#REVERB12 (Day 21): What items did you tick off your dream list in 2012? CALIFORNIA FRIENDS AND IMPROMPTU ART EXHIBIT!!

MAJOR DREAM ACCOMPLISHED! Visiting former neighbor and friend Kiona in Carpinteria, California, and her bookstore, Curious Cup, for which I designed the logo! See above! (photo by Chiboogamoo)

#REVERB12 (Day 21) PROMPT: What items did you tick off your dream list in 2012? What other, unexpected, dreams came to fruition? What are the top three items on your dream list for 2013?

Hallelujah for sumptuous DREAM FRUITS in our LIVES! 2012 was an awesome year for ticking items (picking DREAM FRUITS) off of my dream list! However, today, I want to write about just one event in which three wonderful ones culminated!

My Chiboogamoo and I traveled to California to visit our longtime friends the Voegelis at the Hastings Reserve in Carmel Valley, which then enabled me to have these three unexpected experiences: 

• Visit a former Decatur, Georgia, neighbor in Carpinteria and see her bookstore, Curious Cup
• Get reacquainted with a close college friend I hadn't seen in 30 years, and
• Give an impromptu art exhibit in California!

ARRIVAL AT CURIOUS CUP! I have been wanting to visit Kiona at her bookstore, Curious Cup, since she opened it two years ago! Hurray! What a beautiful store! (photo by Chiboogamoo) 

#REVERB11: DEEPENING CURIOSITY AND ARTISTRY THROUGH READING

CURIOUS CUP LOGO. Kiona Gross, former Decatur, Georgia, neighbor and friend, requested I make a logo for her bookstore in Carpinteria, California, back in 2010. What emerged from my daily drawing practice were a series of images that were fun and surprising! (all art here copyrighted by Ruth Schowalter, aka Hallelujah Truth)

#REVERB11 PROMPT (December 5): What has been your favorite book (or books) this year? Of course, tell us why! (Carolyn Rubenstein at A Beautiful Ripple Effect)


Hallelujah for BOOKS! Delving into books is like diving into a vast ocean. A dear friend of mine (Kiona Gross) moved to Carpinteria, California to open her own bookstore, CURIOUS CUP (see curious cup on facebook). In October of 2011, Kiona sent me a signed copy of Brian Selznick's new book, Wonderstruck, and I devoured it. Kiona knew how much I had fallen in love with Selznick's first book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Selznick's work speaks to the child in me. His books are told part in beautiful rendered images that make my SOUL gasp! As a language teacher interested in the different cultures that we humans must adapt to, I appreciated Selznick's exploring the convergence of the hearing and deaf cultures. The story is captivating and heart-full! I know that it will be made into a movie just like his first book that is now playing in theaters (Hugo).

CURIOUS CUP AND CARPINTERIA SWIMMER AND BOOK READER. Part of the practice of daily drawing. Kiona and I were working with the idea of a book and a coffee cup. It was fun when we thought that the curious cup might be a tattoo! Fun exploration! I adore collaboration!

Another book for 2011 that I would like to mention is Mark Nepo's The Book of Awakening. My sister-in-law Elizabeth Schowalter recommended that we read the daily passages and share our ideas, possibly engaging in some of Nepo's exercises. Who wouldn't love a book that quoted passages like this one from Paula Underwood Spencer: 


"If you want to be truly understood, you need to say everything three times, in three different ways. Once for each ear...and once for the heart."


I was also inspired to make some artwork from his passage, "The Spoked Wheel." He writes about "the common center from where all life begins" and the spokes that emerge from this center that represent our individuality. (see a previous blog entry to see my artistic response to "The Spoke Wheel.")

CURIOUS CUP BRAINSTORM. The leaves of the book made me think of the famous sculpture,  Winged Victory of Samothrace. Again as process in a daily practice, I let my mind play. Not good. Not bad. Just is. 

The last book I will mention for 2011 is my beloved copy of Katherine Dunn's "Creative Illustration Workshop." I became deeply enamoured with Katherine Dunn's drawing and her relatedness to place, Apifera Farm. In addition to being a huge creative spirit, Dunn cares for donkeys and helps raise money to support castaways. How great is that (For more about my art related to Katherine Dunn, see a previous blog post)!

CURIOUS CUP AND THE SWIMMER CONTINUED. As the idea of a Carpinteria swimmer with a curious cup tattoo developed, I added a book. I envisioned a huge sign for Kiona's business! Kiona gently asked me to make the shoulders smaller, and we both thought it would be cool to add children!

