Motivation For 2014 . . . #beyonce

2014 Resolutions . . . Or, Fun Things I Want to do This Year!

I used to write resolutions a lot. Back in tha day when I was much younger and a little bit more ridiculous with expectations and things . . . In my adult life, I think I have only written them once, here on this blog. And actually a good number of them were accomplished! Ta-da for me, so I thought I would try it again. And besides, my resolutions are more just a list of fun things I am going to do instead of major life changes. 

This year is BIG. This year I am turning 40. The big 4-0. (There will be a party. A big one. Everyone's invited. Everyone.)

The stakes are high, folks . . . Lots to get done!

1. I played the violin when I was in middle school. I really liked it. I made a poor decision to leave the orchestra after being first chair for a few years. Things got in the way, and I got distracted with all of the preposterous things that middle school girls get distracted with. So for the last 10 years, I have been saying that I would start playing the violin again when I turn 40. It's been a really long time since I've played an instrument on a regular basis. I think it will ignite a new source of creativity within me, and keep my brainwaves stimulated. 

Hopefully I can find a place where I can rent to own a violin. I'm not sure if that exists here in Singapore, but the goal is to look into it and have everything scheduled by February 1st. Then, my plan is to find an instructor in Singapore for the remainder of my time in Aisa. Someone that I can see for about 2 hours every 2 weeks or so. I would practice in between lessons. Hopefully I will be able to use this new musical knowledge in the future video projects I have planned for 2014 and 2015.

2. I need to learn how to write grants. I need to just stop everything and begin writing grants for projects. My projects are getting bigger and bigger and more expensive. To have the proper funding, I will need alternative sources. My first order of business is to apply for a Fulbright in Morocco. Competitive, I know. We shall see, we shall see!

3. Learn a second language. Knowing a second language would help to secure a spot for the Fulbright I mentioned above, and help me in my travels even more. I am most interested in French. However, I feel that Spanish or Mandarin would be a lot more useful. But French is so romantic and beautiful! And French is a major language spoken in Morocco. 

I have never been very good at learning languages. Learning languages involves a lot of memorization. Memorization is the exact opposite of creativity. You see my issue. But I feel like living in Asia and being more exposed to people speaking several languages has helped me. I think I could be quite good at learning French if I could find an instructor who would teach me in a more conversational/over coffee sort of way. I'll look into it and get back to you . . . 

4. Learn to play tennis. Run more. Swim more. Dance more. Play outside more. I'm a pretty active person. I regularly take Bikram yoga. I ride my bike to and from work everyday. But I want to do more this year. I feel creaky. I'm pretty bendy due to the yoga, but I would like to be less creaky for sure. And for the love of all things holy: will my lower back ever stop hurting? I knew lifting giant 100 pound loads of clay over and over again for 10 years straight would eventually catch up to me. 

Bikram definitely helps with my lower back pain, but I feel like it could be strengthened even more if I learned something new like tennis. My mother tried to make me play tennis when I was in the 6th grade. But the plan backfired because she took me out of softball to do it. I loved softball, so I ended up loathing tennis. But now I'm older, and older people play tennis. So I'd like to give it the good ol' college try.

5. Finish layover projects from 2013. I have been finishing up a book about a project that I worked on in Nashville forever. Now is the time to finally wrap this project up. My friend Stacy is editing it and my friend Emma did all of the illustrations for it. I can't wait to show you the finished project, so I'm placing a final deadline on the piece. I will be premiering the initial draft of this book in March. Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait! Two versions of the book will be available: hardcover and PDF download. It'll be so great to get this thing out into the big wide open!

Another project I am currently working on is a water ballet. I am writing it and designing the sets, props, and costumes for it. It combines cultural influence from my travels in Southeast Asia and my home country, the United States. I'm hoping to complete this project in collaboration with a water ballet team back in the States, during an artist residency. It will be colorful, awkward, exciting, and funny! Yay!

Buoyant Echo. Corey and I got a pretty good start with this performative piece last year. I hope we can nail down another great version of it in August of this year, right here in Singapore. You can find out more about this piece here.

Number 5 is alive people. That's all I got. 5 is good enough to get me through the year. Besides . . . All of those normal resolutions that everyone always says they are going to do: lose weight, save money, find love, blah, blah, blah. Those things are always ongoing. They are a regular part of just general bettering of oneself that never ends regardless of the time of year. They make lists boring and redundant. I'd rather use my redundant-list-making-time to watch shows that I missed while I was in India. Like Saturday Night Live with JT and Jimmy Fallon.  

Happy mid-January, folks! How ya doin'?

