week fifty two >> "subscribe"

"like shoes" Daniela, 3rd Grade

we  re-subscribe to Z page "subscribe," a simple choice based on a gut feeling and a blessed exercise in exercising in the very choosing, the freedom to make choices, change up our won rules, subscribe to an avenue to travel through, at any time free to subscribe to another or, like this week, re-subscribe to the current course, a fresh renewed choice of today, not of yesterday.  how very blessed are we to exercise our freedom, make choices, be creative and inventive, imagine our existence beyond our mere survival. free to step through our choices and discover what is beyond, what new array of choices await us, step into the darkness and light up the path as we go.  Daniela, my 3rd grade student in Guadalajara (1999), looked at this page on day at recess and said it looked "like shoes." or footstep prints I might offer.  and that was before Jennifer added color to these shoe steps years later.  seems so simple, but we how often do we rejoice in the utter abunDANCE of being free to breath, imagine, and step through the choices we are making in every moment. as I walk down the simple sidewalk today, I am going to picture color lighting up with my every step, my every choice in that step, and my great fortune in the freedom to make 'em.

"subscribe"             click to view

∞ ceci

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week fifty one >> "subscribe"

"like shoes" -Daniela, 3rd grade

"Subscibe to Lunacy"

And Heal Heal Heal

As life turns out, some weeks, months, years, are more overwhelming than others.  And so it has been with my life - this weekend when I was in Vegas, celebrating Tony's sister, Candice's Birthday... on the first morning, she and I were on a walk with T's mom, Denise, and I shared with them my need to protect my energy as it was feeling quite vulnerable... and that is a true picture... caring for the overflowing cup helps to keep it from all spilling out - and I am so thankful for being able to speak these sorts of truth, in healing of myself and others.

I need to allow myself to Bleed

It was great to refuel with you by phone earlier today Cec.  It is amazingly true, this work, this friendship, is so nourishing for the sustaining energies of life... thank you for continuously re-engaging and saying YES to our flowing juices.  Thank you for your continuous subscribtion to this incredible collaboration!

channel

I say YES too!  And I am looking forward to testing the waters of this reframed subscription to our blog work, where we are in dialogue again, with each other.  And Cheers for the double weeker (back to back) of this weeks spread "Subscribe".  Enjoy the close-ups ... I do!  Love you -J.

week fifty >> "wait a minute"

"wait a minute" side view                   click to view

In honor of Jennifer's request, and in the very spirit of the title of Z page from last week, let's "wait a minute" this week before moving on to a new page and stay a bit longer with "wait a minute." I always enjoy turning this one 90º counter clockwise, or 270º clockwise, to take in the left side's landscape view of figures and color.

Speaking of color, I read a quote by artist Paul Klee today, which a friend posted on facebook, and Hemphill you immediately came to mind as I am keenly aware of your love affair with color.  Of course I adore it and all its aliveness as well, but this one's for you:

"Color possesses me. I don’t have to pursue it. It will possess me always, I know it. That is the meaning of this happy hour: Color and I are one. I am a painter." – Paul Klee

Gabriel Mott, who posted this quote on his facebook page: Seeing Things: Color is Relative, is an artist who is devoting his life to color.  Inspired by great color masters of our time, Gabe is spreading the awareness and experience of the "grammar of color" with the world. He says "When we understand how our eyes process color, we can intentionally create luminosity and brilliance through the relationship of color."  He shares about how he became enthralled with color and the Color Box (http://acolorbox.com/blog/) he created to share his experience with the masses in his Color Movie:

  Also, check out this RAD

interactive site from Gabe:

http://colorisrelative.com

∞ ceci

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week forty-nine >> "wait a minute"

   The title of this last weeks spread speaks profound to me... wait a minute!!  I feel like shouting this to the world. Ceci, I left a phone message earlier for you today, speaking my feeling of being underwater for the last couple of weeks.  This is truth.  I was reflecting on this idea while in the shower, noting that, yes, perhaps I'm surviving in this mode because I have underwater breathing apparatus, however, it is not a sustainable mode, thus, re-surfacing with buoys is mandatory - unless i change my species. 
     May we keep this spread up another week again, it is so beautiful, and there are so many nuances to delve into. 
    I can once again look into this page for reflections of my current state of being... for instance, the key to the castle on the left side... Tony and I have been doing weekly drive-bys of potential houses for rent, as we navigate the field of finding a temporary residence while our primary goes under construction... the swirl of stress that is creeping into my psyche on this front is one of the major factors pushing me under the waters surface.  And yet, I have faith that we will manage, it's just that sense of so much to do - and the constant engagement and completion of to-do's.  In the midst of the to-do's which I hold value in, not only in their wholeness, but also in each step being a note in the rhythms of day and week i / we are working to maintain... and then, in the middle, there is the inevitable pause and halt and breakdown when change is called for - as it seems always to be - at least in my relationships - aye caramba. 
  Thank goodness for choir, for dance, for sex, for hugs and kisses, for community, for keys to the castle.
Love you -J.

