Zooming in to Appearances Can Be Deceiving and Ex-Voto Painting

 I had a conflict, and I had to decide which 5:00 pm event I was going to attend.  The other was someone I know, and it was a one-time talk, but it was "sold out," so this is what I attended:

Topic

Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving Digital Curator Discussion and Ex-Voto Drawing Workshop

Description

Join us for a behind-the-scenes look at the highly anticipated exhibition Frida Kahlo: Appearances Can Be Deceiving led by guest curator Circe Henestrosa and advising curator Gannit Ankori, with opening remarks by Hillary Olcott, coordinating curator and associate curator of the arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. Following the conversation, join teaching artist Raphael Noz to explore the ex-voto painting tradition, which inspired the work of Frida Kahlo. Ex-voto or votive paintings are a tradition of folk art that pay tribute to divine intervention in personal calamities, as well as providing an inadvertent catalogue of human misfortune.

The following materials are needed for the activity:

Pencil
12”x 8” Cardboard (landscape)
Acrylic Paints* or color pencils or pastels
Paintbrushes (if using paint)

*If planning to paint prep cardboard by painting white.

Time

Jun 25, 2020 05:00 PM in Pacific Time (US and Canada)

What I thought was most touching were the two stories Rafael Noz, who led us (but not really me) in the ex-voto painting,  told when explaining what inspired his ex-voto paintings  The friend whose book appeared in a bookshop window right before he heard of his death and all that transpired and the partner's mother's singing to him and then his finding out that she sang to all her sons.

Climate Action Now on Sunset Boulevard

On Saturday, on my way to meet Maxine at Golden Gate Park's Chain of Lakes, I walked the Walk 9 in SF's 49-mile scenic route, which was Sunset Blvd, something I'd never thought of walking. But I was happy to find a foot path all the way with beautiful trees, many of them planted by Climate Action.

http://climateactionnowcalifornia.org/sunsetboulevard

A Friend's Wisdom

I don't think Kathie Piccagli would mind my crediting her with these words of wisdom, sent in an email to the OWL board members:

I misspoke.  Let's create a NEW normal.

Kathie

On Mon, May 11, 2020 at 9:33 PM Kathie Piccagli <kpiccagli@gmail.com> wrote:

At the risk of being maudlin:  Every day, sometimes many times a day, I remind myself how fortunate I am.  I have enough to eat, enough water to drink, am not homeless, live with a non-abusive partner, do not have to worry about income or a job.  I am not a migrant who had to leave my country because I might be killed or couldn't find enough food. (A migrant seeking refuge here or in some other non-welcoming country.). Better yet, I do not have kids for whom I need to provide and whom I need to protect.

On a different note, I hope we don't return to normal.  Normal is not good enough, and we have an opportunity to reset.  I hope we take it (but I'm worried.)

Kathie

Friends' Fears

Friends who were once students of mine called last night, alarmed by the looting that they personally have witnessed.  They sent me a video of 10 hooted Black men looting a gun store in Houston and expressed their fear that this was happening in our country.

Yes, there are quite a few things to concern ourselves with.  Black people have never felt safe, and now we whites feel our safety threatened too.  People play to our fears too.  But I agree with you that feeling safe is the bottom line.

I feel hope that this pandemic will end, and so will the murders of Blacks and all the looting.  

It's hard to know what to say.

Why Isn't It Black Lives Matter, Too?

Willie Brown addressed the slogan "Defund the Police," suggesting that it was the stupidest slogan ever.  I agree that it fuels the fears of Trump supporters and others.

But what about Black Lives Matter? 

I just got an email from friends who've created a graphic saying "All lives matter," and I think that's too weak.  Here's what I responded:

I wish that the original slogan "Black lives matter" had added the too.  I honestly think it would make the point clearer that for so many decades we acknowledged the worth of other lives, but not of Black ones.  I don't know why people think leaving off the too makes it a stronger statement that we've de-valued Black lives.

Leaving it off makes it sound as if those are the only ones that matter rather than those are the ones we've valued the least and the last.

Your colorful statement would work well with a graphic of masks.  It doesn't really address the racism  towards Blacks.

Love to you too....

❤️💕🌹🌈🐻

Black Lives Matter Too!

"Black Lives Matter" and "White Silence = White Violence" were two of the messages Glenda Hope, OWL's president, held when she gathered people together on Tuesday, June 9, for an hour at San Jose and Geneva. Patti Spaniak- Davidson, Chris Dillon, Barbara Fugate, and Jane Merschen are other OWL members who participated, all honoring the 6' distance and wearing masks. It was a spur-of-the-moment action.

Glenda reports, "The response we got from passing drivers and pedestrians was very good." She also confided that the wind (from nature and passing cars) was so strong that she feared it would lift her and her sign up like Mary Poppins, but she remained grounded.

Stay tuned for our July 27th Zoom meeting, when racial justice will be our topic with guest speakers Joani Marinoff and Debra Taube of SURJ (Showing Up for Racial Justice).

Lake Merced--one of San Francisco's Three Natural Lakes

Lake Merced is one of San Francisco's three natural freshwater lakes and was the main source of freshwater for nearly 50 years, according to the book Walking San Francisco's 49-Mile Scenic Drive by Kristine Poggioli and Carolyn Eidson. .

I walked there on Saturday, when Maxine and I (masked and at 6' from each other) started walking around the lake. It was my first time doing this, and it's lovely. But it started to rain, so we headed back after an hour or so because we weren't prepared.

But our walk prompted me to open the book "Walking San Francisco's 49-Mile Scenic Drive," which describes the tule reeds, which the native Ohlone people used to build houses and boats. I'm excited about going back and finishing the loop!