That’s a wrap.

Wow. What a weekend. What a festival. Thank you. Thank you to everyone that conspired to share their talents, and to bring this far fetched dream to reality. We far exceeded my wildest dreams of what this festival could be, and what it could mean for so many beautiful, wonderful, humans.

For me it’s meant the opportunity to live my creative values, to give back to my community in a meaningful way, to be part of something larger than myself, to create new works & opportunities that are selfish in the best way possible. I have been consistently taken aback by the waves of love & generosity everyone has poured into every aspect of this festival. .
I keep saying it, but this festival was a stone soup production. To put it bluntly I just decided I was going to put my cash on the line with no hope of return & do whatever it takes to make this festival something that would feel like home. But once I provided the pot & the stone that drew people together their contributions far exceeded my expectations in every way. 10 amazing artists, over $1,000 grossed, audience packed to the rafters, and especially the love.

There were many people that introduced themselves to me for the first time this weekend to tell me how much they enjoyed the festival, and started out with “im not really an artist” or “I’ve never performed before but, I’ve had this idea” and that’s the most beautiful thing of all. There is a thirst. So many people with ideas stirring waiting for a pot to boil in. They want their opportunity to be part of creating something magical. I’m honoured to have connected with so many hearts & hope it contintues well into 2017.

There are so many more things I could say but can’t find the words.

I love this little city so much. I love these brave, willing, weirdos so much. I love creating art that isn’t for the final report numbers. I love creating space for creative connections. I love you for giving me space to do what I love.

Thank you all for your immeasurable support.

Take care & god bless

OVERHEAR by Out of the Box Theatre

The next, and probably last, performance piece I am working on this year is Overhear by Out of the Box Theatre. Torien Cafferata approached me with the opportunity to be a part of this uniquely intimate experience & I couldn’t resist.

If you are interested in learning more you can check the Facebook event here.

I don’t want to spoil anything for those planning on attending, but this has been an extremely emotionally demanding piece for me to create. This is the last project on my plate before beginning my fruits & flowers phase. I’m excited to see how it will be received, and to hopefully understand a little more about catharsis role in art & healing from this project.

If you can make it out I would love to hear your experience receiving the piece, and I look forward to sharing my experience creating it after.

New Snapchat Performance & Patreon

Hello friends,

I am creating a new snapchat performance tonight at 7:00 pm cst you can tune in live or it will be available for 24 hrs on my story as usual.

add me: bethijay91

I am creating this piece based on 10 random snippets of text from books, old journals, song lyrics, and images that I found lying around my house. Interestingly some clear themes arose out of these totally random snippets about the nature of truth, sadness and disconnect from the external world, and what we hide from ourselves. It’s going to be another raw, real intimate performance that I can’t wait to share with you for this brief moment of time.

If you enjoy my blog and snapchat performances you might consider becoming a Patreon of my work.

5x creative sparks

Written on the Body by Giselle Noelle Morgan

A woman maps the emotional score of children as a path to connect her lonely heart.
A woman writes with indelible marker across the face of history busy looking the other way.
A woman unwraps the possibility of living between us.
A woman casts a spell to absolve her sisters suffering after decades of fear.
A woman sees a future of fierce compassion through the lens of reclamation of voice.
A woman collects the sparks she needs to light the flames that will consume her.

Enjoy

Song of Seven: Biochoir via Erin Gee a phenomenally powerful piece still vibrating in my core. Erin Gee describes the piece and her process: “Since working with robots that make music effected by physiological markers of emotion, I started feeling a little lonely, so I composed a project for children’s choir and my own DIY Biosynths. Hardware synthesizers are a bit complex and particular though so I focused on the music and made the synths very simple biosonifications of emotional engagement for each child.Making this work I thought about how no one takes children’s emotions seriously: yet when we are young we are extremely sensitive and emotional. I wanted to highlight the large emotions of children while they also empathized with each other.
The score for this work is graphic as well as traditional, hand-drawn on graph paper with markings where sounds are activated by counting heartbeats and sweat bursts rather than traditionally notated.“
UK Rapper/Poet/Artist asks “How Much Are They Paying You?” via The Creators Project
Adrienne Rich on Lying, What “Truth” Really Means, and the Alchemy of Human Possibility via Brain Pickings – she so beautifully articulates one of my fundamental values in life & art
Sexual Assault Cases Are Our Modern Day Witch Trials via Establishment and then days later this article surfaces as if to underline her point.
These Haunting Photos Are a Tribute to Hysterical Women via Bust

5x emotional weather

I’m not ready to write a heart felt post about the weekend, or the last few weeks, or about the hearts I miss, or about what’s next. I’m not ready to process everything that happened in the last three weeks. All the punctums, all the generosity, all the bravery, all the inspiration, all of the lingering questions. I’m not ready to admit it’s over and transition back into the daily grind. Today is caught between two worlds, and I am balanced precariously between as are my pots & pans catching stray rain water seeping through the roof of my cozy attic. It is already starting to feel like something happened not something that is happening. As Harold & I hunker in for the storm I collect my thoughts like rain drops carelessly trespassing on my little corner of the world.