Lizzie Armitstead believes victory at this weekend’s Tour of Flanders could help her make sure of a place in the British Olympic road cycling team.
Armitstead, 23, faces Nicole Cooke – her GB team-mate but fierce rival for lead rider in the squad – as they ride for separate teams in Sunday’s race.
“I’m hoping to peak this weekend. The Tour of Flanders is the main goal of the spring,” Armitstead said.
Four women will compete for Team GB in the London 2012 road race.
Those four places will not be filled by the selectors until 7 June, later than many other Olympic sports.
But while four will ride, only one can win the gold medal. Both Armitstead and Cooke believe they can put forward strong cases to be chosen as the focus of the team.
Armitstead was set up as the leader for last year’s World Championships in Copenhagen…
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No Moment In Time We Can Ever Bring Back (A Really Gone Remix)
As our past fades away, is there a bridge or ferry that can take us where we want to go….
A flight of fancy a bridge and ferry
Trying to escape something that is little known….
Earlier today, I was reading a post that Conceptual Art re-blogged entitled “A Place Where My Thoughts Are Frozen Together” by the blogger Emily @ Making Bridges. I enjoyed the read and found much in which to reflect on. It was as I perceived it, a beautiful, personal, and in-depth look at the ambiguities of our life experience i.e. how we connect with ourselves, and how those experiences resonate and are influenced by the emotions that accompany them. As I read, this line really struck a chord with me… “I often find myself looking back on past experiences – painful and happy – wishing I could still feel the intensity of those emotions”.
I believe that all my life, I have been struggling with this as well. I keep seeing my memories. Feeling them. Finding them elusive yet obtrusive. Art as a solution, sometimes produces some release and some peace, as it transforms the related emotion into form, color, shape, and content. Each piece touching on the memories in a hope to find a cathartic release. But it seems that it all remains the same in the end. An internal struggle. An endless pursuit. Perhaps the process does bring me a small step closer to a sense of freedom or understanding. But to truly cross that bridge, or ferry across the depths of my mind, I can only wake each day, start anew, create another piece, with the hope of living a little closer to a more profound present moment.
In a moment we realize we can never go back….
Gotta thank Xandi over at World Music for this cool jazz set. Love the trio. Bravo.
All is Jazz is a french jazz trio, playing the great jazz standard songs. Here’s their version of “Black Orpheus”:
We Are Here Together (A Caressing Your Hair Remix)
It is a beautiful day when my fingers caress your golden hair….
We are here together this beautiful day
like a field of golden strands…
illuminating
the days in which we stand
together
in a sea of diamonds
caressing
the thoughts you hold dear
together
without fear
oh what a lovely moment it is….
You Are There – I Am Here (Another Search The Sky Remix)
When the night sky folds into itself, and I breathe deeply it resonates of you….
The gravity that pulls us together
fragments of darkness
– never fall
into the warm depths of your love for me
and
there you are
– never doubting
the color and shape of my heart’s longing….
I Am Here – You Are There (A Search The Sky Remix)
When I think of you at night, something is shimming above….
The solar fields above
fragments of light
– shimmer
like the fire of your heart
and
here i am
– burning
in the sunburst of your love….
A Family Tradition … Cousins (A Family Photo Remix)
Bringing the past into the present and going forward into the future….
Richard Malcolm and Denise
Richard is my older cousin on my mother’s side. He is sort of the “elder” of cousins along with his sister Andrea. Richard is a veterinarian and forensic scientist. He is also an adventurer and a world traveler. Here he is pictured with his ex-wife Denise a RN charge nurse and his son Malcolm a fitness guru and trainer.
In this series, I find that the challenge visually is conveying an artistic expressive nuance while maintaining a recognizable portrait of the family. Each image in the series poses the challenge to this delicate balance. Some images such as group photos, I believe lend themselves to more abstract expression. While a photograph of two or three individuals, I believe will work better if I approach it from a more portraiture sensibility.
What do you think? As I progress through the series, I would love to have your opinion on what works best.
Peace Love and Light to all the Families of the World….
The Thievery Corporation is a Washington DC based electronica and downtempo duo. Here’s their nice song “Slow Hot Wind“:
This was a Music-Suggestion from Marcos, thanks!
A Family Tradition … Portraits (A Family Photo Remix)
Bringing the past into the present and going forward into the future….
