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. : About me : .
 Name::Sapphire Dakini From::Santa Fe, NM, United States "The secret of life is in art." - Oscar Wilde View My Profile . : Artist Statement : .
My art is an exploration of the importance of change and releasing the past, especially the people and situations
that hinder personal growth, empowerment and transformation. The utilization of mythic figures, archetypes, motifs
and themes allows me to explore letting go of the familiar, safe and secure in order to travel to the dark, often
frightening, places of the soul. In this way, I've learned to trust my inner voice and honor my soul's need for
expression and challenge. . : Recent Posts : .
Words of Wisdom from the Daily Om . : Archives : .
May 2005 . :Blog Rings : .
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. : Social Media : . . : Daily Om : .
. : Portfolio : .
www.flickr.com
This is a Flickr badge showing public photos from Sapphire_Dakini. Make your own badge here.
. : Printmaking : .
. : Masks : .
. : Memberships : .
Artists Foundation . : Yahoo Groups : .
Art Dollz . : Blogrolls : .
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Saturday, September 29, 2007Where Did September Go? I'm leaving on Wednesday for 5 days in Boulder. Finally, a chance to get away, breathe the mountain air & see some amazing scenery. Boulder Open Studios starts on Saturday, October 6th, so I'm looking forward to seeing some new artwork while I'm there. September has been a little crazy. I've been cloistered in my studio in the evenings & on the weekends working on Module 1 of Exploring Embroidery at the Opus School of Textile Arts for the past few weeks. I got off to a late start due to the fact that I was down with a wicked case of the summer flu when I first received the module in July & now the deadline in mid-October is staring me in the face. Unit 1 of the module focuses on design... collecting photographs & imagery, researching different stitching techniques, etc. Unit 2 focuses on creating samplers based on some of the imagery collected & the research previously completed. The pieces I've finished... wallhanging, couching with ribbon, & couching with nubby fibers have been posted previously. I'll post the remaining samplers when I return from my trip. Today is going to be spent getting all of the exercises that I've completed organized, getting some patterns transferred to fabric & packing the materials that I need to take with me to Boulder next week so I can spend my evenings in the hotel room working. So, even though I don't have anything new to show, I can point you to a number of blogs by some very talented arists who DO have some really great work to show... Angie Reed Garner Art & Ghosts Blue Coyote Laughing Ceramics Junkie C'est Andrea Design Cyber Tribe Art Dancing Girl's Studio Wild Thread Studio Izabella's Blue Red Velvet Tejae's Art Women, Art, Life: Weaving It All Together Assemblog of Michael deMeng Labels: life 
Tuesday, September 18, 2007"Numbers" at Red VelvetJudy at Red Velvet has posted her final panel for Numbers (panel 1 & panel 2) & it's totally amazing! You can tell that her pieces are truly a labor of love given the attention to detail that she lavishes on each piece. Pay her a visit & be inspired. Update: Panel 3 & photos from the viewing have been posted. I was so distracted by the photos that I mis-read yesterday's post. Judy was posting the details of the lower section of panel 2 instead of panel 3. I can't wait to see what she does next. Labels: blogs
Monday, September 17, 2007Today's Horoscope"An upbeat mood can make the world seem like a brighter place today, & you may sincerely believe that better days are in store for you. Because you are likely also in a hopeful frame of mind, you may be more optimistic than usual where your concrete plans & goals are concerned. If you allow yourself to adjust your expectations to reflect your positivity, you may just discover that there are myriad opportunities open to you that you previously could not see. Your interest thus awakened, it is likely that you will spend a great deal of your time today thinking about what it is you wish to accomplish & how you plan to realize these aspirations. It is only when we are looking forward to the future that we can dedicate ourselves fully to those pursuits related to our long-term goals. When we fear that which is to come, we are hesitant to meet it & thus less willing to take advantage of those opportunities that will speed up our progress. Happy thoughts, however, can be a wonderful tool, as it is the visions of the fulfilling conclusion of our efforts that provide us with concrete goals to strive for in the present. The eventualities we imagine show us what we need to do to realize our dreams, & we can make use of this guidance in our everyday experiences. When disaster strikes, our hopes will even sustain our spirits, feeding our optimism. The more expectant you are today, the more likely it is that you will proactively reach out toward what you want to accomplish." Labels: astrology
Sunday, September 16, 2007Module 1 - Wallhanging Spent some time this weekend working on the wallhanging for Module 1 of the embroidery course at the Opus School of Textile Arts. I decided to use the aqua Ozark Handspun yarn that I bought from Joggles last year & a piece of aqua batik fabric from the Craft Connection. I subscribe to their batik club so I receive 12 pieces of batik fabric each month. I've always been really pleased with the fabrics that I've received & it's a great way to build a stash.Labels: Opus School of Textile Arts
