Looking Forward

2010 comes to an end in just a few short hours.  Another year to pack away in the books.  Some had the year of their lives while some struggled to just get by. Either way, I know that everyone loves to look forward to a new year.  It will bring new opportunities, new ideas, and new experiences to everyone.  

I look forward to the new year every year.  Sometimes it’s because I had a really crappy year that did little more than bring heartache, disappointment, and frustration, and sometimes it’s because I had such a great year and can’t possibly imagine what could make another year better.  

This year has been one of heartache, disappointment, and frustration for me.  Everything from cancelled shows and trips last second, piling debts that were intended to be paid off, frustration with work and people, and to top the year off, an unexpected death in the family.  I have wept, wondered, questioned, and screamed on more than one occasion in 2010.  But I have also been hopeful.  Hopeful that things would change...get better.  I know that 2011 isn’t some sort of “reset” button that automatically makes things better, but at least we have a starting place.  

I have high-hopes for 2011.  I have high-hopes every year, but this year is especially high.  I want certain things so much that I didn’t even bother waiting until the “official new year” for them to start.  I got a jump start on continuing my weight loss (30 pounds down with 30 to go), and a major jump start on creating some new products for Kate Harris Art in 2011.  

So here’s to looking forward to new chances, new opportunities, new jobs, new bodies, and anything else you could possibly have!  2010 is in the books!

The Monotony of the Christmas Season

I feel like there's tons of people that start off Christmas blogs, letters, and twitter posts with the phrase..."that time of year again." As witty as some people think that their being, this simple phrase echos emptiness, discontent, and boredom.  When did Christmas get monotonous for us?

I will be the first to admit that when it comes to holidays, I am not the most enthusiastic.  My favorites include the likes of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and New Years, but it hasn't always been Christmas. If I were to be completely honest, I would say for years I found Christmas somewhat stressful and annoying.  There was the need to keep up in the decoration department by having our house look like it threw up Christmas cheer, buy gifts that we didn't have the money for for people that we didn't think deserved them, there were too many parties to go to, and Christmas music was a never-ending redundancy of 65 versions of "Jingle Bells" and "Oh, Holy Night".  For years, I couldn't wait until Christmas was just over and done with.  It was just same ole, same ole.

For the first time, I understand that Christmas is so much more than we make it out to be. We, as a culture, have taken a great celebration and made it monotonous. We are creatures of habit and masters of tradition, never really taking the time to think and wonder.  We have stripped the true joy of the season and replaced it with cheap imitation in the likes of Apple computers, PS2s, and diamond earrings.  And yet all we are really doing is going through the motions.

It's not the Griswald Family Christmas that we all feel is inevitable because of our wacky families.  I mean, seriously, who doesn't have at least 1 Cousin Eddie in the family?  It's about thoughtfulness, quality time with friends and family, eating (we were all thinking it), and realizing that not only is it just the day that we celebrate the birth of our God; it's the day that we celebrate the changing of the world and of our futures.  It's about hope. Until I could realize that Christmas is about hope, how could it not be monotonous, boring, and stressful?  Those feelings are conjured up because I had the wrong perspective because of things that don't matter.

I was listening to a podcast earlier this week, and one of the people on it commented on the difference between presents and gifts.  A present is something that is given with the understanding that something is to be given in return.  A gift is given with no strings attached.  When I heard that, I couldn't believe that it could be so simple.  I have given very few gifts, and a boatload of presents over the years.  And yet God had sent His only son.  The single most selfless gift that could have ever been given, and I had forgotten.  How could I have been so daft?

All this being said, I have decided to reclaim Christmas for myself and my family.  I don't want to just go through the motions of buying meaningless things and giving them away half-heartedly.  I want to create,  listen to the Rat Pack, and not worry about getting in return.  I want to relish in the changing of the course of history for us.  I want to remember the hope that was given with no strings attached.  And I want to celebrate without restriction!

Merry Christmas.

