Kismet Arts Tangent

Art Collective

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  • Kat’s Reads: Power, Voice, Pain, and Making Ensembles

    The Right Use of Power is about the heart of ethics.

    Barstow, Cedar. The Right Use of Power: The Heart of Ethics. Many Realities Press, 2015.

    I think this is a really important book for program designers, especially when you have a population—say, students, patients, or a community—where you’re providing services.

    There is a power dynamic in play. Participants in a program are often in a down-power position, while administrators and faculty delivering the services are in an up-power position. This can get complicated because your stakeholders may also be empowered and contribute to decision-making in the program.

    I’ve noticed this especially with data collection and being a participant in programs myself. The opportunities to shape your experiences are often very underutilized or under-leveraged. What happens instead is that you do a survey with very little shaping of the conversation.

    Because of that, I believe these two books together work really well—creating more agency in teams and communities while acknowledging the mechanical issues of hierarchy and leadership.

    Social Work, Voice, and Program Design

    Glicken, Morley D. Real World Clinical Social Work: Find Your Voice and Find Your Way. Routledge, 2011.

    Find Your Voice (from a social work perspective) is similar. When I talk about arts organizations, I am really talking about a lot of social work.

    Any team or community can benefit from a deeper understanding of social dynamics and the needs of their constituents, which often have a social-emotional component.

    For me, my theoretical orientation was one of the reasons I sought this out. Even if you are not a Master of Social Work, having an idea of why you are doing what you’re doing—and what strategy you’re taking from a social or psychological approach—really matters.

    I’m very driven by the idea of behavior change. But behavior change comes with a variety of approaches, and if those are used inconsistently, it’s like a bunch of darts being thrown randomly.

    I also appreciate how this book describes the challenges of being a social worker—or really, a nonprofit worker—and being aware that there are trade-offs to doing work for people. Finding your setting is key. There are many settings where this kind of work happens, and finding alignment between your mission and your framework is crucial.

    Relationship Housekeeping and Keystone Conversations

    Another book I recommend is How to Work with (Almost) Anyone.

    Bungay Stanier, Michael. How to Work with (Almost) Anyone: Five Questions for Building the Best Possible Relationships. Box of Crayons Press, 2017.

    I really appreciated this book because it talks about your best possible relationship and five key questions to have in a keystone conversation—questions that help guide and anchor you when there are troubled waters.

    I think of this as relationship housekeeping, and I consider it really important. I’ve had problems with teams in the past where we couldn’t agree on something, and having shared reference points—and self-knowledge—to rely on makes a difference.

    These five questions are essentially about:

    • Knowing your preferences
    • Knowing your best qualities
    • Understanding what the dream of the best possible relationship looks like
    • Naming what you’re striving toward together
    • Reflecting on when you’ve been burned in the past and what you learned

    You uncover truths that are not easy to talk about, not easy to face, and not easy to uncover. But that difficulty can lead to really rich outcomes. You get lost, you see things you wouldn’t normally see, and you move through the wilderness of organizational culture.

    When you’re passionate about something and want to create change, you inevitably push against people and find boundaries. It can get charged and emotionally draining, which is why this kind of grounding framework is so useful.

    Tracking Pain, Momentum, and Strategy

    The book on pain tracking was one I really enjoyed.

    Barrett, Deborah. Paintracking: Your Personal Guide to Living Well with Chronic Pain. Paperback ed., Feb. 21, 2012.

    Part of what resonated with me was its approach to accepting chronic pain—changing your attitude about it and deciding, “I’m going to manage this.” It emphasizes finding people with different practices and interventions that can actually work.

    The book describes ways of becoming more organized in your strategy: analyzing what you’ve tried, what has helped, and what hasn’t. There’s even a nice idea of having a kind of resume—or CV—of specialists you’ve worked with in managing symptoms.

    I found that really hopeful. It takes as a given that you’re going to need specialists with orientations that understand your particular set of issues.

    I’m still thinking about how this relates to my own challenges—especially maintaining momentum on projects. I wonder whether tracking projects, or tracking myself through projects, could help me find a sense of pacing: when to push, when to rest, and how to develop a more diverse portfolio.

    I find this framework intriguing for developing strategy—getting a clearer picture of what the real problem is. I’m looking forward to experimenting with more types of tracking and interventions.

    I also think this framework could be really useful for analyzing creative blocks, understanding where a team is over time, and figuring out how best to work with people who have different strengths.