week forty eight >> "maybe"

"maybe"          click to view

Perhaps you have heard this story.... I have come to experience it shared in various ways by many teachers... the first time however was when I was in college watching recorded re-runs of Northern Exposure, in the episode where Ed gets hit by lightning and is racking his brain to figure out the age old question 

"why me?" Marilyn tells him a story:

Ed: Boy, Marilyn, I’ve been thinking about this lightning thing so much, I’ve gone and given myself a headache.

Marilyn: Maybe you shouldn’t think about it.

Ed: I tried that, too. When I try not thinking about it, the only thing that goes through my head is still It. (pause) Who do you think is right? Is it a nihilistic universe with no meaning, oh, other than survival, or does the enlightenment view prevail? Does the Creator have a master plan, and if so, what is it?

Marilyn:    My uncle once told me about a warrior who had a fine stallion. Everybody said how lucky he was to have such a horse. “Maybe,” he said. 

One day the stallion ran off. The people said the warrior was unlucky. “Maybe,” he said. 

Next day, the stallion returned, leading a string of fine ponies. The people said it was very lucky. “Maybe,” the warrior said. 

Later, the warrior’s son was thrown from one of the ponies and broke his leg. The people said it was unlucky. “Maybe,” the warrior said. 

The next week, the chief led a war party against another tribe. Many young men were killed. But, because of his broken leg, the warrior’s son was left behind, and so was spared.

 ∞ ceci

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week forty seven >> "misc"

You know how we O so adore stickers.  When Jennifer and I were in the throws of our first year of connection and collaboration at UCSB, one of the most potent rediscoveries we experienced through our creative communion was our mutual history and love for stickers, as I storied in my post last summer (here).  Soon after, when in the throws of our first year of sharing ZBOOK, we became aware that we not only now had a place to collect our drawings, thoughts, and found objects... we now had a place to collect stickers again, akin to the ol' sticker collection books of our girlhoods.  We were back in tune with attracting and creating with stickers and began to identify the unsung stickers of our world too... the stickers all around us in our daily lives we hardly notice, especially as stickers.  The sticker on your market apple or avocado, the sticker on your newly bought pair of pants with the size letter, the sticker on your new stick of deodorant, the sticker on your new book or cd, the stickers from junk mail letters and ads, and all the bar code stickers and price tag stickers and of course the ubiquitous "made in..." stickers that all too often come from China. These are stickers too! And we are all equal opportunity sticker lovers for sure. And so although these MISCellaneous stickers can be found all through ZBOOK contributing to many of its compositions, this particular page apparently captured some of these in a more traditional collection kind of way, which to me is simply a celebration of these stickers and our reverence for them. Enjoy what sticks!

"misc"

click here to read all of our posts pertaining to stickers :)

∞ ceci 

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postscript from Jennifer - today, I was oddly fascinated to listen to the banter of 5th grade girls and boys in essence swapping stickers.  I marked little gardening flags with pieces of blue masking tape and numbered them so they could track their javelin throwing progress as we prepare for the pentathlon.  These kids became momentarily obsessed with what numbers were stuck on their flags - basically, what their sticker i.d.'s were - cookoo and fun!

week forty six >> "quemada"

Quemada, to burn.

There are pieces of our past which have burned to ash.  Times in our lives which we have layed down to rest in distant pastures.  It is necessary, the fire, the destruction of the old.  New growth needs space, openings, to reach out it's expanding body.  Ever present in zbook, there are images of past experience, past indulgences, past beliefs and ideas.
When we chose this spread to present, and we selected the title, "quemada" I felt there was an acknowledgement of pyres smoldering behind our present pictures. 

I myself more often subscribe to metaphors of water.  The flood of obliteration which can swallow vast mountains.  The stream which runs underground, hidden from view, gathering riches in the dark, flowing forward, expecting to meet light.  Tears from the eyes; cleansing the emotions of body's heightened pulses. 

