Sunday, March 6, 2016

For the many, many friends and associates who feel the struggle continue...

From the Collection of Colin Frank

Gregory Porter and Laura Mvula - Buy yourself some tunes, Love!



Did you lose a couple friends along the way?
Are You Kidding Me?
11x14 in ~ Painting, Ink ~ Paper
2011
$200

Might be time then. Might be time now.

acrylic on canvas
$1730 

I honestly believe something greater is at stake than to just live here, and to work here and to love. 
From the Collection of the Honourable Yola Grant

Did you fight for your position? Win, and then still lose?

I Hope For Strength - From the Collection of the Honourable Yola Grant
Sometimes it happens.

acrylic on canvas
8x10 in
$120



The path we choose has no guarantee of blissful perfection at it’s end.


A Day at the "Beach" (es) 2015

I tried everything.


 
Tumble
acrylic on canvas
12x12in
$225

You tried too? 

acrylic on canvas
12x12in
$225

Let’s hang out then. 
Let’s have brunch. 
Discuss the subtle, strange acceptance of the lie you challenged... again.

acrylic on canvas
24x30in
$1440
You have pride in yourself.

The Walk from the collection of Paul Rapati
Misery to Joy
mixed media
11x14in
$400

You believe that you are worthy of amazing things 
because you worked hard, 
and you’re good, 
and you were born deserving them…


I am Love - Fiction - Simone Frank $4.95

You’re right! 
You deserve the best!

ink on paper
2011
$200

You haven't received the best yet? 
Maybe you should change.

ink on paper
2011
$200

Not likely. 

A Black One from the collection of Diavin Miller
Change can be good. 

Regent Park and Tearing Down - 2015

Sand Under My Feet - 2015
I tried that too.

ink on mulberry
5.25x8in
2014
$20

I tried to be normal from 2004 to 2006.
I lost the imagined love of my life, my passion and my drive.
Normal people, don’t hurt this much, I decided.
So I tried to join the masses.
How hilarious was that?
Calmed some others and bored myself.

Not one of mine, but gorgeous, isn't it? - still searching for the photographer...

my version of normal...

I moved into a condo in Mississauga. I worked at a shoe store in the mall
with a lovely bunch of ladies who were married or dating
and had no desire whatsoever to exhibit at the Guggenheim.
I shopped at the Gap. I drank instant coffee.
I watched daytime talk shows and night time dramas.
I rode the stationary bike in the condo gym
instead of the fold up bike Igor the angry bicycle salesman probably stole. 

mixed media 
8x10in (framed size)
$95
I went to Church with my Mom. 
I fell asleep in the pew. I snored there. 
Nothing against Church. I just found it so relaxingly calm. 
She told me I was embarrassing her. I apologized. 
We laughed a bit. 
We laughed about a lot of things. 

2013
24x36 in
From the collection of Father Saul


Lilium Casa Blanca is missing in action. 
(I have to hunt it down. A store closed as a result of Bloor Street West reconstruction).
acrylic on canvas
2013
$120

I knew who I was before I got there. 

scratchboard
9x6"
I'm keeping this one!


I know who I am now.

scratchboard
9x6"
Ya... I'm still keeping this one!

Being "normal" required more effort than I imagined. 
It didn’t work for me. Not judgement here. Maybe that is you. 
Maybe it was you. 
Until. Until. Until...
you realized you didn't "belong" anywhere. 
And neither did anyone else. 

Maybe, you turned to "Justice" like I did. There must be "Justice"!!! Things must be made right!
ink on paper
11x14in
2011
$200

You sued. You sued your employer, your doctor, the institution that unnecessarily made your life more complicated than it needed to be. You won! 
You ditched the friend(s) who rarely understood you because you realized 
that while you spent time in places – with people – that didn't satisfy you, 
you were missing it. 

Missing it – the time of your life.
A crazy kind of sorrow can erupt as you lay there,
thinking a million mournful things that made you stagnant.

Buy yourself some tunes, Friend. Snow Patrol in this one.

Ready?

sold

Get up now, Honey! 
You did your best and failed and won.
 
Spiral Strength from the collection of Nancy McGovern


It happens. It happens to everyone.

Punching Rain
acrylic on canvas
18x24 in
$640
If you lose your faith in most things
on the way to things much greater, something will happen.
Some balancing flash of something you couldn’t possible imagine
is happening in spite of your loss.

Lady of Song
acrylic on canvas
16x20 in
$480

Someone has been watching is in the purview.
An opportunity is about to present itself.
And trust me,
even if you are lying on your back
on top of unwashed laundry on the floor
and you no longer are able to pay your phone bill.
Something is coming.
Some remarkable thing.
It always does.
Information from the strangest places.
A zillion people want you to have more.