    Making Ensembles and Understanding Roles

    The last book in Kat’s Reads is Ensemble Theatre Making: A Practical Guide.

    Bonczek, Rose Burnett, and David Storck. Ensemble Theatre Making: A Practical Guide. Routledge, 2013.

    I really appreciated this book because it describes group dynamics using archetypes and looks at what happens when certain people drain the group rather than contribute to it.

    Reading this was very inspiring for me as a leader. I realized I didn’t fully understand how to support different roles in an ensemble. I’m looking forward to revisiting its ideas around auditions, analyzing people’s strengths, and categorizing roles—so that when I’m creating a team, I know what I’m actually looking for.

    It’s not about finding the same person over and over again. It’s about alignment—bringing together people with diverse skills and orientations, and thinking seriously about job sculpting.

    This came up for me in volunteer work I did this year, where leadership wasn’t clearly delineated. I’m fairly sure every volunteer who applied was accepted. Maybe part of the solution is framing the first shift as an onstage moment or a tryout—an opportunity to see whether you like the style of work or management.

    I think it’s important to be able to say that some volunteers are not a good fit—not as a value judgment, but as a way of protecting everyone’s time and energy.

    This connects to issues I’ve had in previous art collectives: role confusion, uncertainty about what kind of contributor you are, what kind of leader you are, and how leaders and contributors can work together toward real accomplishment.

    That means being clear about agenda, time-boxing, time commitment, and expectations—so sessions aren’t draining, but instead build momentum and stay aligned with why people joined the ensemble in the first place.

    I really appreciated how this book names group dynamics, describes archetypes by behavior, and even talks about gray areas—people who aren’t “problem archetypes” but have tendencies that might need to be addressed more directly.

    Leadership, to me, is about understanding who your team is and aligning people with shared objectives. It may not be an overnight transformation, but there are ways to coach people into working with others in ways that honor their strengths.

    Closing

    That was Kat’s Reads.

    I hope this set of books gives a sense of my interest in developing strategies that help teams and communities work better—more ethically, more sustainably, and with greater clarity.

  • Notes on Pie Presenting

    photo by Cherisha Leung

    August 24th, Sunday, Lavender Light Cruiser (the name of our house) hosted an evening hoedown. Among other things, there was a talent show and a pie baking contest. I was presenting and coordinating the judging of the pie. I had three lovely judges, and we judged the pies based on concept, execution, and taste. I appreciated having a simple scale, one to five. I think it would have helped to coach the judges to be a little bit more contrasting in the judging.

    I think that we had a lot of threes, fours, and fives. Maybe they just weren’t used to creating more variance in the scores for more clear math or opinions. I think there’s some kind of standard about that, but overall, there were definitely clear winners. There were, and at a pace where I could keep up with the rest, and I felt good to have a sense of presenting the pies without bias because I didn’t judge the pies, and I thought that was cool.

    But yeah, I also really liked the pie processions. Everyone who baked the pie—after they were judged—they all gathered in the living room, and then we came out in a line, and I introduced the pies. I had interviewed each baker and got a little summary of the name, the ingredients, any story involved, their inspiration as a baker—that kind of thing.

    Advice or things that I would do for a future pie-baking contest: telling people ahead of time when the judging is going to be happening, and then also maybe getting the bakers to meet the judges and potentially present their pies to the judges. Not sure exactly if that improves it or slows it down. I really did appreciate the quickness because I would interview bakers as they arrived, so there was a more streamlined situation for the judges. The judges had clipboards with paper and pens, and they didn’t associate bakers with the pies, which I think can be kind of nice where the pie speaks for itself.

    But yeah, we had one late entrant—well, we had more than one late entrant. I guess a pie that was not entered, but also we had a pie come at the very last minute, right before we were tying up the scores, and that pie ended up being first place. So, I think this is an example of how sometimes the best pies are the later pies. And so, I still appreciate the feeling of having the judging towards the beginning of the event so that attendees could eat with plenty of time instead of maybe at the end, where some people would come and go without having any time.

    When I was presenting, I didn’t have a script, and I think it would have been good to introduce the judges, maybe say a little bit about them, and also talk about the prizes in more detail. We had one judge who also contributed prizes, which were original art prints made using stamps and a pie motif that I thought was really clever. But yeah, I did not highlight that artist either, so I have a bit to learn still about presenting events, especially contests where people work really hard, and maybe every entrant gets some kind of participation trophy. I always think that’s a nice touch—feeling like you get a souvenir for trying.

