Gotye- Somebody That I Used To Know

I'm sorta having a mini obsession session over this song and video.
Watch the painting move all over those bodies.



I heard from friends in Europe that this song is making it HUGE over there.
It may be big over here on the North American continent too,
but I guess I live under a rock sometimes, so I wouldn't know ;) Jason Bieber who?

I think Gotye (pronounced gore-ti-yeah) is Belgian, or Australian. It's a little difficult to tell.
Guest appearance by Kimbra.

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Feliz Ano Novo! Happy New Year!

Can you see the two million people on the beach and street? That's New Years in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, friends. In my opinion, it's the very best New Years in the entire world. Everyone wears white, lights candles on the beach, jumps over 7 waves on one foot while making a wish, throws flowers in the ocean for the goddess of the sea and then the fireworks are beyond spectacular.


The best part, though, is the absolute love that can't help but explode between strangers. You really do feel part of a huge human family and you kiss and hug as many of those strangers (and your own friends and loved ones too, of course ;) as you can. Then you dance on the street all night, watch the sunrise and walk back to your Vovó's apartment. You wish her good morning and a Happy New Year, wrap her in billions of love, and go to bed.


It is in this spirit that I Thank You for being a friend of Organic Pink Lady this past year. I appreciate your enthusiasm, support, friendship and encouragement more than you can imagine. Thank you. May all of our truest dreams be realized in this dawning decade.

Love,
Juliette

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It's ALL about LOVE

Give Love! Don't be afraid! Give your Love away! It'll be okay! Love is Life!

I Love this song and animation by MC Yogi
The colors, the sound, the words, the everything.


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What's Your Sentence?

Besides the happy fact that the author's last name is PINK,
this is one of my favorite videos. I love the first question:

What is your Sentence?

What are you about? What is your life about? What is it you're creating of yourself? It's a worthwhile question. I've watched this video several times and each time I come closer to understanding what the question is and as a result closer to understanding what my sentence is. I feel an excitement, a scintillation, shimmer through my body as I allow the veils to fall and myself to become more clear. How about you? What's your sentence?

And then there is the second question:

Was I better today than yesterday?

It's like working from the end; It's like envisioning your success and then filling it in with the daily life that creates the fulfillment of the goal you've set for this lifetime. I think we know what we want to experience in our time here on earth, our sentences have always driven our journeys, yet asking ourselves to consciously remember and state them to ourselves and/or others, may help us stay on course.

<3

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IslandLovely

©Fito Gordo

My friend Fito is an avid sailor and not long ago he was in Ilhabela for the Rolex Ilhabela Sailing Week. Ilhabela is in Brasil, in the state of São Paulo, where I, actually, we, grew up. Yup, Fito and I have known each other since 3rd grade, maybe it was 4th grade. Ilhabela literally translates as IslandLovely. The picture above was taken by Fito and is absolutely beautiful to me ... those dreamy blues, the mirage-like quality, the light reflecting off those billowing sails, the flatter ones intermingled. Oh how I love it. And then there's that PINK! sail, oh my. I could watch this picture all day long, so I couldn't help but ask Fito if I could share it with you here. I may ask him if I can show you one more from his IlhaBela album. Fingers crossed he'll say yes! It's gorgeous as well, but different. Stay tuned!

PS. Please feel free to leave Fito a comment under this post or join us on FACEBOOK:)

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Continuous ...

I just found this painting in my studio and was surprised. It obviously didn't make the cut when I was choosing paintings to show off. I don't know what I didn't see in it way back then. I love it now! I wish you could see it. A scan has absolutely nothing on an original. A scan is just an idea of the actual painting; all luscious nuance of color, brushstroke, and layer, mostly gone. That said, it is nice to be able to show you a glimpse of it anyway :)

When I was about 10, I drew a picture of a flower, a big daisy-esque flower on white drawing paper, whilst visiting my grandmother. I didn't think it was very good though so I threw it away. For years and years, every time somebody commented on it, hanging, framed, in her living room, my grandmother would tell the story of how she fished it out of the lixo (lixo is Portuguese for trash)! What a sweet love lesson she taught me.

