I don’t live in the United States. I have no say in any US election. Here I am in a tiny restaurant several hours away from the border, desperately concerned as Donald Trump is becoming the President of the United States.
Wednesday morning I awake to this reality. I open Facebook and head to spaces where my American friends congregate. I read their status updates of confusion and disbelief. Where words have failed, there are only exclamations. I am heavy with the sadness of friends in the States who had hoped things would go differently. I have a lot of questions
Blog for Bleeding Heart!
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
It's Friday morning, and I'm wondering what help I'm going to have for the big install. Most installs are simpler than this. Maybe a dozen pieces from one artist with just a couple of variations in size and structure. Usually, artworks arrive grouped together into a cohesive vision (that is, after all, how the artist landed the solo show in the first place). This install is much harder; this is OPEN WALLS.
Blog for Bleeding Heart!
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
I emerge from this Kaleido weekend grateful.
I give thanks for the hundreds who have made Kaleido Family Arts Festival possible for over a decade. I give thanks for Christy Morin and her team of dreamers and doers. I give thanks for the roster of volunteers who enabled Bleeding Heart to remain open for the entire weekend! I give thanks for TJ who got our lights installed in time for this show and for Daniel who built the wall and for Wenda and Jack who painted everything last week. I give thanks for Mat's last minute sound system help. I give thanks for our donors and thanks for those 700 guests.
Even deeper than those thanks, in the well of my heart, is a different gratitude.
Blog for Bleeding Heart!
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
Blog for Bleeding Heart!
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
I've posted some thoughts on my personal blog today about the fractures in our culture, the promise and pitfalls of social media and the prophecies of CS Lewis.
"Where the internet draws us together, I am grateful. But is the web is benign–simply a tool without bias? I'm not convinced. What I see looks more like a spider's web, where you and I sit trapped in a cycle of interactions that are not healthy, but easy.
The internet is looking a lot like CS Lewis 'Grey Town' – a singular vision of hell he lays out in his book The Great Divorce."
Read the rest at http://www.davevonbieker.com/blog/2016/7/27/when-cs-lewis-predicted-the-internet-it-was-hell
Blog for Bleeding Heart!
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
Recently, I had the privilege of joining a dozen fine folks at King's Fold Retreat Centre, just outside of Cochrane, Alberta, for a weekend of faith and art. Julie and Sam Drew have been leading Art: Vocabulary for the Soul workshops for a number of years and I cannot imagine a better place to put creatives in touch with their Creator.
This weekend was a reminder to me of the beauty of every creative soul, the power of art to reach beneath the surface of things, and the majesty of creation itself. I'm grateful for all of those who shared some of their stories with me on the weekend, and for every act of creation I got to witness. One of my responses was to take photos. A lot of photos. I've whittled them down, somewhat, here.
Blog for Bleeding Heart!
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
The following poem has been graciously shared by Heather Seargeant, a participant at the recent Art: Vocabulary For The Soul Retreat held at King's Fold in June.
The retreat was a journey taken in community, and as we gathered to share where we'd been led throughout the weekend, Heather shared this new poem. I asked her if I could share it with you, as I believe it calls us toward to Sacred Small–toward the great gift of attention we can offer to the world and one another.
Blog for Bleeding Heart!
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
We are in a living room playing music for each other. 8 of us or so. Each time I hear one of these friends play a song, I get a peek into their heart. I see something–hear something–I didn't know was there.
We meet for weeks like this, sharing new songs and with them a part of our souls. We cry. We heal. We come together because we are all attending the same small church of 40 or 50 people and looking for a way to sing songs that don't belong in a church service. We are making music together and making connections, and we want to share all of this with the rest of our community.
The idea is called Bridge Songs. It will be a collection of songs from Urban Bridge Church.
Blog for Bleeding Heart!
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
It's 8:15. The show starts at 8:30 but doors were at 8:00. Besides us three performers, there are seven people in the room. Three of them work here. Two more are related to me. The soundman asks when we want to start. "8:30", I tell him. His eyes shift around the empty room (the big empty room), then back to me. "So, 15 minutes?" he asks with a tone that states the obvious. "Yeah" I answer, my confidence rapidly leaking out onto the just-swept floor.
Uggh.
This story is hard for me to tell. It gets at the sick heart of my weakness. I am telling you how I feel failure
Blog for Bleeding Heart!
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
It's rare we set aside an evening to share our creativity with one another. Rare to find a space to see and to be seen. Where beauty finds ample room. Art ArtLuck, creatives come together to offer the rarest of gifts–our full attention.
Here are some highlights from what we saw at our April 5 ArtLuck.
Blog for Bleeding Heart!
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
