The Asian Welder

061.365

~Tessa

Because you’re sweet and lovely girl I love you,
Because you’re sweet and lovely girl it’s true,
I love you more than ever girl I do.
I want you in the morning girl I love you,
I want you at the moment I feel blue,
I’m living ev’ry moment girl for you.
I’ve loved you from the moment I saw you,
You looked at me that’s all you had to do,
I feel it now I hope you feel it too.
Because you’re sweet and lovely girl I love you,
Because you’re sweet and lovely girl it’s true,
I love you more than ever girl I do.
I really love you.

these are ALL taken at the Kuzu event: Freeze Frame Fashion.  great times…cutting edge fashion and event!  the buzz/vibes were not to be missed…

designers mariko burton and laurel burton…

~Elise

~Tamra

~Kate

Cind and Sarah

~Rene

~kate

~Rene

~Sarah

~Tamra

~Tessa

http://tucsoncitizen.com/art/2010/03/22/new-diana-yakowitz-photography-exhibition-at-kuzu-friday/

Artist Statement

When I was a child, I opened the back of my first camera and exposed all of the film. That unforgiving experience made me look upon equipment as something to avoid, overcome, put up with, pull one over on, cheat, use, abuse, circumvent, and then finally befriend. Since that first learning experience, my photographic works have been the result of an interior journey through the seventies, influenced by the sixties, honed in the eighties, on pause in the nineties, and with many forks and dead ends in the ‘roads’ leading up to today. I shoot few frames and often wait for some recognition to occur. I study my images afterwards and often discover something that influences my work latter or an overlooked image, such as Flagging Garden, that I see as if with new eyes now. I want my work to be more than just recording the visible. More than shades and shapes, I hope they make visible a little of myself and that interior journey I have been on.

The images I chose for this show were taken in the past year with a few exceptions. And with two exceptions, Reaching Out and LA Shroud, all are from the Pacific Northwest.All have in common some degree of human interaction or intrusion on nature. In searching for an overall title for the show, I kept coming back to one image that I had titled “Something to Hold Onto.” For me, it expressed frustration and longing laid bare. I found the title fit not only this image, but the entire show with all illustrating, sometimes subtly, this expression in a literal or metaphoric way. In fact, I can’t think of a better expression for my relationship with photography itself.

showing thru april 17th, Tucson.

celebrating our one year anniversary with a two day event schedule…

http://kuzusalon.blogspot.com/

http://www.tucsonopenstudios.com/index.html

Tucson….11 – 5 pm saturday/sunday…it is now 5:30p…doors are closed! i’d like to thank the 6 people who came out to see me, you made it ALL worth while!!

here is the link to the previous picture when i started this (6 weeks ago)… http://www.theasianwelder.com/2009/12/stoked/ as you can see things go at a very slow pace here. seriously, most of my works take months and there are a few that took a year or longer! as i stated in my earlier post this piece has no deadline and i am enjoying the time spent in my warehouse putzin around and feeling the direction instead of dictating how i “think” it should go. working with metal is very time consuming, at least for me, and sometimes i feel i need an immediate tangible creation…as a result i am embarking on a photography project to begin on january 26th. it will be a photo a day over exactly one year from the date! photography has always been a part of my life, documenting the growth of my two daughters (now 24/26!), keeping pictures of my works for submissions/patrons and a pastime i thoroughly enjoy. to celebrate a moment, any given moment, to freeze it and share with others….

i suspect my next entry will be my first photo for this project!

2010 thus far has been a stretch in pushing my limitations in creating…i hope you enjoy the view(s)! for a snippet…hit the link to the right titled “fotografias”.

“The end of collection is dispersion.

The end of rising is falling.

The end of meeting is parting.

The end of birth is death.”

~ Buddha / Vinaya  Sutras

we begin a new decade, another generation, a new year. i find myself turning 50 this month and realize i have only begun to understand what this present life is ALL about!  it seems i ought to have known more, done more, been more….but truth is i have lived as fully as i knew how. when i read the quote above from Buddha it makes me grateful how i chose to live my life and how i choose to live it today because – E V E R Y T H I N G  is impermanent. Dharma was a major turning point in my life.  the difference on the outside is not visible but inside i have found a greater capacity to listen, love, appreciate, hold contentment longer, gain more compassion, give more and question innate views that no longer hold truth for me.

faith came to me very late in life…a belief in something without proof…i struggled to find it, searched for it since i was in grade school! seriously, i was one of those people whom could not understand how one developed, found, recognized or felt “it”. i went with friends to their churches in every denomination i can think of and even entered studies with meditation practices and some churches to learn and understand their rituals. nothing stuck or made sense! most people i questioned about a particular understanding or ritual would not know the answer but tell me “it is just what we do”… really?

i cannot judge why people have or hold faith in something or someone, i only know my mind cannot accept a spiritual practice without questions and answers that make sense. i rejoice in their blind faith and finally understand, my karma ripened.

in these degenerate times how do you find your happiness within?

