Tag: Quakerism

How is am I feeling right now

How am I feeling right now?

Right now, I am feeling at peace. I am done with a project I have worked on for the last several weeks, and I feel accomplished.  I don’t think what I am feeling is pride or proud. Just centered and on a plateau.

Hydrangea-0829204--Fall Walk, Bill Hendricks
Hydrangea-0829204—How am I feeling?

Yesterday, I drew a Tower Tarot Card from my Rider-Waite tarot deck while thinking about the past. The way I interpreted the card was that it singled a change. The change was not accompanied by good or bad. Just change, and I can accept that because of what I was feeling as well after 22 years of teaching and running and working in an art gallery for five years. I see it beginning in the fall and ending in late August. Thinking about it further, I realized that my birthday is tomorrow. With my website ArtChangesLives(Dot)Com reorganized, I am happy with the documentation of the artwork posted. I do… I feel accomplished and thankful.

Bill Hendricks/Shadowmason

Bill Hendricks Selfie
Bill Hendricks, August 27, 2024

 

Who is your favorite historical figure? At the Moment … John Cage

Cage says that somethings are always created out of nothing, the intangible, living void. They’re not a form of self-expression; instead they are a inner response. One starts with a structure that is empty and all possibilities are on the table. Wu-wei or effortless action, says that nothing should be forced.
                                      ~ https://www.kimmanleyort.com/

Something....That was Used a Nothing.... None is Something again.
Something…That was Used as Nothing… And Nothing becomes Something again.

 

It is great to have F(f)riends…

“It’s a poor sort of memory that only works backwards,’ says the White Queen to Alice.”  ~  Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland / Through the Looking-Glass

A friend, who is a Friend at the Minneapolis Friends Meeting, called me today and shared Carroll’s quote with me. What struck me about this quote is that it addresses an experience and the concept of time. I have read in several places that, according to quantum physics, time is not a linear analog; instead, it is one moment stacked on top of another, and we experience time all at once. Therefore, our planning and setting of goals is a form of remembering a time in the future. I know, deep, huh? I am not a physicist, but these concepts inspire my work as an artist.

Door05192024, Mixed Media, Pen and Digital,
Door05192024, Mixed Media, Pen and Digital, Hendricks 2024

Second Life Endowment for the Arts Grant Documentation

Second Life Endowment for the Life Grant Labyrinth
Second Life Endowment for the Arts Grant Documentation—October to December 2023

“A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.”
                      ~ Yoko Ono, Japanese multimedia artist

The Second Life grant was the first grant I applied for since my retirement from Minneapolis College. It was awarded to me in September 2023; I expected it to begin in January 2024, and the parcel was offered starting in October. So, I am happy that the grant was an extension of another Second Life installation I did previously titled Being Male.

I chose to do a labyrinth as a challenge for my 3D modeling skills and my fascination with building an enclosed environment. A maze is a place to lose yourself; A labyrinth is where you go to find yourself. The lighting, too, fascinated me because an artist can create a mystical environment within the Second Life environment to play with light. Quakers, as well as many spiritual-based communities, believe the Light exists within us. My installations created in or with Blender and in Second Life influence my drawings, and my drawings influence the 3D installations as well. Ideas and theories of the existence of the multiverse influence both.

During the last few years, my husband and family have supported me in transitioning to my retirement career. My meeting and the Friends in my faith community have been vital to me, too. And I must add my friends in Second Life.

Second Life Endowment for the Arts

Proposal for the SLEA Grant

 

Art isn’t complete until it’s shared—Wondering what you think?

Stern Expression, as the gazer peers through various dimensions.
Stern Expression — Ink on paper — 7″ x 5″ approximately

Art isn’t complete until it’s shared.
                          ~  Seph Lawless 

As some who follow ArtChangesLives(Dot)Com know, I retired almost three years ago. I knew I would begin building a body of work. So, I began drawing before retirement. At the Friends General Conference (FGC) workshop titled Photography as a Contemplative Practice, Peter West Nutting jumpstarted my process. That workshop was followed by a Zentangling Workshop with Sadelle Wiltshire the next summer at the FGC Gathering. Both workshops provided a sufficient role in giving direction to my work.

After retirement, besides exploring my artistic leadings, I supported my meeting, the Minneapolis Monthly Meeting and Northern Yearly Meeting (NYM) (Quakers), designing and producing the yearly meeting’s monthly e-news and a quarterly publication, NYM Journal, with two skilled editors Doug Kirk and Tom Darrow. The journal features poets, articles, and artwork produced and shared with members of the yearly meeting.

I am excited to share some of my work in the journal’s current issue. I hope you enjoy it; along the way, you might enjoy several articles and poems.

Northern Yearly Meeting Journal/Winter 2024