Author Archives: Jo Ann Brown-Scott

Mailing Christmas Gifts…a true story

Posted on by Jo Ann Brown-Scott

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The line at the post office today, Saturday morning, was moderate – only about 15 people when I got there, at 9 am when it opened, but rapidly growing out the door as we stood waiting for our turns.

Among the various people in line was a woman on oxygen, a pleasant looking elderly gentleman in front of me with rosy cheeks and white hair (who actually looked a lot like Santa Claus), several women carrying lots of boxes to send, a huge tall man carrying one tiny little package and a lady who was already talking to anyone who would respond to her, making remarks about her career in the Marine core which was followed by an account of her many years working for the United States Post Office and then a current third career as a substitute teacher for kindergartners. She had to tell everyone about the kindergartners now days; how precocious they are and how advanced in their knowledge of the world they are. How cute, but how rambunctious and challenging they are.

The elderly gentleman in front of me chimed in and said that her job at the post office must have been quite difficult at Christmas time, and so then she told a few funny stories from back in the day when everything was simpler and easier during the holidays. She went on to say that now everything is computerized, but somehow things are more complicated than ever and they still get screwed up.

“I remember Lindberg’s flight,” the gentleman said, sort of placing his age on the timeline of life.

“Well he was a Nazi, you know,” she said.

The gentleman ignored that remark and said, “And I don’t even own a computer. I refuse. I do not want to learn about computers.”

“Well some day soon a computer will be installed in every home and it will be automatic that you have a computer and that you must learn to use one,” the lady ex-Marine/kindergarten teacher said to him….smiling.

“Oh I doubt very much that I will live that long,” the elderly gentleman answered.

Another person from behind us in the line chimed in, “Oh yes you will! You are lookin” pretty fit!”

That got a faint smile out of the gentleman.

Soon the entire line was in a group conversation; everyone contributing, laughing and talking to each other. It was a lovely thing to be a part of.

When the elderly gentleman got up to the counter for his turn, he put down in front of the postal clerk an assortment of mailed items – mailed by him – that had all been returned back to him by the USPS for some unknown reason. The postal clerk was aghast! How could that happen? He said that everything was in order on the computer, all addresses correct, all postage charges exactly as they should be so the problem was not postage due, and he could not understand why everything had been returned! The elderly gentleman said he was quite concerned because one of the packages was going to his daughter and it was very important – it contained his Will. How could he be sure it would get there the second time?

The clerk re-stamped everything, re-mailed it all again, assured the gentleman that all was perfectly correct, and as the elderly gentleman left everyone in line shook his hand and wished him a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and MANY MORE.

 

 

 

 

Birthday! Walk in my shoes…

Posted on by Jo Ann Brown-Scott

 

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Still love crazy shoes after all these years…

Today is my birthday and of course I am introspective….life goes by very quickly. When people tell you time flies, believe them and use it well. Life is a racehorse, but living a life is all about the journey, not the finished line.

The speed with which I have arrived at this point is absolutely stunning, the speed of light to me, in retrospect. I would tell you how old I am but it is truly, most of the time, unimportant to me and I also want it to be irrelevant to you….except for today. Today I want to celebrate it, then I want to forget it for a long while. At least a year, OK?

If I told you how old I am you very likely might pass judgment about what kind of person I have become and how I like to spend my time and what I like to do and who I like to do it with, what turns me on (yes I can still get turned on, thank you very much) and what types of activities and which places on the earth I return to again and again because they fill my heart and soul with wonder and delight. I can get high on life in the blink of an unsuspecting eye, all of a sudden giddy with its miracles and gifts; inspired by just a film, a great dinner with friends, a good painting,  a boat ride across gorgeous water, a beautiful stone or a deer in the woods.

A hearty laugh. Especially that.

If you knew my age I would be willing to bet you would be grossly underestimating my current situation and my potential. I can still dream big. I have plans. I want days packed with joy and surprise. I paint, I write, I travel and walk on mountains, beaches and among ancient ruins, I cook more fabulous meals than when I was younger and I walk on the edge a little bit more with my beliefs about the world; I refuse to be stagnant. I am flexible, I am a good judge of character after all these years., but I try not to judge.

I am in love. With life, with my friends and family, vistas and views, Amy lifestyle and one magnificent man who deserves me, and I him.

