"Love with no object
conversation with no subject
seeing with no image

light on light,
pure possibility"

~~Rumi~~

“Now I am sober and there's only the
hangover and the memory of love .”

--Rumi

the gaping wound opened again and the cool rush of infinite space and meaninglessness rushed through me like a wind or a ghost train.
and i think, oh god, am i here again?
... is anything for certain in this world as the floor keeps dropping out beneath me to expose the fine network of stars and far off galaxies and groundlessness beneath my feet?

the clouds are letting go of the rain...

it is time for letting go

winter

pruning back to the bones

what is essential?

--edited from the barefoot yogi

the undoing...

The doing is in the undoing....

Painting is a type of uncovering, unfolding, emerging discovery...

but as i look at the place where I pull from...

extract my creative power...

it is not undiluted. it is not without fear.

speaks its own language

the images of the interior pushing into form; the paint speaks its own language.

i surrendered. releasing any attachments i may have harbored, i was willing to go to the extreme if called.

in that giving up of an agenda, the guidance came: fire around the belly! exploring the space, i was a steward for the vision.

--a.h+mp

old cycles. fresh faces. the speed of my willingness

today was a day going backwards. this body is fresh but holds the past so closely, closer than what is happening now. i realize reality is nothing but a field of old cycles playing out in forms of fresh faces & places, but underneath is a current of familiar, a variation on a theme. the only way out is up.

the first in a series of clearing sessions on the warmest December day. an energetic bath penetrating all directions of time. allowing the impressions & energy to rise, pass. sometimes pain, sometimes tears, sometimes nothing. memories from other lives lifting into my awareness, shocking revelations & insight as to why things are as they be today.

after hours, i felt light, energized. spaces were opened, cleared. ran a bath of baking soda & sea salt. i fell asleep in the overwarm water, limbs folded & twisted womb style as the small candles flickered at the corners of the tub.i felt dizzy, dragged myself to the meditation room & fell asleep again surrounded by angels, plants, rocks. the sensation of cooking off old modes of unforgiveness & resentment, traumas & misperceptions. a tumultuous sleep living though the releases, grateful they are moving from their hiding places, evaporating at the speed of my willingness.

--ankah

There will come a time when you believe everything is finished.That will be the beginning.

Every artist knows that the masterpieces are usually a struggle. I can't tell you how many times I've walked away from a piece...feeling absolutely no hope for being able 'to save' a painting. No matter how much time I spend pushing through...it doesn't get better. When I was younger I never finished most of the pieces I started. When I started getting large commercial jobs, I no longer had the luxury of leaving half my inventory incomplete.

What I discovered is...
when you walk away and come back...
and keep working it until it works...

it turns out to be one of the most beautiful things...
something you know that you couldn't create alone
something you could not create if you hadn't had the love, determination and resolve
something that only passion and the simple belief that if you keep working...it will all come together.
...and in one moment...
a misplaced line.color.circle
makes it complete.

I have sat in my studio on the floor many times
weeping
at the beauty before me.
It's almost always when I give up and just let it paint itself that it unfolds in a beautiful way.

When I get my mind out of the way...
and clear myself
I feel channeled
the art comes through us as a vessel...

it wants to be created on this plane.
it simply wants to be created.

As an artist I resonate with Malidoma's writing+beliefs. I will be heading out to California to drum, dance, connect with fire rituals, heal wounds (personal and family) and open the channels for creativity and possibility.

Nature is like a canvas, a painting of countless options and possibilities. It is the total of all the interwoven connections between these possibilities that makes up spirit. Or, you might say that spirit paints the canvas of nature. You don't really worship spirit, because you are also spirit, and spirits don't worship one another. What makes you different from spirit overall is that you are locked into temporality. You have a body, like a piece of cloth that is decayable. While you stay in it, it's hard for you to have the same abilities that spirit has without a body. It is also easy to make mistakes about what is real, and how to go about things effectively. For example, let's say that you want a particular job. In the West, you do the linear thing and apply to the person in charge. In Africa they say that if you want a job, go demand it, then let the job come and get you.

Malidoma Some...via John R. Founder of Nutiva

activating

Integrating. Embodying. Activating. Awareness

chaos

Beautiful things come...
from messes
and mistakes.

sleeping

still running from yourself...
and all that you own
is packed in the hall to go...
--glen hansard

the path

there is just a note that you've gone...


this deep sadness carves...rivers in the soul

how the silence sits.

Fierce embrace

It doesn't interest me if there is one God or many gods.

I want to know if you belong or feel abandoned.

If you know despair or can see it in others.

I want to know if you are prepared to live in the world with its harsh need to change you. If you can look back with firm eyes saying this is where I stand.

I want to know if you know how to melt into that fierce heat of living falling toward the center of your longing.

I want to know if you are willing to live, day by day, with the consequence of love and the bitter unwanted passion of sure defeat.

I have been told, in that fierce embrace, even the gods speak of God.

--Davis Whyte.Poet

Getting There

it's not dark yet--

but it's gettin there.

--Bob Dylan

Recent Installation 2010

Energy

Energy is the essence of life. Every day you decide how you're going to use it by knowing what you want and what it takes to reach that goal, and by maintaining focus.- Oprah Winfrey

"The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have."

