….and we have an official opening date….February 4, 2012. And that is not that far away. I will be sharing the Opening with New York Photographer Spencer Tunick. Spencer is a very gifted artist who photographs large installations of naked folk around the world. He will be showing some photos of individual nudes taken in Mexico City last year…I will be showing with my work (old and new)…So save the date…Come to San Miguel and be a part of the Grand Opening of the Chapel of Jimmy Ray….Gracias
Bottles Gone Vertical…..
……we are moving along with our February Lifeline (deadline does not apply) for the Opening of the Chapel…Our bottles are now going vertical and the outer facade of the building is going bling-adorn-funka-quadra-groove-bling! Today we are going into town to get the lighting…here are some pics…
We need to cap the bottles…….with glass drops….
Richard approves…..his ideas are an integral part of this spontaneous flow…..
I Was Floored…
…by the Work of Javier Cruz and found a connection to "all that is" when witnessing his approach to the Groove…..
…and I forget the worth of my own bag…
…and compare myself with others…
…and make needless judgements…
…but a Silent part of me is Listening….
…and a voice from my crowded mind reveals…..
….The Voice is mirrored in my Beloved…..
…and I am reminded that I am free to continue to create my own bag….
A Day at the Chapel of Jimmy Ray…..
…here are some photos of the work today, Friday July 22, 2011…..
Back door to Chapel site at 7 or 8 this am…
Titi, Carlito and Eddy collecting green bottles to clean…we have a huge stash…..
Miguel laying tiles at one of the entrance doors….
Marco Antonio, Jaime Salvador, Eddie, Titi and Carlito…the Bottle Cleaning Brigade…..
More tile work…a five year old boy learning from his uncle…I love these folks!
The end of the day for some of the men and boys of the Ramirez Family…our extended family! The Chapel is becoming a reality…seeing this work and all that we have done…makes me feel so amazingly grateful…..
Having Been Served…..
…a full plate of life experience recently with refill upon refill expected in the future and beyond…I have to let out a big ol' sigh and answer to the call and get it on…these are the clues that unfold with the Mystery. After my return from up North I have been immersing myself back into the life that plays here. I have received a big commision recently and the completion of the Chapel is in sight and we will be having our Grand Opening in February…tiling, painting, landscaping, finishing up …along with completeing upteen pieces for my November solo show in Pozos adds to this full to the max plate…Trust is always the key…always has been…always will be…I just need to get out of the way and ride!
Sitting on Top of the World…
…that's where I have been today. I am amidst a mosaic job in San Miguel on a rooftop in the ritzy side of town. There was a wireless outlet and I was tapping in from time to time to this amazing barage of emails that I was getting. The electronic avalanche had been fueled by the Rajneeshpuram Residents page on Facebook and all the chatter going back and forth between friends and acquaintances from 30 years ago. I often find myself playing the curmudgeon in this group. I just try to keep things a bit honest and I just can't go to LaLa Land concerning the Rajneesh Community that I was very much a part of. Now as I reflect, I feel a tug at the heart from a period of my life that was absolutely priceless and full of intrigue and Mystery…a Divine Play being enacted on the high desert hills of Oregon. We were such a crew of swaggering misfits…it was really something to behold…we felt like we were sitting on Top of the World! In many ways we were and ironically…I still find myself in similar situations and I often marvel how I got there. How many people have had the opportunity to play air guitar in front of 100,000 people like I recently did while riding serpent coiled around an eight and one half foot anotomically correct heart? I got to do that recently in Santa Barbara…so I raise a toast to life. I raise a toast to all the friends in this life…such gratitude!