2014.09.22 13:00 - Minding Fall and preparing for winter

2014.09.22 13:00 - Title goes here

The Guardian for this meeting was Aphrodite Macbain. The comments are by Aphrodite Macbain.

Aphrodite Macbain: Hi Xiri
Aphrodite Macbain: que pasa?
Xirana Oximoxi: hello Aph and Druth :)
Xirana Oximoxi: todo bien :)
Aphrodite Macbain: bueno
Xirana Oximoxi: :)
Aphrodite Macbain: How's your art making going?
Xirana Oximoxi: busy busy illustrating my tales :)
Aphrodite Macbain: which tales?
Xirana Oximoxi: some tales I've written and now I am drawing them
Aphrodite Macbain: Are they children's stories?
Xirana Oximoxi: for children
Aphrodite Macbain: Do you make artist books?
Xirana Oximoxi: you ask me?
Aphrodite Macbain: yes
Aphrodite Macbain: so you can put the images and stories together
Xirana Oximoxi: yes..sure..I am doing children books with images explaining the text..
Aphrodite Macbain: and you also publish them in SL?
Xirana Oximoxi: 50% images 50% text
Aphrodite Macbain: wonderful
Aphrodite Macbain: I'd love to see them
Xirana Oximoxi: I am sending them to prizes ...and they all want it unpublished...so, at the moment I am not showing them
druth Vlodovic: they want to publish them themselves?
Xirana Oximoxi: but... if I don't get a publisher interested, then I will show in SL and everywhere:)
Aphrodite Macbain: what do you mean "I am sending them to prizes"? To competitions?
Xirana Oximoxi: they want all 'inedited' meaning absolutely new ..not shown before
Aphrodite Macbain: cool
Xirana Oximoxi: yes...to competitions..I have already sent two..and this week .if I finish..I send another one
Aphrodite Macbain: Hiya Bruce!
Xirana Oximoxi: if I win I will tell you:)
Xirana Oximoxi: hello Bruce:)
Bruce Mowbray: Heya, Aph, Xir and druth!
Aphrodite Macbain: Please do

Bruce Mowbray listens to catch the drift.
Aphrodite Macbain: Xiri has been telling us about the books she is going to publish- children's' books with her images and her stories
Xirana Oximoxi: I was explaining about me sending children's books I draw to competitions
Bruce Mowbray: OH! WONDERFUL!
Xirana Oximoxi: :)
Aphrodite Macbain: we can't see them yet....
Xirana Oximoxi: yes...must wait a while :)
Aphrodite Macbain: How are you today Bruce?
Aphrodite Macbain: Hello Zon, welcome
Bruce Mowbray: I've been rushing around all day, so it's great to settle.
Zon Kwan: heya
Bruce Mowbray: Heya, Zon.
Xirana Oximoxi: hello Zon and Wol
Aphrodite Macbain: Hello Wol
Wol Euler: evening all
Bruce Mowbray: Heya, Wol!
Wol Euler smiles.
Aphrodite Macbain: How's things Wol?
Bruce Mowbray: Xir has been telling us about children's books she is writing.
Wol Euler: lumpy actually
Aphrodite Macbain: lumpy?
Wol Euler: oh, please continue, that interests me more than my own condition :)
Aphrodite Macbain looks at Wol with concern
Wol Euler smiles and waves it aside.
Aphrodite Macbain: We haven't really got started yet
Aphrodite Macbain: But maybe now is a good time
Xirana Oximoxi: yes:)
Aphrodite Macbain: I don't know if you had a chance to see my email
Bruce Mowbray: 15 secs to drop.
'Bruce Mowbray: What does Fall or Autumn mean to you? What is your personal experience of this time? What is getting sorted, separated, hidden, or planted? What is the ground of it? The part that's good to eat now? The seeds? What is your own natural "way" with this season? What can we learn from nature?
Aphrodite Macbain: but I have taken some quotes from a text written by Calvino for our OF sessions every Wednesday. Thanks Bruce. You are ahead of me :-)
Bruce Mowbray: ;-) (not really).
Bruce Mowbray listens....
Aphrodite Macbain: What does Fall or Autumn mean to you? What is your personal experience of this time?
Aphrodite Macbain: Do you change? Slow down? Speed up? Go inwards?
Aphrodite Macbain: Plant seeds?
Aphrodite Macbain: Or are you the same all year round?
Aphrodite Macbain: I am usually very energetic, full of plans
Aphrodite Macbain: Something about the fall crispness
Aphrodite Macbain: It's a relief from the hot days of summer
Aphrodite Macbain: when I feel a little drowsy and bored
Aphrodite Macbain: I'll stop talking now....
Wol Euler smiles.
Xirana Oximoxi: I usually get amazed by the colours of the woods near my house...
Aphrodite Macbain: Have you painted them?
Xirana Oximoxi: yes..lots of times:)
Aphrodite Macbain: :-)
druth Vlodovic: we all spend too much time indoors
Aphrodite Macbain: In some ways I feel like I'm going against nature - speeding up instead of slowing down
druth Vlodovic: not affected by seasons
Aphrodite Macbain: not at all druth?
Aphrodite Macbain: Wonders what Xiri is making (Xiri is building a screen to project her pictures on)
Aphrodite Macbain: It is only during winter that I tend to hibernate
Bruce Mowbray watches  in anticipation....
Aphrodite Macbain: all those squirrels- collecting nuts
Aphrodite Macbain: or the ants preparing

