Learning to Love You More by Harrell Fletcher & Miranda July

Title:  Learning to Love You More
By:  Harrell Fletcher & Miranda July
Length:  158 pages
LOVE IT! 

Miranda July.  I love her.  She’s unique, refreshing, and doesn’t leave her self out of any of her art projects.  Whether the medium is film, installation art, or prose, she never ceases to fully “bring it”.  Her work, as I see it, focuses primarily on human connection, love, and happiness.  She doesn’t shy away from showing the sad, stressful, or depressing aspects of daily life, because those are moments that we all experience, but it always seems to come back to love, in some sense of the word.

The concept behind Learning to Love You More (learningtoloveyoumore.com) is that Fletcher and July gave out “assignments” via their website, asking the visitors to carry them out, capture them in a photo, and submit them online.  After all of the assignments were complete and shut down, the artists’ favorites were compiled in this beautiful collection pictured above.  Some of the assignments were along the lines of – take a flash photo under your bed, take a picture of your parents kissing, take a picture of strangers holding hands, make an encouraging banner….

http://www.learningtoloveyoumore.com/reports/63/mira_martha.php

July’s work always rejuvenates me.  If I’m ever struggling during the week or feeling a little down, I can just pop in one of her films or pick up one of her books (especially this one) and it helps get me back on track.  All of the assignments in this book, together, cover the breadth of everything that is most important in life.  The photographs serve as a good reminder of all of the things that are so easy to forget while chugging along through the day.

Miranda July’s Official Site:  http://mirandajuly.com/
Miranda July’s Amazon Page: http://www.amazon.com/Miranda-July/e/B001H6IP94/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_2

KittyCassandra’s Cat Paintings

I mentioned that I love cats, correct?  I believe that I have, but, just in case… I really love cats.  With this in mind, you can only imagine my excitement when I discovered that there is a woman who paints adorable, wonderful pictures of cats that truly capture their individual personalities.  I first became aware of her – Cassie Graus aka KittyCassandra – thanks to Cats 101 on Animal Planet.  Yes, I watch cat shows.  I told you…. I really love cats.

So, my KittyCassandra exposure started all thanks to this Cats 101 episode appearance:

And then I quickly tracked down her fan page on Facebook and giggling, squealing, and downright delighting over all of her pictures.  The most amazing aspect of her paintings, in my opinion, is how each painting is unique to a specific cat’s personality.  So, naturally, my favorite game for a while was how would I want each of our cats portrayed in a KittyCassandra painting?  Some of my ideas included Dex the Romantigoth, Dex as a pirate, something with Lilu involving copious amount of food, sleeping, and/or water, and, the idea that actually came to fruition…. Ophelia, my little Caramel Sundae Cat:

According to Nate, who commissioned this piece as a birthday present for me, she was very excited about the idea and she was very wonderful to work with.  The end result, as you can see, is everything that my little heart could want in a painting of Ophelia.

KittyCassandra provides the world with something that it needs more of – cuteness, hilarity, and paintings brimming with joy.  So, please visit any of the links below and enjoy!

KittyCassandra’s Cat Paintings Website
KittyCassandra’s Facebook Page
KittyCassandra’s ShanaLogic.com Store

AND she has a book, Templeton & Caruthers and the Snack Finding Mission!  You can find a copy on Amazon.

Kitties + Snacks = CUTE!