You won and lost again?
Me too!
Daily.
It happens daily now.

One candle in the darkness can light the place up.
One single flicker of your little, fabulous flame
gives some other candle the audacity to light itself.

Hate is a mere drop in the bucket in an ocean filled with a gazillion possibilities.
Hippy dippy as it sounds, Love and is stronger than any kind of negativity there is.

Racism
mixed media
11x14in
$400
Overcoming Hardship
mixed media
11x14in
$400


What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger
or crazy, or cruel as a form of revenge.
What doesn’t kill you
leads to enlightenment
if you let it. 
Exhausting, demanding enlightenment. 
And some other stuff.

Many things can evolve out of heartbreak.
Many things can evolve out of losing your job,
or losing a loved one due to crime, due to corruption. 

Who will you become after being tested?

The greatest champions history recorded were underdogs who had everything to lose.
They made us see that they had nothing without the very thing they fought for.
Without the thing they dedicated their lives to fighting for.

11x14 in ~ Mixed Media
2004
$200

The world needs you. It does.
The world needs you.
I don’t have to tell you why.
You know why already. You know!
You always knew.

Keep your integrity.
It’s insanely valuable.
It’s your greatest sword in the duel.
It’s the best thing about you.
It’s the reason you are strong, have vision,
and are now developing the best life anyone could ever have.

ink on mulberry paper
7ishx4ish in
$27


I applaud you for your courage. 
For your dedication to reminding those around you
that you are worthy of all the beauty and glory and the wonderful, wonderfully good.
It’s your time now! You did it. It’s your time now, Friend! You made it!

ink on mulberry paper
7ishx4ish in
$27
Sober Up
ink on mulberry paper
7ishx4ish in
$27
Think Up
ink on mulberry paper
7ishx4ish in
$27


Become the dream you fought for!
Keep going now!
Become the dream you’ll live for!
The roaring, soaring beauty you were destined to enjoy is here right now.
It’s not a door you open,
a film you see
or a song you listen to.

A Study of Dream
11x14 in ~ Mixed Media
1997
$200



There are things around you
that can revive you so easily.
Kites at the Beach(es) 2015

The Sky on the Water 2015

A walk by the lake. 
Yes in the winter!
Dress appropriately.
A YouTube something you watch in the library.
That album you already own and love and haven't played in a while.

You’ve been out of work for a while now?
Waiting for the rest of the rocks to fall?
While you wait,
listen to the album
that saved your life the last time.
Find the new album
that sings your new theme song
and perform it at Karaoke night at the Gladstone.

This is why we make art.
This is why some of us,
brilliant as we are,
chose to answer the question, “Why do we go on?”
with a piece of art. 


Re-introducing Lawrence Wraith in Die Fledermaus
performing Sunday March 6, 2016 at 2pm
Bickford Centre  - West of Christie Subway on the South Side of Bloor St. West
777 Bloor Street West, Toronto
With a story.

Two Candles - Fiction - Simone Frank $4.95


You had some people cut you off.
Not your problem. It’s theirs.
Nothing left to tell them. Just walk away.
Walk away from the things that make your eyes twitch,
your head hurt, your brow furrow.
Walk away from the things
that compel you to punch brick walls.
Leave the ones who punch you.
Walk away and do something fun.
Do many fun things at least once everyday!

Read books that help you out.
Design a paint by number book.
Sing in a salt bath.
Laugh. Laugh. Laugh.
You’re still alive!
You know why.
Rest now and rejuvenate. Love.

To fight and win doesn’t always feel victorious right away.
Maybe it never will.
Maybe it always will.
My walk through the existential.
I don't have the answers.
But I have tons, mountains and galaxies of questions.
And a lot of art in mind.

Peace, Love and Chocolate!




Hear2Help (simone@hear-2-help.com) can take you further if you let them. 

The pursuit of justice can be depleting. It can also be the beginning of a vast opportunity for personal development. Be that good to yourself. Managing Director of Hear2Help, Simone Jennifer Smith works closely with two of the leading Meaning Centered Psychologists in Canada. Dr. Lilian and Paul Wong are the founders of the International Network of Personal Meaning. 

The INPM is dedicated to advancing health, spirituality, peace and human fulfillment. Through research, education, and applied psychology, they focus on the universal quest for meaning and purpose. Simone Jennifer Smith holds a M.A. in Humanistic and Clinical Psychology. 

“What have you done for fun?”