zuni fetish workshop

B E A R   M E D I C I N E   //   M I N E R A L S   //   S U N S H I N E   //   L E M O N A D E

a make your own zuni fetish with me 

at Dream Collective   \\   1404 Micheltorena   \\  Silver Lake

June 22nd

3:00 pm  -  5:00 pm

materials fee: $65

please rsvp to laurenspencerking@gmail.com

limited space

please don't let me be misunderstood

shoots i took Monday during a shoot i worked on...

a Nina Simone music video for Verve

the truly talented Claire directed & pulled together an amazing team

Lili outdid herself with the flowers

Leo, the King of Light

Thank you Elijah and Karina, 

and Blake who was an amazing muse!

from around

- i was lucky enough to get to see Pedro Almodóvar's new film last night, I'm So Excited! it was brilliant! i had so much fun, and can say with certainty it is my favorite film this year.

- i am head over heals for this lemonade stand

- totally creepy, and kind of amazing... opal dentures 

- i have a secret and deep love for Balinese Gamelan music... so i was extra excited when a friend shared this cover of the Gang of Four... the clapping is the best!

- Cheri sent this to me... William Wegman and Man Ray on Late Night, it looks like it is from the late 70's. we were chatting and saying how amazing it is that artists used to be on Late Night talk shows... talking about DaDa and Conceptualism. pretty Amazing.

- being a Midwest transplant to the West Coast, i thought this was pretty interesting... you say pajamas i say pijAmas... how do you pronounce words differently than the rest of America?

- i laughed out loud at this... #hamlethumor

- currently obsessed with these drawings by Jack Hass, expressions of the alchemy of his unconscious.

- a great feature on the history of light in art: the pioneers, the rising stars, and the market - part 1, part 2

of the senses

new moon // june

NEW MOON

Flower Moon

Saturday, June 8th, Gemini, 8:58 PST

Last Moon I talked about being in a time where we are learning to receive, we have now come to a moment where we are asked to be like the water in the stream, flowing towards something greater, staying on course, moving effortlessly around obstacles, changing in every moment, adapting while staying true. How do you feel you are being present and in the "flow of life", connected, open, and in sync with it all? Notice the moments you feel this, there may be more now than ever. 

Because this New Moon is in the sign of Gemini this is a great time to tap into communication, in all forms: speaking, teaching, negotiating, writing. Also, be aware if you are feeling the duality of this sign: love / hate, anger / forgiveness, you / me, unconscious / conscious, dreams / reality, joy / sorrow... try to embrace each opposition, as they are connected, and are dependent on each other. 

During the New Moon spend some time sitting quietly and ask your heart what it wishes. You may write down ten wishes maximum, and these must be hand written on paper. The most potent time for wishing is with in the first 24 hours of the new moon, but within 48 will work just fine. 

Happy wishing

Melanie Pankau

i will show you fear in a handful of dust

I will show you something different from either

Your shadow at morning striding behind you

Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;

I will show you fear in a handful of dust.

A Handful of Dust  -  Evelyn Waugh 

François Morellet, ?, Richard Tuttle, ?, Dianna Molzan, Dianna Molzan, Andre Hemstedt and Tine Reimer

from around

sorry I have not been posting as much, I am in the middle of a super intense Panchakarma. Detoxing on all levels, it's been quite a journey, reawakening and discovering my body in a whole new way. But, I have two more days left, so next week I will be back. 

In the mean time...

- saw The Great Gatsby... and I have to say... not a fan... except for Leo. No one has ever looked so good in pink linen pinstriped pants. It made the $15 I spent on the movie ticket and sitting there watching the rest of the nonsense totally worth it. Also, read this really interesting piece on the real flappers of the 1920's, early feminists for sure. Pay particular attention to the part of Zelda Fitzgerald's "Eulogy on the Flapper" from 1922, so good.

- planing a trip to Italy... a treat for myself. All I want to do is lay in the sun and swim in the sea... all day... every day. The Amalfi Coast, Capri, Pozatano, Favignana, Sardinia, hot springs, the Blue Cave... then up the coast to the South of France, then to Paris. Any recommendations would be so welcomed!

- the lovely, charming, and talented Cheri was so sweet and did a post on her studio visit with me when she was in town a few months ago. The studio is a bit of a mess and lots of older stuff hanging out in there, I am beginning to pull together a show for November (very excited! i'll keep ya posted). Thank you Cheri! 

- love Dior's Resort 2014 collection! Brilliant! I will be needing this, this and this, thank you. 