    There were a couple of bakers who this was their inaugural pie, or one of their first pies, and I thought that was really special.

    Note: next pie contest maybe make a commemorative zine with color photos celebrating the pies entered into the contest.

  • Highlighter Pixel style

    Report on a New Drawing Style

    The artist’s recent work demonstrates a shift toward a simplified, graphic approach that emphasizes clarity and symbolic weight. The essence of this style is distillation: forms are reduced to their most essential outlines, resulting in a visual language that balances legibility with expressive potential.

    This development was partly prompted by the artist’s participation in training sessions that required filling large poster surfaces with texture. The challenge of scale and coverage led to a systematic exploration of marks that could carry both density and clarity.

    Color plays a carefully defined role in the process. The palette is limited and deliberate: muted tones form a grid-like structure, black establishes the primary outlines, and fluorescent highlighters act as accent points. The effect recalls a diagrammatic system, where rules of organization are visible, but with occasional breaks that introduce play and experimentation.

    Viewers encounter images that feel emoji-like in their simplicity, evoking accessibility, directness, and even a scientific clarity. The work often resembles graphic design more than traditional art, prioritizing legibility while leaving space for expressive deviations. This balance suggests a grammar of form—an ordered set of visual rules—that the artist can intentionally disrupt.

    Conceptually, the process revolves around distillation, encapsulated in the artist’s idea that a complex concept can be boiled down into 49 squares. This numerical framework serves as both a discipline and a constraint, forcing ideas into a reduced but resonant format.

    Looking ahead, the artist sees this style expanding into narrative and functional applications. Potential directions include illustrated presentations, educational tools, and card games. The style’s icon-like quality positions it well for integration into the language of daily life, where symbols, grids, and diagrams shape communication.

  • Embroidery Check

    I’m appreciative of the foresight to make a post before the end of the year about my progress in my embroidery practice. Here are some questions and answers. I got the questions from ChatGPT. I asked:

    “I am making a blog post batching the embroidery I’ve done in the last seven months. Help me by asking six important questions that you think readers want to know the answers to.”

    1. What inspired you to start or continue embroidering over the last seven months?

    I enjoy my relationship with thread, needle, and hand sewing. I think it’s very relaxing and accessible. I like that I can do it in my bedroom while watching TV.

    Some of the projects in this post are iterations of things I’ve done before or I’m continuing to work on in terms of motifs, types of stitches, and using somewhat sheer fabric. That’s part of the experiment. In some cases, there’s shiny appliqué or patchwork involved too.

    2. How did your techniques or style evolve during this time?

    I recently got into the idea of using a running stitch to create patterns. I’m still enjoying the fishbone stitch—I use it a lot in my fills. Some recurring motifs include the hexagrid-patterned leaves.

    There’s also this tiling method I use to make these pathways for a particular kind of appliqué style that I like. It essentially has hoops and a line through them that can be modulated in different ways to create unique patterns.

    3. Which piece are you most proud of, and why?

    I really enjoy the silver fabric piece. This one uses a style of taking equilateral triangles and sewing them together to create a blob-shaped piece. It has a really organic shape, and it could be added to.

    I really appreciate it because it has such shine. I’m always captivated by it—especially when I play with it during performance rehearsals.

    4. What were the biggest challenges you faced, and how did you work through them?

    Maybe it’s because I have pretty low stakes with these pieces, or I’m not sure what the goal is—it’s more about the process and executing ideas.

    The biggest challenge might be sourcing shiny fabrics. Recently, both Joann’s and a couple of fabric stores in San Francisco have closed, so fabric shopping has been kind of limited.

    Another challenge is not having a thread store nearby. I don’t have a car, and when I’m walking around, I just don’t happen upon good fabric or thread/craft-oriented stores. Because of that, I tend not to use as many inventive threads.

    So maybe that’s a goal for upcoming projects: to order some variegated threads online. They’re really cool because they change colors and add fun patterns, which enhances the visual quality.

    5. Did any themes, materials, or motifs keep showing up?

    I like embroidery. I like patterns. I like researching patterns. I’m always intrigued by things I see on Pinterest.

    I appreciated thinking about the grid and how the embroidery hoop lends itself to a radial formation—especially in my last couple of pieces. I’ve been thinking about how the running stitch can be used in an organic pattern, starting from the center and radiating outward.

    6. What’s next for your embroidery practice?

    I’ve been really enjoying this new technique of seeing what happens with progressive running stitches, starting from the center outward. I’m thinking about what I could do to plan certain sections—or if I just want to keep it improvisational and see which shapes I like or which ones keep popping up.