India Love . . . 3, 2, 1: Last Looks.

My last day at the compound consisted mostly of me packing. It was boring and I was moody because I was sad to be leaving. But the compound was busy with preparations. Sunday is Sanskriti founder O.P. Jain's birthday. So everything was getting a makeover: the clay sculptures were being polished and the mud ground--where there was no grass, like pathways--was wet down and gently wiped in a u-shape so that all of the ground had this same, gentle texture to it; table cloths were folded and laid out to be placed and gardeners were out and about in full force to make sure everything was just right. I was taken with the Rangoli painting that was happening on the smoothed-out mud ground around the Banyan tree. Three ladies were there painting from very early in the morning until the sun went down at night. After running some errands, I finished my packing and decided I was bored (but probably more lonely). So I walked over to where the other artists were working. Anil (he's on the right in the last photo above) was in front of his computer and said to me, "Sometimes I like to play Indian songs over Western music videos to see if they match up."Um, hello?! Does he not know that I absolutely love videos more than life itself? So I sat down. And much to our surprise, we found out that quite a lot of Beyonce's videos line up rather well with Indian tracks. I want you to play both of the videos above at the same time. But enlarge Beyonce's video and turn the sound off so that you only hear the Indian song. What do you think? We loved it. This went on for quite a while. And--I think--might have the makings for some sort of cross-world collaboration of sorts. We shall see. Our last dinner together was a cold one, but really nice (just 5 of us around the table). I'm so thankful that I got to meet all of the artists that came through the compound over the past three weeks: 10 people total. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Everyone kept making fun of me over the course of the 3 weeks because everything that I participated in or visited, I always described as: the greatest thing I've ever done or the absolute best thing in the world. I tend to speak in superlatives quite a lot when I am happy. But it was true: up until the next moment that I would experience, what I was doing in that very moment was, in fact, the greatest or best thing I had ever done. (Riding the camel might still be up there. Just getting on and off of that hilarious animal was a trip!) There were so, so many great things about my trip to India that I think it's only fair that I mention the things that I had a hard time with. And let me preface this by saying that I will not spend a lot of time in this headspace. I don't do well wrapped up in negative thought. But I think it's really important that I don't gloss over this magical city that I came to visit by mentioning only the most amazing parts of my trip. I don't like seeing kids in the middle of the street barefoot on very cold days trying to sell things to the cars. Some of them even wearing make-up and doing circus tricks to get attention. These children were not always elementary-aged. Some of them looked far younger, maybe 3 or 4 years old. One of my friends in India told me that schooling is free there, so when a young boy approached us she told him in Hindi that he should be in school. Apparently the government is trying to crack down on this, but I'm not sure how. Some of the families where the children were coming from were actually living on medians of the roadways where the kids were working. There are also suspicious organizations that pay children to go out and ask for hand-outs, which is the worst. School vs. money. It's a crazy, seemingly no-win situation. I also saw an abnormal amount of stray dogs. Hundreds of dogs on the streets, puppies everywhere. They were sleeping right on the highway next to cars racing past. No food. People would kick them and hurt them to get them away from their property. Working animals like camels, donkeys, elephants, cows, etc. seemed to have a hard life, too. Perhaps I am speaking as an over-sympathetic United States citizen. I've seen this before in other countries, so when I first got to India it wasn't as startling. But it was more the sheer amount of animals and blatant abuse that I was taken by. Hindus believe that all life is sacred, to be loved and revered, and therefore practice ahimsa, non-injury, in thought, word and deed. And with Delhi being largely Hindu, I was really surprised by the treatment of both people and animals. The city is the second most populous in the world at just around 22 million. There isn't enough water for the residents, which means there surely isn't enough food. So how can animals be put first (or even at a close second) if the people aren't having their needs met? It's just one of those crazy catch-22's. I asked several of my friends about this situation--with both the animals and people--and at first they sort of acted like they didn't really notice the dogs. But then they talked about how some of the residents of the city have lost their way and belief is down, which makes poor treatment of animals and people up. They also mentioned that there is an organization that is now starting to go around and spay and neuter the animals. But it is not on a regular basis and there are just so, so many dogs. With this many residents, the demand for electricity is also quite high. Everyone has a generator because the lights go out often. One night at Sanskriti, the power went out--I think--3 or 4 separate times. It got super dark, too, because we were quite a ways away from the hub of the city. I think that's what is so incredible about Delhi. There is just so much happening all at once: people rushing around, people sleeping on the ground, the crowded streets complete with public urination, the empty streets complete with older ladies knitting on the stairsteps, people in love, people out of love, the old, the new, multiple types of animals, cars-rikshaws-auto rikshaws-bicycles-carts-motorcycles, things falling apart, things being built up, everything. There is just so much coming at you all the time. You have to keep your guard up, know your history, be able to read a map on your phone, and stay out of the way. It's challenging and exciting and heartbreaking. There's no other way to describe it then to say it's just everything all at once. And there will be people who read this and say, but all of those things are happening in the US. Sure, you're right. There are children on the streets in the US. And there are families without enough water and food in the US. And there are animals not being cared for in the US. These things are happening everywhere in the world. But I've never seen numbers like I've seen in Delhi. This was a life-altering, art-changing experience. A transformation of my sense of self. I will see you in April, Delhi. Until then . . . 

