Encapsulated...

For me, feeling nervous or anxious is a completely interior emotion. I may feel it on the inside, but I don't let it show on the outside...it's encapsulated if you will. So, I worked on a quick sketch of me in perfect harmony for this week's IMT prompt and then manipulated it in Photoshop until I felt it visualized how I might personally show distress or uneasiness of mind.

Her story in words...

Her words held her deepest wishes, her fears, her joys, but most importantly...her story.

Su if you are reading this, know that this piece did not start out being about you, but somehow ended up that way. Or maybe more to the point, it ended up as a reflection of mine and your written thoughts and visual symbols all layered together to create this final (at least I think I'm done?) image. Putting yourself, your craft, your words OUT THERE for all the world to see, takes a lot of courage and personal strength. I admire that in you and enjoy it when I can recognize that in myself too. Maybe that is how our lives...our stories...will be forever intertwined?

Does the gray really matter?

I don't know, maybe it's all the rainy days I've been experiencing lately that really inspired me, but when the IMT prompt came up this week as opposites...I didn't even blink an eye before heading directly to my studio to create this piece. Good or evil, right or wrong, conservative or liberal, sinner or saint, black or white -- seems we spend a lot of time and energy focusing on the opposites in our lives, when all there really seems to be is gray matter to me. So, I painted this environment on my canvas that (hopefully) captures value opposites, but also exposes the wonder...the little swirling goodness...the colorful gray matter...that ends up being the more interesting stuff in between the opposition.

Her inspiration becomes mine...

I am so lucky to have this child in my life. Her smile, her creativity, her compassion and love for life is positively contagious. That's why after taking her to a Frida Kahlo exhibit, I had to get out my camera as she came home, found bits and pieces in her wardrobe and decided to dress the part. How wonderful that InspireMeThursday came up with a prompt that fit both her and my inspirations...

A perfectly circumscribed creative act...

She created something using color, movement and words...found it beautiful...and was happy.


What He Said... (Or maybe just what she wanted him to say)
Gina Caraviello
26" x 60"
Textile Pigments and Cotton Fabric
July 2008

Delight of the senses...

"Water, thou hast no taste, no color, no odor; canst not be defined, art relished while ever mysterious. Not necessary to life, but rather life itself, thou fillest us with a gratification that exceeds the delight of the senses." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery

At Last...

For over 20 years now, I have passed by these tree 'remains' on Hwy. 17 and wanted to photograph them. I think they are simply beautiful and they have always spoken to me on many levels. I think mainly they speak to me on my 7 year old-self level, that part of me that is the little girl who grew up near the coast, liked to get in the car and just ride -- windows rolled down, the smell of the road on a hot day at her nose, always with her hands out the window riding the wind...

Yes, this is the part of me that these trees talk to...this is a part of me that remains still.

It's the part of me that chooses back country roads, Rural towns, home-grown tomatoes, salty marsh breezes, watermelons on the side of the road for a few dollars, the beach over lakes, farmer's markets, live local music, windows rolled down in the car with my hand out the window riding the wind.

Looking at this moment in my life....

I've always been a very analytical person...looking at all possible angles...constantly observing...trying to understand the world and my place in it. It hasn't always served me well, being like that. But it has always been part of what makes me - Gina, so I rolled with it. Was this the reason for that spastic colon diagnosis in high school?

Well, the cloud of self-doubt and deconstruction has FINALLY lifted. Now, more so than ever, I am truly living my life. Don't get me wrong, I still look...and see... and try to understand what confounds me and feel more than others around me. But more and more, I spend less and less time in my head. I haven't written in a journal in ages. I barely blog. I enjoy every moment free of worry or guilt or rehashing what I said or shouldn't have said. I create when I want to express myself, not just as therapy, because it doesn't really hurt my craft like I thought it would. I show my knowledge and love in fierce bodily actions, rather than just in my words or images. I don't let the pondering and reflecting consume me with inaction anymore.

