The First Night Of The First Day of 2010-Photos by Cherie Bender

.....a heart, two doves, a cat, a fawn, an elf, a fairy, a womb, a vulva, a baby 

these are the forms I see taking shape in  the blue moon as it rose through the branches of my bamboo trees on Friday, January 1, 2010.... as if the moon was being born into the new year.....

"The subject of the artist is emotions and ideas - both"   Louise Bourgeois

THE INCANDESCENTS: Marilyn Monroe; NikolaTesla & Georgia O'keeffe

"If then your whole body is full of light, with no part of it in darkness, it will be as full of light as when a lamp gives you light with its rays" Luke `11:36

"Marilyn In Her Pucci Mirror Blouse" oil on canvas 62" x 48"painted by Cherie Bender: When I paint, I need light.  There is no question, an artist may not paint in the darkness. Light is a necessary part of the creative process.  In actual fact and in the rendering of a work of art, light is an absolute factor.  I am also committed to bringing light into my paintings visually. My oil painting of the incandescent, iconic, actress Marilyn, as pictured here, is a work in progress as I plan on creating an abstract panel in oils, which will make this painting ~ Marilyn In Her Pucci ~ a diptych. 
This leads me to the second luminous presence of this unlikely grouping which I have chosen: Nikola Tesla, inventor, the father of modern electricity.  Born in 1856, the man was a pure genius. As a child he had the vision of harnessing the power of Niagra Falls, New York, having never been there and while living in what is today known as Croatia. Later, he achieved his goal and changed history. Nikola Tesla worked for Edison in this country who ripped him off for  over 1 million dollars which Edison had promised him.  Just before he died, Edison admitted his greatest regret was trying to pursue direct electrical current rather than the vastly superior alternating current invented by Tesla.  Tesla became a US naturalized citizen and was awarded posthumously a patent for the radio which had been denied him by the US during his lifetime and given to his rival Marconi who was later discredited. 

I like very much that Tesla believed in the equality of woman, and predicted that women would become the dominant sex in the future, the "Queen Bees". He certainly was way ahead of his time, and it was spoken about him in his lifetime and even believed now,that he was really an alien or angel from the planet Venus, come to earth to give us these great electrical gifts.


Tesla's luminous presence is still very much with us: along with the many obvious inventive gifts he left us, there is a popular heavy metal rock band "Tesla" named after him; and recently a car, the Tesla Roadster, which runs on lithium battery cells and can go from 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds; David Bowie starred in a  2006 movie "The Prestige" about Tesla's life; The US government owes most if not all  of our early warning defense system to Tesla, and Google honored Tesla in their search home page this year, on his birthday, the tenth of July, 2009, with the G as a Tesla coil ..... these are just a few of his great contributions. Tesla died alone and financially indigent in the New Yorker Hotel in 1973.... although he is greatly honored today.  Which leads me to the third and last luminous presence, unlikely though it may seem, but likely in view of the fact of myself as painter.....

Georgia O'Keeffe. Georgia who has been my inspiration and personal hero ..... a "Queen Bee" of women painters if there ever was, she is most certainly one.



Georgia who did the opposite of all the "city men", Georgia who painted in vibrant, pulsating, moving color when they painted in static grays "I can paint one of those dismal-colored paintings like the men" she said in 1922, and she did so: a painting of a shed "all low toned and dreary with the tree beside the door"  calling it "The Shanty" and hanging it in her next show. "The men seemed to approve of it" she said fifty four years later. " They seemed to think that maybe I was beginning to paint. That was my only low-toned dismal-colored painting."

Because she was her own person, and because she did not do the expected, Georgia decided to live in Texas with her sister for a time, where there were no trees and no one to tell her how to paint them... there was only the horizon.  She and her sister Claudia would go for walks in the late afternoon away from the town and toward that horizon, to watch the evening star come out. "That evening star fascinated me" she wrote. " It was in some way very exciting to me.  My sister had a gun, and as we walked she would throw bottles into the air and shoot as many as she could before they hit the ground. I had nothing but to walk into nowhere and the wide sunset space with the star.  Ten watercolors were made from that star" I am compelled as much by Georgia's sister Claudia with the gun, as by the painter Georgia with the star......  but only the painter left us this incandescent, luminous, shining record. Ten watercolors were made from that star.

