Author Archives: Jess

Art is the symptom of a soul.

Discussion at Jenny’s today.

Start with this article.

Here’s a little of what I had to say:

What this article made me think of was an experience from my 1st year in college. I was going to a lowly state university to study art. I went to visit a friend who was going to Cal-Arts and watched a video of his film class’ final projects for the semester. The first thing I saw was hard core porn–I immediately screamed “this is NOT art!!” and was laughed at by all the “real” artists there. I cried for weeks in anger, confusion…What was art anyway?

I had a teacher that said “Art is the symptom of a soul.” That has stuck with me, has been a part of my psyche ever since. Not only that, I think art is a reflection of the soul. It is a window to what the artist values and even sees in his/her own soul and what we are as human beings, where we’re connected or separated, where we come from.

I think an artist’s sense of who they/we are, where they/we came from, what the purpose of life is, whether or not there is a God is where their art comes from.

Art for the express purpose to offend or desecrate what other’s find sacred is a reflection of their view of the sanctity of of humanity itself.

I think that is a comment on our current culture. Is anything sacred?

There are lots of good comments to get you thinking. Get in on the fun!

shop update!!

Once upon a time I started an etsy shop. Anyone remember? I never even got around to stocking it for the holidays, though I did make some handprinted paper for covers.

pocketjournals.JPG

Well, I finally turned all that handprinted paper into books.

pjspines1.JPG

I think I’ve got my second wind here. It seems that I start to feel good the last month of each pregnancy. I have energy, don’t need a nap every day, feel full of ideas… And let me tell you, I am SO thankful for that! I’ve had horrible hip and sciatic nerve pain since I started showing. A month ago I was seriously afraid that I was not going to survive until March, or at least have to get a walker or a wheelchair. That was the worst of it, and it has been uphill since the second week of January or so. Now I’ve even had the energy to swim laps a couple of times a week. Oh– the freedom of swimming while pregnant! There isn’t anything as liberating, that I can think of, except laying on your stomach right after the baby is born.

So, now I need to order newborn diapers, buy some onsies and a few clothes, and find a blankie (or mi-mi, as my kids call them). Each of my kids sleeps with a receiving blanket from Gymboree. They are sooo soft and snuggly. I think this time I will be shopping from right here instead of braving the mall. I think I’ll take a look right now…

19

19.jpg

I caught Logan playing Leap-Pad, so he held still enough for me to draw his head. I need to keep practicing so that I can capture the posture of their little bodies as they play…

I’m totally loving Amanda’s sketchbook drawings of the little girl growing in her tummy, and as I sit here typing with the laptop in my lap it is jumping all over the place because of the little legs and arms in mine.

I am officially huge now. I got a babysitter for the afternoon so that I could run errands unhindered by out-of-the-womb children. I went three places. At each of them someone asked me when I’m due, accompanied with something like “It looks like it could be any minute!” I do make a very conscious effort not to waddle. Brenna even knows about it and when she is with me out in public will drop back behind me every so often to analyze my walk. She usually has very encouraging things to say–that I’m walking perfectly normal. I wonder if her coaching would have helped thwart comments today?

Probably not.

Oh, and for the record, I’m not due ’til March.