The Virtues of a Virtual Life

One thing I can say for this Corona virus is that it has brought out such inventiveness, generosity and inspiration from the world as we all struggle with how to get through the fear and isolation of this thing. 

Musician friends are going live on social media, artist friends are doing art classes, and yoga friends are offering sessions to ease the stress.

This morning, I walked by a drawing I made a few weeks ago and tried to see how it figured into these strange days.
I sat down and read a little book of daily thoughts that I read before I write in my journal. The quote for today’s page was perfect. It was by Albert Einstein:
“The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and the solution comes to you and you don’t know how or why”.
“…a leap in consciousness…” is a perfect description of the creative process.

The feel of a breeze can turn into a dance; the rain becomes a rhythm, a conversation into the lyrics of a song. When I draw for myself I mostly draw without preconceived thought. I might start with a line, a pattern, or an inkblot and see where that takes me.

Corona Spring ©Janice Fried 2020

Wabi Sabi Mommy

My mom sees beauty in rust. She has collected rusted bottle caps in jars and bigger pieces of lacy rust in her studio for use in her collages. Her collages always inspired and influenced me.

When I was younger, she had my brother and I well trained to keep an eye out for some ancient rust for her collection; her version of Wabi Sabi, the Japanese word that reminds us to embrace the passing of time and recognize the beauty in the cycle of life. I still look to the ground when I am taking a walk. My version of a treasure hunt. I have my own rust collection now.

A once shiny metal object which is lovely in it’s own right turns brown and orange and mottled by time and weather, something someone might kick aside as garbage or ignore completely.

Alchemy ©Janice Fried 2018

And so for Mother’s Day, I honor my mother for her eye for the visually imperfect, the discarded and the artistic jewel on the side of the road.  She is an artist and an alchemist turning rust into gold and revealing how beautiful aging can be.

 

Happy Halloween 2017

“Is all that we see or seem

But a dream within a dream?”

Edgar A. Poe  1849

 

March 25th, 1911

Today marks the 106^th anniversary of The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.

146 people lost their lives that day…most of them young, hardworking, Jewish and Italian immigrant women.

Many of them were named “Rose”.

This image was created in their memory.

©Janice Fried 2017  In Memory of The Roses

 

 

May Luck Be with You.

The last couple of months of 2012 were full of drama.

Hurricane Sandy stormed in and swept away some people’s lives and gave purpose to others.  We lost power and heat for a week and considered ourselves extremely lucky losing not much more than the food in our refrigerator.

Luck.

Shortly after the hurricane, there was a huge lottery of almost $300 million dollars.  The odds were 1 in 175,223,510.00 to win the jackpot.

I ask myself what would I do with that kind of money?  What dreams could I make come true?

My dream was always to be a successful working illustrator. Something money couldn’t buy. A successful career is a blending of so many factors: timing, persistence, talent and yes, luck.  $300 million in the bank wouldn’t hurt either….

Despite the odds, I took a chance on doing the thing I most wanted to do with my life and I even won a few golden tickets over the years but the jackpot would have been a lifetime’s worth of illustration jobs.

A number of years ago I was chosen to do a deck of affirmation cards for Hay House publishers. They found my work in the Alternative Pick Directory.  For me it was like winning the lottery.

Over the next few years, I did a total of three decks of cards for them; 175 pieces of artwork that brought new life to my illustration portfolio.

So here’s to 2013.  Will it be win, lose or draw?

I choose Draw.

From “Healing Cards” by Carolyn Myss and Peter Occhiogrosso Hay House Publishers

The Winds Blue

May a stronger wind blow away your heartache and a gentle breeze surround you in the coming year.