BLOG ACTION DAY-BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLY Photo by: Cherie Bender

After quite a bit of thought and research about today's Blog Action Day topic: Global Climate Change, and being a bit overwhelmed by the amount of information received, I decided to include these very excellent and pertinent posts and links, so that, dear valued reader, you may decide for yourself exactly what you, personally, can do to aid the cause for Planet Earth:

www.americanprogress.org
www.pewclimate.org
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown
Greenpeace

So now, for my very own personal opinion, I have to be honest, the Tree hugger blog: a little bit too much, and some of the rest, with the angry children........ well, listen, talk is cheap. What is it that a person, individually, can do?
It's very simple, Give Back

When we first took this country from the Native Americans, we forgot that for every action there is a reaction. This is law. Now, we must make amends and tighten up the belts. That means a little sacrifice and.... how about those Hummers? I mean, they are worse than the old gas guzzlers! I just had to mention. To me, very, very, very, Obnoxious.

If this country, The United States of America were completely serious, we would have a mandatory change in vehicles (allow only hybrids or better) and therefore in the consumption of OIL. Well, that is all I have to say.

PEACE

BLOG ACTION DAY IS OCTOBER 15, 2009

BIRD ON A WIRE - COME SUNDAY

This song is in my prayers ..... "come Sunday, oh, come Sunday, that's the day".... sung by the in-comparable Mahalia Jackson, from Duke Ellington 's so very wonderful album BLACK BROWN & BEIGE.

I don't believe I have been more moved as this morning, outside in my garden, looking up and seeing a bird on a wire...... singing so happily and proudly. I ran inside to grab my trusty Nikon, and took this picture....

It was as I had felt recently, with only a very thin wire to stand on, and a very far way down, as if I had lost my wings and my voice to sing. I looked up, as I say, and there was the most joyful song I could imagine sung by this little bird, so joyous it made me laugh with happiness and I thought, if this little bird can be so happy with such simple things, well so can I. I choose to live the Extravagant Life now... this morning with glorious organic Stash earl gray black & green tea, instead of just plain tea, (the bergamot is exhilarating) together with an almond croissant from the French bakery around the corner. And last night, instead of plain salad with dinner, organic arugula roquette with luscious organic tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and dark green virgin olive oil. Lovely........the simple things shared together...

I tried to download a live visual version of the above song Come Sunday, but at least listen...... and I found quite by accident, a live video recording of Mahalia singing "How I Got Over" how wonderful...... " we are gonna sing, and never get tired!"

DESIRE & THE PINK LAMBORGHINI

Desire - the beginning of creation and adventure, begins with thought. We think, therefore we are. Desire, what would life be without Desire? Very, very boring, I can tell you that. I go a fairly long time without really desiring anything, but once I get bitten, watch out! I am incorrigible.

This painting is part of the Rebel series. I just delivered this and other paintings to a gallery in downtown Miami getting ready for Art Basil 2009 in December .... I miss it already. A part of me is inside that painting, which is inspired from a photograph my husband took of me when I was nineteen years old and newly married. We were at Sebring, Florida, watching the races. Andy loved to race and loved race cars. He taught me how to drive in an old TR4 which I later inherited. I became a very good driver from that experience. I can remember driving home late in the old TR, when lo and behold, the alternator light came on, and me without a clue what an alternator even was.... I did get home safely, although I cannot remember how exactly.

Desire & The Pink Lamborghini, a diptych, has Mizner Park in the background, distressed. I wanted to juxtaposition two realities, then and now. As if time is frozen forever and I am still dreaming now of then and then of now and ... of more desire. The painting is oil on linen with a free form abstract panel, done in pink, black, baby blue and silver, 5ft x 5ft.