Wol Euler: nice, xira

Aphrodite Macbain: beautiful Xiri
Bruce Mowbray: A beautiful watercolour!
Xirana Oximoxi: watercolour:)
Aphrodite Macbain: thanks!
Bruce Mowbray loves that dash of red right in the middle.
Aphrodite Macbain: Wol- isn't fall the time that you speed up? New projects etc
Bruce Mowbray: Wow! Amazing colours, Xir! Vibrant!
Wol Euler nods.
Xirana Oximoxi: thank you Bruce:)
Wol Euler: work tends to speed up, yes
Wol Euler: I do personally as well, yes
Wol Euler: I get very lazy in the summer
Wol Euler: even though it's thirty years since the end of college, I still think of Autumn as the *beginning* of the year
Aphrodite Macbain: yes- school starts in the fall! Time for us to re-start

Aphrodite Macbain: nods- I wonder whether our metabolism would change if we were unaware of the changing seasons
Bruce Mowbray: 15 secs to next drop
Wol Euler: I'm certain that it would, unless we remained indoors in a windowless and completely artificial climate
Aphrodite Macbain: Is Fall like dropping?
Wol Euler: not to me. Summer is dropping, Autumn is picking up again
Aphrodite Macbain: Nods. For me too. How about you Zon? Do you live in a climate that doesn't change much and does this affect you?
Aphrodite Macbain: I find that by November, when the rain keeps raining every day, I go inward. Read books, write, stay inside.
Xirana Oximoxi: I usually get affected by the climate...and also of the seasons..like Wol and Aph, during the summer I'm more lazy and when starting the autumn I am more active and feeling it like a restart...
Aphrodite Macbain: nods
Xirana Oximoxi: so, it's strange that autumn is a metaphor of the start of decay of life.. I suppose because of the falling leaves
Aphrodite Macbain: During the summer I feel that I SHOULD be outside. When winter comes I am relaxed and don't feel guilty about staying inside and get more work done as a result
Bruce Mowbray: I like Aph's question about going inward.
Aphrodite Macbain: Yes
Wol Euler nods.
Aphrodite Macbain: that's what I'm getting at
Aphrodite Macbain: thanks Bruce
Bruce Mowbray: I definitely do that.
Aphrodite Macbain: Does the weather/seasons affect our internal life?
Bruce Mowbray: Perhaps that's why I regard the autumn as my most " spiritual" time of year....
Aphrodite Macbain: Is it easier to meditate in the fall and winter?
Aphrodite Macbain: What changes Bruce?
Bruce Mowbray: oh yes, it seems that everything wants to pull me into a meditation.
Bruce Mowbray: the crispness of the air, and of course the leaves falling, in the days getting shorter...
Bruce Mowbray: it feels like a sort of endgame...
Aphrodite Macbain: nods

