The End of Summer

And what a Summer it's been. I feel as if I accomplished a lot and nothing at the same time. I'm working on images sporadically, shooting the occasional video when inspired but focusing greatly on the book project. That has taken a great importance - the motivation for it is how much and how far I want the message spread - That an overweight girl can rise from the ashes and become a phoenix. A fat girl not to be defined by that, but by beauty, grace and strength.

I am going to be working with an editor in the fantasy/sci-fi industry and I am very excited about it. I have a few publishing houses I have been looking at that I want to submit it to when it is revised, so hopefully 2012 will be the year it is published. Now to come up with a title...

On a more personal note, there is also another reason for my lack of physical activity in the art-realm:


This little girl came into my life over 5 months ago. She was running through my neighborhood without a collar. I took her in, spent weeks trying to find her home (and with the help of our local no-kill animal shelter) and after much effort and no word, I have officially adopted her this month. Daisy is a 3-year old smooth coat Jack Russell Terrier and while my husband and I mourned the loss of two of our beloved pets this year, and vowed we would not be getting a dog in the foreseeable future, we couldn't help but become smitten by this baby. She has been so loving, happy and joyful and if you are an animal lover like I am, you can just see in this photo how letting her run loose or just leaving her at any shelter would not have been an option. Perhaps there is a Higher Power that wanted her to be with us and help ease the pain of our recent loss. Perhaps, it was just time for her to be with us...or us to be with her!

And as Autumn - my favorite season - comes in, I will welcome it with open arms. It may be the beginning of an end of the year, but I look at it as the beginning of another chapter in the life of AnnMarie Tornabene. Looking forward to what will happen in 2012.

Update

I have updated my website with new work. It's now August - and for me when Summer comes to an end, then the year is almost there as well. (www.annmarietornabene.net)

Seems August is always the month that I reflect on what I have done throughout the year. This was a tough year. I have to say tis is the first year that I really had the toughest time coming up with a new solid body of work. My mind has not had such a lack of focus in a long time. I did make work - a lot of it - I created videos, photos, paintings, drawings and wrote a book. I needed time, though, to sift through what I did, though and see what I could add to my site. I have done so and I have to say that I am pleased with what I have so far and now will see what needs further exploration. In the meantime, I am preparing for my second live performance for "A Book About Death: The Ties That Bind" exhibit taking place the night of August 13th in Bay Shore, NY at the Second Avenue Firehouse Gallery. It will be another live performance - this one solo. I think the live performances are no different than my videos and even my still images - almost seamless.

I'm anxious to see what the next month brings to me in terms of work, though. Until then, I leave this post with a poem my dear friend Eric emailed me that sums up what my work and I am truly about:

WITH THAT MOON LANGUAGE

Admit something:
Everyone you see, you say to them,
"Love me".

Of course you do not do this out loud:
Otherwise,
Someone would call the cops.

Still though, think about this,
This great pull in us
To connect.

Why not become the one
Who lives with a full moon in each eye
that is always saying,

With that sweet moon
Language,

What every other eye in this world
Is dying to
Hear.