Wednesday 29 December 2010

To celebrate the ‘almost’ end of this very successful year which saw Pink Panther go through changes and return like a phoenix here are the last set of features for the year.

Anna and I chose them together, so it’s her fault for choosing another one of mine. LOL I chose all the great writing features. There will be a writing challenge in the new year, so keep your writing hats on!

In the middle of Winter what can you do but long for Spring…? I always do. LOL

Thinking Of Spring by © Art Of Ella Brown

Thinking of Spring,
Melting snow,
dream drops patter down from the icicle swords
winter and its fairytale magic.

Under sleeping flowers bent over sadly sleeps,
little hay covered fairies slumbering deep down in the leafy nest.

Crocus sparks under dark soil and begins to spiral out,
colours of a new spring unseen now but there and about.

[...] Read the rest of the poem by clicking on the title of the poem.

And here’s the perfect image to go with it:


Sleeping Beauty Awakes by © VenusOak



How often have you sat like that and thought these very thoughts?

Culture Shock by © lovelyrita

I will never be like you
With your beer bottle in hand
Your hair a parachute, land
on the floor, big feet small shoes.

You wave your Budweiser high
in the air where all can see.
You’re buzzed and you’re a beauty
still – your hands reach for the sky

And I watch you raise the roof
From my lonely letter seat
Wearing shoes to match my feet
I’ll look for lingering proof

[...] Read the rest of the poem by clicking on the title of the poem.

... and another perfect match:





Languishing in the House of Desire II by © restlessd

Break Open. by © bjeliMis

I am just a stumbling dandelion gone to seed
The wind blowing me away little by little
And all my wishes sealed in my downy seeds
There’s a lot to believe in nowadays
And I don’t know what’s right exactly


[...] Read the rest of the poem by clicking on the title of the poem.

...and yet another image to perfectly work with the poetry… there’s is definitely some sort of synchronicity going on between all of us. :-)




Woven… by © Susan Ringler
Definition of thyself! by © lisameryl

I’m a fragrance
buried in bloom
longing for release

My soul is wailing
unclothed before thee
yearning for cleanse

I’m an onion
to be peeled
layer by layer

My fruits are ripe
taste thyself

beckoning its thirst

[...] Read the rest of the poem by clicking on the title of the poem.

These words felt so familiar that the next image just had to follow. Under the skin we’re all just sisters.



Sisters at heart by © salena


but sometimes things go wrong…

Rape by © ShadowDancer

A smile appears on your face
as you pillage her body and
discard her soul;
as if you told a timid joke
that she could hear
but not understand.

Pain gushes inside of her,
rushing forth like blood
from a morbid wound;
it’s a knife that twists her heart
into a tangled pile of hate.

She is now
but a small scar on the world.
She would rather enter the throne of Hades
than relive that fate-less moment,
for it has reduced her to a painful fear
that she is unable to ignore;
a fear that causes
her to live in a frozen world,
one where she watches
others moving forward
yet she herself no longer knows
how to move on.

[...] Read the rest of the poem by clicking on the title of the poem.

Such a powerful poem and part of what this group is all about. Here’s a powerful image to go with it.




Torn by © VenusOak

And finally a story which hopefully makes you smile,too, and a tongue-in-cheek image to let go of the old year with a grin…

this is why we’ll never be grown-ups by © Selkie

This weekend, i had the Crimson Wave.
I think i’ve explained before what this means.
One of the things it means is that i writhe around in agony, darting up in bed gasping and clutching my stomach & scaring the living Hell out of Inuk.
I will digress here a moment (and if that bothers you, then you are reading the wrong blog); one way to judge a member of the Male Tribe is how he deals with the Crimson Wave. If he freaks out at the sight of your menstrual blood and gets mad at you for bleeding on his sheets (accidentally – i’m not a total animal), or can’t handle going with you to the store to get tampons, then he’s probably a Dick and not worth your time.

Grown-ups can deal with such natural occurrences as a woman’s period.

But what if you are Inuk and me?
Here is an example of a typical day when i am riding the Crimson Wave;
Most of the weekend, as is my habit, i just lolled around like a cheap tart in his bed, reading a Madison Smart Bell book, high off my ass on muscle-relaxers. But there were some highlights.

[...] Read the rest by clicking on the title – it’s well worth it!


Murder on the Dance Floor by © Sybille Sterk

Have a brilliant New Year – may it be successful and happy and all you hope for. Thank you for all your support and for making this group as varied and interesting a place it is.