WE ARE ALL FRAGILE....

I attended another funeral today. Well, almost attended. I lost my way there. Which was just as well, because I just did not want to have another "viewing" so soon after my mum...

I like the idea of being cremated more and more. I want my ashes to be scattered from a cliff overlooking the thrashing ocean. At this point.

Water has and will continue to play an important role in my life. The above photograph was taken by me in Yosemite National Park on a photo holiday. It has a feeling for me of a birthing, an innocent awakening. Of trust and vulnerability.

The Alpha & Omega. A journey for all of us humans. We know, that we know, that we are, and we are fraught with the fear of the unknown, which is also beautiful in its mystery.

Everyday we die a little. But what if we willingly die every moment, what if we are not afraid? What if.....we experience life as if every moment is the last moment? As in an orgasm which is, as the French say " la petite mort" The little death.

I include this video from ColdPlay from their latest, Vive La Vida (or Death and all his friends...)

HANGIN' BY A THREAD

Have you ever felt like you were just hanging by a thread? I woke up feeling like this these past few days.... just clinging to a shred of my dignity.

I then observed a spider outside my bedroom door, after a rain shower, mending her damaged web diligently. I watched her for quite a few moments then decided I had to photograph this and write about it, so I could remember, and also share, how a spider, tiny and fragile, just kept mending away and creating, no matter what. And she always knew the correct pattern. It was inbred. It was instinct. It was survival. I loved it. I love this spider!

She is still outside my bedroom door, hanging in there, and her beautiful web is larger and quite intact. I will not harm her. She is a symbol.,,,, An artist...... and a pretty good one at that..... Meanwhile,
I discovered the music of Death Cab For Cutie - Here's the video. Great music to spin by.

JULY FOURTH "KISMET"

It was very evidently all meant to be...

I had traveled to Scotland on a return trip (I spent my childhood in Edinburgh) to visit some friends and soak up that gorgeous atmosphere of purple heather, great pubs and the Castle on Princess Street.

I stayed for all too few days at the Caledonia Hotel - waking up to Sunshine in a room with an excellent view overlooking Princess Street and Edinburgh Castle,with kippers and poached eggs in bed, marmalade and toast burnt on one side, served on a tray with fine linen napkins,and really,really good china and silverware.....
That was truly heavenly.

But the reason for this July 4th post is the celebration of the connection between all of us and particularly with me and my connection to America, and quite coincidentally with a fantastic artist named Duane Hanson.

After the marvelous breakfast that day,I decided to go to the Museum across the street from where I grew up - the National Galleries of Scotland and took a cab there. I saw, much to my amazement, as soon as I walked in the door, "Mr & Mrs Miami Beach Tourist" a life size sculpture by artist Duane Hanson, standing there for all they were worth looking as if they had stepped from a tourist bus and wandered into this gallery from across the pond.

Now, I lived then and do now, in Florida. And Mr. Hanson lived and worked in cowboy territory, Davie, Florida. I had met Mr. Hanson after this quite powerful, to me, "coincidence" and he is one of the most amazing and real people, as an artist, that I have ever met. A quiet, reserved, attractive man who looked quite human and frail, it was hard to believe that he was a world renowned artist who caused controversy by staging riots in the street, causing the police to come a number of times in the 70's to North Miami, with his installed life size and extremely life-like sculptures "Race Riot", among others. Mr Hansen had also done a sculpture of my painting professor, the artist Robert Thealey, sitting on his helmet, of when he was a player for the Canes, my school the University of Miami's football team. This sculpture is still in the Lowe Gallery, I do believe. For those who wish to know more about Mr. Hanson:

The other connection to me of Florida and America, is that when I was growing up in Edinburgh, I lived opposite the National Gallery of Scotland and visited there many times, in the National Park of Scotland. There I discovered hot houses, huge glass domes built to house exotic plants, where I saw my first palm trees and hibiscus flowers. Quite amazing to experience the extreme cold of Scottish winters and visit in warm, enclosed, womb-like, moist environments, to see then flowers and trees which surround me now in my beloved Florida. Happy July 4th!!!******

A FATHER'S DAY MESSAGE ON SUMMER SOLTICE

I choose to honor my father, who had passed away over ten years ago...... today, on the day Summer officially begins and also, coincidentally, Father's Day. The above photo spread of my fine art oil paintings appeared in ART IN AMERICA magazine,2009. The top painting, a diptych, is entitled "My Father At Work In His Paisley Tie" Oil on Canvas, 5ft x 3ft, to be found in the Fine Art section of my web.

Our fathers are also men......

There can be issues between Fathers and Daughters. Some of them epic in scope. I have found gratitude to be the great healer, and that my issues were NOT epic and that I am grateful to love my Dad.

Dad was forced to serve in the Polish army in Poland, against his will, for many years after his contract was up. Ever since, Dad loved his freedom and after meeting my birth mother in Scotland, traveled to his beloved America and proudly became a naturalized citizen.

I chose the pattern of the painting honoring my father to be the Black-Watch Tartan, worn by the guards in Scotland as they watched over the sleeping city. My father's name was Michael, and I am also especially attracted to the Archangel Michael for protection on my sacred journey here on planet earth.

OPENING & CLOSING

GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN!

OPENING: My above named painting arrived this morning, having had a sojourn in New York at the Salmagundi Art Club May 11- 29, 2009. As a juried member of the National Association of Women Artists since 2007, I have shown in the NAWA New York gallery and in the Salmagundi Club,which originated in 1871 as a sketch class in Johnathan Scott Hartley's studio and is now housed in a mid nineteen century brownstone. The club adopted its present name a hundred years ago after Washington Irving published his potpourri of wit and wisdom called "The Salmagundi Papers" which name also serves as the club dining room's famous "Salmagundi Stew". For the past 137 years, fine artists throughout the US and around the world may display their works here in an atmosphere of conviviality.

Through the years the club has been the gathering place for such great artists as Childe Hassam, William Merrit Chase, Howard Pyle, N.C. Wyeth, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Ogden Pleisner and many others. Honorary members have included such luminaries as Sir Winston Churchill, Buckminister Fuller, Paul Cadmus, Al Hirschfeld, Thomas Hoving and Schuyler Chapin....... I have been humbly touched by such luminary company......

CLOSING: I have taken a closer step to my place in American History, but the time seems very short and all too soon the show is over. I have to call it a day, be grateful, and prepare for the next adventure. Sometimes, I try to remember, the fun is in the journey!

EARTH DAY

Today is the day to celebrate our beautiful Mother Earth! It is so beautiful today that I just had to honor the environmental consciousness of all of those who are trying so very hard to make it possible for us to change for the better all of the mistakes made in ignorance in the past.
Thank you! I remember when I lived in New York and visited a friend's family for dinner when they shamed him for being so selflessly involved in correcting and solving problems of our environment. (He was ahead of his time) He was making so little money at this and was so dedicated! He opened my eyes when at the time I was modeling for a living and only living for and thinking about being physically beautiful. Now I know it is important to live beautifully. And for me, that means taking care of my beautiful planet in every small way I can, as the microcosm so the macrocosm. Thank you so much Buckminster Fuller!

One of the most informative websites I have found on the subject of environmental responsibility is www.climatecrisis.org
Peace.

LOVE

I was watching the birds this morning feeding from the bird feeder I hung in my garden, in front of the kitchen window. I especially love the red cardinals, who mate for life. The male watches over the female as she feeds,from his hideaway in the ficus hedge. He is patient and willingly lets her feed for a long time before he claims his own. I love that! How wonderful, I thought, to experience this kind of unselfishness and generous patient love. I desire to have that in my own life also and will accept no substitute! (And so shouldn't you).