India Love . . . 3, 2, 1: I'm Blue.

Today was my last dance class. And my last night in India. And I am sad. I am not looking forward to going back to Singapore at all. Except for maybe to have a standing shower, as I do not do well with the whole bucket-shower-sitting thing (too much work to get clean). This has been a really wonderful and incredible experience. I am so thankful that I was able to spend 3 weeks here and establish new friends and contacts. I can't wait to come back for Spring Break (yep, I'll be in India!). I've already signed up for 5 more days of dance classes and another tour with my friend Himanshu. It'll be a good chance for me to get another trip in with the 6 month visa I had to buy, and I'll be able to explore new parts of the city. Go ahead and laugh at the video I posted above--god knows I did. I think I did pretty good with all 3 dances, at only 2 hours per day for 3 days. The afternoon was a bit lazy as I began packing things. But the day ended with dancing again, which was fabulous. And the India-based artists gave me the most wonderful gift! A wooden camel they found at one of the shops. Isn't he great? I'm going to name him Raya. I know exactly where he's going to go in my apartment. I look forward to seeing what kind of art work comes out of this experience. I no-doubt have changed and can begin to see my art work changing. Finally! Here's to a safe flight home! Happy day, folks!

India Love . . . 3, 2, 1: Hi there, 2014!

A very happy 2014 to you! I had a very busy first day of the year: I'm not sure what gave me the wild hair to do 3 days of dance classes (when I could have done 3 weeks), but I did it. And boy am I happy with the results--everyone at Delhi Dance Academy is very professional and extremely creative. I couldn't have picked a better dance studio if I tried. I had a hard time waking up on New Year's Day. And I sort of had a glittered-out face, but I still went to my class. The first half of it was finishing up Ghoomar, Rajasthani Folk Dancing. Do not judge me by the video above. There are steps that I missed and beats that I am off on, but it was really fun. I absolutely had a blast! I am no professional Ghoomar dancer, people! The second half was Bhangra. Oh my goodness! If someone had told me Bhangra had existed a billion years ago, I would have majored in dance and become a Bhangra master. It's so high energy and fun! And I think a lot of Western hip hop dance stems from Bhangra, which is probably why I love it so much. I spent an hour learning half of a dance. And it was great! Over and over and over again, I practiced. I think this style of dance fits me quite nicely. I have already signed up for 5 more days of classes when I come back in April for Spring Break. I'm so excited! I think I actually squealed when I left class. But more on that later . . . After dinner, the India-based artists and myself had a little birthday celebration for Jinal, who turned a whopping 27 at midnight. I don't know if you people know me or not. But I don't just hang out after midnight for normal people. I'm usually in bed by 10pm. There's something really amazing about being at a residency that creates this sense of freedom and fun, so I did it. I stayed up late for a second night in a row and helped to welcome in a birthday of craziness. There was cake and candles . . . And soon after, icing fights. It was so fun! Campfires and cake: I'm in! Fun times on the first day of the year. Two more days in India: sad-face-clown. I'll be back!

India Love . . . 3, 2, 1: New Year's Eve!

