My Favorite Painting

For some reason some people want to know which one of my paintings is my favorite. The answer is all of them, which doesn’t seem to satisfy their curiosity. But the truth is, each painting is my favorite at different times depending on what’s going on in my life at any given time. I know…I know… BORING!

Ok, I’ll give you a little something…

One of the cool things that I love about being an artist is that ideas seem to be developing in my head all the time. I look for most of my ideas as I walk through life and interact with people. Usually the idea for a painting goes through an incubation period, which could be anywhere from a few hours, to a few days, to months or even years. Then all of a sudden I need to put it onto canvas when the time is right. Then again, sometimes I don’t have to look far for an idea, because it comes screaming in my face “PAINT THIS!” Like following two paintings . . .

Holding On 36" x 36" oil on canvas by Melanie Banayat

“Holding on”, and “Letting Go” each have a strong personal significance to me. It’s interesting how the titles of these two paintings present a dichotomy, yet they work well together toward a common goal – a better future. Those two expressions were repeated over and over again to me from many different people. At first I didn’t really understand what they meant. They would say, “Hold on -- things will get better some day!” I didn’t feel like I could hold on, especially when it felt like I was living in an ongoing nightmare! They would also tell me to, “Just let it go, you’ll see, ‘trust me’ -- things will eventually work out for the better!” I didn’t know how to trust them (or anyone else for that matter) when it seemed like everyone and everything was against me, and trying to send me to an early grave.

There are few things in life that feel more vulnerable then to be standing naked before the world for everyone to see your every flaw, every mistake, and every shortcoming. To feel as though you have been stripped of everything that is dignified, and/or important to you in life. To come face to face with a reality that is harder than you have ever endured in your lifetime, and just when you feel you can’t take anymore, things get worse. My question to myself when I was coming up with the idea for this painting was, “how do I paint that image without her looking defeated?” I want the image to represent hope in the midst of chaos, and pain.


The two triangle marks on the woman’s cheekbone represent the Pascua Yaqui Indian symbol for tears (or rain). I remember going on and on for about 8 months where I couldn’t keep myself from being brought to tears. If a cashier at a grocery store asked me how I was, my eyes would well up and I would try to choke back my true feelings and force a smile, because it wasn’t their fault that I was feeling distraught and sorry for myself. But I could tell that some people could see that I was in pain. I could tell that they felt for me. Others were kind enough to ask if there was anything they could do to help. Eventually I began to share my story with people who were willing to let me take up some of their time, and others were willing to share some of their stories with me, which is how I was eventually inspired to do these paintings.

Letting Go 36" x 36" oil on canvas by Melanie Banayat

Simply stated, The Stone & the Vine in “Letting Go” represent the burden and the stronghold.

The fact is ‘WE’ hold all the power over the majority of the strongholds in our life. The power is all in letting go of the burdens, the supposed need, and/or the fears. More often than not the things that keep us from moving on, or from feeling joy can usually be attributed to the idea that we need to have control over the things, situations, and people in our life, “if only they would do as I wish everything would be so much better!” But the truth is, the more we try to control everything, the more people pull away, and things all around us fall apart in direct connection to our life.

The woman in “Letting Go” is dropping the stone from her hand, and the amazing phenomenon that ultimately occurs, which she has to have complete faith in, is that at the very moment she lets it go is the very moment that the vine lets go of her. Fully trusting the process is something that many of us are unwilling risk, but the irony is that even if we don’t surrender to the process – we will still have to face the cause and effect of the strongholds in one way or another. In essence, Letting Go, actually holds more power then trying to force something to happen “Your Way.”

It is empowering; it is freedom!

Link to Pasqua Yaqui symbols


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My Favorite Painting

Greek Mythology

Greek Mythology - Hera

My Daughter, Mikhaila, created these little characters
for one of her classes in school. I thought she did a great job.
So I decided to post her whole assignment here.
(I guess this would be kinda like
hangin' it on the refrigerator - only different.)

Hera

Hera may have been the most beautiful goddess, but she definitely wasn’t the kindest. Hera was known as the wife of Zeus and the goddess of marriage and birth. She has played important roles in many myths as the one who tortures the loved ones of Zeus.

Hera was the most beautiful goddess of all; she is described as tall and striking, with fair arms and beautiful hair. Because of her big eyes, Homer gave her the name of Epithet or “ox eyed”. To renew her youthful figure and virginity, she would jump into a spring at Canathus once a year.