On this zbook spread, another idea of a spreading, engrossing element presents:  the thought of laughter.  "The Key to all casual interaction is the laughter".  I would now amend this zism - "the key to all life's connections is the laughter."  As water is the conduit, and fire the engulfer, laughter is the synapse leaper.  It is always my goal in my lessons with the children, to open opportunities for this bodily soul release.  Of course, in games, it is not difficult to find laughter, but still, it is something I watch for and engage in myself with purpose and intention and joy.  What a gift, to share laughter, to lose oneself in laughter... I love it!  Ciao and be good,  J.G.

week forty five >> "love"

I was out in the backyard this morning to absorb and reflect the changing light while taking detail shots of this weeks spread, 'love', aka "A Mother's Love."  The irridescence of lines and forms is radiant on these pages - catching gesture and highlights with brilliance as the viewer, me today, positions and repostions in relation to zbook.  I am particularly caprivated by the subtle color nuances enlivening the scene of foothills. 

The ladies head expressing atop these mountains holds form as a Queen of the Hills, a Goddess of the rolling, skyreaching earth.  She is piercing, this Woman of the moutains.  As my eyes travel into her domain, I am aware that she floats as well as soars, and that she speaks from under watercolors; waves and bubbles encapsulating her, and so I am now aware that these mountains are too under the sea perhaps.  As I dive upward, the moon glow of the love star leads me into a night sky and so I rock between the above and below surface.

On another note, in Burbank today, there was a five minute flurry of snow.  Tony and Hallie were prepped for an outing into the mountains and Jack and I were wrapped in ready for a wet bike ride to the library.  We had just started down the street when Hallie called to us amazedly, "it's snowing!"  We stopped in wonder, rejoined each other and romped raucously about as our front lawn turned white for a moment in time.  I felt a proudness in my Mothering Love, to be ready and available for this miracle; the snow softness lasted only a short short while before returning into a brief icy form and then back to water. 

Later, as Jack was playing in the wet sand of the park, I felt again a surge of brightness in my love, knowing how grand this play in the elements is for the soul.  I was thinking of this spread, and holding the picture of the watching, the caring through the eyes which is a gift of motherhood.  Thank you zbook for bringing forth these openings in your imagery to allow me to connect here and now in my path of self and giving.   I call out to zbook admirers, leave a note on any page, let us know how an image connects to your here and now.    Blessings and enjoy the weather, whatever it may bring, -Jennifer

happy new year Hemphill!

Today we celebrate the life and love of Jennifer! 

happy birthday Hemphill... happy new year... 

I love you!

Sketchbook Exhibit at Brooklyn Art Library, NYC

And to make it even sweeter... today is the opening date of the Art-House Sketckbook Project touring exhibition, launching where it will full circle back to for permanent exhibit, at the Brooklyn Art Library, NYC.  Our S.BOOK, along with thousands of fellows sketckbooks, will be in Brooklyn through 2/27 and then off to Austin, TX in March. See all cities and dates here. There is some wonderful system in place where each book is bar coded and so every time our book is selected for viewing, we will receive a notification. How rad is that?

                       see our previous posts about S.BOOK here!

∞ ceci

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week forty four >> "amor (love dub)"

"amor (love dub)"       clik to view

This week of valentines brings forth Z page "amor," our most lovey duby spread which I affectionately call the "love-dub" spread. We definitely let ourselves go super girly here, which is my style really, not Jennifer's either, but still undeniably part of our ethos growing up as girls... an ethos I highly resisted I must say, as I never felt akin to the frills and pinks of "what girls like."  I shunned the color pink my entire childhood all the way until I was almost 30... when I realize that my rebellion had only given power to the mass perceived linkage to gender and that the color pink was independently quite innocent and its energetic properties were actually quite aligned with being.... in love.  And so I reclaimed it for my own, on my own terms, in my own truth... and every now and then you may even find me wearing it.

Setting myself free in Z pages of Z book from the ages of 22 to 36, definitely included a lot of reclaiming of old loved things that had been forgotten and these old territories previously subverted.  This page~spread became the place where stickers and images of hearts and romance came to BE, in all there lovey dubbiness.  Where it's okay to be smooshy and kissy and sweet.  And although this indeed is not the whole embodiment of being a girl, why deny this sweet open hearted facet all together.  The world could benefit from allowing more the expression of it's tolerance, kindness, and love... and recognize vulnerability as the strength and vital force that it is.

In this TEDtalk, acclaimed playwright Eve Ensler speaks about how "that there is a girl cell in us all -- a cell that we have all been taught to suppress." That this girl cell in us ALL, women and men,  is compassion, empathy, vulnerability, openness, intensity, relationship and intuition. And how "this particular grouping of cells is central to the evolution of our species and the continuation of the human race."  I invite you to check this out, this is compelling stuff:

I wish someone would have reminded me when I was little that I didn't have to suppress my girly side in order to embrace my masculine energy and that in fact my intuition and ability to connect and relate were strengths and assets vital to my life and our world.  I'm grateful for this awareness now, and my experience through ZBOOK has helped me realize this for myself beyond measure.  This is a huge reason of why we want to share ZBOOK with the world now, starting with a focus on young girls, to help ALL recognize and revere the POWER of all of our open hearted sensibilities.  

