Week of Representing: Miyoko Schinner

Welcome, welcome to Beans' third blog post in its Week of Representation (which you can read about by clicking here, and which is in honor of the documentary "Miss Representation").

Miyoko Schinner

So very, very happy to feature the work of BeanUpTheNoseArt's great friend and supporter, Miyoko Schinner.

A woman knows how to get things done.

Like, wow.

Where do we start?

Okay, first of all, she is an amazing CrossFit athlete and Masters competitor. She is strong and fast and determined. Oh, and by the way, she has three kids, from mid-teens to just-turned-21.

Miyoko is also a gifted actress. And she's been an entrepreneurial business woman for decades: as a master vegan chef. She's written books, and taught classes with and for the best of them.

And last summer, she began pairing her acting and vegan cooking passions in "Miyoko's Kitchen," a series of videos she's produced through the Marin Community Media Center.

And voila: "Miyoko's Kitchen" is now one of three finalists in the "Informational Lifestyle" category for this year's Western Access Video Excellence awards. (Which will be announced next week, on October 8. GO, MIYOKO!!!)

And she's gotten an agent :)

Oh, and she's got another book coming out. And will be teaching at the World Vegetarian Festival this Sunday in San Francisco, speaking about the global footprint of your food choices at the same time that she'll be whipping up a mean pot of gumbo.

Miyoko's goal is to take vegan cooking to the mainstream, in ways that are accessible, approachable, and not scary. She turned almost-completely- a-vegan at around age 12, and then dropped dairy from her diet 30 years ago and has not looked back. Miyoko likes to practice "teaching without preaching," and loves the way that people are beginning to explore diet options based on environmental concerns, changing health habits and all sorts of great reasons.

All photos here are from Miyoko's awesome website, which we're hoping you'll check out here.

Go, go, go, Miyoko!!! Good luck on your new publications, your classes, your video award, and all the other good things you do!!! You are an inspiration to us all. YOU ROCK!!!!

Week of Representing: Alem Harris

Howdy!  Welcome to the second of Beans' Artist Representations, during our Week of Representing.   (Click here to learn more about that, and about the documentary "Miss Representation.") 

Alem Harris

Here's Alem Harris . . . back in the day, as the young folks say, when we were high school seniors together.  I could show her photo from our junior high year book, too (when we were in carpool together).  But those junior high photos are way too little to do her big spirit justice. 

Among other things in high school, Alem served on the Senior Advisory Board, and was a Pom Pom girl.  Which meant that our jaws were always dropping when we saw her awesome dance moves in support of the football and basketball teams.  (Much cooler than a cheerleader.)  She was like Beyonce, way before there was Beyonce.

Alem went to college and majored in dance.  And became an amazing grown up.

 
She went to graduate school.  She raised a son.  She became an educator, and has been teaching for 20 years.  This year:  sixth graders, at an inner-city school in Richmond, California.  Where for years and years, she has been putting together shows for others, and performing when it worked.  

Alem says that, "Singing was always my first love," and she focused on dance in college as a way to get into it.  

And we are happy to report that this summer . . . when we both turned 50 . . . Alem finally got to stage a show in which she was producer, director AND performer.   At the terrific Empress Theatre in Vallejo, California, Alem produced and starred in "Fulfilled," a benefit show in honor of her father and his alma mater, Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, Texas.  Alem performed the songs from her first CD (also called "Fulfilled") that she finished mastering this summer. 

Here she is, on the marque!  Do you know what a thrill it is to see someone you knew as an 11-year-old on a theatre marque?!?!?!  Go, Alem!!!

And she rocked the house. With all original songs, written by her son Iamsu -- a terrific artist himself -- who performed with her.

As Alem says, "My music is all about encouragement and going for it." And she's right.  Every song was uplifting and head-bopping . . . and Alem still has the moves.  Decked out in a silver dress, looking like something wonderfully between Cher and Tina Turner, Alem rocked it.

It is a total gift to be able to post about someone "you knew when," who has lived a life of such good and kind service to others, and who has the energy and creativity to keep on blossoming each and every year into a better and better version of herself . . . continuing to help others, to make them happy and proud, to grow her art, to be a beacon.  You truly rock, Alem.  In so many ways.

Week of Representing: Rachel Taormina

Last week, I saw "Miss Representation," Jennifer Siebel Newsom's documentary about the harm caused by the way that our society . . . crystallized in the media . . . portrays women:  it is always the way that you look that matters more than anything else about you, and the way you "should" look is almost impossible to achieve.  (Please click here to read some amazingly sad statistics.)  