Zeus

Hera was known as the envious and unforgiving wife of Zeus. She wasn’t only his wife, but also his sister. She was the daughter of the titans Cronus and Rea. She was the mother of mainly three children, Hephaestus the smith god, Hebe the goddess of youth, Ares the god of war, and sometimes Ilithyia. She was also known to have had many other children without the help of man. (Like Zeus gave birth to Athena from his forehead.)

Hermes

Hera was the goddess of marriage and birth in both Greek myths and Roman myths. In Rome, she was known as Juno, the guardian angle. As every man had his Genius, so every woman had her Juno. She was the patron of the cities Argos and Somos, where they had celebrations called Heraia, in her honor. She made those cities her sanctuaries. She was also one of the three deities’ along with Zeus and Minerva, enshrined in temples on Capitoline Hill.

IO

Hera was not only known for her jealousy towards Zeus, but her hatred towards his many romantic affairs and especially their children. Some famous examples are when she sent two serpents to the cradle of Hercules drove the foster parents of Dionysus mad and tried to prevent the death of Apollo and Artemis. But the myth of Io is the most interesting to me.

Argus

Zeus fell in love with another beautiful mortal princess, Io. When he went down to her, he brought a dark blanket of clouds to cover the earth so that day seemed as the darkest night in fear of what Hera might do if she found him. Hera became very suspicious and went down to him to order the clouds away. When she saw him, he was standing with the lovely Io. Of course to protect himself, he said he had never seen her before just then.

Hera took the young princess and gave her to Argus, a monster with a hundred eyes to guard over her. Argus drove Io mad, changing her out of her human form. Zeus dare not go help her in the fear of what Hera would do, so he sent for his son, Hermes the messenger, to find a way to slay the monster. Hermes went down to Argus and played a sweet tune on a pipe of reeds; but every time Argus fell asleep, he always had some eyes open watching

Eventually, one love story made him close all of his eyes and Hermes killed him at once, freeing Io. Hera saw what had happened and sent a gadfly to sting Io to madness. Io ran to the Nile River where she met up with Zeus changing her back to her human form. She bore a son, Epaphus, and live happy and honored. Io’s descendent would be Hercules.

Peacock

After Argus was killed, Hera took the hundred eyes and placed them in the tale of the peacock, her favorite bird. The cow was also a sacred animal to her.

She was the goddess of marriage, one of the great deities, the queen of all gods and goddesses and an envious and unforgiving person to all of Zeus’s affairs.

So basically, Hera was a beautiful goddess with an unforgivable temper and tortured all of Zeus’s love affairs.

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Works cited
Genovese, E.N. “Juno.” World Book. 2007 ed. 2007

Hamilton, Edith. Mythology. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 1942.

“Hera.” Encyclopedia Mythica. 2008. Encyclopedia Mythica Online. 26 March. 2008


“Hera; Queen of the Gods.” Woman in Greek Myths. 2008. March 27, 2008


“Hera.” The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Micropaedia. 15th ed. 2007

“Juno.” The New Encyclopaedia Britannica: Micropaedia. 15th ed. 2007

Mandelbaum, Bernard. “Hera.” The Encyclopedia Americana: International Edition.
2000 ed. 2008

Schmidt, Joel. Larousse Greek and Roman Mythology. ed. Dr. Seth Bernardete

Greek Mythology

Tap•Tap•Tap...Brain

Hello . . . Is anyone home?

Balancing my checkbook is not a strong point for me, just ask my ex-husband. I sent his head spinning more than a few times. He’d affirm that statement I’m sure! What I’ve come to accept is that he is simply a dominant Left Brain person, where that sort of stuff comes so easily to him, and I, on the other side, am a dominant Right Brain person, where that sort of "x h_@!" just frustrates me!

That’s why these days I employ the services of a bookkeeper to help me with my business. It appears that my Right Brain remains the dominant side of my brain. It’s like this -- my left brain logically lets me know that I should strive for accuracy in making sure the checkbook balances to the penny, but my right brain tells me that I would be perfectly content to round up or down to the nearest dollar amount. LOL!


I’m quite fascinated by people who are Left Brain dominant. Actually, I’m in awe over their thought patterns, and seemingly effortless skills with numbers and theoretical, analytical, linear, logical thinking. Over the past few years I’ve been trying really hard to force myself to tap into the talents of my left brain – not so easy, but I must say I’m doing some things much better then ever before. Like, my analyzing, and sequencing skills have improved. But boy I tell you – my brain sure does hurt when I force myself to think like that! I usually have to go take a long nap afterwards.