I am sharing this story with you, because there are also less unselfish and actually very greedy birds that I feed. Such as the morning doves, who also mate for live. They fight over their territory and only allow certain birds to share in their stash. Sometimes they get so rowdy, they smash into things by accident (no casualties as of yet)

The difference is that we are human, and can change our behavior through our decisions. It is not ever too late to experience unselfish and unconditional love. It starts with us. We can rise above our base instincts and transcend into freedom.

Valentine's day is the day set aside for love, "a perfect day to go within and glance back with affection and understanding at your real life journey so far...... we'll need courage to retrace our steps. But 'courage is the price that Life extracts for granting peace', the pilot Amelia Earhart reminds us... Today is the day for being. Be with those you love, be kind to yourself. Be quiet and call forth the dream you buried long ago. The ember is still glowing in your soul. See it in your mind, hold it tenderly in your heart" advises Sarah Ban Breathnach, author of Simple Abundance, A Daybook of Comfort and Joy. www.simpleabundance.com

Today is the day to just be, be in the moment the only one we have, the perfection of now. Be with the ones you love and be grateful. www.cheriebender.com

POVERTY IS A DISEASE - GIVING IS THE CURE

This the time, people, NOW.

Allowing ourselves to be grateful for all that we have. Joy in the small things of life and noticing.... being generous also to ourselves as we can do no good without abundance in our own lives.


I will donate 50% of all sales from my website: Visit My Website October 15, 2008 - November 15, 2008, AND 10% thereafter until THE ENDING OF POVERTY; YEAR 2015.
















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WE ARE THE NEW TRANSCENDENTALTISTS!

I have been thinking about how WE who hold to metaphysical thought as applied to tweaking "real" life are the NEW TRANSCENDENTALISTS.....

Here is a quote by transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson: "We will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds...A nation of men will for the first time exist, because each believes himself inspired by the Divine Soul which also inspires all men."

When America was first settled, and with our first drafting of the Declaration of Independance, our forefathers were the original metaphysicians, including Ben Franklyn, the great inventor. Later, during the 1900's America flowered into the "New Frontierism" which unfolded as "Manifest Destiny" and we progressed into new territory and new thinking through art and literature

I have recently excavated a book I had read while working in a law firm as a legal secretary when I was going to college and studying art: REFLECTIONS AT WALDON by Henry David Thoreau, born July 12, 1817, Concord, Massachusetts. I had been struck by a quotation of marching to the beat of a different drummer . I now propose DANCING to the beat of a different drummer by our paying attention to the positive and beautiful always and having a zero tolerance for pain. I had loved Thoreau's quote so much at that time, I taped it to my wall beside my desk. Many people commented on that quote because it spoke to us all, and especially speaks to us now, so here it is:

"WHY should we be in such desperate haste to succeed and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away. It is not important that he should mature as soon as an apple tree or an oak. Shall he turn his spring into summer? If the condition of things which we were made for is not yet, what were any reality which we can substitute? We will not be shipwrecked on a vain reality"

And, here is another from the great bard:

"GOD himself culminates in the present moment and will never be more divine in the lapse of all the ages. And we are enabled to apprehend at all what is sublime and noble only by the perpetual instilling and drenching of the reality that surrounds us. The universe constantly and obediently answers to our conceptions; whether we travel fast or slow, the track is laid for us. Let us spend our lives in conceiving them... The poet or the ARTIST never yet had so fair and noble a design but some of his posterity at least could accomplish it."

Now, there are lots of tools out there to help us achieve this state of blissful freedom: SO MANY wonderful books and tapes by DOREEN VIRTUE; the fantastic book "MONEY AND THE LAW OF ATTRACTION by Esther and Jerry Hicks; The Teachings of Abraham" ; and the simple and effective book,"THE SEDONNA METHOD, your key to lasting happiness, success, peace and emotional well being by Hale Dworskin. Also, my very favorite, the book THE WISDOM OF FLORENCE SCOVEL SHINN.

