Storyteller Story #5: I Talk to the Spirits

This may be the last time,

This may be the last time,

This may be the last time. It may be the last time, I don’t know…

Ohhhhh, I remember when I was a little girl in church in the middle pew. Smack dab in the middle. Hair in pig tails. “All rise.” Fellowship time. Sister Washington bangin’ away on that old piano. Time to sing: This May Be The Last Time. My favorite. Our voices come together as one. Mostly off key but still one. The Lord hears our cry. Better when we raise our voices together. The Lord hears my prayers. Oh I know what people say about me. The Lord hears me and I hear him right back. I got the gift. Just like my mama and her mama before her. “Those Francois women…witches all of em…” Kids would tell the teacher I was giving them the evil eye in school. That’s all it took for the teacher to give me the strap. But the nasty stuff folks say don’t change nothin’: the dead talk and they talk to me. There’s nothin’ wrong with bein’ dead jus’ like there’s nothin’ wrong with bein’ alive. Both sides want to be heard. I’m just one of the ones that can hear ev’rybody. Even if what they sayin’ ain’t worth half a penny.

Storyteller Story #4: Red Is My Power Color

If you want something you’ve got to get it yourself. Just take it. You can’t sit around waiting on someone to give it to you. I keep telling Jenny: “Stop waiting on Bob. He’s a selfish asshole. A loser.” I keep telling her he’s not worth her time, but she won’t listen. Not my problem. I’ve got my own problems to deal with. Plus I’m busy. Work. Gym. More work. Repeat. Work. Gym. More work. Repeat. Then I’m always having to clean up someone else’s mess. I learned how to take care of myself early. That’s the problem with most people they don’t take responsibility. They make stupid mistakes and want other people to clean it up. You’ve got to take control of the situation or you’ll drown. I tell Jenny all of the time: “Bob will drag you down. He’s dead weight.” But she won’t let go. She just won’t let go.

Storyteller Story #3: Wind & Leaves

“I like long walks on the beach, horseback riding, and deep conversation…” No. Scratch that. “Stimulating conversation.” Crap. I hate writing these stupid things. You can’t sound too smart you’ll scare someone off. You can sound like an idiot and you might get a date. Then they are disappointed when they find out you are smart. If you are physically attractive and smart, well…then their head might just explode. Ok. Let’s try this: “Multi-faceted individual. Looking for someone to grow with…” That sounds like a resume. Ok. “Must love nature. Must love hiking or at least walking. I love seeing the emerald green of my surroundings and feeling a cool breeze on my skin after working up a good sweat…” Hmmm. No. Too cheesy. Well…wait. I don’t want to sound all ‘hippy dippy’ but that’s kind of who I am. Right? I’ll leave it. Oh, who am I kidding? “I love horseback riding and long walks on the beach. Looking for someone to be my ‘plus one’…”

Storyteller Story #2: I Never Want Summer to End

“You are like my soul, a butterfly of a dream…It sounds as though you were lamenting, a butterfly cooing like a dove. Her eyes were the color of faraway love. Sus labius se cortaron en la luz del coral…”

We read Pablo together everyday. On the beach, in the sun, in the shade. He read it to me in Spanish (Spanish is so romantic!). I would get something like little butterflies fluttering or giant fish flip flopping in my stomach whenever he talked. Off in the distance I could see Mrs. Talbot with her 3 crazy kids. They only really listened to me. Mrs. Talbot said I was the best babysitter they’d ever had. No more babysitting for me! And now there is only Pablo and Emmet. I asked My mom if she’d ever heard of Pablo Neruda. She said no. I told her how romantic it was. She didn’t think I saw, but I saw her roll her eyes. It’s not my fault she’s all dried up inside. Emmet says it’s not our parent’s fault they can’t remember love. That we have to help them to remember what it is like to be young. I decided I agree with Emmet: getting old is kind of like a disease and we have to help the people that are sick. I told my mom one of my favorite lines from Pablo: “Love is so short, forgetting is so long.” She just looked at me. I don’t think she gets it.

Storyteller Story #1 - Do You Hear The Drums?

