Sabibi Davidson

No sleep

It’s the second night before the day. Well before four am, I can’t sleep. So I will continue the story.

Decision made, I am going to Africa, I worked three jobs this summer for one special round trip ticket with my name on it. Then came the visa, check. Yellow fever vaccination, you can’t enter the country with out it, check. When you walk into the airport your vaccination is the first thing checked not your visa.

Malaria pills, check.

The evening before my flight, I was pushing my bike up a hill when I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. The airline texted me informing my flight from France to Ouagadougou had been cancelled due to Air France’s pilot strike. So began the fight to get to Bukina!

First, I wasn’t sure what to do. I had two layovers for my trip to Africa. SFO to ATL, ATL to Paris. Paris to Africa. I could make it to France but there wouldn’t be a flight to OUA, Ouagadougou. After sitting on the couch stunned for a moment I decided to call the airline. Eventually the agent let me know she could get me to two places close to the country, I would have to choose one and find my way from there. The airline would pay for my ticket to the place I chose but it stopped there. Nigeria or Ghana? I chose Ghana.

The ticket was changed, instead of leaving the next day in the afternoon I would be leaving early the next morning. I packed one bag! ( an accomplishment from days of carrying too much with me). One simple backpack, and my small tent..hey keep your options open.

When I reached JFK, part of my new flight, JFK straight to Ghana, no need to go to France fly direct from NY. When I reached JFK I was relieved and excited. For one when the plane took off from SFO my body had a sensation of a large weight flying off of me. I was so intense I jumped, I though it was anxiety. The woman next to me assisted me by telling to breath through my nose and out my mouth. She gave me water to drink. At JFK I had two hours two hours to board a flight to Ghana.

Ten minutes before boarding or so a man on the intercom mentioned, for the flight to Ghana if a passenger did not have blue visa stamped in the passport, that passenger would not be allowed on the plane. I went up to the desk of the agent, they asked…What’s your final destination? I said Burkina Faso. They asked…how do you plan to get there? I said, bus. Sorry ma’am, you are not allowed to enter the country of Ghana with out a visa as an American. You could be fined $5000 usd. And so could the airline.

I went quickly to the help desk. Explained what they knew, Air France pilots were on strike, the agent on the phone changed my ticket literally only the past evening. How could it be that this is okay. I had no idea it would be such a hassle. The woman said, ma’am it’s the passengers job to make sure they have the required visa for the country not the agent. She put me on the phone. The woman on the phone said, ma’am i don’t know what the woman at the desk is talking about it clearly states on the computer that you do not need a visa to enter Ghana. The woman at the desk and the woman at the phone debated back and forth…turned out the woman at the desk was right and the woman on the phone hadn’t read everything. It clearly states you must have a visa as an American citizen. The woman on the phone apologized and hung up the woman at the desk started listing options:

A. Delay the trip, go back to SFO

B. Stay in NYC till Friday (it was Monday)

C. Go to the address on the page she gave me to hope to get a rushed visa and she could change my ticket for the next night

Decisions. I chose option C. She said go back to the agent at the gate she has more info. Okay so by then because of all of the confusion. Plus! The disappointment. My teary face was wet and I walked away with a voucher with the words sorry for the inconvenience printed. The voucher was for transport to the hotel the airline was offering complimentary. The agent looked at me and said…you don’t need a rushed Visa what you need is a ticket. Show me a ticket tomorrow that clearly states you are not staying in Ghana and I will let you on the plane tomorrow… So budgeting for this trip became a little interesting…She said by the way you can keep your luggage here. See you tomorrow. I Ieft the airport in a nice car to a nice hotel and a nice room in Jamaica, NY. I immediately began looking for tickets. I went to bed probably around 2 am. Woke up around 6 am. Dressed and caught the 6:30 shuttle to the airport. Walked in and began looking for that ticket. I needed it by the time the planes began to load and my main concern was how much time was needed for a small airline in west africa to issue a ticket for next day travel. Would’nt you know! I found one! Received confirmation email in my inbox.

It was Early in the morning considering if 7 to 8 am is early. Rainy New York? No thank you! I spent the whole day in the airport. Walking and sitting, walking and sitting. When the afternoon came a woman stood before me, it was the agent from the night before. I could see she’d recently arrived. She said, you got that ticket? I smiled, Yes! She said, alright see you tonight. We both walked away. This was during my walk abouts, exercising, finding something to do. I only packed a small bag. No card games, rubicks cube, sodoku puzzles, nor art supplies this time. And I wasn’t that impressed with the book I’d brought along which was the only book I’d brought with me, Doorways in the Sand.

By the way. I realized something. That day I ate one thing. A veggie pizza which I couldn’t finish because my stomach was like, have you lost your mind. So I closed the box and remembered going to the hotel with it. I remember grabbing everything I’d brought with me. At the airport was when I realized that somewhere between admiring a tree across the street from the hotel while waiting for the shuttle and going to the airport I missplaced my pizza.

Alright ahhh!