One thing they don't tell you when you get your nose pierced is to be careful with it while you are sleeping. I suppose that should be common sense. Except common sense doesn't really matter--or work--if you are asleep. Sometimes body parts flail about without your knowledge. I'll spare you the details, but I woke up in what could potentially be mistaken for a crime scene. Or particular scenes from The Godfather, for that matter. This little incident set me back a bit, making me late for breakfast and eventually late to my very first dance class. No matter! Because once I got to the studio, they were so helpful and enthusiastic about my project that I ended up jumping right in and felt completely welcomed (and forgot all about my nose, despite it being placed squarely in the center of my face). My instructor spent the first half of class teaching me the basic steps for Kathak. Khatak is created by the harmony between the Ghungroos (bells) on your ankles and the instruments being played. It's like tap dancing, really. The movement of your feet ring the Ghungroos which creates the rhythm, the sound. The basic beat goes something like this: dha dhin dhin dha, dha dhin dhin dha, dha tin tin ta, ta dhin dhin dha. Khatak was performed for kings and used for entertainment during palace rituals. Check out the top video above--isn't that beautiful? The second half of my class was focused on Rajasthani folk dancing. The kind I saw on my last night in Jaipur. It's called Ghoomar and involves a lot of spinning. So-much-so that I had to take a break every once and again because I was getting so dizzy. I had my instructor do a dance for me to record so that I could study the poses. She's so graceful when she's dancing, whereas I look like I'm doing The Robot (videos of me dancing, forthcoming). In any case, both dances were challenging and fun to explore! I can't wait to use these steps for future work. I need to buy some Ghungroos. Between dance class and dinner, I did some writing and sent off a gallery proposal to Houston (fingers crossed). After dinner, the other 4 residents and I got together for a campfire to welcome in the New Year. Drinks led to dancing, which somehow led to our faces smeared in pink glitter. Who could possibly have brought pink glitter to India? Gee, I wonder. Everyone was so happy and celebratory! It was the best way to ring in the New Year! I didn't get to bed until 2am, which was way past my bedtime: eegads! Cheers, everybody!

India Love . . . 3, 2, 1: Cowboy Up!

The last Monday of my trip found me in a new place in Delhi. I went over to meet friends for lunch in an arts complex called Triveni. I was meeting my friend Mustafa and one of his friends from business school. Mustafa is a friend of mine from Singapore--we met in the Underground Cooking Club MeetUp. We ended up going through several galleries before sitting down at a cafe for tea and paratha. I wasn't expecting to see any galleries, so I was really excited to be seeing the work. One of the galleries was focused on the history of film in India. It was really interesting to see the different styles of dress throughout all of the posters displayed. And they had several film strips in light boxes, which gave me another idea for the dance pose project. The second show we saw was a painting and drawing show. I really enjoyed the drawings that were on display. The whole Triveni complex was buzzing with creative energy. There was a ceramic shop and an outdoor theatre space. And there were four or five floors devoted to classes, workshops, and practice space. While we were there I heard people dancing, drumming, and--somewhere off in the distance--a flute. After our lunch, Mustafa decided that we should go to Rodeo. Of course, I heard the word rodeo and was like, What? Where are we going? We hopped in the cab and headed over, and when we got there I couldn't believe it. All of the waiters were dressed like cowboys--or as close to cowboys as they perhaps thought--and the barstools were Western saddles. It was the most hilarious place on the planet that I have ever been to . . . EVER. There were cowboy posters and random Western sayings on the wall, sheriff badges and rainbow colored Mexican fabrics. On one wall--across from where we were sitting--in giant letters it read, Warning: Coyotes, Rattlers, and Texans. (Damn straight, I thought.) They were having some sort of taco lunch buffet, but we all agreed that there didn't seem to be very many people eating. And the tacos looked vaguely like Indian food. So it was questionable Tex-Mex at best. But we were there for the drinks and the drink menu was quite enjoyable, both in drink names and combinations of liquors. I had a shot called "Cowgirl's Prayer" that I chased with a KingFisher beer. My shot was a combination of Creme de menthe, grenandine, and Tequila. It still makes me cringe a little bit just thinking about it. But it was beautiful! It was red, green, and yellow: perfect stripes of liquor! I kept thinking that it was too bad that it was 2pm in the afternoon because this place would be just OTT at night when it was really crowded. And they were playing like early 2000's music. When we sat down--no joke--they were playing Backstreet Boys. Mustafa said that they used to get there every Saturday at 3pm and stay until the wee hours of the night. I was in heaven, and quite honestly felt a little bit closer to home . . . Go, go Rodeo! The train ride home ended up being magical, too. I was in the Women Only cabin, just standing there because it's always so crowded that there is never anywhere to sit, and all of the women around me started singing. Thankfully I had my phone out because I immediately started recording them. It went on and on until they got off of the train. And it was a call-and-response type singing: with an older lady calling out and the women all around her answering. It was completely fascinating, and I still have no idea what they were saying. I've attached my sound clip below. It was then that I thought, Wow! This Women Only thing is fantastic! How fun! Everyone was smiling and singing! What a fabulous--and unexpected--way to travel home! 

  

India Love . . . Third Weekend, Over And Out!

Oh this weekend: why do I have to go back to Singapore in 4.5 days? I love this place!

