FEBRUARY MUSINGS
- lauri583
- Feb 18, 2021
- 4 min read
Greetings friends!
We're here in the snow in the mountains of New Mexico and it's cold!! I sure hope you are staying warm where ever you may be planted.
I know we've heard it time and time again... almost to the point of being sick of it....but...
It's been almost a whole year since we've been on a stage. Our last on stage show was March 14th 2020. Wow... what a change!
As someone who has lived out a suitcase and motel room or tour bus for their whole adult life it has been something to get used to.
One of the most interesting things I have noticed is that with a consistent schedule and flow to your day, week, month - patterns and thoughts become more obvious. It has really been eyeopening! I knew that I had certain cycles and thought patterns but could never efficiently track them because my days were so all over the place - staying up late one day, driving one day, doing back to back shows - on the road I lost a sense of time and structure. (Not that the days in a global pandemic are any less wobbly in their sense of time!) Being in one place has allowed me the solidity to look at patterns and habits in a more consistent frame. I am, in a way, grateful for this bubble to be able to go in deeper to observe myself and things I want to change or look at without the constant pressure and stress (although all of it useful) of change and travel.
I think when I do hit the road again it will be with fresh energy and a different mindset of how to make that lifestyle fit me better.
I'd love to hear any positive things that you have gained out of this year/cycle/quarantine time!
Onward in friendship,
Lauri
Our recent snowfall in the New Mexico mountains. We got about 9 inches!
FROM THE CAMPUS
Our winter months have been filled with producing new educational entertainment videos for students and educators. We are very excited about our new episodes! We have filmed an MLK episode and a Ruby Bridges episode and are working on our Frederick Douglass episode. Each Series will be hosted on our Artrageous Artreach website (it's not quite done yet so stay tuned for that exciting update) including a Study guide and activities to go along with it. Of course, each episode is done the Artrageous way, with music, song, dance, paint and audience involvement!
It has been a ton of fun learning about these incredible people and the voices that changed history.
Part of the learning process has been to discover how to produce a video, how to story board, how to write a shot list, how to create a shot... directing a film is so different to directing a live performance!
We'll be interested to see what you think of our Master's Series and our Black History Month Series!
Building the set for the MLK episode.
ARTIST OF THE MONTH
Claude Monet
By Nadar - Claude Monet 1899 Nadar.jpg Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8046903
Claude Monet was a French artist born in Paris in the 1840's. He is famous for his paintings of waterlily's and Japanese bridges. Monet went to the Academie, a french school for the arts.
There he studied architectural drawing and disliked it so much that he became so frustrated with the work and having to copy other people's paintings that he jumped off a bridge into the Seine. Pretty dramatic, eh?
Well, he survived that careless act and went on to hang out with other artists like himself who were also frustrated with the style and learning at the Academie. Some of those artists were - Edgar Degas, Renoir and Cezanne!
Monet actually help coin the term Impressionism for the style of art that he created. A group of artists (the above among them!) got together to show their artwork and one of Monet's paintings caught the eye of a critic. He was attracted to the bright colours and the spontaneous looking brushstrokes which hadn't really been seen before. This painting was called Impression, Sunrise. And Impressionism was coined!
Monet ended up going blind in his later life but still continued to painting by feel and memorizing where the colours were on his palette. That's pretty courageous if you ask me!
He loved painting flowers and lilies so much that he created a huge garden in his yard where he flew in flowers from all over the world to create the utter magnificence that was this garden. The garden and the flowers were the subject of many of his paintings. Oh and get this... his garden was so big and lush that he even hired someone to dust his lilies every morning before he would paint them!
Claude Monet, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Things To Do At Home
Mandala making! Learn math and art in one class!
Watch the video below to get a quick and fun tutorial on how to make a mandala.
TOUR DATES
Jones'ing for an Artrageous show?
Check out our upcoming Tour Dates here:
Until next time.
Artfully yours,
Lauri xoxo
Reading these February musings was calming and full of real feelings about art, life, and everyday thoughts. I remember a time when I was trying to Complete my online finance class while also sketching in my notebook for fun, and slowing down to write helped me stay sane. This makes me see that taking little breaks and being kind to yourself matters a lot.
The February musings on the blog are a great reminder to reflect and appreciate the little things. It made me think back to when I was feeling stressed about my assignments and thought about do my online class just to get through it faster. But I quickly realised that sticking with it and managing my time helped me grow more. It’s a reminder that challenges can be tough, but they lead to better skills in the end
The creative energy mentioned in these musings really resonates with me, as I find that my most reflective moments happen during the transition from day to evening. Living in the Pacific Northwest, I often use the calm of the late afternoon to finish my artistic projects just as iftar time seattle approaches. It’s a beautiful way to wrap up a productive day with a sense of peace and gratitude.
I liked the February musings post because it talked about looking at simple things in life and noticing how your mind changes as seasons move on, and it made me slow down and think. In school I once had to use research proposal proofreading and editing to fix up a messy draft, and that helped calm my nerves when I was stuck. Reading this reminded me that small moments of clarity can really matter in busy times.
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