- can't wait to see this round up of shows, Richard Hawkins, Silke Otto-Knapp (love her), & James Turrell at LACMA

- more pink colored water (because pink is the best color), pools colored by beta carotene

- #i'mobsessedwithhashtags

david hockney painting his pool

charles e king

Back in November there was a retrospective on my grandfathers architecture.
Because of this my dad had to dig through lots of old photos and slides of his work.
I recently went through them again and wanted to share some here. I have posted on him two
times before, my favorite is this one, and another time here (along with an amazing story about Frank Lloyd Wright). 

the next four photos are of the house my dad grew up in

we still have all of this furniture from this house. i just moved this leather woven lounge chair into my apartment, as well as the black leather ottomans on the left

sitting in one of those dining chairs right now

lobbies and office buildings

i love this home

a home in FL

i love this photo, that is Charles sitting on the right

full moon // lunar eclipse // may

FULL MOON

L  u  n  a  r     E  c  l  i  p  s  e 

Planting Moon

Friday, 24th of May, Sagittarius, 9:25pm PST

Today was the last of the three consecutive eclipses, and tonight is a Super Moon, which means the Moon is closest to earth, and the moon, sun and earth are in alignment to each other creating a straight line. 

These past three moons have certainly been powerful ones when it comes to thinking about the future, during this time I have definitely been able to feel into the future and today especially I keep getting glimpses of mine. It has also been a very creative and productive time thanks to the energy of the eclipses, I feel like lots is getting done and being readied for the future, lots of preparing and planting of seeds. 

This is a wonderful time to tap into the feminine and learn to receive. What gifts are coming our way due to our hard work, who is showing up for us that we have been asking for, what wishes are coming true in our lives, what attention is coming to us because we are stepping up and into who we are meant to become, what rewards are coming our way from us risking?

Honestly, this Full Moon I feel a little at a loss as to what is going on, I can't quite put my finger on it, I do feel we are in the middle of something big. I feel like lots of things are being set into motion, lots of beginnings are at play. I just keep thinking about that moment when you toss confetti up into the air, and that one single moment it hovers before it all falls into place. That's where I feel like we are. 

We are stepping into something, and I ask the light of this Full Moon to show us the way. 

Helen Frankenthaler

finn juhl

these are amazing - Chair illustrations by Finn Juhl

also check out this video of his home

i have been obsessing over researching info about my Finn Juhl chair

he's the best

i love him

from around

- some great photos from the Aline and Eero Saarinen Papers of the Eames house, via the Smithsonian

- listen to this amazing story of a baby that was born at 23 weeks and 6 days, which is half way to full term. It is moving and interesting and raises so many questions about life and death, and how ultimately we are not in control of either.

- the power of "I don't know",  sent to me by a friend... love this

- loved this show, can't wait to see this show, wish I could see this Rebecca Morris show

- great little piece on the women of the Bauhaus

- i so badly want to visit Arcosanti

- think you could survive in the woods living on only what nature provides for you? Check out the American Mountain Men Association. If you ask me, we need more real men around! More photos here. 

Eames house photo from the Aline and Eero Saarinen Papers

sun & wind & nothing

went out to Joshua Tree yesterday

to integrate my newly reclaimed self

to be in silence
to call something in

to get a message

103º

new moon // solar eclipse // may

NEW MOON

S  o  l   a  r     E  c  l  i  p  s  e  

Pink Moon

Thursday, 9th of May, Taurus, 5:29pm PST

Here we are, in the middle of three consecutive eclipses. With this New Moon comes a Solar Eclipse, and this one is said to be one of the most powerful eclipses of our lifetime. As I mentioned last month during the Full Moon, the time around eclipses is an especially powerful and potent time for manifestation, so given that we have three in a row is extraordinary! The energy is palpable. 

You know that phrase, be careful for what you wish for, it might come true...? Well, keep that in mind right now as the universe is listening to every thought and wish and dream and word. Be extra aware about what you are asking for and wanting. Use the energy of the opposition between Taurus / Scorpio to help you tap into to what you truly value, love and have worth for in the truth of your heart. That may be a good question to ask yourself over these next weeks: What is the truth of my heart? Listen to what it says. And honor what you hear. You might be surprised by the amazing places it will lead you. 

Because this eclipse is so powerful, along with it we will get an added boost of energy in our creative powers. This has been showing up so strongly for me in the last week, I have been feeling this and thinking about it a lot already. Think about all the ways you are creative in your life... as an artist, a writer, a problem solver, a mother, a manifester. Think about all the ways you create something new in the world... taking energy, putting it together, moving it around, combining it, transforming it... this is creation. Weather it's a painting, a book, a new home, a partner, a baby... it's all creation. Tap into this energy and use it in your life, it is so powerful and abundant right now!

