FLORA ROSEFSKY BREATHING ART AND EXPRESSING THE PRECIOUSNESS OF LIFE: SPIRITUAL ART PILGRIM INTERVIEW #5

FLORA'S HANDS. Flora frames the "Shin," a symbol signifying God, on her piece, "Divide the Waters." 

Hallelujah for the SPIRIT! Hallelujah for ART! Hallelujah for those who express their JOURNEY of the HEART in SPIRITUAL ART! In the middle of May, I had the good fortune to interview Flora Rosefsky (see her amazingly rich website) at her studio in Sycamore Place Gallery, Decatur, Georgia, USA. Surrounded by Flora’s old and new, small and large, original and reproductions was intensely pleasurable for me. We joyously discussed her fruitful SPIRITUAL ART PILGRIMAGE for my fifth SAP interview for my blog COFFEE WITH HALLELUJAH!

Flora Rosefsky in her studio at Sycamore Place Gallery, Decatur, Georgia, USA

HALLELUJAH: Give me your personal definition of ART.

FLORA: Being imaginative and creative in a way to express ideas and feelings in a visual way, including music, poetry and theatre. Art is a very powerful energy.

I don’t separate art as a subject. It is like who I am and is a part of me. I see things visually. If you tell me directions to get somewhere, I have to make a map. If I attend a lecture, I have to write it down.

HALLELUJAH: What is SPIRITUALITY to you?

FLORA: I like the word spirituality because it covers more than just religion. Spirituality beautifies and gives another level of appreciation to an every day moment. It is a kind of sensitivity that raises experience up a notch. Every day, I see something new and different. Spirituality is not equal to religion; it is more of a philosophy.

HALLELUJAH: What is RELIGION?

FLORA: In the Jewish religion, you are born into a particular “tradition.” Hindus are born into a caste. But there is a kind of randomness. Religions allow people to convert, or I could have been raised Catholic. But because I was born a Jewish person, we are people of the Book. Because there is so much emphasis on the Word, Judaism is a religion that is very fluid. Ask three questions, get 4 answers, and get three more questions.

I believe in interfaith. I meet with women from different religions at Rock Spring Presbyterian Church. We attend lectures on faith, read books, and go on field trips to mosques and Hindu temples.

Instead of saying we should tolerate each other, I say we should appreciate each other. I don’t force my religion onto others or say that Judaism is “the” way. I appreciate knowing other ways and being kind to others. Considering the turmoil and unrest in the world, we need to have more interfaith dialogues and find out the positive about each other’s religion.

HALLELUJAH: How do your spirituality and religion fit together?

FLORA: Well in my earlier work, my religion became the source of the subject matter. It was very basic about the holidays and how I celebrate them with my family. It was personal.

PASSOVER. Here in marker and pen on paper, Flora Rosefsky depicts the Passover seder. At this time, family and friends gather around the table to eat symbolic foods and retell the story of The Exodus. Flora has created 12 folk art drawings showing traditional Jewish Life-cycle events, festivals, and holidays. This image actually depicts her family and friends using their family dishes. Flora is seated on the right at the end of the table. See her other traditional drawings at this link.

JEWISH WEDDING. Dancing to the Hora, family and friends hoist the bride and groom up on two chairs while they hold onto a handkerchief. Again, Flora depicts a personal scene from her life. This shows her daughter's wedding. The handkerchief is based on a real one with its own fascinating story.

Then I started using parts of the “text.” At that time, the Torah was not illuminated to the extent it is today. I could be doing the interpretation of my religion and text forever.

LET THERE BE LIGHT. “According to many scientists, the beginning of our universe was created billions of years ago. In a more literary and metaphorical sense, according to the sacred text of Torah, we are led to believe that the beginning of our world came about with the story of creation. On the first ‘day’ God created light from a severe and totally black void.” Flora Rosefsky’s explanation of this piece on her website, which is exceptionally well written and is a wonderful destination for any Spiritual Art Pilgrim.

The spirituality part is taking something to another level.

HALLELUJAH: What is that “something”?

FLORA: Well, my son would always ask, “What is the meaning of life?” There is a lot of mystery in life. For example, why do bad things happen to people, why are we on this earth, for what?

I try to make the days count by doing good deeds and being a good person.

HALLELUJAH: Can you give me an example in your ART of how you have explored the MYSTERY? 