Blessed Be Egypt, My People

After my post from yesterday, I am happy to announce that I went to bed at 8 Egypt time, and slept for an uninterrupted 13 hours straight.  I woke up feeling like a new person!  And it's a good thing that I had the extended slumber, because we ended up with not 2 but 3 shows.


(remember from my last post that you have to BE FLEXIBLE and pretty much anything goes when you're overseas)


Our current venue is this tent in the picture below.  Now, this picture is taken from our balcony and may seem small, but holds just over 750 people.  

We have done our last 4 performances in this tent with people pouring out the back, and angry that they aren't able to get inside.  The side flaps had to be raised so that people could see, making our performance available to over 1500 people.  This has posed a small problem for the promotors of this event because there are still too many people trying to get in.

In an attempt to make our show available to everyone that wanted to see it, we were moved to the stadium that is designed to hold all 12,000 people in attendance for this festival.  We filled the stadium to almost 7500.  

Now, this is not an ego-boosting blog post.  It's just amazing to see the response from the Egyptian people to what we're doing.  They flock inside to see the floating table, straight-jacket escape, and hear my husband speak to them.  They are completely engaged.  I wish that these couple of pictures did the energy and passion of the Egyptian people could come through.  

There are wooden carvings all over this complex that say, "Blessed be Egypt, my people" (Isaiah 19:25)  The Egyptian Christians that live and work here believe that God has given them a special place in history.  They struggle here in country that believes it should be entirely Muslim.  But they are both hopeful and faithful to their belief.  To be here at this time to serve, encourage and challenge them is humbling, and I love every second of it. 

Egypt: The First 72 Hours

If I were to tell the story of our Egypt adventure over the last 75 hours, you may think that I’m kidding.  It has been as amazing as it has been exhausting and full of surprises. 

We left the States on Monday afternoon, making our way through Atlanta, New York, and then on to Cairo.  That leg of our trip alone was over 20 hours of travel.  11 of it on our midnight flight from JFK to Cairo.  But as we hit the ground in Cairo, despite our obvious lack of sleep (because who can really sleep on a an airplane), we were energized with excitement of a new place and new people.  Our excitement was short-lived when we met our host and he told us that we would be leaving, previously unknown to us, in 4 hours from the Cairo airport to head on a one hour plane ride to Luxor, lower Egypt for a show.  So we stayed at the airport with our host and our Norwegian strong-men (for real…they are part of Team Extreme) until our 11:45 flight out of Cairo.

Time awake by the time of our landing in Luxor: 34 Hours (Side note: We have not slept since Sunday night, when it was in our own beds.)

After arriving at our hotel in Luxor at 2:30 in the morning, we found out that we would be heading out for our 4 hour van ride at precisely 4:30 am. However, anyone who has ever traveled internationally knows that exact times are never exact, but more of a suggestion.  So after napping for about 2 hours, we sat in the van for another before we ever even left the city.

The city that we ended up in, Sojh, 7 hours south of Cairo.  What started as one show turned into 2.  The audiences were amazing and the house was completely packed for both! All in all, around 3500 people saw our last-minute show. Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to stay after the last show because we were scheduled to fly back to Cairo, out of Luxor, that night at midnight. We piled back into the van, my husband and I and the 2 Norwegians, plus 1 Egyptian strong-man. We drove the 4 hours back to Luxor, where we were promptly dropped off at the airport for our midnight flight.

As I sat down in the food court with my pack of strawberry cookies and chili lime chips, (the other option was what looked like 3-day-old pizza), I took a deep breath, knowing that even though I was exhausted and a little loopy from lack of sleep, that it was not about us and our comfort.  We had come to Egypt to serve.  Plain and simple. And even though it had been frustrating and kind of made me want to weep uncontrollably, we were here for a purpose.

Time Awake as we fly back to Cairo: 55 Hours

Again, as you read this, you may be thinking that I’m exaggerating.  Not even a little bit.  But crazy at it sounds, it’s not over yet. 

