MY NAME IS LARISSA.

In Honor of V-Day!

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 02:00:00 +0000

Howdy Yinz-guys.

Holy Moly, it’s February! Valentines Day is right around the corner. Last year I wrote about the origins of Valentines Day. This year I am reflecting on what it means to Love. Love is multifaceted. It’s complicated...and sometime it hurts...BAD. But Love is worth it because out of the hurt comes growth, both personal and external. I think that’s what it means to “hurt so good”. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that all hurt is Love. That is NOT the case. Sometimes hurt is malicious and just plain wrong. Sometimes we don’t know the difference until after the hurt is healed. And that’s where the challenge is, in the time that passes in between. So, I continue my pursuit of Art in the spirit of Love, tending my wounds and waiting for Time to do it’s job. There’s too much nastiness out there in the world (and beauty for that matter!) for me to waste my time doing anything else. Here’s the latest news of my pursuit:

First things first! This Friday, February 3rd, is the first Friday of the month and Oakland’s Art Murmur. 25C will be open. 25C is the artist’s collective I joined a few months back. Joining a collective was an act of Love for my new community of Oakland. I almost rented a beautiful private space but I knew I couldn’t be there everyday and didn’t want to OCCUPY a space that wasn’t being used regularly. Being part of a collective means responsibilities, ideas and resources are shared. It’s a win/win for everyone AND I’m not “gentrifying” my new community. So, come on out from 6-10 this Friday and see a non-violent way artists can OCCUPY their community. As always, my work is on display along with the other members of 25C. While a card is probably enough, if you have a really special sweetie in your life, come find a one of a kind locally made gift for V-Day.

I’m also really excited to have some of my work included in the Love Show at Gray Loft Gallery in Oakland’s Jingletown neighborhood. The show opens on February 10th and runs until the 25th. Click the image below more info. Thank you to Jan of Gray Loft Gallery for including my work.

February 10th is a busy day! It is also the opening of the staging of the Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler I’ve helped to organize at Pan Theater. This endeavor has been an amazing and healing journey. There are performances on February 10th and 11th at Pan. I’ve had the chance to help direct and will even be delivering one of the monologues. The event benefits Oakland’s Elizabeth House. Tickets are $15 ahead of time or $18 at the door. Click on the image below to purchase tickets. I am grateful to Eve Ensler for creating this piece of Art and to David Alger of Pan Theater for providing the venue. If you aren’t in Oakland you can find a V-Day event near you at this link...until the Violence stops!

Speaking of Love and V-Day, my book of Love-inspired poetry, Sophia Was Pushed but the moon broke her fall, is available on amazon.com for $15. If you have a problem with ordering from amazon for some reason ask your local book store to order it for you. ISBN: 978-1468000184.

Finally, I am working on an album, If Love Were A Lullaby. To my total surprise I have found I write country music! Who woulda thunk it, right?! My Pappy, that’s who. When I was 13 he told me one day I’d be singing country music, and here I am Lovin’ it and even wearing cowgirl boots. Got me a real pair at Allens Boots on South Congress in Austin! Anyway, my target release date is March 2nd, but I think I may have to accept a later release date. These things take time and I am looking for other musicians to collaborate with. Last month I started the focus-group portion of the process, collecting feedback from friends, family and other music professionals. Last week I travelled to Austin and Dallas to visit friends and see if my country music could cut muster in Texas. Here’s a clip from an open mic I participated in. Thank you to everyone who has offered me their honest opinions and support.

Well, that’s about it for now. Hope you are well and Loving life. Happy Valentines Day!

Love,

Larissa

Reflection of an Occupation

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 07:15:00 +0000

Recently there has been much violence in my community surrounding the Occupy Movement. This disturbs me and I have been thinking a lot about it.

A few months ago I took a picture of myself with a sign supporting the 99%...including myself in the 99%. The Occupy Movement has accomplished something really amazing. It has ignited the hearts of young people in the United States to stand and speak up about the challenges many American families and individuals face: hunger, unemployment, lack of health care, lack of opportunity, lack of hope. I applaud this achievement.

I marched with the Occupy movement on the day of the General Strike in Oakland, CA when the port historically shut down. I watched and I listened to those around me. I chose not to return. Thousands of people marched right past federal buildings and danced in the streets. Something did not seem right to me. Now the violence is escalating on both the sides of the movement and the police.