Wow let me begin with…this year I felt yes I must go to Africa. I have been to South East Asia and all of these beautiful places with its residual African resemblances and yet my feet hadn’t touch the soils of Africa. I remember in Oakland there was an African centered woman who made clothes in the Lower Bottoms, I used to phone her and ride my bike to her home with lentils I intended to cook for her. She had a special place in the hearts of young black women who would visit her. She reminded me of my aunts, you went over to her house, she had a rule everybody cleans up. I found myself doing the dishes, sweeping, and helping sort out fabric. My favorite part was if we all spent the night like a mother hen she read us stories. Can you imagine us early twenty something year olds lying everywhere heads resting on their palms looking up to a woman reading passages from books she wouldn’t let you borrow nor bend.

She used to say you want to go to Africa, all you got to do is confirm it and you will go. She was right, this year I decided two things were for certain I was going to see Hornby again and I was going to go to Africa.

Went to Hornby, thats another story. Now, I’m in Africa.

Whats happening

I love to blog. I just haven’t come to it for a while. I am on this Island where there is so much beauty. so many stories. people say this Island is very powerful with its petroglyphs and at times fast moving tides. I have been engulfed in art and dedicated to it. devoted to it. loving it. cooking, cleaning, creating, crafting. coloring, painting, cutting, gluing. I awake every morning at 5:20 am. my dear friend sometimes stirs by the sound of the alarm. so long as I am not doing too much she is fine. my tent is decorated with shawls I have collected. my altar is set up in a perfect place. I have been dreaming by a grandmother tree.

It begins like this, I wake up and lay there for ten minutes just to orient myself. then I grab either my dream journal if I remember or my journal in which I write three pages. doesnt matter what but I am writing. then I sit up and close my eyes while staying awake for an hour. I think of nothing or I do mental exercises. meditation.

then I might grab my computer and for one hour with out stopping, no bathroom break to call my own. I write for an hour. and let it just come. some of it is personal. sometimes its a story. if its a story I pray it be medicine. Then I leave where I dream after prayer and shower. then I walk to this place called the boat house where I have been working diligently on what some may call an elaborate doll house looking structure. it is indeed a large house. it has two roofs. trim. a small door. windows that you can’t see through. I finished the inside a few days ago. now its all about the outside of it. No matter what this is what I have been working on. then I might travel to clean for extra cash. look at the sea and thank her. look at the trees and thank them. I can breathe here the air is clean I feel. not too many cars. the people are kind, funny, nice, sharing their tales and art. people love to stick art where it can go. there might be a show here or there. I eat simple food for the sake of my health. peanut butter is a treat. I think if not for eggs I have returned to being a vegan but there are sweet crepes that i can only have with a bit of honey on it. but it is sooo good. there is new music I have been collecting from a guy named Jeff who is hilarious.

So that is where I have been. I think I have been touched by art. It has shown up to help me through the days and I have decided to dedicate myself to it in gratitude and also because I am interested in it. I have been in pursuing the muse. and getting over and loving my ego. I have learned that to get over it is a great thing. and also that it comes to the rescue to make sure you know when somethings not right. so what if its just an unfairity but it is better to flush it out than to ignore it. Oh dear. I thank you Hornby. A song recently written speaks about parables and proverbs.

let go, relax, and love love love
and go live on an island

It won’t be Hornby but it will be Hawaii. I have decided that I who love the Earth, Water, Air, and Fire would appreciate sea, trees, and volcano near by. The natives of Hornby speak that Hornby is a powerful land. The people would leave during the winter and the shamans would stay. for vision.That is that for now.

Funraiser Sale!

Hi everyone! Over the past few weeks I have been out of commission. I sincerely know what that means now. I could hardly leave my home and went to the ER twice. Anyway I am glad to report I can draw and create now! With that in mind I am having a Funraiser Sale of Art toys and paintings. Your design or mine. Sliding scale because I want everyone to have the chance to participate. I am accepting orders until Friday Afternoon. Mainly because everything must be granted to you by Saturday. A new http://www.foodwebstories.com journey is happening and I must be ready!

Here are the details:

Art Toys:

Sliding scale depends on size. Most of my toys range from 1 to 2 feet if you wan’t one larger than such the cost will be more. Take a look at my design for this toy.

notice the detail and that I use reuse materials for all of my work. I can leave the toy blank so that you can paint it or I could paint it for you. Take a look at my painting style which is multimedia inspired.

The toys will range from $40 on up. The design will be either your’s or mine.

Paintings:

My style of painting is as such as those above. I am also a portrait artist or could paint on your clothing. Sliding scale applies. Either you can buy something I already have or ask me to craft something customized for you.

Please help my Funraiser Sale by ordering a toy or painting! Thank you!

Sabrina

I hope that if you order you are close by the SF bay area.

Painting for Peace

Hi there everyone here are some new works and showings. Mono-color, storybook art, cover art, and lots of colors. Paint and recycled paper clay. To Art!

This morning I made a batch of paper clay. Newspaper strips added to a pot of hot water, left over night. Added a lot of glue and some mineral oil. Mushed it and applied it to She Blue Toy sculpture.

She Blue Toy Sculpture with Recycled Paper Clay added for texture. I hope to coat once dry with a spackling mix, a thin layer that is. Then sand and possibly paint or leave as is. It’s taking a while to dry because the clay had so much water.