OTHER BOOKS THAT MUST BE MENTIONED: Next to my bed two other significant books live! Lynda Barry generously shares her creative process in such a different and unique way in What Is (2008) and Picture This (2010). Whenever I am feeling puny, these books make me laugh and begin life all over again as an artist devoted to this mantra: not good, not bad, just is!

Finally, there is my Chiboogamoo's book, Life Traces of the Georgia Coast: Unseen lives of the Georgia barrier islands, due to be published in 2012. My brilliant husband and I continue to LIVE this book as we return to the Georgia coast and its barrier islands as frequently as we can. We are both blogging about these Georgia islands, building on the knowledge we acquired during the strenuous years of book writing that Chiboogamoo did. How can a devoted spouse not be impacted by the creative endeavors of the romantic other? (see Chiboogamoo's website and blog and one of the all time favorites of mine!)

A FUTURE CURIOUS CUP LOGO? Pilgrims how fun is the daily process of drawing and seeing what you can discover! I know that the way to surprise yourself is to lend yourself to repetition. Start with what you know and build on what you learn each day! Life is a Journey and so marvelous when each step is taken with Awareness!

DEDICATION: This December 5, 2011, blog entry was done to honor my friendship with Kiona Gross! A good good friend! I know that the town of Carpinteria, California, is truly lucky for having her and her daughter Sid in their village! Happy Birthday Kiona Gross! Thank you for the time spent with me and developing my artistic vision! Your love of the arts and artists is deeply appreciated!

REVERB10: HALLELUJAH FOR the GLORIOUS 2010 MEMORIES!

Hallelujah for MEMORY. Hallelujah for both surface and deep time. Hallelujah for ways of KNOWING and BEING here on this GLORIOUS EARTH. I will not forget the color pink, Chiboogamoo’s 50^th birthday celebration, holding my 16 year-old feline Misha every day and appreciating him in his late years more teddy bear than tooth and claw, and the one solid month of teaching English to extraordinary and dedicated Korean executives at GT.

I want to REMEMBER winter explorations along the Victorian coast of Australia—the pungent woody scent of resin on my hands from grasping shrubs along the cliff face, the pounding ocean hammering the gray Cretaceous rocks along the shore, the utter freedom and playfulness of being with the “boys” on a treasure hunt looking for life traces from 100 million years ago.

Still in Australia, but in Queensland, I want to REMEMBER endless hours of driving on one trackroads in the outback seeing kangaroos hop under scrubby eucalyptus trees as we dodged oncoming mammoth roadtrains. Exploring a culture both on the surface and in deep time. Enjoying “cowboy” towns and their saloons, bush poetry, and XXXX beer. At the same time, imagining the vast ocean that covered this expanse of earth millions of years ago and the large marine animals that lived, died and left their bones to be found by curious sheep musterers.

Back in Atlanta, I want to REMEMBER the good 8 months that we four Spiritual Art Pilgrims intensely interacted with each other through our art, yearning to expand our connection with the GREAT MYSTERY. How we succeeded in BEING present to one another and using our art as vehicles to deepen our understanding.

I want to REMEMBER the JOY I experienced “being” HALLELUJAH and “doing” 15 minutes of creativity EACH DAY—even while I was in Australia! I want to remember collaborating with Cecelia Kane, Lesly Fredman, and Jesse Bathrick to make “Sally” prints on my birthday for Sally Wylde’s memorial parade. And the other collaborative art making with Robey, Sally, Jesse, and Karen and all the senior artmakers at the Clarkston Community Center and Sally’s writing group.

I will REMEMBER last moments with Sally imagining her future pilgrimages and holding Luis’ hand and smoothing the hair over his brow. Sunday brunch to say goodbye to Kiona and Syd as they headed off to California to start their business, Curious Cup. I am thankful for and will REMEMBER the deepening friendships with Judy, Jane, Robey, Cecelia, Jacq Marie, Edna, Jesse, and Karen. And how I sparked new friendships with Lisa, Sylvia, Kimme, Kathe, Mary Jane, and Gal in our Decatur community. I will REMEMBER Trixie, Darlene, Tina, Gale, and Rob connecting with me on Facebook as well as how Facebook brought me back in touch with cousins Karen, Annette, and Paul!

Hallelujah for REVERB10 for giving me the opportunity to REMEMBER and HOLD DEAR those very important events from 2010. MEMORY. Hallelujah for ways of KNOWING and BEING here on this GLORIOUS EARTH. SOUL BLOG with Hallelujah and tell me what you want to REMEMBER from 2010.