Diane Lou Collage

A New Year and new look...

2010-01-10T10:52:00.000-08:00

We are happily welcoming the new year with good health and a relatively clean and organized studio. Amazing what an assist at least some degree of organization is to creativity. It is great to know what I have and where it is, and consequently have been on a creative roll.

I've just been notified I'll be teaching Transfers and Transparencies, as well as Dumpster Diving Assemblage, again at Art and Soul in Portland, OR in October. Visit the site for details: www.artandsoulretreat.com .

Also visit my other blogs, especially http://dianelou-mixedmedia.blogspot.com for work in progress, the newest work, and more frequent postings than you see here.

Here's hoping for a great new year filled with lots of creative fun!

We're home...

2009-10-24T10:15:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the empty period on the blog while I was hospitalized, but we came home on Thursday (could have Wednesday except that they couldn't find a pain med I could take at home that didn't nauseate me), so I'll be getting back into everything gradually. Blogging is a great activity for recovery actually. It doesn't take much energy at all, you get to put your thoughts down, and later on, you can look back and see how spaced out on the pain meds you really were!

During the period when they kept trying oral pain meds on me, several induced hallucinations.

They were completely bizarre...some creative and some horrific. One was beyond wonderful.

I think I had mentioned that I was listening to a pre-surgery CD for about 2 weeks prior to surgery, and then again post surgery (it contained tracks for both). It helped with per-surgery anxiety, and then helps with healing afterwards.

Anyway, listening to it in the hospital during my hallucination phase, I closed my eyes and suddenly I was about 60-80 feet above a stage looking down on a beautiful set of reds, blues and purples and a floor full of dancers in flowing costumes. As the dancers moved, their motions created fractal-like designs, and the costumes gradually changed colors as the background music on the CD changed (yes, all the choreography moved with the music on my healing CD). They had me on so many drugs at that point that my first thought was, "I didn't realize there was a video with this CD." (Funny....)

At that point I realized I was seeing my own response to the music and that my own brain had created the stage sets, costumes and complex choreography. It was wonderful seeing it, and yet being awake enough to realize that. I experimented to see if I could open my eyes and go back to it, and I could...and I could "fly" around to look at it from different perspectives.

I had 20 minutes of that, and it was pure pleasure.

Anyway, now we are home. I am far exceeding any expectations the Dr's had of how I would feel (quite good), I am not in pain, I am relatively mentally clear (thanks to IV Vit C to clear anesthetic out of me after surgery) and I feel like my recovery has already moved way ahead. The Dr saying I wouldn't feel like myself for 6 months, is not even close to reality. In fact, later today I want to go check on the garden and studio, and see I gained some new ideas for future work.

So glad to be back!

du Soleil

2009-10-13T09:15:00.000-07:00

(Private Collection of Lorraine Jones. Copyright by Diane Lou.)

Ohhh, so sorry!

2009-09-24T18:01:00.000-07:00

Due to an upcoming major surgery, I won't be able to be at Art and Soul after all. Glenny has found some dear friends to fill in for the transfers classes. I am so sorry to disappoint anyone, but it is imperative that I do not pick up the flu or a cold before surgery, and being in a hotel with about 500 people is a prime opportunity to do just that.

I hope to be back next year, like always. See you then!

Art and Soul workshops coming soon!

2009-08-30T11:53:00.001-07:00

Here we are at the final days of August, and in less than a month Art and Soul will begin. My Transfers and Transparencies workshops will be on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, and both have long been filled (and thank you to all who signed up). I've been preparing your packets, exploring even more new techniques to share with you, and this year's workshops promise to be even more information-filled than ever before.

Friday evening my Dumpster Diving Assemblage workshop is also filled.

I'll be looking forward to meeting each of you! What a great opportunity to share ideas, see old friends and make new ones. See you there!

Postcard from Paris

2009-06-16T12:21:00.000-07:00

Les Petits Enfants

2009-06-16T12:15:00.001-07:00

La Plage

2009-06-15T11:50:00.001-07:00

Mariage

2009-06-15T11:44:00.000-07:00

Societe Anonyme

2009-06-15T10:56:00.000-07:00

"Societe Anonyme" copyright Diane Lou 2006. Available as a matted open edition print.

La Mer

2009-06-15T10:21:00.000-07:00

A qui pensez-vous?

2009-06-15T10:18:00.000-07:00

"A qui pensez-vous?" copyright by Diane Lou 2006. Available as matted open edition print.