This isn't good for anyone.  Seriously.  In the short term and in the long run, treating a group of people this way damages them, and damages you.  And makes the pie-of-what-is-possible smaller, rather than larger.  Which sucks for everyone.  Bigger pies = better possibilities for us all.  Hey -- why not run the world THAT way?!?!?

My friends Sally and Maria and Cathy have already written eloquent blog posts about "Miss Representation" and its effects on them.  I hope you'll click on their names and read those posts.

It is serious subject matter, and can be incredibly depressing.  

But the filmmakers have also offered hope -- in the form of a call to action:  where we all are asked to take steps in supporting women as more than simply the sum of our looks.  (You can follow this movement on Twitter at @RepresentPledge.)

So what's my action right now?  

This week, Beans will be featuring three creative women, from different ages and walks of life, and sharing with you their experiences, passion, ideas and art.  Thanks much to these three women, and to all of you women and men who read about them!

Rachel Taormina

Coincidentally, the last time I saw Rachel was over 20 years ago, when she and my kids were preschoolers together.  It was with great luck and happiness that I serendipitously reconnected with Rachel and her wonderful mom Grace this summer.   

What is your art background?

I grew up in a creative household.  My mother, a designer and artist, always encouraged my artistic endeavors and supplied me with the means to do so.  I always loved drawing and crafting as a child so my mom would plop me down at the kitchen table with what seemed like an endless supply of crafting materials, and I would entertain myself for hours.  I went through numerous crafting stages:  magazine collaging, drawing, sewing pillows, jewelry-making, clay bead-making, etc. . . . [in college] it wasn't until my second semester of wandering around like a little lost puppy, and several monotonous general education courses later that I finally realized that I LOVED making art.  The first drawing class I enrolled in in college decided the fate of the rest of my college career.  In 2008 I graduated with a BA in fine arts with an emphasis on art education.

How do you describe your work?

I would describe my work as colorful, whimsical and abstract.  My pieces are usually a mix of drawings and paintings with collage.  I use chalk pastel, ink, watercolor and acrylic layered with paper and other objects.  My work usually features portraits of either people I know or interpretations of my own self.  My art is therapeutic and I tend to work when my emotions are high, so often my art tends to be a little wild and somewhat dark.

Where do your inspirations and ideas come from?

Everywhere!!!  Everything from an interesting coaster at a bar, to a funky record cover at a thrift shop inspires me.  I love to collage, so every time I see something interesting I can collage with what I'm inspired by.  Anything with texture or pattern:  wood grain, cracks in the sidewalk, rust, plaster peeling off the wall.  Feathers, wine bottles, clothes, jewelry.  Art is everywhere!

What medium do you prefer to use?

Most of my work is mixed media.  I use ink, watercolor, paper, pastel and found objects such as vintage book pages and feathers.  I love mixing mediums [because] it gives my pieces a layered effect and somewhat chaotic messy feel.  At the moment my favorite medium is ink and watercolor.  I love the way ink and watercolor flow so effortlessly over paper, and how you can control the opacity and transparency with just a dab of water.  I love the instant gratification watercolor gives me.  It's fast and it's easy to clean up, which is refreshing because my work usually requires a bit of clean up.

What's your next artistic goal?

I have always wanted to make really large-scale art.  I have never made anything larger than five feet by three feet.  Also, I would love to be able to finish a piece of art without abandoning it first and moving on to the next piece.  I always have a number of pieces that I'm working on at the same time, and a few pieces that have been almost forgotten about.  That has always been the way I've worked, but I think it would be so gratifying to concentrate on one piece, and only one piece, until completion.

You can find Rachel's artwork at Ideologie, 1770 Solano Avenue in Berkeley, CA.  Thanks for your time, ideas, work, passion and creativity, Rachel!  Keep up the great work.  YOU ROCK!!!

  

UPDATE  . . . .

A bit after writing this post, we  had the good fortune to find more of Rachel's work in a private collection :)  Holy crap.  It rocked us off our socks.

Check out this pen-and-ink, mixed media collage piece called "Underwater Heart:"

This amazing image is a monoprint:  

Another mixed-media collage.  Totally admire Rachel's skills as both an extremely gifted representational, and abstract, artist.

And how she can create in so many ways.  Here, a linotype.

Keep rocking on, you extremely talented woman!!!!  So glad we got to find even more of your work, Rachel.    

Come Play With Us At Fall Classes!

Hello, howdy, and hey there!  

Yep.  We are THAT excited to announce Bean Up The Nose Art gets to teach classes this fall at the cool-assed studio of cool-assed artist, author, teacher and all-round excellent person Lisa Sonora Beam.

We posted here about the mysterious, serendipitous way that we got to hook up with Lisa . . . who turns out to live less than 10 miles from Bean Up The Nose Art's studio out in West Marin, CA.  About the terrific classes that she leads, and that we got to take.  