I found these charts showing the differences of the functionality between the left brain and the right brain. In some strange way when I look at them I actually feel some relief in just understanding my strengths and weaknesses based on what I know about myself being dominant Right Brain. They help me to "See the Whole Picture" for what it is.


One man that had a very complex brain was Albert Einstein. He stated, "Imagination is more important than knowledge." If we only used the factual infomation that we know, things will remain the same, if not more dull. It is healthier to use our imagination to create knew ideas, solutions, and goals. This is what makes all of our lives full of excitement and creativity. People need to be open to "the ocean of all possibilities."

Tap•Tap•Tap...Brain

S A B O T A G E !

Labeled 36" x 36" oil on canvas by Melanie Banayat
Regarding the verbal labels we pick up along our journey,
and how they stick to us like ugly scars.

The “Imposter Syndrome”

"Words are a form of action, capable of influencing change."
- Ingrid Bengis (writer/educator)

Recently I’ve been noticing a great number of people that I’ve come in contact with lately seem to be suffering from something called, the Imposter Syndrome. I recognize it because I suffered with a pretty bad case of it myself for many years. It affected every part of my life from my work to my relationships. And now that I’m in the thick of the Art Industry, in my observation, this syndrome seems to be fairly common among “Creative Types”.

The Imposter Syndrome was identified back in 1978 by psychology professor Pauline Clance and psychologist Suzanne Imes. They basically discovered that many of their high achieving, successful female clients appeared unable to internalize their accomplishments. Even though there was proof of their intelligence and abilities through their academic excellence, degrees, recognition, promotions and the like they routinely dismissed them. Instead, they would attribute their success to more happenstance means such as contacts, luck, timing, perseverance, personality, or otherwise having "fooled" others into thinking they were smarter and more capable than they "knew" themselves to be.

Low self-esteem is somewhat different than imposter feelings, because there is a variance between the actual achievement and the person’s feelings about the achievement that are likely not present in low self-esteem. As much as thirty percent of the population, including people in different professions who are recognized in their fields, such as teachers, people in social sciences, artists, famous people, live under a constant cloud that they are scamming others. They persist in feeling that they are generally getting away with something that they don't deserve. It was originally associated with women but recent research indicates that men suffer in similar numbers. Surprisingly even Michelangelo Buonarroti was plagued with such thoughts.




Michelangelo (1475-1564), Italian painter, sculptor, architect, and poet.










"The imposter syndrome limits how high people can go."
(Prof. P. R. Clance)

"I was very embarrassed when my canvases began to fetch high prices. I saw myself condemned to a future of nothing but masterpieces."
(Henri Matisse)

I first noticed these symptoms in myself in my mid twenties, when I began to achieve some success in business as a graphic designer and an art director for a children’s magazine. I was college educated with a 3.8 GPA, trained in graphic design, and my skills as an artist were strong, therefore, I clearly got the job based my abilities, skills, and intellect. My job reflected it, my paycheck reflected it, and the personal property that I began to acquire reflected it. Yet the entire time I felt that I didn’t deserve any of it; I felt I was just a big fake trying to pull off some big scam. “You’ve heard the term, “Fake it until you make it.” Well, I believed that I was simply faking it all the time and never getting to the “I’ve made it” part. Even years later when my marriage, business, and family life were all thriving, and I was living a very comfortable life in a beautiful home, with a private art studio located on top of a hill with an amazing view of the Cascade Mountains “blah, blah, blah, blah, blah" -– basically I had a life that other’s envied and desired, yet I often felt I didn’t deserve it.

In retrospect I can recall so many instances where I sabotaged my chances to exhibit my fine art, or to follow through with a potential sale because I simply couldn’t let myself believe that my work was as good as family and friends were telling me it was. I feared that if I made a sale there would be an expectation for more of the same, and I was sure I couldn’t live up to it. So for years I painted and painted and kept my work hidden from the public eye where it was safely stored in my studio or hung on the walls in my own house. Maybe some highly influential art collector would happen to come by my house and “discover” me, take all of my work to some world class art gallery in New York for me, they would sell it and send me chunky checks, and I would never have to face the public or work at marketing myself or my art. Yeah!

Chameleon 36" x 36" oil on canvas by Melanie Banayat
Regarding the many masks or faces we must wear in life to survive.

