"Painting completed my life." - Frida Kahlo

"My painting carries with it the message of pain...Painting completed my life...I believe that work is the best thing ..."
- Frida Kahlo

"Painting completed my life." wrote Frida Kahlo.

Mine too. I agree with Kahlo that "work is the best thing."

Frida knew that the work was the thing.

"...I paint my own reality, The only thing I know is that I paint because I need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any consideration..."

-Frida Kahlo


Frida painted her own reality so passionately that anyone can see their own reality in the deep humanity of her art.

When Frida traveled to the U.S. and lived briefly in New York City while her husband muralist Diego Rivera painted a mural payed for and later destroyed by Nelson Rockefeller, she painted her own statement on the imperialist consumer culture she found in the United States and wrote, "Peace on Earth so the Marxist Science may Save the Sick and Those Oppressed by Criminal Yankee Capitalism" Frida Kahlo. * (See note below.)

The more people talk about bringing change, the bigger "Criminal Yankee Capitalism" gets no matter which party is in control, and the Democrat President Obama deploys tens of thousands U.S. Troops to Afghanistan and increases bombing forays into Pakistan.

Frida Kahlo's art was recognized for its brilliance long after her death. During her life, the joy the art gave Frida was from the passion of painting and making her reality real for her and others to see. Her paintings are fresh today because she painted her deepest truths and revealed human truths we all recognize.

by Charleen Touchette
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Note - "Rivera remained a controversial and politicized figure throughout his career. When in 1933 Nelson Rockefeller decided he wanted a mural for the new RCA Building at Rockefeller Center, New York, he commissioned Diego Rivera (after receiving refusals from Picasso and Matisse). Thumbing his nose at the Western world’s primary proponent of free enterprise, Rivera chose to depict the modern worker at a symbolic junction of science, industry, capitalism, and socialism in a work provisionally entitled ‘Man at the Crossroads Looking with Hope and High Vision to the Choosing of a New and Better Future’.

Among several influential world personalities portrayed in the fresco—including Edsel Ford, Jean Harlow, and Charlie Chaplin—Rivera included a figure of Russian communist leader Vladimir Lenin. When he steadfastly refused Rockefeller’s request to remove Lenin’s portrait, Rockefeller had the entire fresco chiseled off the wall. Rivera later reproduced the mural in its entirety on an interior wall of the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, where it can still be seen today." by Joe Cummings © 1999

Handwork

Handwork can be a moving meditation that focuses the mind on number and pattern.

Finally finished the newest LDK Cashmere Signature Line sweaters.
Well, nearly finished, the Three-Toned Ribbed sweater still has some ends to weave into the seams.

Like using the three natural tones of cashmere. Think of Rothko paintings and Agnes Martin's pale cloud colored paintings and how solid and purposeful Agnes was when Liesette and I visited with her in Taos.

I couldn't imagine Agnes Martin knitting, but her measuring, precise drawing of the grid with a sharpened pencil and focus on numbers to create her faint patterns are akin to the actions textile handworkers use when they knit, crochet, bead or weave. Agnes painted her rectangular grid canvases with a similar meditation on number and pattern that her Navajo and Spanish land grant neighbors did when they wove their rugs and blankets.

The LDK Signature Cashmere sweater is a prototype. I'll photograph it, then crochet on the LDK Cashmere Infinity scarf onto the front edge to make a collar and front edge.

These sweaters are soft and light as a cloud. They fit and feel great to wear. Warm, but insulating, so not too warm.

Love working with the handspun cashmere from Mongolia. The women there know the magic and healing of herding, spinning, textiles and handwork.

I've done some spinning of alpaca and wool, but not cashmere yet. It is so soft, it must be pleasant to spin.

