Kathryn V. White, Award-Winning Author & Artist
Adventures In Expansion

Musings

Just some thoughts, reflections, inspirations, and things I come across I think are fun, amusing, inspiring, or just plain great!

So welcome to my eclectic musings...

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Love Roses?

5/31/2014

 
Roses at Rose Garden
Rose Garden near Woodland Park in Seattle, WA
For those who love roses, June is the time to visit the Rose Garden near Woodland Park in Seattle, Washington. 

This small garden is delightfully landscaped and puts you in mind to have a formal English tea—finger sandwiches; scones with clotted cream and jam; a scrumptious selection of cookies; and Jasmine tea wafting from tea cups and poured from a charming tea pot.  

Alas, tea time is unavailable, though you can visit it in your imagination and still enjoy a quiet respite from the noisy traffic of bordering streets.  Water features, a gazebo, benches, and abundant blossom beauty make this a must-be spot.  And even lovelier—the entire garden is a pesticide-free zone.

Don’t wait!  The blooming season of these marvelous roses is short.  Be sure to sojourn here soon.

Dustin Hoffman’s Quartet

5/24/2014

 
There are so few movies that portray older people not only in their frailty, but also in their loveliness.  Quartet is one of them.  

It’s full of heavy-hitting actors such as Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Billy Connolly, and Pauline Collins—all playing aging opera singers.  And they reside at Beecham House, a retirement home for gifted musicians.  
It’s a place of long-standing competition and unfaithfulness, but also full of loyalty and affection.  And above all, music.

Lack of financing could close the home, threatening the welfare and close companionship of its residents.  Will rivalries be put to good use to save Beecham House?  Will the personal fears of individuals be set aside so a greater benefit can be gained?  And, there is the matter of an old betrayal.  Will past grievances be forgiven so that a long-ago lost love regains its rightful place?

For a charming movie that confirms humor, grace, and second chances can exist later in life, watch Quartet.

Click on the DVD cover to learn more. (Affiliate link)

From Garbage to Art

5/17/2014

 
Imagine you are in a museum and you spy a painting by Monet on a far wall.  You walk over to it and stand back taking in the entire scene.  

You see the painting in its wholeness; the brush strokes, texture, and splotchy colors of the paint are non-existent.  

Then you move nearer and peer at specific areas of the canvas.  

Rough and smooth textures, globs and thin varnishes of paint, as well as individual brush strokes are clearly visible. 

The painting is no longer a scene of wholeness—you see it in fragments.  You move back and forth between close up viewing and standing farther away.  Each position is important in understanding what it took to create the art and take in the art.

And so it is with the documentary, Waste Land.  Internationally renowned artist, Vik Muniz travels from his home base in Brooklyn, NY to his native Brazil and to the world’s largest garbage dump—Jardim Gramacho.

His mission is to make art from the garbage and somehow use this same art to help the catadores—the people that people turn away from in disgust and ignorance.  These are the people who are the self-designated pickers of recyclable materials.  To earn a living and support their families, they scale the smelly mountains of tons of refuse dumped from trucks each day.    

Vik looks at the entire dump site from aerial photos and then he moves in closer by walking throughout the dump and talking with the catadores.  Out of the many, he ends up working with seven of them in a collaboration of art-making.  He decides to create photographic portraits of the catadores in positions reflecting iconic images of art. 

These images become the basis of huge renditions of the photographs through creating them with the recyclables gathered and placed by the catadores.  And then he photographs these renditions and blows them up into huge photographs that are then sold at an auction house in London.  Each of the participating catadores receives some of the proceeds and some of it goes to fund the programs the catadores' union is working to develop.

Vik works in layers and layers of art-making process just as the garbage dump contains layers and layers of human refuse and history.

The documentary is fascinating and heart-filling.  It sweeps away ignorance, prejudice, and generalizations.  You see the struggle, the bad luck, and the achievements that can be wrested from poverty.  You'll cry, cheer, and be inspired by the power of the human spirit to transcend insurmountable challenges.  You'll be amazed at the power of art to transform how people see themselves and then their lives. You’ll want others to watch this film.

Don’t wait.  Click on the DVD cover and learn more.  (Affiliate link)

Spiritual Discernment

5/10/2014

 
J. Brent Bill in Sacred Compass: The Way of Spiritual Discernment uses Quakerism as a foundation to find, follow, and ultimately live a more God-directed life.  

He acknowledges that much of life can feel unclear and unstable.  And he affirms there are practices that can be used like a compass to help us in our uncertain moments to walk with and towards Divine wisdom.  