Donald, Miriam and Children
I am fortunate to have a large and loving family. The journey in which this series will take me can only be thought of as a joyous rite. Beautiful is the memory of all those who, as family, have shared this life experience with me. Growing up with each other, especially my cousins was quite an adventure. There were ups and downs, pranks and games. And we often spent Saturdays or Sundays together; going to the park, enjoying picnics, and coming together as a family every Thanksgiving. My cousin Miriam pictured here with her husband Donald and children is a special soul. She is loving, happy and generous. A nurse by trade. When my mother was dying of cancer, Miriam would come by virtually every morning and sit with her. Caring for my mother with empathy and a heart of gold, she demonstrated great compassion. It is without a doubt, that I owe a lot to my cousin Miriam. And it is without a doubt that I love her dearly.
Family is important. Often we are called to give support, love and guidance to our family members. We can only, with a smile in our hearts, reach down deep with a great sense of purpose and joy when called to do so.
Peace Love and Light to all the Families of the World….
As We Approached The Ferry A Different Kind Of Night
It was the dark of night and the silhouette of the ferry consumed me….
From the dock I looked out beyond the thoughts that anchored my dreams
a soft glow
on the sands below
this night
so
– different
I found myself again….
An Entire Life And I May Not Know Myself
Sometimes the next chapter is the same as the one before and the one before that….
land ferry sky and water
Leaving behind the shore of dreams, I often wake to a life lost at sea….
A life misunderstood.
I sometimes wonder if I really know myself at all. I try to grasp, as I look back across the sea, the meaning of what has gone before. What remains on the distant shore…
The beauty of my indecisiveness. The machinations of my decisions.
Haunt me.
Like the fear of being stranded on land as my dreams sail away. There they go I say. Another day and it all remains the same…
Not unlike the fleeing faces in the clouds above or the uneasy sinking in the waves below….
A Beautiful Time Gone, Is Like A Moment That Never Happened
Sometimes there is a beautiful journey just waiting to happen….
Searching for the ferry on the docks
A journey has its moments. A beginning, a middle, and an end. Sometimes it is a physical journey, but most often it is one of internal longing and desire. A journey of memories. It is a beginning where we once believed in something, someone or someplace. Then perhaps a middle, when while living in the present moment, we believed time stood still, and there was no tomorrow. Or perhaps a tomorrow we could come to love. And then there is the end. An ending. A final moment. Magic and lost, beauty and longing for what was. The memory of beautiful times gone, like the fleeing of dreams in the waking of a new day.
I often see things through the spectrum of my experiences, while questioning the meaning of it all. But desiring to have no grounded answer to mislead me.
Sometimes in our awareness the journey has long since come to an end….
Weekly Movie-Making Moments In Film – The Woman in the Dunes by Hiroshi Teshigahara and based on the novel by Kobe Abe
I have recently seen the wonderful Japanese film Suna no onna (Woman in the Dunes) 1964 by Director Hiroshi Teshigahara. It is an extraordinary film. Beautifully crafted. Surreal and mesmerizing. I highly recommend it. Below is a link to an analytical review and a link which contains the featured film. The film is available on Net Flix as well. The film is 2-hours and 27 minutes long. I have included a short synopsis of the film below.
http://youtu.be/P-2xec9Ebg0 – video essay by James Quandt – part 1 (please note, I was unable to find part 2 of the essay). Part 1 ends abruptly.
http://youtu.be/H-5fY8hZdTs – Feature Film
An entomologist, Jumpei Niki (played in the film by Eiji Okada), is on an expedition to collect insects which inhabit sand dunes. When he misses the last bus, villagers suggest he stay the night. They guide him down a rope ladder to a house in a sand quarry where a young widow (Kyoko Kishida) lives alone. She is employed by the villagers to dig sand for sale and to save the house from burial in the advancing sand.
When Jumpei tries to leave the next morning, he finds the ladder removed. The villagers inform him that he must help the widow in her endless task of digging sand. Jumpei initially tries to escape; upon failing he takes the widow captive but is forced to release her in order to receive water from the villagers.
Jumpei becomes the widow’s lover. However, he still desperately wants to leave. One morning, he escapes from the sand dune and starts running while being chased by the villagers. Jumpei is not familiar with the geography of the area and eventually gets trapped in some quicksand. The villagers free him from the quicksand and then return him back to the widow.
Eventually, Jumpei resigns himself to his fate. Through his persistent effort to trap a crow as a messenger, he discovers a way to draw water from the damp sand at night. He thus becomes absorbed in the task of perfecting his technology and adapts to his “trapped” life. The focus of the film shifts to the way in which the couple cope with the oppressiveness of their condition and the power of their physical attraction in spite of — or possibly because of — their situation.