The most important component of my most recent show Storyteller was the stories that accompanied each piece. Some are long, some are short. Some are more like poems others monologues. Each, though, says a little about the person that I imagine would wear each piece.

People at the showing told me how much they enjoyed reading the stories that accompanied the work.  I thought it would be a shame if the only place people really read them was at the show so I decided to post them again here. I will post one a week here until they are all up.

Story One: Can You Hear the Drums? 

Can You Hear the Drums?

Boom Ba. Boom de boom bop bop! Thump. Thump. Thump…I can feel it in my chest. In my heart. That whole rhythm is in my body. My mama said I came out dancing! Popin’ and lockin’. Break Dancin’. Tap. Jazz. Modern. Even a little ballet. I don’t discriminate. Definitely a little African. Positively Brazilian. I threw a little capoeira in there. Do that sweet side flip that drives the girls wild and stops those boys in their tracks. Only men here. They don’ know who they messin’ with! They don’t know in the battle it’s not with me they fightin’. It’s the beat. It’s the rhythm. It’s the drums. It’s the bass. It’s the passion. It’s the color. It’s the light. It’s the heart. It’s the music. It’s the love. And everybody knows you can’t fight the love.

Storyteller - An Art Show

One of the most well known images of the storyteller hails from West Africa. There, griots are honored for their talent in maintaining the cultural traditions of poetry, music and storytelling. But storytellers have been around since the beginning sharing the stories of how we began. From the time we spent our nights telling stories around the fire and drawing the lives of ancestors on cave walls, storytelling has been integral to our human existence. The most important part of our stories is that they are all connected.

How we clothe and adorn ourselves is one of the most fundamental ways that we tell our stories. Do you have one tattoo, none, or ten? Do you wear a suit to work everyday or shorts? Do you have a diamond necklace around your neck or cowrie shells? Though these choices might seem benign, they tell others a little bit about your background, income, interests, and passions. We adorn ourselves to impress, frighten, and seduce on a daily basis.

The newest collection from Urban Temple Jewelry (The Urban Atelier) is Storyteller. This collection explores the stories we tell others and the stories we tell ourselves. Fancy yourself a beach goddess? Are you a king or a ladies’ man? A teacher? A leader? Storyteller poses the question: What do you want to say to the rest of the world?

The collection will make its debut at Violet Ray Vintage in Neptune Beach, August 21st 2014 during the North Beaches ArtWalk.

To celebrate the collection every week leading up to the show I’ll be sharing great human stories real and imagined from history, tv, books, and everywhere.

If you have a great story or know a great story feel free to share!

Bike Chain. ReIncarnated.

At the beginning of next month I am going to be sharing my newest collection of bike chain jewelry, Sunset and Lotus. I freely admit that recycling bike parts or even more specifically bike chain into the stuff fashion forward dreams are made of wasn't my idea. 

When I lived in Philadelphia I worked with some folks who knew some folks that worked at this great and amazing place called The Bike Church. Run by this super organization called Neighborhood Bike Works. I participated in a fundraiser where I made art from busted bike parts.

Here's one of my pieces I did for the show: 

I also helped this ( I believe now defunct) organization Spokespeople assemble their bike chain jewelry. Soooo much fun and I was hooked.

It was a while after being introduced to the idea of recycling bike parts that I decided to do my own thing. I had a different vision for the jewelry though. I wanted to combine the feminine and masculine characteristics of the chain. I didn't want it to just be seen as a 'guy thing' or a 'girl thing'. I Feel like the new collection Sunset and Lotus does this pretty well. Hopefully, I have something for the guys and the chicks.

To celebrate the new collection I'll be posting fun facts about bicycles and bike related topics. Silly facts, serious facts, facts concerning me and my fear of running over people on a bike...

Also, newsletter subscribers will get 10% off items in the new collection, so be sure to sign up before November 16th to get your coupon. This is a great opportunity to get started on your holiday shopping! You will also get a sneak peek at a few of the pieces. Those who attend ArtWalk November 6th (the first Wednesday of the month) will get a full preview of the new line.  

If you have any interesting facts about bicycles, bike chain, and the like feel free to post them here in the comments section. I'd love to hear them :)