Charleen Touchette March 2009

Knitting while Hiking

One of my favorite moving meditation practices is knitting while hiking.
Whether hiking out my door up and down the mountains, in town around Santa Fe's Plaza and up Canyon Road or on lake and ocean shores, mountains and deserts during my travels, I love to knit a touque, beret or scarf for my family members and gifting.
There is a long history of women knitting while hiking or walking from Indian women in Peru who knit as they climb up and down mountais, women of the British Isles who knit as they carry home bales of peat on their backs across the heaths. And my grandmothers among the Acadian, descendants of the Mikmaq women and Cardinal Richelieu's farmers from Bretogne and the French Pyrenees, who knitted snd made lace during daily activities in Acadia before the Grand Derangement of 1755, a skill their daughters handed down despite the diaspora.
Knitting while hiking or walking takes concerntration, but is not difficult once you get the rhythmn. Small knitting projects like hats, gloves, scarfs, socks and pouches with simple knit or purl patterns are best to start. It's easiest if you do a pattern you know and can do mostly without looking.
I like to tuck the yarn ball under my left arm, which helps keep the torso aligned, but a pocket does well too. Remember to pull a few lengths of yarn free before you secure yarn ball and start walking and knitting.
Hiking and knitting while hiking the trail to Lost Palms Canyon like we did last Sunday is a challenge with all the rocks and up and down hike at a brisk pace. Managed like last year to keep knitting through most of hike until last steep descent into the palm canyon. Last year I knit a simple 3 stitch rib hat and gave it to my brother-in-law who is our gracious host on this hike and makes us a delicious lunch we share in the palm canyon. This year, I wanted more of a challenge, so I knit a 3 cable touque for our daughter who accompanied on the hike this year with our third son and Martin. It was more complicated and took more concerntration so got about a third done.
One of the funnest times I knitted while walking was when our daughter and I went to the U.S. Congress and the White House in D.C. for Realizing the Dream's Report to Congress. Congressman, now Senator Tom Udall arranged a tour of the Capitol for Liesette and I knit a hat for Adam Fullerton, Tom's assistant, who patiently waited in the long lines with us waiting for the tour.
But just about my favorite place to knit and hike is in Canyon de Chelly near our old home in Chinle, Arizona, second only to knitting while horseback riding in the canyon or just about anywhere.
Why knit and hike, you ask?
Like much handwork, it is a practice that balances the mind and nourishes the spirit.
Hiking while knitting is good exercise, meditating and you make something to give to another human being.

Charleen Touchette
OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com
www.touchart.net

why are the experts in denial?

Noah G. Hoffman- "Mark Rothko would not have become a great artist if he hadn't observed Native American ceremonies. The question is...So why are the experts in denial?"·
Charleen Touchette at 9:54am March 15
"The "experts" deny the influence of American Indian art and artists on mainstream artists like Rothko, Gottlieb, Pollock and others for the same reason they discount the direct seminal influence ndn artists like George Morrison had on the development of Abstract Expressionism to perpeturate the myth that their modernist artists were original and came up with these revolutionary art ideas on their own.
Their denial of the influence of indigenous art is based in racism, but also in self-interest to abet western artists' claim of originality and discovery of art ideas already long used and explored by indigenous artists. Just another example of the persistence and ubiquitity of imperialism and exploitation of other cultures in the arts."
Charleen Touchette at 10:02am March 15
"Part of my exhibiton Native Abstraction at the Museum of Indian Arts Museum in Santa Fe in 1997 addressed the cross-cultural influene of ndn artists on mainstream modernists artists and vice versa. It featured photos and museum objects that influenced the 8 Native abstract artits in the exhibit and of American Indian art that influenced major mainstream artists like Gottleib, Pollock and Rothko.
I wrote a catalog that, unfortunately, has not yet been published, but I'll post it online in the next few weeks." (Will publish at OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com)

"I wish you a life of purposeful fulfillment" Coretta Scott King

Martin Luther King III with Mother's Letter, originally uploaded by artist_charleentouchette.

"a life of purposeful fulfillment."
Despair is a heavy weight on our youth and many not so young today.
Too many are choosing death over the pain of living life in this dark time.
How can we help stop this loss of our youth and convince them life is worth living?

I often think about what makes people choose to embrace life despite hardships and others to be destroyed by adversity.

When Martin Luther King III came to New Mexico, one of the places we took him was to the African in Mexican Art exhibit at the Hispanic Cultural Center Museum in Albuquerque. Martin was particularly moved to see a letter handwritten by his mother to the then President of Mexico on the occasion of the issuance of the first postage stamp bearing the portrait of the Late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In closing, Mrs. Coretta Scott King wrote that she wished the President "a life of purposeful fulfillment."