FLORA: The spirituality element is in this piece, “Divide the Waters.” These words were written 3,000 years ago, yet we still find the mystery in “dividing the waters.” Think of how the Mississippi is flooding in Tennessee and Louisiana right now. That force and power of nature is incredible! How do you deal with that? How is that expressed?

DIVIDE THE WATERS. Flora Rosefsky made this piece in contemplation of the second day of creation, a universal narrative that she says is shared by Judaism, Christianity, Islam and other faiths and traditions. 

I go back to my spirituality and my religion. We can’t be too secure in where we are living. There is this concept of impermanence. I get inspiration from Judaism or the Old Testament. We are still on a journey.

HALLELUJAH: You have also pursued the theme of “shelter and sanctuary” in your ART.

FLORA: Yes, I build a Sukkah every year on our porch. I work on

making sense out of a very chaotic world. My spirituality grounds me a little bit more than I would otherwise be.

SUKKAH. A banner Flora made in 2003 based on the Biblical Commandment to dwell in Sukkah for seven days.

SUKKAH ON PAPER. In another depiction of the Sukkah using ephemera found paper, gouache, and paper cutouts, Flora Rosefsky captures her family’s tradition of making a temporary booth. Here the roof is covered with corn stalks but her family can still see the sky and the full moon. See other work in her Ritual Series.

HALLELUJAH: What is the connection between the ART you make and your spirituality?

FLORA: There is a huge connection because I am message driven to a point that I want that message to come through in my work. I want to express the depth of a certain idea where viewers can “see” my interpretation instead of only reading the words.

I do love using paper from my family that may have been thrown away. For example, by incorporating papers from my father-in-law, mother, or uncle in my art connects me to them and their lives. My father-in-law never threw anything away. His precious journals and writing adds another level to my work.

HALLELUJAH: Your family seems to play a role in your ART and SPIRITUALITY.

FLORA: My family is top priority in my life—my husband, children, and grandchildren. This is who I am. I am a wife, mother, and grandmother. And there’s the spirituality of who I am, which goes into my art, like my work in the “shelter and sanctuary” series. It expresses how precious this life is.

I think also—as I get older—in numbers. I’m in a pretty good decade now—the 70s! It is meaningful to think about the legacy I’m going to leave behind. My visual art is something that will stay after I am gone. They are visual statements of who I am to the people that I have loved.

HALLELUJAH: In what way does your ART enhance your SPIRITUALITY?

FLORA: There is a Hebrew commandment—Hiddur Mitzvah, which means to beautify one’s place of worship or a ritual item. Fulfilling that commandment is fulfilling personally.

For instance, I worked on the stained glass windows for the synagogue in Roswell. It is extremely thrilling to have work in a place of worship where thousands of people will see it.  Once in a while I will go out to Roswelll and sit there. Having work in a public space is not like having work in a home.

STAINED GLASS WINDOWS. “A Community Embracing Torah” by Flora Rosefsky at the Temple Kehillat Chaim in Roswell, Georgia. See other images.

I do a lot of Judaic work for my family and home to make things more spiritually artistic. For example is that Tzedukah box right there.

Flora points to a small aluminum square container with a coin slot in the top indicating it is the Tzedukah box. It has one of her images on it.

Tzedukah means righteousness—to do the right thing. We put money in the Tzedukah every Friday on the Shabbat. When our Tzedukah box gets filled, we discuss as a family what we are going to do with the money. We research causes and make a decision together.

HALLELUJAH: Has SPIRITUALITY always been a source of your ARTMAKING?  Why? If not, when did the SPIRITUALITY emerge in your ART?

FLORA: I don’t think it was always. In the beginning, I was sitting on a park bench drawing with magic markers while my children were riding a carousel. That wasn’t spiritual.

It was after my first trip to Israel, which was very profound. Emotions come to you that you didn’t think were there. It is very powerful—this connection to religion and history. It transformed me.

My family started doing things differently, like building a Sukkah. I wanted my artwork to have more meaning. I became active in my Jewish community center. I’m a reader, and the more I did research in my synagogue, one thing led to another.

HALLELUJAH: Who (artists, authors, friends, etc.) do you consider influential in the way you think, act, and make ART?

FLORA: I have to give a lot of credit to a teacher, James Ridlon, who is an art professor at Syracuse University.  He taught a course to Binghamton, New York area art teachers so they could get credit for a master’s. Because I was the only one in class not an art teacher, I was called the “civilian.”

