OCCY 2015...an april challenge from mary!

my challenge this month is from my friend mary. and here's the thing: it wasn't her original challenge. boom...i'm in charge here so we can switch things up, or rather mary can if she wants to. and she did. the rules are that we have no rules.

first, let me tell you about mary and then i'll tell you about the project.

the first time i met mary (yikes, the mid-90s college years), we were visiting in her kitchen and she sat right down on the floor while talking to me. granted, she may have been petting a cat, but it was a vivid - dare i say radical - memory. i'm not giving anything away when i say that mary is older than i am...old enough to be a parent...but when she sat on the floor it was like she was (radically) telling me: "i'm not the adult here, i am the friend here and i SEE you." or at least that's what it communicated to my spirit.


for me that moment was the beginning of our friendship...which blessedly has included some laughing, crying, hugging and swearing over these many years. what a gift.

ok, onto the project: mary's original entry for this month suggested that i make a self-portrait (with glitter) that showed me interacting with the world and with her - ala an older woman/younger woman and the gift of being friends at different ages.

but we've decided to tweak it a bit and make the project into a KITE to honor her friend verna, who recently passed away. mary told me that verna liked the color pink and furry animals, and basially sounded like a fantastic lady. it seems fitting to create a type of "spirit" kite...something that can fly and dazzle and dance and whirl.

so, simply, i'm going to make a kite for mary to fly - to honor verna, but i'm also going to make a kite for myself - to honor mary...who continues to dazzle me!

on a related note, this is the picture that i have above my bed. it's called "kite hill" by paul octavious. i bought it when i was going through a tough time in my life and the scene captured seemed so daring and hopeful and joyous. it appears that kites can be a type of simple magic (i mean really simple, i googled how to make them and most suggest i use a garbage bag!)...yeah, think this is going to be a fun month.

ps. mary is an amazing artist...who always fosters (encourages) artistry in others.
pps. in an example of the wild ride of life, i currently have the pleasure of working for the family business that mary and her husband started many years ago. they are all good juju.