Since then, Lisa's become a stalwart supporter of our business, an art buddy, and a kind friend. When she offered to open up her San Anselmo, CA studio to classes by Bean Up The Nose Art . . . well!  What could be nicer?!?!?  Spending fun times with fun people doing fun things?!?!?  

 
So.  Here are the deets.  Post tamara@beanupthenoseart.com to say you are going to be able to come play with us!!!  Post soon, because both classes will be limited to six people.

Mixed Media Collage for Products

Saturday, Oct. 22  1-5 p.m.

$45.00, including all supplies

Here's how Lisa explained it in her mailer.  (I like it.  I'm just going to lift it.)  

"In 'Mixed Media Collage for Products,' Tamara [THAT'S ME!!!] guides us through a fun process for working with all sorts of fun paper ephemera, which will then be magically transformed into a handy luggage tag (something I always need more of).  We'll discuss product ideas and other ways to turn your mixed media collage creations into other stuff you can use -- and market!"

Words in there we like especially:  FUN.  MAGICALLY.  HANDY.  Because that's what we like to be at Bean Up The Nose Art:  having fun, making fun things, calling in the magic, and creating handy-dandy stuff you can actually SEE and USE, instead of just putting in a drawer (or departing with in other, sadder ways).

Sound good?  Yes?  Then, come have some fun!!!

"Giving Thanks" Postcard-Making

Saturday, November 5 1-5 p.m.

$45.00, including all supplies

In honor of the season, and the upcoming end of the year, we'll be giving ourselves the time to collage artwork for the front of postcards to send out to folks we love . . . giving thanks!!!

We'll work in black and white, with an eye toward copying the artwork onto colored card-stock . . . turning our collage into black images and words on whatever color you chose to fill the background.  Dramatic, lovely.  Artwork will be copied onto that stock within days after the class, cut into postcards, sent to you:  voila!!!  Ready for you to personalize with your own messages and addresses, and send out to loved ones.  

Hoping you'll be able to come play with us at these classes!  Should be some good times a-brewing:)  

Post tamara@beanupthenoseart.com to reserve your space at these classes.  Yay-ness.

It's-Feeling-Like-Fall Sales Extravaganza Weekend

We're here to report about the big doings this past weekend, when Bean Up The Nose Art got to play at back-to-back sales at two separate -- and marvelous -- venues in Marin County, California. LUCKY US!!!

And . . . . if you like to shop for really cool things in really cool places, LUCKY YOU!!! Because we hear tell that there will be more sales upcoming in both spots. Read on for visuals, reports, the entire 411.

Barn Sale sponsored by The Feathered Nest (Novato, CA)

On Saturday, Bean Up The Nose Art got to play at the completely awesome, fall-themed Barn Sale out on Indian Valley Road in Novato, California.  Here is our stuff:)

What, you may ask, is a Barn Sale? Well, it's where amazingly-creative Pam from The Feathered Nest opens up her property to 20 or so vendors and throws a sales party.

Does Pam know how to throw a sales party? YES SHE DOES!!! Like, wow. For instance, SHE EVEN GIVES VENDORS A GOODIE BAG.

Inside that goodie bag? Bottled water, Halloween candy, chocolate cups, handmade paper goodies . . . and a discount coupon FOR LUNCH. CATERED ON SITE.

Delicious food -- entree, salads . . . and these baked goodies . . . .

These were all made by Susan, owner of White Rose Ranch. Which will be opening for take-out and delivery of comfort food on Grant Avenue in Novato on November 1. If you can go there, you should. Their motto? "Life is short; eat well and be nice." And you can for sure eat well. Highlights:  Cherry cobbler served in a mason jar. With home-made whipped cream. Bleu cheese scones. Pulled pork sandwiches. Roasted root vegetable salads. YUM!! Moreover, Susan makes a mean pot of coffee -- of which vendors were able to partake all day. (It's the little things like that which make a show spectacular . . . .)

Folks came in droves all day long to buy cool things from cool vendors. Like these sweet aprons from Vintage Jules. (That link is to Julie Bickel's etsy site, where you can contact her about buying some for yourself.)

Also on hand was wonderous Blockhead Press from Petaluma, California.

Owner/artist Jennifer could not be more nice and funny. Great sense of humor abounds on each and every piece . . . . like this one that you might just need for Halloween. (Click here for the etsy store link!)

More Halloween terrificness! Cheri Williams' booth was TO DIE FOR.

Including lots of banners of all your favorite Halloween images.

Including bats.  YAY!!!

To contact Cheri about where next to find her stuff, you can e-mail her:      cheripleasance@yahoo.com.