Just to mention briefly, you might notice a lot of stuff coming up around your relationship, where you might be feeling into places that are off balance or feeling unequal, this is to be expected. Pay particular attention to fears that might be coming up around your relationship. Also, Taurus rules the neck, throat, tongue, thyroid, voice... as well as banking, beautiful possessions, what you value and accumulate... notice if you feel a block in any of these areas during this time. 

Now... on to New Moon wishes! Yay! You are allowed ten wishes maximum and they must be handwritten on paper. Within the first 24 hours is the best time for wishing, but within the first 48 will do. Pay very close attention to what you are wishing for this month, as always New Moons are a time when you want to be clarifying and setting in to motion what you want to create in the next moon cycle. But, because this New Moon is so powerful with it's Solar Eclipse, be very aware and precise about what you are wishing. As always, sharing is caring, having a witness makes everything more powerful. Share them with someone you love and trust, or feel free to leave a few in a comment. 

Happy wishing!

photo source unknown

Alan Reid

Alan Reid

she who makes the moon the moon

My return was sweet, my home refound, but my thoughts were filled only with grief at having lost her, and my eyes gazed at the moon, forever beyond my reach, as I sought her. And I saw her. She was there where I had left her, lying on a beach directly over our heads, and she said nothing. She was the color of the Moon; she held the harp at her side and moved one hand now and then in slow arpeggios. I could distinguish the shape of her bosom, her arms, her thighs, just as I remembered them now, just as now, when the moon has become that flat, remote circle, I still look for her as soon as the first sliver appears in the sky, and the more it waxes, the more clearly I imagine I can see her, her or something of her, but only her, in a hundred, a thousand different vistas, she who makes the Moon the Moon and, whenever she is full, sets the dogs to howling all night long, and me with them.

Italo Calvino, 'The Distance of the Moon,' translated by William Weaver.

Colter Jacobsen, One drawn from a photograph, one drawn from memory.

we are equal to what we want

i am totally obsessing over this image at the moment

it's hanging in my mind

inspiring me in the studio

something new is abrewin'

does anyone know where it is from? a mosque? Istanbul? Portugal? Morocco? i'm not sure it matters... but it might

a connection

Something has been unfolding since Friday night, it has been gaining in momentum as the hours pass, reaching it's peak of clarity this morning, sitting here on this rare grey Los Angeles day, at my table, with my tea, in front of my computer. A collage of events colliding. 

I was having an email exchange this morning with my friend Christine, about a Conversation we saw this past weekend at Paris Photo between Phil Collins and Sharon Lockhart. At one point Collins said that he believes that ultimately you become an artist to fall in love (at which point C and I both grabbed something from our bags on which to write this down, it resonated with both of us so deeply in various ways). Each of them talked further about the very personal connections they make with the subjects they photograph, and how they hope that this intimate connection can be felt by the viewer. And this morning as we wrote to each other I started to think that not only is this true for me as an artist, but I think it is also true for me as a viewer. I think on some level, through some kind of osmosis of viewing, I hope I get the experience of feeling even just a moment of this kind of intimacy and connection, a kind of falling for something that I don't have control over, to be overcome and taken by something. I want to create and experience a closeness, maybe not a comfortable one, but something honest. To give something, and to receive something of the same cloth. We wrote back and forth about this, and in our exchange it became clear to me something that hit me so hard last night because of an amazing email from a reader of this blog... that in art, in relationships, in life... we crave connection. We want a witness.

Without weaving in and out of all the ways this is tying in and showing up in my life right now, I will leave it there. But, (very connected to all of that) I want to also say thank you. Thank you to all of you who read this blog. Thank you to all of you who I don't know, but who are out there connected in some way. Thank you to all of you who have written me some of the most beautiful and moving emails about how you are effected by what I write and share here. Thank you all for being a witness for me. I have always thought of making art, and what I express here in ideas and experience and writing, as an act of faith. I think of this space as a place to connect and share, and yet it sometimes feels so removed and abstract to me (the very nature of the internet i guess)... void of true and meaningful connection. But, to those of you who have reached out and trusted me with your stories, I thank you for showing me that it can in fact happen. You have taught me more than you know. The biggest lesson being that when you value and trust your voice and risk by putting something out in the world, its rewards will circle back and return to you. 

(I also read this amazing post this morning, yet another piece in the collage that is unfolding before my very eyes. I'm posting at 11:11am in your honor K)

painting by Landon Metz

from around

from around... Sunday edition

- just read this... Death of a Revolutionary. An amazing article on Shulamith Firestone by Susan Fauldi in the New Yorker. Super fascinating. 