I paint my paintings to bring these thoughts out visually with my choice of subject matter and colors, for healing and light. I feel that there is already enough challenges out there to do with the darkness and the sinister force, why add to them? I err on the side of the light always and forever with my work, this is my commitment.

I leave you with a final quote from REFLECTIONS AT WALDEN POND by Thoreau:

" IT is very rare that you meet with obstacles in this world which the humblest man has not faculties to surmount. It is true we may come to a perpendicular precipice, but we need not jump off, nor run our heads against it. "
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MARY IN TEARS

SEPTEMBER 10, 2008

EULOGY FOR MY MOTHER

MY MUM IS MY HERO AND WAS MY BEST FRIEND.

I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU SOME OF MY FEELINGS ABOUT MY MUMMY, MOLLY BENDER, EVEN THOUGH IT IS PAINFUL FOR ME TO DO SO AS I MISS HER TERRIBLY AND I SO WANT TO HEAR HER VOICE AGAIN IT HURTS.

YOU SEE, THERE WAS NEVER A TIME I SPOKE WITH MY MUM MOLLY BENDER, WHEN SHE DID NOT PUT MY THOUGHTS, CONCERNS, AND EVENTS BEFORE HER OWN.

BECAUSE I HAD MOVED A FEW TOWNS AWAY, I DID NOT VISIT IN PERSON AS OFTEN AS I WOULD HAVE PERHAPS LIKED TO, BUT I COULD ALLWAYS LOOK FORWARD TO A COZY TELEPHONE CONVERSATION AT THE END OF A HECTIC DAY, WITH MY MUM. MANY TIMES I ASKED FOR ADVICE AND GREW TO TRUST HER JUDGMENT, BECAUSE IT RARELY FAILED. SHE HAD AN UNCANNY WAY OF GETTING RIGHT TO THE HEART OF THE MATTER, AND KNEW HOW TO RESOLVE A SITUATION WITH A GREAT SENSE OF STREET SMARTS AND SIMPLICITY. AFTER I HAD SPENT QUITE A FEW MINUTES RAMBLING ON ABOUT MYSELF UNTHINKINGLY, SHE WOULD ASK ME IF I HAD GONE FOR A SWIM YET TODAY, OR WHAT PLANS I HAD FOR FUN LATER ON, OR FOR DURING THE WEEKEND. AND SHE WAS HAPPY FOR ME WHEN I WAS HAPPY, THIS I KNOW.

LATELY, WHEN WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THE HURRICANES, I WOULD TELL HER ‘THE ANGELS TOLD ME WE WOULD NOT HAVE A HURRICANE FOR FIVE YEARS AND WE ARE ONLY IN THE THIRD YEAR WITH TWO MORE TO GO AND THEN, IF WE TAKE VERY GOOD CARE OPF THE ENVIRONMENT, WHO KNOWS??!! ”THEN SHE WOULD SAY ‘WELL THEN, LISTEN TO YOUR ANGELS, LISTEN TO YOUR ANGELS….. ‘

ONE TIME I TOLD MY MUMMY “ YOU KNOW, MUM, IF I WERE EVER SHIPWRECKED ON THE TITANIC, YOU ARE THE ONE I WOULD TRUST IN MY ROW-BOAT. YOU ARE THE ONE I WOULD WANT TO BE TRUSTING WITH MY LIFE!!”

