Sharing inspiration and a story called "Wicked Jenny"

*What's inspiring me these days:

l. Lingo from the 1920s

2. This video. The photography and the words, the voice, of Sarah Moon.

"I hope and I begin again...for a split second I see the sparkle of beauty passing by...and I am carried away and I can't stop finding it and losing it..." =love

3. Kara Walker's silhouettes

4. These words from SARK on how to be an artist: (gonna print it and do each one by one!)

STAY LOOSE. LEARN TO WATCH SNAILS. PLANT IMPOSSIBLE GARDENS. INVITE SOMEONE DANGEROUS TO TEA. MAKE LITTLE SIGNS THAT SAY “YES” AND
PASTE THEM ALL OVER YOUR HOUSE. MAKE FRIENDS WITH FREEDOM AND UNCERTAINTY. LOOK FORWARD TO DREAMS. CRY DURING MOVIES. SWING AS HIGH AS YOU CAN ON A SWINGSET BY MOONLIGHT. CULTIVATE MOODS. REFUSE TO BE RESPONSIBLE. DO IT FOR LOVE. TAKE LOTS OF NAPS. GIVE MONEY AWAY. BELIEVE IN MAGIC. LAUGH A LOT. CELEBRATE EVERY GORGEOUS MOMENT. TAKE MOONBATHS. HAVE WILD IMAGININGS TRANSFORMATIVE DREAMS AND
PERFECT CALM DRAW ON THE WALLS. READ EVERYDAY. IMAGINE YOURSELF MAGIC. GIGGLE WITH CHILDREN. LISTEN TO OLD PEOPLE. OPEN UP. DIVE IN. BE FREE. BLESS YOURSELF. DRIVE AWAY FEAR. ENTERTAIN YOUR INNER CHILD. YOU ARE INNOCENT. BUILD A FORT WITH BLANKETS. GET WET. HUG TREES. WRITE LOVE LETTERS. (SARK)

5. Cooking. Trying out new recipes. Somehow in the looking up of rice recipes, I stumbled across the site freerice.com, which aids the World Hunger Programme. I donated rice and learned a few new words in the process. (Level 57 kicked my booty---did you know that orthoepy = pronunciation?

*What I've been up to:

1. There are three paintings in various stages on the table which is why you are getting pics of rice play and not paint and paper. :)

2. Over the weekend I put the finishing touches on a short story titled "Wicked Jenny." I'd written the first draft months ago, then put it away. Not because I thought it was finished, I knew it still needed work in places, but I'd gotten too wrapped up in the story to see it clearly. Last Wednesday, I pulled the pages back out again, thinking I would rework them and read the story at the writer's group that night. Turns out I didn't share it but I made the group a promise that night and that promise was that I would finish "Wicked Jenny" and have it to share at next meeting. I thought about the main character, Sela, on the drive home that night, asking myself some questions regarding her motivation. I found myself thinking about fairy tales and what it takes to be a heroine. Also at the forefront of my mind was Elizabeth Gilbert's TED talk video, the part where she speaks about poet, Ruth Stone, who must capture her poem/ idea before it goes away. *SIGH* And I knew I had to finish Sela's story before it left me and went and found some other willing soul to write it.

First I made myself rewrite the parts I was unhappy with. I wrote them with pencil and paper, not looking at the original writing, and I gave myself permission to say anything and to be as free as I wanted and to stray as far from the original writing as possible. It turned out that was exactly the thing I needed to really capture the voice of Sela. I worked on the story until 2 am Friday night and then until 3am Saturday. I got lost in 1924 and spent hours on single paragraphs. On Sunday morning, I proclaimed it done and my hubby and Olivia took me out for a celebratory lunch. They are good to me that way.

And then yesterday, before that evil inner critic could get a word in, I submitted it (gulp!) for consideration to a short story anthology. "Wicked Jenny" needs a home. If she doesn't find one out in the world then I will let her home be here and share it on the blog. I haven't worked on art to go with this story but maybe that will be next after I finish the above mentioned pieces.

Happy creating!!!!