It took some pretty intense self-reflection over about a two-year period of time for me to address this “Imposter Syndrome” in my life, which included moving away to a foreign country for six months and consistently catching myself using words and thoughts that brought on self-doubt, and angst. I basically took advantage of a turning point in my life, after my divorce, to make a concerted effort to address this debilitating and destructive syndrome. It was not easy, but I discovered that the more I opened up to others and developed the ability to separate my feelings from the facts really helped. I had to take inventory of my accomplishments objectively. And whenever a trusted friend paid me a compliment I learned to smile, and graciously say, “Thank you”. Then I would let myself believe it, and take it to heart, instead of doing what I normally did – discount it.

All too often many new artists who try to cross over from hobby artist to professional artist will attribute any early success to luck. This is typical of the imposter syndrome. SABOTAGE!

Just last week I ran into a talented photographer/artist friend, Bruce, at Wal-Mart and told him about a new art group I was forming and asked him if he would be interested in joining. He replied that he was stuck in the "Starving Artist Mentality" right now and was looking to find a new career – he was headed off to the local college to see what else he could do with his life. His comments sounded familiar to me, because his words were self-defeating and full of sabotage. My heart goes out to him, because I know he loves his craft, yet I knew there was really nothing I could say to him at that point that would convince him to at least keep getting his work placed in galleries, and stay involved in the art community. It saddens me to see artists fall away from something they are passionate about. I believe that when we use too many “negative words” like "poverty, hardship, pessimistic, depression, low status, ill, dead" it piles up like dirty laundry and sets us up for a self-fulfilling prophesy. I know this, because I used those words regularly to describe my life.

For me, anyway, I find that confidence has more to do with momentum. My “inner Isis” likes action. She is attracted to it and finds it far more intruiging than when I’m apathetic, keeping myself distracted, or when I’m all “talk” and no “do”.

Isis is the mother goddess of Egypt.

She is associated with mothering and fertility
and therefore a goddess of creation.
She is also a powerful magician.

She is the protector of children.
Ask her to protect your children, living or not,
and she will hold them in her arms
and enfold you in her wings of love and peace.

I also had a conversation with another artist friend (mixed media artist) on the phone a few days ago, where she was in a panic about her career as an artist. She had a list of questions and concerns for me about what I’m doing with my art business. I did my best to share with her how I have approached things. She seemed a bit in awe that I was so confident and knowledgeable. The fact is, she is equally as competent, and intelligent. She’s college educated, has a great deal of enthusiasm, speaks two languages fluently, and her artwork is fantastic (and it’s selling!). In fact just a few weeks ago we both participated in an art show where our booths were right next to each other. She came up to me at one point during the show and said, "lets make a pact, we will each sell $500 worth of art by the end of the day!" Within an hour she met that goal. She was all smiles from ear to ear! She could hardly believe it happened like that. Then about an hour and 1/2 before the end of the show she was so full of positive energy that she said, "Ok, let's make a new pact, a revised pact, we will each sell $1,000 by the end of the day." Guess what? She met her goal! She was beside herself in awe! Now that's what I call synergy! She sent me an email the next day after we spoke on the phone and said she felt much better now that she did herself a favor and gave herself an attitude adjustment. Good for her!

"The happiest of all lives is a busy solitude"
- Voltaire

"The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering the attitudes of his mind."
(William James)

S A B O T A G E !

Hidden Jewels

It’s so fun to find people, places, and things that are what I like to call “Hidden Jewels”. Like the little hole in the wall restaurant that barely has room for a lunchtime rush, but the food is so outstanding that people are willing to wait in line and sit in a cramped dining room, or the little computer repair shop with people who actually offer superior customer service (what’s that?), I especially like to find nice designer clothes at a thrift store that some wealthy woman, who happens to be my size, with good taste in clothes, and who probably only wore the outfit one time, and probably paid $150 for it, but found no need for it anymore – Lucky me! I get it for a whole $20. (Big Cheesy Smile!)

Yesterday an artist friend of mine sent me to a tiny frame shop located behind a locksmith store with no visibility or sign that can be seen from the main street. You get to it from a back street, and it’s not in a place that has any foot traffic either. So how does a business like that survive? Excellent, trustworthy, quality work, good customer service, and word of mouth from loyal customers – that’s how. The Division Street Frame Shop – what a jewel. The owner, Clementine Ludwig, is both charming and knowledgeable.

It’s places like that which you claim for yourself – “this is part of my treasure, the things that make my life comfortable and familiar." People like that become part of your chosen family of friends.

"Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends." - WALT DISNEY

"You’ll never have a product or price advantage again. They can be easily duplicated, but a strong customer service culture can’t be copied." - JERRY FRITZ

Hidden Jewels

Permission to Play

Paint the Horse Purple!

At my last art show one of the other artists exhibiting at the show came by my booth and commented that she really liked my work, then proceeded to make another comment about her own work that was not so complimentary. She said her work was too realistic. Later on I went by her booth and noticed that her work was very good, very quality art. She was obviously talented. So I couldn’t help but wonder what was keeping her from stepping outside of her comfort zone and into something that was more “unrealistic”, and more of whatever it was that she longed for with her work.


I had an art instructor once who, on the first day of school, asked for a number of volunteers to go up to the chalkboard. Then he asked each of them to draw a circle. He wanted to prove a point about how limited our thinking is based on what we assume others expect from us. Each and every one of them drew a stereotypical circle like sample #1. He had to remind them that this was an art class – they have permission to think outside the box. Their next set of circles were more creative.


We need to give our ‘Selves’ permission to play (with our work), and not wait for someone else to tell us it’s ok. Loosen up the boundaries – forget the rules. And let go of the worry and concern of whether or not other people will like it or if it will sell. What the heck -- Paint the horse purple!


One of my favorite ways that I like to play with my art is sketching people in public, because I’m forced to capture their gesture as quickly as possible. That’s the fun part for me – to be able to indicate the movement or weight or emotional expression with just of few quick strokes of my Conte’ crayon, or pencil or whatever drawing tool I have on hand.

I don’t really care to get an audience of people watching me –because they often have a way of ruining the fun with ridiculous and unnecessary comments like – “What is that”, or “hey, you missed a spot”. But if I’m really into what I’m sketching then I don’t notice the audience. I like losing myself in the moment, to not worry about whether my strokes are accurate, or if my rendering resembles the person I’m modeling on paper. No rules. I like to allow myself to become immersed in the creative process where I’m not even aware of an hour having passed by.

I know that many artists like to keep their colors organized by values like a color wheel on their palette, and some like to use a different brush for each color, because that’s how they were taught in an academic setting. I think, as artists, that we really need to be suspicious of what we've been told, and how we ought to do things, and what we ought to think. For some reason such an organized paint palette always felt too confining to me. I find that it’s often best if I just let my paintbrush do the talking and my instincts pick the colors. Ideally, I think you need both a bit of mind and a bit of mindlessness to make a painting. It's a play between control and surrender.

Art and Life is simply a series of improvisations anyway -- right?

When our work becomes dull and boring in its perfection (to us), then maybe we should let (us) become an amateur all over again! Regress! Become like a child, so we can learn to love what we do – again (or maybe even for the first time).

The French definition of 'amateur,' -- 'lover of.' "

Permission to Play

This month it's bangs?

Some day I'm going to go through my photo albums and post a series of all the different hair styles I've had through the years. I have had some real "BAD HAIR YEARS" in the past. The "Farrah Fawcett Big Feathered Hair", The "Ratted Long Permed Look", and the "Take Me Serious Business Woman Look". I've had them all and many more. Yup!

This is my latest look.

Yesterday I woke up and decided it was time to get my hair cut. I didn't know how I wanted to get it cut, I just felt I needed something new. So before I changed my mind I called the salon, and asked if they could fit me in with my favorite stylist (Nikki) today. Yes, they said. 5:30 pm. I was committed! I sat in the chair and told Nikki I was ready for something different. "Maybe Bangs? What do you think?", I said. She nodded her head in agreement and enticed me with a supportive "Yes". We talked a little more about it. She smiled a giant grin and said she was excited to cut my hair in this new style. And before I could change my mind she made the first cut, THE BIG CUT!…….Chop! ....and there was no turning back.

I think I like it -- for now anyway. You women know what I'm talking about. At least I didn't walk out of the salon crying, which I have been known to do before.

This month it's bangs?

I bought an "S"

Wheel ..........Of......... Fortune!

Ever watch the Wheel of Fortune? Sure you have. We all have, unless you’ve been living in a cave like a hermit for the past 30 years or so . . . Well, I suppose if you were born after 1995, then maybe you haven’t. It was my mother's favorite show for years. Probably still is. Unfortunately, after a day like today, my mother probably would have told me that I should have been on some other game show like, "The Price is Right."

Today I bought an 'S' for $300!