I have incorporated much of what I believe about life inside my third book, a brand new novel titled A CANARY FLIES THE CANYON. It is the life story of one artistic girl who learned about life and love the hard way… a love story about art and creativity and the misguided choices she made…but it has a super ending. You would enjoy it – available on Amazon.com – and a perfect holiday gift.

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IMAGINE

Posted on by Jo Ann Brown-Scott

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photo courtesy of Jo Ann Brown-Scott, Singapore,  Buddha Tooth Relic Temple…..one of my favorite places on earth

I am having trouble finding words…eloquent words…to express my profound sadness at the world’s malaise. I am just one person, just one voice, and certainly a small one at that. I don’t understand the degree of violence and hatred that is ripping apart families and countries and causing a tidal wave, a tsunami of suffering.

This is the time of year when the word HOPE usually carries extra weight; the word JOY is meant to sound a joyous call of celebration and the phrase brotherhood of all men ought to bring us together as a collective world family here on the big blue dot that is planet earth. If that was the answer I believe we’d have it all figured out by now, but apparently we need much much more.

I keep thinking of the children. I see their faces and I die for them, wondering how they will ever find a place of safety and love upon which they might build a new start in life. So many children. Clothing, food. Jackets, shoes, hats and hot soup. Four walls and a roof. Warmth during winter. The unknown luxury of books and toys. The loving arms of parents and people who will hug them to sleep.

Can you imagine? In the words of John Lennon’s, “Imagine”…

Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only skyImagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too

Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you will join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You, you may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you will join us
And the world will live as one
Read more at http://www.lyrics.com/imagine-lyrics-john-lennon.html#GGBowHGpdzw5j16G.99

Bloggers Unite For Peace

Posted on by Jo Ann Brown-Scott

If you feel that you need a voice, re-blog this to all your friends because there is strength in numbers and change can happen.

Jo Ann Brown-Scott's avatarthe creative epiphany

Source: Bloggers Unite For Peace

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Excerpt – A Canary Flies the Canyon

Posted on by Jo Ann Brown-Scott

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Back from a little mini-vacation to the great Northwest – Whidbey Island and then Vancouver! I am happy to find that my new novel is getting more 5-Star reviews! I think that is a lovely treat to come home to….a HUGE thank you to all the people who cared enough to write a review on Amazon.com. Your comments are invaluable to me!

These days social networking is everything – it is word of mouth in its newest and most effective incarnation. There is simply no better way to get the word out, spread the news, show pictures and be an accessible author who will accept communication from anyone anywhere anytime!

Today I am offering you another excerpt from my book, from Chapter 18 – this time giving you a glimpse into a period of time when my heroine Annie worked as director of a very successful Denver gallery, owned by a woman named Kerri. This experience would eventually change Annie’s life, and in this brief excerpt I am introducing the reader to Kerri’s mother and some of the other staff  who also worked there:

I thought Kerri’s mom was an interesting study. She was an aging beauty, a little worse for the wear, highly eccentric, constantly nervous with several tics she kept repeating as she spoke – a cracking of her neck to one side, a thing she did with her shoulders that went up and down and a tendency to lick her lips excessively. Perhaps a bit unstable and hair-triggered, I thought. Rather impulsive; a reactionary personality. She loved men and she hated them, exactly like my own mother. I could not quite figure her out but I certainly did not want to get on her bad side for any reason real or imagined, and I had a slight suspicion that could happen at the drop of a hat. Her mood swings came and went twenty times a day. She wore things that wrapped, she was always swaddled in a bunch of fabrics of varying color and pattern. I had no idea where she was inside all that. She looked like she was running a fever for lack of ventilation. She was perennially flushed.

The guy, Troy, who shaved his head and oiled it up until it was shiny chose his words carefully so as not to appear stupid, and was so obviously in love with Kerri that it hurt to watch him. She was entirely out of his league; he would have cleaned the floor with his tongue for her. I liked him, but he seemed unsophisticated and naïve, yet we needed him because he was our muscles. He made himself useful with framing, doing any heavy lifting and art deliveries for clients.