I live and work in Oakland, CA. I talk to the business owners in my neighborhood regularly. The movement is hurting business for everyone...but especially mom & pop businesses...the folks who live in, support and supply the community. I find it hard to believe that it is any different in other communities across our nation. So, I ask the Occupy Movement AND the police to take a minute to reflect on what your goals are. What are you trying to accomplish? Is the violence achieving ANYTHING positive or constructive? It does not seem so to me. What good will it do if all the businesses in a town must shut down? How then will people be creating jobs? Where then will people get the things they need?

From the beginning I have said that I felt it is important to occupy our minds, bodies, souls and communities. But what does that mean? To occupy my mind I must know and speak my mind. To occupy my body I must be present to it’s health and needs. To occupy my soul I must be conscious of the interconnectedness of all beings. To occupy my community I must live there and be careful to make choices that are in the LONG TERM best interest of me AND my neighbors.

My method of occupation has been to pursue Art, get to know my neighbors, patronize my local shops and refrain from violence. To occupy a mind, body, soul or community each must be in a healthy condition. So let us make our choices wisely and engage in praxis. If you don’t know what praxis is, occupy a dictionary for a couple minutes.

I’ve watched some of the videos on youtube posted by “Anonymous”. Whoever this person is, they are speaking from behind a mask. To occupy and LIVE in our communities we can not wear a mask. It is irresponsible to follow orders from a person who will not show their face, will not tell you their name. This keeps you from being able to make an assessment of bias and motive on the part of “Anonymous”. To give orders from behind a mask is manipulative and cowardly.

It is time to look at 100% of the picture. Just because a person has money does not mean they have not worked for it. Just because a person does not have money does not mean they have not worked. Everyone has their own unique life and situation. A condescending bootstrapping mentality is just as myopic as an angry entitled mentality. No matter how much money a person does or does not have everyone must eat, sleep and shit to live. There are transgressions on both “sides”. It is time to practice personal accountability, forgiveness and cooperation. There is room at the table for all.

Police, put your weapons away. You are part of the community too.

Protestors, put your swords of righteousness down.

Government, open your ears and hearts and stop looking at the dollar signs.

We are all in this together.

The world is ROUND. It has NO SIDES.

When in doubt MAKE ART or PRAY and above all else...LOVE 100%.

In Light & Love,

Larissa

Welcome 2012!

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 04:20:00 +0000

Welcome 2012!

I hope you have had a good holiday and that this message reaches you well. A new year has once again begun and I find myself reflecting upon the past 12 months almost as much as I am looking at the 12 that lie ahead of me, ahead of us all. I acknowledge that things in our world are stressful and that everyone I meet seems to be running on reserve energy. Rest seems a luxury that few can afford. So I plug along doing the work at hand, trusting that the Light within will prevail even as I acknowledge my own shortcomings and failings.

So, here is the latest on the front of all things Larissa...

Shortly before Christmas I self-published a short collection of poetry. The resulting book, Sophia Was Pushed but the moon broke her fall is now available on amazon.com for $15.00. Check out this link for more info.

I continue to work on a new series of visual pieces at my new work space, The 25th Street Collective, in Oakland. If you are in the area come on out this Friday evening 6-10pm for Oakland’s first Friday Art Murmur and check it out. On first Fridays, in addition to my Art I also offer personal card readings. For an example of what a reading with me is like check out this link. It is a clip of the reading I did for 2012 shortly after midnight on New Year’s. 25C is also open to the public on Saturdays.

On the musical front I am working on an album that includes mostly original music I’ve written and a few select covers. I will let you know as soon as the work is available to the public. Hopefully that will be very soon. Right now the work is in the ‘focus group’ stage.

I’m also very pleased to announce that I am working on organizing a staging of the Vagina Monologues for V-day with the Pan Theater. Our performance dates are set for February 10th and 11th at Pan Theater in Oakland and will benefit the Oakland Elizabeth House. I’ll let you know when there is more info. For now, save the dates! If you’ve never seen the Vagina Monologues it is a powerful experience.

