Monday, August 28, 2017

BUCKIE & ME

Me & Buckie
For my first birthday of life, my parents gave me Buckie, a hairy dog, a little ball also one year old. His hair was mostly white with some black spots. It was my dog! I could have not received a better gift! My father made a large house for Buckie that was placed on the right side of our house yard. I was totally in love with Buckie. 
He was my dear companion with whom I walked almost naked around the large yard my childhood house had, and with whom I napped  in the dog house when getting tired. When I was sick, and I did not go out to play, Buckie sat outside of the kitchen door waiting for me; and if I did not go out at all, he went to his house and spent the day inside as well. 
At night, he went for long walks with my father. Both of them enjoyed those walks.
There were times when Buckie disappeared for one or two night and then he returned to the house with the tale between his legs and his head down as if apologizing for his "andanzas". My father used to asked him "where have you been "atorrante"?..."

Crossed the street from our house, there was a large piece of land, empty land, filled with tall green grass and small white daisies. Buckie used to go there at least once a day, just to run on the open field and many times to make me company as I used to like to gather those small daisies to bring to my mom as a gift (then I will ended up with my hands and part of my arms full of red small spots that were a allergic reaction to direct contact with those small daisies!). 

When I was 11 years old, we moved to a smaller house and my father told me that Buckie could not come with us. My heart plummeted as I heard the words, and even though Buckie was going to stay with the neighbor next door and "you always can come to visit with him", I knew deep down in me that it was not going to be the case. I was right. After we moved, I never saw Buckie again. I heard on and off that he was doing well in his new dwellings. I was not happy. I missed him very much and I continue missing him. But I found a new way to have Buckie in my life- Buckie has become my angel and spiritual guide , so now,  he is always with me.

Monday, August 21, 2017

Celestial Brushwork






"Transient Effects: The Solar Eclipses and Celestial Landscapes of Howard Russell Butler" is a show at the Princeton University Art Museum- nice video and write up can be found here: http://artmuseum.princeton.edu/transient-effects/painter-sun/eclipse-paintings-howard-russell-butler
The New York Times from Friday August 18th did a nice write up about this exhibit. It is very timely as we are approaching the eclipse of the sun on Monday 21st. Unfortunately I am out of the country so I will be unable to view it. But there is a lot,of talk and excitement about mother's nature performance that, somehow makes me feel disappointed not to be in USA to be part of the celestial party.
The article above mentioned, introduces me to the work of Howard Russell Butler (1856-1934) who, besides being a scientist, he was also a painter. In researching his work I learned that he was a NorthAmerican painter who founded the American Fine Arts Society. He seemed to have been interested in astronomy and painted several nature events as the eclipses.

For more details on the exhibit, go here: http://artmuseum.princeton.edu/art/exhibitions/3044




Monday, August 14, 2017

The 1930s Film Parodies Starring Only Dogs

It seems that the "Barkies" were popular in the early era of sound film. Between 1929 and 1931 a series of experimental series of short films with an all dog cast was produced.
Check this video:

https://youtu.be/K7w25SK0gRU

Atlas Obscura gives a detailed history of how these films came about. Follow this link:

http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/dogville-comedies-1930s-hollywood-filmmaking?utm_source=Atlas+Obscura+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=eeb0bfdbad-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_08_10&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f36db9c480-eeb0bfdbad-66410861&ct=t(Newsletter_8_10_2017)&mc_cid=eeb0bfdbad&mc_eid=7c3a5a6b6a

Monday, August 7, 2017

Dog Symbolism & Meaning

I don't know you, but I do believe in spiritual guides or angels. They are that invisible energy around us that watch over us, protect us, and provides guidance in the way of insight and/or intuition.
Many believe our ancestor becomes these spiritual guides, and others, like me, believe that animals also spiritual angels that can enter our lives with a purpose if we let them.

When dog chooses to act as a spiritual guide or angel, it's purpose is protection, bravery, alertness, devotion, and constancy (https://whatismyspiritanimal.com/spirit-totem-power-animal-meanings/mammals/dog-symbolism-meaning/). There are people that believe that dogs, like people, have souls and "will reunite with their counterpart in the afterlife".

