I Wanna Fly Away. Yeah, yeah, yeah...

Since I have moved to Southern California, I have found MeetUp groups to be the way to meet new people with similar interests. I have found some great friends through two such groups and for two nights in a row I got to create side-by-side with my friends who were also creating. It is really a joy to share the same creative space, yet our creations may or may not be so much alike. 

Tonight's MeetUp group is called ReMakin it in SoCal. As you can tell by the name, we do our best to re-use, recycle and repurpose items that may otherwise clog up landfills. We have created some interesting projects! Now that my mind is focused on the three R's of this group, my creative side has started looking at discards with new eyes.

We like to use wine bottles, toilet paper rolls, scrap wooden blinds and Plarn (plastic yarn! check it out!) in our projects and prefer to use things we already have instead of purchasing all of our supplies. I love this group and the friendships we have created are certainly a bonus. Tonight's meeting was fun to share ideas for where our group is headed and I am happy to say I will be teaching some of the upcoming sessions.

Speaking of a bonus, I have posted two pieces today.

The first is "Fly".

There are many reasons why we fly; we visit relatives, go on vacation or take business trips. In this case, it's more symbolic as I just feel free lately. My vacation dreams for the past few nights involve the prospect of flying, but my real life catches me flying into a life I could have only imagined.

The green hills and blue sky comfort me and show me such beauty while I walk the pooches. I take the time to notice the crows and fun tree shapes. Today, I just wanted to capture a feeling of freedom for me, but also a concept of flying from pain where some I know are hurting this week. I only hope their pain will fly away so they can be comforted and free again.

The second piece, "For Catherine", is a page from an old German dictionary painted with FaberCastell gelatos and black marker. Yes, we pull apart books that have been trashed and repurpose their pages into something more interesting and fun, and I really enjoy imagining the ways we can change ordinary things. Having learned German in high school, I know the word for "female artist" is "Kunstlerin", so I found it in the dictionary and tore the page out. As you can see in the lower right corner, I've circled "Kunstlerin". Although she doesn't think of herself as such, she is truly an artist who can re-imagine purposes for discarded objects as well as bring a group of people together with a common cause.

I am thankful for my new friends and for all we can accomplish together.