Catalyst Seventy-Two

July 26, 2009, 8:25 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.

Ok! Here’s catalyst number seventy-two:

Tell us about your best friend or the effect of friends in your life.

We’re so excited to have Angela Cartwright as this week’s Guest Artist.

It took me over a year to get Angela to guest for us and now that she’s finally here, I am so delighted. I find Angela’s art to be soulful and stunning. I love the texture in her work. The versatility and range of her art is simply incredible.

Angela’s published several books. Most recently, In This Garden: Exploration in Mixed-Media Visual Narrative. She also authored Mixed Emulsions: Altered Art Techniques for Photographic Imagery and co-authored In This House: A Collection of Altered Art Imagery and Collage. She has also just started an art clothing site which incorporates her clothing and photography. And, in case you’ve never seen it, she also co-creates a quarterly quality art zine called Pasticcio Quartz. I told you she was versatile!

If you haven’t seen Angela’s amazing art before, make sure to checkout her site and her wonderful blog. And you can buy her original artwork at her etsy store.

Here is Angela’s art with this week’s catalyst. You can click on it to see a larger version and more detail.

Angela Says:

Joan Walsh Anglund wrote “A friend is someone who likes you”, but friendship is so much more than that. I have one girlfriend I have had for 50 years…50 years!… We have a lot of history with each other even though our lives are on two completely different paths. We share a thread of kinship that cannot be severed..

I am so grateful for my circle of friends. There is no doubt they make me a better person and constantly make me grow. Through them I look at life from other points of view, they help me clarify moments in time, and join in my sorrows and celebrations. True friends relish the accomplishments you achieve as well as sympathize with the tribulations you may be experiencing. Most importantly they can always make me laugh. Sometimes a good laugh is just what the doctor ordered..

Making time for friends is a priority. Life is busy and it’s easy to let friendships slide. Before you know it, weeks and months have flown by. It’s imperative to keep those you love in your life no matter how busy you are. Remember, to have a good friend you need to be a good friend.

Technique Highlight:

My art reflects moments in time. It grows out of experiences, thoughts, wishes and dreams. I often incorporate my own shadow, which I am constantly photographing, and it makes the piece very personal to me. I am passionate about photography and build my altered art by embedding my photographs in texture and creating a photo mosaic. “Come Out” documents a close friend who is moving to another state. She’s a wise old soul and I shall miss our talks and our shared love of gardening.

Thank you so much Angela; we’re so very very honored.

Here are some interpretations of the catalyst from members of our team.

Michelle:

Michelle Says:

My friends pretty much fall into 3 categories. I call them my high school friends, my mommy friends and my photographer friends. I really only categorize them for the sake of my husband so he knows who I am referring to. I have some great friends and am so thankful for all of them, but one “group” especially, my photographer friends, have a huge effect on my life. I have this amazing group of women that I have only known for a little over a year and now can’t remember not knowing them. They push me and support me and get me in a way that not many others can. As I continue down this path of following my photography dream, I know that these women are always going to be here for me and that there is no way I could do it without them. Some of them live close and some far away, but thanks to modern technology, we are always able to connect. When some of us are lucky enough to get together, we all end up with photos like this. Sitting around talking about life with camera in hand, seeing a bit ouf ourselves refelcted in eachother via our cameras and our love of photogrpahy.

Anita:

Anita Says:

My best friend and I have been friends for 15 years now. I have to admit it hasn’t always been easy. We are sure been through alot but our friendship has always come out on top. I don’t know what I’d do without here. We decided a year or so ago that on our 20th year we are gonna plan to go on a cruise together to celebrate!! Friends forever holds so true with us.

Karen:

Journaling Reads:

Maybe it’s odd that my best friend is also my husband. Maybe it sounds like one of those cheesy Hollywood movies. However it might sound to you, all I can say is that it’s the truth.

No I don’t have the best marriage in the world. Yes, we have ups and downs. Many of them. Some days, I’m not even sure it won’t all fall apart. But even on those days, I am sure of one thing.

He is my best friend.

He is the person who knows me best. He is the person whom I want to call when I have something big to celebrate. He’s the one I call when I am so deep in sorrow that I want to curl up and disappear. He’s the person I want to experience new things with and celebrate old memories with. He is the person who knows me best. He is the person with whom I don’t have to fake anything.