I read that dogs are those animals that share 97% of their genes with wolves and coyotes, and that they probably were the first animales to be domesticated. I did not have idea about this, did you?...
(http://www.pure-spirit.com/)

Mayan dog
In Mayan culture dogs were important and used as offerings to their gods. In some Native American tribes dogs are honored as symbols of protective powers and loyalty.
Anubis


In ancient Egypt believed gods were connected to nature, to the elements (sparelives.org), and to animals. They actually believed that many of their gods and goddesses were reincarnated on earth in animal form. Anubis, the jackal-dog god, sometimes depicted in human form was one of the most prominent gods of ancient Egypt


After the Hunt by David Neal (1838-1915)


In our current Western culture dogs have more elaborated relationships with humans; they become domesticated for companionship, trained for hunting, cherished as part of the family, and sign of wealth (depending on their breed). They continue to symbolize guidance, protection, loyalty, watchfulness, and love.
   







Monday, July 31, 2017

Dogs without a Leash

I viewed something nice the other day coming from Wholefoods: an unleashed dog walking next to its master with its tail up and exhuberant confident energy. How nice! I would not want to be leashed if I was a dog, would you?... It is totally unfair to the dog.

I read that dogs on a leash tend to experience high levels of frustration because "the leash unable them to express normal canine body language and interact with other dogs normally". By nature dogs are "motivated to greet one another", but on a leash they can' t do that (https://www.sfspca.org/sites/default/files/dog_behavior_dog-dog_aggression_on_leash.pdf)

I get it, in the city, with buzzing cars on every direction, the dog's owner will get highly anxious on letting their dogs walking unleashed on the side walk. But occasionally... it might happen.

When I was in Guanajuato, Mexico, last year, during the Cervantino Festival, one of their busier seasons of the year, I saw several unleashed dogs walking next to their owners, jumping to greet everyone that came their way, but always maintaining its course. People responded to the dog with tender words, a smile, and sometimes with a caress. Uhm... would that friendly response happen in USA?... 


Monday, July 24, 2017

Art Brut Exhibit in Chicago New Logan Square Gallery

Outsider art ( or its English synonym as art brut) is usually use for artists that have little or no contact with the mainstream art world or art institutions. The term art brut was first used by French artist Jean Dubuffet to indicate artwork done outside the main stream culture.

In Chicago, it is a total enjoyment for me to visit Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art (http://www.art.org) or Chicago Urban Retreat Art Center (http://www.urbanartretreat.com), galleries where you can find exciting, refreshing, highly creative work by outsider artists.

This past Friday I attended the opening of Patrick Humphreys who is showing at Oliva Gallery (http://www.olivagallery.com) in Logan Square. The gallery's walls are covered with painting of different sizes and a coffee table holds a pile of prints and smalls drawings. My eyes and spirit were dancing as I immersed myself in his world. For me the work outside the main stream art culture maintains a raw and direct connection with creative energy; it is honest, direct, and it does not try to impress anyone but simply express itself from deep down its unconscious source.

The exhibit will be up till September, 2017. If having the time and interest, stop by.


Sunday, July 16, 2017

Memory

"In Thinking about Decisions". Oil on Wood.
B.Ledesma (c). $650
I found myself responding to people's images of trips or happy moments because I believe they are moments of the present. This past week one of my FB friends posted a nice selfie in a cruise. I was very happy for her.
I responded: "Enjoy!". 
She immediately led me know this was a photo from "some years ago we went on a cruise of the Inland Passage to Alaska"... (it was five years ago)
"Just out of curiosity", I asked, " what motivated you to post a photo of something that happened years ago?...
She responded: "Facebook automatically posts memory photos for you. Sometimes these make me so happy I want to share them again..."

I literally do not understand that behavior- not only seems to bring a nostalgia or longing for something past but also creates confusion. Yeah yeah, at  the top of the image there is an indication of how many years ago the photos is from but... but ... my question reminds: why?....

It may be me but I am noticing more and more people talking of times long gone- on the news, on magazines, and in social media. Is that a sign that life in the present is so uncomfortable/unhappy/boring/uneventful that we need to constantly be reminded of how things were in the past?... what did we enjoy doing?...

I like to think of memory as a feather

from Pezibear's on Pixabay
 a fleeing moment of joy, sorrow, pain, whatever. A moment that makes us what we are in the present. Constant looking at the past can places us at the doors of depression or cyclic melancholia or "having the blues".

Don't get me wrong- memory is a terrific tool of the mind for retaining facts, events, impressions, feelings. How to use it is a choice from my perspective. 
To give in to what FB thinks we have to remember or when we have to remember, seems to be a weakening of our capacity to choose, if you ask me. 
But some people may need that ... uhh... .............................................really?...