After our 1 hour flight from Luxor to Cairo, we were picked up at the airport by our van, and piled in for our 1.5 hour drive to Wadi, where we would be putting down roots for a few days for the festival.  On top of my husband and I and the 2 Norwegians, we picked up a Brazilian jujitsu artist fresh off his flight from Sao Paulo.  We chatted and laughed about all of the things that had just happened in a short 48 hours, and talked about how nice it would be to have a good nights’ sleep in a real bed for the first time in days. But the chatter died down after about 2 hours (remember the 1.5 hour drive?) and we realized that the driver didn’t know where he was.  He began to loop around the highway, stop in gas stations, and stop at local street marketers close to the highway, asking for directions.

Now take a step back.  We are in a van, in the middle of the desert, with 2 Americans, 1 Brazilian, and 2 Norwegians, all of which speak no Arabic.  Our driver speaks no English.  We ask over and over where we are and why we aren’t at the hotel, and it flusters him to the point of extending our 1.5 hour trip to over 4 hours.  (You’d be flustered too if you had an angry Norwegian strong-man sitting behind you asking where the hotel was).  We eventually pull down a small road that eventually stops being pavement and is loose desert sand.  No lights, no road signs, and no camp in sight.  After having listened to terror stories about kidnappings and small side roads that lead to nowhere from our previous days’ driver, we all start to wonder if we would  ever make it out of Egypt alive.   But luckily for us, (and our driver), we pulled into the Biet El Wadi complex around 4 am. 

Time Awake when we reach our fresh hotel beds: 63 Hours.

Let me wrap this up by saying this: if you have every visited another country, you know that time is almost in a state of suspension.  There is no hurry, no on-time (except when flying), and no real worry.  Leisure reigns.  And when we are overseas, we have learned that our American pace gets set aside and we become flexible.  That is the travelers code: Be Flexible.  If you fail at being flexible, you would hate overseas work. It’s hard and rewarding and amazing all at the same time. 

As with every other time that I am overseas, I am in love with the cultural experience, the people, the food, and the way that God works.  I am looking forward to seeing what the next few days holds, and hopefully I can get my camera to work again by the time we get to the Pyramids.

Now for some much needed sleep…

The Detox Hoax

It's one of the biggest buzzwords of the last 18 months: Detox.

Thousands of programs and regiments that are designed to "rid your body of toxins".  And you know what?  It's one of the biggest hoaxes that has hit the public since the Atkins Diet craze.  But, as my husband often says, "It's easy to be deceived."

The word "detox", according to Webster's Dictionary, means the following:

"To undergo treatment to rid the body of poisonous substances, especially alcohol and drugs." 

It's origin is 1972.  Most people who detox are people in rehab (we've all seen Intervention) who are coming down off years of abuse of drugs and alcohol.  They are ridding their body of a literal "poison".  But somewhere along the way, someone realized that the word "detox" could be used for an entirely different purpose: marketing. 


If you were to get on Google (or Bing or Yahoo or whatever engine you use), and type in the word “detox”, you would find over 12.5 million pages of cleanses, diets, plans, blogs, and other various opinions on the subject. You would find things like the Acai Cleanse, the Master Cleanse (or lemon cleanse),  Evercleanse, the Cabbage Soup Diet, the ColoThin, and Colonics.  Each one claims to detoxify your body in the most effective, and fast, way.


I’m pretty sure that even though you may not have participated in one of these programs, you know someone who has, or you’ve heard of them.  But the thing that so many people have failed to realize is that they are just a fad.  Go ahead and hate me for saying it, but they are no better or different then weight loss programs like the Atkins diet, the South Beach diet, or my personal favorite, the What Would Jesus Eat? Diet.


We have bought into the fad hook, line, and sinker all over again.  Especially us women.  We want to be thin…and would do just about anything to get to that point quickly.  Everything except give up our Starbucks Frappuccinos with extra whip and the Wendy’s at 11pm.  We want a quick-fix to our poor eating habits and have believed that the only way to a healthy life is through not eating for 10 days and drinking a concoction of maple syrup, cayenne pepper, and lemon juice. (Seriously yuck!)


