Art Found!

Yay, somebody found my Mimulus Bell .
Here's the email I got from Colleen:

I found your mimulus bell... Unfortunatly my boyfriend somehow lost the bottom half of the bell, but when I feel like it's time to set it free again, I'll fix it and send it on it's way..

Thanks =)

Too bad it fell apart...

Peace Tin

"Peace between countries must rest on the solid foundation of love between individuals." (Mahatma Gandhi) That's what it says on the back of the found art tag.
When you open it, you find a purple clay pendant with the peace symbol on it. I first came across those pendants at a peace rally in the Golden Gate park in San Francisco. A guy named Joe Murphy makes them. They come in all kinds of colors and sizes and they all say "Peace" on them, in any language you can imagine. He made over 350,000 pieces already and says he will make them for the rest of his life. He calls it a Peace Chain. People are connected through his pendants, they are part of the big piece, part of world peace. I just love the idea. When we got married, we gave away those pendants as wedding favors to friends and family to symbolize that they are all part of our family and are connected with each other and everybody else who has a peace pendant. We had a rather international wedding (our minister conducted the ceremony in Spanish, my vows were in German and my husband's in English, for example), so those peace pendants with all the different languages on them fit perfectly.

Well, I still have e few pendants left, and every once in a while I pass one on. With Peace being the theme this week, it was a perfect time to make somebody part of world peace.

When I was working on the tin, I had a cup of Good Earth tea. On the tag it said: "If you want to make peace, you don't talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies." (Moshe Dayan). Weird coincidence, huh? So, I decided to include it in the tin, and it ended up on the inside of the lid.

I left it at Linnea's Cafe in San Luis Obispo. First I thought about leving it on the shelf with the cutlery but there were too many people around... I got scared. So I went to the bathroom. :o) They have a shelf above the toilet and I sat it on there. I was about to leave and turned around one one more time to look at the tin. And it totally looked like it is part of the decoration. So I moved it again, to the sink this time. And I made sure that the found art tag is visible. There I left it. I stayed a little longer to have lunch, but nobody went to the bathroom...

Book of Inspirations

oh, this week has been crazy. this weeks found art theme was "Inspiration, and I'm actually very inspired right now! I have many projects to work on and my painting class and the people there make new ideas pop into my head on a constant basis. But of course in times like this, there is never enough time.

I'm feeling bad for not getting my found art project done on time. But this one is a special one for a special person. And it turned into something bigger than I thought. Oh well.

I just wanted to let you know that I didn't abandon the ever growing Found Art Tuesday communty. :o) I have just too much work right now. But as a proof that I actually DID something I will post the cover of my inspiration piece. As I said, this time it is for a person I selected and just in case this person actually follows my blog, I don't want to spoil the surprise of finding it later.

I will keep you posted and update this with more pictures later (after it was delivered).

In the meantime you can enjoy some inspirations by other great artists:
Rosa Murillo
Kathy L
An Odd Duck
Deanna Wood

Enjoy!

Bottle of love

I had to wait for Valentines Day for this... :o)
It is an altered ketchup bottle with an Hershey´s kiss attached to the bottom of the lid.
They say if you love yourself, others will love you, too. That is the idea of the bottle. Be your own Valentine. Indulge yourself, treat yourself to something nice, make yourself happy - hence the kiss inside. Since it is "Random Acts of Kindness" week, I got myself an iced chocolate drink (like hot chocolate but cold, it was a beautiful sunny day here) and paid for two. They tag explains that it is found art and to be kept; it also says that there is a cold drink waiting at the counter to be picked up and enjoyed by the finder. I left it at the entrance to a Starbucks in Pismo Beach for someone to find it BEFORE he or she buys a drink. A couple of people saw me leaving it there, but weren´t brave or curious enough to check it out while I was still there...

Superhero magnet

When you get your morning coffee why not pay for the next person in line. You will definetely make their day! And you will feel like a superhero all day long. Or write a letter to your grandma or your best friend, they would love to hear from you! Put some change in an expired parking meter, spread some wildflower seeds in your neighborhood, tell a joke. The possibilities are endless! These are "random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty", a phrase that started a movement and enriched countless peoples lives. It started with Anne Herbert, who jotted the phrase down in a restaurant after turning it over in her mind for several days. The simple concept she developed was to think of any good deed that should be done more often, and then do it randomly. Make today your superhero RAK day and spread the love and happiness. You can't commit a random act of kindness without feeling as if your own burdens have been lightend. For more info about the movement visit www.actsofkindness.org .
My husband wrote a limerick for the piece:

There's a mild-mannered hero Clark Kent
His exploits were such an event
Put your mind to it
You too can do it
If you give it a hundred percent

Brighten up your fridge with this piece of art and be reminded that there is a superhero in each in every one of us.

I left it on a car in the Cuesta College parking lot. :o)

P.S.: February 12-18 is Random Acts Of Kindness Week!