We said goodbye to Ms. Claire Bear yesterday. It was our privilege to have her with us for almost nine years and to see her off into the Universe when the time came.
Thank you for stopping by awhile, Claire. You were a very good girl.
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 Cut-paper art by Carrie Karnes-Fannin 1. You are an unrepeatable miracle. Against all the odds, you came into existence in this time and this place. There will never be another quite like you.
2. You were born a maker. It is the human condition. From the time we’re born, we make marks (paper, walls, shoes, our own skin), sing songs, and dance. It never stops. 3. After doing what we need to make a living, we do what makes us LIVE. When you sing off-key in the shower or embarrass your kid in a grocery aisle by doing a little shimmy to the 80s Muzak, you are making art. 4. Making is abundance. Creativity begets creativity. There is no need to fear that “this” idea will be the last. Creation comes from us like beads on a string—one after the other. 5. Find joy in the fact that no matter when or where, you are a maker. Giving freely to the world from your creative abundance will make a circle of giving that never ends. Share and it will spark more in others. Give with an open hand—post pictures, share stories, be silly. Make your mark.
  Art by Vicky Fang Picture book author extraordinaire Vivian Kirkfield writes: "In 2016, I had an idea for a contest that would exercise our writing muscles and force us to make every work count. Over the years, several entries have become books, many participants have signed with agents…but what I love the most is the enthusiasm and the positive energy that this contest generates." And thus was born the 50 Precious Words challenge. This is my fourth year participating. My entry is below--it's only 50 words, but was OODLES and BOODLES of fun to write! You can check out all the fun-tastic entries on Vivian's blog here.
 Handprints from Cueva de las Manos (Cave of Hands), Spain. Most of us have seen photographs of the Paleolithic paintings on the walls of France's Grotte Chauvet. Some of the pictures are 32,000 years old.
While the horses, owls, and rhinoceros are exquisite, what I find haunting are the hands. Hundreds of outlined hands cover the walls, some imprinting the animal paintings with a kind of artist's signature, some all on their own or in groupings. Not limited to the famous European caves, similar handprints are found worldwide, in places as diverse as South America and Australia. Their makers pressed their hands onto stone walls throughout the centuries and millennium, forming 'a great crowd of witnesses' to humanity's unwritten history. While the words of men seem to dominate much of our written history, prehistory was more egalitarian. Modern analysis and measurements show that many, if not most, of the Grotte Chauvet's handprints, belonged to women. What were these women saying? What were their stories? I believe their stories are essentially the same as ours: I was here. I lived. I loved. For just a moment, I was. And so they were. And so we are. Let us whisper our adventures into our daughters' ears. Let's laugh with our friends, and write our hopes and dreams in our journals, letters, and blogs. Tell your story. Leave a handprint on the Wall. |