At the end of the film Jumpei gets his chance to escape, but he chooses to prolong his stay in the dune. A report after seven years declaring him missing is then shown hanging from a wall, written by the police and signed by his mother Shino.
Watching As The Family Photos Reveal … Memory (A Family Moment Remix)
Bringing the past into the present and going forward into the future….
Uncle Eddie and Aunt Marge
A portrait of family. My Uncle and my mother’s sister, our surviving elders…..
Lake Rock Sky (An Electric Ladyland Remix)
Sometimes an image reflects things that exist only in the mind….
A moment with lake, rock, and sky in retrospect ... An Electric Ladyland Remix
What do you do with a memory that occurs suddenly while creating a piece? Or after the piece has been produced? I really did not have any definitive path for this piece. I just wanted to explore form, color and process utilizing photographic images from a lake, a sky and a mountain. Process is important to me and sometimes an abstract work can reveal a lot about process. It then occurred to me after its completion that it had both an organic and electrical feel to it. And the image that came to mind, while deepening my contemplative view of the work was Jimi Hendrix. Yes—Jimi Hendrix. Why Jimi, now that is a good question? You really do not see any real connection to Jimi at all in the piece. Or so it seems. Perhaps if you are thinking like I am—in that moment; or after having similar life experiences, you would see Jimi as well. But it is ok if you don’t. It’s your art as well as mine. I am just the physical creator of it. To you, it is what it says and reflects from your life experience. But I digress. Getting back to Jimi and how he relates to this piece, is in itself abstract. In 1970 while visiting my older cousin and sifting through his record collection, I came across two beautiful album covers and titles. Both were mysterious and beautiful. They were Band of Gypsies and Electric Ladyland. This was my introduction to his music and rock music in general. I was 13 years old. I never looked back. The two albums and the music recorded on the discs would have significant influence on my future art. An introduction to psychedelic colors, experimental structures and abstract forms.
So I saw Jimi, in this piece, and it began with a lake, a sky and a mountain. And I called it “Lake Sky Mountain (An Electric Ladyland Remix)”
I can hear Jimi say … groovy….
The Silence Series: Chakra Colors For Meditaiton – Vishuddha (Pale Blue)
Colors that bond us with our imagination and All That Is….
I believe that this chakra truly applies to all of us, but especially to the heart of the artist, writer, poet and all individuals who love to create. It is the motivating energy source for self-expression. We as artists and writers live our lives searching for our voice; manipulating images, dancing through forms, designing structures, solving equations and imploring words, searching for the right combination to get our ideas across. And in the process we discover new things about ourselves. We learn to share with confidence. This is the power of the 5th chakra.
The Sanskrit word for the 5th chakra is Vishuddha which is translated as meaning pure. When this chakra is in balance you feel confident in speaking your truth. Some of the keywords associated with Vishuddha are creative expression, knowledge, abundance and flowing manifestation. It is governed by the thyroid, metabolism and the immune system. The location of this chakra is the area surrounding the throat. The sense is hearing and the sound associated with it is HAM.
Slowly bring your attention to the throat area and silently repeat the mantra … HAM … HAM … HAM…
The 5th chakra Vishuddha
Peace be with you on your journey inward….
Namaste
Every Artist Deserves A Look Back (A “Best Of” Remix)
This has been a fantastic weekend. I am the featured artist at the dVerse poets pub. Many of the poets that participate and share their poems have given me a lot of positive response. And I certainly do appreciate it. It is motivating and inspirational. Late last night, it came to me that I should share some of my most popular posts. I have only been blogging for 13 months, and have explored a host of themes, concepts and ideas. Below you will find links to the 5 most popular posts so far. They were determined by the number of comments and likes by my readers. I have included thumbnails of each image in the posts. They are in the order of their popularity.
Enjoy
To the right side of my design (a force of nature remix)
Weekly photo challenge - between
The silence series: urban meditation
The path to everlasting consciousness and love (a yellow brick road remix)
We are the everlasting consciousness (a centered moment remix)
Bridges
burning the bridges…
leaving the memories behind you
or following the yellow brick road
across that new bridge
the bridge of hope and beauty
and colors in transition….
Bridge
I would like to thank Sheila for inviting me to be the featured artist for the poets at dversepoets. I thought I may write a short poem as well, reflecting my thoughts for the challenge.
Peace
I am excited to be the featured artist for this weekends dversepoets‘ poetic-awareness of the experience. I like to thank Sheila for inviting me, and all the poets who are participating.