- a great slideshow of photos from inside the Judd Foundation (my favorite shot is of this Larry Bell piece) 

- the history of the Oujia Board

- Claire's beautiful film, Wild Rose Water, for Plants: Our Silent Guardians is now up on-line, please check it out... it's dreamy. (and..... costume and lettering by me)

- now... on to something I talk a lot about over the dinner table with my family, but never here... my dad just finished racing in the Tour Auto Obtic 2000 in France. He was the copilot and navigator in a 1965 Alfa Romeo (part of only one of two US teams). Out of 312 starters they finished 11th! Pretty awesome. 5 day rally race, 12 special stages/hillclimbs, 4 circuit races, 2,500km, Paris, Le Mans, Orleans, Vichy, Albi, Limonges, finished in La Rochelle (map). He wrote to me in an email this morning: "the French Police generally looked the other way. We were fueled by adrenalin, vin rouge, and sufficient testosterone to sink a boys prep school." He is hilarious. 

- sadly Richie Havens died (Dolphins is one of my favorite songs). (Another fact about my dad is that he has a memory like no one I know, he is a professional nostalgist of sorts, and is an obituarist by hobby and sends emails when any person of note dies with a write up of their life, with facts and stories about his own life and how they impacted him weaved in... yes... i know... I'm already on it... trying to get him to start a blog... it would be amazing...) anyway, he sent me the link to the NYT and I just loved this part: Mr. Havens played many songs written by Mr. Dylan, and he spent three days learning his epic “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall.” A man who heard him practicing it stopped him on the stairs as he headed for the dressing room of a nightclub, and told him it was the best he’d ever heard the song sung.

“That’s how I first met Bob Dylan,” Mr. Havens said.

Superbox cabinet, Poltronova, 1966

Setiechinopsis Mirabilis

full moon // lunar eclipse // april

FULL MOON

L  u  n  a  r      E  c  l  i  p  s  e

Pink Moon

Thursday, April 25th, Scorpio, 12:58pm PST

With this Full Moon comes a Lunar Eclipse, the first of three eclipses happening in a row over the next few weeks (the next being a Solar Eclipse during the New Moon on May 9th, and again another Lunar Eclipse on the next Full Moon, May 24th). This is a really exciting time with lots of energy and awareness to be utilized. This is a good time to do some reflecting on who you are, and what you want in your life. You will surely be tested during this time. Think of the Eclipse like a teacher showing up to make sure you have mastered the lessons, met the challenges, gathered the knowledge and experiences needed to grow and evolve. Be grateful even in the difficulty you may be feeling right now, you are actually being prepared and given gifts. Spend some extra time thinking about what you wish and desire in your life, the period between eclipses is especially powerful for manifestation (I can not stress this enough, utilize it!). During the next few weeks be particularly aware about what you are putting your focus on, where your energy is going, what thoughts are in your head, where your actions and words are taking and leading you. Let it all be towards where you wish to go.

This Full Moon and Eclipse occur between the opposites of Scorpio and Taurus, you may be feeling the pull of their opposing energy. The Scorpio a fixed Water sign who embraces the depth of the dark ocean and the unknown, mystery, transformation, sex, death and birth. And Taurus being an Earth sign with a focus on the experience of the senses and the pleasures of physical embodiment. Because of Scorpio you may be feeling a sense of isolation and vulnerability, and wanting to keep your feelings and experiences to yourself. This Scorpio Full Moon brings to bear the energy of transformation, it's time to reach through your fears and trust your intuitive voice and creativity, it's time to claim and share your truth and deep wisdom, and experience the power of your expression in the world. (being a Scorpio i love this energy, but it has been an intense few days). It's time to live your life with a greater sense of authenticity and empowerment. During this time you are readying yourself for something BIG! Use the energy of the Scorpio to go deeper and see the truths of who you are and what you want, and prepare yourself for transformation. And if you are a Scorpio you will be feeling all of this that much more intensely(!), the difficulty and the rewards. 

Also, during this time, pay attention to your dreams, and I feel writing is also especially important. Take some moments over the next weeks and do some writing, it might help you work through an issue, bring clarity, or perhaps some message might come through you. Writing is so healing.  

Whistler, Nocturne in Black and Gold

plant & mineral workshop

I wanted to share some photos from my workshop last week at Book Stand for Plants: Our Silent Guardians. Everyone got to learn a little bit about different minerals and plants, their meaning and healing ability. They each got one of the guides I made and at the end of the evening chose their own minerals and plants for their personal medicine pouch. We did some fun intuition exercises (despite peoples initial resistance, everyone got really into it), we chatted about palo santo and dried tobacco, had lots of laughs, drank some yogi chai, ate some homemade cookies with rosemary chocolate (which i made!), sprinkled with sea salt (yum!). 

Thank you to all who showed up that evening, each of you brought your own magic and made it so much fun for me!

thank you thank you

and thank you to Claire at Book Stand for being our lovely hostess, and to Jenni at the Standard & Lili. 

all photos by Claire and Lili