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questing to become a blog diva

OK dudes here we are. It’s been about 1 million years since I’ve last posted. So many updates to be had.

Here’s the deal. It’s 2011. This is going to be a momentus year. really. I’m excited and planning and putting my projects into actual structures, not just lists (please ignore the totes redic pile of (literally) over 19 post-its full of Very Important Lists sitting next to me right now).

The post directly after this one is gonna blast through the major announcements that I’ve been neglecting/ waiting to epically reveal. THEN, from here on out I will be posting at least 1x per week, with an intention for twice. Lets say, a Monday/Friday Blog Posts Promise! holy moley!!

I have become really inspired by all these amazing/adorable/heartbreakingly-seeming-to-be-living-the-dream artsy bloggy girls. (some of my fav examples so far: BRILLZ-REFASHIONING-DIVA, RV-ADVENTURE-DREAM-LADY, VINTAGE-SHOP-CUTEST-HUBBY-SCRAPBOOK-MAVEN) What inspires me most about all these amazing ladies is that they are jumping into this full force: blogging about everything, sharing themselves so fully with the world and inspiring feedback and others’ participation, just being themselves and even making money by selling ad space on their blogs (not to mention of course the totally cute photoshoots and outfits all over the place). I read about their lives and (even though I know its a bit of the glorified blogging version of their lives) I get both inspired by thinking, “hey! I could do that!” and also depressed thinking, “geeze, I’d just be one of the other 10million artsy cutesy girls. and I don’t even scrapbook. and how could this even work anyways –  I don’t have anything useful to say.”

So, I’m trying this out, slowly. I’m gonna start by posting regularly so I am count-onable and also documenting myself and what I’m up to more throughly. Then I will start revamping the blog to be more organized and less a stream of thought Aliya Barf Zone.

This blog is first and foremost an avenue to share myself with my many friends and family and future friends I haven’t met yet who are far away and want to know what I’m up to. It ideally will inspire conversation, inclusion, project making, connections, and friendships. It’s also a way to document the everyday, ephemeral art that I make which is very much a part of my practice, but hard to document or put into an application. I hope you walk away from reading this getting to know me better, and starting to look at everything you do yourself as a potential art piece/act/event/installation.

So that’s what’s up. See you on the internetz more regularly friends.

LOVE
aliya

I’m A Pretty Big Deal in these parts.

If you didn’t get the Official Memo released by the National Council of Upcoming Amazing Community Based Artists who are Up To Something Big, one of my installations is going to be in an art show in November!

This show is curated by Kara Walker-Tome, a really amazing south Florida curator that I heard about from states away (an Elsewhere Board Member recommended I talk to her about a year ago) and from close by (an amazing Milagro Teacher — who’s also showing in the exhibition! — also recommended I talk to her). So I finally did! and here I am! I’m so excited to work with her. She says her father-in-law owns a laundry mat where she curated this totally fun performance piece a couple years ago – and that she was thinking that I’d be interested in installing a piece/performance there… um, yes!!

For some reason this feels like a really big deal. At the site visit, I realized that everyone was relating to me like a REAL. PROFESSIONAL. ARTIST. and they all loved me! and what I was up to! And talking about all the other projects I’ve done, people were visibly IMPRESSED. wow. I’m not bragging (too much), but the weirdest part was just realizing that I was really being professional about it all — and so that’s how they were relating to me. I’m being totally serious (about tents, made up stuffed animals, art in storage units, hot pink, glitter), so they are too. I love it.

I’m excited for the opportunity to make art work that is tactile and visual (addicted), but in a totally different context than to be put up in a gallery. If this were going to be in the biggest room in the Miami Art Museum, it’d be boring (ok, maybe not, cause the biggest room? I could make something SO BIG!!). but in this unusual setting, in the context of making art outside of the gallery walls, oh it’s exciting.

Due to an unfortunate scheduling conflict I will be knee deep in a conference in Miami that night and will miss my own 1-night opening… but I’m making the piece interactive and requesting that the visitors leave a note and a story, so there will be something to come back to. It’s all going to be perfect.

sewing begins tomorrow! pictures soon.

San Francisco: The Adventures of Businesslady Aliya and Hampshire Alum Aliya in the same city

welcome to san francisco!
i loved all the rail systems. i coulda ridden the air tram for days.

First stop: meeting up with Adrienne from Elsewhere! Terrible Documentation Faux Paux, I didn’t get any pictures of us together. but the important thing was that we got to “stare into each other’s eyes” over delicious vietnamese lunch specials at Sunflower Cafe. So much to say, and so much future to plan. Philly 2011, look out baby.
Some shoe shopping for her parent’s re-marriage back to each other coming up this week (the dress she is wearing “demands a simple black pump”) took us to various delightful thrift stores. I particularly enjoyed the combo of flannel next to short shorts:

BUT, then it was time to go. A combination of my conference schedule and her wedding and “Girls Together Only” time (bachelorette party? with your mom? sorta?) schedule meant this would probably be our last meeting for now. with lots of hope for the future we parted ways.

And more transit rail systems! I loved all the escalators.