I WILL LEAVE YOU WITH A FINAL THOUGHT. I HAD A VERY STRONG IMPRESSION ONE DAY LATELY AFTER VISITING MUMMY IN THE ICU OF DOCTORS HOSPITAL. I SAW MUM RISING UP OUT OF HER BED AND SHE LOOKED BEAUTIFUL, LIKE SHE DID AS A YOUNG GIRL……HER HAIR WAS IN PERFECT BRUNETTE WAVES, HER FACE WAS GLOWING AND SHE WAS SMILING AT ME. THEN SHE LOOKED UP AND MY DADDY WAS THERE HOLDING HIS HAND OUT TO HER. SHE TOOK HIS HAND AND THEY BOTH STOOD HOLDING HANDS AND SMILING DOWN AT ME IN A GOLDEN LIGHT. I SUDDENLY REALIZED THAT THEY WERE SOUL MATES AND TWIN FLAMES. HE HAD BEEN WAITING FOR HER, AND NOW THEY WERE TOGETHER. I FELT SO HAPPY FOR MY MUM AND FOR JUST A MOMENT, IT MADE EVERYTHING FEEL BETTER. A FEW DAYS LATER, MY MUMMY WAS GONE.

I JUST WANTED TO SHARE THIS LAST VISION WITH ALL OF YOU TODAY, SO THAT MAYBE IT WOULD HELP ALLEVIATE THE PAIN OF SEPARATION FOR YOU ALSO, BECAUSE MAYBE THERE IS NO SEPARATION,

I THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME TELL A SMALL PART OF MY STORY ABOUT MOLLY BENDER, MY WONDERFUL MUM AND HER INNER STRENGTH AND COURAGE. I WILL MISS HER TERRIBLY.

GOOD-BY MUMMY. I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH.

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SHOOT IT, SHOOT THE CURL!!

I was born in the "BITCHENIST" month of the year - September. This is when all the news is about hurricanes, hurricanes and more hurricanes.... now I have a choice to either live in fear of storms or get into glorious SURFIN!! when the waves here in Florida are almost as BITCHEN!! as the waves in Malibu or Hawaii ..... surfing is not only a fantastic sport, it is also a metaphor for living in courage and the light. Riding the waves and shooting the curl. Being so totally immersed in the art form of strength and balance, at one with the elements ..... Ole'! Ole'!

I quote below from the book "Gidget" written by Gidget's father Frederick Kohner about the real "Gidget" now Kathy Kohner Zuckerman, who was listed in a special commemorative issue of SURFER MAGAZINE as number seven of twenty-five most important surfers of the century, and one of two women to make the cut:

"No, I wouldn't go back. Not for the life of me. The scenery had been all set up for me like an opening performance. This was the final testing ground I had picked for myself..... I whirled around and brought the board in position. There was no waiting. I shot toward the first set of forming waves and rose. I stood it. I have to come in standing, I told myself. I gritted my teeth.
"Shoot it" I yelled. I was lifted up, sky high... and went down. But I stood it. One wave, another one. "OLE'!" I yelled. "OLE'!"
Up I was - and down I went. And still standing. I stood, high like on a mountain peak and dove down, but I stood it. The only sound in the vast moving green was the hissing of the board over the water. A couple of times it almost dropped away under my feet, but I found it again and stood my ground. "Shoot it, Gidget. Shoot the curl!!" My own voice had broken away from me and I could only hear the echo coming from a great distance.
"Shoot it.... shoot it.... shoot it, Gidget!" ..There was the shore. right there. I could almost reach out and touch it" ......

That was a simpler time in surfing history: the 50's and 60's when Kathy "Gidget" surfed in Malibu with Nicki "Da Cat" Dora a/k/a The Black Night; Mysto who had been surfing in Malibu since 1954, never missing a good day; Bill "Moondoggie" Jensen and of course, Terry "Tubesteak" Tracy, the Great Kahuna! who in the book and in actual fact lived in a hut on the beach.

That was the past. Let's go to the present. Gidget, now Kathy Kohner Zuckerman -- is marking her 36th wedding anniversary with husband Marvin Zuckerman -- turned 60 this weekend. But what else can we call her, other than Gidget? The term "Gidget" is not only part of the English language, it is is a vital link to one of the major American cultural shifts of the 20th century, the celebration of the beach and of youth culture. Gidget is an icon to teen-age girls everywhere, and a kind of team mascot in surfing history. "Today" Honolulu Star Bulletin 2001
Kathy Kohner-Zuckerman now prefers her sunsets from the sand-floored outdoor bar at Duke's, where she works as a hostess....
"Malibu is eternal," she said. "It's the endless summer along the Pacific Coast Highway. It's where the sun, surf and California lifestyle are at their sparkliest."

