Happy Holidays, Happy Creating and Lets all have a Great One!!

What an exciting year it has been for people all over the planet! 

Did you see Shepard Fairey's illustration for Time Magazine's latest Cover? In its annual 'Person of the Year' issue, 'The Protestor' earned the coveted title as well as the magazine cover.  Amazing work Mr Fairey! "The brilliance of Fairey's image is its simultaneous evocation of the particular and the general, the individual and the archetype. On the one hand the image is a collage, just as there is no one manifesto for OWS making just one visual representation impossible. And yet in the devoted eyes of Fairey's anonymous protestor the greatest of differences lose their significance. Fairey conveys the move of a crowd putting on Guy Fawkes masks, of millions of people becoming 'the 99%." Shepard Fairey On His TIME Magazine 'Person Of The Year' Cover

Also, ART for the masses has been resurrected as powerful ally in activism. It is so inspiring to see individuals empowered through their creative voice and through their mark making at the Occupy happenings 

This revival has been eloquently surmised in the article, Occupy Your Imagination by Michele Elam and Jennifer DeVere Brody "The movement’s new wave of organic creative expression revives the idea of art as necessity for an engaged citizenry. This is not self-referential art for art’s sake—this is timely art—art of and for the times—that is self-consciously responsive to immediate social concerns. Occupy has re-established art as a unique vehicle for social analysis and collective action that is as important to understanding—and potentially reshaping—the world around us as are the economic analyses and sociological studies inspired by the movement." 

2011 will be remembered as the year of people power and we at Art is Moving have been in tune with the zeitgeist. Our well orchestrated social art invention of mass Free Art Making, Take 5: ARTbreak Day 2011 was a stellar success. Everyone who participated loved their experience and was really grateful to create with their community. Furthermore, the support that we received from individuals and the community was phenomenal. 

We are looking forward to the new year as we will be expanding our Free Art making campaign. Exciting plans are already beginning for Take 5: ARTbreak Day 2012! We are broadening our ARTreach to Southern California and plan to have parallel sites in both NorCal and SoCal. If you would like to join our FREE Art Movment, please visit our website for more details {artbreakday.com} ABD will just get bigger and better!! 

Help us on our mission to get the world to "take an art break together" and

get art into hands of everyone so they have a chance to discover the power of art!

Please give your gift today @ Take 5: ARTbreak Day . 

All donations are being excepted. Also, another way you can support is to buy Art and spread the message through our t-shirt. Check out our Art is Moving Store here.

As the year is coming to close, it is time to reflect and celebrate all that was and is!! Over these past four years AIM has met some amazing and inspiring people!Thank You for your support and your vision!

Wishing you all Happy Holidays!
Happy Creating and Lets all have a Great One!!

Lauren and Lisa

I Love Dorothea Tanning-the last living Surrealist

I love, love this interview done by Salon magazine with Dorothea Tanning, the Oldest living surrealist tells. 
I feel she said one of the greatest quotes ever "Keep your eye on your inner world and keep away from ads, idiots and movie stars." Amen!!

Thank you Dororthea for your brilliance and truth!! -Lisa

quintessential quotes

I am dominated by one thing, an irresistible, burning attraction towards the abstract. 

Gustave Moreau
(6 April 1826 – 18 April 1898)

Eames Experience in LA La Land

A couple months ago on one of Don's and my Carpe Diem LA adventures,  we checked out the Eames House. Don's friend, David, is a volunteer docent at the house on weekends. Otherwise, I am not sure if I would have ever heard of it. 

Admission is always free and makes for a great day trip if you are in the area. A suggestion is to go on Sunday and check out the Pacific Palisades Farmers Market as well, I feel it is the best one on the West Side. Nourish your HeArt, Body, and Soul. 

"Originally known as Case Study House No. 8, the Eames House was such a spatially pleasant modern residence that it became the home of the architects themselves. Charles and Ray Eames began designing the house in 1945 for the Case Study House Program in Los Angeles’ Arts and Architecture Magazine published and built these case study homes that had to focus on the use of new materials and technologies developed during World War II. The intention was for the house to be made of prefabricated materials that would not interrupt the site, be easy to build, and exhibit a modern style. The Eames House is a beautiful continuation of space. The rooms are liberating, flowing into one another even between floors through the double-height spaces. Private and public spaces are not strictly divided." AD Classics: Eames House / Charles and Ray Eames

The structure is just off the PCH and resides in the peaceful and very affluent Pacific Palisades.  The grounds are so amazing. Below are some pics that I took.