Bruce Mowbray: btw, I REALLY enjoyed Xir's paintings!
Aphrodite Macbain: me too!
Aphrodite Macbain: they are joyful
Bruce Mowbray: watercolour is probably my favorite medium.
Xirana Oximoxi: :)
Aphrodite Macbain: It's the hardest one to use
Wol Euler: yes, me too
Wol Euler applauds!
Bruce Mowbray: [`·.] APPLAUSE!! [.·´]
Xirana Oximoxi: yes...watercolour is difficult because you cannot rectify
Xirana Oximoxi: lol
Aphrodite Macbain: very unforgiving - no second chances to fix a mistake
Aphrodite Macbain: In fact meditating is like w/c painting. It is being in the moment. Focusing
Bruce Mowbray: And, don't you need to layer everything . . . and therefore need to plan ahead a lot?
Aphrodite Macbain: and also
Aphrodite Macbain: you need to practice a lot
Bruce Mowbray listens.
Aphrodite Macbain: But when you paint it's in the moment
Aphrodite Macbain: right Xiri?
Aphrodite Macbain: Like Chinese ink brush painting
Xirana Oximoxi: yes...you need to practice a lot and to have the idea of what you want to do very clear...where the light is, specially
Aphrodite Macbain: "Zen and the art of watercolour"
Aphrodite Macbain: :-)
Zon Kwan: waves
Aphrodite Macbain: waves back
Xiri puts another image on her screen

Aphrodite Macbain: pears
Bruce Mowbray: nods.
Bruce Mowbray: !!
Aphrodite Macbain: smiles
Aphrodite Macbain: botanical painting
Aphrodite Macbain: my fave
Xirana Oximoxi: very nice!! :)
Bruce Mowbray: Watercolour?
Bruce Mowbray: That is APH'S!
Bruce Mowbray: and I am proud to have a copy hanging in my house!
Xirana Oximoxi: yes...I think it was in an exhibit you did Aph
Aphrodite Macbain: yes
Aphrodite Macbain: Early botanical illustrations - it's painted by Ulysse Androvani in 16th century Italy
Aphrodite Macbain: sits quietly and ponders pears
Bruce Mowbray ponders Aph pondering pears.
Bruce Mowbray: GOSH, I surely wish I could paint like that!
Aphrodite Macbain: Painting is a way of staying in the present and going deep
Aphrodite Macbain: Time passes so quickly
Bruce Mowbray: Yes, so true... a way of  "deep seeing."
Wol Euler: well, it is for those for whom it is
Aphrodite Macbain: Not for you Wol?
Wol Euler: being a lousy and nervous painter, I would find it just the opposite
Wol Euler: frustrating, annoying, saddening
Bruce Mowbray: It is exactly the same for me, Wol, but that's why I admire folks who can do it....
Aphrodite Macbain: When you do a drawing doing you find yourself  "in the moment"?
Bruce Mowbray: extremely frustrating.
Wol Euler: exactly :)
Wol Euler: if that was for me, Aph, then yes I do.
Aphrodite Macbain: yes
Xirana Oximoxi: it should not be frustrating...painting is a way of expression and each person does it differently
Bruce Mowbray: As a substitute, I play around with computer graphics....
Aphrodite Macbain: It isn't just painting.
Bruce Mowbray listens.
Aphrodite Macbain: I mean doing something that takes all your attention
Aphrodite Macbain: It could be dancing
Wol Euler: ah
Aphrodite Macbain: or making an architectural drawing,
Aphrodite Macbain: or planting corn
Aphrodite Macbain: Or mending the roof
Xirana Oximoxi: :)
Bruce Mowbray: well, I've done a lot of that!
Aphrodite Macbain: :-)
Aphrodite Macbain: I guess what I am trying (badly) to say is that we can go inwards in a variety of ways
Bruce Mowbray: For me, the autumn is almost a time of warning....
Aphrodite Macbain: oh? winter on the way?..
Bruce Mowbray: it seems that my very being feels the tremors.... the warnings of impending freeze.
Bruce Mowbray: yes, winter on the way, for sure,
Bruce Mowbray: but I think this is probably something that is built up over thousands of years....
Aphrodite Macbain: Interesting Bruce. Are u not warm inside your home?
Bruce Mowbray: something that my very being feels, since millions of predecessors experienced it as well.
Bruce Mowbray: No, my home is very comfortable...
Bruce Mowbray: but thank you for asking.
Aphrodite Macbain: as though our genes are telling us to build a shelter
Aphrodite Macbain: and gather food
Bruce Mowbray: yes our genes.... that's what I meant.
Bruce Mowbray: a time of preparation...
Aphrodite Macbain: nods
Bruce Mowbray: I think that's why I go inward, actually, more in the fall than in any other season.
Aphrodite Macbain: school books, nuts, insulation
Aphrodite Macbain: druth- what happens to you in the fall?

