Tag: art

More Kitten Whiskers

Time for some Friday fangirling over a few favorites.

  • Get yourself an uncontrollable jaunt – you’ll be glad you did. Actually, get yourself to yourself to Spotify, iTunes, google play or Stitcher and follow Ninth World Journal written, directed, and produced by David S. Dear who also voices Januae. Based on the role playing game Numenera and set in the far future, Januae invents a teleporter which, for reasons, causes him to randomly & spontaneously teleport or “jaunt” and sci fi adventures ensue. I won’t spoil it, but if you like sci fi or fantasy an eentsy bit, please give it a listen. I’m more of a reader than a listener, but I’m transfixed. If an audio drama holds my gnat sized attention that is saying something. I am eternally honored to have been invited by David to be a co-host on his previous podcast Menage A Tarot, which was one of the most fun things I’ve ever done (it’s still available on TuneIn if you want to give it a listen) I can tell you first hand that David is one of the wisest, kindest people you’d ever want to meet plus has an enchanting fm radio voice that you could listen to for hours. That, plus the perfect length of the Ninth World Journal episodes and David’s sense of humor make it one of the most binge-able podcasts around. Please support Ninth World Journal on Patreon and ko-fi.
  • Speaking of wisdom and podcasts! If non-fiction is more to your taste, the please visit CoachJoseJohnson.com, home of you guessed it….Coach Jose Johnson, mindfulness coach, martial arts master and musician (Side Streets of Dreams is one of my all time favorite songs) I’ve had the privilege of taking clinics taught by him, and chatting with him as friend and colleague in the mindfulness & spirituality field. I know and respect his work. My husband studied with both he and Justin so of course if you have any interest in martial arts whatsoever, please give The Kung Fu Equation podcast a listen. Lately he has been posting I Ching (the “Book of Changes”) inspired thoughts on instagram. While I don’t use I Ching in my professional work, I’ve used it personally almost as long as I’ve worked with Tarot…since the 90s. He is absolutely spot on. Take it from someone with “Tao” in their website name…listen to him about the I Ching and mindfulness. His book Mindfulness Secrets is available now.
  • From audio art, to nonfiction and music … now back to art. Ry Summers is one of the most multi-talented artists I’ve ever cyber-met. I first met him on the poetry site “We Drink Because We Are Poets.” His writing is gritty, raw, real, powerful and alive. For his poetry, I recommend an older work of his written under the pen name Sahm Atain King, Laria Onyx. At the same time, he is a brilliant artist and photographer. Check out his work (including my favorite of his paintings that he’s posted so far, “Mephistopheles”) on www.instagram.com/ry_summers.  Rumor has it that he has a new project in the works. Please visit his instagram profile to learn how to support his work.

 

 

 

Today’s Tarot: The Art of Art

The Knight of Cups is typically about chivalry, and romance, and that Arthurian kind of knight-in-shiney-armour kind of thing. It is sometimes related to art and artists.

As always these days, it is relatable to those of us staying at home. The art piece of this is getting my attention today. When we look back on the social media of these months, I hope everyone remembers the museum at home art challenge thing. I have no idea how it started. I think ultimately it came from museaums posting pictures of pieces from their collection (something MOMA, Musee D’Orsay and others do all the time anyway) on Instagram. When the shutdow happened, other museums became more visible, sharing famous works with the hash #museumfromhome. From there it evolved to people replicating famous artworks with whatever they have on hand during quarantine. It is nothing short of amazing. Please, please, please check it out. The ones that work in a roll of toilet paper or a few are my favorites because that was such a thing and a source of giggles early on in this.

Someone once said that art is something that exists only for its own sake. I don’t 100% agree. I’m fond of art that has usefulness. Tarot for example. It is ephemeral folk performance art of sorts, but has psychological, stress relieving, diversion and entertainment utility.

I define art as that which evokes emotion.

Other than that, no rules about aesthetics or utility. A hand knit sweater can be art because it evokes feeling of comfort, warmth, or associations with the person who created it if it was a gift and so on. The Dada movement appreciated art that was provokative, confronting unpleasant emotions. Even if your response is “eeeww” or “pfft – I could do that” it is still a response, it is still engaging with the artwork, and it is still art. True enough, not all emotion eliciting art has a practical use. If one of Bob Ross’ trees make you happy, then that is more than enough.

And there you have it folks…my college art minor put to good use.

Which brings us back to the Knight of Cups. It is a good reminder that not everything musst have a purpose, and that we can emotionally engage with anything.

Interestingly enough, this also reinforces the message from yesterday about simple pleasures. If you want to re-create a painting and post it online because it amuses you, then that is reason enough to do it. I you want to wear your rattiest old sweater because it makes you feel comfortable, that is reason enough. If you want to gaze out the window at a dandilion in the grass because it is so bright yellow in the sun and it takes your mind off other things for a split second…that is reason enough. That dandilion become art. Life is art and art is life, connected, engaged, and mindful.

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Speaking of Instagram….I’m @ Taocraft.Tarot and that is the social media I’m most often on lately. Stop by and say hi if you want. Comments are closed on the website to prevent spam, trolls and unhealthy energy out of our little Tarot studio, but comments are open for converstatio on IG and Twitter (@TaoCraftTarot) See you there!