THE TRAVELING PAINTING PROJECT

Above: Work by the artist Kim Poole in Cincinnati, Ohio USA http://www.youtube.com/daligoddess2006


On October 27th 2007, I started The Traveling Painting Project. The mission for the project is to connect artists all over the world in a unique manner. I paint a little and then send it on to another artist who paints a little, then sends it on to another artist who paints a little and so on and so forth. My dream is for the painting to visit every country in the world and every state in the United States of America. I came up with the idea after many years of dreaming of traveling the world myself. Since I am not independently wealthy and cannot afford to travel the world, this project became a way for me to live vicariously through the paintings travels. People always ask, "What will you do with the painting at the end?" My answer is this. "It's not about the painting, it's about the journey of the painting. I never want the painting's journey to end, but if it must, then a worldwide raffle would be the answer. The proceeds should go to feed the hungry. Then the painting shall have served a great purpose at the end of it's journey. I can think of no better purpose than to feed the starving, as food should be a basic human right.


Above: Work by artist Lisa in Michigan, USA
http://www.youtube.com/Paint2BSane

Above: Work by artist Jared Knight in Miami Beach, Florida USA
http://www.youtube.com/jaredknightcom

Above: Work by Rob Lee in The United Kingdom http://www.youtube.com/RobLeepopart

Above: Work by the artist Tam in The United Kingdom

http://www.youtube.com/willowing

Above: Work by the artist Mary Helena in The United Kingdom http://www.youtube.com/pyramiaou

Above: Work by the artist Gary Reef in Norway
http://www.youtube.com/CapricornArtist73

Above: Work by the artist David in Australia
http://www.youtube.com/extraordinarytourist

Above: Work by the artist Melissa in New Zealand
http://www.youtube.com/melanianspots

Above: Work by the artist Marieke in the Netherlands
http://www.youtube.com/bloknotedotnl

If you'd like to continue to follow this project please visit:

http://www.youtube.com/user/THETRAVELINGPAINTING

DOWN AT THE CEMENT CREEK

This is the latest and sixth painting in the "Wonderland Series".
Started the series a few months ago and I am completely obsessed with the giraffe character in these paintings. It seems I will take this subject matter to the limit and see what surprises may arise from the series as I am not able to let go of the creature yet.

I named the painting "Down at the Cement Creek" after a place from my childhood where we hung out and did things we didn't want adults to know about. Ha! Recently, I re-visited the cement creek and found all sorts of delicious urban art there. Apparently, the place still attracts the neighborhood kids and instead of simply writing things like, "Kim Loves Mike"or "F#*k You!", the kids now create beautiful works of art with their spray paint these days. Inspired by what I saw and being in awe of the beautiful works of art there, I decided to use the walls of the cement creek as a background for this piece.

Not yet completed, "Down at the Cement Creek" is a fairly large piece at 24" x 36" and is patiently waiting for my return. I had to let it sit for a few days to decide which direction I need to take next. Still undecided, I will let the painting resonate within my mind until the answers come. Sometimes waiting for my muse to arrive can be time consuming in itself. Nothing is worse for an artist than having the white canvas disease. Well, at least this is only the partial case here as I have managed to push some paint around on the canvas.

Speaking of unfinished art works, I have been asked the question, "When do you know that a piece of art is finished?" My reply to that is simple, "When it sells!" I don't think a piece of art is ever really finished and if it sits around in my studio, I am forever looking at it thinking, "What does it need now?"


"Riding Through Wonderland", the fifth painting in this series is on display and for sale at the Redtree Gallery. The show will run through the 29th of May 2009. http://www.redtreegallery.net/

FORGET THE FLOWERS! WHERE HAVE ALL MY OLD 3D FRIENDS GONE?

Last night while going through, "stuff" for my spring cleaning, I came across two personal phone books from the 1980's and early 1990's.


"Wow!" I said to myself, (because I talk to myself all the time now in my old age) "You sure had lots of friends in those days. You really were a social butterfly." Then I came up with the idea of searching for these old friends online. I wanted to find them on Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, or YouTube! Surely my long lost friends would be as excited about the Internet as I am. Starting with the A's, I methodically went through each and every name written in my books. With hope, I typed each name into the search bar on Facebook. Little by little my hope was beginning to vanish, then, all of a sudden, voila! I found a friend! Jim. He was there, right there for all the world to see. I was so excited. I quickly sent him a message. "Are you who I think you are?" What a dumb message, but I didn't want to be presumptuous. There was always the chance he wasn't who I thought he was. I mean, how many Jim B_____'s are there in the world, and this is the WORLD WIDE WEB of course. So, I quickly moved on to the C's and D's and E's and finally got to the Z's in the second phone book. Now let me tell you, each phone book was filled to the brim. I mean there wasn't one empty line in either book!


Well, I was somewhat disappointed because out of two entire phone books, I found just this one person. Not to diminish the fact that I found Jim, because that is a very big deal for me. To see him now, in his future and see how well he's doing in the world. To see how he looks as a mature man and learn what he's been doing with his life. All these things are important to me and I am very grateful to have found him. The thing is, what the hell has happened to the other 999 people in those books? Where have they all gone? What are they doing with their lives? What do they look like now? Are they dead? Or just dead to the Internet?