∞ ceci

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week forty three >> "into the source"

Through Z page this week, Flip right "into the source."  I would like to allow this page to speak for itself, through all that is evoked within you, our friends with whom we shares Z pages of ZBOOK...

 "into the source I scream my song"

 

click these to get in close

The nights I gave birth to cosmic forces formed

through my body to flesh and blood

I oozed and endured

imagined and trusted;

I breathed through waves

of undercurrent Cave Creation

Jennifer Gould

  

Thank you Hemphill for your courage, in life, in giving life, and in releasing your most vunerable, powerful expressions of your heART.  

I am honored to be your sister. I love you.

∞ ceci

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week forty two >> "moment of truth"

It seems to me there are innumerable occassions which could stand forward as a "moment of truth" within one's life.  This idea of a moment when a decision is made, when a change is inevitable and something has to be let go to move fully into the present truth with courage, focus and conviction.

Situations come to mind at present which mirror this idea of "moment of truth": 

One - I will be engaging the PWS fifth graders in discus training this week.  This beautiful round flying disc has the potential to soar with the rhythm, form, and strength of the thrower.  In Greek times, and present as the fifth graders themselves mirror this epoch in our human evolution, it was believed that the throw of the discus was representative of the inner truth of the athlete.  In bringing this skill, I will be asking the children to raise their discus to the god or goddess of their chosing (from their studies of the Greek pantheon) to ask for guidance and to send a message of thought to this deity on the flight of their discus.  In this act, they are standing before immortality, seeking wisdom from the heavens and absorbing it into their actions.  With each throw, they are potentially enacting a "moment of truth".  As I go forward to bring this opening to them, I ask myself to breathe in this wisdom, to ask for courage and guidance, to throw my discus true, far and straight before me.

The second thought picture occupying my space in relation to this 'moment of truth' idea, stems from my husband, Tony's recent embracing of God's knocks at his door.  He is overflowing with a need to witness to others his own story of a sequence of unexplainably profound events in his life which he is now reflecting back on as fuel for his current emergence onto a path of god.  His moment of truth started in a dream, then led into a conversation and proclamation by another which then was followed by a hugely sychronous revelation.  Through this series of experiences (vague in my present telling), Tony was so deeply affected, he walked into a nearby church, searched out the priest, asked to be baptized, and within an hour was being dunked into a pool of water.


May we all be present with our moments of truth.  May we be given the opportunity to take in a few deep breaths and proceed with all our being.  And may we take heed of the wise words from zbook....  "From Now on Everything is Huge."  For after all, every day, every moment has the potential to be a moment of truth.


Be well and Blessings
-Jennifer

week forty one >> "out of body"

My current bathroom book, Synchronicity - Through the Eyes of Science, Myth, and The Trickster, gave me insight into my own experiences this week, particularly in light of posting my musings of this weeks spread, “out of body."  One thing after another seemed to halt and alter my path.

Magicians hands

Looking upon this spread, “out of body,” in this swirl of images, there is a reflection of the ancient art of divination. In older civilizations, the magi, the magicians were looked to with great respect to “provide access to the world of spirits for their communities."  The symphonic gloved hands at right, the magicians hands, pinch the white flaming smoke of the ether to decipher stories from this mist.  (On a technical note, these hands are stickers which we drew in arms for.)  I'm remembering a scene from Harry Potter when Dumbledore pulls a golden memory strand from his head and releases it into the Pensieve.  These hands, in 'out of body' are like pluckers of threads from the vast sea of zbook.

"out of body"

This spread, reminds me very much of a tarot card, where symbols float in space, allowing the viewer to reflect their own meaning from the powerful story of the images.  In my reading of "Synchronicity", I was lightened in my original frustration with all the 'interferences' of my work, to think of the playful nature of forces around us, always guiding us toward self knowledge.

“The Trickster delights in frolicking with symbols. Synchronicity in such instances seems to mirror processes that are afoot deep in the psyche. Jumping across boundaries between the conscious and the unconscious, between the psychological and the physical, the Trickster tosses out images in play that express sheer vitality of the imagination.”


