Library Card Fun!

When I think back on my life, the library has always played a huge role and been a strong force in my creative development. I love libraries!! I feel safe when I live near one and have fond childhood memories of my stay at home mama walking my siblings and I to the library every Saturday morning. I was so excited when I found out our 4 year old could apply for a library card here in Georgia. He was so excited and woke up reminding us so we didn't forget to go. I was also excited to pass on the love of reading and libaries to him. I hope that he remains a life long book lover.

He checked Babar The Movie as his first DVD! He also got a book on Football Fun Facts and a Gwendolyn Brooks Children's Poetry book.

No, gorth forth son and spread the knowledge around!

What are your early memories of reading and the library?

If you create it they will come.

I am excited to share some of my new crafting projects. I am still working away like a busy elf finishing the Jospehine Baker cabinet and the Tina Turner Vision Box. I took a short break from them and spent a day experimenting with the stationary. I have always loved to write handwritten letters and keep a box of greeting cards for quick sending to family. I was still inspired by the amazing Jewel Magazine that I sourced all the photos for the Baker Box. I remember I had this gorgeous dark brown notecard paper so decided to collage images right onto them.

I love the term: "You betta werk." It was made famous by one of my imaginary BFF's RuPaul. I continued to cut images that just spoke to me and had colors that would pop against the dark brown card stock. I love adding layers, embellishments, glitter and shine. I am happy with the four that I was able to create. I will be exploring the art store tomorrow for more paper in classic colors to use for a full collection of cards.

I opened up the etsy store, even though I have nothing listed yet since everything I have made has sold. The store is called TerrorChic and will include the decoupage wooden items, clutch purses, vintage tea pots and the stationary. It has been fun building the collection and brainstorming on the pieces I want to represnt me and my mission as an artist. The journey continues.

What is your creative and artistic outlet?

Wander and discover.

“I have been in sorrow’s kitchen and licked out all the pots. Then, I have stood on the peaky mountain wrapped in rainbows, with a harp and a sword in my hands.” -Zora Neale Hurston

I adore Zora Neale Hurston. She is loved and very well known for her classic book "Their Eyes Were Watching God," a magical love story about a women's freedom. My first introduction to her was through this book in college. I fell head first into that book and also taught it in book groups for years to young women in Chicago. While her writing is close to my heart I actually also truly admire Hurston for her work as an anthropologist.

Hurston recognized the significance of the folklore of the Southern United States and the Caribbean countries. Her care and research for documenting and perserving black culture is so inspiring. She was born in 1891 in Eatonville, Florida and traveled extensively all over the south, Haiti, Jamaica, Honduras and Belize. A theme of her writing is freedom and independence. She inspires me to continue on my path to discovery. I have always been a wanderer and love the the quote by J.R.R. Tolkien : "Not all those who wander are lost." As I continue to embark on a career in the field of Creative Empowerment and the Arts I am reminded that part of finding your way is to get lost, to take risk and to shake things up on your own path. Sometimes life hands us a curve like, a parent dying, losing a job, moving to a new state or country, changing careers or financial woes and through these challenges we grow, we create art, we become self employed out of necessity, we build and expand.

The hards times can really be amazing opportunities to blow up the path that you thought you would walk down. As I continue to tranistion on my new migration experience in Atlanta, I am reminded of the advice I have been told by many people when sharing how lost I have gotten while driving around my new city, "Well, the best way to learn and discover a city is to get lost and have to ditch all map directions. Just flow."

I believe this advice is also relevant for our transitions in life. What have you learned while lost?

Call to Empowerment

When I was in Peace Corps back in the day I worked in Morocco, North Africa. It was a wonderful, stressful and life changing experience. One of my vivid memories from the experience is the Call to Prayer that blasted throughout the streets on a loud speaker. Aside from the beautiful Arabic singing, I also loved how it mobilized entire communities to stop any activity to pray and meditate.

I think it would be a great idea to have a "call to empowerment" in communities all over the country. Maybe a poem, positive quotation or meditation could be read or sang from rooftops on loud speakers all over the hood. Five times a day we could use sound and words to heal ourselves and to empower and uplift.

My work as lady Terror is one of creative empowerment and an experiment in guerilla art, spectacle and performance art. My latest stunt was the releasing of balloons with a poem tied to it. My hope is that someone will find the balloon, untie the poem, read it and be inspired. It's also symbolic of a lesson that I re-learn daily: You must let things go in order to receive. The more you give with purpose, the closer you get to living out your life's purpose. Life is beautiful but also rough sometimes. I believe deeply that poetry and words are therapy.

Enjoy the footage from the stunt filmed last week and my original poem "The Cubicle Project," whch was written at a call center, cubicle job that attempted to kill my creative joy. Pain can bring art sometimes. What poem or quotation would you want to release into the air as a gift or have blasted on loud speakers in your hood?



If you enjoy my mission please think about bringing me to your school or organization for a Creative Empowerment Workshop or to create a theater project. Lets build!

Marathon towards new income

All of my horoscopes for the month of August have been speaking about new sources of income and money being plentiful in my life. I accept this and see this point in my life as a shift. It seems as if the entire nation is going through a shift in thinking when it comes to employment and income. With the recession and high unemployment it is harder than ever to land a job and once you get one, the threat of being terminated is even stronger. I finally had an epiphany the other day. It has been one that has been buidling in the back of my head for years. The epiphany: I need to never work in a cubicle ever and I need to be self employed.

My horoscope also has been lamenting a lot about being funded for creative and artistic projects this moon cycle. I also accept this and preparing myself for this by creating proposals, ideas, brainstorms and presentations. So, for anyone out in the universe who is looking for a creative life coach, performance artist, poet, writer, teaching artist, solo theater performer, actress or radio commentator, here I am (waving my hands and smiling.)

I am visiting my family in Chicago and my fantastic niece who is a makeup artist and fashionista has a book that was peeking out from under her mounds of makeup. I was sneaking into her room to find some fabulous OPI nail polish to paint my nails and this wonderful book was just laying there: "Creative Girl: The Ultimate Guide for Turning Talent and Creativity into a Real Career." Whoa! This is exactly what I was looking for. I will be reading this while I continue my long vacay here. I plan to take notes and will share the knowledge here. So excited.

Do you have any books that have helped you in your creative journey?

Can't wait to eat this book up.