No doubt, everything up to this point, has led me to where I am today. And I am happy to say that I can briefly reflect on this moment in time and enjoy its sweetness!

Inner-light?

"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."
-Leonard Cohen

Ebb and Flow - with Sperlygirl

Finally had some time to work on this *in progress* piece. Sperlygirl penned me some prose and I pieced them into the work, just like I had to piece together this photograph. (sorry it's not a better view.)

Her words read:
"the ebb and flow
the push and pull -
always constant.
the journey is finding the
serenity within the constant.
amidst the motion -
seek the stillness of hope."

Still don't think we're done yet though, so Suz...input please.

A Different Light...

While the rest of the South has been hit with terrible weather lately, we have been receiving the most amazing "taste of summer" conditions. Flowers are starting to bloom prematurely, the birds are singing their beautiful early morning songs and I have been able to see myself in a different light. Warm weather and the glorious beaming sun that comes with it is...so healing...so reaffirming.

I sat here for several minutes this morning, just soaking it all in and seeing all the possiblities of tomorrow...

(Enjoy it with me @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK4PjqxqMNE)

A Lotta Frittata...

Frittatas are my new favorite thing to throw together 'round dinner time -- they are easy to make with whatever you have on hand and each one tastes so diverse. This one with leeks, shitake mushrooms, asparagus and fontina cheese -- is by far my best creation. So good, it pleasantly surprised me about myself and my culinary "talents". And I thought I would share that moment...that meal...that creation, because it isn't every day that one can still surprise themselves at this stage in the game, ya know?

So I say be bold, go forth and create a new dish with your kind of ingredients and surprise yourself too!

[Ohh yeah, those baked sweet potatoe "fries" served with are not glistening with oil, rather honey...just in case you were wondering.]

37 Things...

Turned 37 this week, so I thought I would cap off my birthday celebration with a short list of my favorite things:

1. My two AMAZING kids!!!
2. My hairy hubby...
3. "Snuggling and buggling" with #'s 1 and 2!
4. Fire roaring on a cold morning
5. Sipping Decaf Earl Gray tea while listening to Ray Lamontagne (http://www.raylamontagne.com/ ) so I can wake up on those cold mornings...
6. Being able to stay @ home with my kids!
7. Family
8. Friends...my chosen Family!
9. Hugs
10. Smiles
11. Smirks (especially those of Lala's and Chuck's)
12. Asparagus with parmesean cheese
13. LAUGHING
14. The internet...to keep me in touch with my friends and family...and the world!
15. Digital Cameras
16. Photoshop
17. Baking cookies with my kids
18. The smell of said cookies baking...
19. Creating -- anything!
20. Working with children & showing them how to express themselves with art.
21. Stationery
22. Snail mail...giving and receiving.
23. Thank you notes...giving and receiving.
24. Saying, "I love you"
25. Living in the here and now...
26. Holding hands
27. Kisses
28. Trying out new recipes every month when I get my Bon Appetite mag.
29. Suzanne's Blog (http://www.sperlygirl.typepad.com/) and her BEAUTIFUL images and words.
30. Mary Janes...the shoes
31.(and well the other kind of mary jane ain't too bad either)
32. People who are passionate
33. Fall
34. Spring
35. Exercising while listening to my music on my iShuffle -- I just clip it on a go!
36. Banana puddin'
37. Words...

A New Year...A New Me!?

Well, maybe not completely new...but almost.

Even though I like who I am, I worked on myself a lot in 2007, so that my head and heart was one with my body and actions. It turned out to be a great thing, so even though I am not one for resolutions, here are a few new goals I've set for myself in 2008:

Laugh more...

Keep up my exercise routine...adding more running and more yoga!

Finish the ideas I started in 2007...so I can make room for all the new ones I already have...

Keep my distance from negative people...especially around holidays.

Share my passion for arts enrichment with more people even if it means volunteering away more of my 'free' time!

Show my love and gratitude in every way imaginable...

Soak up every moment of wonder...big and small.

Live abundantly.

Here's to a fruitful 2008 -- Cheers!