Ever.

I don’t know how it happened that I found him. SAnd there are times when it’s rough that my husband is also my best friend. There are times I wish I had a different best friend. Someone with whom I could talk about my husband and my worries. But the rest of the time, most of the time, I am so glad that I found him. That he’s my husband. My love. And my very best friend in the whole wold.

I love you, my love.

Amy:

Amy Says:

My friend reminds me that there is color and softness… and that one must look to see.

Wilna:

Wilna Says:

My husband of 18 years have without a doubt been my biggest inspiration for friendship. Here’s the journaling:

My love… you have taught me so many thngs about friendship that I dont even know where to start. I have been contemplating the word friendship” lately in the context that the Word said that Abraham was God friend. God’s highest for us is to be in an intimate friendship with him. But immediately we feel disqualified. The ” good news” is that we are included in the invitation. Psalm 40:7 says: So I answered, “I’m coming. I read in your letter what you wrote about me, And I’m coming to the party you’re throwing for me.” That’s when God’s Word entered my life, became part of my very being. The 2 MAYOR qualities that make up friendship is: Favor and Innocence. The good news again is that we possess both of these qualities in Him. Innocence as in forgiveness based on total acquittal, no suspicion, blame or guilt. (Gal 2: 20 and Rom.5:18)…and favor like in with a happiness produced by the experience of God’s favor and especially conditioned by the revelation of His matchless grace. *** You have taught me on these grounds how to be a real friend. Friendships have always been so important to me. I guess it’s part of who I am. I think to be a friend is a huge test of character. From you I have learnt: Friendship is an in depth relationship. Friendship is comfortable and relaxed. Friendship requires meeting the needs of both friends. Building friendships takes time. Friendships require self-disclosure so any friendship has risks, Talking and listening. builds friendships. Friendships require equality and loyalty from friends. Friendships as well as all other relationships must have limits. You set limits with your friends because you care for them and your relationship with them, not because you don’t. You have been my companion and my best friend all these years. I cannot imagine my life without
you and I thank God for you every day. You are my best friend in the whole wide world. and I love you for it. Thank You for always believing the best of me. Love you. Wilna xoxoox

Wendela:

Wendela Says:

Friends are really important for me!! In good times and bad times I tell everything to my best friend, we share a lot of things….happy things and ofcourse bad, and hard things! The journaling of my layout Friendship is: “In good times and bad times I’ll be on your side forever more that what friends are for…”

Lori:

Lori Says:

I’m really blessed to have wonderful, deep friendships. I don’t have tons of deep friendships. I have just enough. It takes me a long time to fully trust someone, but once I do, I’m loyal and true. I need my girlfriends. They help balance me and keep me in check. I just feel better when I’ve spent time with them.

Journaling Reads:

I met, Debi, through a scrapbooking site six years ago and we became fast friends. Her influence on me has been rather profound. Debi is fun. No, I mean to say FUN! She’s the life of the party. She’s the type that good stuff happens to by accident. She is a magnet for good things and she is the opposite of reserved. For that matter, she was the opposite of me. I was reserved, scared of life, negative…you know, not fun. Yet, somehow, slowly, over the years she’s managed to bring to the surface the true light within me. The part that’s been hiding so deep beneath the darkness of fear, I started to think it didn’t exist. Somehow, she’s managed to show me the blessings of family, life, and self. It’s one thing to know a thing, it’s another to feel it in your core, to believe in yourself, to become selfless, to truly begin to understand that there is something bigger than yourself, and to want to begin a journey of becoming spiritual. Somehow, a connection between my mind and my spirit has been made that did not exist before. I don’t know how or why and I don’t care. I’m just so grateful for it, and for my relationship with Debi.

Rachel:

Journaling:

My friends are one of the most important things in the world to me. They are the family that I choose for myself. They are each so different and amazing, each filling a special place in my heart. Friendships are a lot of work and not always easy, but they are so worth it because they are some of the greatest treasures.

