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a mood

February 17, 2013

yes. a mood.

my friend brings me her New York Times newspapers to use as fire starters in the winter. each morning i pull some out and read them as i crinkle some up to start the morning fire. some i keep. things about salamanders in Mexico City, carrots becoming the Artisan vegetable. this pic from a review of a movie…what IS it…i think Cloud Atlas? is that it? i don't see movies. am not sure. but i ripped this pic out for whatever reason and it's been pinned to the wall next to me for a couple or few months. and tonight i look at the tatoos on Tom Hanks face and thought that if i were some years younger, i might have something similar done to mine. and then i think about why am i

entertaining

this thought? Facial tatoos are a very distinct statement. and so i think….What would i be wanting to SAY, without saying anything at all?

this is very interesting.

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37 responses to “a mood”

Deb G

February 17, 2013

That is a very interesting idea indeed! Tatoos on the face seem to speak so much of identity, of wanting to express identity more or change identity… I was in a mood on Wednesday and was very thankful later that I was by myself (maybe that’s why I allowed myself the mood). P.S. something about this post puts me in a good mood…might be the idea of carrots as an Artisan vegetable.

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Elizabeth

February 17, 2013

Hi grace – what is an artisan vegetable?

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deb

February 17, 2013

I find facial tattoos particularly interesting because, no matter how small or tasteful, the actual face of the person is lost. Think of bank robbers who put a simple bandage across the bridge of their nose..you can remember nothing else about the face. A facial tattoo guarantees invisibility although I’m sure that was not the intent of most people who go that far.

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Robyn Ayaz

February 18, 2013

I like the idea you have sketched – the reflection in the eye – the tattoo almost looks like a map (I love maps!). I have seen Maoris from New Zealand with facial tattoos, very elaborate, and Deb is right, the tattoo completely takes over the person’s face. It is most definitely a statement; I looked at one of my son’s paintings and he has several people with tattoos on their faces, shamanic looking people of unknown origin. I could imagine doing it for those reasons but I’m not sure otherwise.

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Sandy

February 18, 2013

i really studied this photo. The crease of the paper almost forms a beak on T Hanks. I thought that was rather interesting along with the tattoo. A kind of bird man. A view from my eyes this morning. xoxo

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Julie

February 18, 2013

I saw the beak too and then really started looking at the creases across the face. The way they connect his face to the external environment…and after all, isn’t that what wrinkles are? Maybe wrinkles are tattoos that get put on us, rather than us having a say in the design.

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patricia

February 18, 2013

“what would I want be wanting to say w/o saying anything at all?” this really IS an interesting question. and we do it all the time just with our facial expressions. my grandson was telling me about one of his teachers–he likes her but sometimes her face looks scary–mad–to him. i asked him if he ever asked HER what was up and he said, NO–i think she might be mad at ME. a facial tatoo made from muscles and skin–what a message to send w/o even being aware. i find myself locked into concentration from time to time and if i catch a glimpse of my self, it can look pretty scary too. what message am i conveying? and our cloth–isn’t that what we do, say what’s DEEP inside w/o speaking. a whole other form of communication–but the facial expression thing, you’ve got me thinking about that now.

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roz

February 18, 2013

how about drawing some onto your face with some kind of not permanent marker ..choosing the marks , choosing the place , choosing how many , how would it feel and what would it say ?
would you wear it out of the house and in public for all to see ?
some tatoos say ‘i am wanting to be in the gang of / i belong’ but perhaps yours may be about fearlessness and coming of age ?
a medal or record of a life lived …?

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grace Forrest

February 18, 2013

well…i paired up those two words. Artisan carrot.
and the article began with an incredible photograph of
9 bunches of carrots, the most amazing colours..ambers and all oranges, a creamy golden, to deep mars violet. all
textures of skins, smooth, very textured, striated. all
small farm grown and organic.
and then the article itself went on to tell of how the
humble carrot is being elevated to Great Realms. at the
restaurant Clio, heirloom carrots cooked in goat butter are topped with hay that is then ignited. “Roasting, braising, grilling and more extreme forms of culinary invention typically applied to a pristine slab of hamachi or a rosy duck breast, are now directed at piles of freshly dug carrots”.
i love, like LOVE the food section in the New York Times.
things i can only read about there…and i talk about these things with my son who is a chef and went to whatever that great Culinary Arts School is in the east, and studied in Japan…i talk about this stuff with him and the two of us get all in an altered state about
cooking. and then i make a grilled cheese sandwich with
white bread.