The Ocean vista is extraordinary and the yard is lush and spacious. Great vibe all around!

Getting Creative: Shadows on the structure from the natural world.

Curious: In the yard there were tonka trucks.  Where are they from? How old are they? What is their story?

The Eames House  is interesting. For me it is a combination of Mies Van der Rohe, Piet Mondrian and Traditional Japanese Shoji Screens. It is kind of sterile, yet natural.  It is a pretty cool series of boxes, I would not mind living there. :)

I have been wanting to do this post for a long time and today it was sparked by this video that I saw on the California Arts Council Facebook page. It is the latest Pacific Standard Time Video, which is a celebration of Art in L.A. 1945–1980.
Love that Ice Cube was an Architecture student and I love the holistic crossing and transcendence of debunking the stereotype that crosses all cultures. 
All I can say is that Art is Art.  It is simple and at its core it inspires all who are open to it. 

Art in Your Pocket in Flight

Last Monday, I was on a three half hour flight back home to LA and I was so happy to have an extra Art in Your Pocket in my bag. It felt really good to create and I really needed to express myself.  I was returning home from trying time of visiting my Dad, who during my trip was diagnosed with degenerative disease. As I am a big process artist on each of my Art in Your Pocket pieces of paper I embedded words and intentions of healing and safety for my father. Then  I just started automatically mark making. Upon completion of my in flight art, I felt great--empowered and balanced.  I felt my Dad would be OK.

The lady across the isle was so interested in what I was doing, I decided to unconditionally give her one. She was really thankful to pass the time creating art.

Tis the season for giving!!

"I think Lisa and Lauren over at Art Is Moving are doing AMAZING work with their ARTcart  and this kit is a natural progression coming out of the cart experiences. It's a way of providing the cart experiences without the cart, without having to be where they are in any given day -- like mailing the cart experience off in the post for people to have Art In Your Pocket wherever you are. " Kara Chipoletti Jones (Mother Henna)

 For an unusual and original gift --think about giving an Art in Your Pocket.

 It is an awesome gift for absolutely everyone. It is also an amazing partee favor and 

Art in Your Pocket is a perfect way to express yourself in places were you need it the most. 

To me ART is Freedom and what an extraordinary gift to give!!

Go to our Art in Your Pocket website today!!

Last order must be placed by December 13th

  after that the AIYP Elves will be on an adventure till the New Year !!


-lisa

LET'S TALK ABOUT ART

Let's Talk about ART  is a weekly running dialogue between Lauren and Lisa, the co-founders of Art is Moving.  This random, casual, and open dialog exists to provide space for the two artists to speak freely about today's art world, their own art practice, and all of the other aspects of art.


Feel free to join in the conversation at anytime.  We would love to read your thoughts!


12/5/2011 
Hey Lauren-this is an interesting experiment taking a break :) 
For the last year we have been meeting on Skipe every Monday for an hour to manifest our projects at Art is Moving. Feels kind of weird.
Hey girl ..What are you doing with your time?? :)
Check this video out I love it!! Creativity really can never, never be killed. It will always show up  somewhere. 








11/7/2011
Wow, time is flying!  Since you are traveling today I wanted to share this lovely video with you.  I think this is an amazing video project. 


Travel safe!



MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.


10/21/2011 
Great insights Lauren!! Everything is so connected in our work--our process and in the people that join in with us at our Free Art Making Happenings. It Feels like on some level we are on our higher purpose as a collaborative team. Sweetness--really amazing. 
I had to show you this I Love, Love the painter Gerhard Richter. He is so inspiring... I paint on the same channel :) Makes me want to run back into the studio and create! Have a great weekend!