I was like a child discovering a part of me that I had never really pushed. I had done art as a child, but I never had confidence that I could really “do” art. I was like a sponge in this class. Professor Ridlon was happy I had not been through the academic route. He thought I was blank slate almost. I was very intuitive, and he wanted me to have my own voice. I took three classes with him. When he finished with me, he told me that I needed to continue. He was the one that told me I was an artist. Because of him, I took more art classes.

HALLELUJAH: What is your purpose for making ART?

FLORA: Does there have to be a purpose? It is like breathing. This is what I do. (Flora throws her hands into the air.) I can’t think of not doing art. I like documenting. If I am not doing a show, I am doodling. Art is a way to communicate in a visual way. To make people think. 

In the 1950s, women had so few choices. My daughters are different. Now, I’m doing things that probably a 20-year-old would be doing today. I’m living my life in reverse. I have my own studio, my independence, my own work. The beautiful thing about being an artist, is there is no retirement.

I have this medical condition with my hands. When I can’t use them in the way I am accustomed to, I will find another way to make art. Matisse started making cutouts when he couldn’t paint any more.

I feel fortunate that I’m artist. When I wake up in the morning, there is a sense of fulfillment.

PERSONAL SANCTUARY. Using a found 1940s tablecloth, newspaper, acrylic paint and pen, Flora Rosefsky expresses her sense of finding sanctuary within her own home leaving behind the outside world of chaos and unpredictability. Flora in her studio in Decatur, Georgia, USA.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Heaps of heartfelt gratitude to Flora Rosefsky, who is such a loving generous SOUL. After our interview, she had me join her for a meeting of the Women’s Caucus for the Arts of Georgia and supported me in becoming a member. Flora mentors many of the artists at Sycamore Place Gallery.  Always, I lovingly thank and praise my partner Chiboogamoo for his eternal support of my Hallelujah endeavors and sustaining patience when assisting me with all things technical.

COLLAGE WEDDING. Versatile in her perceptions and execution of a theme, here Flora Rosefsky depicts a Jewish Wedding using collage. Notice the glass in this image.  The groom breaks a glass at the end of a marriage ceremony to depict the destruction of the temple that occurred thousands of years ago.

That’s Coffee with Hallelujah! SOUL BLOG with me and tell me what excites your SPIRIT when you wake up in the morning! See the first four SAP blogs: Cecelia Kane, Robey Tapp, Karen Phillips, and Carol Ruckdeschel.

SPIRITUAL ART PILGRIM INTERVIEW#3: KAREN PHILLIPS—PURE VOICE IN ACT OF CREATING ART, AN INSTANCE OF BEING

ARTIST KAREN PHILLIPS Photo by Ruth Schowalter

Hallelujah for FELLOW ART PILGRIMS! Hallelujah for KAREN PHILLIPS, visual artist, lover of color and texture! On a coolish Sunday in the month of March, Karen and I huddled in Sycamore Gallery Place in Decatur, Georgia, where we both have studios, and discussed her SPIRITUAL and ARTISTIC JOURNEY.

As a result, I am delighted to offer to you, dear SOUL BLOGGER, the third SPIRITUAL ART PILGRIM INTERVIEW with KAREN PHILLPS on my blog: COFFEE WITH HALLELUJAH (See SAP Interview 1 with Cecelia Kane and SAP Interview 2 with Robey Tapp)!

HALLELUJAH: Give me your personal definition of ART.

KAREN: Art is a conversation between souls. Art is whatever you perceive to be art, a personal perception.

HALLELUJAH: Tell me about this conversation between SOULS.

KAREN: The artist is expressing something. The person looking at the artist’s work is viewing that expression, and it is a dialogue that is going on between the two of them. Art is a dialogue.

It used to be that art was in this “box.” Art was functional or religious in nature. It is so much more open then it used to be.

HALLELUJAH: What about you, Karen, and you, the ARTIST—do you have a conversation?

KAREN: There is no separation. My art is my outlet for expressing what I see and for what I am feeling. Before I painted, I wrote. I have always had urges to create something. The struggle was to find that outlet.

HALLELUJAH: Tell me a little bit about the struggle.

KAREN: My mother is an artist. When I was a kid, I watched her. She was always looking at things in a different way. For example, she would see a rock, and see a face in the rock and paint what she saw. We would go to a store and look at things, she would say, “You could make that.” I learned how to see possibilities. From my father I learned the beauty of words, of reading poetry and a love of learning.

