CA artists

Street...you need some Rewrite Beautiful Street Art!

Rewrite Beautiful is taking our Street Art from the Women’s Pride workshop and going to the Santa Ana Artists Village tomorrow! Saturday, June 4th 2011.

 Santa Ana Artists Village

125 North Broadway

Santa Ana, CA 92701

1pm to 4:00pm

 We’ll be out in front of the Gypsy Den off of Broadway. Come and say hi and Rewrite Beautiful yourself with this interactive Street Art! Stick around for the Art Walk that starts at 7pm, it’s awesome!  Don’t forget to bring your friends, your family, your dogs and your frenemy’s! Frenemy’s need Street Art too! Hasta manana!

Keepin’ it Beautiful,

 Irvina

Street Artists: Students and Teachers of Irvine, California.

For inspiration some artist visit gallery’s, museums, lectures, listen to live music… some even purchase little plastic baggies full of herbs and fungus on the corner of 5^th and Martin Luther King Blvd…. Yes, all you ear-cutting Van Goghs out there buying drugs will quickly inspire your art work and will escalate you into “Starving Artist” Status real fast… HUGS! NOT DRUGS! HUGS!

For inspiration this D.A.R.E. graduate likes to go running. I was once on a morning run in San Francisco and was totally blown away by the variety of trees up North. Down here in So Cal we have two types of trees “Palm trees” and “Trees” ;) But, up North there is a variety that is represented quite similar to the variety of culture the city of San Francisco offers. From Chinese, Mexican, WASP, European, Atheist, Muslim and Christian… all walks of life are represented. While on my run I got an idea to write a children’s book about tree’s in different parts of the world. I wanted to also feature a person from that part of the world. I wanted to teach children about the beauty in diversity that comes in different packages (and trees.)

That was about 5 years ago. I haven’t gotten around to writing that little book, but besides the possibility of being a New York Times Best Selling Children’s Book Author, I have always valued that run in San Fran. I think because it was a pivotal time in my life. At that time I was starting to feel quite confident in myself as an artist and taking steps to honor the gifts I'd been given. I believe that being an artist is a privilege one doesn’t take lightly and when you are given visions to create something you can either use them for “good” or for “bad.” I haven’t written the “little tree book” eventually I will, but “WRITE” now I got Rewrite Beautiful on the books… and a couple of weeks ago we took a little bit of that vision and welcomed a Tree into our Rewrite Beautiful Street Art Gallery.

We were hosting “Urban Arts Week” at the Irvine Fine Arts Center and one of my fellow teachers, Miss. Ivy had a great idea… she suggested we bring Rewrite Beautiful to the Arts Center and have the kids tell each other and their families what makes them BEAUTIFUL and STRONG on a piece of paper and then hang that piece of paper from a tree. We took old Trader Joe’s bags (Go Green!), cut them into 3 x 9 rectangles, hole punched them and strung them with yarn and voila… Rewrite Beautiful hits a tree in Irvine, California!

I got the privilege of a front row seat to see the surprised smiles on the faces of the kids when they read what the other kids and teachers wrote about them. I don’t wanna get all emo on you (but I will….cause I can) but it was really bittersweet. Bitter, because I’m an adult ( Yes, it’s true… I was informed the other day by my mentee, a 13 year old that I am in fact an ADULT) and as an “adult” I have had a variety of 20 something plus years of life experience.

 I have learned that from small to tall everyone wants to be (you think I’m gonna say “LOVED” huh…. You’re wrong! But, you’re still cool! Everyone wants to be…) ACCEPTED… not loved. Because we all know that LOVE comes from a few people who know us deeply and truly. But, ACCEPTANCE… why is it so hard to accept the little boy who dresses funny and has buck teeth? And why is it hard to be patient with the little girl who is overweight with frizzy hair and Autism? Exactly how do buck teeth get in the way of playing soccer? And exactly why can’t you be patient at the age of 8 with a little girl who stutters her words?  Where exactly are you in a rush to go? Can’t you Tivo Miley? And why as ADULTS is it so hard to ACCEPT ourselves… buck teeth…stuttering… Autism  and all? It’s funny how we let other people give us our worth isn’t it? Even as ADULTS… we’re supposed to know better, we’re supposed to act better, but we fall into those same ugly traps. We have bad goggles that need replacing.  

But, then there is the “sweet side” of the “bitter side” … the sweet side always blows me away… You know this if you have ever bathed a sandy, dirty, sweaty gross kid… you’re removing sand from under their arm pits and you’re like, “Dude, Storm Trooper! Where was I during the sand avalanche?” And then half a bottle of Johnson & Johnson later your kid is back. It’s amazing what pure water and soap can do… It can wash away all the sand, dirt and sweat and beneath all of the grime and gunk is your kid… that kid is the same kid that went into the tub: a GOOD kid, just minus the mess. When I see kids Rewrite Beautiful I see them taking a bath (in a totally non-creepy way… I have been finger printed…. You can request copies on the contact page) Rewrite Beautiful cleans up these kids minds of what BEAUTIFUL and STRONG really are. They step away different. I can see it in their eyes, in their smiles and in their posture.

