It's Here- Buried Treasure 2011!

Seth Apter  is sponsoring the 2011 edition of his Buried Treasure collaboration and I'm so excited to be participating. As he indicates "Buried Treasure is about digging deep to uncover some hidden gems. The premise is simple...All participating bloggers will re-post one (or more) of their favorite posts that ever appeared on their blog." I chose a posting  from March 14, 2010 where you can see the  artwork I completed in my  Inner Works Altered Book Collaboration with Seth Apter, Roxanne Evans Stout, Veronica Funk, Supria Karmakar,  and  Rita Vindedzis. It was the most creative, inspiring and exciting  experiences  I could ever have imagined! 

    March 14, 2010

This is my 6th and final posting from our Inner Works altered book collaboration. Today,  I'm showcasing the pages I created from my book  Designs in Nature- retitled from the original book,  
"I Lift My Lamp Emma Lazarus The Statue of Liberty, by Nancy Smiler Levinson. Although the focus of the book details the life of Emma Lazarus, (the writer of the famous words written on the status of liberty:

 "Give me your tired, your  poor your huddled masses yearning to breath free,  The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest  tossed to me, I lift my lamp besides the golden door ")
 the power of nature, its beauty and connection to our soul is woven throughout the story.

This is the original book jacket-

And this is my altered book cover.

This is my new version of the book's spine.

And highlights of my inner pages.

The Back Cover below included  tree branches I created from Hawaiian wood. 

Here are a few of my  photographs  depicting nature's most beautiful faces which inspired both the artwork within my book and my connection to the world around me.

   Nature is one of the most awe inspiring, magnetizing, captivating entities I know. 

Powerful, magical and like poetry, it touches all of our senses and provides us with an incomparable wonderment throughout our lives.

Seth Apter's 2010 Buried Treasure Collaboration

The Premise of this collaboration is that  because there are so many amazing posts  each day by such an assortment of the most talented artists around,  it is virtually impossible to have the time to see them all. Seth has requested artists to select their own "favorite post" to link to his

2010 Buried Treasure Listing Here. ( I call it "Unearthing my diamond jiLY) 

 My  contribution for this collaboration is from my post called Serendipitous Serendipity which you can see here based on my latest artwork I created for the 

 in collaboration with The Mount Sinai Medical Center in May 2010.

It starts  off the same as my original posting on May 11, 2010- but the ending is very different. On June 21, 2010,  I went to work in my role as  Vice Chair of Administration for the Department of Emergency Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in NYC.  I ended up having a "first ever" seizure at a meeting with my Chairman and my 2 other Vice Chairs of Emergency Medicine.  They took me to my own ER, where it was discovered that  I had a brain abscess. As the bacteria could not easily  be identified and the abscess was growing rapidly, I had brain surgery to have it removed - led by a world renowned team  of doctors consisting of a neurosurgeon, neurologist and infectious disease specialist. I am now recovering at home on a multi month course of  IV antibiotic treatments for a  full recovery.  I am blessed to be alive- to have the most amazing supportive network of  my husband, two children, dad, sister, brother, precious friends, doctors, co-workers, therapists, colleagues and special 11:11 angels watching over me.  I can no longer drive (which I hope will not be  permanent), and have reductions in my eyesight which i am also  optimistic will return when the swelling in my brain goes down.  I have  actually been blessed by this catastrophic event- and look forward to  continue to see rainbows everyday, be inspired with new creativity - and hoping in at least  small ways, I can touch others as  I have been so overwhelmingly touched by them. 

 My new beginning, starting with my  first post dated July  3, 2010 made from my hospital  bed which you can see here.  

As most beautifully written by Helen Keller:

  The Best and the  Most Beautiful Things  in the World

  Cannot be  seen or Even touched. 

They must be FELT with the HEART. 

 

A Metamorphosis of My Metamorphosis!

Who would ever guess that I would cut up my first major painting titled "Metamorphosis'.

I decided it was time for my painting to have a metamorphosis of its own- evolving into many new "lives" of artwork! My original painting represented the artist in me slowly emerging. It was here that I originally posted about it , and its meaning to me.

