A grandmother imparting a life lesson to her grandson tells him, ‘I have two wolves fighting in my heart. One wolf is vengeful, fearful, envious, resentful, deceitful. The other wolf is loving, compassionate, generous, truthful, and serene.’ The grandson asks which wolf will win the fight. The grandmother answers, ‘The one I feed’ .
Tag Archives: artist
Mushpa y Mensa’s Super Fly New Site
Check out Mushpa y Mensa’s super fly new site (beta style), www.mushpamensa.com.
Nice.
– Mushpa y Mensa
The Elevator to Success is Broken… Take the Stairs.
I love you Mensa.
– Mushpa
The 100th Post of La Mushpa y La Mensa
Mensa and I are always talking about consuming less, needing less, getting rid of excess. Things that anchor us to one place be it literally, monetarily or mentally.
We do little things like take our worn out old clothes, wash them and then cut them into a million little pieces to stuff our Plush Pets…
…or make some deeelicious seitan from scratch, while whipping up some organic, coconut oil based mayo… I personally am extremely gifted in mixing alcohol with almost any “leftover” liquids (frozen or flowing) and it tasting like nothing you’ve ever had before (in a very good way).
Some bigger things are Mensa creating an amazing backpack out of an old bag, after her million year old bag disintegrated right before our very eyes. The very backpack we packed with soy milk (something we have talked about learning how to make since we consume so much of it…stay tuned) and such this weekend after working in the co-op (don’t ask). We biked over 8 miles and this revitalized beauty made it through like a champion!
We also made our fantastical Mushpa y Mensa cloth sign out of old pillow cases and fabric pieces. See below…
We are making it happen more and more every day, but we need a challenge….something to keep our momentum soaring towards our destiny. What we came up with is…well let’s start slow, why don’t you get to know us first…see what we mean when we say “from scratch”.
We are here for a reason, all of us. Let’s make some stuff together, see what we think, then figure something out. Let’s connect as they say, in a good way.
This is our 100th blog post and the start of something gargantuous! :] Life, as La Mensa would say is, “pretty bad-ass.”
– La Mushpa
Reverie
Michelle O’Sullivan reads ‘The Orchard’ from her first collection The Blue End of Stars.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqGkfkv1V3U&w=420&h=315]
Yesterday I decided to clean out my e-mails, including my drafts and in doing so I came across this poem, “Reverie” my friend Michelle O’Sullivan, an amazing poet, wrote. This poem says so much to me as an artist. It inspires me. It’s beauty undefined.
Reverie
The muse doesn’t tempt or ask,
she whispers lightly as she opens
the door, touches your earlobe,
the soft curve of your neck.
She doesn’t beckon or whinge
but takes your hand in hers,
sings low at the side of your face.
Everything, she says, bring everything.
– Michelle O’Sullivan
Michelle was one of the first people I ever let in my life for real, and we may live on other ends of the world now, I in New York City and her on the west coast of Ireland, but I have never lost my connection to her. She is my soul sister, before this life and in this life to the next. I am so proud of her publishing her poems in her new book, The Blue End of Stars, but not surprised.
I love you my friend, through thick and thin, always.
– Mushpa aka Cara
“When you grow up as a girl, the world tells you the things that you are supposed to be: emotional, loving, beautiful, wanted. And then when you are those things, the world tells you they are inferior: illogical, weak, vain, empty. The world teaches you that the way you exist in it is disgusting — you watch boys cringe backward in your dorm room when you talk about your period, blue water pretending to be blood in a maxi pad commercial. It is little things, and it is constant. In a food court in a mall, after you go to the gynecologist for the first time, you and your friend talk about how much it hurts, and over her shoulder you watch two boys your age turn to look at you and wrinkle their noses: the reality of your life is impolite to talk about. The world says that you don’t have a right to the space you occupy, any place with men in it is not yours, you and your body exist only as far as what men want to do with it. At fifteen, you find fifteen-year-old boys you have never met somehow believe you should bend your body to their will. At almost thirty, you find fifteen-year-old boys you have never met still somehow believe you should bend your body to their will. They are children. They are children.“
A little Stevie knowledge never hurt anyone.
— Mushpa
Out with the Old…In with the Re-vamped!
So my backpack was on its last strides… I have had it for seven years and it has served me well. It had been to many places around the world, including little towns in Italy, many Christmases in Ecuador, and it carried everything from heavy college books, community organizing flyers and papers as well as our regular weekly groceries. She was definitely a trooper.
So now I need a new backpack…. And what better way to keep it real than to bust one out yourself! So instead of buying a bag, I’ve decided that I will make it! Not from scratch, BUT I will re-vamp a small bag I had,. I’ll add a couple of pockets, new heavy duty straps, a new flap with velcro….all done with my little hands!
So far it’s been a challenge. I didn’t think it would take so long….but it is not as complicated as it seems.
I had the foundation….
