Picking Up Where I Left Off. Kind Of.

About a year ago I dropped off my last heart and then things got busy because kids and teaching art, and summer stuff and school stuff and all those other things that make up life.

Then I got to thinking one day a few weeks ago about getting back to the project. Te more I thought of it the more it became clear that carrying on a project that has been a year in hiatus was not the route I wanted to take. Then I thought about what I could turn the project into. Then I remembered seeing a group on Facebook that was specifically about the abandonment of art in random places and then I stared to make a few pieces of art in small cards with a plan to focus my area of art drops to a single place, Confederation Park in Burnaby.

We come spinning out of nothingness, scattering stars like dust. - Rumi
Left to be found on a park bench by the children's water park and the track at Confederation Park in Burnaby BC.

So, (to make use of the term used by the Facebook group I've joined) I abandoned my first two art works in my new guerrilla series. A Breath of Fresh Air is the title I'm giving the project. Like the found paper hearts it has an element of text involve but the media and the subject of each art piece will have nothing in common beyond that the quotes will all be positive, affirming and in some cases encouraging messages.

I often find that I find the right words to help when the times are tough; right when I need them. Sometimes a small turn of phrase or quotation comes right out of nowhere and hits the nail right on the head. My hope is that the art I abandon with the quotes I've chosen to illustrate will do the same for the people who find them.

All A Bloom.
Left to be found on the first picnic table to the left from the sidewalk behind McGill Library entering onto the field.

These are the first in many more drops to come. The goal being to set one down on each bench and picnic table in the park.

You Can't Close Your Heart...

As time goes on I find I'm getting braver and more overt with my drops.

This morning for instance, I left a heart with only a minute and a half to spare before catching a bus home. The drop was left near by the last drop, in a planter outside of a chocolatier with two ladies sitting in the window enjoying coffee and croissants right in front of where I placed the envelope.

You can't close your heart to the things you don't want to feel
-Johnny Depp

Whether these ladies noticed the drop is really something I didn't pay attention to beyond noticing they were there. If nothing else they may have noticed the Bean (my youngest sprout) in my arms as I placed the heart beneath the topiary. She (the Bean) has got cheeks that don't end and they tend to attract attention. I placed the heart, took a few photos and walked quickly away to catch the bus home. All directly in front of the two customers and without heart pounding anxiety.

On the one hand I like the idea of anonymity in the interaction of finding the heart. On the other, I wonder if seeing someone doing something a little out of the ordinary; like carefully placing an envelope in a planter, on a bench or inside a dairy case before taking a few photographs and walking away; will invite a closer look at that envelope?

After the April 16 drop and the near witness of a finding, Being a little more obtrusive in the act of a drop feels easier to do. While the motivation for this project is to leave these positive messages and hearts behind to be found I can't deny that a little feedback, even as small as the idea that someone has seen the act is reinforcement to continue on.

So the project is evolving.

An Act of Faith

I've been on hiatus as you may have noticed from my lack of posting. Not everyone in my life is privy to this project other than a tiny handful who I've told because I thought it would interest them. Other than that, it's a little secret that I'm keeping.

The last few weeks have been super busy with life things. Family coming out to visit, my niece getting married and the havoc that follows all those things. On top of those some pretty personal and tumultuous drama that I won't go into, other than to say that all is sitting on marginally calm seas with more calm on the horizon. We are just finally getting back into day to day rhythms so back to the project.

We are on the two month mark of the project with on average about a heart a week being dropped somewhere with no feedback from finders.

The thought that I may be wasting time, waxed paper and pen ink has yet to seriously cross my mind. I say that, because it's a natural thing to talk ourselves out of putting ourselves out there. Yes the thoughts cross my mind but those thoughts are swiftly followed by other thoughts. Thoughts that tell me that putting my hearts out there with their small messages is an act of faith. Faith that someone out there will find them, read them, and have that mean something for them.

It may very well be that all the envelopes I've left out there have been picked up and immediately deposited into a recycling bin. With each drop I know that is a possibility. Just like starting a new friendship, or continuing well cultivated ones, there is always the possibility that what you put out there will be rejected, ignored or ripped up. We keep at it because those connections mean something, are worth something.

March 15 Heart Drop

My life takes place within the confines of the neighbourhood where we live, the neighbourhood where my daughter goes to school and periodically the grocery store and markets. This week is Spring Break for my daughter which means that We are venturing further afield but for the heart drops locations up to now have been limited to the places that I find myself in often. This means that sometimes I'll be dropping in similar locations and others I'll be dropping farther afield. Today for instance I'll be leaving a heart to be found in Science World and possibly another in Stanley Park later this week and again if we make it there; the garden centre. I think you get the idea.

