week sixty two >> "invited"

 July 2011:  HIGH ATE US

"invited"                                     click to view

We didn't announce our July sabbatical because it ultimately came as news to us as well :)  ...it pretty much announced itself: a time of rest for ZBOOK 4EVER ....as our attention was pulled fervently into travels and other creative work vital to the impending launch into a new year.  Jennifer has a new year opening up with the school year of her children and of her work at Waldorf ...and as my birthday approaches I am entering my new year ...as always restorative, regenerating thresholds are emerging, inviting me to renew and refine my vows, my course of action and availability for opportunities and growth.  We have been winding up like the high wind, harnessing our energy for the launching of so many ships.  This HIGH consumed our July, or you could say, ATE US.  (haha, we love words.  and boy are there a lot of words on Z page we pulled for this week, "invited")  We honor our time of hiatus as a needed ebb to fully activate the next flow of ourselves, our work, and ZBOOK 4EVER in this new year now igniting.  we are entering a season of invitations.  Calls to action from visions lit up by the summer sun.  Wonder (soul sister) twins ACTIVATE.

∞ ceci

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week sixty one >> "whistle"

What!!??  Are you crazy!!??  

So, it's nearing midnight, and I'm in a funk of tiredness as I struggle to push through finishing round one of end of year reports when I decide to take a breather and hey, yes, check-in on zbook page of the week; when what to my wondering eyes should appear,

but two bad-ass, rock-solid, mega-women on steroids, streaming their boldly flowing juices to one another...

and I am reminded that I have resources to tap, pools of strength to dive into for refreshment and nourishment and rejuvenation! 

Thank you Ceci for over-riding and selecting a sweetly delicious and firey spread for this uber flamin week / month / life. 

This is a fave fabulouso! One of our Oh YES spreads, as it flashes into the noggin memories galore... times of superhero status when nothing could get in our way and dogs with keys were our allies... must be time to start whistling, as it is hot hot hot... was this not one of our Hot pages?  should a been; callin us now back into the fire.

MUchas besas bella, love you ~J.

week sixty >> "Z cover" S.BOOK in San Francisco!

Right now and through tomorrow, S.BOOK, the book we made in participation with The Art-HouseSketchbook Project and is currently on touring exhibition with thousands of other books made from scratch, is now rolling through San Fransico!  SF is dear to my heart for I grew up around the city in the Bay Area and it continues to be an extension of home for me which I routinely visit, along with my family of friends that live there.  Oddly enough, I am not there now!  Unfortunately I could not make it up there this weekend.  If you are in SF, please go visit this amazing exhibition and check out our book!  You will find it under our artist name ZBOOK, from Los Angeles,  and under the theme: Trading Forever.  On the cover you will see the familiar title: ZBOOK 4EVER, as our S(ketch)BOOK shares the story of birth and life of ZBOOK, most specifically two friends who traded a book and discovered the power and magic of collaboration. 

If you go please take photos of your experience and send them to us... we'll post 'em here!

Madrone Studios   June 16, 17, & 18   12pm - 5:30pm
1417 15th St
San Francisco, CA

http://www.arthousecoop.com/sketchbookproject2011 

Since this week we are looking at Z cover of ZBOOK let's also look at S.BOOK....

ZBOOK

"ZBOOK 4EVER" our S(ketch)BOOK

Thanks for your love and support!

∞ ceci

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week fifty nine >> " z cover" ZBOOK at LIB !

It's been a week now since I got back from LIB, and I'm still not quite back yet.  You may remember my post from last year about Lighting in a Bottle, a GEM of a festival created by The Do Lab which happens annually every memorial weekend.  I was again honored to be a live painter this year, as well as show piece in the LIB d i a l e c t Gallery.  More on that later... for today a story...

This year I brought a companion with me to LIB... my good ol' friend ZBOOK.  The ever weathered traveler, ZBOOK wanted to soak up the magic and splendor and ever expanding creativity of Lightning in Bottle.  ZBOOK wanted to be a part of it, and as always, a witness.  Here are some shots of ZBOOK up at LIB's Temple of Consciousness, the space up on a hill at LIB where countless speakers, teachers, visionaries, musicians, and artists share their gifts with us. 