These days in my studio, no finished painting ever gets the bin treatment. If it's finished, it stays, whether I'm enamored of it at the time or not.

How do I know when a painting is "finished" or "complete"? This is something that every artist must figure out for him/herself. The moment tends to be elusive. I know it by a sound, a feeling, a sensation. I call it a Zing. I play with this Zing sometimes too, moving it around according to whatever it is that I'm investigating as a painter.

Unfinished paintings will eventually be revisited. Even if it starts out, for eg, looking like an horse, and ends up looking like a spaceship, it's the same painting. All the layers of color, shape and brushstroke, inform and transform each other continuously; the underlayers as much a part of the painting as what you see on the surface. It's certainly not like throwing a painting in the trash and starting over with a blank. It's continuous. We're continuous.

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Virtual Choir

If at first I felt the virtualness of this choir a little freaky scary, I soon melted into its immense gorgeousness. It truly touches my heart to see people come together to participate, contribute, and make the beauty of the whole. Look at those faces, soul shining through to the outside.

"Lux Aurumque" was composed and conducted by Eric Whitacre. He merged tracks recorded and uploaded to YouTube by 185 people from 12 countries.

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Here's How It Happened

I stacked mySpanish/PortugueseEnglishFrench/EnglishPortuguesedictionaries.
I opened each one to a page at random and wrote down the page number.
I added the individual numbers together (that's the 34). Then I flipped a coin to see if I should keep it a two digit number or reduce it further by adding the two individual numbers together. Best of 3. Heads won. #7. Then I went to my FB FAN page, opened up the list of cool peeps, and counted up to 7 from the bottom. That's how Victor Warring became the WON!

Drumroll Please ...

(click the image to enlarge)
To find out how it all happened, scroll UP or click here.

Point Five!

That's TOMORROW morning!Just getting here? That's okay. There's still time. Scroll down to Giveaway to find out what's happenin'!

Win Free Art In 2.5 days!

To get in on the action read Giveaway!

Giveaway!

This GIVEAWAY is exclusively for Organic Pink Lady's FACEBOOK Fans; so all you have to do is become my FAN on Facebook and you'll automatically be entered into the drawing!

If you're already into FB, becoming my FAN is an easy way to keep in touch with my blog entries, new art in my portfolio, new art in my shop, contests, photos, projects (I've got lots of them in the works, some of which might involve YOU), giveaways, shows I might attend ETC. BEST of all though, you'll be able to meet and interact with other cool peeps!

Please invite your friends! The more, the merrier. Once you're on my PAGE you can do that easily by clicking on "suggest to friends" just under the profile picture. If you're not on FB, but you have a friend or acquaintance you know would love my art, and to be a part of this fun GIVEAWAY, please send them this link: http://www.facebook.com/organicpinklady. It takes them to my FB page. Or you can use this link http://organicpinklady.blogspot.com/2009/12/giveaway.html and send them to this entry.

Oh Right! Want to know what you might win? Visit my ART SHOP and start deciding! The winner could be YOU! You know, if you wanted to give the gift to someone else, you could do that. I'll even send it to them, if you'd like!

Feeling left out hey-no-fair-just-cuz-i'm-not-on-fb? No worries ... I'm going to have a giveaway for Newsletter Subscribers too. Yes, you can be on FB with me AND sign up for The Newsletter! Why not! More chances of winning that way! And you'll get different news and fun treats anyway!

So WHY am I just giving away art? Because I want to build my online community. Because I seriously want to give something to somebody. That's mostly why I make art in the first place, for you. And also because hey, December is my birthday month and I like December.

Improv Everywhere

I've lost track of the number of times I've had an idea to do something funny and/or silly in public, always prefaced by "If I were an actor I would ..."

Here is a group of peeps, Improv Everywhere, who's really doing it, spreading joy and silliness, nudging people out of their habitual slumber, worldwide. I love the ridiculousness they get up to. Maybe I'll get to join them on "a mission" one day. That's what they call their antics, missions. Below is one of my favorites.


Read details, see photos and watch it again here.