As part of my Reiki Master/Teacher practice I have also filmed a couple short clips where I talk about Reiki. You can view them at the following links:

Speaking On My Reiki Practice Segment I

Speaking On My Reiki Practice Segment II

I truly believe we are being called as the human species to come together to once again truly ‘occupy’ our hearts, minds, souls, communities and when the time comes the poll booths. Yes, I believe it can be done! I pray that you are well and weathering the challenges of life. Times are difficult for sure, but I continue to foster hope within myself and this hope is fed by the Loving spirit of the people I meet everyday.

In Light & Love as I always am,

Larissa

My Recent Visit to the Detroit Institute of Art

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 02:30:00 +0000

I traveled to the Detroit area recently for the Thanksgiving holiday. While in Detroit I saw family, ate too much, ate not enough, drank too much, drank not enough, saw old friends, heard about old acquaintances, visited old haunts, made and recorded some music, and visited the Detroit Institute of Art. Let me just say that the DIA ranks highly on my list of favorite museums. Their standing collection is exquisite, balanced and respectfully installed. The building itself is organized and maintained well. The staff is friendly, informed and helpful. The rotating shows are varied, relevant and compelling.

In addition to the standing collection, I saw two exhibits that I am very pleased to have seen. The first one was Detroit Revealed: Photographs 2000-2010. It is a very thoughtful look at the city of Detroit and it’s population over the past 10 years and is up through April 8, 2012.

The other one was of work slightly older...Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus. It is up through February 12, 2012. The show includes the title collection of Rembrandt’s bust/portraits of Jesus, other works by Rembrandt, his students and artists that inspired Rembrandt. Because of the number of people viewing the work I did not opt to take the headphone portion of the exhibit. Instead I read the information posted on the walls next to the works and meandered through at my own pace.

Rembrandt’s figures and use of light-source are well known to be stunning. The intimacy of the artist’s interpretation of the face of the man Jesus spoke to me of a deeply inquisitive personal spirituality. In addition to being beautiful in and of themselves, when new, the paintings were quite socially provocative given the religious/political environment of Amsterdam in Rembrandt’s time. The tenderness with which Rembrandt handled his subject matter is moving. I’m not an Art historian and I don’t really know much about the history of Rembrandt as a person. It’s probably something I should look into to gain a better understanding of the work. It was probably covered in the headphone portion of the tour I skipped. But I can still relate to the work from a personal center...as an artist who consciously engages her spiritual life through her work and as someone with strong feelings about Jesus.

Talking about Art that deals with religious subject matter can be challenging. Talking about Art that specifically deals with Jesus is a double whammy challenge. Few names conjure such deeply rooted emotion in as many people as the name Jesus. It seems those shouting His name most loudly often also seem to be extremist, oppressive and preachy. That is not my aim here. My comments are not intended to be a religious or spiritual coercion. This is simply my experience of the work from the only perspective I can come from with any authority...my own.

I stated before that I have strong feelings about Jesus. I Love Jesus. It's complicated. I don’t have to justify it or beat anyone over the head with it, demand or even suggest that anyone profess or feel the same. My feelings are personal. They are also something that I sometimes explore in my Art. Because of this, I make the assumption that Rembrandt too must have had equally strong and complicated feelings about Jesus. Even if he and I have nothing else in common I can relate to this and feel a connection and tenderness for his work.

Something I found very interesting about the portraits of Jesus was that the collection was assembled of paintings from collections all over the world. The reach of the artist’s work so long after his death is something hopeful to me. It's hopeful in that what I create as an artist can have the potential of moving and inspiring people long after I am gone regardless of what kind of person I may or may not be. Rembrandt’s paintings remain relevant and intriguing even today. That’s a hopeful aspiration for artists everywhere who are hanging on “by their fingernails” as a friend recently put it to me.

Going to a museum is like going to church for me. Some are more comfortable to visit than others. The DIA always has a good ‘service’. No matter what your feelings about the man called Jesus, if you are in Detroit don’t miss the DIA and the Rembrandt exhibit.

Made In Detroit...click the photos ;P

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 05:45:00 +0000

My Suggested Plan of Attack...