Saturday, September 15, 2007What I'm Reading "This beautifully written, heartfelt memoir touched a nerve among both readers & reviewers. Elizabeth Gilbert tells how she made the difficult choice to leave behind all the trappings of modern American success (marriage, house in the country, career) & find, instead, what she truly wanted from life. Setting out for a year to study 3 different aspects of her nature amid 3 different cultures, Gilbert explored the art of pleasure in Italy & the art of devotion in India, & then a balance between the 2 on the Indonesian island of Bali."Although I've read really great reviews of this book, so far I'm completely underwhelmed. I found Shirley MacLaine's Out on a Limb much more interesting & inspiring. But, I'm not finished yet so maybe it will improve. UPDATE: Okay, this is just going back on the shelf. What a complete waste of time. Labels: books
Friday, September 14, 2007My Soul is Purple
Labels: quiz
Friday, September 07, 2007Addition to My Art Library "This book assembles 20 years of work in dramatic color photographs, a magnificent mid-career survey of a remarkable sculptor who turns nature into art.This catalogue showcases, in color reproductions of excellent quality, the varied ouevre of American sculptor Steve Tobin, who has created works, often monumental in scale, in blown & cast glass, bronze, ceramic, & found objects that include tank windows & 19th-century lantern slides. A chronology of the artist's life contains details of his education & career. The highly regarded art critic Donald Kuspit has written a lengthy critique of the artist's work situating its subject matter & presentation in nature, physics, philosophy, & primal mythic experience." Labels: art books
Thursday, September 06, 2007What I'm Reading "Art critic Jeremy Grove is found dead, his face frozen in a mask of terror. His body temperature is grotesquely high; he is discovered in a room barricaded from the inside; the smell of brimstone is everywhere & the unmistakable imprint of a claw is burned into the wall. As more bodies are discovered -- their only connection the bizarre but identical manner of death -- the world begins to wonder if the Devil has, in fact, come to collect his due. Teaming with Police Officer Vincent D'Agosta, Agent Pendergast is determined to solve this case that appears to defy everything except supernatural logic. Their investigation takes them from the luxury estates of Long Island to the crumbling, legend-shrouded castles of the Italian countryside, where Pendergast faces the most treacherous & dangerous adversary of his career."Labels: books
Wednesday, September 05, 2007Handbuilding at the SMFAI seem to be schedule-impaired lately. For some odd reason, I thought class started next Wednesday so imagine my surprise when I went to the SMFA website to look for some other information & happened to notice that the handbuilding class started tonight. I would have been seriously unhappy with myself if I had missed my first class. It's great to be back in the ceramics studio again after so many years. It's a small class... only 6 students which gives us a lot of flexibility to make adjustments to the syllabus & the schedule. Since there isn't a class in the studio before mine I can get there early & have the entire studio to myself to work for an hour. Of all the different mediums I work with, clay is the most relaxing. Maybe because it requires less precision than the embroidery & beadwork. There's something very zen-like about working with clay. I don't quite know how to describe it. I've started working on my masks & next week I'll be starting on the icon series. I'll also start test-firing some of the glazes that I bought. Labels: life
Tuesday, September 04, 2007Module 1 - Couching with Ribbon I've been working on my samplers for Module 1 of the embroidery course at the Opus School of Textile Arts. Got off to a slow start due to having the flu but seem to be getting back on track now.Labels: Opus School of Textile Arts
 Labels: Opus School of Textile Arts
Monday, September 03, 2007Fibre & Stitch - Issue 1 I told myself that I wasn't going to succumb to the siren call of another publication since the magazines already pile up quicker than I can read them much less experiment with the various techniques. HAH! All of the other cool kids had a copy of Fibre & Stitch so I had to have 1 also. Plus, I feel it's important to support other textile artists.Sue Bleiweiss & her staff, including Terri Stegmiller, Lynda Monk, Carol McFee, & Margaret Roberts, have done a fabulous job with the 1st issue. Labels: magazines
Sunday, September 02, 2007What I'm Reading "When in their lives do great artists produce their greatest art? Do they strive for creative perfection throughout decades of painstaking & frustrating experimentation, or do they achieve it confidently & decisively, through meticulous planning that yields masterpieces early in their lives?By examining the careers not only of great painters but also of important sculptors, poets, novelists, & movie directors, Old Masters and Young Geniuses offers a profound new understanding of artistic creativity. Using a wide range of evidence, David Galenson demonstrates that there are 2 fundamentally different approaches to innovation, & that each is associated with a distinct pattern of discovery over a lifetime. Experimental innovators work by trial & error, & arrive at their major contributions gradually, late in life. In contrast, conceptual innovators make sudden breakthroughs by formulating new ideas, usually at an early age. Galenson shows why such artists as Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Cézanne, Jackson Pollock, Virginia Woolf, Robert Frost, & Alfred Hitchcock were experimental old masters, & why Vermeer, van Gogh, Picasso, Herman Melville, James Joyce, Sylvia Plath, & Orson Welles were conceptual young geniuses. He also explains how this changes our understanding of art & its past. Experimental innovators seek, & conceptual innovators find. By illuminating the differences between them, this pioneering book provides vivid new insights into the mysterious processes of human creativity." Labels: books