 I think Rewrite Beautiful and the tree did a great deal of washing and cleaning during Urban Art Week and I must say… on the sweet side of things… things are lookin’ GOOD people…things are lookin’ really GOOD!

You’re BEAUTIFUL!

Irvina

[slideshow]

We all know that we are created EQUAL; i.e. head, arms, legs, blood, heart, brain.

But, are we all created BEAUTIFUL?

I have always found it interesting the people I choose to sip roasted coffee beans with… they are always interesting, creative and know how to push my latte buttons. Which usually turns into some great blogs; so for that sake I think I’ll keep them around ;)

 So the other day a friend says to me, “Ya know Irvina, some people just aren’t beautiful. They aren’t physically beautiful or even internally beautiful. There are people who are simply cruel and ugly. What are you going to do when you go into a school and ask the kids to Rewrite Beautiful for the girl who bullies everyone and constantly causes chaos and pain?”

 I think this is a great question. I think the answer comes down to where we teach kids BEAUTY comes from… as in WHO created beauty?

Our very first value here at Rewrite Beautiful is: ARTISTRY: We believe every girl is a priceless piece of artwork created for a purpose. (not just the pretty ones who volunteer, not the cute ones who are sassy and funny, but also the ones who are angry, vulgar and have gnarly eating disorders that they are active in.)

Now, that may sound good on paper, but I won’t lie sometimes people are rude, hurtful, inconsiderate and I personally would rather not deal with them. When I get frustrated and emotional I have to go back to what I believe is true: That EVERY girl is priceless piece of art and created for a purpose. (Thank God for the frontal lobe!) 

 This concept works for me because I too am a creator. I’m an artist, writer and founder. From the time I was a little girl I have loved to create things. I had some great parents who encouraged the unique things I made even if it meant taste testing a cake that had the consistency of a cookie, allowing me to freehand paint on the furniture or nearly having a heart attack when I created an “elevator” with a sheet and some rope and tried to lower my little sister from the second floor of our house to the ground floor. I was definitely scolded a lot as a kid, but not for my creativity. To this day there is a delight and a sense of pride that I can sense from my family over the things I create. (Even when I write articles about the matters of sex, love and God that make them sweat.) I would imagine as parents they might think, “She’s precious…a little crazy, but precious…. and I think she’s onto something here… lets see where it goes.”

 I try to look at ALL people (even the mean ones) with the idea that “Someone (who I think is God) created this person for a purpose… in fact… a BEAUTIFUL purpose… knowing that I try to think, “Maybe God’s on to something here…let’s see where it goes.”  I’ll tell you as an artist, I create things out of love. I want to share them. They may not always be pretty or even good, but it’s out of my love for my friends and family that I make them and choose to share them. I think if I apply this thought of creativity to people than yes, they can ALL be created BEAUTIFUL. Yes, they may be cruel at times, but are they being truly cruel or are they just being STRONG and protecting themselves from getting hurt? They may be dishonest and steal things; does that make them a “bad person” or are they maybe a person with DREAMS and aspirations that are perhaps stifled by their current situation. They may be cold, distant and angry, does that make them an “ugly person” or maybe just a SENSITIVE person who has been wounded deeply.

I think that if we went into a school and met a kid who maybe didn’t “act” beautiful or “appear” beautiful that we could find their beauty. We could point it out to them and I think it perhaps could help them see themselves as they were created: BEAUTFIUL.

 What a far out concept huh? Even ugly, angry and evil people are beautiful! You think maybe I lost some brain cells with the accumulation of spray can fumes over the years? Nah!  You want to know something even more far out? Tonight (or today) I was watching the meteor shower in my backyard. I’m a sucker for a shooting star! I was sitting in the dark, on the concrete in my robe waiting for something to happen…. Nothing….  Nothing… Nothing… Nothing…. I started to think about my friends and my foes. People I love and people who frustrate me (No, Obama didn’t make the list… sorry conservative peeps)  I have been taught by a very wonderful and BEAUTIFUL woman I know named CT that when I am frustrated with someone I should pray for them. Pray for blessings on them of love, prosperity and peace. As I started to pray I saw a meteor shoot straight through the dark sky. It made me jump. I felt that feeling you get when you are told a really exciting secret. Kind of like when a guy tells you that he’s going to propose to your friend and he needs your help. In that very moment you accumulate all the struggle and pain your friend has been through their entire life and then see the amazing guy who is going to surprise her and make it all make sense.

 I hope that as I work on Rewrite Beautiful and as you guys join in the ranks of the revolution that we see the darkness, but have the patience to see the miracles…aka the BEAUTY…. I have found in many confusing and cold circumstances that we truly are all BEAUTIFUL and created for a purpose…a purpose that is sometimes surprising!

You’re BEAUTIFUL!

 Irvina