Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Carefree Fine Art and Wine Festival


15th Annual Carefree Fine Art and Wine Festival

I'm loadin' up the trailer and headed down to the 'Sun Valley' this weekend.

I love the location of the Carefree Fine Art & Wine Festival. The names of all the streets in Carefree are so fun -- Ho Hum Rd, Easy Street, Lazy Lane, Rambling Rd., Peaceful Place, Meander Way, Horizon Drive,
Rocking Chair Rd. . . makes me want to live there!

The Thunderbird Artists Art Festivals are some of the nicest art festivals out there. You can always count on seeing top notch fine art from all over the United States at these shows. Judi Combs and her daughter, Denise Colter do a great job in the jury selection, and also with their selection of locations for their shows, and their entertainment line-up. It's a real classy show.

I hope you can make it.


Carefree Fine Art & Wine Festival Official Website

Directions & map
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Monday, October 27, 2008

Phippen Art Museum Exhibition

I'm tickled pink this morning!

How cool is this . . . I was just contacted yesterday by the Phippen Art Museum and invited to participate in the upcoming exhibit with some of my paintings:


Honor & Prayer 36" x 36" original oil on canvas by Melanie Banayat

Buffalo Soldiers, Vaqueros, and Friends: Cultural Diversity in Building the New Frontier

November 15, 2008, through February 22, 2009

Buffalo soldiers helped the Cavalry and other military groups succeed in their mission to develop the Western frontier. Along with these important guides, scouts and translators, the West also benefited from the contributions of Hispanic cowboys (vaqueros); African American settlers, and Asian-Americans building the railroad and creating new businesses to strengthen new communities in Arizona, California and other parts of the American West. This exhibit will celebrate the cultural diversity of the building of the new frontier. All artists' work for this show will be representational of the historic and modern connotations that this diversity has created in our community.

Phippen Art Museum Website

The Rising 36" x 36" original oil on canvas by Melanie Banayat


The Phippen Art Museum also asked to carry my entire line of MiliGirl Collection note cards in their gift shop -- as my kids would say...SWEEEEET!


We should know that diversity makes for a rich tapesty, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color. - Maya Angelou


[People] may be said to resemble not the bricks of which a house is built, but the pieces of a picture puzzle, each differing in shape, but matching the rest, and thus bringing out the picture. -
Felix Adler

We have become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams. - Jimmy Carter


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Saturday, October 25, 2008

Quad-City Artists Open Studio Tour

The 1st Annual Quad-City Artists Open Studio Tour begins today. I'm not participating in it, because it runs this weekend and next weekend, and I already had a show booked for next weekend in Carefree. However, since I have this weekend off (Yippy!) I'm going to go enjoy the tour of artist's studios myself! Wooo Hooo!

The tour is four days long -- today, tomorrow, and next Saturday & Sunday. So, if you get a chance pick up a map at any of the art galleries in Prescott and hit the road to check out some great art and art studios!

And, oh yes, Treat yourself to some beautiful art for your home!
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Friday, October 24, 2008

Friday Art Walk - Oct. '08

I'm still feeling wiped out.

The Friday art walk is tonight. I'll get it together by then.
Hope to see some of you out on the town, perusing the galleries. I'll be at the Grayleaf Galleria.

Maybe I just need a little more of this . . .


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Thursday, October 23, 2008

A Day of Rest


Sunday I slept and slept and slept. I still can’t believe how much I slept. It was a marathon.


I’ve been so incredibly exhausted lately, so the last few days I decided to step back and take a little time out. I didn’t realize how much our world’s events have been affecting me – emotionally, financially, and physically…


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Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Fortune of the Day


La Siesta by Melanie Banayat

"Your small gift will mean so much to someone today"


"The greatest gift is a portion of thyself."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson


The best gift you can give is a hug: one size fits all and no one ever minds if you return it.
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Monday, October 13, 2008

Controversial Art


What are your thoughts on

Damien Hirst’s
“Conceptual Art”?