Wednesday 22 December 2010

Midweek Features 22/12/2010

There is so much wonderful art and writing coming into the group at the moment, that choosing just six of each is proving all too difficult. All of these are great examples of strong and powerful feminist art. I hope you will enjoy them.

Feminist Art Evolution of Woman by Maggie Vlazny



“Evolution of A Woman by Maggie Vlazny” is an image so full of vitality and hope, that I could not resist it. “Our mouths and bodies speak for us in a new language, as the trees shake loose a rain of petals that stick to our slickness like skins we will wear forever. And just like that, I am changed.”
— Libba Bray (The Sweet Far Thing)”

Mandy Oversees A New Recruit’s Haircut by Margaret Bryant

The whole Mandy series by Margaret Bryant, are images that are filled with fun, yet each one has a poignant and strong message. I love the whole take -off of Barbie who is being given a whole new persona in this wonderful series. Here, “Mandy watches as a new recruit to the Inner Circle of Mandytude recieves her initation buzzcut. Mandy does not believe that hair makes the woman.”

Alone by Anita Inverarity



“Alone” by Anita Inverarity, is a poignant view into a woman coming to terms with disability. Part of the ‘Style Stealer’ series, Anita illustrates a range of emotions so beautifully. This one moves me to tears.


To the light… by m-mission 


“To The Light” by m mission takes us on an abstarct journey from darkness to light. I love the way she uses her precious gems to describe so well a whole range of emotion. here, it is a depiction of ‘fragments of a woman’.

Unspoken by Lacey Scarbro



“Unspoken” by Lacey Scarbro is a lithograph on bright white rag paper.This image portrays the deep, dark, haunting feeling that comes with the inability to free what is secretly kept inside the soul. The dramatic black and white abstract really does convey the whole range of feelings of not being able to express yourself.

I Can Take Care of Myself by Katz Karma


A feminist, fun-filled Red Riding Hood which I could not resist. I just love her attitude and the strong message that accompanies it.

The poetry featured this week is moving, emotional and strong. I love every one so much.

“Understatement” is a sparse, emotion filled poem that manages to say so much in so few words. I love it.







I am such a fan of Beautifuldreamer’s poetry. I think she has so much to say about growing up in an abusive environment, and she says it with a voice that we have to heed. Here is another very short but emotion packed poem that is incredibly powerful and moving.





I chose ‘Helua’ for its originality and power, bringing new insights into the goddess. Although I am still not convinced that if God had been a woman she would have allowed so much badness in the world!






I think that ‘The Lucky Country’ is Valentina at her best, reminding us of the differences between what happened to the early immigrants into the US and our current views and mistreatment of the immigrants who want to arrive now. It is a triumph.



“My Ever After’ is a stunning reflection of a woman coming towards the end of her life. Full of musings about life and how she would like to be remembered. It is moving and powerful.




A gentle and haunting poem, bjeliMis reminds us of those beautiful moments of first meeting. Using few words to leave us with the haunting beauty that was first love.





Congratulations to you all, and thank you for submitting such wonderful work to Pink Panther.

Sunday 19 December 2010

Sunday Features - 19/12/2010 - Aspects

Anna is fighting her way through Winter Wonderland to play Father Christmas this weekend, so she asked me to do the Sunday Features. :-)

I absolutely love doing the features because there’s so much fabulous art and writing coming in every week that the biggest difficulty is choosing only twelve.

This time I chose a very loose theme – aspects. There are so many facets and aspects of ‘woman’ we see in this group, that I thought it was a good time to celebrate the fact that we all are different and in varying stages of our life.

So here it goes…

The first aspect I chose was ‘freedom’ to be and to do what we most care about. I’ve long admired Catrinarno’s fabulous whimsical art. There’s always so much to take in just within a single image…

She knew she could fly by © catrinarno
She knew she could fly by © catrinarno 
 
and to accompany it Nishagandhi’s beautiful image. Don’t we all sometimes wish we could just fly away?

Flying away …........... by © nishagandhi
Flying away …........... by © nishagandhi

Birds have always played a big feature in my own art because of their symbology as being of two worlds – spirit and earth. And how often do women straddle two or more worlds?

I loved this next image Anji Johnston for it’s whimsy and the way she mixed it all up.

Cranium by © Anji Johnston
Cranium by © Anji Johnston 


Zoequixote’s image shows all the ways we have to fit in and change and the way we do all that by being many things all at once and waiting for the time when we can just be who we are, deep down.

Eve Reborn as the Phoenix II by © zoequixote
Eve Reborn as the Phoenix II by © zoequixote 

The next image by Agent7 struck me because of it’s confidence. Someone, still with confidence and drive at the beginning of a long road.