When I searched for a scientific perspective on these cleanses, I consulted a doctor, Wikipedia, and WebMD among others.  The opinion was repeated across the board:

“…Symptoms may improve with a detox diet, but there is no evidence that this [detox diets/cleanses] is due to clearing toxins from the body...As it turns out, a balanced, proper diet is more helpful than a detox diet.”  WebMD also stated that, “Perhaps one of the biggest dangers of detox diets is the fear they instill in the public…The good news is that your body has its own natural detoxifying process that works quite well.  The liver and kidneys do a good job of processing chemicals and eliminating them…”  WebMD goes on to make the statement that, “fasting can be addictive because it causes a kind of ‘high’.

 (I am putting this statement in there based on the fact that the Master Cleanse is one of the most popular cleanses out there, and it requires a 10-day fast.)  There was also a statement in Self magazine that said that women who don’t eat (fast) during a cleanse or diet are, on average, 8 pounds heavier than women who just ate right and exercised!  Is anybody getting this?


Are we out of our minds!?

In all honesty, I am just wondering when we stopped paying attention.  We believe just about anything, more specifically when it comes to shedding those pounds and that other buzzword: wellness.  If we really look deeper into it, we aren’t really interested in a lifestyle change, or being healthy for that matter.  Instead, we want to do what we want, when we want, but don’t want the consequences that come along with it. I have read status update after status update on Facebook and Twitter from friends of mine that have decided to "get clean" by choosing one of these diets.  The irony, however, is that when all is said and done, they "celebrate" their success and their new-found energy by hitting up their favorite drink at Starbucks and noshing on a cupcake or ice cream.  And even more commonly, they just go back to their old food and drink routine, thinking about the next time that they'll "clean out".  I'm not kidding!  Just think about how ridiculous that is!  You've "rid" the toxins from your body only to put them right back in. 

The dangers of detox diets and cleanses is right in front of our faces, yet we remain blind.  Especially us as women.  There's a lie that's easy to miss, but it’s there nevertheless.  It’s that nasty lie that tells us over and over that we aren’t good enough, and God and his design are not enough. We take products like these because we find ourselves 25 pounds overweight, lazy, and sometimes even subconsciously blame God for making us with a faulty system. No…we are faulty because we live in a broken world. We don’t want to work hard, eat right, or exercise.  We find ourselves caught up in fad diets and quick-fixes because we need to experience that we are enough.  We want to feel like we are doing something…anything. But we are left unhappy and empty, cheeseburger still in hand.

DO NOT BUY THE LIE.  It's that simple.  (For real...it really is).  Understand that we all are left with a choice to be healthy or just pretend to be healthy.  I would challenge any person, fad-cleanser or non-fad-cleanser, to make a lifestyle change for the better.  Just eat healthy. And then, go get some excercise...

I Create, Therefore I Am.

Ever wonder what you’re supposed to be doing with your life?  I do all the time. But I think that I have finally entered into the world of The Creative.  Anything that gives me the opportunity to be creative is where I thrive and grow.  But I haven’t always been this way.  I’ve struggled along the way to figure out just what I am supposed to be doing. But they always say, “Better late then never!”

Some people have known what they wanted to “be when they grow up” since they were kids.  My husband is one of those.  He knew after his first paid show at 11 (he made a whopping $25) that he was going to be an entertainer when he grew up. (check him out at www.HarrisIII.com) Now, along the way he’s branched into other passions he has with business and entrepreneurship.  He does all of those things alongside being an entertainer.  Everything that he has his hands in fits with what he loves and how he wants to propel his business forward.

