Flower Power.

True confession, people.

I've always, but always, been a flowers kinda gal.

I don't know if your high school honored this tradition, but at mine, girls in their junior and senior year wore something on their sweaters during homecoming called a "mum."  Basically, a mum is a corsage on steroids.  It's a giant flower, affixed to a pin, adorned with ribbons and sometimes balloons, with petals quite possibly Bedazzled.  It hangs roughly two or three feet long, and to the outside world, wearing just one looks totally insane. 

I wore five.

At my hoity toity high school, smack dab in the middle of More Is More Country (aka San Antonio, Texas) mums were the height of sophistication.

Not only did my mom and dad buy me a mum each during homecoming, but my parents' friends got in on it, too.  I later learned that the "cool" way to display your mums was to wear, say, one -- two max -- and carry around your extra boxes of mums all day as your personal popularity albatross.  But instead, I took them all out of their boxes the moment I got them, affixed them to each of my shoulders, then my abdomen, and in all likelihood my groin.  That's how innocent I was about this mums business.  I thought if you were special enough to receive a mum, even if it came from your Mom, then by God you should wear that mum with PRIDE.

I was thinking about all this last Tuesday, when I went to a Food & Flowers Party at my friend Camille's house.  Camille is an event planner, writes an ah-mazing style/party blog, and is one of those people for whom party invitations aren't really an option.  When Camille invites you, you GO, because her parties are just that magical.

Speaking of magic, let's just take a moment to appreciate Camille's house, shall we?  This is where the party was held.

I know.  This is just the back patio.  Are you reading, Austin Monthly: Home?  Or House Beautiful?  I believe I've just found your next feature spread.

Before our flower class began, Any Style Catering prepared us a local, lavish lunch spread.  Every bite was luscious, in the way that seasonal food is -- no fussy dressings or dips required.  Just mouth-filling ripeness, and their pistachio raspberry cake in particular is giving me heart palpitations as I sit here and write this blog post.

After lunch, Ashley Bailey of The Byrd Collective showed us the ropes -- er, stems -- of floral design.  "I treat it more like painting," she said.  "Rather than having to use this kind of flower or that, I look at my design as pockets of color and texture."

As her example design came together, we were all a tad in awe.

Then, we tried our bouquet-designing hand.

Our gorgeous hostess, Camille.

Me!  Unfortunately I didn't have any mums to wear.  But I did have the next best thing, i.e. a bright pink dress covered in bright pink flowers. 

There's another person here lurking in the background of these photos, whom I so enjoyed meeting.  Her name is Melanie Grizzel of She-N-He Photography & Design, and she snapped her own set of pictures for this day.  Isn't her website (and logo) ridiculously adorable?

All in a day's work.

thank you so much for this fabulous day, camille!

Paradise Recovered.

One of my dear friends, David Neff, is the director of the Lights. Camera. Help. Film Festival here in Austin.  Have you heard of it?

The LCH Film Fest is the first in the world to showcase films for nonprofits and cause-driven organizations.  Last year, they screened a film about this organization that very nearly prompted me to hop on a plane to Kenya to teach girls math.  (Note, I am horrible at math.  And have also never been to Africa.  This might tell you something about those films' heart strings pullage.)

LCH Film Fest kicks off tonight, and while a good number of the screenings are devoted to shorts -- like this Adopt a Cat video from Best Friends Animal Society, that I must watch over and over again with a stupid grin on my face -- there is a particularly buzzy feature film that spotlights religious abuse.  

It's called Paradise Recovered, and it played at the Austin Film Festival last year.  It looks FASCINATING.

See what I mean?  Doesn't it look interesting?

For Austinites, what's equally intriguing as the story itself is the amount of Austin in it.  The film was partially shot here, stars Austinites as the lead characters, was directed by a graduate of The University of Texas (Storme Wood), and was written by a graduate of the Austin Graduate School of Theology (Andie Redwine.  Coolest last name ever).

Paradise Recovered has already won a slew of indie film fest awards, and its profits are going to provide mental health services for survivors of religious abuse.  Andie, a former member of the Worldwide Church of God (she left at 18), wrote this film over a period of two years while she tried to figure out fundamentalism in Christianity, cult history, and mind control.  She even interviewed 100 survivors from 18 aberrant church groups for her research!  

Andie still considers herself a follower of Jesus' teachings, but used this film to, in part, explore how one's faith could be reframed outside of a rigid, oppressive culture.

I'm just enthralled.  While I was never a member of a "high demand" church myself, I definitely did attend a church for a while, and eventually left because I couldn't relate to church culture.  Or rather, my church's culture.  I didn't write off spirituality, and think that many faiths (including Christianity) have wisdom to offer, but ... when my pastor started telling the congregation who to vote for, I thought: "Ruh roh!  Time to mosey!"

Anyway.  Paradise Recovered plays tonight during the Lights. Camera. Help. Film Festival's kick-off screening at RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service (2311 Red River), starting at 7pm. A three-day event, you may purchase single-day passes for the LCH Film Fest at $13.00 each.

Please let me know if you attend!  I'd love to hear your thoughts on this film.

Eavesdropper Interview & Giveaway: Brandi Strickland.

Top o' the morning to you, friend!  

Today I'm interviewing an artist I have followed and admired for a very long time, and I am so excited to share her with you.

Her name is Brandi Strickland, and I discovered her work a couple of years ago at Design Crisis.  Brandi is a mixed media artist, who paints and collages canvases in the most unusual, dreamy way.