Monkeys were on the prowl at breakfast, which was very exciting. There was lots of yelling and rock throwing by the staff at Sanskriti. But the monkeys just sort of crossed their arms as if to say: what? It was hilarious.

I found myself in Old Delhi again on Saturday afternoon, hanging out with my new friend Himanshu. Old Delhi is so crazy and amazing!! We walked all over the place and he told me about all sorts of things: architecture, food, history. It was truly the best way to see this part of the city. Himanshu is a curator and festival organizer. I'm so excited to have met him! He knows all sorts of secrets to the old city and we found ourselves in the most unique and odd places, tucked away amidst the hustle and bustle. It was so much fun!

And oh my: the food . . . I tasted the most amazing paratha in the tiniest little open air, corner restaurant I've ever been in (ever in my life). I'm not kidding you: this place was probably 12 feet by 8 feet. We were squished in with about 15 other patrons, pleasantly eating our paratha. Paratha is a flatbread, and they offered about 20 different varieties. We tried cheese, green chili, cashew, and two other flavors but the names are escaping me. After walking around for a bit, we ate two different kinds of sweets. One of the sweets I explained earlier in a previous post, and the other one was sort of like funnel cake, but not. It was a squeezed out circular swirl of fried dough thoroughly soaked in some sort of honey/sugar syrup. I wanted to take a bath in that liquid goodness! It was so sickeningly sweet!

After that, we went over to Jama Masjid, the largest mosque in all of India. We strolled through the entire space, which was enormous. It seemed to me like it would be a wonderfully contemplative space, and perhaps a great place for artists to come and do some on-site sketching. The variety of people milling about were remarkable. And every one of us, shoeless on a cold day.

After the mosque, we walked back over to the bazaar. And it was at that moment that I got a wild hair. We walked down this skinny little alleyway to a tiny shop where an old man was working on a ring. Funny thing is: he also pierces noses. And for 100 rupees (about 75 cents), he pierced mine. I sat down on this stubby little chair with about 5 big guys staring at me expressionless, and this old guy with what looked to me like a fish hook in his hand. He sanitized everything and then told me to sit still as he grabbed my chin and very quickly jabbed the hook in my nose. The worst part about the whole process was hearing the hook go through my skin. Gross. I'm pretty sure the exact words that came out of my mouth next were, "Mother of God!!" He then grabbed a set of pliers and twisted the ends of the silver in my nose and sent me on my way. Nothing is crazier than watching an old guy with pliers coming at your face . . . My left eye was tearing up and finally the big guys that were watching were smiling. I did it without even screaming! And Himanshu did such a great job documenting the whole thing! Hooray for new things!

After the nose piercing, I couldn't much think about anything else. But along we went to a giant wall. It once wrapped around this entire part of the city, but now only a portion of the wall exists. At 6pm, Himanshu and I said our goodbyes and I hopped on the train back to Sanskriti. Tonight would be my last dinner with my Vicki Australia.

Sunday started off with all of us saying goodbye to Vicki and her husband. The rest of the day ended up being a studio day for everyone. We all kind of puttered around working, stopping for tea or to have lunch together. I ended up cutting out more dance figures. But--more importantly--I wrote up several proposals for future gallery shows and residencies. And I also wrote up a review of the work I have accomplished with this residency. It reads something like this . . .

"My Sanskriti Foundation residency began on December 14th and ends on January 3rd. During this short 3 week time period, I have been successful in fusing my contemporary studio art practice with the colors, textures, and movements inspired by Delhi culture. Creative research in the form of documentary photographs and videos can be found on www.cakecrush.com where I wrote about my daily experiences in my India Love . . . 3, 2, 1 series. Investigations into movement, ritual, patterning, and celebrations continue on as I begin to explore myself within these themes. In my Dance Sketch video that I created in the first week of my residency, I combined traditional Indian dance poses with contemporary Western dance poses to choreograph a quick 4-minute stop animation with still photographs (to be watched on a loop). Using the isolated movements within this animation, I have begun drawing the poses onto patterned paper that mimics the textiles and tapestries found in Sanskriti's Textile Museum. These drawings are cut out and formed into a larger kaleidoscope piece. Poses are repeated to form the design, and then the finished kaleidoscope piece is animated through photographs. During the last week of my residency, I will be taking traditional Indian dance classes. The finished choreographed piece will be edited into the animated kaleidoscope sequence to create a unique video experience, combining real and imagined space and movement. Upon my return to Singapore, I will use the fabrics and trim that I have purchased in Delhi to finish a costume piece. This costume piece will be worn in a live dance performance that is a direct response to my time here in India. Additionally, smaller sculptural works of the isolated Indian and Western dance poses will be made out of clay into a series of works that I am calling Trophies, a response to the horse sculptures and terracotta deities found all over Sanskriti and throughout India. The final work from each of these investigations will be photographed and put into a catalog along with several of my blog posts. The finished publication will be sent to Sanskriti for reference."