Pondering those questions all night long, I came to the conclusion that most people my age do not use the Internet. Perhaps they don't know how, don't have a computer, choose to remain anonymous, fear it or just don't want to get involved in this extremely wonderful technology. Myself, I could not live without it. My computer is my best friend because it keeps me linked to the world, the information highway and all my new friends I have met here in cyber space. My conclusion saddens me deeply as I'd really love to keep in touch with many of the souls I've connected with in my past. Many of you know my affinity for nostalgia. I had planned to throw out the phone books, along with all the other little tidbits of paraphernalia I've collected over the years. However, I think I'll hang onto the books and do another search in a few years. Maybe some of those people will come out of their shells and poke their little heads into cyberspace at some point in their lives.


Some of the 3D friends with whom I still have connections, do not use the Internet, don't even know how to email someone, don't know a download from an upload, and could care less how many GB's or MB's are on their computers. The only reason they have a computer is because their children or their children's children need one for school. My 3D friends think I am amazing because I know so much about the computer and the Internet. (and secretly, I enjoy this attention) I blog, I vlog, I twitter and tweet. I'm on MySpace and Ning and I'm a Deviant Artist to beat. I've been on YouTube since before it became famous. I even have an online store at etsy where I sell my works. http://www.dalidepot.etsy.com/ . (shameless plug) I've offered to help my 3D's learn some basic computer skills, but most show no interest whatsoever. They just don't quite understand my obsession.


I don't know everything about computers or the Internet nor many of the new sites that continue to arise. However, the difference is that I am willing to learn, in fact, yearning to learn. I want to know everything. I wanna be a geek. It is a challenge to learn how to navigate each new web site I join and equally challenging is remembering all my different passwords. I do have most of them written down of course , but I try to log on to all the sites without that crutch. I think it helps my to exercise my brain daily.


Surfing the net helps me connect to the world. There is so much to learn every single day. When I hear a news snippet on t.v., I find the newscaster never gives quite enough information, so I run straight away to the computer to Google a search. I have a thirst for knowledge that cannot be quenched by a 30 second spot on the nightly news. Thank God for Bill Gates and his buddies!


Oh yeah, and this blog wouldn't be complete if I didn't confess my Internet paranoia. Sometimes I think I am the skitziest person online. Yes, I worry about computer viruses and Big Brother watching, probably more than most. I am not so much afraid of Big Brother because I don't think I do anything wrong or anything that "they" would care about. But who knows? More and more of our freedoms in America are being taken away every day. Freedom of speech may soon become obsolete, so I'm getting mine in while I still can. Those nasty viruses scare me the most. Because who on earth would I be without my computer? Just an old woman stuck in 3D land. Now that would certainly be an atrocity!

FOR KEEPS

His cold Timex

watch

She keeps in

the

small cedar box

with

long ago

love

letters

is

all she

knows

tangible of the

very

short time

they were

allotted with one

another

and the

watch

however cold

still

ticks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nFGhvT5c9c

LISTEN HONEY

For nearly nine years I had severe hot flashes, pretty much every 15 minutes that lasted for 20! It was like someone poured lighter fluid on my head and lit it with a match. Menopause was the catalyst of my, "hermit years". Just the mere thought of sweating profusely at the most inappropriate times murdered the social butterfly in me. At first, I didn't know what was wrong with me, since it began early at the age of 40, menopause never entered my mind. I thought that was for "old broads"! Even though it officially began at age 40, the severe hot flashes didn't begin until four years later. Every time I got ready to go out, sweat would begin dripping down my face as if I was taking a shower, washing away and leaving white streaks on my newly applied makeup face. My newly styled hair would be soaked as if I just came out of the pool, making the curling iron job and the hair spray a futile effort. My face and chest would be flushed deep red as if I'd just finished running a 20 mile marathon. I literally felt I was melting away. I was a human candle!

When I finally realized what was happening to me, I went straight to the health food store and looked for something "natural" to ease the hot flashes. I tried Black Cohosh, milk thistle and even switched to soy milk. None of these remedies worked so I finally went to my doctor searching for relief. Well, first thing they give me is a mammogram which showed breast calcifications and my doctor would not prescribe hormones for me saying, "findings show hormones cause cancer." She said I would just have to get through it on my own and would not even allow me to use anything herbal. Even herbal medications still contained minute amounts of the cancer causing agents. My fear of breast cancer kept me off any medications, herbal or synthetic. I just had to tough it out. My doctor said that every woman's menopause is different in severity, symptoms and length. All I could do was cross my fingers and hope for a short-lived change of life.

The hot flashes were just one terrible aspect of this self-disintegrating phenomenon. I began to forget things, a lot of things. My brain actually felt as if it were slushy, like mud. After a while, I actually referred to my brain as slush, giving it the nick-name, MUD. I just couldn't think straight. There was no concentration available to me at that time. I couldn't sleep at night. The night sweats would be so bad, they would awaken me at least once an hour, sometimes more often than that. I was tired all the time. I began to have terrible headaches and finally understood and sympathized with people who suffered from migraines. Little jolts of electric shock would affect my hands, knees, back. My joints ached profusely at times and I did take Ibuprofen for that and I am still taking it today.