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 00:05:00 +0000

Zombie In The Mirror

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 05:50:00 +0000

I can't believe it's November already and the winter holidays are breathing down my neck. Where does the time go? I guess I know where mine has gone...into moving. We've rented out our Santa Rosa house (THANKS TO GOD...and my friend Heather). Now me, Omar and the kitties are settling into our new Oakland digs. Well, me and Omar are anyway. The kitties aren't so sure they like their new surroundings, but they will adjust eventually. If they don't I'll be roasting cats for Christmahannakwanzasolsticus dinner. Just kidding. Though, how tired I am these days is no joke. Looking at myself in the mirror I often see a zombie staring back at me. Moving our home and my Art studio while still trying to work is a lot to do. Soon I'll be caught up on my sleep and I'll be more out and about in both the real and Cyber-world once again. In the mean time, here's the latest from Spatoochna-land:

Anything Can Happen Ten Minute Play Festival at Pan Theater on Broadway in Oakland, CA, Nov. 12, 18 & 19! I will be appearing with Alan Coyne and Nicole Barbero in Zombie Love, an original 10 minute play directed by Ralph Thomas and written by Earl T. Roske. The show opens THIS SATURDAY and includes a total of 9 original ten-minute plays. Tickets are $15 ahead of time, $20 at the door and are available at this link. There are lots of good places to eat and/or have drinks near the theater. Come on out, support local theater Art and have some good hip artsie-fartsie fun in Oakland.

I know I've mentioned before that I joined the 25th Street Collective (25C), a textile artist collective. It's a nice change to once again share studio space with other working artists and feel like part of a team. It's inspiring and I already have a new series in the works. Every first Friday of the month marks Oakland's Art Murmur. This is a time when the galleries and studio spaces open their doors for a giant Art party. There's food, wine, music and of course, lots of Art. So far I have participated in 2 of these events with 25C. (In addition to offering my visual work I am also offering card readings, BTW.) With the winter holidays approaching Art Murmur is a great place to find original, locally made gifts for loved ones. The next event will happen on December 2. Punch the cross streets of 25th and Telegraph into your GPS and come on out. Festivities begin around 5pm and run until about 10pm.

If you missed the artists reception for Sewn-Painting Portraits: Series Elle Lui but wanted to see the work, fear not! The work will be up through the end of November at Elle Lui Salon in Railroad Square in downtown Santa Rosa, CA. I also have a gallery of images of the work on my website at this link. Thank you to Elle Lui for the opportunity to share my work!

I've also been busy writing some new music and poetry. It's a rewarding and healing process. I'm checking out the open mic scene around Oakland and Berkeley and will let you know soon when and where I'm regularly sharing my musical sensibilities. This past week I checked out the Starry Plough in Berkeley. It was a very positive exerience. Recording is on my horizon as well. More news on that to come.

Well, that's about it. But before I close I am compelled to comment on the Occupy movement and the recent events here in Oakland. If you have known me for a while you know that I am no stranger to politics or demonstrations. So, me feeling compelled to comment will come as no shock.

Since moving to Oakland, the demonstrations of the Occupy movement have seen police violence as well as demonstrator committed vandalism. I attended the General Strike event for a few hours on November 2nd (when the Longshoremen historically shut down the Port of Oakland). Maybe I am becoming cynical as I get older. Maybe I'm way too overwhelmed with my own changing life, but I just don't see the value in me continuing to stomp around the streets. I agree that things are dismal and that the predatory lending practices of the big banks hold much of the blame for just how bad things have gotten and continue to get. But I also feel that there are better uses of my time and energy than walking down a street holding a poster. Americans have given away many of our American rights and now the landscape of the playing field is changed, drastically. Probably for the long-term. I hold no illusion that anything I say can or will change the greedy practices of the world's most wealthy. I also know that I don't have to bank with the big banks.

I don't need to stomp my feet. I don't need to break windows. I don't need to fire rubber bullets or throw tear gas canisters. All I needed to do was move my money...to a local credit union. I don't need to stop the momentum of my creative process or that of others to make a statement. In my mind the best form of protest I can engage in is continuing to make Art and trying to inspire others to do the same. Breaking windows is an act of violence. Stomping around and name calling are also acts of violence. I do not believe violence will ever answer any of the world's problems. We've moved our money. I will continue to vote my conscience at the polls. I will continue to make Art and I will continue to PRAY. I believe that these are the things that will change our world for the better. Help me do this. Support your local Arts and artists...Oh, and if anyone hears of a "demonstration" happening where people of all, any or no Faith are going to go sit, meditate and/or pray in silence together (with no posters) in front of federal buildings let me know. I'm totally down for that. I have my cushion, beads and prayer shawl ready to go at a moment's notice. AMEN.