Flame the Pheasant Headed Mask

The story of this page, is story. All of these elements have the incredible potential of story in relation to personal meaning. The story of Flame the pheasant headed mask comes to mind.  At top left, the face whose cheek flashes 'DYNAMIC', in my current place of thought could certainly be a manifestation of Jung, who is known for his studies and expressions of ideas about synchronicity.  I particularly love the image of the waterfall pool at bottom left, where 'story' rises from the mist just above.  It reminds me of the way I introduced Council to the fourth grade class I worked with this week... as a bowl which we carve with our deep listening so that we may pour our stories into and see them swirling, uniting us and helping us to understand one another.

story pool

In other spreads, we have seen representatives of the strong and formed faces which Ceci often draws.  Here, these faces are manifestations from my hand.  My technique is often to free form draw, allowing shape or color to guide my form and then finding the being or face, the personality within that has come through and defining it with features.
Ceci has been charged with documenting and uploading details of zspreads the last few weeks, as she is currently in posession of zbook.  She wanted me to know that one encircling sentence of the right page side was captured in different shots...thus, I feel it is important to decipher said recording and show it's path on the page up close : " I just love bringing Zee book to diff. places & seeing it's beauty glow w/ the settings."

 - to close, a short verse in homage of "out of body"

ENCIRCLEMENTS so delicate and intricate.

Sweet gratitude and Testitude, in love of you.

Out of Body, Out of Mind, soul flight cross waves of time.

Inward unseen, a feeling gleaned.,

A throat, a note, a subtle scene.

Be well and Blessings,

-J.G.

Introducing S.BOOK !

S.BOOK will be touring the country and then be on permanent exhibit at the Brooklyn Art Library.  click map for info!

A few months ago we told you (here) about our participation in the Art House Sketchbook Project... we are thrilled this week to have submitted our sketchbook for this national exhibition!  Announcing.... S.BOOK ! "S" for Sketchbook, S for Swap-book, S for STORYbook, for this is the first of our books that tells a page by page storyline... in the foreground that is... for in the background, the pages themselves still offer all the magic of the modality of creating we cultivated through ZBOOK. With S.BOOK we decided to take our work to the next level and use our brand of art making to empower a chosen story... and we chose to tell Z story of ZBOOK!  After all, the Sketchbook Project theme that we signed up for is "trading forever."  It is this trading of books, this trading of inspirations, creativity, stories, and trust that has given birth to ZBOOK.. and now S.BOOK which tells Z story of how it all began...

This past week has been a full court press to get S.BOOK done and ready for launch.  We had been swapping S.BOOK in its creation every couple weeks or so, but in the past days had intense sessions during which we'd swap it back and forth every 5- 20 minutes until finally we were in it simultaneously.  We were crafting the images and story right up to the wire of the postmark deadline, making our last marks and words right up until the last minute before closing out the postoffice! It was thrilling... and funny that we didn't really get the chance to behold its final form before slipping it into the envelope and releasing it into the universe, out of our possession, free to live and touch others.  Surely we will meet again, hopefully during it's traveling exhibition days, most likely in San Francisco in june, and after that we will find it 4ever at the Brooklyn Art Library.  and O yes, it will also be digitized for a cyber experience, never a replacement for a tactile experience, but special in it's own way... a light experience.

We barely took a few snap shots before sending S.BOOK off to Brooklyn... when the digitized version comes out we will be sure to share those images with you!  Until then enjoy these glimpses: 

Go discover S.BOOK at a city near you!  Look in the "Trading Forever" section and let us know about your experience!

in sweet gratitude 

∞ ceci

ps(l): shout out of endless gratitude to Andrew Hoeveler for bringing the Sketchbook Project to our attention and thus Z story to the world!

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week forty >> "in me"

"in me"       click to view

Week 40 of ZBOOK4ever.com! 

We have you the story (here) of our first official collaboration back in 1996 at UCSB, a show called Indulge, for which we put the first words, ideas, and instincts in ZBOOK.  It was the first co-creative experiment where we put our co-visions into co-actions, rising all challenges and opportunities to trust.  The show was about the senses and included multiple experience involving food and invitations to indulge.  The show was sparked by an indulgent, colorful, decadent, delicious dessert we had shared some months before that our senses all riled up.  We seemed to feel that the food itself was enjoying the experience, and wrote some words as if from the food's perspective... of course enjoying how such a dialogue mirrored the traditional sense of sensuality.

 

Most of this in in Jennifer's handwriting and so this marks most probably the first of countless verses that she gifted ZBOOK with.  Clearly, ZBOOK was a place where we felt completely free to creatively explore and express, from the very beginning.  This simple thing is really the most healing, freeing, and vital gift... along with profound trust we forged in blending our expressions, and I am so grateful to have this experience of life.  So grateful for Jennifer and our ZBOOK.


∞ ceci
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