Norman Vincent Peale

"The higher your energy level, the more efficient your body. The more efficient your body, the better you feel and the more you will use your talent to produce outstanding results."
Anthony Robbins

The Energy of Yes- MP

Alive

‎"To be awake is to be alive."
Henry David Thoreau

Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you."
Oprah Winfrey

Signature Piece for Art Bash Gala

I am providing the signature piece for tomorrow's Gala befitting Austin State Hospital. I'd love to see you all there.

WHAT: 4^th Annual ASH BASH: Insights Art Show & Sale

WHEN: Thursday, September 16, 6-9 p.m.

WHERE: 816 Congress, 18^th floor (free parking available)

TIX: $20: Includes three free drink tickets and appetizers

Tickets are currently on sale at www.ashvolunteers.org.

Sponsorships opportunities from $250-$5,000

not a day too soon...

been running all my life...

i will meet you.

i've been waiting all my life...
you're not a day too soon.

--Sia

Again I return.

I don't love you as if you were the salt-rose, topaz
...or arrow of carnations that propagate fire:
I love you as certain dark things are loved,
secretly, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that doesn't bloom and carries
hidden within itself the light of those flowers,
and thanks to your love, darkly in my body
lives the dense fragrance that rises from the earth.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where,
I love you simply, without problems or pride:
I love you in this way because I don't know any other way of loving

but this, in which there is no I or you,
so intimate that your hand upon my chest is my hand,
so intimate that when I fall asleep it is your eyes that close.

By Pablo Neruda: Sonnet XIX

*You must travel it for yourself*

the way the Silence sits--MP

Newest Collection.Ocean Series.

MP Spring Collection.

Acrobatic Yoga+Partner Acrobatics/Balance Workshop.May 22nd.This Saturday 12-3pm.

This Saturday in Austin, Texas I'll be instructing an Acrobatic Yoga Workshop perfect for Couples. Parent/Teens.Athletes. Yogis.

No Experience is necessary. It's a blast. We'll laugh, find our edges and stretch beyond any self-defining limitations and old stories that we hold for ourselves...and move beyond. Growing, laughing, and amazing ourselves with our new skills.

We will fly, flip, spin and connect with ourselves and to each other.For all levels, ages, abilities, colors, doshas, zodiac signs, etc. It is a combination of partner yoga, circus acrobatics, massage and communication/connection chakra opening moves.

We'll jump right in. We'll build strength, balance, flexibility, communication and connection with our partners. This particular workshop will be wonderful for couples and athletes as well as yogis, dancers and Parents/teens. No partner is required. We'll start with the basics and work step by step building positions and inversions. We'll have a camera capturing our beautiful, "did I really do that" inversions and poses. Bring your fear and reservations and we'll show you possibility.

We are gearing up for another European Summer tour teaching and performing through France, Italy and Greece. We've taught for lululemon and at numerous workshops and festivals in Houston, Austin and through out the U.S. and well as Bangkok and Europe. It is $40 for 3 hours of instruction and new skill acquisition. :)
Pass this along to any friends who live in the area.

May 22nd. 12-3pm. $40
Galaxy Studios.1700 S. Lamar.
In the YogaYoga South Complex.
713.922.8584 with questions
Find us on Facebook: acrobatic yoga/circus yogis


All text is copyright Maranda Pleasant+Circus Yogis 2010

Arts Abroad Program for girls 10-17. Artsabroadprogram.com

Our Paris Program offers a comprehensive and exciting cultural adventure for young women. We'll explore art galleries, tour the top Parisian cultural magazines, create art projects with one of the most prestigious modern art museums, visit with innovative photographers, filmmakers, painters and performers, shoot cutting-edge photography surrounded by historic architecture, see leading fashion houses and design schools, picnic along the Seine and under the Eiffel Tower and train with a professional cirque program....for starters. The girls will also have the chance to build their college resume and portfolio and nurture their personal projects and ideas during our 2-week stay. We help create independent and innovative thinkers. It's a rare opportunity to collaborate and connect with world-class writers, artists and innovators in Paris...and it's really fun!

This is a beautiful time of self discovery and great transition in the girls' lives. These young women are defining the quality of women they will be and they are choosing who they will become. We are here to nurture, enrich and push their edges, encouraging growth and empowerment. This is an essential time for cultivating inner strength and beauty that will present itself in their lifelong endeavors.

Program includes all meals, accommodation, transportation in Paris, airport transfers, museum tickets and passes, theater performance tickets, tuition to Circus/Aerial school, vintage design project, airport transfers, program fees (Personalized radio, magazine, photography,design and gallery tours.)
Total cost is $3000.

Artsabroadprogram.com

Acrobatic Yoga Workshops.

I'll be teaching Acrobatic Yoga+Partner Acrobatics in Dallas today (May 15th). I'd love to see you.Acrobaticyoga.ORG and/or Partnerbalance.com.
I'll also be teaching in Austin May 22. Marfa May 24th.Taos 25th.

Creating my new Sculpture for ArtHouse Modern Art Museum. Austin.

www.tribalmoonfire.com

Our temporary website is up until our new one is released this summer. Check out our calendar. We'll be teaching and touring May-August. Austin.Dallas.Houston. Marfa.Taos.Red River, NM in May and June. Europe in July and Greece in August. We are now accepting bookings. www.tribalmoonfire.com