A World Not So Still and Ashley Judd Made Me Cry

Okay, today you're in for a treat. Well, maybe not...as if a blog post could be a treat. However the two things about which I'm writing today were a treat for me. One thing is a 'wow, this was really cool' event I attended and the other is my review of a new television series.

See this really cool art piece? It's glass; made by Seattle artist Ginny Ruffner. A week ago I was part of a girls' night out with my two 30-something daughters and 10-week old granddaughter. We attended a film about Ginny titled, "A Not So Still Life," and enjoyed the Q&A directly following with the artist herself. You may have heard of her...from her website:

Ginny Ruffner is a Seattle artist whose glass sculptures helped create the field of lampworked glass art world-wide. This website not only contains images of glass sculptures, but also other artworks by this creative pioneer. Besides glass sculptures, there are images of metal sculptures, paintings, public art, pop-up books, and commissions. A resume provides a list of the museums in which Ruffner’s work is included.

It seems Ruffner is one of the few people who, when visited with devastating personal tragedy, fight it and become reborn - in a manner of speaking. In 1991 she was severely injured in an auto accident and was in a coma for weeks. Her doctors predicted she would never talk or walk again...forget about ever being an artist again. But against the odds she did recover and literally fight her way back...not just to walking and talking, but to following her artistic muse and working again. I've put the trailer to the film at the end of this post to give you a hint of her story.

I was engrossed by the film. It was beautiful in its telling of this artist's story. It made me cry and laugh and it reminded me of how much I, too, value my own return to health and productivity as an artist. [Although no accident or coma, I went through 20 years of on-again, off-again paralysis due to what finally was diagnosed as hemiplegic migraine. And I had a minor stroke in late 2001. I know something about physical rehab, wheelchairs and limitations.] The film was part of a program hereabouts known as Focus Film Festival: "...explores documentary and narrative films which "focus" on and examine the complexity of the human experience: disability, culture, relationships, aging, lifestyle, and more...is a project of Far Northern Regional Center, a non-profit organization that provides services and supports to people with developmental disabilities and their families...."

The event was held in 'The Big Room' at the Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. in Chico, CA. This 350-seat venue was built for live music enjoyment and was perfect for this film. Rather than theater-style row seating, there are tables for 2, 3 or 4 on tiered levels. Because we had baby Hannah with us, we found a table on the highest tier in the back...which in no way prevented us from enjoying the film. I was grateful for the table because I could then enjoy a cup of coffee and take notes comfortably as the evening went along. *As an aside, this was such a good evening! I so much enjoyed the company of my beautiful daughters.

As the film went along, I did make notes which I'll share and annotate:

*at one point Ginny says: I'm still here and still creating. at another: I want to provide (the viewer) with a way to connect with the art.

*she says Art is a reality. - I really agreed with this. For me art is as real as my sofa.

*Ginny: There is no right or wrong way to look at art. - You know me here at Mosaic Mandalas enough now to know what I've always said: art is subjective. Its value is in the eye/heart/mind of the viewer individually.

*she said: The sacred role of the artist is to make work from inside of you. - This I totally believe. The artist puts to (paper, stone, glass, ceramic, etc) the vision that blossoms within them.

*finally these two thoughts from Ginny: My favorite piece is my next one. I want to do things I can't even imagine now. - again, I both agree and relate to these sentiments.

Now to my television show review:

Maybe it's because I am a mother, but the new show starring Ashley Judd as a retired CIA agent whose son gets kidnapped grabbed me from minute one. And in no small part to Ms. Judd herself. She is just so good at what she does. I spent the past two days watching a few new tv shows that I hadn't had time to catch and ABC's new 'Missing' was one of them.

You're probably wondering how I managed to have so much time on my hands...well, last Saturday I attended a conference and because of several factors, I ended up with a terrible cold. Spent two days in a chair with my most comfy blanket, pillow, warm beverages and laptop. The cold took up residence in my voicebox so visiting via phone was even off the menu...so watch tv it was.

I watched FOX's 'Touch' starring Kiefer Sutherland as a widowed dad caught in a difficult situation trying to provide for, and connect with, his verbally uncommunicative son. The premise of the show is interesting and Sutherland is an awesome actor; however, after watching two episodes I just wasn't sure it was going to keep my interest. Mr. Sutherland does "harried" better than anyone, but I couldn't believe it when, in the very first episode, he gets into a punch-out with someone. Good grief. In all my over 50 years, no man in my whole family has gotten into a punch-out. I hope the Touch folks leave all the 24 violence back in 24. Martin Bohm is not Jack Bauer - we hope.

The next was NBC's 'Awake.' Again, different and initially interesting. Actor Jason Isaacs [who I adored as the creepy Lucius Malfoy] is a detective living two lives and we - and him - don't know which is real and which is dream. There's a car crash in involving him, his wife and teenage son and, either his wife survives and not the son or, his son survives and not the wife. Thing is, his character lives both "realities." This one may just find it not having anywhere to go; kind of like that intersting but short-lived show, 'Life On Mars.'

Then we come to Missing. As with all things cinema lately, the action begins right away - heaven forbid there is any character development or story development before the first crime or whatever. The dad in the story gets blown up and our heroine and her little boy are left alone. Or does he? I love Sean Bean - his character Paul Winstone has a listed bio on the website so will we see him in flashbacks or what? Intriguing. Ten years later Becca Winstone [played by Ashley Judd] kisses her boy goodbye and sends him off to Rome to architecture school and wham! a mother's worst nightmare...he goes missing. But here's what I like - Becca is exCIA...she knows how to infiltrate, how to shoot guns and fight people and drive motorcycles and all kinds of cool stuff like that. When her son goes missing she becomes MAMA BEAR. I'm a mom and you can bet that I would use all the karate chops at my possession to find my babe!

Now we come to it: at the end of the Hard Drive episode when Becca collapses on the tarmac as she watches the plane take off with her boy aboard...my heart broke and I sobbed. OMG! Talk about a conspiracy on the part of the writers, director and actors to take this mother's heart and wring it! Yeh, this show hooked me and hooked me good. I'll be back. And, I'm grateful to ABC for airing full episodes on the internet. Thanks for that.