Damien Hirst is one of the most prominent artists referred to as the "Young British Artists" or "YBAs". He is famous for creating controversies like putting dead animals in formaldehyde and presenting them as art. Hirst mostly explores the themes of life and death.

It's no surprise that Damien's 'shock factor art' is so popular in Britain, and yet it still fascinates me what gets people with that kind of money to reach into their pockets. Much of what Damien does with the money he acquires from the sales of his "art" goes to children's charities, aids research, or toward things like a giant solar system that generates power for half of his country.

I guess if you have the guts to do it, you can afford to do it, get away with it, and manipulate those few wealthy suckers to buy into it then who am I to say if it's art or not. It's all subjective anyway. However, I must say, in light of our world's economic situation this auction is bothersome to me on many levels. On the other hand, hopefully some good will come of it in terms of charitable donations.

This is one of those events that gets me to scratch my head and say, "hmmmm?"

I just wanted to find out where the boundaries were. I've found out there aren't any. I wanted to be stopped but no one will stop me.
- Damien Hirst


$198M Hirst art auction defies global gloom Read story



Damien Hirst's Auction Gamble Watch Video

Damien Hirst at Sotheby's: The actual sale of the Golden Calf Watch Video

Damien Hirst's Shark at the Met – how it was created - Watch Video

Damien Hirst - The Agony and the Ecstasy Napoli Watch Video

Damien Hirst Sick of His Own Art Read Story
"Hirst says he will no longer be producing any of his famed formaldehyde works, such as the shark and cow series, nor will he continue with the spot and spin paintings he's so well known for. "

Aaron said…"So in other words, Damien Hirst is going to start actually making art again."


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Friday, October 10, 2008

Favorites


When I had Cable TV one of my favorite shows to watch was Inside the Actor’s Studio. Most of the interviews were pretty interesting and revealing. Then there was always the part at the end of the show when James Lipton would ask random questions.

So here are my questions to you:

What is your . . .

Favorite Texture?
Favorite Scent?
Favorite Sight?
Favorite Flavor?
Favorite Sound?

Least Favorite Word?
Favorite “Curse” Word?

Top Ten Favorite Words (Not in the Dictionary)
1_ginormous (adj): bigger than gigantic and bigger than enormous
2_confuzzled (adj): confused and puzzled at the same time
3_woot (interj): an exclamation of joy or excitement
4_chillax (v): chill out/relax, hang out with friends
5_cognitive displaysia (n): the feeling you have before you even leave the house that you are going to forget something and not remember it until you're on the highway
6_gription (n): the purchase gained by friction: "My car needs new tires because the old ones have lost their gription."
7_phonecrastinate (v): to put off answering the phone until caller ID displays the incoming name and number
8_slickery (adj): having a surface that is wet and icy
9_snirt (n): snow that is dirty, often seen by the side of roads and parking lots that have been plowed
10_lingweenie (n): a person incapable of producing neologisms.

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Thursday, October 9, 2008

Grounded


Grounded 36" x 36" oil on canvas by Melanie Banayat

Grounded is a very spiritual piece to me.
I created ‘Grounded’ when I was at the beginning of a major transition in my life. I was in search of inner peace and a sense of groundedness at a time when everything was so chaotic throughout every part of every day.

I consider myself a spiritual person (not religious). I began to write this post with references to my varied religious experiences, but then I chose to delete all of that, because I choose not to get into religious banter or criticism. Instead I choose peace, understanding, and acceptance.

The following is an excerpt from my journal regarding Grounded:

October 2006 - It’s the morning after the art exhibition in Ajijic. I want to write down my thoughts while the feelings are still fresh in my body. I’ll start out by describing my favorite guest of all – a moth. Yes, a giant moth. I’ll call the moth, Marrón, because she was this beautiful Burnt Umber brown. She was one of the early guests to the show. The front door was wide open during the entire show, so Marrón just flew right in and fluttered around for a few minutes. She caught my eye, and my first thought was I hope that moth doesn’t bother anyone. Then she landed on one of my paintings. The painting she landed on is titled, “Grounded”. The painting is of a woman who is sitting in lotus position with vines growing out of her core, and roots coming out of her feet into the ground. Well, Marrón landed on one of the vines on the painting and remained there for about 15 minutes. I could hear some people commenting wondering if the moth was real or part of the painting, because it was so still. Other people were wondering if it was stuck to the paint because they knew many of the paintings were still wet. The painting was hung high on the wall, so I went to get a broom to shoe it away. Marrón immediately flew off and fluttered around the room again, then promptly returned to the same exact spot on the painting. The comments were in awe….”Wow, did you see that!” people were saying. So again, I shoed her off, and once again she came back to the same place. I then decided to leave her there. I realized she brought positive energy to the painting and for the moment – she was truly apart of the piece. She kept landing on the vine as if it were real. It made the painting feel even more earthy, which is what that painting was all about. I’ll always remember Marrón when I look at that painting. She is now part of the painting’s story.


Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.
- Denis Waitley

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed.
- Albert Einstein

The especial genius of women I believe to be electrical in movement, intuitive in function, spiritual in tendency.
- Margaret Fuller

The personal life deeply lived always expands into truths beyond itself.
- Anais Nin



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Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Is the glass Half Full or Half Empty?


"Half" 36" x 36" oil on canvas by Melanie Banayat

A few years ago when I was driving in my car listening to a talk radio station there was a story about a church that started a project to put an end to complaining. The idea was to order one of those stretchy bracelets from their church, place it on your wrist and every time you complain about something you were suppose to switch the bracelet to your other wrist. This was meant to bring attention to how often we complain about things throughout each day. The ultimate goal was to see if you could go for 21 days straight without complaining about anything – being that it supposedly takes 21 days to break a bad habit.

The talk radio program received a lot of calls. Some people thought it was a great idea, others felt it was pointless, or they pointed out that complaining was a form of release & relief from stress.

Anyway, it got me thinking about how people view their lives – half full or half empty. I began to wonder how I could create an image on a painting that would pose such a question “How do you view your life – half full or half empty?”

It wasn’t long after that when I came across a beautiful piece of artwork – a clay pot with irregular shaped holes throughout. It was visually intriguing, but I do remember thinking to myself, “this pot is not a very practical vessel now is it?” The vision of that vessel stayed in my mind for a long time for some reason. After a while it dawned on me that this was the answer for my painting. The body is a vessel! Is the glass half full or half empty?!?! That’s it. This is how I will expose what’s inside the vessel.

At my art exhibitions some people look at ‘Half’ and are immediately put off by it. They make comments such as, “Eeeew, that’s creepy!” Or “Oh! I can’t look at that!” It gives them the heebee jeebeez, and they don’t want to know anything about it. While others are drawn to the painting; they seek to learn more about it. I often wonder what’s going on in the minds of the people who are put off by it, but they scurry off so quickly that I never have the chance to ask them.

I enjoy telling people about the meaning behind this painting, because it brings forth a lot of ‘Ahhhhs’. The painting is a good reminder to me to put things into perspective when life becomes overwhelming at times.

“Is the glass half full, or half empty? It depends on whether you're pouring, or drinking.”
- Bill Cosby

Researchers have discovered that pessimistic people are socially rejected because individuals feel that pessimists are hopeless, sad, and depressed
- Hewleg-Larson et al., 2002

"Feeling is the language of the soul" — Neale Donald Walsc


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Monday, October 6, 2008

Sedona Arts Festival - the day after

What is the only job where you can be wrong 100% of the time and still keep your job?

Answer: Weather Reporter

The forecast was 30% chance of rain Saturday & Sunday in Sedona. No mention of wind. Here’s what actually happened.