10/15/2011
Wow, what a hard question to answer Lisa.  I would have to say that with each new festival we attend, project we think of and complete, the impact grows.  Think of it as a compounding impact.  I say this because with each person that is added to our list of "participants" and "appreciators" my confidence in my dreams gets stronger.  It's hard to just believe in yourself without words of encouragement from your partners (thank you Lisa) and other random strangers that become friends over an art table.


10/11/2011 
Hey, Lauren-- I have a question for you?
As I was driving and following your car to the amazing West End Family Fest in San Rafael on Sunday to facilitate with you the FREE ART making process to the masses--I thought of a inquiry. As Art is Moving has been in a collaboration for over three years. almost four----what single project or happening has made the most impact on you personally? 


10/7/2011-lisa 
Love it! love the video, love the conversation and the ART conversion. Thanks! brother Daniel for adding to the coversation! Here is another cool one I found, a great ART conversation of words, form and sounds between  Ed Ruscha and Anthony (Red Hot) Kiedis.  Things are happening in LA, la land!



10/06/2011 - Lauren


I can't take any credit for this.  The video was sent to me from my brother, Daniel.  But, you need to check this out if you haven't.  

Pacific Standard Time is an unprecedented collaboration of cultural institutions across Southern California coming together to celebrate the birth of the L.A. art scene. Beginning October 2011, over 60 cultural institutions will make their contributions to this region-wide initiative encompassing every major L.A. art movement from 1945 to 1980. Celebrate the era that continues to inspire the world.

9/28/2011-lisa
It was strange because it was removed from two of my sites AIM and Art Transforms. Kind of irksome :(And a lot of people were commenting on both. I also sent Erik A a message about it and he did not answer the question--he just said the t-is available and check out my website. 
Alright--lets post this puppy again and see what happens... social media experiment it is.


9/28/2011 - Lauren
I loved that poster when I saw it on our FB page.  Boo to them for censoring it.  I find that a bit surprising.  Are you sure it wasn't removed by Erik Arraga himself or accidentally deleted?  Because, it is still Erik's profile picture.  I think we should test out the censorship and re-post the image and see what happens.  Those words need to be spread around.  What do you think?  Anyway, I posting the image on our blog for all to see.

9/27/11 -lisa
This is so funny Lauren~ we were talking concisely about our experience with this last night at our weekly AIM Scipe meeting. I had to post it! It is going around on Facebook "I am Artist, that does not mean I work for free, I have bills just like you, Thank you for understanding." by  Erik Arreaga 
Maybe ours would say "I am Artist, that does not mean I work for free and I really need you to respect my time, Please be professional~I have bills and life just like you. Thank you for understanding."
(not cool a couple hours later this post was removed from our Art is Moving Facebook page---censorship always feels so yucky)


9/23/11-lisa
Love it! Lauren-- Great idea for a stronger video presence in AIM. How can we make this happen? Scipe? or we can we create a video when I am up there next for the SR festival. Thanks for  your eternal support. Heartbreaks, shattered dreams, dusting oneself off and beginning again. I do not think we can test your theory "without struggle we could not know Bliss"--cuz we humans are always in struggle. All though when times are good, I still do really appreciate the transcendent :) Need to practice my Buddhist philosophy. "He who loves 50 people has 50 woes; he who loves no one has no woes." Buddha. Life the eternal reward.
Cannot wait to see pics of the storefront installation Take 5:ARTbreak Day 2011 ART!! Hope it all goes according to hoyle. 
Also, very excited that  Take 5:ARTbreak Day 2012 is unfolding very smoothly!! 
Happy Autumnal Equinox!! 
Love this quote by Blake, "In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy." 


9/23/2011 - Lauren
Hey Lisa, Sorry to hear about the heartbreak!  Always terrible to have to deal with that part of being an artist.  But, there are good and bad to all aspects of life.  Without the heartache, we wouldn't know what bliss feels like!  I wanted to mention something quickly that I found this morning and thought it might be something we should think about.  I know that our Take 5 video was really popular and thought we may want to think about starting up the video aspect of our project again.  Check out this article about the power of video for a website.  Would love to know your thoughts. (http://www.silberstudios.tv/blog/2011/09/4153/)


And, I think it's fine if good art matches a sofa, that just shouldn't be the reason you're buying it.  Buy it because you HAVE to have it, and no other reason.