Since you cannot tame the mind of others until you have tamed your own, begin by taming your own mind. ~ Atisha

Om Ah Hum ~ body, speech & mind

oh Buddha, Buddha, Buddha

may 2010 be a year of mindfulness, compassion, giving and love for each and every being on this planet we call earth.

~ hazel

dedicated to the SoAZ Girl Scouts….saturday, dec. 12th ~ noonish.

i was to teach or give a talk on Land Art(think andy goldsworthy), some 20 young girls would participate on the U of A campus and then they could receive their “patch” on visual arts….apparently the tour thru the campus and digital studio kept them waylaid?  yes, i waited there diligently for an hour and a half!  it was beautiful out and i decided while waiting i’d give them something tangible to understand and view up close/personal.  the citrus tree sits approx. 20 yards to the northeast of this old olive. when it became obvious they were not coming i took my photos and left…a treat for myself, the birds, joggers, students…and the mission olive tree in which it resides till earth and nature consume them.

as i sit in my new favorite spot in my shop, sipping an espresso looking out back with the warehouse door open a glorious day of sun shining and bringing the southern exposure warmth, the caffeine kicks in and i am happy to finally feel alive in a new works! i have no title and am trying not to “think” much about it other than doing what comes naturally. for the first time in a long time i have the luxury of time to take it slowly and let the process unfold. normally i am in a time crunch and it always feels forced to meet a deadline! the only other new work i have going is a commissioned piece but again NO DEADLINE!

i’m utilizing 4 X 4 inch square posts from another project (Peace Garden for a Buddhist center here in Tucson), these are the remnants and somehow it came to me to fabricate a “journey of steel”. there are a lot of influences…i saw an intriguing lucky bamboo stalk that was the catalyst, something so organic that twists and turns made from its complete contrast~ square, cold metal. an element of nature but hardly organic by nature in its form. each natural element of earth will be present within the piece but more conceptual or imputed by mind than reality.

here is the beginning…

SALON was a term that started back in the early 1700′s.  between 1748 – 1890 Salon de Paris was the greatest annual or biannual art event in the western world.  so why is it today when i named my fine art gallery/boutique Kuzu Salon that ALL i get are inquiries into if this is a hair or beauty salon? my guess is that the art world here in tucson, AZ is not familiar with the term, when i list events in our local publication they get so confused, no matter how many times i tell them they cannot grasp it! most listings end up reading “Kuzu Salon Gallery Boutique and Store”….a tad frustrating, but i suppose they are just trying to cover their bases..to be sure? at any rate here is our next event coming up!

i am pretty thrilled to have this couple coming to Kuzu! she is renowned for her scientific paintings in true details and colors…not to mention huge portrayals! if you are in the area please stop by to see this unique free event for the family! part of our sales through Kuzu’s gallery and Project Insect’s book sales will go back to our community to the Tucson’s Childrens Museum. if you can’t attend check out the artists website at www.projectinsect.com

Tucson Children’s Museum will also be present on Friday afternoon!  http://www.tucsonchildrensmuseum.org/index.php

another new site i have stumbled upon for engaging kids of all size (ages!) is http://LandArtforKids.com/

two great ways to get yourself and others motivated to create and learn about your own environ.

side note: after this event we will no longer be using Salon…just listing under Kuzu!

“I don’t think that art comes from art. A lot of artists apparently think so. I think it comes from the awakening person…Everything tends toward awakening, and I would rather use the word awakening than a word derived from some system – because there are many systems.”
ISAMU NOGUCHI 1987

i took this photo “at the end of the day” upon coming h(om)e from work…such a natural sculpture of beauty and art. there are days in my shop i struggle in ways to finish a piece or to see what i am trying to convey within the piece…these are the moments i remember his words…