Early Saturday morning as I was driving into Sedona to get ready for the Sedona Arts Festival the sky looked ominous. As I made my way through all the white top tents on the field I could here the artists attempting to shun away the oncoming change in weather by talking positively – I joined in on the rally – why not? “Oh I think it’s just going to pass us right up.” But it wasn’t hard to see through to the doubt. Things went well during the morning hours of the show. The sun was shining between the heavy, darkened clouds. Some people were dressed for 100-degree weather in tank tops, shorts and sandals. Then suddenly it hit us – a crazy wind out of left field. You could see the sea of tents rising, shaking, and leaning hard to one side. I ran to grab a corner post of my tent and Greg grabbed another. The wind was catching my 4-foot awning and lifting the canopy. Two of my paintings began swirling. I reached over to hold them down, but they wanted to take off like kites. I looked at the other artists around me who were struggling to hold down their tents as well. Art was falling, and breaking all around. I glanced inside my tent as my greeting card rack fell to the ground, brochures and business cards taking flight, and then the hard rain joined in on the fun pelting us at just the right angle to get everything wet inside. It lasted about 10 minutes – it felt more like an hour. The wind finally died down enough to take down the awnings and zip up the tent.

What a mess.

The festival quickly became a ghost town, so we cleaned things up and then decided to go have a margarita! Hah! Hah!

Sunday was perfect weather! The day was bursting with sunshine and blue skies all around, comfortable temperature, tons of people, and good sales.

What a crazy business.

If you are looking for something to be brave about consider fine arts.
- Robert Frost

There is little chance that meteorologists can solve the mysteries of weather until they gain an understanding of the mutual attraction of rain and weekends. ~Arnot Sheppard

The trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it. ~Patrick Young

Weather is a great metaphor for life - sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, and there's nothing much you can do about it but carry an umbrella. ~Pepper Giardino


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Saturday, October 4, 2008

Sedona Arts Festival

Yesterday was set up day for the Sedona Arts Festival. It was a tough one, since I was a bit under the weather. Today is much the same, but the show must go on. Have to be ready for the VIPs by 8:30 am. Chance of rain today and tomorrow, but at least it doesn't look like nasty weather.

I'm just rambling - fighting off another migraine.

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Friday, October 3, 2008

Love Letters



Who writes love letters anymore?

What is a love letter anyway?


Ahhh…….. A love letter is a deeply personal communication that has the power to make us blush. A love letter has a way of “turning a bad day to good”, and creating heat in our bodies on a cold winter night. A love letter even has the ability to comfort ones soul for decades, upon decades.


Here we are in the year 2008 where I now write my thoughts onto a virtual diary, a blog as they call it. My words are magically stored onto a collection of digital circuitry that forms a gargantuan parallel universe – a web that is worldwide. In ten years or so there may not be any evidence of my words having ever been written here. This ‘blogging’ is a vulnerable whisper in this digital cacophony.

But what about hand written letters (especially love letters)? They are often cherished and saved like precious jewels more valuable than diamonds or gold to be pulled out from an old box stored in a dusty old chest years down the road. And in a moments time the words on that wrinkled, yellowed, old piece of paper pull you back to the sounds and smells of those yesteryears.




It’s been over a year now since I wrote my last real, good old fashion love letter - on a piece of paper handwritten with a pen. Far too long!! I use to write letters the old fashion way quite a bit before the invention of email. I often took the time to go shopping for the perfect card, then I would carefully hand write a wordy love letter full of fun descriptive words in long hand, spray my favorite scent upon it, tuck it inside the card, place it in an envelope, stick a 'spendy' stamp on it and send it off in the mailbox. WOW! What a chore.

Nowadays its common to key "luv ya" on the cell phone. OMG who now has time to sit in passionate solitude intent on our dearest of heart while inking letters one by one? Who has time for free imagining?

As of late, dealing with four kids, one pre-teen and four full-blown teenagers, we’re all vying for our turn on the computer to surf the internet, check our e-mail, and do our online banking. Who has time to write a love letter?

Well, I suppose fear could be a factor - Fear of looking foolish? Is this how we become shallow -- in the name of saving face.? We do many things to avoid embarrassment like conjure up excuses -- my penmanship lacks grace, or it’s just not my style.

Here's another one: “I don’t have anyone to write a love letter to”. A love letter does not necessarily have to be for a love interest. ‘Letters of love’ can be written to our children, our friends, or pretty much anyone who we have loving feelings toward. I received a beautiful letter from my sister-in-law last year after a close friend of hers past away. It was the first letter I had ever received from her like that, and we have been in-laws for 25 years. She expressed that life was so fragile and she wanted me to know she loved and cared for me. My eyes welled up.

