The Little Wizard Man Puppet

little wizard man, puppet

the Little Wizard Man Puppet

I was trying to get some computer work finished today, but the memory of my Little Wizard Man puppet kept interrupting me. Little Wizard Man is a bald paper-mache puppet that I made when I was about 10 years old. He has a long and pointed nose and wears a silk red robe. I made him with newspapers, glue and cloth and he is one-of-a-kind. continue reading

Something from Nothing

the little girl, and her doll

the dollhouse girl I once made, with her little doll.

Making something from nothing is a powerful and spiritual task. I take great joy in making things from the smallest of scraps! In mythology, the poor people are lifted up out of great misery because they make something. This gives me hope, just as it must give hope to millions.

So I began a Google search on this topic of “something from nothing” and came up with a marvelous song Something from Nothing from the Foo Fighters, Sonic Higways last night. Their lyrics express it just right for me! The lyrics are mythical and powerful: continue reading

Island Wisdom Part 2 – Peace and Patience

beach girl in Puerto Plata, near the brand new Amber Cove port,  copyright by Irene Rowley

On the beach in Puerto Plata where I got the carved fish. March 2015

I am a humble traveler and artist, not an expert on Caribbean art and music. Before I traveled to the Caribbean, I only knew about the islands through reggae music and popular lyrics by Bob Marley, such as in the wonderful song, One Love, One Heart… continue reading

Island Wisdom Part 1 – Everything Counts

AFI [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

Botanical Garden, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

I’ve been reflecting on this blog and what secrets to share as the year draws to a close, and one of the key pieces of wisdom I can share with you now. Here it is: I learned from a quiet shopkeeper in Puerto Plata, the Dominican Republic, that whole cultures  are made and supported from art scraps.

Puerto Plata is a city on the north side of the island and just a few hours from the Haitian border.  Christopher Columbus settled in Puerto Plata,  founding the first European-American colony in this very region. So as a traveler I walked on historic ground and wondered deeply about how cultures survive for centuries… continue reading