Catalyst Twenty

Catalyst Twenty

July 27, 2008, 7:02 am
Filed under: catalyst

 

As always, thank you to all of our visitors and all the encouraging comments you left for us. For those of you who did, thank you for playing along with us. We will do a drawing for the RAK and announce the name mid-week. Make sure to read the RAK section this week, we’ve made some changes in the RAK qualification rules. And if you didn’t join us before, we hope you do this time.

 

Ok! Here’s catalyst number twenty:

 

How do you feel about your name?

 

We’re very excited to have Mou Saha as this week’s Guest Artist.

 

I find Mou’s art to be touching and unique. To me, her layouts are sophisticated and elegant; not too cluttered but never bare. The one thing all her layouts have in common is that she is always very inspiring.

 

Mou’s art has been published is almost every scrapbooking magazine and she is a 2007 Hall of Fame winner for Creating Keepsakes. She is on the design teams for Rusty Pickle, Luxe Designs, Cocoa Daisy, and Just Let Me Scrapbook! She’s also one of the five Scrapbooker of the Year finalists for this year.

 

You can see more of Mou’s art and read about her at her blog. We are thrilled to have her here.

 

 

 

Mou’s art with this catalyst is below and you can click it to see a bigger version.

 

 

 

Journaling Reads:

In Bengali, my name means ‘Honey’. My aunt chose my name. ‘A short and sweet name for my tiny niece’, she said. In school, my friends sometimes teased me calling me ‘honey bee’… but for some reason that never really bothered me. When I think of the nick name, I actually like it. I do love to keep myself busy as a bee. The most common compliment I get is ‘You are very sweet!’ But let me tell you this – I’m not ALL sweet. Bees sting when provoked. Well, I don’t sting, of course, but I can protect myself, if needed. So you see, the name fits! And I like that it does 🙂

 

 

Thank you so much Mou; we’re truly honored.

 

 

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Here are some interpretations of the catalyst from members of our team. Click on the photos to see the bigger versions.

KL:

KL Says::

my name is more than who i am and yet it encompasses so much of everything i am and who i am as i live my life. i have a formal name, a friendly name, a mother’s name, a nickname and even some secret names, each of which are important pieces of me.

 

when i started creating with this week’s catalyst i had no plan, no real focus of what i would make or what i would say. but i heard one of my favorite songs, sky by joshua radin, and those beautiful lyrics showed me what i would focus on.

 

i thought of how i feel about me, and the name i have. what do i see. what do i feel. what do i know, and ultimately, what i forget. and i forget to remember me. i forget to love me. i forget to notice me. and this is a soft nudge, a gentle reminder that i am here. i have a name. i am worthy and whole and perfect just as i am. with all of the names that i know and hear.

 

Journaling Reads::

“sometimes i forget to love you like i should” – joshua radin

 

Technique Highlight::

i’ve been enjoying creating these in an old vintage music book, and this time i wanted to create something that was a bit more interactive. after creating the page with layered collage, gel medium and gesso i slit a tiny notch in the side along the binding and attached my large glitter “Y” with a ribbon. the tail tuck through the slit and attaches on the back, which will be hidden with the collage work on following page when i create again.

 

 

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Amélie:

 

Amélie Says:

My last name has a noble connotation, that’s why I chose this image. In writing the words ‘once upon a time’ one can imagine the history of the entire family, the history of my ancestors. I am not a princess but which little girl never dreamt of being one?

 

In French:

Mon nom de famille a une connotation noble, voilà pourquoi j’ai choisi cette image. En écrivant les mots ‘il était une fois’ on peut imaginer l’histoire de toute la famille, l’histoire de mes ancètres. Je ne suis pas une princesse mais qui n’a jamais rêvé petite fille d’en être une?

 

Techniques Used:

collage, acrylics, 3D paint, varnish crackling, and paint crackling.

 

 

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Fran:

 

Fran Says:

My given name, “Francine”, is a name with several connotations for me.

 

It’s a name that has always been unique; it’s a pretty name with a sophisticated sound to it. I’ve almost never been in a room with another Francine, where we both had to turn our heads! The name sounds a bit formal to me and it’s a name I used for my scholarly and professional pursuits prior to becoming a full-time artist. The name was chosen by my parents to honor, in the Jewish tradition, my great-grandmother, Fanny, who had passed before my birth.