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grace Forrest

February 18, 2013

i think it would depend on the person.
if i tattooed my face, i think the whole thing would
be noticed if i robbed a bank. that i am a 67 yo white
lady with wrinkles and a tattoo.
Tattoos are common in New Mex. probably because so many of the population spends some time in jails or prisons, or loves someone who is spending time in jails and prisons.
not remarkable here. and are incredible works of art
with materials found in jails…floorwax, shampoos, ink
from broken pens and melted plastic. drawn with guitar
strings.

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grace Forrest

February 18, 2013

i am so curious why i am even thinking about all this.

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grace Forrest

February 18, 2013

i see it. hadn’t before you mentioned it, but yes.
a bird man. i have no idea what part he plays in the
movie..what the tatoos represent in the movie…
and xxs and oos to you

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grace Forrest

February 18, 2013

what a beautiful thought…wrinkles as design…

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grace Forrest

February 18, 2013

yes. i don’t know what to make of it all. but it is
lingering.
and reading your grandson’s thoughts, i know that i can
look scarey. probably why i make my way as well as i
do in this IFY little community i live in. Why i have
always been able to make my way. i think it’s a look
that says
Don’t.
it’s just there.
and acknowledged.

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grace Forrest

February 18, 2013

roz…yes. it’s a statement of affiliation. yes.
to What, is the question???

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grace Forrest

February 18, 2013

ok. as i finish up this day, i wander a little. see if
there is anyone OUT there…go to Deb G’s see if she is
there. Make a report of stuff on Spirit Cloth. and
then…as it does….as i am just wandering, waiting for
the moment i let it all go for the day,
the words come.
affiliate with WHAT?
and the words came…the Fringe.
i would affiliate with some kind of Fringe.
Fringe of what?
Fringe of Society.
ok. enough for now.
THANK YOU for your thoughts that gave seed to my own.

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Nancy

February 18, 2013

As I read through all of this, I am reminded of paintings a friend of mine has done, depicting body painting (maybe like a tattoo?). The painting represents that person. Here is her daughter’s:
http://michelebramlett.com/art/dakota-at-14/
I could find hers right away. I have always been intrigued with this work (and the self-portrait too)
OH, here it is:
http://michelebramlett.com/art/category/portraits/

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elizabeth fortes

February 18, 2013

Dear Grace:
The above statement comes from the mighty survivor in you. My great respects! This is that part of you who works so hard and even harder to come up with this idea of fringe! Now….. shall we try again? ok.
Why doesn’t it seem to you that your affiliation is also amongst the Creatives, the Innovators, the ones that bring light and play and courage to this world! You inspire those of us who lack stamina and heart , who are walking in the dark, to see that at least Someone – you! – dare to step into the gaps, across the edges and into some other worlds….That is also your affiliation ! We know….. ! e.

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patricia

February 19, 2013

wondering what an IFY community looks like?

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jude

February 19, 2013

everything we do is an attempt to say something,

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Mo Crow

February 19, 2013

any woman who hasn’t got the “Just Don’t!” stare down by 50 just hasn’t got out enough! Our faces truly tell our stories like “The Picture of Dorian Grey”.

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Denise

February 19, 2013

I waited until I turned 53 to get my first tattoo. I now have four on my forearms, each black and gray. They are all symbolic for me, maps of my essential self. I think facial tattoos are wonderful and beautiful because they are on the part of the body you can’t cover up. You can’t deny you have them and you can’t deny who you are and why you have that particular statement on your body.

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grace Forrest

February 19, 2013

these are beautiful. but this face marking…..

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grace Forrest

February 19, 2013

elizabeth…SMILE, we shall try again…well, across edges.
i like that. i like that a Lot.
and…what really, IS my affiliation. this is such a
good question.
love,