Those words stuck with me, and in the time since, I have come to understand that Mrs. King had summed up the key to life well-lived and the best wish we can have for each other. Coretta King didn't define "purposeful fulfillment", that's up to each individual to discover for themselves. That life of "purposeful fulfillment" seems so unattainable for too many of our people. But it is possible for everyone. Remember what our indigenous grandmothers world wide did with grasses, willows, mud and animal hair. It is my hope that the many people who live a life of "purposeful fulfillment" whatever their chosen work will be living examples for the sad ones that there is joy in simple things and life is worth embracing.
Peace,
Charleen Touchette
March 14, 2009
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Photo by Charleen Touchette June 2007 - Martin Luther King III with Mother's Letter at Hispanic Cultural Center Museum

Breathe

Things can look bleak when you are in the bottom of a valley or canyon and it is dark.
Fear can feel overwhelming when you are lost in the night.
Or when you listen or watch the news.
But remember our relatives and ancestors endured worse,
so we could survive and thrive and be happy.
Remember that the sun always rises, and the moon as well
to light our paths so we can climb out of the valleys to the mountaintops
until it is time to descend again into the valley.
Ups and downs are inevitable in life and the economy.
It is the way we face them that makes the difference.
Knowing the darkest place can be lit with a small light helps.
So does knowing that the lows will in time return to highs and
back to lows again like the waves in the ocean.
Breathe in and Breath Out - Like Humans Do.
by Charleen Touchette
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Here's a quote that sums it up shared by a gentleman in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Sowing Only Seeds of Love (SOSOL)

If you want to be in love, begin by loving each breath.
Begin by falling in love with understanding, with clarity, with the truest sincerity.
These are the angels in your life.
When all is dark, they come—all lit, graceful, beautiful with clarity.

One second of clarity and all the darkness vaporizes.
Don't try to remove the darkness—it won't work.
All you have to do is usher in the light.
Fall in love with living.
Fall in love with that which is within you.

by Prem Rawat, widely known as Maharaji

"a life of purposeful fulfillment."

Despair is a heavy weight on our youth and many not so young today.
Too many are choosing death over the pain of living life in this dark time.
How can we help stop this loss of our youth and convince them life is worth living?

I often think about what makes people choose to embrace life despite hardships and others to be destroyed by adversity.

When Martin Luther King III came to New Mexico, one of the places we took him was to the African in Mexican Art exhibit at the Hispanic Cultural Center Museum in Albuquerque. Martin was particularly moved to see a letter handwritten by his mother to the then President of Mexico on the occasion of the issuance of the first postage stamp bearing the portrait of the Late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In closing, Mrs. Coretta Scott King wrote that she wished the President "a life of purposeful fulfillment."

Those words stuck with me, and in the time since, I have come to understand that Mrs. King had summed up the key to life well-lived and the best wish we can have for each other. Coretta King didn't define "purposeful fulfillment", that's up to each individual to discover for themselves. That life of "purposeful fulfillment" seems so unattainable for too many of our people. But it is possible for everyone. Remember what our indigenous grandmothers world wide did with grasses, willows, mud and animal hair. It is my hope that the many people who live a life of "purposeful fulfillment" whatever their chosen work will be living examples for the sad ones that there is joy in simple things and life is worth embracing.
Peace,
Charleen Touchette
March 14, 2009

Realizing the Dream Update by Martin Luther King III

Realizing the Dream
Update

Current Activities & Accomplishments
: January 2009 :


In This Issue...
Fourth Annual King Day Commemoration and Second Annual Realizing the Dream Awards
President Barack Obama's Inauguration and Realizing the Dream

Awards Celebration

Realizing the Dream began the year with an ambitious agenda for 2009. As the month's first undertaking, Realizing the Dream traveled to Washington, D.C. to host the Fourth Annual King Day Commemoration and Second Annual Realizing the Dream Awards, as well as to partake in the festivities surrounding President Barack Obama's inauguration. Attended by more than 300 guests and held at the impressive Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill, Realizing the Dream's ceremony honored four dedicated public servants, both domestic and international, whose work embodies the legacy of Dr. King.