O so silently, ZBOOK stood upon the alter and stage and spoke its volumes.  Perhaps next year ZBOOK will bring Jennifer and I to this prolific space at LIB to voice the teachings of creative freedom and the power of collaboration that ZBOOK has revealed through all its years and travels.

In the spirit of this set of weeks we are sharing Z cover of ZBOOK, we are celebrating the object of zee book itself, this book that has mutated and grown and weathered and traveled in our satchels for so many years of our lives.  And still, it lives!  Still with us as we travel through life, the consummate witness to OUR continuing mutation, growth, and weathering... in the ever expanding composition that is our lives. Always reminding me that I am always free to create and discover who I am.

∞ ceci

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"z cover"    cover of ZBOOK       click to view large

week fifty eight >> "z cover"

Z book cover spread

Hello Ceci Love,  I'm so thankful that these older images of us holding zbook in the roses were available to make this post... must have been spring last year.  I just spoke to my mom, construction at 1420 is well underway, which is slightly shocking because we were just there over the weekend harvesting fruits from the backyard.  On Sunday, we pulled 50 lemons from the tree outside Hallie's window, and apparently that tree is now gone, as is her window.  We also gathered a huge bowl of delectably ripe boysenberries and the most delicious apricots in the world are blooming on our apricot tree.  Did I tell you that we've had to pull back on parts of the deconstruction because of budget - and that the part we are pulling back on is the garage re-doing...so my mural will stay as well as our apricot tree and the majority of the garden... it's a good backing off from our perspective;as lovely as a two car / studio space garage would be.
    We are really getting to observe the interior spaces - the bones of the house... it's exciting.  Speaking of interiors... in these two weeks when we are sharing the exterior of zbook, ie: the cover... isn't it interesting to ponder what's inside something based on what you see outside... the cliche being 'don't judge a book by its cover".  But then, isn't it a part of perceiving things and people, to take in impressions of the outside, to drink them in.   Our beautiful, well-handled book, passed so often from my hand to yours and yours to mine - our hands are such an integral part of this spread... so lovely!!!!
 I love you and wish to see you soon and hold your hand -Jennifer

week fifty-seven >> "friendship caught on fire"

ZBOOK front inside cover          Click to see pretty & large

Quotes spoken on this spread... "Where the telescope ends, the microscope begins, which of the two has the grander view? - Victor Hugo  and :Love is like friendship caught on fire" - Bruce Lee quoted by Chris in the morning.

My man and my boy are in the vehicle awaiting me to join them to head on our first of the summer weekend to the Houseboat... yeay!  i will be in awe of nature's beauty, absorbing both the macro, as the mountains and the lake provide incredible vistas for the soul, and the micro, as every rock, nook and cranny teams with the veins of pulsing life, we are so enraptured of feeling our synergy with.  Happy St, John's all, let the green of the summer, take you on a journey. Cheers, -Hemphill

week fifty six >> "friendship caught on fire" Happy May 16th!!!

In the spirit of anniversaries, cycles of seasons, and full circling thresholds, we go from the back inside cover spread, which we shared these past 2 weeks, and now turn to and open up to the front inside cover spread:

ZBOOK front inside cover          Click to see pretty & large

Of course this spread was made just as all the other pages, bit by intuitive bit, in layers of spontaneous whim and response, never first, never last, always in the state of becoming, touched upon in non-linear spirit, birthed throughout 14 years. It's fitting that the back cover should lead to the front as they neither indicate an ending OR beginning, but rather BOTH... as such threshold points truly are, like how every change is an end and simultaneously a start, how death is a close that in the same instance is a birth to new life.  How the end of one year begins another. 
Like today! Happy May 16th Hemphill!  This is our special day, the celebration of our "friendship caught on fire" as Bruce Lee described love to be (as quoted here on Z page by Chris Stevens in Northern Exposure :)  

"love is like friendship caught on fire" Bruce Lee
quoted by Chris the Morning, Norther Exposur

And as ZBOOK is also a tribute to our soul kinship and collaboration, it feels great to share this page with you on this day.  Up in the right corner it says "This is a Book of Lives"  In the bottom right corner is a photo sticker of us taken in a sticker machine on the Santa Cruz boardwalk in spring of 1999, seems to me that you were quite possibly observing a celebration for May 16th that day.  This page soon peculated into an homage of our synergy and gratitude for each other. 

