Ever wondered the history of the Llama?

        Llamas and their relatives are no strangers to our land.  Llamas are members of the camelid family, which at one time thrived on the plains of North America.  With the Ice Age, llamas became extinct in North America.  Llamas migrated to South America and took up residence in the land of the Andean Mountains.

In the highlands of Peru, some 3,000 to 4,000 years ago, llamas were domesticated, placing them among the oldest domestic animals in the world.  The llama was the lifeline of the Inca Indians of South America.  Called their "silent brother" by the Incas, the llama was worshipped and highly regarded.  The llama was their beast of burden, the source of clothing and a source of food as well as fuel.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, private animal collectors and zoos reintroduced llamas to their original North American homeland.  Today there are an estimated seven million llamas and alpacas in South America (in approximately equal numbers) and some 80,000 to 100,000 llamas in the United States and Canada.

Llamas started to become popular in the United States when an Oregon couple decided to promote them as domestic livestock and made them available to the general public.  Little was known at the time of the many functions that we would later find they served.  

Featured Etsy

It has been for some time now that I occasionally visit etsy, and whenever I come across something I like a lot I add it to my favorites.  The following artist has quite the unique medium--> papercutting! Beautifully intricate and whimsical.

 See etsy shop, here

Family Portraits

In the morning- 5 am

some are gifted: "image streaming"

Sometimes you come across things, people, places that totally enthrall you.  I stumbled across the oil paintings of Julie Heffernan.  What a delight.  Sometimes when I look at art that really moves me, I'm so thankful because right then at that moment I realize that there isn't anything else that is exactly the same.


I appreciate the detail and complexity of these paintings.

Julie Heffernan: "I grew up in the East Bay of Northern California and began painting murals in college as a response to what I perceived to be an ugly world of low flat commercial buildings that seemed to have proliferated overnight in the 70s. As a student at UC Santa Cruz (BFA in Painting and Printmaking 1981), I would sneak out with friends at night and paint on billboards, changing the wording or imagery to subvert the consumerist message in favor of our more radical values. During that time I painted four large-scale murals with more communitarian subject matter, and received a President's Fellowship from UCSC for one of them.

I went to Yale School of Art and Architecture (MFA in Painting and Printmaking 1985) in order to learn what a painting can be.  I was trying to figure out how to use figuration in a fresh way, making stews of Bonnardian color with Tintoretto distortion. I received a Fulbright-Hayes Grant to West Berlin in 1986 and lived for two years in Berlin, painting day and night, still wrestling with the figuration problem. It was there that I stumbled on the practice that continues to fuel my work called, "image streaming." These are the pictures that flood into your brain almost like a slide show just before sleep. (This) represented a wealth of imagery that appealed to me for its seeming autonomy from the controls of the conscious mind. I began to jot down quickly in paint some of these individual "film stills," and then to use them in larger still life paintings as mini "projections" onto enlarged apples and pears. I came to see these thought bubbles as accumlated features of an interior self, and as a way into painting a different kind of self-portrait, one more akin to a truer self, conceived without the distortion of a mirror. Gradually, I was able to pierce the space of the still life and find landscapes that mirrored a similar interiority. They invited to enter them more and more deeply in a kind of quintessentiallly feminine space. After awhile, I came to understand that this imagery as a sort of mental montage, in combination with compositional quirks(that) I would find in the landscapes, were giving me the components, in abstract form, of a kind of narrative painting that felt very engaged with the current dialogue in painting and (the) personal at the same time. As the painting went on, I would seek to unearth a deeper story than the one I started with, one that took me to a more complex level of understanding. I continue to use painting as a way of trying to see more deeply into myself and into the stories that suggest themselves to me in the work. I let the paintings lead me and continue to be amazed and grateful for a process that allows for such access to the unconscious."

More of Interview here.

Little Pateau

Every time I look at this photo- I smile uncontrollably and think "how could a little face embody so much inquisitiveness and stubbornness in one little look?"

"How happy is the little stone
That rambles in the road alone,
And doesn't care about careers,
And exigencies never fears;
Whose coat of elemental brown
A passing universe put on;
And independent as the sun,
Associates or glows alone,
Fulfilling absolute decree
In casual simplicity."
— Emily Dickinson

 



Animal Therapy

So one of the first things I noticed at my new clinical rotation this month is that everyday as I walk from my car in the parking garage to the OR, there is a hallway I have to walk down that has these really great photos.  The photos happen to be of all  these different animals that volunteers bring to the hospital to see patients.

