Beginnings and endings
I turned 43 last week. Celebrated with family, friends, ferry rides and a little something called hummus fried chicken. If you're ever in New Orleans, go to Shaya. Hummus on me.
My time in Louisiana brought a memorial service, too. My partner's Abuela. Just a different way to celebrate life, I suppose.
It has me thinking about beginnings and endings. How much we tend to stake things on them, recognize them, celebrate them. And yet life is lived in the in between.
Stumbled upon some work by artist, Richard Tuttle, and was reading up on him. He talks about how there's making art, and then there's the art of making art.
One of my mantras has always been "life is art is life" because that line between life and art is fluid and as much as I believe in the process of creating, the real soul urgency for me is to live an artful life. Making art helps me do that.
And so does celebrating — not just at beginnings and endings, but all along the way, everyday. We have to look at our lives as giant art projects – always in process, never finished (even in death, our spirit lives on), always becoming, ever worthy of celebration.
Jump + pray + party hard —
Joce
IF YOU'RE LOCAL TO OJAI OR NEED A REASON TO VISIT...
I will be in a group show at the Ojai Valley Museum called Perception and Persistence. It opens July 29 and runs through October 10, coinciding with the Ojai Studio Artists studio tour.
I had fun creating a piece for this show and I would love for you to see it.
"Perception and Persistence"
July 29 – Oct 10, 2022
Ojai Valley Museum
130 W. Ojai Ave, Ojai CA 93023