waits....
Aphrodite Macbain: I guess druth is hibernating
Bruce Mowbray: nods.
Xirana Oximoxi: :)
Bruce Mowbray: getting an early start!
Wol Euler smiles.
Bruce Mowbray: I noticed that the brightly colored birds are already beginning to lose their vibrancy....
Bruce Mowbray: They will take on dull colors through the winter, then become vibrantly colored again next spring.
Aphrodite Macbain: apparently she is eating vegetable soup
Bruce Mowbray: vegetable soup is also good.
Aphrodite Macbain: To match their surroundings
Aphrodite Macbain: like the ptarmigan that turns white in the winter
Bruce Mowbray: Our brilliantly colored goldfinches are already getting gray on their wings.
Aphrodite Macbain: my hair turns white too, but it never reverts to brown
Aphrodite Macbain: sigh
Bruce Mowbray: Is that for camouflage, Aph?
Bruce Mowbray: to match the snow?
Aphrodite Macbain: Depends where I am Bruce
Bruce Mowbray: ha ha!
Bruce Mowbray: be glad you're not in Panama . . . Maybe then it would turn green!
Aphrodite Macbain: lol
Wol Euler: *rimshot*
Aphrodite Macbain: :-)
Bruce Mowbray: I have never seen so much green in my entire life as I did in Panama.
Aphrodite Macbain: all leaves?
Bruce Mowbray: yes. I don't think I could stand it all year round. Although I do love the green, and I do love leaves.
Aphrodite Macbain: You need a few flowers sprinkled in
Bruce Mowbray: but I also love the change of the seasons. I would surely never make it as a Hawaiian.
Wol Euler: I would miss seasons terribly
Wol Euler: especially winter
Bruce Mowbray: There is something very special about a wood burning stove in mid-January.
Aphrodite Macbain: coziness
Bruce Mowbray: and a good book, and an easy chair. . . and all's right with the world.
Aphrodite Macbain: :-)
Xirana Oximoxi: I will go now...have a nice evening all and see you soon! :-)
Aphrodite Macbain: bye Xiri
Bruce Mowbray: bye for now, good Xir! Thanks for sharing your paintings!
Aphrodite Macbain: Time to go for me. Please offer ideas for future discussion if you can. Just IM me.
Xirana Oximoxi: by bye..thanks for all your comments and for the wonderful chat :)
Bruce Mowbray: bye to all!
Aphrodite Macbain: thanks Xiri
Wol Euler: bye all, take care
Aphrodite Macbain: Byee druth, Wol