One of the worst parts about menopause was that I became a bitch. I was cranky all the time and irritable to no end. It seemed I was turning into one of those mean old nasty, hateful women that I never understood in my youth. I used to think maybe they just needed to get laid! Ha! That statement couldn't be farther from the truth! When you're in menopause, sex is the last thing on your mind! That's why they call it "menopause", because you pause on the men. Quite honestly, any sexual advances made me even crankier! I just didn't want to be touched, by anybody. Many times because I was dripping with sweat and didn't want to get it all over anyone else, but mostly just because I was cranky and tired and depressed and fat! Yes. Skinny Kim finally got fat! The weight gain was tremendous. Even with exercise and a good diet, the pounds kept piling on. I was in hell.
However, it was good to be in hell at times. The best part about menopause was the irregular periods. Outside of never knowing when it was going to happen, just a slight bit of inconvenience to me, I thoroughly enjoyed the cessation of all that mess and the pain that accompanied it!

Little by little the symptoms began to subside and here I am now, nine years later, thinking I am just about at the end of this journey to the depths of hell. I am beginning to see the light and I am very thankful for that. I remember asking this 80-year old woman once how long hers lasted. She replied, "Listen honey, I still get hot flashes." "Shoot me now!" I exclaimed. It's not completely over for me yet. Just when I vocalize that I haven't had a hot flash in quite some time, I'll get a few in a row. So, I've learned to keep my mouth shut about that. There are some things you just don't want to tempt the universe about and menopause is one of them.

I don't wear red and purple yet but I have learned to eat my dessert first. I have grown from a superficial young woman into a mature woman who cares more about the world now instead of where she is going to buy her next pair of new shoes. I am working on getting rid of the weight gain. I am sleeping a bit better and I don't feel tired all the time. My slushy mud brain only has temporary lapses now and they are not as often. These days, I feel joyful again when I wake up in the mornings and I am not wearing my cranky pants nearly as often as I was. Slowly, I am beginning to go back out into the world but I really need to brush up on my social skills. I was single when I started into menopause and I'm not looking for love, but if it finds me, I am at least receptive to the idea these days.

The only solace I can give you newcomers to menopause is, there is light at the end of this ugly, dark, time tunnel, you just have to hang in there to see it, with or without medication. At times you think you'll never make it through. When that happens, eat your dessert first, it'll make you feel like you are at least, in charge of something! Black raspberry chocolate chip ice cream or the Tiramisu? You decide.

SPRING CLEANING

I woke up yesterday full of energy and decided I would finally get around to my spring cleaning. Had a cuppa and then dove right in to all the boxes of old pictures I have had packed away and stored since I moved back from Florida to Cincinnati in 2006. These boxes were such an eyesore in my bedroom. How does a "pack rat" downsize? That is the question. Not really wanting to part with the photos, but having no room for storage in this tiny apartment, I decided to scan and post many of the old school pictures online and then give my daughter the, "Keeper of the Family photos" position from here on out. Yes, I know, a little sinister on my part, but then again, she is a bigger pack rat than I, and she actually has the room to store them in her great big huge house. I told her kept here, they are clutter, but kept at her place, they are memorabilia. She readily agreed and was at my house within the hour to receive what she perceived as a glorious gift! Yay! So it worked out well for both of us.

I diligently worked for nearly eight or nine hours, carefully scanning and posting many of the memories to my MySpace account while my daughter patiently waited for me to finish. It was a lot of fun going through the time space continuum and when you're my age, there is a lot of time and space to cover, especially when you are a picture fanatic! I've seemed to have lost my organization skills over the years, (menopause) so I gladly handed over the difficult job of organizing the photos to her and I know she will do a fantastic job at it. Many of the photos were already in albums but still many more were in envelopes and shoe boxes, all mixed up, not in any relative order what-so-ever. I am looking forward to seeing how she organizes the timeline.

The photo above is my beautiful mother, modeling (on what I believe to be Vine Street)in Cincinnati, Ohio in the early 1950's. I love her dress, the automobiles, the street lamps. How can one part with photos as beautiful and telling as this? My mother died on May 18th 1985 from liver failure and complications of diabetes. Just two days short of the 24th anniversary of her death I am posting this blog, seems fitting, don't you think? A small tribute to the woman who I loved and who loved me, "Bigger Than The Sky". She still visits me in my dreams and usually we talk, have lunch and go shopping together. The most recent "visit" was on Mother's Day this year. The next morning I awoke with a lovely feeling and a smile on my face.

Although I made huge progress yesterday, I am still left with little bits of memorabilia such as, clippings of newspaper articles, (the first moon landing) death notices of beloved ones, letters and birthday cards from family members from years gone by and little tidbits of other things that I can't seem to discard as refuse. What does a pack rat do with such things? Any ideas?

As for the spring cleaning? Well, maybe I'll possibly get to it today. *laughs*