One of these practices is Lectio divina which “is Latin for ‘divine reading.’ It’s a structured way of combining prayer and scriptural reading that deepens our communion with God and gives us spiritual insight.” (p. 79) 

You may be familiar with one or more of the four steps he outlines in his book.

(1) Lectio: Reading a scriptural passage slowly so that you fully take in what is being presented.

(2) Meditato: Reflecting on the words and getting in touch with what you think and feel about the passage.

(3) Oratio: Praying and speaking with God about the passage and how you relate to it.

(4) Contemplatio: Being open to God and following God’s direction.

To learn more, click on the book cover. (Affiliate Link)

Love & Other Drugs 

5/3/2014

 
Sketch by Kathryn V. White
Back of an envelope sketch of Maggie & Jamie by Kathryn V. White, inspired by the movie, Love & Other Drugs
"Apparently, you need to know that I'll get better in order to love me."--Maggie from Love & Other Drugs
There is a quiet beauty to this film as you watch the two main characters grow beyond their self-imposed limits.

Jamie (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) grows out of his superficiality, his womanizing, and his need to win the approval of others through his charm.

Maggie (played by Anne Hathaway) grows out of her clever retorts and heart armor of easy sex to deny and drown out her anger and sadness with her early onset Parkinson's disease.

Set against the backdrop of the extremely powerful, ultra-competitive world of pharmaceutical companies and their global sales representatives, each of these characters acts as a catalyst to the other to open to love.

Want to watch it?  Click on the DVD cover.  (Affiliate link)

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    Author

    Kathryn V. White is an author and artist who dreams of rousingly playing a djembe in a drum circle.  

    Two of my books are finalists in the 2014 Wishing Shelf Book Awards!  Click on the below book covers to learn more.
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    Rumble Tumble Joy book reviews: San Francisco Book Review (4 star) & Story Circle Book Reviews (4 star).
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    2020 Juried Exhibit at the Washington State History Museum 
    Kathryn's collage, "Resonating Truth" has been juried into a show at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma, Washington. The exhibit runs from April 9 to August 20, 2020.

    2019 - 2020 Juried Traveling Art Exhibit in Virginia

    Kathryn's papercutting plus collage  "Summer Interlude" has been juried into a traveling show.  The exhibit runs September 9, 2019 to December 8, 2019 at Gallery 3700 in Arlington, Virginia and from December 17, 2019 to February 18, 2020 at Westover Library in Arlington, Virginia.
    2019 Juried Exhibit at the Washington State Convention Center
    Kathryn's large collage "When I'm Gone, Who Will Remember Me?" has been juried into a show at the Washington State Convention Center's Phyllis Lamphere Gallery.  The exhibit runs January 12, 2019 to March 31, 2019.
    Poetry On Buses 
    Kathryn's poem, The Sound Soothes, was selected for the ​2017 Poetry on Buses: Your Body of Water Program and is a part of the online collection! Click here to read it!

    2018 Juried Exhibit at the Rosehill Community Center

    ​*Three of Kathryn's collages have been juried into an exhibit at the Rosehill Community Center in Mukilteo, WA from April 3 through June 24, 2018. "Phoenix" won the Northwest Collage Society's prestigious Eleanor Wolters Smith Memorial Award.

    2017 SOLO SHOW at the University Business Center

    *20 of Kathryn's artworks were on exhibit in a solo show from October 16 through December 7, 2017 at the University Business Center's Gallery 4500 in Seattle's U-District.
    2017 Juried Exhibit at Seattle City Hall 
    ​Kathryn's collage, "Welcome to My Universe" was juried into the exhibit, "Hot Town: Summer in the City" at the Seattle City Hall in downtown Seattle that ran from July 7 through August 30, 2017.
     
    2017 Juried Exhibit at Seattle University  
    ​Kathryn had a large collage, "Broadway at Times Square" juried into the 2017 Search for Meaning Art Exhibition (part of the Search for Meaning Book Festival) from February  16 to 25, 2017 at Seattle University's Vachon Gallery. 
    2017 Juried Exhibit at Cascadia Art Museum  
    ​Kathryn had a collage, "Indra's Net" juried into the exhibit, "Collaged Impressions of the Northwest Social Realism and the American Scene 1930 to 1950" that ran January 19 to March 26, 2017 at the Cascadia Art Museum in Edmonds, WA.
    2017 Exhibit at Dreamclinic 
    ​Kathryn had 10 artworks exhibited from January through April 12, 2017 at Dreamclinic in Seattle's Roosevelt neighborhood.
    BUY ART: 
    Kathryn's art is available as fine art prints. Click here to find out more.

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    "You have everything when you embrace the full circle of life."— Kathryn V. White

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