Tonight I will be hanging out by a campfire with my new India-based artist friends. I'm excited for the conversation as holing up in the studio all day has made me feel a bit hermit-ish. More soon, peoples! 

India Love . . . 3, 2, 1: Creative Play!

Today was a studio day. As exciting as the beginning of my week was, I really needed to stay in the studio and work on some projects. And while I didn't get to the movie making part of this work, I did start putting together the format for what the little films will be. And really I'm creating a backdrop for a much larger film project that I am hoping to create over the summer months in Baltimore. The day started out with me cutting the shapes of my dance poses out of patterned paper that I felt looked very similar to the textiles found in the museums here at Sanskriti. The cutting actually took me through the morning and up until noon. In fact, I am still doing some cutting. Goodness! At noon, the 4 India-based artists gave presentations to their mentors and the people supporting their stay at Sanskriti. I sat in on the presentations and was absolutely floored by their varied and technical skills. One of the young women showed these beautiful drawings that she made by burning paper with incense. I really loved how the light interacted with these pieces (see in the video above). Each one of these young artists was extremely prolific, showing between 50 and 80 works a piece. (It was on a projector, so it was mainly the clicking through of images. But wow!) At 130pm, we broke for lunch. After lunch I went back to my studio and continued on with my work. My goal is to use the dance poses to create various kaleidoscope-type animations to be used as a backdrop for a dance video that I will be working on at a later date. Essentially I will be dancing in front of the animated kaleidoscope: you get me? So once I am able to complete the kaleidoscope (you can see part of it above), I will move around the different parts while taking images and create a little stop-motion animation. The second part of my project involves working on the trophy mock-ups. A little bit of that will be done tomorrow morning and also on Sunday, as it was so cold today that I could not bare to even work with the wet clay (which is outside). But I did end up drawing up sketches for the pieces. I also did a fair amount of research, looking for a classical Indian dance instructor here in Delhi. I'm hoping to hear back from someone tomorrow. To continued success!

India Love . . . 3, 2, 1: Hauz Khas for Boxing Day!

Well it's official. Living in hot Singapore has turned me into a massive cold weather wimp. And I may have once again gotten a bit of a head cold. (I can not confirm nor deny this.) So today was a bit slow. I was in the studio working all morning and then went off to Hauz Khas with Vicki. We had a beautiful meal at Amour, celebrating Boxing Day. The food was arranged so artfully on the plates. I had a lamb and provolone burger--having not had any meat since the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. It was wonderful. And you can see what Vicki had above: isn't it gorgeous? For dessert, I ordered ice cream. But when they brought it out . . . It looked like this. The ice cream was shaped in a triangle with a bit of a pie crust. And it was covered in toffee and orange drizzle. But that's not all: it was served with mascarpone and almonds! It was absolutely amazing. And probably the reason I am being punished with the aforementioned head cold. We ate outside on a rooftop overlooking a giant park. I felt like I was in New York or something. After lunch, we walked around and peeked in all of the cool shops that Hauz Khas has to offer. It was really fun! I left Vicki there and came back to the compound. And then I did something absolutely crazy: I rested. I physically laid down for more than an hour. When I woke up, it was dinner time. And here we are! Tomorrow I will be making more dance videos and creating mock-ups of the trophies. Hilarious post--I mean progress report--forthcoming!

India Love . . . 3, 2, 1: Christmas Day Festivus!

