Artist
I’ve created so many works in this collection (Aftermath) and I can feel a bit of the ‘thrill’ or inspiration starting to wane…more like morph. I’m determined to be patient as the muse shifts. I am listening to Elizabeth Gilbert read her book, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, on…
I’m writing here today as kind of a test… I usually just repost the newsletter from Raw from the Road here… maybe bi-monthly and most of the time, once a month. In this pause, this pandemic pause, I have been left alone with my thoughts to play in the playground…
Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage. Anais Nin It’s Spring! Flowers, trees and people are blooming despite the pandemic and covid19. No doubt, life has been a roller coaster but when is it not? We do what we can to help our loved ones, those who are helping others,…
Meet some of my kids.(but first, meet my mother!) Even if you’re not an artist, you know what I’m talking about. We love our children in different ways but we love ALL of them! And if I’m the mother of my ‘kids’ then Liza Zhurkovskaya is a new Aunt. Liza…
The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature. Joseph Campbell Hiii!I hope you survived Black Friday and Cyber Monday and if you’re still looking for unique special gifts, you guessed it, I have just the thing! Some…
I’m almost 60 years old and I still get to share my parents.
Burn Baby Burn Burnout is nature’s way of telling you, you’ve been going through the motions your soul has departed; you’re a zombie, a member of the walking dead, a sleepwalker. False optimism is like administrating stimulants to an exhausted nervous system. Sam Keen, Fire in the Belly: On Being a…
Raw from the Road, May 10, 2018 Beauty and Wisdom, Revisited My grandmother was a powerhouse of a woman and southern to her core. She was small in stature but, she was a giant. Every person she met on her journey was blessed and she was my biggest cheerleader…
Raw from the Road, April 16, 2018 In the Still of the Knight I’m kind of honored to be a dragon lady. The dragon is a very powerful, mythical animal. Yoko Ono You know the saying “she’s like a bull in a china shop?” Well, picture a bull in a…
Going home after 40 years.
Imperfection, Raw From The Road, February 1, 2018 Imperfection Imperfection is beauty. Madness is genius. It is better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring. -Marilyn Monroe As I started to look into this mirror, cracked and imperfect, I started letting go of my need for perfection… from myself…
Raw from the Road, January 24, 2018 Roads The drive toward Life is protective, thoughtful, vulnerable, and invested in immaculate love. It is this last that marks the difference between a wise heart muddy with real life experiences in the trenches and a dry heart that functions on rote concepts…
Raw from the Road, August 31, 2017 My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style. Maya Angelou You may be wondering what in the hell does that mean? I…
Raw from the Road, July 25, 2017 Ashes to Ashes Sometimes you have to burn yourself to the ground before you can rise like a phoenix from the ashes. Jens Lekman I remember going to see Mt. St. Helens the first time when I was living in Portland, Oregon. That…
Raw From The Road, June 28, 2017 Public Speaking Run from what’s comfortable. Forget Safety. Live where you fear to live. Destroy your reputation. Be notorious. I have tried prudent planning long enough. From now on I’ll be mad. Rumi Live TV Interview with Jeanmarie Bassior on L.A. Talk…
Raw from the Road, May 23, 2017 Now Trending The need for an empty space, a pause, is something we have all felt in our bones; it’s the rest in a piece of music that gives it resonance and shape. Pico Iyer Do you notice how…
Raw From The Road, May 16, 2017 A Day Off You are like this cup; you are full of ideas. You come and ask for teaching, but your cup is full; I can’t put anything in. Before I can teach you, you’ll have to empty your cup. Master Ryutan…
Raw from the Road, May 9, 2017 All Over The Place We adore chaos because we love to produce order. M. C. Escher All over the place. Yep that’s me. I’m all over the place. And today, I am embracing my all over the…
Raw from the Road, April 20, 2017 (Excerpt, March 13, 2013 blog entry) The Wow Factor A person who as a physical being is always turned toward the outside, thinking that their happiness lies outside them, finally turns inward and discovers that the source is within them. Soren Kierkegaard I…
Raw From The Road, April 3, 2017 Whiter Shade of Pale A human being is a being who is constantly ‘under construction,’ but also, in a parallel fashion, always in a state of constant destruction. Jose Saramago Happy Monday! Just a heads up that I will be sharing…
Raw From The Road, March 2, 2017 Four Dark Months in Brooklyn Black and white are the colors of photography. To me they symbolize the alternatives of hope and despair to which mankind is forever subjected. Robert Frank In 2002, I gave up my very stable job at USC,…
Raw From The Road, September 14, 2016 Underdog What each must seek in his life never was on land or sea. It is something out of his own unique potentiality for experience, something that never has been and never could have been experienced by anyone else. Joseph Campbell …
Raw From The Road, August 9, 2016 Art Psych 101 I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that’s how you grow. When there’s that moment of ‘Wow, I’m not really sure I can do this,’ and you push through those moments, that’s when…
Raw From The Road, July 26, 2016 Don’t Shoot! The camera is the least important element in photography. Julius Shulman Photo: Luna and Grass Mountain, Taken with an Iphone Ten years ago, while I working at the Getty Villa Museum, I had the privilege of meeting and speaking with photographer…
Raw from the Road, June 21, 2016 Waste Removal Scholar Tokusan, who was full full of knowledge and opinions about the dharma, came to Ryutan and asked about Zen. At one point Ryutan re-filled his guest’s teacup, but did not stop pouring when the cup was full. Tea spilled…
Raw From The Road, May 31, 2016 Surely all art is the result of one’s having been in danger, of having gone through an experience all the way to the end, where no one can go any further. Rainer Rilke Disclaimer: While I realize my family members may read…
Raw from the Road, May 24, 2016 Freedom… It’s the Only word. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. Robert Frost When…
Raw from the Road, May 4, 2016 Beauty, Being and Wisdom Aging is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength. Betty Friedan Mothers, Grandmothers, Sisters, Aunts, Mentors, Friends… women who give of themselves and make great differences to our lives… We celebrate them all the…
Do you have phony friends? I mean, do you have friends that when you spend time with them, they are spending time on their phones? Obviously, as always, this excludes extenuating circumstances. Do you remember the times you would get together with your bud and you would actually be looking…
A couple of years ago I had the honor of being interviewed by Jean Noel Bassior on her TV web show, Talk Live in L.A. I worked with Jean Noel in 2010, when I first started writing the Beauty and Wisdom book. She was my book mentor. I didn’t know…