MOTHER LOVE: I was simply playing with shapes, but the result gives me this feeling of being hugged and comforted.

HALLELUJAH: And high school was part your creative development…

KAREN: High school was rough for me. I was taking “remedial” English because I hadn’t done well on a test that I didn’t care about, but I turned it into a creative writing class. I got into science fiction and started writing it. There was nothing I could learn in the class, so I wrote every day and found it exciting. I would create stories in my mind on the bus before school. So this English class became an outlet.

After a year of college, I wanted to work and got into the corporate world.  I went through changes. I stopped writing. I stopped any kind of creative work. I got frustrated. I didn’t know why. When the frustration got tough, I would just write and write.

HALLELUJAH: You were definitely on a SPIRITUAL ART PILGRIMAGE, seeking…

KAREN: I was doing a lot of searching. I read a lot of self help books. They weren’t answering any questions. I eventually found a life coach who told me I was creative. I didn’t want to believe her. I had a background in computer programming. I loved science, biology and physiology. My mother was the creative one who could paint and draw. Not me.

HALLELUJAH: But did you listen to your creative coach?

KAREN: I took a graphic design class. We did all kinds of things. The last thing we did was to create a poster. I didn’t have a computer that could do large work, so I decided to paint a portion of it. Just think, at my job, I worked 60-70 hours a week. Then for this graphic design class, I was up all night painting my poster.

COLORS BLENDING: We are looking at wet paint and I was playing with the process of color drying in a gel medium and the center of it started to glow. This image no longer exists except in this photograph because when it dried the glow disappeared. It was like capturing the spark of joyous color.

I was painting stripes of color and the sun was coming up. I was in heaven. I thought it was graphic design that I was excited about, but it was the act of painting that was exciting. I experienced a sense of joy, a sense of coming home.

Following that experience, I took a lot of graphic design classes and got promoted. I loved helping clients clarify their visions and worked all hours of the day and night to bring these visions to fruition.

UNDERNEATH SERIES: This Underneath series began with doing exercises from one of Mary Todd Beam’s books. I extended the process. It took creating layers to prepare the surface for painting. I discovered the beauty of visual texture and expressed images from my childhood fascination with mountains and imagined dinosaurs. It brought me back to that wonder and expanded imagination.

At some point I felt the need to take fine art classes, but I ignored that urge. I continued working. At one point, I attended an Artist Conference Network (ACN) coffee, and I thought graphic design would be my creative outlet. I wasn’t an artist, so why would I join something like ACN?

HALLELUJAH: Wow! Why is it that we often ignore what we truly want to do? A SPIRITUAL ART PILGRIM’S journey is not an easy one!

KAREN: In 2001, I started having problems with my back. I began limping. I was in shear agony, but I was determined to continue working. I had projects to do. What would happen if I weren’t there. I was giving my all to the company.

HALLELUJAH: If we don’t follow our HEARTS, there may be strong negative consequences.

KAREN: Yes….One day, I was trying to stand up in my little cubicle. I must have had an expression of pain on my face, and the human resources person saw me and sent me home. “We can’t have you working like this,” she said. I thought, OH NO I HAVE TO GO HOME!

HALLELUJAH: Someone else had to tell you that you were sick!

CONTEMPLATION: I watched a video with Robert Burridge just experimenting with shapes. The way he flung paint across the paper spoke to me. I wanted to try it. I started flinging paint on paper and letting my stream of consciousness flow.

KAREN: I had an MRI done and discovered I had a herniated disk. My life coach told me I needed to take disability and heal. But I was so focused on work—being a “worker bee.” So I focused on getting better. Walking and getting surgery, but surgery made everything worse.  I tried everything from acupuncture to hydrotherapy to get rid of the pain, but nothing worked.  In the meantime, I focused on being able to walk better in longer and longer spans.

Then I thought I would try painting, and I stayed with it this time. The drawback is that I could only paint 20 minutes a day, but I did that every day. I started painting a lot and very quickly. 

I was putting these paintings out on the lawn to dry. One day, I was picking them up and found money underneath them. After that, every time I painted, I started discovering positive things around me.

HALLELUJAH: Ahhh…a PILGRIM found how ART matters. ART heals. ART moves one forward!

KAREN: Yes! I started being open to being an artist. My life was changing. I became a member of ACN, where I would have to show my work. I was shaking in my boots and sweating. And that was even before the first time I had to show my work!