At 8am on Christmas morning I loaded all of my things back into the car and set off for Delhi with my driver, Surinder. Before heading out of town, we made our way to the monkey temple. Galtaji is in Khania-Balaji, and is a Hindu pilgrimage site where people can come and bathe in holy water. This was the absolute best way to leave Jaipur! I've never seen so many monkeys in all of my life . . . At one point, I was on the hilltop surrounded by pigs, goats, cows, monkeys, and dogs: all at the same time. I spent about 2 hours there. Then it was time to get back in the car again. About 3 hours in, I decided that I wasn't so happy about spending Christmas Day in a car. However it warmed my heart to know that perhaps back in the States, other people were also piling into random forms of transportation to go and visit with loved ones. I kept checking my phone to see if anyone had woken up at my dad's house where my nephews were. My sister and I remember waking up around 4am on Christmas Day, so I was sort of hoping that they would do the same. Alas, they slept in a bit longer. When we finally got back to Delhi, my residency neighbor handed me a tiny little stocking. I was so happy to have something fun and festive to hang up in my space! I ended up Skyping with my dad around 630pm my time. Everyone was just getting up at the house and the boys were excited because Santa had come to visit. But halfway through our Skype, there was a knock on my door. A man was calling us to dinner early. I figured it was because the chef needed to be home early, but it was for a Christmas celebration! They had invited all of us (all 5 of us) to the dining hall for drinks and treats. And they put up the most magical little Christmas tree, complete with snow on the branches. After dinner, they presented us with a green cake. Following dinner, we all went to Vicki's studio and shared our art work with each other. The night ended with drinks and dancing in the studio. Christmas Day Sanskriti-style rules: so much fun!

India Love . . . 3, 2, 1: A Very Merry Jaipur!

I want everyone to know how difficult it is for me to post these India Love/3, 2, 1 posts. It's not emotional or anything, I just take a billion pictures a day. Anyone who has ever gone anywhere with me knows this (and I do mean anywhere: the grocery store, out to eat, etc.). So being able to choose only 3 images to post is an absolute nightmare! Today's post is camel-heavy. It's Christmas Eve for goodness sake! It kind of goes with the season, you know? The camel images that I have posted are not of the camel that I had the absolute pleasure of riding, this was a camel that was just hanging out by the side of the road eating some grain while his owner ate some lunch. And when I walked up to him, he started making the most hilarious faces at me. I couldn't quite contain myself. Camels are such humorous creatures! Anyhow . . . My day started with an elephant ride up to the Amber Fort. This fort is outside of Jaipur about 20 minutes, and up a hill. It was beautiful at the top and sort of reminded of St. Mark's Square in Venice--the arrangement of the buildings and how people gathered. Located in the same town is a very small museum called Anokhi. It is a hand printing museum. A friend in Singapore told me that I must go to it, so I did. When I walked in, no one was there. Pigeons were flying around inside everywhere. But I paid my entrance fee and began to poke around. And I have to say: aside from the camels, it was my most favorite place that I have been to! Perhaps even during my whole India experience thus far. It is a gorgeous little museum! On the first floor was the history of block printing and how it relates to the town, and the gift shop. On the second floor was a contemporary printing show with work by Rebecca Layton. It was really wonderful to see the contemporary next to the historical, and how they relate. And as I wound myself up the little staircase to the third floor, I found myself in a tiny gallery with arches and mirrors and 5 glass boxes encasing dress forms wearing layers of beautifully printed sarees and wraps and shirts and headscarves. (The room made me feel like I was in JT's Mirrors video, you know towards the end.) Just off of that gallery was a small space showing the process of dying and printing on a vest. They had a different vest displayed for each stage of the process, so there were 11 vests: each a little different than the one before. On the 4th floor of the museum--the roof--there was a man sitting in a corner carving wooden printing blocks. I sat there and watched him for probably 30 minutes. I made a series of videos, of which one is posted above. After watching him, I walked into the teaching lab where another man was printing. It looked like a typical printing studio: ink stains, some things covered in plastic, newspaper everywhere. He let me print with him for a little while. He was doing some tests prints on muslin, so that's what I got to help out with. I ended up buying some of the books they had for sale in the gift shop because I was just so fascinated by the whole museum. You can't tell from their website, but it's actually behind the town and down an alley. I'm so glad we found it! As we drove away and down the hill, I noticed some camels hanging out by the side of the road. So we turned the car around so I could get out and take some pictures. As I was taking pictures, my driver was talking to the camel's owners. And one of them offered to give me a ride. So that's how I came to find Raya. Raya's owner walked me down to the water and then back again to the street. It was maybe a 10 minute ride, but totally worth it. He even trotted me at one point, which made giggle. After my camel ride, I went over to the City Palace. But it was really just another fort-like thing. So I wasn't really that invested in looking at it. I was more interested in the traffic--cows, elephants, oxen, cars, bikes, scooters, tour buses--that was happening outside. But my driver wasn't interested in parking and letting me walk around. So I went back to my beautiful little inn and rested for a bit. I found a dinner spot just around the corner where I could watch traditional Indian dance and see a Rajasthanian puppet show. The dancing was funny and a bit awkward because I think the daughter (in the video above) was just learning the ropes. She seemed really shy and unsure of what was happening. But when her mother started dancing, it was absolutely tantalizing! She was amazing! And she danced with a stack of large clay pots on her head. Spinning and spinning and spinning! I had a fabulous Christmas Eve . . . Let's see what Christmas Day brings! Happy holidays!

