The Core of Our Nature

We went to an art opening Saturday night at the Santa Monica Art Studios. Ben, my daughters father, was one of the featured artists. He's been creating some very whimsical pieces with the computer program Illustrator. I look forward to seeing them animated.

While at the opening I spotted some very creatively dressed, circus type individuals. I was attracted to them immediately....like a magnet. As we were looking at the art on the walls I mentioned to one of these wildly dressed specimens how much I loved the outfit. His name is Fernando, he is an artist and performer with a local Circus troupe here in Los Angeles called Lucent Dossier. He mentioned that most people get really stuck in dressing a specific way and have lost touch with expressing themselves as individuals. By

dressing the way that he does he has noticed that it somehow gives people permission to find that element in themselves, to be outrageous. Indeed, I was inspired and wished people would dress with more artistry. Look at the difference between what you see on the haute couture fashion runways versus the watered down versions you see out on the street.

Dream Rockwell, the mastermind behind Lucent Dossier, has quite an eye for dressing her team....from the make-up to each hand stiched re-invented vintage clothing and hand crafted accessories. She ingeniously weaves together bits and pieces of odds and ends to create something new, they call it Vaudeville Glamour. In fact the website has a new upcoming section titled Gypsy Haute Couture, where Dream will be offering her fantastical wears.

We first came across Lucent Dossier at the 2007 Elevate Film Festival . There is an element of Cirque du Soleil about them, Cirque du Soleil meets Mad Max. For those in the Los Angeles area see them perform live at the Edison.

I'll leave you with this from the Lucent Dossier website:

Creativity is at the core of our nature, yet in the course of our lives our creative desires are lost in the abyss of “impossible dreams.”

It now falls to us to rediscover our magical inspirations and release their free-flowing expressions. It is our destiny to make all things possible.

We must shed the spells society has accidentally cast upon us, and find out, for ourselves, who we really are and what we want from this incredible world of possibilities. We must find the strength to believe in ourselves and create our dreams into reality.

Lucent Dossier is, at its very core, a playground for the innovative genius child in all of us. It is a collective based on magic and inspiration, living by the ancient wisdom of choosing confidence over doubt, joy over pain and love over fear.

Medium: acrylic veils of color on gessoed board
Board dimensions: 6 x 7.5 - Image dimensions: 2.5x 4 (approximately)
This painting is available for purchase and usage*, contact me for details: Roxana at Roxana Villa dot com.

“Humor” was commissioned by Running Press for the Meditation Kit, a book and card deck set. The set is out of print but can be found at various locations online. I contributed over eighty five paintings for this project.

* All images are copyrighted, do not use without permission, that would be a violation of copyright laws and could result in enormous fines.