I love and appreciate comic book art. Lately I have been noticing instances of monocoloring. I wanted to try it and here it is a landscape scenery in varying densities of blue. There is a mountain, a river, and the surrounding environment. All in doodle size,

2 life, this painting explores my interest in old magazine cover art and colored pencils with various painting techniques. Markers, watercolor, and pen on paper.

Storybook cover art is also a great interest of mine. Children’s storybook art has been a technique style I have been practicing and loving. to Black Fairies, to Fairies. Peace be. It has been a day of creating art and appreciating the ability to do so. To Art! It is truly such a gift to be able to paint, draw, play music. Art is beautiful! I love Art.

A couple of posts back I mentioned…

A couple posts back I mentioned the Black Satyr Toys, well here is a new idea…

This one of course looks like a goat/ human mix, while the other looked like this…

a more human faced being. And not to mention what happened when I did the clay sculpturing…

hmm I am feeling a cardboard mix media toy coming on…by the way…She Blue is ready for paper clay application 🙂 and before I step off it I would love to add that I am loving

strangerfactory.com

and

brandtpeters.com

Wow! I love those looney tune eyes!

Children’s Storybook Art and She Blue has legs

Hi there!

Sitting here at the desk is like a meal to me. I am loving every moment of it. problem solving, what colors when and where. Sketching has always fed me in ways and coloring in those sketches is like good milk that makes you twirl your fingers in your hair. 2 Little Girls is a story that was written for the Kadazandusun Language Foundation in Sabah, Malaysia. It has taken me a while to really understand what I wanted to convey for the cover. My first take was a busy no no. The second was more like it in a good way and now I have something to show for it.

First of all I did my research. I looked up a few things about Sabah’s past and present and came up with something that was more relevant to the location and the moments the story was capturing about the change to the Kampung ways.

below is a few stamp ideas referring to Sabah in the time of the North Borneo State

From that idea and a look at a beautiful butterfly came this multimedia painting

Notice the works at the bottom is to show appreciation towards the traditional bead work of Kadazandusun people.

—

Well look a there She Blue stands

She blue, an Update

Here are some updates to the She Blue toy

this was the sketch for She Blue, Horse head female body

A friend mentioned I shouldn’t run to the store for what I think is missing or needed but find it in the house, look in the garage. problem solve. So here is She Blue’s head/face using cardboard, my exacto knife, egg carton (the lips and nose, and wire I had from a creative reuse place. The tape was also in the garage 🙂

Now there is the chest and the biceps or upper arms still using the wire, egg carton, cardboard, and tape. Now I have an idea of how tall She Blue will be and its much taller than I thought. Certainly something like 2 and a half to over 3 feet tall. I am loving it.

3 at a time. Johnson

First was the flap of the wings of a black solitary raven in the matching sky. She had traveled an empty space to spit the sun on first contact with something other than darkness. with in the wisdom of those eyes she flew with the 1st thought of sight on along a river of nothing until her claws were touched by welcoming dampness. marshes out of no where performed a welcoming mat for the bringer of light. immediately she spit out the sun from her beak and cawed the first song and moving her legs and chest to dance the first dance. the marches blessed the sun settled in what appeared to be the heavens. enough and not too much so as to keep the earth in warmth. welcome to the 1st day.

it was many years later when she raven wore her wings about her as a dress and walked barefooted, toes in the grass of the earth.

Certainly the light was spotted far off calling out the inquiring intelligences. They clamoured and they flew they materialized on the living mountain known as the first of land. watching the waters ,who knew it was blue. the seven muses in their robes sat by the rays of the burning flames and it was then that some began to notice they were not the same.

.Johnson

My daughters are not my own since i’ve buried them at the roots of an agar tree deep in the forest. they walked with me into the thick vines and high vegetation and they come to me now and then with their messages. I am man who could take a life and turn it to immortality. they wondered why i did not join them. why I changed my mind. how come I would choose to sit at a table in a chair with common breakfast and watch the world change daily in an organic way. organic has carbon and certainly will want to break down one day succumbing to the subtle flame. I say nothing to this. But i listen. I watch their pictures and listen to their voices when they come to sit with me.

Eventually I am sure I will grow tired and death will hold the curtain for me. but for now I am too curious for life. I thrive on the living and although I have taught those who were my children to take time and lose it, to take time and bend it, ignore time and borrow it. I am too akin to seasons and rhythms and wish to live with the tides following the will of the moon. I do this by an act of participation, empathic to life, and the story of how one comes and goes. I go the the register alone and he does not ask me where are my children. So consider it an exchange, the two for one.

Live my children in a myriad of ways. open doors and close them. but live and don’t leave her till you have grown too curious about the realm on the other side. for this is your birth right. children of the black bird.

– Sabrina

She blue

I would like to create a toy out of my comfort zone and certainly She blue is that toy. from her side ways glace to her very nakedness. She looks at you but she does not face need not. She is blue while I ponder her hair I like where she is going. Maybe she will be a midnight blue with dark blue hair highlighted in certain areas for accentuation. Notice her legs are also her stand. Yes!