see her except for my gal pals who came over for cocktails. So--my adult grandson Anthony didn't have to throw a blanket over her. She freaks him out!

Art Journal: Images of Amaria I

Finally--I got around to creating a few art journal pages. In my organizing/clean-up mode, I back-burnered the art journals during December. 

One of the things I did recently was sort, discard, keep and catalog all my art-related books. I was shocked to see how many I had. The one I'm currently enjoying was a Christmas gift: Traci Bautista's Doodles Unleashed.  I donated several to the Malaga Cove Library used book sale today. 

What I always enjoy are the variety of styles all the different pros use. A dabbler myself, I pick up what I can and am finally becoming pretty comfortable with process and final outcome. 

This is the first of a series I call Amaria. Amaria is an inner wisdom guide who came to me in my journal retreat work more than 30 years ago during an Ira Progoff' National Intensive Journal workshop. She has long been one of my journal, and now art, muses. This image is the same one I used on my Christmas cards this year.