 

One of the funny things about it is that it rhymes with my married last name, “Saperstein”. Francine Saperstein has a nice ring to it. However, I’ve also seen it with a very “prissy” feel to it. It’s quite formal and reminds me of a time when my goals were simply to be “the good daughter” or “obedient.” Perhaps that is why I have been introducing myself as “Fran” since becoming an artist.

 

“Fran” is more casual and describes my life now – casual, less structured, more relaxed. It’s really who I have become in many ways. Friends have always called me by this nickname… maybe I’ve learned to become my own friend? I do know, however, that I am much more comfortable with myself.

 

Technique Highlight:

Writing with Pigma Micron pen with Koi Watercolor background; doodling with Sakura Gelly Roll Metallic Pens.

 

 

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Brenda:

 

Brenda Says:

This is Brenda……..she hates her name. Her message is “Celebrate your Bliss!” I have never liked my first name and didn’t use to like my middle name, which is Bliss. Now I love my middle name! My parents tried for 5 years to have me and when I came along….it was Bliss! I try to find The Bliss in all things…and Celebrate it!

 

 

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Leena:

Leena Says:

Years ago, out of the blue I asked my folks how do they come about naming me. My dad told me that originally they wanted to name me Loh Lee Ta. Being a Chinese, Loh is my family name and Lee Ta will be my given name. I thought the name sounds good but to my understanding, my grandparents had adamantly protested against my folks naming me that. LOL! Yeah, I can understand how they felt because as a Chinese, they would want their future generation to be named with names with strong and meaningful characters so that they will lead a prosperous and successful life. Chinese names can come in thousands and thousands of characters. Some even hire “Feng Shui” master and spend lots of money to choose the most suitable name for their children.

 

However, my folks being English-educated don’t really bother about those Chinese old folks tales eventually named me Loh Lee Na. Sadly, I wasn’t educated in Chinese, so I don’t really know the meaning of my name, except the character “Lee” in Chinese partly means “Beautiful”. Well, I am more than happy that there’s a beauty character in my name which makes me feel really good.

 

I love the sound of my name whenever anyone address me Leena, be it they sometimes shorten it to ‘NaNa’ or ‘Nina’, it still means the same to me. I have always loved my name and will always do and I would never ever change it for any other names.

 

 

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Karen:

 

Journaling Reads:

Yes, Karen is an ordinary name but when you remember that I was born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey, doesn’t it seem so much less ordinary? I love my name cause, in my own way, I feel like my parents must have known that I was going to end up needing a nice, American name so I love my name to bits.

 

 

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Christine:

 

Journaling Reads:

When I was born, my parents originally named me Joann Beatrice Christine, but I was always called Christine. When I became a U.S. citizen, my legal name became Christine, and I am so thankful for that! I am really pleased with my name, and in recent years I’ve come to treasure it even more as I’ve grown spiritually. The reason for this is because of my name’s meaning: Christian – follower of Christ. My name is a constant reminder of my true identity in Christ. It points me back to whom I am following. As I journey on through life, I pray that the person I become eventually reflects the name that I bear…one who believes in and follows Jesus Christ wholeheartedly.

 

 

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Now it’s your turn: show us your therapeutic art around “how do you feel about your name?” I urge you to give it a try. Embrace the healing power of art. It can be any form of art as long as it speaks to you. Leave us comments with your work and we will send a RAK to a random participant. You’ll have to link your art by Sunday night, August 3rd, midnight PST to qualify for the RAK. If you don’t have a community or blog where you upload photos, you can upload them on our flickr group. There’s a small change in RAK rules: to qualify for our weekly RAK drawing, all you have to do is do art around ANY of our catalysts. It doesn’t have to be the one from this week. We believe in the healing power of art and we want you to pick whichever catalyst inspires you the most.

 

For our RAK for this week, we are thrilled to be giving away beautiful stamps from our sponsor, Pink Persimmon. There are three stamp sets: Small Banner Set, Wise Old Owl, and Carnival Alpha (small). The alpha set works perfectly inside the banner set to create a word banner.

 

 

 

Remember, this is not a competition. If your art makes you feel even a bit better at the end, you’ve won.

 

Until next week, enjoy each and every moment.

 

 

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