I haven't watched them ALL but I do have a few favorites: Frozen Grand Central, Cell Phone Symphony, Human Mirror, Slo-Mo Home Depot, The Mp3 Experiements ... the list goes on ... endless hours of entertainment!

See if you get a laugh outta yourself. And maybe you'll even find a soft spot in your heart for our fellow humanoids. I certainly have a big SS for us.

Make sure you don't miss The No Pants! Subway Ride to see what seems to be becoming their global signature mission! Maybe you can get in on the action wherever you live!

Yup. It's official.

Winter!That's the view from my studio window. I'm thinking about a season in the kitchen. A season of music & dancing with friends. A season of painting and making things. Maybe even a season of learning to use my 1970's sewing machine. I really want to learn to make clothes, like costumes! It's already a new year, did you know that? October 22nd was the beginning of the Spiritual New Year. This year is the Year of Creativity and oh baby, I'm excited! Let's do it, make it, sing it, learn it, dream it into this world, this world! The time is now. Want a ride? I have a sleigh! Lets go to the stars for it all! And bring it all the way back here to share!

Doesn't she?

This lady so has a story, doesn't she? Do you see it? Can you hear it? Will you tell it? <3

mOOn festival

Isn't it positively dreamy that there is a mOOn festival on this planet? It falls on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month which this year was the 14th of September. On that night, I happened to go out for a stroll in my hood, turned a corner, and was completely awe struck by the mOOn. It was low, immense and superbly full bellied. At the time, I didn't realize that it was the same mOOn being celebrated all over the planet.

The mOOn festival is an East Asian tradition which originated in China, centuries ago. At this time, people gather to gaze at the bright harvest mOOn, sing mOOn poems and eat mOOn cakes & pomeloes together, amongst lanterns. Really! As if the mere idea of the mOOn festival weren't poetry enough.

No wonder the mOOn amazed me more deeply than usual that night. It had been, and was being, infused with our reflection, celebration, awe and love! I hope you have a chance to go for a mOON stroll. Soak up some of those leftover love beams still glowing and reflect some back from your full heart, to all those you love. I'll see you in the mOOn ...

Today is ...

and
day!
As it is everyday. They're both all over the place!
in a bottle of sunscreen
as a seed pod
on a sidewalk
a smeared locker
even in a tree stump
although that one had to be pointed out to me ... twice! MyDar and I were walking someplace when of a sudden he pulled me back in order to stop and show me something. Something on the ground. I said, "What, a stump, it was once a tree" and attempted to keep walking! Really, I really said that. It was soon hilarious to me (& to him) as he looked at me in disbelief! Then I saw it, it was a HEART! One of those things I see and point out all the time! Here's to hoping your life today and everyday is filled with love, of the most fabulous variety to you. May you see and enjoy your life, as there is love and there are hearts all over this land and in our own and shared inner lands as well. Really! Tons of LOVE! Happy Love day.

The Sunrise Ruby

Rumi, On Being a Lover (by Coleman Barks)
Being a lover is close to being a worker. When the ruby becomes the sunrise, its transparency changes to a daily discipline. There's a story about a sufi who rips his robe and gives it the name faraji, which means "ripped open" or "happiness" or "one who brings the joy of being opened." Peace and compassion come as coverings are thrown open and the streaming beauty of emotion flows through the lover-worker.

THE SUNRISE RUBY by Rumi (translation by Coleman Barks)
In the early morning hour,
just before dawn, lover and beloved wake
and take a drink of water.

She asks, "Do you love me or yourself more?
Really, tell me the absolute truth."

He says, "There's nothing left of me.
I'm like a ruby held up to the sunrise.
Is it still a stone, or a world
made of redness? It has no resistance
to sunlight."

This is how Hallaj said, I am God,
and told the truth!

The ruby and the sunrise are one.
Be courageous and discipline yourself.

Completely become hearing and ear,
and wear this sun-ruby as an earring.

Work. Keep digging your well.
Don't think about getting off from work.
Water is there somewhere.

Submit to a daily practice.
Your loyalty to that
is a ring on the door.

Keep knocking, and the joy inside
will eventually open a window
and look out to see who's there.

(OPEN for IF this week)