Anyway, last Friday I revisited our local public Library and left a heart in the Poetry section.The Quote was from Bob Marley: One love, one heart, one destiny. It's a simple and beautiful poetic message of love, acceptance and peace.

Each heart quote that goes with a heart is hand written on a small slip of paper kind of like a fortune cookie fortune. I write the quote and who it's attributed to on once side and invite the person who finds it to like and comment on the facebook page or on this blog to let me know that it's been found. There's a lot of information to write on such a small piece of paper but I've managed to get it all on and I think legible. I could type them out and print the quotes and links but I like the intimacy of a hand written note for now.

While I'm on that topic, if you haven't seen the facebook page please do. Also I'd love it if you liked it too but no pressure; honestly.

As I've been moving forward with this project I've had a few ideas of how to expand it, and get more people involved. While I fiddle with these ideas I'll keep on keeping on. I'm patiently awaiting contact from someone who has found a heart but truly the act of putting them out there is what it's all about.

March 8 2013

There's a pain, a famine in your heart, an aching to be free- M. Gore

Today's heart was left in the dairy case at one of the local Safeway store in Burnaby. If you found this heart please leave a comment to let me know it's found a home.

An Aching To Be Free

The heart I'm dropping today has a few lines from Depeche Mode's  song Halo.




Most of the quotes I've been using I've used because they said something about the heart that has struck a chord with me. This one is no different except that instead of being uplifting it has a bit of a melancholy feel to it.There's a taste of hope, an invitation to take that step towards something new.

I'll post pictures of the drop once it's out there

February 19 2013

Since I started to leave hearts around my neighborhood for people to find I've noticed my spirits are up and I'm smiling more. I'm hoping that the hearts I've left to be found bring smiles to the finders. 

I'm also feeling a strong desire to re-read The Night Circus; the book I left one of my hearts in on Valentines Day at the McGill library. If it's still there I may take it out and place that heart somewhere else for someone to find.

The heart that has truly loved never forgets.

Today I dropped off a lone heart outside a school program in a stroller tray. If you found your way here via that heart, welcome. Leave a comment to let me know you got it. You can also like the facebook page for this project too.

a

February 14 2013

Valentines Day seemed like an appropriate date to start a project which has a heart as it's theme. I spent my afternoon carefully folding waxed paper envelopes and making fortune cookie like quotes with this blog address and the facebook page for my heart finders to use to get here or there. If you found a heart and followed it here let me know in the comments or on the facebook page by commenting and liking the page. I'm really looking forward to meeting you there, or here.

Pictures of the February 14 Heart Drop
and their drop locations

Grand plans Distilled

over the winter school break my eldest daughter (who for blogging purposes I call the Peanut) and I melted wax crayon shavings between sheet of wax paper. The plan had been to make window decorations out of the translucent sheets but with the Bean (the blogging name I have bestowed on my youngest daughter) being a very active and curious toddler we didn't have time to reach that stage of the project.

Left with three good sized sheets of colourful stained glass like sheets I started to think about what I could do with them.

I've been inspired by a few wonderful people who create a sense of community with art. One of these people is Colene Chow; a past co-worker of mine who since I had the pleasure of working with her has moved on to do big, beautiful creative and inspiring projects like her 30 for 30 project a public art project that had her leaving charming, uplifting and positive messages embedded in also charming uplifting and positive works of art around the city for people to find over the year that she celebrated her 30th birthday. Colene is someone who I admire greatly. She is not only passionate about her interests but she also gets out of the spectator seat when it comes to her passions and becomes a participant and creator.

I love seeing and reading about projects like Colene's and up until now have contented myself with watching while wishing that I could take the same steps. Then I happened to re-watch Ze Frank's Ted Talks presentations and was inspired even more. The combination of the ideas and projects that Colene shares on her blog and twitter with Ze Frank's talks  and the ideas he presents in them have also propelled me to want to put something out there for someone to find. And maybe it will make them feel better about life, or themselves or that moment.

I'm stepping out of the spectator role and becoming a creator/participant  of something that will create a small community of people who find the bits of my project.

When I thought about this project I had grandiose plans that in the cold light of reality set expectations too high and ask too much of the prospective people who will find the little packages I will be leaving out there. So here's what I am hoping for and what I will be totally jazzed to see.

Starting today I will package my paper hearts into small envelopes. The envelopes will include a handwritten love quote, a facebook page address and this blog address. I am hoping that those who find a heart will visit the blog and post a comment or visit the facebook page and do the same. In my wildest happiest of dreams I would love to see photos of the hearts being used to create something else but truly I will be leaving these hearts out with no expectations just to do it.