Now, one doesn't have to actually surf to enjoy the sport!! My 60" x 48" oil painting featured above is of one of my heroes, Laird Hamilton, the BITCHENIST big wave surfer ever!! I enjoyed the vicarious thrill of painting this painting and I share with you the eternal thrill of this moment, captured and frozen in time.....

I DEDICATE this blog entry , with beautiful memories, to my beloved mother MOLLY BENDER who recently gave me the book "Gidget" before she passed away this Sunday, September 7th, 2008. May she rest in GLORIOUS PEACE with My Father MICHAEL BENDER, GOD, and the ANGELIC HOST.

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MAGIC IN THE GARDEN

I have always loved to connect with my garden, and especially my huge Banyan Tree "Anastasia" which I have spoken about on a previous post.

Today, I am inspired to speak about our mother earth and the care of her children, plants, animals, the wetlands, such as our Everglades and us... I implore each and everyone to take good care, recycle (of course!) and appreciate by doing all that we can together to preserve and retain the abundance that is here.... it is so very important!!!

I am grateful for the opportunity to share my drawing, "MAGIC IN THE GARDEN" I sometimes need to review my own drawings to rediscover the feelings and sensations of another moment frozen in time, where in this case, gratitude is the answer and the order of the day....

Right now, it is imperative to feel in the moment the perfection of NOW, and to have faith in the positive vision. I invite you to enjoy the movie clip of KATE BUSH singing one of my favorite songs, "Sensual World"Visit My Website

SUMMER IS "CARESSING"

A few weeks ago, hundreds of dragonflies flew in my garden to herald the magical time of summer..... aah SUMMER! where everything is sizzling and sparkling with bubbles from swimming, diving, skiing, snorkeling, and of course, delightful refreshments!

Vacations, vacations, vacations. For the past few years, I have been taking business style vacations, and this year, I wonder, would it not be beneficial and more abundant for me to just run away and find the magic and romance in a distant land, either to re-visit beautiful people and experiences, or somewhere brand new to me, where I can again spread my wings and fly in happiness and freedom, with new experiences and pleasures?

It does sound so good, and I love to be tempted in such a way...

This painting created specifically for my new web, "CARESS" has all of the fantastical, lovely and soothing visions of a day spent in love, pampering, beauty and fun! Freedom is the key word in this world of my imagination, and I intend that wherever I may be this year, I will take the time to manifest this reality for my own abundant healing and rejuvenation.
I wish this for your too. Indulge yourself because, you really deserve it!

I highly recommend reading on the beach for a mini getaway such as ELIZABETH GILBERT'S "EAT PRAY LOVE" so wonderful, and a classic book that will take all summer to read, but such an extreme pleasure and well worth it, is AYN RAND'S "ATLAS SHRUGGED" To know your own potential for creating reality as you experience it, FRED ALAN WOLF makes quantum mechanics a visual,virtual getaway in "TAKING THE QUANTUM LEAP" Visit My Website ENJOY!

SPRING INTO SUMMER

Summer to some is taking of your shirt and jumping a few hoops in the backyard. I caught these neighborhood guys with my camera taking a break from a work day, just tearing up the cement! Of course this is one of the ways to demonstrate freedom and agility. There are many others, and kicking back with a margarita and your favorite pal, listening to the waves,feeling the cooling breezes at the beach is one of my favorites.

Summer is a magical time of relaxation, vacations and travel. The colors of summer are aqua, gold and green. The crashing sound of the waves beckon to me, the hot sand soothes and feels delicious. Ahhhhh! ...... enjoy!Visit My Website
p.s. I just discovered this cool blog very relevant, I think, and lots of great pictures www.pictureyear.blogspot.com