These photos are really moving because of the facial expressions of the patients.  There are several articles I have come across about the healing and positive nature of these interactions between animals and humans.
Resource website here.

So I was very surprised one day when I walked out of the OR and into a public hallway when I saw at least 10 to 15 different breeds of dogs all on leashes in the hallway!  I had to do a double-take because I am certainly not used to seeing animals in the hospital!

Two pomeranians caught my eye and I suddenly realized I was standing in the middle of the hallway like everyone else frozen staring at these little cute & well behaved creatures.

I managed to catch a photo before they were off to greet the patients.



 

Deer Isle, Maine

My first visit to Maine in the summer of 2007, and my second visit in the summer of 2009 left a deep impression on me.  I think Maine will forever be a special and magical place in my heart.  I feel as if I will forever want to be there.

There are many islands that dot the coast of Maine.  Each time I went, we stayed on Mount Desert Island.  I beautiful and magical place.  They have amazing hiking trails, wonderful kayaking, and the range of smells can only be found there.

I came across a book there full of amazing photographs of Maine throughout the seasons.  And since I've only been there during the summer, I am very curious about the other seasons.  Especially, the winter season.  The book, I did not get the first time I saw it, and of course regretted this later.  Two years later, I ended up getting it as a Christmas gift. 

One of my favorite photos are of two deer, on an island called Deer Isle.  I love the image as the composition is very unique and the deer look as if they have been superimposed, but in opposite directions.

In fact most of the photographys from this book: Maine: The Seasons, By: Terrell S. Lester- "book here" are taken on the island Deer Isle.  My interest in this place called Deer Isle has been growing ever since.


Below is a map of the location of Deer Isle off the coast of Maine, and in relation to Mount Desert Island.

"Deer Isle is located in Maine's Penobscot Bay and is the second largest Island along the Maine Coast. Only Mt. Desert Island, located just 9 miles to the northeast., is larger. Life on Deer Isle is quite different then it is on Mt. Desert Island; there are few tourist and the villages have remained the save much as there were in years gone past.. There are no fast food joints, big box stores or bars; which makes the area a great place to get away from the hustle and bustle of the typical tourist areas. The town was incorporated in 1789."

xoxo Shannon

Lion Brand Yarn

So in reviewing things creative and inspirational.  Knitting is something I know nothing about.  But I've always been drawn to yarn, fibers, fabric, sewing, and quilting. 

Lion Brand Yarn is a luxury brand yarn company based out of New York City.  They have a wonderful studio there where customers can go and pick out patterns, projects, and take group classes.  I would love to go one day!

And on top of all this, what a great business idea.  A business centered around creativity & learning.

More information can be found at their website: http://www.lionbrandyarnstudio.com/

xoxo Shannon

When I grow up

When I was a young child, I have a distinct memory of standing in front of a full length mirror. I was not even the height of the full length mirror at the time.  And it's as if I was mesmerized in staring into the mirror wondering what I would be and what I would look like when I grew up.

Far from the sea

today I am far from the sea

In the library

ancient knowledge grew
no one knew who assembled them
meticulously placing
like many things to be remembered

A New Year

As the New Year of 2011 is here, many people review what they did or perhaps didn't do the year prior.  I feel fortunate that I was able to experience the things I did:

Finished the didactic portion of my anesthesia program
Intubated & learned how to administer anesthesia for the first time
Finished reading "Fearless" by Max Lucado
Traveled to Portland, Oregon with my husband
Got to ski with my husband (and almost killed myself in the process!)
Traveled to Seattle, Washington for the AANA convention
Got to go to yet another National Park: Olympic National Park (w/ my friend of >10 yrs Christina)
Actually camped in a tent in an out of state park
Went Whitewater Rafting (2nd time)
Remodeled a room in my house
Finished a painting I had been working on for two years
Took the SEE Exam and did well
Rescued a homeless cat & found a good home for him
Went to a new Church that is close to my house
Made new friendships that I feel will last well into the future

Seems like a great year, and I already have many goals for this year.  There is a great deal to accomplish, and many changes I must go through if I am to be ready to graduate.  That is perhaps the most exciting thing that may occur this year is that I will actually be graduating "this year."  And now that is is officially 2011, I can actually say that.

I encounter so many things/stories/images/people that inspire me each day.  I feel it to be a waste if I don't document some of that and perhaps share it with others.  And that is exactly what this blog is about: creativeness & inspiration to do what we want to do with our lives.  The pink forest is calling, and I can't wait to see what the future years bring!

xoxo Shannon