    I noticed this fun technique where, for maybe six rows, I’ll do a shift to the left (in this case, clockwise), and that creates a bit of a distortion in the pattern. It adds a lot of visual movement.

    Essentially, it’s a mandala. I can see how, because of the slow, repetitive nature of these shapes, there are many ways to keep things interesting through tiny experiments or shifting approaches—as we spiral toward the edge of the piece.

  • Film Making February with Kismet

    Kismet Arts Tangent met for six meetings focusing on the medium of video. Initially, I was interested in encouraging scripts. What happened was more of a sketch or an outline of experiments.

    I think the goal was to create a cool video with a sense of collage and experimental editing, but I think with momentum and priorities, we did not achieve that. I used some of the clips (in a haphazard uploading way) to make a kind of placeholder video or just some fodder to reflect on and jog my memory that we did have activities that we were doing even if it wasn’t planned or documented or organized in post as how I am now thinking I want to organize workflow for projects of this kind.

    Maybe more reflection later.

  • Crochet dump

    Here’s an incomplete end of the year crochet photo dump! I am intrigued by cataloging these better, but also, we all know that it is two different disciplines– making and documenting.

  • 2025 bingo

    New years resolutions
    🎨 Strengthen and formalize creative practices.
    📝 Align intentions with actions through clearer goal-setting frameworks.
    🤝 Foster deeper connections and community.
    🌱 Integrate holistic self-care and wellness into daily life.
    🎓 Achieve professional and educational milestones (MFA, job, skills expansion).
    🎮 Embrace play and fun in work and creativity.
    📖 Celebrate and reflect more often through rituals and journaling.

    This year, I created my bingo card with ChatGPT. I put in my accomplishments that I’ve been tracking for the last four months and asked it to guess what my resolutions are and then craft a long list of resolutions (100) and then I culled it and refined it to 25 tasks that inspired me.

    When I did this last year, I did not document any of my accomplishments and perhaps the point is to send my intentions out into the ether, but I am open to the idea of updating this post with updates? A fine balance between a project and a timesuck. I think my goals are to plant the seed and see what comes up. I am a little suspicious of goal psychology because I want to cater toward my whimsical nature and I have yet to find the most elegant pipeline to make reports for the board I don’t have.

    update 12/24/2025- made a table where I wrote reflections and asked ChatGPT for possible recommendations.