Monday, July 10, 2017

TODAY IS ABOUT SHOES ...

Shoes fascinate me. I am known for purchasing a pair of shoes just because there is a sensual feeling when looking at them although I may never wear them ... a pure sensual pleasure you may say.

Shoes as a symbol seem to carry a contradictory meaning: it could represent authority and power or humility and servitude; they are about movement with ease.
Shoes keep our feet warm and protected.

In some religions you are required to put off your shoes to enter the temple so showing humbleness and respect for the divine. In older times, and in our current times, not everybody can buy shoes so shoes become associated with freedom, comfort, and also wealth when they also can be associated with vanity and arrogance.

There are so many connotations related to shoes! High heels have erotic and/or sexual connotations; for some stiletto heels appears as a phallic symbol; worn, old shoes may be symbol of hardships and struggles; some sandals may symbolize the moon, and the list can go on and on. But ... old, worn shoes could represent warships and struggles.

Oil Pastels on Paper. BL (c) 2017
I think about shoes very often these days when listening or watching the news and learn about masses of people being displaced from their land to the unknown. I look at their feet. Many of them with a simple flat sandal, or worn ones, others without any shoes at all... Their facial expressions, their body language- the tiring walk of displacement- seem all to be represented in their shoes or no shoes. No safety... no comfort ... no protection of any kind... Their emotional life marked by unwanted dislocation... I wonder...would these masses of people be able to emotionally and psychologically repair themselves?... being able to trust the earth they are walking on?... trust each other?... continue having a sense of inner safety in the face of displacement?...

These and many more questions about the inner life of those that are forced to live their homeland fuels my current series of studies and paintings on shoes...













Monday, July 3, 2017

And talking about "daring greatly"....

Back in 2006 I did a series of oil pastel drawings on paper around the topic of vulnerability

Vulnerability, BL. 2006 (c)
$200
and lately the images of those drawings began to fill my mind...
What means to be vulnerable in times of external and internal stress?... I look up the meaning of the word "vulnerability is the quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally""open to moral attack, criticism" "capable of or susceptible to being wounded or hurt" "a frame within which defensive measures are diminished, compromised or lacking" and quoting Dr. Brene Brown vulnerability "is basically uncertainty, risk, and emotional exposure" (https://www.forbes.com/sites/danschawbel/2013/04/21/brene-brown-how-vulnerability-can-make-our-lives-better/#16953a1c36c7)

Vulnerability is a space that all of us have experience with -some more than others.

Dr. Brene Brown has researched the topic of vulnerability and actually wrote a book about it
"Daring Greatly: How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transform the Way We Live,Love, Parent, and Lead", and has giving TED talks about it(https://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability)
which is worth to listen to, in my opinion.

The question for me is how do I maintain myself vulnerable in times of chaos like the times we are currently living in the US and the world at large?... can we have the courage to show up and being seen?... do we have the courage to say "I need help" "I need you"...?

Capitalism imprint in us the importance of individualism "me for me and me against you" type of attitude toward the other. The problem with this stand is that leaves us half empty, isolated, fostering grandiosity and experiencing "narcissistic wounds" when finding out that others do not think we are so great. In my opinion, this is what has been happening in USA since 2001...

So, in a way out of chaos healing can take place as it provides us with the soil to have the courage of ask for help... or ...not?...













Monday, June 26, 2017

Park Sculptures 2017

On Wednesday 21st 2017 I participated in a tour organized by the Chicago Sculpture International. It took us as far as Garfield Park in the Southside of Chicago and up to Edgewater neighborhood in the Northside. It was a $20 tour that lasted two hours. We met at the Chicago Cultural Center and a trolley bus droves us. It was a sold out tour and among the riders there were the artists whom sculptures were going to see. One of them was Vivian Visser (www.vivianvisser.com)

Her work intrigued me- the three sculptures in view at Portage Park is a series of elongated vases created with woven branches and standing on an already existing cemented platform. As soon as I saw them, I felt moved by them. There are pleasing to the physical eye as well as to the spiritual realm and they have an air of Remedios Varo's work. They stand as an invitation to contemplate and meditate on nature and the meaning of safety in our lives.

In her art statement she states "... I see the shelter form as embodying the souls desire to retreat into a comforting and protective environment. The human experience is explored through natural materials..."