Please select the reblog link above to go to the dversepoets’ blog and view the art and the comments of the poets. Then select the Mr Linky link to visit the list of poets and their home pages to see how they interpret the art.
Peace and Love
Walter
Good day, Poets! Today, I would like to introduce you to Walter Smith, a digital artist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. From an early age, Walter developed a love for drawing and the visual arts. He attended both Lincoln University and Philadelphia College of Art and pursued both Liberal and Fine Arts.
After several years of study, he joined the Philadelphia Artists Cooperative (PAC) in 1987. PAC later became the Highwire Gallery Inc. and was one of the first emerging artist’s cooperatives in downtown Philadelphia. His seven years as a participating member was critical to his growth and success as an artist.
Walter then pursued a solo career which culminated in several group, two-person, and solo shows. Most notably are the 1997 group show at Agora Gallery in Soho, New York, the solo retrospective at the Villanova University Art Gallery, and the two-person show at the North Charleston City Gallery in South…
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A Tribute To The Family (A Full Of Grace And Love Remix)
The love of family is vibrant and colorful … enriching the very essence of our union with life….
A family reunion celebrating my Aunt Mary's 81st birthday
The centerpiece of love is the family….
I have been thinking lately about the legacy of my family. Both on my mother’s side and my father’s. The lost of a child (my daughter) can bring these thoughts and memories to bear. This evening I found myself asking, how can I celebrate the love of family?
– Our Family.
How can I bring together the many cousins, children and grandchildren that are all a part of the love we have as one large family? We are the Thorne Family. My Grandmother Aline Pearl Thorne gave birth to my mother, her three sisters and her brother. Now over several generations there are children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
My aunt Wilhelmina was a painter and my “uncle Bubba” as well. They both were inspirational in my pursuit to be an artist. In honor of them as well as the family as a whole, I am beginning a new series that will celebrate the many facets of our family; a celebratory life, a life full of giving and receiving in the bond of love. It is my hope that members of my family will collect some of the work created for this series and pass them down throughout the generations creating a legacy of remembrance.
Together we can do all things….
Peace and Love to Family and Friends alike.
A Love That Resonates Forever – A Tribute To My Daughter
Throughout the years my daughter Lady and my sister Patricia, have been at the very core of my being. The very essence of my Joy….
Patricia and Lady
I spent February 25th in quiet reflection; thinking of my lovely daughter “Lady” and remembering the things we shared. A few days earlier, I had sent a text to my sister Patricia, telling her I how much I loved her. Reminding her of my appreciation for all that she had done for my daughter over the years. On February 25th 2012, my daughter would have been 34 years old. Young and vibrant. Intelligent and strong. Beautiful and adventurous. A mother of four. A friend to many. A gift from God to me. As I approach March 7th, the day of her passing from this physical realm, I will continue to lift her up in my heart. Embrace her dreams as my own. And thank God for the blessing she is to me.
Lady taking photographs at family reunion 2006
Dionanna Mcfadden my “Lady Pooh”
A Night Of A Different Kind (A Turning The Page On Yesterday Remix)
A beautiful night of memories … always seem different in kind….
You bring back memories
at night…
we share a place
away from everyone
– different
at night
we embrace something
in each other
– beautiful
at night
the moon rises
in our hearts
– seeking
Everlasting Light with
Love
– in a different kind of night….
Moments In Time (A Yesterday Video Remix)
Sometimes moments in time are like the possession of precious jewels only remembered briefly…..
My latest video entitled “Moments In Time (A Yesterday Video Remix)” starts off with clips from previous videos and a multimedia performance before evolving into my most recent ventures of 2012; finding new forms in the mountains of Western North Carolina. My early video work began back in 1988. Of course there were no digital cameras, and we had to use those large, bulky, VHS Cameras. At the time I was fortunate to have some rather unique video editing software, and hardware courtesy of my Amiga 1000 digital suite and the third-party supplier of a video mixer called the Genlock. Now with a HD digital camera, there is much higher resolution, creating a more definitive, sharper image. I recently purchased the Avid Studio Pro video software, and hope that the quality, and versatility will yield several levels of high performance (within a modest price range).
One of the major traits in the processing of my previous video work, has been my ability to layer video sources. So I am looking forward to using this new capability (the latest digital hardware and software) to continue this process. In the end I hope to create thought-provoking video imagery that is abstract, ambient. and minimalistic.
So I hope you enjoy what I think may be a transitional video on the path to new ideas, and processes.
Moments In Time (A Yesterday Video Remix)….
n e w d i g i t a l s c a p e s 