Journaling On The Tags:

Drew- It sounds so cliché, but it’s true. I married my best friend when I married Drew. We had been friends first and I think that that has been the secret to this amazing love, life & marriage together. He is the first one I want to tell when something is wrong & the first person that I want to share joy with. He is the best friend, husband & soul mate that I could have ever began to dream of. He is my rock & my safe place to land, my shelter from every storm. I need him in all aspects of my life & I am so blessed to have him as not only my husband & family, but also my very best friend.

Mom- My mother is someone who I consider to be one of the most solid friends of my life. My whole life I wanted to be exactly like her. Strong, authentic, beautiful, intelligent and honest. She taught me what it is to have a hero and more importantly, how to be my own hero. She has always been there as a guidepost and example, a support and a kick when I needed one the most. She keeps me accountable and inspired everyday. She was my first best friend and the title still holds true today. I am still the little girl who wants to be just like her mother when she grows up.

Crystal- “A best friend is a sister that destiny forgot to give you.” These words could not be truer when it comes to me & Crystal. We never had to go through the process of becoming friends, we just were the moment that we met. After 16 years of laughter, joy, sadness, pain, and so much more, we can still pick up the phone and pick up right where we left off. We are the perfect complement to each other… the differences between us are part of what makes us so unique and strong in our friendship. She is the person who knows my past, is here for the present and will always be a part of my future.

Kristin- Kristin is my friend who always makes me remember & believe that we can get through any storm together… she is my Phoenix, always showing me how we can always rise up from the ashes of any situation. I knew from the moment that I met her 15 years ago that I wanted her to be my friend & I am so blessed that all these years later I get to call her one of my very best friends. She gets things about me that so many don’t. My quirky obsessions, my need for creativity, my need for peace. And she knows it without my ever saying a word. She just GETS me like no one else.

Jess- Jess has been a ray of sunshine and laughter in my life. We knew each other while in high school but we really connected a few years ago. She is one of those people who is genuinely GOOD. Always there to listen, always there for a laugh or a good time. She is one of those people that even when you are doing the simplest of things with, you are having the time of your life. She has a sense of right and wrong that is just impeccable and is always there to help you, no questions asked. She is my team awesome buddy and one of the best friends that I have ever had.

Teresa- I swear that Teresa is my twin, my soul-friend. When we met I knew that we would become friends and 5 years later, we are closer than I could have ever dreamed. She is someone who I admire for her strength, courage, resilience, integrity and heart. There are times that we just have to sit back and laugh at how exactly we are alike in so many ways and times that we sit back in awe at how we are connected and just know when to call for coffee. I can tell her anything and have and never need to fear judgment or indifference. She is a role model in the truest sense of the word.

Natasha- Natasha. My sister of the moon… the Grace to my Rita. The Posh to my Ginger Spice. Natasha reminds me to always believe in your dreams & to take the risks necessary to achieve them. She reminds me that adventures & living life is important & necessary & that it’s not always about what you should be doing, but also about what you dream of doing. She never gives up. She never lets you break her. She feels her emotions strongly & freely & without fear or shame. She is an artist, a philosopher, an adventurer & friend. I need for my heart and my soul.

Taylor- Taylor is this amazing person who has a sense of clarity at 21 that I still don’t have… & she’s had it since I met her five years ago. She is strong & brave & unafraid to be who she is without apology or permission. We could all learn from her how to follow our hearts & our dreams & to face adversity with a silent strength that is sure to move mountains. She has a strong & true sense of right & wrong & is not afraid to live by it and she does. She has turned out to one of the great friends of my life and I am so excited for where and how far she will go in life.

Technique Highlight:

I created pockets for my journaling by hand stitching the smaller papers onto my large paper instead of adhering it. This creates incredibly durable pockets able to withstand handling of the tags and pockets by those who wish to read them.

Opal:

Opal Says:

My best friend gives me wings…to see the beauty within and around me. Bits and pieces of favorite fabrics were used to strip piece the inspiration bird and layers of petals on the flowers.

Now it’s your turn: show us your therapeutic art around “Tell us about your best friend or the effect of friends in your life.” I urge you to give it a try. It can be any form of art as long as it speaks to you.

Leave us comments with your work and you will qualify for the RAK we offer to a random participant. If you don’t have a community or blog where you upload photos, you can upload them on our flickr group.

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.