This is a one color print on a handmade rice paper. When I made this print, I imagined two women living together with their dog in a home, taking care of each other, and living simply. I grew up as a Quaker, and we had this saying, "live simply so that others may simply live". I think more than ever, America needs a revolution in simple living. Our over abundance and excessive living has consequences around the world- in order for our society to be so comfortable, other people are struggling for basic survival. I've been thinking a lot about how much physical stuff we surround ourselves with; things that are supposed to make our lives easier (like a washer and dryer,automatic pencil sharpeners, back scratchers, etc) which can actually further complicate our lives and create a dependency on "things". When I was working a full time job, I spent more money to maintain the lifestyle that came with the employment. I actually saved less money than when I worked full time jobs. One example of that was that I had so much less free time that I spent the money I made to buy food other people cooked rather than growing and cooking food myself. Now that I am self employed, I spend more time actually doing the things required to live. The time I spend growing food and cooking is some of the most relaxed time of my day. It's only an hour or two a day, which is still less time/money than if I had to work a job to pay someone else to do these things for me. I also feel more balanced and healthy than I ever did working in offices. I recently hand washed a few loads of clothes by hand and laid them out to dry, and I felt more connected to life in general. Today Americans work an average of well over 40 hours a week and many of us do work that has little direct impact on meeting the needs for our basic survival. But in cultures where we are working directly to satiate our basic needs, we work an average of less than 30 hours a week. So... directly, indirectly, this print is about reconnecting with our basic needs, and cutting out all the excess. Also, to allow time for things that might seem "mundane" as a way to give time to be present, live in the moment, and value all that we have.
