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| Big Pink Trees © 2012 Sheryl Karas & Paul Hood |
Hope you're enjoying your summer. Lately we've been exploring the importance of checking one's assumptions. Sometimes the biggest thing holding a person back are their beliefs, especially beliefs held as truth for so long it seems there is no reason to question them. But over and over again we have been learning the importance of at least checking out our assumptions, to jiggle the boundaries and try something new. Our article this month is written by Paul.
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ASSUMPTIONS BLOWN
Lately I’ve been having some long term assumptions challenged. A simple one was something I learned in photography: “Never shoot a portrait with a wide angle lens, especially at close range.” In general it’s true. More often than not a wide angle lens at close range is going to distort in such a way that isn’t flattering. In fact, the results can be downright disastrous-- think of a fun-house mirror and you’ll get the idea. But then the other day a photographer friend of mine, Hil Muller of Springbok Design, took just such a shot, very wide angle, very close, and it looked fantastic. I complimented him on the shot and guessed pretty close to the technical details. I made a mental note of it, noticing just how important it was to loosen up a little on things I considered to be hard and fast “rules.” Just today I was informed that the same photo made the cover of a magazine. Assumption blown.
A couple of days ago Sheryl tried for about the fifteenth time to make a palatable beverage combining a coffee drink with a black tea drink. I just shook my head. I had tried some of her previous attempts. I made faces when she ordered a half chai, half decaf coffee drink from the barista. I told her I wasn’t even going to taste it, but I did. I held my breath and took a sip; not bad! I wish I could tell you whether it was actually good but I held back my senses so much, expecting something awful, that I missed the taste of something good. Sheryl drank the whole thing and enjoyed it fully. I would have given up the experiment years ago but Sheryl just kept going until she got it right.
Also, today I took some “me” time and relaxed with the headphones on listening to music and drifting in and out of sleep. As I phased back into full consciousness an interview of John Irving, the novelist, came on. ( City Arts and Lectures ) John Irving may not be my favorite author but I did enjoy reading “The World According to Garp” as a teenager, and later “The Hotel New Hampshire.” Years later I’d take a lot of writing classes and even take a minor in creative writing. I learned a lot in those classes but I never heard anything like Irving’s particular method: he writes the last sentence of the novel first. Literally the last sentence, then be backfills the entire novel from there. Also, he’s almost entirely “plot driven” in his technique: it’s all about the story, with the characters essentially doing as they’re told to fill in the story. This is approximately the opposite of what I learned. In fact the moment I found myself making a breakthrough in writing was the day that I broke away entirely from that technique. I found it contrived and it made the characters come off as unreal, the story forced. “Character driven” stories became my thing and I never looked back. This is not to tout one technique above the other, but to say that John Irving has made a highly successful and decades long career doing exactly what I would not do. John Irving says he can’t stand the idea of his characters driving the story. I sometimes think about that; whether we drive our own stories or if it’s our stories driving us.
Months ago we attended an art opening by a young college student. She’d done several very large paintings of a female figure completely draped under what looked like a sheet. They were very skillfully done, very meticulously painted using some techniques of the old masters but with one huge difference: she paints the way that an inkjet printer prints:—top to bottom, one inch at a time. I can’t even imagine producing a painting the way one would knit a sweater. It’s incomprehensible to me, but it works for her. Last we heard she had sold out the show and is getting on with her education and career. There is no one right way of doing anything. I think. But you know, somebody out there is going to challenge that assumption.
Speaking of paintings, Sheryl started one a while back, and somehow pushed past her boundaries doing several techniques and using a color palette that she normally never would (think big pink trees!). I stood back and could see the whole thing starting to go wrong. The results weren’t so bad but her demeanor was shifting and her technique was becoming more frenzied, almost desperate. Shortly thereafter she announced that she hated the piece and she’d be painting over the whole thing with white gesso. Completely out of character for me I asked her if she’d mind if I took up the unfinished piece. After all, it was about to be obliterated so what did we have to lose? Some remarkable things happened after that. Bear in mind that I’m not much of a collaborator on creative projects, but I took this on and felt much freer than I did when I worked on a solo piece. I couldn’t take responsibility for the whole painting no matter what, so I was at ease while I worked. Even more remarkably, Sheryl got re-motivated to work on the painting. We decided to take turns working on it, back and forth until it was done. We ran into small difficulties and disagreements but we always worked it out and then one day it was done, we both signed it and we're on our way again: likely painting our own paintings solo but also better for the experience.
--- Paul Hood, August 2012
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HOW MIGHT YOUR OLD STORIES BE DRIVING YOU? COULD YOU USE SOME HELP IN LOOKING AT YOUR ASSUMPTIONS?
Spiritual Counseling sessions with one or both of us can be set up by clicking here: http://www.healingcommunication.com/How_to_Make_an_Appointment_with_Spiritual_Counselors_and_Healers_Sheryl_Karas_and_Paul_Hood.html
We work in-person (in Chico, CA) or by telephone or video via Skype anywhere in the world.
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NEWS FROM MAMA LOVE
From Sheryl: One of my assumptions is that I should keep my Mama Love news focussed on retail customers and not mention my wholesale prices in this newsletter at all. But most of our clients are therapists, acupuncturists, nurses, massage therapists and other alternative practitioners who would surely benefit from selling Mama Love through their practice, small business owners and mini-online entrepreneurs, and lots of people who make part of their living -- or should make part of their living -- selling products like these. Does that describe you or someone you know? Check out the Wholesale section of my Mama Love site: http://www.healingcommunication.com/mamaloveproducts/Wholesale.html.
Can't afford to buy so many at once? Discounted gift sets and mini bulk discounts (4 or more, including discounts for buying Mama Love "naked" without packaging) are always available: http://www.healingcommunication.com/mamaloveproducts/Products.html
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WHERE TO FIND MAMA LOVE
http://www.mamaloveproducts.com
http://www.mamalovehealing.etsy.com
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WHERE TO FIND OUR VIDEOS
http://www.youtube.com/user/healerteam
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YOU CAN FIND OUR ARTWORK...
In our joint Etsy shop... http://www.etsy.com/shop/PaulnSherylArt
In our new prints and poster Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/FutureSoBright
Beautiful Photographic Prints by Paul Hood... http://PaulHood.imagekind.com/
Beautiful Photographic Prints and Artwork by Sheryl Karas... http://sherylkaras.imagekind.com
Art notecards, T-shirts, mugs and other gifts featuring our images... http://www.zazzle.com/paulnsheryl*
On our brand new Facebook Page... www.facebook.com/paulnsherylart
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