Oh, the places you'll go...

Let's talk for a moment about places I've been, and places I want to go to.

I thought I might like to visit every country that starts with "I" first, since I've already got two under my belt- Italy and Ireland. Both beautiful places I very much wanted to see- Italy for the art, and Ireland because I'm an Irish lass- at least partially. I discovered interesting things in both places.

In Italy, I found that the most beautiful pieces of art are just lying around for everyone to see and touch. There are pieces of columns from the ancient Roman Forum just lying across the sidewalks. There are hand-carved marble Saints and nymphs adorning wall niches and fountains in very public, unprotected areas. It is strange and exciting, since here most of the art is in museums, behind glass or ropes. In Italy the art can be seen "in the wild," in it's natural intended everyday environment. My aunt that I travelled with would say, "What is that?" and I would answer, "Nothing special, just a fountain." Um, yeah, but the most beautiful fountain you ever laid eyes on...until the next one.

In Ireland, I discovered a wild place full of green. It was easy to believe the Faerie legends, deep in the dark woods next to streams and rocks as we hiked and climbed for better views. I also learned that with my dark hair, freckles, and green eyes, I am far more "Irish looking" than my fairer siblings. And I was told that the Irish genome is actually 96% Spanish, having been settled by Spaniards, hence the normal dark hair as opposed to light or red, which is what we think stereotypically as "Irish."

So the rest of the I countries are: Iran, Iraq and Israel... which I have absolutely no desire to visit... followed by Iceland and Indonesia, both strikingly different by highly desired due to the nature, and India. I would very much like to visit India without a schedule or plan, and with a whole lot of money for buying textiles and paper. I love the colors of India, and I would love to just go there and ask people to point me in the direction of some good local fabric dyers and artisans.

The other places I would really like to go? The countryside of China has some gorgeous mountains and rivers. Japan. Paris, of course. London, maybe...but it's lower on the list. Barcelona, Greece (Mykonos, actually.) Istanbul, when it's safe. I would have liked to see Egypt, but right now, not on the list. I would love to cruise the Aegean Sea.

I think I need to start saving a boatload of cash!

My Inner World

I've spent a lot of time alone in my life. When I was young, it was due to several things... I was a geek and a bit different, so there was that... but I also had a crazy mother. I mean it. She had some really strange ideas about life, and those ideas kept me, the oldest child, from having fun. Because she was nuts, it limited me- both by her "rules," and by the fact that I often did not want to bring other people or friends into my crazy world.

By age 8, I was practicing the piano 1 hour every day... by 13, it was 2 hours. So after school, which I usually walked home from, I did homework and practiced. When I joined band and track team, it was stay at school for that, walk home, 2 hours of piano, and homework. I was a straight-A student, so I did all of my homework and studying.. and was in bed by 9. So there was not a lot of time for friends outside of school and school activities. I did not have a phone or TV, and if I wanted to talk on the phone I had to do it in the kitchen (where my mother could hear me.) I had no privacy unless I was in my room, alone. If I wanted to play outside, I had to take my younger siblings with me. If I wanted to go out with friends, my mother would first ask me 50 questions, call the mom or dad, criticize what I chose to wear, and then tell me I had to be home by 10 (plans would often start around 9 pm.) Often I would just give up and decide not to go anywhere but instead sit alone in my room.

I became my own best friend, designing art, reading, talking to myself, and wishing for a different life. When the opportunity to go away to college finally came, I left and went as far away as the SUNY system would take me.

So for much of my young life, being alone was both a negative and a positive thing. Nowadays, I am content in my own company but I also long for balance. I enjoy time with friends, but I like it in small doses. I especially enjoy meeting and talking with strangers, which is why craft shows are very appealing to me- I can get to know someone quickly, compliment them, find out what makes them tick, and then they leave me alone. I largely live in my inner world, I don't watch much TV and don't like gossip. Perhaps I am so used to being alone that the expectations of long-standing friendships are difficult for me. For example, I can't imagine what it would be like to have a friend I spoke with on the phone every week. What on earth would we talk about? lol.

How do YOU feel when you are by yourself?

What is your favorite color?

I say this using my best Monty Python English accent, because I just love it when they tell the guy he is wrong and he dies....

How can you have a "wrong" favorite color? Mine is absolutely FF3399.

I shudder to think that it is "hot pink," that description takes me back to 1986... 7th grade... bad hair, braces, Catholic school uniforms, a crush on the wrong boy, and lots of other 13 year old nonsense.

So I will just stick with FF3399, because I think this color defies description. It is neither magenta nor fuchsia, and calling it pink simply doesn't do it justice. I have it in my hair, on my lips, and on way too many clothing and accessory items including rhinestone earrings, scarves, a gorgeous druzy necklace... I have a huge faux flower leaning over the side of my monitor in this color, my Ikea lamp is this color, actually when I look around my art room, I am amazed at how much I do gravitate towards having items in this color in my space.

Then I look around again and notice that I have a lot of black and white in my wardrobe and studio as well, probably to counterpoint the fact that I pick this heavy pink color for all the little things. It is totally subconscious, but now I suppose I will begin noticing it more, since I brought it to my own attention...

What is YOUR favorite color? Do you just like it, or are you passionately in love with it, as I seem to be with mine?