I felt like I was on the wheel of fortune, where it was my turn. I spun the giant wheel, it landed on $300, I looked up at the board and blurted out with enthusiasm (cause that’s what they do) I said, “Pat (Sajak), I’d like an “S” for $300 Please!” And I got the big “OOOOOOH”. Pat put on his frown face and sadly replied, “Oh Melanie, the letter “S” was already chosen earlier – - you idot!”

Don't ask.......I Don't Want to Talk About It!

I bought an "S"

View Notecards

Welcome
to
the
MiliGirl
Collection


Please visit my website to view the full line of MiliGirl Collection notecards at
www.MiliGirl.com

The art featured on my notecards come from my original oil paintings, where the images were inspired by real people and real life stories.

The MiliGirl Collection notecards target women going through different, and sometimes trying, life experiences - from marriage and motherhood to career changes and body-image issues.

I started painting these images of women as a form of therapy after my fifteen-year marriage ended in a painful and difficult divorce. During that period of time I was consoled by many friends, acquaintances, and even complete strangers who shared with me their own personal stories of enduring life’s challenges and rising up through recovery. Their stories were expressed to me by way of belly shaking laughter, to shoulder soaking tears, and ear piercing screams, which ultimately inspired me to paint and write about all of it. Their stories and my own were the whole reason I was able to paint these images and write the words to compliment them -- because they’re real.

These frameable ‘Anytime Cards’ include categories such as: “Motherhood”, “Rising Up”, “Living Green”, “Romance”, and “Real Women”.

The notecards speak the language of common ground - “I see you, I feel for you, and I know your heart more than you may realize”, or “Hey, maybe we’re not so different after all -- and that’s a good thing.”

There are a total of 24 different notecards in the line, and another dozen on the way. The notecards are 5" x 7" blank inside, printed on recycled, satin finish, coated cardstock. The ‘MiliGirl’ website for the notecards is scheduled to be complete in June.

Pictured below are twelve of the 24 notecards. The very last notecard pictured will be available soon as part of the next dozen notecards.

If you are a greeting card rep or retail store interested in carrying the line please contact me at (928) 717-9323.

Click on the cards to see an enlarged image































































Click on the cards to see an enlarged image











































































Click on the cards to see an enlarged image















































Click on the cards to see an enlarged image

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Oh...Just Bag It!

Call Me . . ."The Bag Lady!"

One of the easiest ways to have a positive impact on the world is to reduce our individual waste and to recycle and compost.

DID YOU KNOW ...
Just 50 years ago there was virtually no plastic in the garbage can. Now, we use eight billion plastic bags each year -- more than 300 for every household.

PLASTIC SHOPPING BAGS???? SAY, "NO THANK YOU" -- REFUSE THEM BAGS! Try the impossible and avoid plastic as much as you can. Bring your own bags!

You Can Never Have Too Many!

Yesterday I decided to be domestic around the house (not one of my strong points) after being away so much for art shows over the past two months. As I was putting stuff away I discovered that I have acquired a good number of tote bags during the past couple of years.














I acquired this tote while I was living in Mexico, when I shopped at the weekly Tiangus street markets. It was common to see people using totes in Mexico.




Now I notice that totes are everywhere here in the States, too! I love it! Although, they're still not as commonly used here 'yet', but I’m starting to see more and more people using them at the grocery stores.






















I love how designers are coming out with some really artistic and creative designs for totes for those of us who enjoy fashionable accessories! Hah! I saw these really cool totes (pictured below) online at www.uncommongoods.com.



these are their Recycled Newspaper Market Bags made from the Arts & Leisure section. Each one is handmade, and each one is one-of-a-kind. Sweet! I would love to have one of those, but at that price I may have to try to make one myself.


I think Fry’s food stores got it right when they started selling these insulated shopping totes for $2.50 each! I love using them, I think I got 6 of them now.

Whenever I go to tradeshows or expos where businesses are giving away reusable fabric totes I always take one. Heck, if I have more totes than I need then I start giving them away to encourage other people to remember to use & re-use their totes instead of paper & plastic bags!













Take them to the mall, grocery store, hardware store, to picnics, and of course use them for your art supplies, or whatever!



























This one came from my artist friend, Kae Knight, who was giving them away at the Artexpo Las Vegas last September. Check out her art at www.knightfineart.com



Live Simply that others may Simply Live
"Mahatma" Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi - "great soul" (1869 - 1948)

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
- Mahatma Gandhi

"Good house keeping practices in industries can reduce 30% of waste and thereby 30% of the cost of waste management."
— Sumith Pilapitiya

Oh...Just Bag It!