Inspired by an Artist

I went to Joshua Tree a few months ago and happened upon the coolest block that I have happened upon in a long time.

It is an art district that included The World Famous Crochet Museum and the Beauty Bubble Salon and Museum. When I entered through the front gate I kind of found my heaven. Amazing little stores that expanded into the courtyard. Everything was “ART”.

One particular studio that drew me in was the store of Shari Elf. She had a style that stopped me in my tracks. A sense of humor that made me smile big, and world peace views that made me buy a button that shared my emotions….”Make Orwell Fiction Again.” is proudly displayed on my purse wherever I go.

Her art is distinct and beautiful. I was more than inspired by her. So much, that I also purchased a ink print on a beautiful fabric that I had no idea where I would display, but I needed it. It is drawing of Cher and the words “What would Cher Do?” above it. Now, I’ve been asked about Jesus and Dolly, but never Cher. I LOVE IT!

After I met the artist briefly and overshared how she was more than cool, I went next door and found a few old records, then to another shop and bought two cool pairs of sunglasses, and finally some Sage and Holiday Inn Matches so I could do some smudging in the desert under the moon, to of course correct world issues and make humans nicer people.

I went back to our rental where I planned on doing some Chameleon Shoots. I began a few pieces of art, and then I realized I brought a jumper I found at a second hand store a few days before, I had a gold microphone, and a long wig which looked JUST like Cher would wear. WHAT!? It was like the Cher theme called me! Oh… and those SUNGLASSES…they completed my Cher-dom for sure!

I wanted to use an environment totally opposite than the glamorous Sonny and Cher Set. I mean, when you have a Bob Mackie inspired jumper, what else do you need?… I set the tripod up randomly, voyeuristically, and didn’t even move the resting sleeping bunny slipper. A few safety pins in paneling holes allowed me to add the reason I was so inspired….I tacked up the sweet WWCD fabric art to give Shari Elf a nod as my inspiration.

Art is fun, Art is magical, Artists who dare to be different not only birth their own unique art, but they are inspiration for future artists to experiment boldly.

Pretty cool, huh, or as Cher would say….”Until you’re ready to look foolish, you’‘ll never have the possibility of being great.”

Tethered Connections

Tethered Connections

This self-portrait reflects the afternoons of my youth, when conversations were bound to a wall phone and every word carried the weight of distance, waiting, and time. For Gen X, connection wasn’t instant or mobile — it was tethered, deliberate, and often stolen in quiet hours after school. Today’s world may never know the intimacy of those cords, but for me, they remain a lifeline to memory, friendship, and the shape of growing up.

We Didn't Start the Fire

Burn It Down: A Reflection on Change, Rage, and a Hundred-Year-Old House

How often do you get to witness a century-old house on your childhood street go up in flames—intentionally set ablaze by a local church group, no less? The house was sacrificed, they said, to make way for a mega-church that few on the block actually want. The irony of that moment wasn’t lost on me. It felt like a scene out of a surreal, slow-burning film. Allegedly unwelcome, unquestionably real.

It was a cold winter day. I stood and watched, fascinated and furious. What I saw wasn’t just a house burning—it was a symbol of the time we’re living in. A time of erasure, of loud ambition that drowns out quiet history. Of power cloaked in righteousness.

This fire became fuel for something inside me. I began creating images that embodied the Angry Woman—a spirit channeling the grief, the rage, and maybe even a touch of Carrie White energy from Carrie. I paired them with Billy Joel's haunting song that echoed everything I was feeling in that chapter of my life. My own personal reckoning, captured through the lens.

Because this moment wasn’t born today. What we’re experiencing now—this unraveling, this blind momentum—started decades ago. We’re just seeing the flames reach the edges now.

And maybe that’s why a meme I saw recently hit so hard: God peering down from the clouds, the caption reading simply, “Next time, no humans.”

Some days, it’s hard not to understand that sentiment

Drive-In Movies

One of the highlights of my trip back East last week was watching Toy Story 4 at the Fairlee, VT Drive-In.

There is nothing like waiting to enter in a line of cars because you get to the Drive-In 5 minutes before the owner removes the chain gate to let you enter. You pass the original box office to drive around to the make-shift ticket booth in front of the motel/RV concession stand.

I asked the ticket taker if Bob was still the projectionist there, knowing truly he was probably retired or dead. The man told me he has not been there for many years, and he is still alive.

We drive the car to the right side of the Projection building, driving up and down over the grassy humps...trying to find the perfect spot with a nice working speaker.

We received a piece of paper with the tickets which was “The Rules of the Drive In”, and realize after we parked in our perfect spot that we are in, it is in the “small vehicle section” and not the SUV or truck section. After a little anxiety attack, I rebel and decide since I know “Bob” I probably won’t be told to move. We also pull out our hidden Ceasar salads to eat like rebels, as no outside food is allowed.

There were other large vehicles near us, plus many who arrive late and block our view of the “must watch” previews as they backed into spaces with their headlights on. There are also many who don’t know how to turn off their motors to keep their 88.7 fm radio on, and those who smoke 10 feet from us. All in all, I loved this classic Drive-In Movie. It truly felt like heaven to me.

Here is a Chameleon Shoot I shot to represent my excitement and anxiety of the Fairlee Drive In. It was a fun, fun, night! (Except Woody should have stayed with his buds in the RV, but that is a different discussion....)