The organization's most prestigious honor, the Realizing the Dream Award, was granted to Senator Edward Kennedy for his lifelong work to ensure adequate health care and equal rights for all. Other awardees were Congressman and civil rights hero John Lewis, Burmese peace and democracy activist Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and the Reverend Claude Black, a longtime religious and social leader in San Antonio, Texas. In presiding over the awards, Martin L. King III said that "My father would be so proud of these four individuals to whom we are all indebted. It is fitting that this celebration falls just two days before we inaugurate our first black president, an occurrence made possible, in part through the work of these honorees, and through the work of my father."

In addition to the awardees themselves, there were several other notable individuals who joined Realizing the Dream for the event. These included the night's emcee and Realizing the Dream Board member Nick Clooney, Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, Mrs. Marian Wright Edelman from the Children's Defense Fund, poet Sonia Sanchez, Bishop Eddie Long, and the Honorable Henry Cisneros. Also, the night's guests were treated to three distinct and amazing musical performances-Bebe Winans performed an original song entitled "I Have a Dream," pop sensation Charice Pempengo wowed the audience with "God Bless America," and the Southern Baptist Praise and Worship Center Chorale provided moving renditions of several classic hymns.

Presidential Inauguration &
Realizing the Dream

In addition to the resoundingly successful awards ceremony, Martin L. King III and Realizing the Dream were also intimately involved in the events surrounding Barack Obama's inauguration as our 44th President. Most notably, Mr. King joined the incoming president for a day of service at a homeless shelter for teens, the Sasha Bruce House, where the two men helped repaint the facility's walls. The event was a fitting tribute to Dr. King's legacy of service, as it was one of more than 100,000 volunteer projects nationwide to take place on this year's King holiday. Also that day, the two men visited wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Hospital, and on Inauguration Day, Mr. King joined President Obama on the steps of the Capitol to celebrate the momentous event.

Partnering with President Obama was not the end of Mr. King's weekend though, as he also gave remarks at the ServiceNation breakfast and the Feeding America hunger rally. There he joined an array of influential leaders including Harris Wofford, John Lewis, John Bridgeland, Dorothy Stoneman, and Alan Khazei, as well as celebrity activists such as Ben Affleck and David Arquette. Mr. King also delivered the keynote address to the Stafford Foundation's People's Inaugural Celebration, a widely publicized initiative to bring hundreds of disadvantaged Americans to Washington, D.C. for the inauguration. In his remarks, Mr. King charged all Americans to continue honoring his father's legacy through everyday acts of service that help to realize the dream.
To Learn More...

Visit our website at www.realizingthedream.org.

If you would like donate to our cause, please follow the link provided:
www.realizingthedream.org/donate.htm.

Two Grandmothers

I was blessed with two very different grandmothers who taught me the same lesson by the opposite ways they dealt with oppression and approached life.
Both grew up in large mixed blood French Canadian families raised on small farms speaking only French in different New England states, both were millworkers in their youths, as were their husbands.
One lived her 86 years in fear.
She was nostalgic for the Acadia of her ancestors and never seemed to get over the ancestral pain of the genocide that began with the Grand Derangement in September 1755.
My other grandmother was proud and defiant.
This grandmother chose love over fear.
She had a reproduction of Custer's Last Stand in her back stairway and stood up to her in-laws when they criticized her baby, my mother, for her ugly Indian looks.
This grandmother had both Acadian ancestors and her Blood maternal great-grandmother who lived to be 104 years old and helped Mimi's mother raise her and her many siblings after her grandmother died early from diabetes. Mimi suffered dire poverty and many hardships and tragedies as a child and lived a modest life as a millworker's wife with 4 children as an adult. But she embraced life, shared laughter and chose love over fear.
This grandmother smiled and loved and inspired those she met to pass it on.
She lived to be 94 years old and died on her 94th birthday. Hundreds of people of all generations in her small town came to her funeral and followed the procession to her gravesite.
A woman once told me that I would change my mind about being joyous about aging once I reached my 70s and saw how people discriminate against the elderly.
But I don't think I will change my mind. I know the realities of age discrimination.
But my grandmothers taught my by their lives that while aging is inevitable, we can control how we react to it. One grandmother chose fear and the other love. One lived and died happy and made others feel happy and loved.
by Charleen Touchette - March 9, 2009