Then there was another employee named Sandra who was a lady wrestler in her off time, with an alias lady wrestler type name which cannot be repeated here. She was a little hard looking, tatted up and muscular but she could sell art til’ the cows came home. In fact she could not stop talking, but in sales that is sometimes a plus. After I began working there I found out that she was sort of on probation, in danger of losing her position, because she was a little on the undependable side. Her boyfriend Chung was a rock star in the world of wrestling, with his giant chiseled body, long lanky hair and dozens of piercings. He was a scary dude. Having him in the gallery occasionally to pick up Sandra was both an attraction and a detriment – crowds of (also pretty wacked out) wrestling fans who recognized him quickly formed a gang asking for his autograph but then other potential art buyers, more cultured and refined, bolted for the door. It was never a dull moment in there. Psychos to the left of me and freak show on the right, stuck in the middle…welcome to the art scene. It sometimes reminded me of the bar scene in one of the original Star Wars movies, and if Jar Jar Binks himself had walked in to apply for a job or purchase a painting I would not have given it a second thought. Thank you very much, I thought, glad to be back. This is going to be entertaining. Is it cocktail hour yet?

Please read the book’s full description on Amazon.com!

Available on Amazon.com

http://www.acanaryfliesthecanyon.com

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Why would a canary be flying along in a Colorado canyon?

Posted on by Jo Ann Brown-Scott

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How would you like to read a new novel, a love story in fact, by Jo Ann Brown-Scott about a woman artist?

You know how I like to talk about Karma, you must already know that I question randomness, you know I am passionate about art and I ask my imaginary friend the art Buddha for approval, you have heard me mention at least a time or two that creativity comes and goes but will stay with you forever if you feed her well…..and I am sure you know about love.

So reading this new novel will satisfy your craving for all of that and more. You need to read it. It is warm and funny, serious and profound, pertinent and relevant and it will introduce you to a new best friend – the heroine named Annie.

available on Amazon.com

http://www.acanaryfliesthecanyon.com

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Excerpt – A CANARY FLIES THE CANYON

Posted on by Jo Ann Brown-Scott

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Have I mentioned that this novel is a love story? Well it is…on several levels.

Annie, the book’s heroine, is a born artist. She was just that way, 100%, through and through from DAY 1 and she knew it from the very moment she could think vs. the kind of artist who gradually grows into art and suddenly realizes one day that she is indeed going to deliberately become an artist. Annie had no choice; she fell in love with visual art long before she ever loved anything else including ice cream and Santa Claus. But she also falls in love with three men as she matures into an accomplished fine artist and a wise human being. Each man brings lessons she needs to learn; each love affair brings her closer to the total person she was meant to be.

Along her journey of life she realizes that timing is everything and rarely does a person stumble upon the perfect pairing of the well-timed opportunity and the freedom to grasp it then and there at the exclusion of every other option. The universe works in wild and wonderful ways; it often tempts us at the wrong times, offering us what we thought we wanted but with strings attached, just for the fun of it to see what we will do. And so we agonize, trying to choose between what we really really want and what the more practical choices are.

Then there is the element of chance; throw that into the mix and suddenly what we really really want seems to have come to us out of the clear blue sky and we view it as almost a miracle; a rare gift; even a coincidence, if there is such a thing as a true coincidence. We wonder if it is going to be our only chance, and we think that maybe we should grab it up while it is still hanging out there, looking so tempting and so grab-able. Maybe we’ll never have another …chance.

What is a chance? Is it a random opportunity sent our way by the universe? But is anything really “random”? Is it a test, to see what we’ll do? Or is it all destiny, written in our stars long before we ever had an independent thought?

In my new novel, which is quite contemporary and current, I placed a bit of my own somewhat ageless and traditional verse at the beginning of each chapter, for contrast, meant to clarify what the message is:

Here is the first one, for the PREFACE,  page vii:

Mankind is on an eternal march;

a trail of humanity driven by instinct

and perhaps divine inspiration.

Although we are at times directionless,

straying randomly from the path

an internal compass guides our way

and we are actually at one with the stars,

purposely aligned and aware

of our place in the universe.

Book available on Amazon.com

http://www.acanaryfliesthecanyon.com

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It’s All In Your Head – a Compliment to Women

Posted on by Jo Ann Brown-Scott

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So I had these two identical lamps, with bases made of sculptured women’s heads looking slightly classic and Greek but still mostly generic – no particular ethnicity was obvious in their eyes, mouths or expressions. They were so enticing, but sort of judgmental, sitting there all the time so stoic and serious with their lampshades over their heads. I put them on our bed-side tables for several years, sometimes putting seasonal hats on them or sunglasses and scarves, sometimes earrings or earmuffs, just for my own amusement. My husband thought that was stupid, which begs the question of whether or not he actually ever understood the person he was married to and her wacky sense of humor….if I had to guess I would say he did not. But I digress.