    ActivityNotes / ReflectionRatingPossible recommendations
    Buy a ticket to a community event to meet new people. 🎟️I went to a beautiful community event in oregon that was ticketed and met new people.Rating: Success!Repeat this format locally; keep ticketed events as a reliable structure for meeting people.
    Pick one past project to review and write down three improvements you can make. 🎨Cool idea. I think that I’ve done a lot of different kinds of reflection and yet, but also I guess I am more interested in reviewing a project that someone is curious about and answering questions in person? I think that might be a more fun project if the opportunity ever came up to do a bts interview.Rating: Failure.Reframe as “live review / BTS conversation” instead of solo written reflection.
    Send a message to a friend you haven’t spoken to in a while. 💌Did not do this and maybe I’m becoming more accustomed to my small circle of intimates.Rating: Failure!Decide intentionally whether this goal still aligns with your values.
    Finish and frame one embroidery piece you’ve been working on.I gave my partner an embroidery piece in a frame.Rating: Success!Continue gift-oriented framing as a motivator.
    Cook and pack a new healthy meal prep recipe for the week. 🥗I think this idea was more like bring lunch from home. Or batch meal planning. Did not do this and I don’t think it’s my style at this point.Rating: Failure!Replace with “bring any lunch from home” or “repeat one easy staple.”
    Sign up for a networking event in your field, such as a conference or meetup. 🤝Did not do this. Make a list of events for next year to network!Rating Failure.Create a low-pressure annual list without committing yet.
    Send a thank-you note to a mentor or friend via email or post. ✉️I sent a friend a thank you note in a text. I’m going to count that.Rating: Success!Keep “text counts” as a valid format.
    Ask a colleague or peer for feedback on a specific creative project. 🖋️This was good in that I received writing feedback from a writing coach and it felt good to finally be in a place where I wanted to make my art better to increase the audience’s enjoyment.Rating: Success!Schedule this intentionally at project midpoints.
    Spend a day outdoors, sketching or taking photos of nature. 🌳I think this was a good idea and I could make it more of a personal project like a durational nature, forest bathing on drugs kind of thing.Rating: Failure.Recast as a conceptual or durational art project.
    Organize a casual meetup with a community group for a coffee or lunch. 🏙️Did not do this. I am interested in more community events.Rating: failure.Attach this to existing events instead of initiating from scratch.
    Book a weekend creative retreat at a nearby location to recharge. 🏞️Hmm… did not do this. It might help to make a list of creative retreat offerings and then book them way in advance.Rating: failure.Research-only phase before committing money.
    Set a financial goal for the month and transfer a set amount into savings. 💰I had such a rough time of this. I think that when I wrote this, I thought I was going to be making so much money, but after I got laid off, I ended up draining a bit of my savings.Shift toward stabilization goals rather than growth goals.
    Sign up for a creative class that pushes you to try something outside your comfort zone. 🎨-I signed up for a children’s book writing class over zoom in the summer. It was definitely outside of my comfort zone. I had some ick because I didn’t like the teaching style and I quit after a few sessions.Rating: Success!Treat quitting as data, not failure.
    Plan a small community event and book a venue or reserve space for it. 🎉Oof. My budget this year had very little room for community events. I did have some influence over my house events, but I think this task was about trying new venues/locations.Rating: Failure!Focus on influence within existing spaces rather than new venues.
    Choose one self-care activity you’ve wanted to try (like a spa day or bath) and schedule it. 💆‍♀️Hmmm… I did enjoy a jacuzzi this year. I also went to the Archimedes banya for my birthday. I don’t think it’s an intentional new try, though.Rating: Failure!Clarify what “new” means, or drop that constraint.
    Celebrate a small win today by sharing it with a friend or social media. 🎉I suppose I did a few of these things. I especially appreciate the wins I celebrate via my blog.Rainting: success!Formalize blog wins as the primary channel.
    Create a mood board for your next art project by gathering materials and images. 🎨I made a few moodboards for projects using pinterest.Rating: Success!Keep digital-first moodboarding.
    Contact an accountability partner to schedule your first check-in. 🤝I had some accountability with my coaches, but nothing formal. Hmm…Rating: Failure!Decide whether formal accountability is actually needed.
    Create a budget for the month and track your expenses for the week. 📊I think the opposite happened where I gave myself permission to spend more of my savings.Rating: Failure!Replace with “expense awareness” rather than tracking.
    Plan a fun creative date, like visiting an art gallery with a friend. 🎨Hmm… put this on my bingo list for next year. I could use more creative dates.Rating: FailureMove this into future-oriented planning tools.
    Attend a cultural event or show, like a local theater performance or art exhibit. 🎭-I attended a few of these this year and one of my favorites was theater of Yugen, where I saw my dear friend Fenner perform as a Yamabushi!Capture highlights to inform future choices.
    Host a casual gathering at home or a park to connect with new people. 🥂-I hosted a fluxus meetup but I didn’t market it very well and no one came. I was a co-host at my house for our monthly events and new people showed up thanks to my new housemate.Rating: Different direction!Lean into co-hosting and shared visibility.
    Start a vision journal and write down your long-term goals today. 📖-I did a lot of visioning with hypnotherapists and coaches, but didn’t exactly put it into a journal. I have been developing ideas about how I like to work on projects and it’s still evolving.Rating: Different direction!Accept non-journal visioning as valid.
    Choose a new healthy recipe to try this week and shop for the ingredients. 🍳I got into some great recipes in December. I explored some different kinds of salads and ultimately embraced the world of smorrebrod.Rating: Success!Continue seasonal, curiosity-driven cooking.
    Identify one creative risk you want to take (like trying a new technique or style). 🎨Weirdly wordered– I did try a new technique, see pixel art exploration. Risky? I don’t know.Rating: SuccessRefine language around what “risk” means for you.

  • Embroidery Practice

    Stitching on light, transparent chiffon feels smooth and effortless. The fabric offers little resistance, letting me focus on detail. Sigils, mudras, and the Flower of Life inspire me. Each stitch channels intention and mindfulness into my work.

    I’ve developed a rhythm: inbox and outbox for my projects. When I finish, I clear space for new designs. Reloading the hoop resets my mindset, preparing for the next.

    I do this in the morning, after journaling, before lunch. Watching The Magicians adds a layer of magic. This routine centers me, grounding my thoughts and energy. Embroidery is more than art—it’s a practice of self-reflection.