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grace Forrest

February 19, 2013

i took some pics a while ago and posted them. mostly tho
of San Lorenzo canyon that is just to the West across the
freeway. but on the way home, i took some pics of the
maybe 2 or 3 block span of downtown Polvadera. and i said
some things about it then. i’ll have to go back and look.
see what i said.
but the particular IFY i refer to here in the present is
that this IFY community is a grouping of maybe 20 one acre plots of land owned and developed by one Mr. Sisneros. he owned land all over the place. lots of Land Grant from his family. and he developed this because it is just about 7 miles north of Socorro. this little ify neighborhood of mine is all trailer houses except one. that’s my north
east neighbor Eusebia. hers is a house. she was first
here. when me and the maniac bought this place, it was all empty around it. there was a Land Covenant in place.
over the years somehow everything changed and the land covenant was forgotten and homes were sold or rented or outright abandoned and it somehow also filled up, acre to acre, except for the abandoned acres. i am fortunate to
live on the farthest south acre. so close to me is
fields, pastures, one good neighbor across the road. all the rest, to the north, welll….not all, but most, change.
no longer are there people who love their Place. a lot
of places, people are “staying”. renting?, family members?
i don’t know. but it’s known to be a tough little barrio.
Drugs. a lot of Alcohol driven people. it’s poor. but the
poorness isn’t like the old poor. it’s a new poor. it’s
not a warm, making do poor, but a harsh poor.
New Mexico tends to be a place of the ultimate ReCycle.
everyone keeps Everything. you never know when you’ll
need it. yards are strewn. so there’s that, but also
people who don’t own a truck so their trash just floats
around their yards with whim of the Wind.
windows of homes with curtains of sheets that are falling
down and sideways askew. broken windows taped along the
cracks. junk. just a lot of junk.
and you know, i pretty much don’t even see it all much
anymore. but when i bump into people at our Neighborhood
Box Unit mailbox (with gang marks spray painted) i greet
them heartily as an old hippy chick Not From Here but
also…i hold my space. this is where i live. it’s where i Stand and Face What I Know. and if the world would come
to an end tomorrow, i would be good with it. be glad
to be here. in this ify community where i have staked
out my space.
i’ll try to Post some pics.

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grace Forrest

February 19, 2013

mostly to our Selves, i think.

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grace Forrest

February 19, 2013

yes. it’s interesting. if you live alone, and further,
are solitary, that Don’t face says many many things. as
well as having the wherewithall to live alone and solitary.
they kind of go together.
i remember when the maniac died that i was married to, who wasn’t always a maniac in the beginning, anyway, when he
died, for a while a couple of male persons in the area
would drive by and stop if i was working outside and
tell me (in spanish) how they would like to take me to
the dance. which meant to the bar in the neighboring
town. and i asked my neighbor margie, margarita, how
do i say “NO. Go Away. Never, NO”, nicely. not being
rude. and she thought and thought and gave me a phrase
that translated to…”Thank you. But i do not want the
company of men”. beautiful, yes?

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grace Forrest

February 19, 2013

yes. all that you say. i am so interested by this
thought.

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Deb G

February 19, 2013

Hey Grace, here I am. Reading your comments and eating healthy local beans that taste “healthy”, cheese and toast that I fried in butter and olive oil…not healthy! All has great texture. Thinking about fringe…

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Mo Crow

February 19, 2013

Margie’s good reply was the one I used hitchhiking interstate with a good dog friend between the age of 18 & 21 (when I still had an angel looking after me and a very trusting heart) That line was good for fending off the unwanted attentions of truck drivers along with saying I was a vegetarian helped, they thought I was from another planet! When I turned 21 the game rules changed the innocence of youth had flown & I had to get a set of my own wheels!

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Nance

February 19, 2013

And also what we do not do. Fascinating ideas here. So many open minded spirits. Me…? I have never liked tattoos on people from the western world. Certain native cultures where it is a tradition with great meaning … Yes.

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Nance

February 19, 2013

Oh… This was in reply to what jude said… About everything we do says something. Still I could never tattoo myself.

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KaiteM.

February 20, 2013

in Africa, or at least in Ethiopia anyway, facial tattoos are done to show what tribe you belong to, so it’s an instant identification thing – where you belong. I think it would be extraordinary to have facial tattooing done, but it would have to be for a ‘real’ reason, like a real tribal thingy or a very strong statement as to who we are, but even then there is the question as to why one has to tell everyone in the street that statement about ourselves. Layers of thought.

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patricia

February 20, 2013

wonderful–thanks for such a vivid description–i understand about the new poor–i’m from wv afterall and appalachia is no stranger to this social order you describe–and yep, you sure are one strong “old hippy chick” standing your ground and walking your talk. would love to see pics.

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grace Forrest

February 21, 2013

and just to clarify the Don’t a little…a for instance:
tonight there’s about a hundred dollars of feed out there
outside the gate in the truck. it’s too windy to open and
close the gate.
the Don’t applies to: this is mine. leave it alone.
as was when the battery charger (desirable thing) was
hooked up out there overnight.

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grace Forrest

February 21, 2013

actually, i think i was thinking about how to
UN
identify.

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Carine

February 22, 2013

EMbroidery comes from tattoo, it is an ornementation, it serves the same purposes, it uses the same pigments. Some inuit tattoos are made with a needle and a thread dipped in charcoal. I see this beautiful tattoo perfectly set and stitched on the last cloth you posted.

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