Here’s one for the die hard Internet mongers: “I’ll just send an email, it’s quicker, and easier to edit, plus it has spell check!

By Golly…Write a Love Letter. It doesn’t need to be a special occasion, and it doesn’t need to be ‘Shakespearean’ – it just needs to be real. If you need a reason – come up with one. Don’t be afraid to go there and be honest. Use words that are descriptive and deep. You're allowed to take your time. Peer at a picture, stare into space, it's not against the rules.

Write a love letter to your sweetie as if you are seeing him/her for the first time. Send it to them via snail mail even if you live with them (very romantic!) .

Pull words from the physical images of life. Worlds like wild, aura, momentary, paper & ink, and the flavor of red.

Interject lovely phrases such as: you changed my life forever, this is the kind of love that makes you think anything is possible, yes - we’ve been down a few roads, let’s let the storm bring us closer, it struck me, like a fool, I hear nothing but your voice, I have been a half-hour writing this thing – and still my words fall short of describing what burns in my heart, I never thought I had any more to give, I enjoy finding you over and over again in my life, You are my confidant, my voice of reason, my voice of sanity.


Of course, one thing leads to another and things could even get juicy! (giggle)

WOW! I need to go write a love letter!

"I have just unlocked my little box and found your letter -- and the world has drifted off a thousand miles and left me alone with you again," - painter Dennis Miller Bunker (1861-1890) wrote his beloved Eleanor not long before he died.


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Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Bed of Flowers


NEW. Bed of Flowers 36" x 36" oil on canvas by Melanie Banayat

Giving Yourself What You Did Not Get From Your Parents

‘Bed of Flowers’ is one of my more Ethereal looking pieces.

The inspiration behind Bed of Flowers comes from the many stories I’ve heard from adults who are grown children of parents whose parenting skills fell short of perfect, which pretty much fits most people’s childhood experiences.

I know that sounds pretty deep – like "lying on the sofa talking to a therapist deep".

Fact is children are dependent little buggers, they depend on their parent(s) to feed them, cloth them, and take care of all of their basic needs to sustain their life. But it doesn’t stop there. Children look to their parent(s) for more than just their basic needs. They pine for their approval and acceptance. They watch so closely studying how their parents walk through life until one day they find themselves “all grown up”, but still feeling like that little child “pining”.

A therapist once told me that as an adult ‘I’ can give to myself what my parents weren’t able to give me. That sounded sort of strange and funny. It took experiencing a number of years as a parent myself to understand what she meant.

Thank goodness as a parent I can admit I’m not perfect! I’m so glad I can admit that! Perfection is too high of an expectation for anyone. There is simply no way that I can give my children everything they need and want from me, because I’m still learning “how to be” in this world myself. When they become adults they will continue to grow, change, need and want, and they will have to get much of what they need and want from others, or they too will have to learn how to give themselves what they need and want (emotionally, physically, spiritually, financially, etc.). Hopefully they will seek for mentors that inspire them, and surround themselves with the type of people that feed their spirit, lift their souls, and encourage them in just they right way that helps them become the happiest person they can be. More importantly, I hope they will be willing to surrender any pain that I may have been part of in their life and hand that burden over to their Heavenly Father – as often as necessary.

‘Bed of Flowers’ is a sweet piece that represents the parent child relationship. We know that there is so much life to live ahead of the little baby and already she is looking at her mother, admiring her, watching her so closely. And the mother, so young, still growing and learning along the way.


It's not only children who grow. Parents do too. As much as we watch to see what our children do with their lives, they are watching us to see what we do with ours. I can't tell my children to reach for the sun. All I can do is reach for it, myself.
~Joyce Maynard


You don't really understand human nature unless you know why a child on a merry-go-round will wave at his parents every time around - and why his parents will always wave back.
~William D. Tammeus


Before I got married I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six children, and no theories.
~John Wilmot


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