Met so many kind sellers and shoppers there in the glorious almost-fall sunshine. Was so lovely to hear people chuckling out loud at the greeting cards and luggage tags. And more folks signed up for the Bean Up The Nose Art Birthday Club than ever before. (Want to? You can, too! Click here!)

Many, many thanks to Stephanie Sheratt (of the great Paper Fabric Glitter blog) for finding us at the Renegade Holiday Craft Faire last December and asking us to come play. IT WAS SO FUN!!!

Want to come to the next Barn Sale? Mark your calendars for May. It's worth it :)

* * * * * * *

A Band of Wives' "Shop Til You Drop For OneMama"

We've posted here about how life has changed since we've been on Twitter. Oh, yes, it has.

For one thing, we learned about -- and "married" -- A Band of Wives. This is a group of amazing women who pull together regularly, often, and fabulously, to support each other, business, causes.

Sunday's event was a fund-raiser for OneMama, founded by "wife" Siobhan Neilland.  Here she is, telling us all about it.

Siobhan founded OneMama in 2007, to empower women, families and communities to be successful through sustainable health, education and economics.  Working with midwives in Uganda, Siobhan has created a program to sustain and empower communities through the birthing process right up on through the rest of life.  If you'd like to find out how to get involved, click here.

Another super-kind and gracious wife opened her home in Kentfield, CA for three hours of fabulousness, where "wives" and guests ate and drank and shopped for other "wives" wares.

Including lucky us :) 

And including some great Twitter friends. For instance, @mizstarryeyed. Known to the world-outside-of-Twitter as Dolores.

Who sells awesome jewelry made of recycled bike ware. 

Which you can find for yourself this coming Sunday, September 25, when Dolores appears at Biketoberfest in Fairfax, CA.  Yeehaw!!!

More Twitter friends included lovely @olgaluciagulati, psychologist and natural chef extraordinnaire, who was selling her delicious banana muffins and almond & chocolate cake. Check out everything about her here.  

And did the Twitter world represent?!?!!? Heck yeah, it did!!! Here's a sampling of terrific folks who came to shop and play:

@prflak, and her co-authored book "Meant To Be." 

@hylamolandar, and her website wonders. 

@mizbohemia and her wonderful jewelry

@saraholiverhandbags - and her handbags :) 

Other great tweeps who stopped by : @onepinky, @leslie_lum, and @girlfrndcircles.  

And to tweeting super-buddies @sally_k, @pobutler, and @alembic, a big, gigantic THANK YOU for all of your love and support. May the reiki -- and all other good forces -- always be with you :)

We hear tell that A Band Of Wives will be sponsoring another sale in December . . . just in time for the holidays.  Consider joining this terrific, supportive organization.  And pencil us in for December :) 

Brick & Mortar Friends: Rose & Thorn

A big old Bean Up The Nose Art "HOWDY!!" to the amazing Rose and Thorn.

Located at 10050 Bodega Highway in Sebastopol, California, Rose and Thorn is a hoot-an-a-half.  A treasure.  A gem.  A place that makes you instantly happy.

Owner Carole has been operating "the backyard garden of your dreams" (as it says on their website) for 11 years.  

(This photo courtesy of Rose and Thorn website.)

Her store's vision is "making days brighter."  And it succeeds.  By providing so many cool things.  SO MANY!!! 

Scroll on down to spy all the stuff that Carole's got going on.  We pretty much guarantee that by the time you reach the end, you will have your calendar out to make a play date:) 

Whimsical garden supplies and goodies for sale.

 

Tons of stuff in the gift shop.  Including great jewelry.

And greeting cards.  INCLUDING OURS!  How lucky can we get?!?!

But wait!  THERE'S MORE!!  

Chickens wandering about.

Tiny goats waiting to say hello.

And place after garden after next place amazingly and lovingly cared-for.  Signs included!  Rose and Thorn encourages you to make a day of it, and bring a picnic.

 
Who wouldn't wanted to have a picnic in a place where this little set-up is just one of the many cool things you'll spy?

Or a serpent winding its way through a field.

And intricate birdhouses galore.

Rose and Thorn is open Fridays through Mondays, from March to mid-January.  (We love that they factor-in time off.  WAY TO GO!!!)  Hours are 11:00 a.m. to 5:30.

And maybe this would be the perfect play date to schedule . . . .

(Flyer image courtesy of Rose and Thorn website.)

Thank you, wonderful Rose and Thorn, for carrying Bean Up The Nose Art's greeting cards among all of your wonderful, happy wares.  We're honored to be included in your stash of happy-making goods.  And can't wait to visit you again :) YOU ROCK!!!!