I don't know what it is about Brandi, but her art straight up SPEAKS to me.  I've always been drawn to collage-y pieces, but when I got into Brandi's stuff back in 2009, I noticed how each of her pictures seemed to place human characters in these wild, fantastical scenarios.  Sometimes, groups of tiny people rejoice by the ocean; other times, children are walking alone across a pyramid-accented stretch of desert ... or possibly the moon.

One of Brandi's pieces has a phrase scrawled on it that I obsessed over for the longest time:

"Learn to teach yourself."

It's in one of the pieces below, and for me, that phrase sums up everything I think about blogging, writing, the creative process.  That learning a skill is important, but learning to be a student of skills is more so.  I find this concept oddly comforting / anchoring each time I sit down to write a blog post, or try a new trick on aerial silks, or take a photograph ... because it's ok if I don't get it exactly right the first time.

 I suppose you could call Brandi's work surreal, but that label doesn't fully capture her wisdom.  Besides her undeniable artistic talent, she's also just a balanced, cool person.  (And just 25 years old!  I was still ridiculous at age 25!)  

Below I chat with Brandi, who is also generously giving away a prize from her art shop to Austin Eavesdropper readers.  Details at the bottom.

Without further ado, here's Brandi Strickland!

1. Welcome to Austin Eavesdropper, Brandi! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

Thank you for inviting me, Tolly!  I'm 25 and I live in Richmond, Virginia with my love, Robert.  I spend my time making artwork, documenting/sharing the artwork, doing research, and cooking lots of food.

2. I am dazzled by your mixed media work. Where do you gather materials? What is your creative process as you put each one together?

I collect books, magazines, bit of paper, photographs, etc... I like materials from all time periods, for all ages and audiences. Rare items and weird stuff excites me.  I buy nearly all of my collage materials in thrift stores, although once I scored the mother-load of National Geographic magazines via Craigslist.

My process is very intuitive and varies somewhat, but I usually start by drawing or painting on a board or sheet of paper, then begin building up my collage elements.  I generally work with acrylics, so the process itself is quite direct and everything dries quickly, but often my pieces take weeks or months to finish.

I think this happens because at some point while I'm working I get to a place where everything is almost right. It's really hard to even touch an artwork that's 'almost there'---because it's so easy ruin (alas, no undo button!). I hang them up and meditate on what exactly it needs, and eventually I finish them.

3. Your artwork seems to tell little stories ... about myth, spirituality, people.  What tales do your pieces tell?

Since I work intuitively, I feel like I unravel the story in much the same way the viewer does. I don't illustrate ideas as much as I just keep pushing paper and paint around until an idea presents itself. Lately, the ideas seem to be related to growing up, learning to teach myself, the power of love, helping and allowing myself to be helped, acknowledging the unseen, washing my brain, embracing what's really real, and simplifying.

4. Tell us about the artistic collective you belong to, WAFA ... I love what the acronym stands for.

WAFA is a small international community of artists. Keywords are: collaboration, sharing, friendship, and support. Recently, we entered the 21st century and had our first Skype chat. I got to hear everyone's voice for the first time. It was pure magic.

5. Favorite childhood book?

Hmm, that's hard, I read so much when I was a kid. Some favorites at the top of my mind: The Giver, King of the Wind, From the Mixed Up Files of Basil E. Frankwiler, The Egypt Game, the Redwall series.... I could go on and on.

6. Personal icon / role model in life? 

I think that changes all the time. Right now I have a lot of admiration for Ruth Stout, Dan Winter, Neil Young, Ani Difranco, John Anthony West... There are so many inspiring people, this would be a long list too!

7. What is the secret to living a creative life?

Ha! If you find out, tell me...I need all the help I can get! But seriously, that's probably very individual.  On a fundamental level, love.  Love gives me the confidence to express myself, without that expression needing to have value or validation.  

Also, when things get really busy or complicated, I don't feel creative.  So (for me) a creative life is quiet and simple and full of love.

thank you for stopping by austin eavesdropper, brandi!

***

Special to Austin Eavesdropper readers, Brandi is giving away a $35 coupon for her artwork: Enough to buy a whole small print, and a significant discount on her large prints.  I encourage you to stop by her Facebook page, and also peruse her shop!  Which room would look that much more fabulous with Brandi on the wall?  Answer: YOUR room.

To enter, just:

1. Like Austin Eavesdropper on Facebook.

2. Follow Austin Eavesdropper (i.e. me) on Twitter.

3. Enter your name and email address below.

I will choose a winner on Tuesday, August 2, so get your entries in before then.

good luck!

Life lately.

You guys, I really can't stop having fun with Danger Kate.  My new camera.

I take her everywhere, to the point of obnoxiousness.  But I don't care!  These days, I insist on snapping every life event, every piece of lived minutiae.

Above would be me, followed by my dear friend Rene.  We were walking around downtown Sunday morning, and started jumping in front of this blue wall!

My friend Nina's birthday.  That's her with her sister Sissel on the right.  Both so gorgeous, it almost hurts your eyes.

One of my two tiny twin nephews.  "Twees?"  He was saying when I took this picture.  "Gwass?"

Our baby Claudia!  Doesn't she looked thrilled to have her picture taken?

The way we end most nights.

Husband, me, and a hungry crowd outside Gourddough's.

I hope you have a marvelous weekend!  What are your plans?  I am seeing a friend off to New Orleans (tear), hosting a small birthday party (grin), and getting down with a little BBQ action.  We are also going to introduce hanging plants to our new house, so if you are the praying type ... you might want to pray for their protection.  My black thumb and I have a somewhat destructive history.