I am a little more free-spirited than that.  More fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants is how I live life.  I have my hands in multiple projects, learning, trying things out, and wandering around a little.  I’m sure there are times that I appear just as dazed and confused as when I started, but I am on a journey.  I have written, painted, cooked, designed, attempted new languages, sewn, created, acted, psychologized, and started businesses on this journey.  Each one has been a point of growth for me no matter whether I’ve failed or succeeded at it.  I have managed to learn a lot about myself and have flexed and re-shaped my personality, all the while learning what I love and realizing what I’m good at. 

I consistently find myself creating and re-creating.  It encompasses each area that I venture into. I love the artist part of my life because it gives me, “…Freedom for the full expression of my personality.” (Gandhi)  There are no parameters to stay within and I can send my mind to the edges of the Universe for ideas.  With this type of freedom, the possibilities are quite literally, endless. 

As for what's happening in my life, next year has set itself up to be new and exciting for me on so many levels.  I have officially started to peek my head around the corner of possibility.  I have new art in the works, 2 new businesses to launch, and multiple partnerships with Global social justice organizations rocking and rolling.  I am, for lack of better words, stoked.  (and extraordinarily busy) I find myself, for the first time ever, pushing myself to the point of being nervous in business, art, and changing the world.  I have a great team and group of friends that are encouraging me along the way. It's because of God's grace and amazing people like my husband, my friends, my family, and our former church community at The Journey Church that I am where I am today.  

But what does it mean? (Part 2)

"Rain"

24x48

"Made of different stuff than when I began..." 

(written around the border of painting)

This is the one of the first true expression pieces that I did after I began to paint.  (This is not the original, someone owns that, but this is the second one).  When I sat down to paint this particular piece, I let a blank canvas sit in front of me while I listened to music on my iPod, hoping for a little inspiration.  I knew that I wanted to paint something a little more layered that had depth and meaning to it, but I wasn't sure how I was going to do that.  As I sat there, a song by Brooke Frasier came on. "Shadowfeet"(from the Albertine album)  As the long started out, she sang, "I am changing, less and less asleep, made of different stuff than when I began..." That's when it hit me.  I had changed.  I was "awake" and "aware", having moved out of my old self and into my new self. Now, don't think I'm going all new-agey on you, we all change.  We all have an event (or multiple events) that change our direction and our outlook.  Mine was that I had found God and found a church.

In 2005, my husband Harris and I joined the Journey Church in Franklin, TN. http://journeyfranklin.com/  It was a church plant by Pastor Jamie George, and it changed our lives.  In short, I found God there.  He had been waiting on the sidelines for me to finally recognize that I wanted Him and needed Him.  He had been so patient and graceful in my blatant disrespect and lack of loyalty.  See, I had known God my whole life.  Even considered myself a "Christian" because I had "prayed the prayer".  But my life reflected nothing of who God is.  It was simply all about me and my comfort.  I chose God when it was convenient...even though He had always chosen me.

After being a part of the Journey Church for a year, it clicked.  I was tired of the game of trying to live more than one life.  I was tired of running away and making it all about me.  I wanted so much more.  I wanted real life.  Real joy. Real love. And the simple line out of "Shadowfeet" jumped out at me as a testament to my life. So I began to paint. I painted the city as a sign of my community.  The clouds hung above the city as normal rain clouds do, however, they were not "normal" clouds.  They were raining buttons. Hundreds of buttons.  This was me.  I look physically the same, yet I was exuding something entirely different in my life.  I was standing out among those around me.  I was showing people that everything that I valued and everything that's inside of me is not what it seems at a quick glance. I knew that when I open up my life, you would see a difference.  I will communicate differently.  I will care differently and deeply.  I will love my spouse differently.  I love my Creator differently.

After serving and attending Journey Church for 4 years, my husband and I moved 45 minutes away. Because Journey Church would no longer be an extension of our community, we knew that we would find a new church family closer to where we lived. Before leaving, I went to Jamie and gave him the original of this painting as reminder that he done exactly as God had asked him.  He had brought the lost to Him.  Jamie had helped me dig deep and discover that there was so much more.  And as I was leaving, I told him that if he continued to do what we was doing, there should be a thousand more of these paintings showing what peoples' lives had become after learning the truth.  There would be no other option than to "rain" differently.