My Favorite Creative Experiences From 2013

1. Being back in graduate school: Yes, I am a glutton for punishment. I love school and being around other academics discussing art. I also tend to like my art getting it's ass kicked every once in a while. If you have never sat through an art critique in a college setting, do it. Listening to a large group of people--say 35 of them--pontificate on your artwork while you stand in front of them (between your artwork and them, like a protective mother) and attempt to defend everything is incredibly eye opening . . . And--dare I say--fun! Not to mention all of the book learning and paper writing that goes hand-in-hand with the experience. Three cheers for being back in school!

2. My residency in India at The Sanskriti Foundation: Another amazingly life-changing experience, and I'm still completely going through this! I have loved meeting everyone at Sanskriti and making new connections with all of the resident artists. Residencies create a special--different--kind of bond: you are brought together, make art furiously, and then you go on your separate ways. But there is always an amazing bond that exists. Thanks to social media, everyone can stay in contact for years to come. And perhaps one of these days, I will meet up with these artists at another residency or perhaps the same one. Just another fabulous example of art creating connection!

3. Oh my goodness, our first ever Stamford Community Mural: It's exciting to be part of the inaugural mural project that the students have begun working on in collaboration with Kallang Community Club . . . Each Thursday when my students go to the wall to paint, they discover a new friend or accept a new creative challenge. It's inspiring to watch.

The current feedback we have been receiving from parents about this project sounds something like this:

"I keep hearing such great things about this CCA . . . How can my child be involved with this project?"
"This is the one CCA that I facilitate where I go home and feel really energized!"
"I saw the images on Facebook the other day of the mural! What a fantastic project!"

4. Living with Wanalee: This might be my most inspiring life event ever. I am so lucky to be living in a part of the world that encourages travel. All of the trips I have been on in the past year have been incredible. But living with Wanalee for three days: that was the absolute best! Have you ever been around an elephant for a long period of time? They are the most gentle creatures on the planet . . . Make eye contact with an elephant and it will change your life--I guarantee it. She was patient and helpful, and she had a great sense of humor. I am scheduled to see her again over Chinese New Year. Hooray!

5. Trade School Singapore: Creative exchange! Decorating umbrellas and making new friends. Parade Arts never looked so good!

6. Soap-making with my second graders: Two weeks of bombastic artful energy disguised as play. The students had an absolute blast making their own soap and designing packaging that reflected their personal style.

7. Screen printing 101 with Stamford teachers: Very rarely do I get a chance to hang out with my teaching community creatively. The workshop that Sarah and I devised was successful on so many levels: it created a community of art makers among Stamford teachers, it showed teachers how they could use a creative technique in their classrooms to teach non arts-based classes, and it gave the teachers a space for play.

8. A for Arbite's CRAFT: A fingerweaving installation at one of Singapore's best kept secrets. Good food, great beer, and the celebration of craft. Sign me up again!

9. The first installment of Buoyant Echo in Kentucky: A collaborative project in the works with my good friend Corey D. Newton. It's a survey of my experience living in Singapore that combines performance, installation, sculpture, and music. The second installment of this project will take place in Singapore in August of 2014.

10. Writing about my friends and fellow art instructors: It's fun to peek into the lives of art teachers and see what makes them tick . . . Check out some of my fave art teachers: Camilla, Sarah, Adrienne, and Nicholas.

11. Stamford's gala artwork: It's always exciting to make things with my little people! Especially when it's for a great cause . . . So many hands went into the making and finishing of these three giant paintings!

12. French cooking class: Finding friends through a random Meetup has been one of the most rewarding things on the planet. I never even used Meetup in the States, but thought it would be a good idea living in a new country. I was right! Underground Chefs has been a blast to be a part of! (Now if only our wayward leader Jes would come back from learning how to make amazing pastries in Tuscany so we could continue on already!!)

13. Being a part of Handmade Movement's Craft Fair in January: Hanging out with some super lovely ladies in the pouring rain whilst attempting to hang up buntings and bobbles was hilarious. By the end of the day, we were all freezing cold and exhausted. But man, the turnout was incredible! At that fair, I met some of my closest friends in Singapore. To continued hilarity and success!

Honorary mention: Panca Mahabhuta Retreat. How could I not include my experience in Bali at Thanksgiving? Just being there for those four short days left me feeling refreshed and focused. I can't imagine what will happen when I attend the 21 day event . . . Look out!