9/21/11-Lisa 12:41pm
Cool!  
Lauren this is a weird organic process and we will see what happens. Thanks for being open to it.
Phew! yesterdays theme for me was Artist, Dreamer= HeARTbreak i.e Struggle and Dreams are dying.... it was a bad day :(
I had a really low blow in my personal prof art practice. As an artist I am so over sensitive and yesterday I had an Old Faithful of emotions spewing from my soul. It is all good~lest I feel and care way to much. Today is better :) My theme today is Artist, Dreamer= dust your self and hope to Inspire. Good news~My photograph called Hands of Creation got an award and was chosen as one of the top reps of this amazing project called The Peace Project!! I am so grateful for that!! 
Also, I am excited about potentially having some of the Art from Take 5: ARTbreak Day 2011 in a vacant store front in Northgate Korea town in Oakland. I think it is a done deal the ARTcart will be at the West End Festival in San Rafael in October. Yeah AIM!
Hope you have a creative Wednesday!  I am going to paint, work on ABD, refine my marketing strategy, grudgingly look for a day job, and draw some Kitty B's.  Kitty Bliss's narrative theme will be "good ART should never match your sofa." Did you know that quote about ART matching your sofa came from Fred Babb? Great quote!


9/20/11 - Lauren
I am digging this new idea of yours and am curious as to where it will take us.  I, sadly, have not done any art in the last couple of days.  Such is the life of working to support an art career.  Perhaps someday an art career will suffice in the money department.  I haven't much to say as of yet because I am still recovering from Take 5.  My brain is not back into the correct space to dive deeply into Art is Moving at the moment.  That event really sucked it out of me.  I am constantly trying to find balance and think that, at the moment, that means stepping away from going 100 MPH all the time.  I do have plans for art making a bit tomorrow.  But, most of my day will be soaked up with organizing all of the art supplies from Take 5.  A Day in the Life has been on hold for the last few months, but I hope to complete another piece by the end of the week.


Oh, wanted to share this podcast with you since we were discussing the importance of social media during our meeting last night. (http://lab.agencyaccess.com/portals/16485/podcasts/Dialogues_Podcast_Episode_008.mp3)


Start: 9/19/11~Lisa
It was a big week for Art is Moving's ARTcart we worked the Spice of Life Festival in North Berkeley. It was a beautiful day packed with tons of folks, who were creating Art for Free from 11-7pm. We actually ran our of paper. Also, I am so excited that I sold my painting Phoenix Rising at the Terra Firma Gallery in San Rafael.( today, the painting was returned~that really hurts) YES! It looks like is going to be a great fall!! challenging fall....
As always I have a lot on my plate.  Here is just a few morsels.
I need to start networking for Take 5: ARTbreak Day 2012. We will be expanding to potentially five cities in SoCal.

Check out my new work called windows in Danish "vinduer." I am half Danish and Irish, a total Viking I am. Cool, I just discovered the Google translator Translate Google with a voice and all :) I really need to get into a gallery in LA!

Lets keep this conversation going!
See you tonight on Scipe at our weekly Monday AIM meeting.
We will be chatting and reflecting heavily about Take 5: ARTbreak Day  and AIM's future
Hey Lauren, what do think about my new Blog post idea? Did you do anything ARTy today?
How is your A Day in the Life Project going?~lisa

As always if you want to join the conversation, please do!!!

Which painting would you steal?

Lauren and Tom stealing their favorite piece at Hadley Williams MFA Graduate Exhibition at  JFKU

Lauren and I in Graduate School  had an amazing Prof Jeremy Morgan, who taught us a great way to look at Art. In our Crit he had an effective technique to get people to start thinking and to start talking about the Art that was in front of them. What he did to break the ice and the silence was announce  to us an obscure group of Art Students  "folks if you were to steal one painting in this collection (the work that we would hang in front of the group to get feedback from) which would it be and why?"

Have some fun and try it. Next time you go to an art exhibition and museum ask the folks with you " if you were to steal one painting in this collection which would it be and why?"  It really incites reflection, conversation and it is FUN!!!