Illusionism.tv

It's finally here!!  For the last year or so, my husband Harris has been working his tail off on a new project: www.illusionism.tv

Illusionism.tv is a membership website where aspiring magicians of all ages can go and learn weekly magic tricks from skilled instructors, upload performance and practice videos, and get advice from friends and other magic aficionados. It is a one-of-a-kind, premiere learning site that is a friendly environment for kids and adults to learn magic together. You can hone your skills as much or as little as you'd like! But the best part is that it helps to maintain the motto that all magicians have: "Magicians never tell their secrets".  Because this is a membership website, not just anyone can learn the tricks that you can learn here!

In celebration of the site having officially launched today (June 25th), Illusionism.tv is offering a HUGE lifetime discount that will only be available until July 1st.  So be sure to sign up and start learning magic with other magicians!  And let your friends and family know to sign up as soon as possible so that they can take advantage of such an awesome discount.

It's been a long and tiresome process, but the anticipation has been nothing short of insanity because we are so excited about it!!

Again, the website is www.illusionism.tv  Go check it out!!

One of Those Months

I know that it's been a while since I've been here to blog, it's definitely something that I have to really work at. I'm much better at micro-blogging on Twitter or reading other peoples' blogs. But I have a few things that I'd like to give people a heads-up on.

For anyone who reads my husbands' blog (http://www.harrisiii.com/harris-iii-blog/), this first little bit isn't going to surprise you. At the end of May, my husband and I found out that our 6 week tour to Thailand in July and part of August had been cancelled due to all of the government protesting and violence that had sprung up over the last couple of months. The small nation went into a state of emergency and began enforcing curfews and suggesting to foreigners not to travel to their country. Public gatherings were also suspended until further notice, which meant that we were not going to be able to hold any shows. Because we found out at the last second, (everyone was hoping that it would be okay and we would be able to come over), we were left with a vacant July and a partially vacant August. No income. Now, I don't know about what kind of jobs you all have, but if you take an unpaid leave of absence for 6 weeks with no other form of income, you might begin to panic when you realize that none of your bills are going to be paid. Welcome to our current state.

Now, all this being said, here's what we've been doing since finding out: we've been racking our brains in an attempt to come up with the money to pay our bills (which we have both personal and business since we are self-employed) for the month of July. It sounds like a lot, but our bills for both exceed $8000. Some of our income in June will carry over, but because of some recent big expenses with our travel vehicle (it keeps breaking down), we don't have as much in the bank. My husband has been on the phone with tons of people looking for ways that we offer our talents to both churches as well as locally to theaters. I have been busy fulfilling art commissions and getting updated photos online.

Because we work together 12 months out of the year, we would consider doing nothing less than that same thing right now. So we have split up the income so that we can carry this burden together. Normally I am able to sell art when people are interested in it and come to me. This next month is going to be a little different. I am taking a step to expedite the sale of art by offering everything that I currently have as inventory as well as commissions at a 20% discount. This offer is only good for the month of July. That being said, please check out my Facebook fan page for updated photos of everything that I have. My goal is to bring in $4000 in July. That's all. I am willing to take commissions, sell what I currently have, or duplicate if possible. If you aren't interested in art for yourself, I encourage you to tell your friends and family and pass on the info to them. The more people that can see it, the better.

So please take a look at my fan page on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/kateharrisart Check the photo albums for pictures and pricing. If you find yourself interested, you can either message me directly on Facebook, or email me at kate@kateharrisart.com   Your support in this time of need would be greatly appreciated, and know that we aren't asking for a handout...we are working hard for it!

Here are a few of the most popular pieces that I have just to give you an idea:

"Vintage Piano"

24x48 

normally $595

now $475

"Liquid"

48x60

normally $895

now $715

"Dandelion"

30x40

normally "595

now $475

"Light"

30x40

normally $400

now $320