Ok, so I discovered the Flickr toy, "Mosaic Maker" and kind of went crazy...Then when I read blogger Hula Seventy's featured quote by Emily Dickinson

I started to think about the word 'shine' itself. I also read the words 'Get your shine on' by someone, somewhere (I know not where) and realized how wonderful it is that this word with such physical material qualities can translate to also imply 'LIVE'. What I love about this self-portrait mosaic is that it combines self-portraits of me living with the good and bad -fears and joys- past and present. To me Shine is also to THRive. Live your best life - including the dragons...blood, sweat and tears.

Maybe next week I'll do a traditional skill image. Infact, I'm sure when this months challenge is over, I'll be regretting not having posted images of me painting, drawing, collaging, glassworking or sculpting (my so called real skills). However, I really love this image of the inside of my bag and it causes me both great joy and sadness to see it.

I CAN NOT sit still - and I leave my home everyday in preparation for the dreaded moment that I may be stuck in a situation; waiting with nothing to do...or that a life altering event will happen (post 911 style) and I won't know if I need a particular thing...like MacGyver scissors on demand.

A while back I was inspired my a book entitled, Whats in Your Bag? and posted a blog post about it, with this image. It is about an artist's photographic survey about what people have in their bags on any given day. One thing I didn't notice then (not even when I answered the question Whats's In your bag today?) was the amount of bags within bags that I carry. Like most women I carry a small make-up bag, but I also carry my pencil case which alone is heavy and is stacked with Sharpies, an exacto knife, replacement blades, glue stick, pencils of every varying lead weight, ink pens, a pair of all metal specialty scissors for collaging and crochet needles etc.,,

The biggest issue is that I NEVER go ANYwhere without my bag. In fact I was just on vacation and trekked out on both 'dress up casino night' and 'dress down beach day' even - just a 'flip-flop' walk to the corner store with my bag and friends commented..."What are you taking that for?" I have been known to do my art ANYwhere, collaging during intermissions, and I do always have a quick come-back response like, "Oh this is my security blanket, I don't leave home without it..." but I wonder if the core reason isn't all about fear...regardless today I'm celebrating it!

Self-portrait? Well it is a more honest, revealing self-portrait than any I could imagine- you have to look carefully but my work ID all the way in the right middle of the pic, has my face on it!

At the time I took this shot this is all I had to say about what was in my bag at that moment: "What's in your bag today? See for yourself! My laptop, my work folders, my mimobot usb, my ipod, oooh my camera is missing I had to use it to take the pic, but I never leave my house without my canon! My I'm-bored-with-this-mtg-so-i'll-crochet project, my coffee-cup change purse, hand purifier, my self-made accessory holders, my pencil case, sketchbook...yeah this bag can pack a punch!" I think it packs so much more than a punch now-- its the truest, most super-real portrait of myself I have ever painted---bittersweet and it makes me a bit sad.

There is a Flickr photogroup all over this What's in Your Bag -question! Click and check them out! I'm not a flickr member yet, but I may have to join to be a part of this pool! In addition, Instyle magazine also has a page dedicated to photos of what's inside people's bags!

So here is a new question what self-portrait identifying material would be in your bag and what would it reveal about you that you may not have realized about yourself that is both good and BAD??

As a visual artist I have a love for costume making (and I have made some big wearable art costumes), but I also secretly love performing. My cousin Robi Arce is a professional Actor/mime (he has MAD good preformin' skillz!), he even has his own mime troupe. Every time I see him, I secretly yearn to do some collaborative piece with him. This fourth of July I got my chance!! We made a digital still stop motion animation of the adventures of two clowns (FruFru a.k.a. me) and Growbo (Robi) - the quality isn't great (especially after it loaded on to you tube) but everything was made with still images (a lot of them). We made three video shorts - but I have only had a chance to edit and complete this one:

The self-portrait shots that I got out of this are some of my fave pics that I've taken in a long time. Here are some more:

I was so inspired by the courageousness of SPC participants this past week and the artistry of so many of the pics, that I wanted to try one that was more painterly in composition. I took this one from a polaroid image transfer so that antiquated feel is actually inherent to the pic. I also changed the orientation of the picture and now I think I find that its challenging to figure out which way is up! In the end it was difficult to face the form - but there is peace in accepting that its all a part of me.

When layers of glass are stacked together and fused, air bubbles can get trapped between the layers in their energetic voyage to reach the surface. What I love about this image is the 'ice-cube look' of that moment in which air bubbles are caught and the distortion of my figure and my 'nude' parts as they become a trapped, tranced state of energy reaching for the surface. This was a difficult shot to orchestrate and I got some other images I like out of the adventure as well...but I'll save those...maybe next time.

This is a visual tutorial on how to make fresh fruit juice with no preservatives, additives or other unnecessary mumbo jumbo! May was Fresh and June is Naked ...my first weeks response is a melange of the two until I gather courage...

Another take on May 'fresh' life... beautiful babies walking in perfect natural order.