Flame Dancers
Frustration














Monday, June 19, 2017

Summer is Here!! Time for planting ...

Nothing more enjoyable for me that to spend time adorning my back porch with plants. The process of going to the nursery, viewing and choosing the colorful plants to dress my porch with brings a level of spiritual satisfaction and joy of life.

This is probably a trait I got from my parents who loved plants and flowers of any kind.
As a child, I accompanied my mother during her daily early Spring and Summer afternoon walks through the garden to prune her greenery.

There was always a vase with flowers in the house - cuts from my mother's garden or flowers my father brought her. And like my father I also wanted to bring flowers to my mom so I used to go to the lot crossed the street from my house and picked small white daisies that I arranged in a bundle and happily gave it to her in spite of getting a skin rush from those flowers.

This weekend Jon and I did just that- went to the nursery, got a bunch of flowered plants & grass, and I spent the afternoon arranging them in planters and ceramic pots. After the work is done, sitting among them zipping a glass of wine makes the world a perfect place!.



Monday, June 12, 2017

The Great Hanoi Rat Massacre of 1902

Yes! Rats!

Back in 1982, just arriving to Chicago, a Mexican mystic man told me that Chicago was going to be dominated by rats "you will see... rats are developing an underground city underneath of the streets..."
The thought of it was disgusting to me. I think of his words often when here in the Lakeview neighborhood where I live, the rats are immune to any poison offer to them and they keep multiplying.

Back in the late 90s, in a long article written in The Chicago Reader by Ted Kleine (1998) I read
"... in 1991 a rat burst out of a bank president's private toilet in Lincoln Park..."

That was all I needed to increase my disgust toward those creatures and to develop a fear that one of them would appear on my toilet when I'm using it.

In spite of my fear I also have a fascination toward those rodents that seem to be casted under an evil spell. So any article(s) on rats gets my attention.

I found one of those articles few weeks ago on the Atlas Obscura newsletter titled: The Great Hanoi Rat Massacre of 1902. Fascinating story of battles against the rats, money, and the final success of rats. Click on the link to take you to the story: the great Hanoi rat massacre of1902

And to finish on a more positive note about these disgusting rodents, I searched for the spiritual-symbolic meaning of rats and I found very positive qualities attributed to them such as:
success, sharing, helpful, opportunistic, resourcefulness, astute, intelligent, kindness, ambition, expansion and creativity. No bad, wouldn't you say?...


Sunday, September 18, 2016

FLYING VEIL

Flying Veil. Oil on Canvas, 11" x 14". (c)2016
$650
This painting is part of "Memories on Canvas", an on going series that it could read as a visual book. It compiles some memories from my personal story  that have been filed away in one of my imagination's drawers.
In this painting we see a woman looking at something outside the visual field of the viewer or she simply might be in an act of silent meditation. This state seems to prevent her from noticing that her veil, that wrapped her head and face, is flying away.

This happened to my mother while at church one spring Sunday late morning. I was few row behind my parents listening to a very boring preacher, one of those highly conservative evangelical preachers that had arrived to Buenos Aires with the intention to "teach" the Mennonites, how to behave and to be in the world. A kind of "666 pig" as I think of him.... My mind was in disgust and following a reverie of social thoughts when unexpectedly my mother's veil was caught by the breeze coming from an open door few feet in front of her.


Immediately my attention was pulled toward it. It was a nice view from where I was sitting. The silk veil contorted by the soft touch of a spring breeze; moving through patches of bright sunlight toward the ceiling. My mother did not notice. She was totally self-absorbed.




Saturday, May 28, 2016

"From the Center" - one of my latest book- has been updated


UPDATED     From the Center    

 
     From the Center    
 
         
 
     By Beatriz E. Ledesm...    

Photo book  
 
     Book Preview  
 



Saturday, April 2, 2016

"NOT QUITE THERE YET" & "PERSONAL BELONGINGS" SERIES ON VIEW

"Contemplation"-oil on canvas (detail)


YOU ARE INVITED TO A SOFT ART OPENING 

SATURDAY APRIL 16TH, 2016
6:00PM-9:00PM

IN VIEW TWO OF MY PAINTING SERIES:
 "NOT QUITE THERE YET"
"PERSONAL BELONGINGS"

-also ...there will be "The Secret Life of Hodge, the Bookstore Cat"
book by Suzanne Eurfurth & illustrated by me, for view
and/or purchase- 

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