After the training we received in ACN, I began to choose to let people see the inner me. That’s how it was with my first solo show. I decided it was going to be a conversation between two souls.

“I’m sharing this with people,” I told myself. “We are going to have a great time.” I set up the exhibit area so I could have conversations with viewers. I had little cafe tables and chairs. People sat at them talking amongst themselves, I moved around talking with them. It made me want more conversations.

HALLELUJAH: So your earlier struggle to “become” a SPIRITUAL ART PILGRIM was resolved in creating conversations between SOULS—yours and the viewers?

KAREN: Yes. And I also ended my struggle to find words to express what I am feeling at the moment--texture and color.

HALLELUJAH: What is SPIRITUALITY to you?

KAREN: Spirituality. That’s a tough one for me because I’ve had all of these past experiences which I have left alone for awhile. Spirituality is the connection between everything. It’s that connectedness. It’s that connecting with. I believe that we are all one. So spirituality is connecting with that oneness, understanding it, and being it.

HALLELUJAH: What do you understand about that ONENESS?

KAREN: That it’s beyond words. That’s it’s everything. It is the action and inaction. It is love and not love. Oneness is beyond the words.

HALLELUJAH: How do you experience ONENESS?

KAREN: Silence.

HALLELUJAH: Tell me more about this SILENCE.

KAREN: it is the act of detachment. Being in the moment. Not being attached to anything. No expectations. Viewing what is. Seeing what is.

HALLELUJAH: What is the connection between the ART you make and your SPIRITUALITY?

KAREN: Art is being in the moment and not being attached to the outcome. For example, let’s look at how I start a painting. I start by drawing lines. Getting into that space of letting things go. I draw a line, and it s not predetermined. It’s not what I want or don’t want. It’s shapes and circles—lines.

BLUE IN THE KEY OF RED: I was experimenting with painting on plastic, a nonabsorbent surface, watching the paint swim and blend and using salt to add texture. What resulted “wowed” me because the blue was so deep and the overall feeling was being in an underwater world.

Then it is spreading color onto the surface of the canvas. Letting it leave me. Combining other colors. This is a conversation of color, shape and movement and  using a lot of water. The way the colors smooth and blend—that is an act of creation. The act of creation is pure joy.

It is connecting with that oneness. And expressing it.

HALLELUJAH: In what way does your ART enhance your SPIRITUALITY?

KAREN: It helps me stay connected to EVERYTHING, that basic being. (Karen lifts her hands, palms up, in the air on either side of her head and pauses.)

HALLELUJAH: How?

KAREN PHILLIPS: Posing in front of a recent painting at Sycamore Place Gallery in her studio. Photo by Ruth Schowalter

KAREN: It goes back to that conversation between two souls. I’m expressing the JOY of BEING! The JOY of CONNECTEDNESS. The JOY of ONENESS. It’s a stillness even though there is action in painting. There is a stillness.

HALLELUJAH: Earlier you spoke about finding that “good things” came from your ARTmaking.  Can you reflect about these “good things” now in terms of your current state of health?

KAREN: Let me talk about my last round of working professionally as a graphic designer. I was working fulltime and in ACN. I began to realize that I couldn’t multitask between graphic design and my art. Every time I set time aside to paint, I noticed that my job would encroach on my painting. I noticed this pattern.

At the same time, I was dating Wayne who asked me to marry him, and I was training to walk a marathon. I noticed that as I increased the distances I walked, I had to eat constantly about 12 times a day. I was drinking coffee like it was water. My work hours were getting insane. I was working 7 days a week. I kept trying to find solutions about my persistent hunger and need for caffeine. Doctors told me they couldn’t find what was wrong with me. Thyroid medication worked for a little while.  All the while, I had this strong desire to paint. It was getting stronger and stronger.

When things were going haywire at work, I was calm and could find solutions. I loved the rush and stress. In fact, I was addicted to it, but it wasn’t fulfilling me. At some point I wanted to say “no” to projects. I wanted to choose which projects I worked on and how to complete them. Yet I was supposed to give clients what they wanted—even if it was unrealistic.

At one point, I said no to a client and was strongly reprimanded by my boss. From that point on, I started to complain a lot. My situation felt insane. Finally, I went to my boss and told her I was having health issues and that I needed to work less. She told me I needed a note from the doctor. She wasn’t willing to work with me. I was crashing.