One day I just snapped and dismantled them, tearing them from their lamp-parts and keeping their lampshades for some other lamp. I knew I was going to do something with them but it took a day or two to figure out which of my ideas would win.

Since I do have a bunch of lovely, patterned and textured collage papers from all around the world, and I am a mixed media collage artist, I decided to collage their faces with an assortment of torn paper shapes, giving them kind of a tattoo treatment. Immediately, as I worked on the first one I thought of the broadest concept of women – the enormous tribe of women that encompasses all other tribes of women anywhere and everywhere in the world. The concept of women in general, all over the map, and what a powerful force of nature we are. We are multi-taskers of the highest degree and we can do ANYTHING we set our mind to.

In my new novel, published just last week, I believe I address that very subject. The story revolves around one particular woman artist who is faced with major life challenges, and how she surprises her own damn self with the strength she has. Please pick up a copy on http://www.Amazon.com. The title is A CANARY FLIES THE CANYON.

http://www.acanaryfliesthecanyon.com    http://www.joannbrownscottauthor.com

Not coincidentally of course, because I do not believe in randomness or simple, innocent chance, I had lunch yesterday with some of the strongest women I have ever known – a group of my old college friends. There were only about seven of us, and we all do keep in loose touch, but yesterday we got more specific about what all has happened to us and how we have coped over the years since college was over. It was truly a revelation to hear it all. I am so proud to have a place in that group. You would be shocked at the variety of serious MONUMENTAL challenges we have all faced – not a single one of us escaped life’s major misfortunes – but we all survived and came out on the other side finally able to smile again.

My sister has the other lamp head, which is much more eccentric and Bohemian than this one in the above picture – her lamp woman is in reds and corals with patterns of great energy and fun. Mine is an elegant woman – her’s is a ballsy broad. But of course there is room for all of us in the tribe of women, and we all have multiple personalities which is a large part of our charm, is it not?

A CANARY FLIES THE CANYON – now available on Amazon.com

Posted on by Jo Ann Brown-Scott

CanaryFliesTheCanyonFrontCover

Have you ever questioned randomness?

Do you wonder in your life, or any life, whether or not the choices we are offered

are really choices or if fate determines our destiny?

With her third book Jo Ann Brown-Scott offers a fresh and energetic novel about the life-long evolution of a contemporary woman artist. In her characteristically vivid, painterly voice, at times both irreverent and profound, Brown-Scott composes the story of a maverick, free-spirited woman, awarded with creative DNA and privilege at birth yet scarred with a childhood of loss and family dysfunction. Fueled with these ideal circumstances for artistic creative development, the heroine Annie breaks loose to become the Bohemian abstract artist she was born to be.

During her artistic maturation, relationships with three prominent men in her life, a salesman, a contrarian and a Swede bring seemingly random disorder, chaos and instability as her art continues to acquire complexity and growth toward success. Facing complicated challenges Annie gradually becomes faith-based, spiritual and enlightened during her struggles to thrive. She questions randomness; can life’s moments of perfect timing be attributed to mere coincidental chance? Do we have any real choices, or is a life already written in the stars as karmic retribution or reward?

Art mirrors life; paintings are a life journal. In Annie’s mixed media life we discover her soul – her humor, courage, passion and her relentless amazement at life itself partnered with her embrace of all that remains mysterious and unknown. She learns of possible past lives; she questions the complete and utter finality of death. Her paintings morph into powerful, carefully structured compositions indicative of her intellect, fire and passion. Her messages about life are evident in the exuberant color and pattern of her art.

Only after Annie hits emotional rock-bottom and is brought to her knees with adversity does the universe present her with an option that hints at both restoration and renewal. They say that karma is a bitch, but more often it is just karma. When it does intervene it is nonjudgmental; pure, swift and arriving in the nick of time to level the playing field once again. It comes bearing gifts for a gutsy, risk-taking woman, many times burned; a chance and a choice that just might balance the scales and enable Annie to grasp some reward in the last chapter of her life. If she decides to take one more leap of faith, the results could be astounding. Will she choose wisely? What is her destiny?

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