Recipe for Creation #1...the results are in!

If you are new to this project be sure to click on the first blog to see how this all manifested itself and the goals of "Recipe for Creation" collaboration.
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Recipe #1: Blue Election Dream Fricassee

Ingredients:

a smattering of election ballot or other political paraphernalia
a dash of electric blue
a hand-stitched image
a word or image from a dream

Directions:

1) Begin with a dream you remember vividly. Choose some dreamy music and warm up by dancing out your memory of the dream. You can dance out the roles of the different characters, the action that took place, or just the overall feeling of it. Do this blindfolded.
2) Choose something from your dream dance that stood out to you. It can be a word, a sensation, a person, a scene… Whatever! This is your starting point.
3) Tear up some newspapers from election week. Tear for the sheer pleasure of tearing! Take a couple of scraps from your mess, or use your absentee ballot, or other political paraphernalia and add it to the mix.
4) Go wild choosing blues, wielding your needle and throwing in whatever else strikes your fancy. Don't think too much. Work quickly, freely and most importantly, have fun!

MY RESULTS
Recipe #1 was a hard exercise of abandonment. So much so I was almost paralyzed from beginning the exercise despite an obvious side of me that desperately wants to do more free-style art.

What emerged was a sinking feeling that in doing this project I would come up empty, that I am void of spontaneity due to a world where I feel compelled to constantly be calculating.

Despite my fears and armed with a sliver of hope I didn’t let my doubts stop me. I took the plunge and put on Ulrich Strauss and went into the space of dreamland.

First off let me say that I am a heavy dreamer. In fact, I feel I dream too much sometimes so I don’t feel rested. On the day I began the process I had several dreams that had left impressions on me, but I decided to go with the one I felt most strongly in my body. I had a dream where I was delving into a vagina. I feel a bit shy putting this out for the whole world to see but I hope it will resonate with other females when I say that the vagina is the core of my femininity and place of great mystery. And recently the vagina represents to me the courage I finally have found to and dive into the dark, unknown places of my soul that scare me.

The first image here is my first mangled creation. I found it to be repulsive, sloppy and meaningless. It was a struggle to enjoy what my hands were creating. After a while however, I found some joy in the motions of the work and found a fabric and a technique that resonated with the inner voice trying to be expressed. Then I moved onto a new piece as seen in the second picture titled “Worthiness of Yuck”.

Throughout the process as I tied up bits of ballots with string and sewed in dashes of electric blue I found it challenging to keep from judging myself and what I was doing.

Recipe #1 made it very clear that I am very attached to making attractive things. Most of my life has been spent creating beauty around me, and even my personality clings to the identity of being constantly optimistic and happy.

This past six months I am finally ready to explore my raw sides, the ugliness and the mess. As an artist I think I validate my path by assuring myself that I am adding beauty to the world and serves a purpose. A voice whispers to me, “if it isn’t lovely…then what purpose does it serve?”

It is clear to me now that the repression of the unproductive and ugly side has served to dampen my full range of expression. Now, upon reflecting on my scrappy-vaginal doily I feel content and pleased with it. Let it be a reminder to me of that beauty has many faces expresses itself in unknown and sometimes unattractive ways.
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So that's the tale, on my end, behind the completion of Recipe #1. To read about Ahna's experience of working on this first project, please click here. Thanks for following along, and please do drop us a line if you have an idea for some ingredients to go into our next recipe, or if you have created your own version of this one.

Save the World, Follow Your Dreams!

Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go and do that. Because what the world needs are people who have come alive. -- Howard Thurman

Isn't it funny when life throws you little curve balls to test your convictions and reasons for doing your chosen profession? It just happened to me, and although I had a completely different direction I was going to take this week's blog, this is on the forefront of my mind and it is important for me to share my experience as a creative person/entrepreneur but also a world citizen.

I watched a movie this week called Zeitgeist. You can watch it online and after two friends sent it to me I decided to finally give it a look.

I am still recovering.

To explain what I mean, my friend Brandon summed it up nicely by saying, "It makes The Matrix, Fahrenheit 9/11, Fahrenheit 451, 1984, Brave New World, V for Vendetta, The Island, et al seem like watered down Sunday morning cartoons. Tells an interesting story connecting religion, finance, politics and war. Enter at your own risk. "

He was definitely right about the risk. This film paints such a profound sense of corruption and foul intentions that are at the bottom of our culture that I was left feeling utter despair.

I was left coming to terms with the notion that a powerful business/media/government elite were complicit in brainwashing the country into a state of fear in order to promote war abroad and destroy civil liberties at home. The movie provided a sweeping new take on the reality of so much that has gone wrong in our country in this new century. And with awareness, I had to ask a question about my own responsibility. How can I just sit here with the information I hold & watch everything going on today? How dare I create fashion when I could be out in the streets educating and mobilizing our communities? I felt selfish for even having the desire to create my art, my passion.

But that's just it. Society may be corrupt, scandalous and greedy. There are so many pressures on all of us to fall into line, to work in soul-crushing 9-5 jobs, to dutifully shut up, consume and be content. My hat goes off to those folks that this schedule and lifestyle works for, but it's not for me.

They say the personal is political and when I found a paradigm that fit my social, political and artistic desires, it felt right. Vagadu is my dream. And I am going for it. Doing Vagadu for me is positive change. As a citizen I recycle, compost, go to thrift stores,....so my company recycles and creates beautiful clothing from the excesses of consumerism. The events celebrate local artists, and embrace them in a form that allows outsiders to experience their art through different mediums and senses. Vagadu is not just clothing, it is an experience and a community builder. And although it maybe a fun experience, it is NOT entertainment. Television has brought a lot of good in the world however, it has taught us to always seek out entertainment, that allows us to sit back and watch. Passive. Not Vagadu-- art is bi-directional. You take part. You wear it. You hear it, eat it. You will be inspired to make your own. It is a celebration of creativity, art and the belief that the world is good and that people are good.

Movies like Zeitgeist are important and useful tools to get people thinking outside the box. And although I don't agree with everything in it, or even it's approach, it is definately worth watching. However, for me, its message is too dark and actually leaves me with the same feelings I get after watching local evening news....cynical, paranoid and ineffectual. I believe if we all focused more attention on the good, the beauty of the planet and our species, that love not fear, would inspire us into action. We all have gifts to share with the world, but few of us take a chance, dare to fail, dare to shine, to live the life we always wanted.

I may not be Cindy Sheehan or Al Gore in my way of contributing to society, but I am so happy doing what I do, and it is contagious. Wouldn't it be revolutionary to live in a world where everyone woke up in morning completely excited to go to work? Every person felt realized that they were living their passion? It would be another planet.

So there you have it. A simplified idea of salvation, but for me, Vagadu allows me to give back. It's ironic when I say that because Vagadu is also my mother's name. So, just like my mother gave me life, Vagadu sustains my soul.