The quote Jennifer wrote on on the left is perfect tone setter for our flip from back to front or end to start.... I would answer the question posed with a singular yet all encompassing YES.

love you Hemphill!

∞ ceci

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PS(L):  love the echos of PSL on both inside covers,
            YES our posse is truly anchored in our hearts

week fifty five >> "made daily"

zbook back inside cover

Backing into the past months double double of two week spreads, we take this 'made daily' spread into its second posting week- with the potential that it burst into a triple week, just to keep the salad tossing. 

hook us up!

Inside Covers are huge metaphors... they are the first thing opened to or the last thing viewed before closing.  They are major strength points for the physical structure of a book itself, such as zbook.  In our case, this backside inside cover contains no less than condensations of our story, such as the excerpt depicted above spouting, "youth and early travels, has become something of a legend since", followed by our chronicling of year dates. and our vision for ourselves, with publishing notes, seen at the side,  and the below Northerns quote which speaks so deeply to our beliefs in the process of sharing and expressing our work with and into the world,  "an artist needs obstacles; he needs to contend, to find out what he's made of".

Ruth Ann, Northern  Exposure quote

It's all a journey, every relationship, every experience, every piece of work and play.

Here's to three clicks of all our ruby red slippers to stream the prayers ever closer to home, to the core, to the inner pulsation, to the heartbeat.

Feel my love blast to you, as I feel yours come flooding through.  Be well, -Mamma Jennifer

week fifty four >> "made daily"

aka :  "WE CANNOT WALK ALONE"





As my household goes into upheaval this month, engaging in a move, I am uber grateful for the support of friends and family in so many ways.  Shout out to PSLr, Coach Brian, who hooked us up with smartbox galore - woop woop!! 

This spread, our back inside cover makes me smile because it feels like it is smiling back at me - in a way it gives me a summer time feel too - like the gang is hanging out.  I'm reflective of both myself and my children, with our circle of buddies in surround all around.  Hallie took off this week for a two night campout with her third grade class.  They're working on a biodynamic farm and bonding over smores and campfire songs - too fun!  After kissing her goodbye, I worked at Jack's school, digging up the ground in preparation for some chickens who are going to move in... little ones played and worked alongside me in the hot sun, digging, climbing, imagining, laughing, struggling, lifting... so beautiful to be in the midst of kids in dirt.  Now, I'm at work, prepping a letter for parents of 4th - 8th graders so that we can get wet with water games in the coming weeks during our PE classes - water balloon tosses - oh yeah!
Keep Cool and sane and keep your possy in your heart. - J. G.

week fifty three >> "access points" ZBOOK4EVER CELEBRATES ONE YEAR !

"access points"      click to view LARGE

A year ago today we launched ZBOOK4EVER, this here interweb site and blog, celebrating and sharing Z pages created in traveling collaboration during the first 14 years of our friendship and creative correspondence, which birthed ZBOOK!  Z page this week, "access points," is the last spread in ZBOOK before turning to the back inside cover spread, yet as one feels close to exit, this page speaks of entering, and the questions that surface when stepping into the unknown beyond the threshold, or rabbit hole as it so often feels.  The making of ZBOOK came to a close in 2010, yet in that very moment the sharing of it via ZBOOK4EVER began.  A fresh access point was born, this time for all the world to enter our world which only Jennifer and I had shared through ZBOOK for all these years since we entered our friendship and creative mayhem together back in school. And also for us, to explore our own exploration, to commune with our own stories and mythologies, to connect what we have created with what we are creating today.

Today we enter a new year as we continue to share Z pages of ZBOOK, the development of our other books such as Xbook, Ybook, and the traveling S.BOOK as it exhibits all over the U.S, and engage in collaboration with YOU via Z.POSTCARDS, a project we are officially launching this summer.   

Thank you for being a part of ZBOOK4EVER!  We are grateful for this extended forum with which to share with you our ever growiing creative rhythms... and we are ever grateful for your loving attention and support.  We would LOVE to hear from you, please feel FREE to leave your comments or email us.

see bottom right of Z page:  "input expression... re(garding): our reception of the calling to let go & begin crystallization of zee book" at right ----->
written, I'm guessing, year 2000

Happy New Year!




∞ ceci
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PS(L): happy Apirl 20 to our PSL family! we love you dearly.

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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