Saturday, September 01, 2007Helloooooooo, September! Although the Autumnal Equinox isn't until September 23rd, September 1st has always felt like the beginning of autumn to me... classes begin... the temperatures start to drop, especially at night (perfect sleeping weather)... the days begin to get shorter (some days I feel like a vampire trying to hide from the sun)... & the sunlight starts to have that special "otherworldly" look to it.For me, autumn has always been about change & new beginnings... deciding what parts of my life need to be released, what parts need to be adjusted, & what parts need to be more fully embraced. The decisions that needed to be made this year seemed so much heavier for some reason. I've been battling a low-grade depression for the past year without really being able to pinpoint the cause. Over the past few months, I've been making small changes to different areas of my life hoping to gain some insight into what the problem is. I finally realized that it's the environment that I live in. I guess it's true what they say... location, location, location. So, it's time to start thinking about making a change & moving back to Denver / Boulder. My mother swears I don't have any gypsy blood running in my veins but I'm not so sure. I've realized that moving back isn't taking a step backwards in my life... it's really just a matter of my life coming full circle. Going back to a place where I was really happy... going home. My friend, Anwar, tells me that there's a Bangladeshi saying that you spend the 1st half of your life searching for yourself & the 2nd half going home. I think there's a lot of truth in that. Oddly enough, as soon as I made the decision, I started to feel more positive about things. There's something to look forward to now... new experiences, new adventures & new challenges. I had an astrocartography reading done a couple of weeks ago & according to the maps, Denver is the best place for me to live. Of my 5 most positive lines, Denver is in close proximity to 4 of them which is great news & probably explains why that area feels like home. Boston isn't necessarily bad but things would always be a little more difficult here & I would never feel as though I fit in. I also had the astrologer look at Asheville, NC but the energy there is only marginally better than in Boston. So, I have a number of projects that I need to finish up here & some plans to put into place then I'm heading west in 2010. Yes, I know this gives a whole new meaning to the concept of planning ahead but according to the astrological reading I had done in July, 2010 is the right time to be making this type of move. I will also be turning 50 in 2010 which seems like an auspicious time to make a radical change in my life. Just between us, me turning 50 just seems like such a bizarre concept. The decision to move back has also clarified the grad school issue. I'll be applying to the MFA-Ceramics program at the University of Colorado in Boulder. The classes that I'll be taking at the SMFA until then will enable me to build my portfolio. So, another major decision made. Denver has been working over the past few years to really build its arts community. Certain areas like the Art District on Santa Fe are a testament to the time, effort & money that are being committed. I feel as though my artwork will be much more readily accepted there than here. And there's the Art Students League of Denver which is always a great place to pick up new skills. So, thank you for bearing with me for the past year. Enough of all my angst! Decisions have been made! Onward & upward! A new discovery... For anyone who is into a more "alternative" approach to ceramics... I came across a article on Steve Tobin in issue 18 of Ceramics Technical magazine. His "Exploding Earth" series is really amazing. In a nutshell, he takes blocks of clay, embeds fireworks into the clay then explodes the fireworks resulting in organic shapes that are colored by the minerals in the fireworks. These colors appear once the pieces have been kiln-fired. He also puts glass in the bottom of the pieces prior to firing. Take a look at the video I found on YouTube showing him creating some of his pieces & 1 of his installations being put into place. Oh yeah... he's pretty easy on the eyes also. :-) Another artist who I'm finding to be a real inspiration is Michael deMeng. I absolutely love his Kali mask & Face of Glory which is pictured in his book Secrets of Rusty Things. Maybe it's his "Day of the Dead" themes that are resonating with me. Judy at Red Velvet has posted Panel 2 of Numbers & as always, her work is absolutely breathtaking. I love that she explains her thought processes when creating the pieces. Another great new discovery is Art & Ghosts. Labels: life
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