Emily Perry Studios

moving & distractions

i must admit, i am finding so many ways to avoid packing.  i think this weekend i will really need to get "down to business," and so i though i would share a few things i'm checking out...

new books: a year of living your yoga (so good, and perfect little daily reads), awakening the spine (really making me re-think gravity), & the inner tradition of yoga (catching a theme here?)

(somewhat) new places: red dress studios (a great spot for creative entrepreneurs), the art of seeing things (because shari has a wonderful eye!), sheri gaynor (for inspiration gallore!)

coming out the otherside

things have been a little funky over here.  first it rained and rained.  then the family was sick, and now more rain.  my cameras are gathering dust.  i haven't cracked open any paint in days.  and now we are starting to pack the house for the move: all the pictures are down, the big bookcase is boxed up.  the purging has begun. 

and yet in the middle of all this, i am feeling the itch.  i have been lurking on flickr, and realizing how much i really need to be shooting more film.  i have an online workshop to start designing materials for (it will be in July!), and an art walk possibility that i need to produce some work for.  oh, yes, then there there are the articles i have started writing- and, well, you get the idea.

:::

so, what to do when there is so much to do?  i think today i will just hope for some sun, carry my camera, and let my lenses lead the way.

::found: corduroy bike::

::one of my favorite things this trip to SF was finding bikes covered in corduroy fabric on Hayes and Valencia... i am sure there are more about town.  this one was in front of Propeller Modern on Hayes::

MJ on Market Street, San Francisco

{MJ on Market Street, San Francisco, 2010.  Polaroid SX-70 with TZ Artistic Film}

Just a little moment to say "hi" today, and to tell you about a fun little mom-to-mom Valentine's Day Lovefest over at CafeMom today:: i left a shout-out to Ellis of Alter Eco Project.  Go check out the other fun virtual gifts!

In other news, it looks like my online workshop/ e-course will be happening this summer!  I need to keep the details under wraps for now, but I will announce them as soon as I am able.  {If only you could see how excited I am over here!}

"the place inside us that is always steady"

{SX-70 at Bar Jules, San Francisco with Sheri of Today is Pretty, 02.06.10} 

Consciously making our breath steady at such a time isn't about suppressing our feelings, it is about understanding that every high and every low arises out of and returns back to a potent neutral place.  The point is not to control the breath or to control the situation but to use the regular, metronomelike availability of our breath to remind us of the place inside us that is always steady.  The breath then becomes like a companion that is always reminding us of who we are.

-Donna Farhi, Bringing Yoga to Life

digging for ideas

where you might find me digging for ideas today:

1. in the garage studio, going through old art journals and inspiration books
2. in my piles of books on yoga and Buddhism (always pages of underlined material waiting for me)
3. on the couch, knitting & thinking about said books
4. in the kitchen, as I cook and clean for the day
5. on the mat, during yoga.  sometimes cool things just pop into my consciousness in my practice, as if they have been unearthed, or wash up, by all the opening asanas
6. building legos: there is quiet a lot of zen to be found in building something with legos
7. watching my daughter paint: i love her use of color
8. in a podcast: today it's notes from the voodoo lounge, and jamie ridler studios
9. on a walk up to the bluff to see the ocean
10. in a cup of chai: because let's face it, the whole world is to be found in a good cup of tea!

where are you looking today?
 

30 day sadhana:: day 11

{outside Cafe Gratitude, San Francisco, 2010}

Today is day 11 of the 30 Days of Yoga practice, a yoga sadhana organized by Marianne over at Zen and the Art of Peacekeeping.  There is something about doing yoga everyday that has really changed my approach to yoga.  it was clear right away that what i thought i needed out of this thirty days- and what i truly needed- were two different things.  this yoga practice has taught me to pay attention differently, to listen.

but it has also allowed me to meet my resistance in interesting ways.  

 

by meeting the resistance, i can breath into it, soften it.  i can discover why the resistance is there, dissolve into it, and discover all sorts of joy lurking, just waiting to be uncovered.

join in, or follow us over at twitter (#30dayyoga)

::namaste::

 

fear no art

and maybe try on being brave.  it might fit you nicely.

::cupcakes::

sometimes there is nothing better than a party with cupcakes, pirates and princesses!

watching kids at a party can be so much fun!  have a sweet weekend!

 

a little bit of drawing...

one of the things i had been thinking about over the last year is my desire to get comfortable drawing.  i am not so much interested in rendering things a certain way, just my way but better.  i want to be able to draw whatever i want and not feel hampered.  

see, here's my dirty little secret:: even though i have had photo courses since eighth grade, and a few painting classes here and there, i have never really tried to draw things.  and with the illustration scene taking off online over the last four years, i have been felling like i want to be able to do a little of that.  just a little.

i bought The Creative License by Danny Gregory, and it was just what i was looking for.  not a drawing book, but a new way of seeing and  living creatively book.  i think it was written just for me.