It’s a backpack with “ugly grandma fabric” but I think it is still very cute. I exchanged it with my sister in a clothes swap. It had a funny zipper an the straps were broken down from so much use.
I measured everything and sketched out a drawing of what it would look like with approximate measures.
The seam-ripper was my best friend for a couple of hours….while I un-did the previous straps, the zippers and the lining in order to have full access and revamp all the necessary details.
Since I had the foundation, I cut out patterns for the POCKETS, the FLAP, and the STRAPS. I didn’t use an offical pattern for the pocket or flaps, and I instead free handed the drawing making little updates as I moved along! I did use a pattern online for the straps through, and drew with the measurements given the two straps using newspaper.
I cut out all the main pieces and placed them with pins to see what it would look like…. it’s resembling something fancy now!
Using some bias tape, and an old pillow case for the lining, I finished the main flap, and the small pockets…. and so far its looking good.
This is the first update, but I will post the finished product once I am done this week.
Mushpa and myself have been having conversations about a bigger and better project in relation to this backpack. We have been asking ourselves…. Why not make it?
If I need a backpack….and we have the capable hands and tools to make it ourselves, then why not make it!?
It makes sense, right?
Now on to the finishing this beauty….
Until next time!
-Mensa
Here’s To Making It
What you want to spread the word about out amazing, magical shop of art? No problem, here is a blurb that you may post away on your Facebook if you so choose…
Mushpa y Mensa, is a small eco-boutique that moves around the city’s outdoor (& at times indoor) markets, advocating for local, eco-conscious, women-owned, queer-owned, small businesses all over the world, and of course to spread our art, messages, laughter, & love! We (Cara Elaine (Mushpa) and Maria Emilia (Mensa)) hope people see we love what we’re doing (making a living selling our art), and get inspired to make small changes in their lives. Small moments become large movements. Mushpa y Mensa is a small team with really big dreams.
Come check out our cute shop here: www.mushpamensa.com
Wanna tweet some love as well? We’ve written something for you…
Small moments become large movements. Mushpa y Mensa is a small team with really big dreams. Come check us out http://www.mushpamensa.com
No, but seriously thanks to everyone that has supported us over these last few months. To family, friends and the multitudes of strangers we’ve met and not one of them we haven’t genuinely liked. People who have really made us feel good about our decision to do something different, doing what we love for a living.
Here’s to making it.
– Mushpa y Mensa
Happy Photoshootin’
A nice afternoon, two cold and delicious ginger lemon cocktails, a bright colored wall, some nice shirts and your everyday fire escape was all we needed for an amazing photo-shoot.
To make something beautiful pop even more, I really feel like you only need a couple of essential things. And that’s all we used:
Amazing light, music, and a nice camera…
Here’s a sneak peak to our latest photo-shoot….
cute….
boom!
-Mensa
Pridefest
We applied for Pridefest today. They asked us 2 questions, we have them below to check out if you’d like. It may help you get a better idea of who we are and how we think. Enjoy…
What are your group’s major accomplishments?
i.e., are you the longest running, oldest, largest of any kind?
A major accomplishment, well starting a business in January of this year for one. Secondly, people really loving our raw attempt at different types of art forms than we’re used to working with. Maria Emilia, being more of a painter, sculptor and I, a film major who fixes computers and builds websites. Nevertheless, people love our jewelry, which we design from a force beyond our own brains into our capable hands, magic felt dolls made out of recycled plastic bottles, 100% organic cotton tees with fantastical original designs like Binary Queer, which is Queer spelled out in binary code (check it out here http://www.etsy.com/listing/150007505/binary-queer-organic-cotton-t) and whatever else our maniacal minds may come up with. We didn’t really think of the selling part so much, but jumped right in after opening our Etsy store, www.mushpamensa.com. Markets we have done thus far are, The Market NYC, Fulton Flea, Astoria Market and we are doing Saint Anthony’s Market over on Sullivan and Houston this weekend. Maria Emilia and I really like being mobile. We also like meeting the people who buy our art. We tend to strike up conversations about their career choices, life choices, they laugh, relate, appreciate our shirts and generally are really good, interesting people themselves. These good people are drawn to our stuff (and us). That gives us hope in humanity. It sounds dramatic, but riding the New York City subway during rush hour, well that changes a person, people are at their worst then. People on a Saturday or Sunday walking in the sun, well they’re alright.
Give us a brief description of your main goals, functions, and/or mission.
PART 2
We are a small eco-boutique that moves around the city’s outdoor (and at times indoor) markets, advocating for local, eco-conscious, women-owned, queer-owned, small businesses all over the world, and of course also to sell and spread our art, messages, laughter, love, et cetera! We hope people see we love what we are doing (which is making a living selling our art), and get inspired to make small changes in their lives. Small moments become large movements. It’s true. Mushpa y Mensa is a small team with really big dreams.
Come check us out tomorrow at St. Anthony’s Market in the city from 10-8PM.
See you then!
– Mushpa