 My body was telling me to stop. I knew I needed to make that switch—to be an ARTIST—and get rid of this WORK-A-HOLIC!

HALLELUJAH: Then you really got sick, I remember. You couldn’t go to work. You couldn’t paint. You took your medications for pituitary problems and watched TV all day long. You were shut down by the GREAT MYSTERY.

KAREN: I had a calling, and I was ignoring that calling. Through the act of keeping my desire to paint silent and quelling it my body shut down. I was so worried about making money and being independent that I allowed myself to get so sick. Never again will I allow that to happen to my creativity.

HALLELUJAH: Hallelujah PILGRIM! Thank you for your testimony that ART HEALS! As you have SOJOURNED, who do you consider influential in the way you think, act, and make ART?

KAREN: While I was having health issues with my back and starting to paint, I found a book by Mary Todd Beam. Her images intrigued me. I couldn’t understand half of what she was talking about, but I found something I could try out. My first series, “The Underneath Series,” came from learning Beam’s technique of painting.

Joseph Campbell’s concept of home is also something influenced me. Now, I’m doing some inner work. And Campbell explains the stages and trials that the hero goes through. At one point, the hero must let go of everything.

HALLELUJAH: The hero’s JOURNEY is the ARTIST’s JOURNEY!

ESCAPE

KAREN: Yes, it is being ONE with ALL—everything and nothing. This is the journey to NIRVANA. The purest voice is the act of creating art.

HALLELUAH: Thank you for sharing your PURE VOICE with me Karen!

AT HOME: Karen Phillips in her backyard with Ella and Spencer, about a 3-mile drive from Sycamore Place Gallery. Photo by Ruth Schowalter

RED GREEN BLUE: Karen was inspired by a client’s commission to add red, green, and blue, to one of her images. "I still kept the flow of my process and then saw the colors sparkling. Color added another dimension to this conversation I was having with myself about shapes."

MORE ABOUT KAREN PHILLIPS: To see more of Karen's work, go to her WEBSITE. To follow what she is thinking and doing, go to her BLOG. To get news about her upcoming exhibits see her Facebook PAGE.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Thanks to Sycamore Place Gallery, home to the studios of Karen Phillips and Hallelujah Truth (aka Ruth Schowalter) for providing a rich environment for us to work and do this interview. Loving appreciation to the first interviewees Spiritual Art Pilgrim Interviews 2011, Cecelia Kane and Robey Tapp, for setting an incredible precedent for the way artists can talk about their SOUL work. Huzzahs to husband Chiboogamoo for the technical support as well as the love he provides on this intriguing interview PATH. SOUL BLOG with me at COFFEE WITH HALLELUJAH! 

REVERB10: THE MEME STUDIO—A COMMITMENT TO THE EVOLUTION OF OUR MARRIAGE

Hallelujah for moments that are meaningful to one’s life and that serve as “MARKERS” to SIGNIFY CHANGE! In September 2010, my husband Chiboogamoo and I rented an art studio space TOGETHER at Sycamore Place Gallery in Decatur, Georgia, with a sincere desire to COLLABORATE using our distinctively different creativities. Length of Leaseà12 months!

We christened our studio space, “THE MEME STUDIO” as an experiment in our marriage. Because we forgot to have children and will not be passing on our “genes,” we are remembering ourselves in MEMES! That is, we are PROPAGATING OURSELVES by making art TOGETHER—the paleontologist and visionary artist! Here we ARE two strong bold individuals (HALLEUJAHTRUTH and CHIBOOGAMOO) in the equation: ME + ME = MEMEà to perpetuate units of cultural information in drawings, paintings and words!

Four months have already passed since the “defining moment” of signing the lease and moving in our lights, tables, and art supplies. In the EVOLUTION of our MARRIAGE in the MEME STUDIO we are still in the Precambrian! We are gleefully anticipating evolving in 2011!

Thank you REVERB10 for today’s prompt! Hallelujah for MEMEs and GOOD COMPANIONSHIP on the PILGRIMAGE! Dear Pilgrims SOUL BLOG with me by responding to the REVERB10 PROMPT for December 29^th: Defining moment. Describe a defining moment or series of events that has affected your life this year.

(This yellow trilobite with its trail is an example of one of our first collaborations! To make ourselves more comfy in our studio, we made a stencil of both a body fossil and trace fossil and spray painted numerous images in blue and yellow!)