The Long Road To Nashville by © Agent7
The Long Road To Nashville by © Agent7 

And next Kristin Reynolds’ fab triptych about how this confidence needs to be broken and reshaped throughout life. (View large to see the whole triptych.)

the secret lies in the living and the gift in the breaking again by © Kristin Reynolds
the secret lies in the living and the gift in the breaking again by © Kristin Reynolds

And here are the hidden aspects of our lives.

First an image by Afeeefa which I loved because of the way it was revealing and secretive at the same time – the hints of confidence in the way she holds her hands, most of the face hidden behind a veil, but glimpses of skin underneath it…

hidden3 by © afeeefa
hidden3 by © afeeefa

Elena Ray’s Wabi-Sabi Geisha is another aspect of these hidden qualities which still seem to shine through if you look closely.
Wabi-sabi Geisha by © Elena Ray
Wabi-sabi Geisha by © Elena Ray

And the aspect we all share – Venus – somewhere inside of all of us she lies at the centre of who we are, and sometimes she shines through, like in this image by AmbientKreation.

Venus by © AmbientKreation
Venus by © AmbientKreation 

SusannaRouto’s mysterious image of a woman. Who is she we wonder? We can’t see her face, but still we recognise immediately that this is ‘woman’.
Woman by © SusannaRouto
Woman by © SusannaRouto 

But sometimes it can all be too much and this is what struck me about Clare Colins’ image.
hanging by a thread by © Clare Colins
hanging by a thread by © Clare Colins 

Then it’s time to let go… like in this image by Iamelmana.

Letting go by © iamelmana
Letting go by © iamelmana


That’s it folks. Enjoy!


All the best from the ‘staff’ here at Pink Panther for the holidays.


Sybille xo

Wednesday 15 December 2010

Midweek Features 15/12/2010 - Sisterhood

Christmas is close and it makes me think about family – not just the people that share the same part of the gene pool with us, but also those that have become family.

Usually half of the features would be writing, but just this once there are only pictures – I will follow this up next week with an all writing feature. :-)

The image that started me off on this journey is my own picture and, again, just for once, I am featuring one of my own and I’ve paired it with a picture of a braid. Why? I hear you ask, well, because so much about sisters seems to be about hair. I can’t count the times I did my sisters’ hair. LOL

Sisters by © Sybille Sterk
Sisters by © Sybille Sterk

b r a i d . by © hilde wegner
b r a i d . by hilde wegner

And then there are the many ways we ‘make’ family. Remember your very best friend? The one you went through thick and thin with? And then there’s the family we inherit by marriage and the birth of a grand child. Sisterhood knows no age nor bounds…

East and West… by © Berns

East and West… by Berns


Two Grandmas by © lovelyrita
Two Grandmas by © lovelyrita


There are the things we do and the things we share that make us sisters too. Remember the secrets told and the experiences we shared?

Friendly Whispers by © iamelmana
Friendly Whispers by © iamelmana

Friendship by © autumnwind
Friendship by © autumnwind


And then there are the hobbies and traits we have in common be it a star sign (most apt, Gemini) or the things we do together.

Gemini by © Anna Shaw
Gemini by © Anna Shaw


Fan dancers by © Linda Sparks
Fan dancers by © Linda Sparks


The work we do every day and the love that keeps us together.


coming home by © fehmida haider
coming home by © fehmida haider


Sisters Love by © eoconnor
Sisters Love by © eoconnor

The naughty things that make us laugh and the secret places we’ve discovered…


OMG – I Can NOT Believe I Just Did That… by © Kallena Kucers
 OMG – I Can NOT Believe I Just Did That… by © Kallena Kucers

Melbourne’s Laneways & Alleys 7 by © Trish Woodford
Melbourne’s Laneways & Alleys 7 by © Trish Woodford

Add your favourite images of sisterhood. :-)

Tuesday 14 December 2010

Sunday Features 12/12/2010

A new venture this week. Sybille and I have each chosen six images, each representing a different view of ourselves as women. Each one shows a strength and emotion within ourselves, and each one tells a story. Together, they celebrate many different facets of our personalities.

We hope you will enjoy them.

Wind and Rain by Agent 7


Untitled by dmcart


The Red Nose by Agnès Trachet

A Chair For my Heart, please by Elisabeta Hermann

Black Orchid - Secret Keeper Series by Sybille Sterk

What We Carry by Carol Stocki

Southern Serenity by Lea Michelle

The Story of Frozen Dreams by Dorina Costras


The Bridge by moonspiral

Utai by Manolya F

Who Cares by Kallena Kucers

The Last Party by AnimiDawn