AND then off to the most magical Team Management Leadership Weekend. I completed my first year of the program and oh my goodness it was so lovely. All my hard work was acknowledged and looking back on the year, I realized that I really am unrecognizable to myself from where I started. I was in a situation where I felt no power, no freedom, and no self expression. Now I am in a total open space, ready to take on what’s next and even powerfully create whatever it is that’s next — not just wait around for it to happen to me. I could even declare myself now as a Community Artist in the World, making a difference now — really, me . yikes this still scares me. Over the course of the weekend anyone I was frustrated with, mad at, incomplete with, or had felt like I had been banging my head against a wall with for the past 3 months (or more even) completed with me so that we were both freed up from whatever was there that made it so frustrating before. I saw that I had really really made a difference for everyone around me, even when I thought I had been doing nothing right. I just fell in love with everyone I saw. Everyone looked so beautiful. I don’t know how else to say it but I just feel so empowered and ready to take on the world.
On the last night of the weekend we all went to dinner at this moroccan restaurant. I was surrounded by about 20 of my favorite people, all seated on these low couches and eating delicious things. They told me amazing stories, created collaborative futures with me, shared what they were grateful for, and danced. I had the priviledge of dancing with some of the most talented salsa dancers I know (thank you miami), and then letting it rip, being totally free and myself.
Businesslady Aliya Rocks AND gets down, basically.

Over the weekend I also got to meet in the flesh a lot of people I’d been talking to on the phone every week for the past 3 months: Here are some of my favorite Team Leaders from across the eastern region — Ritajean from Philladelphia, Joshua from Baltimore, Morganlea from NJ, and Brad from Indianna.

On monday morning Ritajean and I took a walk up the crazy crazy hills in san fran. look! such a huge hill!

And here are some of my favorite people from my Florida Team: Debbie, Fernanda, Lynn, Brandy, my brilliant coach Gladys, and Henry

From one life to another: After the TMLP weekend, Businesslady Aliya turned into Hampshire Alum Aliya and met up with some favorites from college: Kate, Julia, and a new friend Maureen

(in the shade)

(in the light!)

Oakland living (you can tell we’re in Oakland because of all the bikes)!  Thrift stores, walking through adorable neighborhoods, coffee shops, cuties.

Beautiful bathingsuit:

way too adorable/involved chalk drawings. you crazy californian kids.

Really complicated hopscotching:

I’m not sure if you’re supposed to have 4 feet for this square…
The Salami and Ravioli Factory! ……

…… is protected by both a barbed wire fence AND a series of cacti!!

maybe there’s more than salami and ravioli in there.

beautiful car installation art. grade: B – (high marks for ambition in utilizing an outdoor installation and indoor/outdoor coordination, low marks for not fully utillizing the rest of the coat hanger wire diamond)

Guerrilla “MaRia R” Installation Art: grade C (high marks for effort but low for production quality)
Sculents I love you.

Further Research and Investigation into the Pregnancy Romance Novel Genre continues (domestic research) (note, there is a whole sub-series of these novels called “Texas Maternity” and “Texas Paternity”

While Kate’s at her super-important grown up GRAD SCHOOL orientation, A day with Julia!!
Self Portrait with Birds.

No Karate Parking.

Post-Grad School Orientation Reunion (and photoshoot): (note Kate’s very profesh yet Mad Cute outfit choice definitely not deliberated over for and hour plus)

Marriage: A tough financial decision either way

After an evening and morning of watching Ke$ha, Miley, Beyonce and other variations of their music videos, we had to close our visit with a diva-licious photoshoot (i.e. add awesome boots to current outfit — which for many was choice pajamas):

another ride on the rail transit system reminds me I am not in Florida:

me & my trusty luggage: like old married people we know how to travel together.

someday i'll sew the "courage" onto "urge"

good bye west coast. you were fun.

still definitely not florida:

oh houston airport.

And, Home.

back to “normal” life. my intention is to move out of florida (or at least into a job I love that is a total self expression, which may involve florida) by the end of September. I’m not sure at all what that looks like. My upcoming weeks I am envisioining lots of catch-up sewing, working on my new website, packing crap that has sat around since I graduated, writing/photographing for my culminating “Bonar Family Residency” publication “Florida is a Feeling”, watching movies, making friends, calling back old friends I’ve missed.

OK south florida, show me what you got.

I love you all so much, near and far. You are so incredibly beautiful. Let me see your face soon.

LOVE
ALIYA

capacity building

I really love This American Life (as many of you know) but this week’s (or maybe it was last weeks?) show really hit home a lot of really great points.

Island Time

I am specifically pointing to Act 1 and Act 2 (the first 35 minutes of the show) which really look at “capacity building” — like building community but in more economic, cause effect, measurable, scientific terms. It lays out different reasons why capacity building is really what we need, and also how it’s slow, inefficient, and not immediately the solution to the problem.

This is basically what I am most interested in creating in the world. Capacity building — using art to empower individuals to take leadership around their lives and their communities and make a difference in addressing the issues that mean the most to them.

I have to keep giving up that this is not a real job and that somehow this is not as valid as a business degree.

To create this as a real reality, I’m taking on this summer applying to 2 “real” jobs every week, really, no matter how “busy” I feel like I am. I’m scheduling days into my week for applying to art jobs and making projects in my community, instead of just collecting potential jobs and potential projects. If I’m really serious about this, I gotta just keep applying. Right now, I’m letting “being scared” win.

Tomorrow, powerful courageous Aliya shows up with her clear, understandable Executive Summary.

Oh good, it’s raining. I like falling asleep to the Florida rain.

sweet dreams

aliya

p.s. you should probs def donate some moneyz to TAL. They tell real stories about real people that touch move and inspire so many.

p.p.s. made new friends today! in the neighborhood. i’m working on it.

HAVE YOU HEARD!?!?!

These incredible! adorable! fuzzy! friendly! hand-made! limited edition! loveable! stuffed arctic pets can be yours!! they love cold weather AND warm weather — all season pets, all season loving.

For sale, by the fashionably un-phasable, out of-season/in-season Aliya Bonar.

http://aliyarose.etsy.com

http://aliyarose.etsy.com

p.s. sorry to miss a day of Blog-A-Day-May!!