The painting was part of my entry in Seth Apter's Buried Treasure Collaboration which you can see here. I've cut out some of my favorite components ( below) and others which you can see in new paintings I am in the process of creating - experimenting with techniques for varying backgrounds, textures and layering. Here is the first painting in this new series that's in process.

Here is another piece in the works - created from my original hummingbird

( made of leather) with a new background of acrylics, stamped images and gorgeous butterflies from Alicia of Altered Bits which I copied onto old "sheet music".

I've also reworked mypoem written for the Buried Treasure Collaboration to express the continued changes within myself.

Found

I love that smile place in my heart

Where every moment’s vision is shining, When I want more of everything.

When time is too short for each second that goes by. Where colors are brilliantly vivid

And I want to capture every moment -

By holding on tight

To every exciting captivating vision in sight.

When I become filled with energy, creativity and everything seems new. When there’s so much stimulus surrounding me that I can barely take it all in. When that magical inner peace is here. I love it when my body is still and quiet Enabling me to find my own voice, soul and body's dynamic.

Now empowered to fly

To the limitless places of the dreams I have

In no defined way- Finding the place where I'm free-

Traveling like a "forever" butterfly.

Exploring, exploding creativity,

Emitting electricity,

In a continuous state of synchronicity

I find my own reciprocity.

And this new state

Is what I now call home.

Buried Treasure ... In A Wonderful Day of Sharing Words

Seth Apter, from The Altered Page has offered us the wonderful opportunity to be part of his latest collaborative project titled Buried Treasure. The premise is to re-post one of our favorite posts from a previous time. You can see his invitation here. As there are no rules, I selected my post from November 19, 2008, which was a collaboration by LK Ludwig - who sponsored A Day of Words. It was a day where bloggers posted a poem with the intent to spend a day seeing "new words", meeting new poets, reading new poems, and finding new ways for our hearts to beat. It was a special posting for me in which I was able to share some of my thoughts- not previously expressed before - enabling me to find my own 'Hidden Treasure" within myself.

What it is that takes us from that dark uncomfortable place in our mind-

Where nothing sits well and our anxiety, paralysis and pessimism continue to rewind-

The feeling that makes us want to put the covers over our head,

When we feel empty and not a spark can be found.

When our inner most place of abundance is silent, without the faintest sound.

What is it that takes us to that moment and place in time when we’ve crossed over?

To that smile place where every moment’s vision is shining.

When we want more of everything, when time is too short for each second that goes by.

Where colors are vivid and there’s so much more we want to do.

When we become overwhelmed with excitement, energy, creativity and everything seems new.

When there’s so much stimulus surrounding us that we can barely take it all in-

When we want to capture every moment - and hold on so tight-

When we can’t seem to let go of every vision within our sight.

When that magical inner peace is there.

When our body is still, quiet, resonating confidence and assurance that we matter and count.

We’re heard. There’s someone out there that appreciates us -

And help us find that special life force

To discover our own voice, our own dynamic, energy and soul.

Empowered to fly to the limitless places of the dreams we have-with no defined roles-

A place where we are free- where we can accept the gift of others,

Where we are whole.

It is our leap of faith, our courage, the understanding

That our isolation is a false image within our imagination-

That it's an illusion of separateness that can feel so real.

What is the trigger?

Is it something that we can see, or hear, or think or touch or taste or smell?

It's a spark- which can be in a smile, the touch from someone-

That special look that speaks louder than words...

That we are special, appreciated and are being heard-

That our creativity and artistic expression is limited only by the doors we place in front of us.

It’s the realization that our true wealth resides within ourselves,

And whose value is only worth something when it’s given away.

Thank you- for enabling me to expand my horizons, my world of what I'm able to do or say.

I've come out of my cocoon, shed my insecurities, my own filters for who I am or will be.

Now each day is a haven for exploding creativity, electricity, and continuous synchronicity.

I now take risks - and can travel into my uncomfortable zone.... Giving myself the gift to participate in each day

With words, with art, and with a display of thoughts.

And within this special collaborative day of artistic expression -

I know I am not alone.