Photo
I am so fortunate to have been chosen as part of Lisa MacIntosh’s photography series ASK which features women she finds inspiring. I had a glorious sparkly morning posing for photos, and the shot chosen was just a casual moment we shared laughing. Brilliant!
In Lisa’s own words…
“Each and every day I see women – mothers, daughters, sisters and aunts without fame or fortune, commit acts of strength and love that impact people’s lives; unseen and with quiet courage.
Every mother is a working-woman, every daughter a caregiver to someone, every sister a friend, and every grandmother a mentor. With small gestures and sometimes Herculean efforts they change, for the better, the lives around them.
Both the women in the limelight and the women whose names I do not know are the ‘keel’ in the ship of humanity.
My portraits salute those female warriors who went before, are working for the cause of equality and love of community now, and the ‘ordinary’ woman who quietly inspires, engages and is a trailblazer.
And to those they may call ‘ordinary’ as they have neither accolades, medals, or recognition, I say you are: extraordinary!
This is my journey through Asking.”
*************
You can see Lisa’s ASK gallery of inspiring women here!
http://www.lisamacintoshphotography.ca/ASK
WonderFest Report Day 5: Wonder Women magic!
From moment 1 to moment infinity, carried in a sweet memory, the final hurrah of WonderFest (Wonder Women in Concert) was pure magic! There was raucous laughter, sweet sobbing, and moments of crowd connection not experienced every day. It will live in my heart forever.
We heard accounts of how the week of WonderFest had changed peoples lives for the better: people writing music again, people leasing a bar to start their own business, people quitting jobs they didn’t belong in. There was generosity in spirit and applause both onstage and off.
Magic hovers over the crowd! (Photo by Arlene Paculan!)
For fuller details and photos, please see the post at Wonder Women World. More photos can be seen here courtesy of Raymond Photography.
If you are interested in becoming involved in next year’s WonderFest, please contact us through WonderWomenWorld.tumblr.com or @LMGProductions or email us at ImWorthItInfo@yahoo.ca.
Spreading empowerment through art never felt so good!
WonderFest Report Day 4: Wowza!
Oh, man!!! There is so much of the spreading of empowerment through art happening during WonderFest that I feel I can’t do it justice in prose!
For fuller details on our experience, see our WonderWomenWorld blog!
In a nutshell, Day 4 brought us:
Workshop: Turning Wounds Into Wisdom lead by Nova Browning Rutherford.
The group learned to accept the discomfort of change, to focus on actions that lead toward our goals and values, and that life is in fact long and not short therefore we have plenty of time to figure things out and follow our path!
The Workshop group!
Super Men Concert! Wowza Wowza what a lineup of talent to digest! The evening was jampacked with music and words to move the soul, friendship to fill the heart, and laughter to jiggle the belly!
Arlene and I with the wonderful Super Men!
Which brings us to tonight! Tonight is the WonderFest finale: Wonder Women in Concert! Gladstone Hotel 7pm (doors) 8pm (show) with art displays, videos, vendors, a special comic book photo booth for all, and of course the lineup of Wonder Women! I’ll be performing my new song Love Mania! Wakawakawakawaka! We hope to see you there spreading empowerment through art!
The foundation of friendships is a force for mountain moving! (Arlene Paculan and I, WonderFest co-conspirators!)
WonderFest Report-Day 1!
WONDERFEST IS HERE!
What a wonderful kickoff!
WonderFest Day 1 was a huge ball of fun and success! It started out with Arlene and I interviewing and performing on Rogers Daytime Peel! Arlene and I both wore turquoise– and we didn’t even plan it! Sonia our host wore boots to match us– again not even planned! We were meant to be on Daytime on this day to spread empowerment through art as well as hues of blue! 🙂
Yukking it up with Sonia Sache on Daytime Peel!
Yes, that’s empowerment being spread by those gyrations!
Even my socks and the rim on Arlene’s boots matched the Daytime set! I mean, come on! What a wonder! 😀 You can watch our video segment here: Kat & Arlene on DayTime!
In the evening we headed to The Central for the first free workshop of the week: Business Planning for Artists with Heather Hill! We had an intimate group of lovely attendees! Heather Hill is an easygoing and compelling workshop leader with engaging personal anecdotes and effective tangible knowledge to share. The tools and advice shared by Heather is applicable to all business types, and the information was soaked up by the mix of musicians, filmmakers, massage therapists and producers alike!
With our fearless and funny leader Heather Hill!
Alissa Vox Raw (L), Ty Hyland, Lisa Sciannella, Christine Battiston, Angela Saini (centre)
I couldn’t be more proud to be part of such a great evening and start to a wonderful week of wonderment at WonderFest! We still have 3 more free workshops and 2 concerts to celebrate during WonderFest!
Tonight we meet at The Central again for a night of collaboration and open mic performances! Sign up is at 7pm. Hope to see you there!
Happy WonderFesting, everyone! May you always feel empowered to make all your dreams come true!
For full details on WonderFest’s events, visit: www.WonderWomenWorld.tumblr.com
love KAT
WonderFest is a week away!!! We kick off Monday March 4th 7pm at The Central in Toronto with Heather Hill‘s free workshop Business Planning For Artists.
Tuesday March 5th 7pm at The Central join us for an open mic/collaboration night of music adventure!
Lisa Anita Wegner’s free session “How Art Saved My Life” happens March 6th 7pm at Fringe Creation Lab (720 Bathurst Street). It promises to be astounding and inspiring. This is Lisa’s recent blog, where she addresses technology, exhaustion and her brain injury, telling them what she really feels about them!
Thursday March 7th 7pm at Fringe Creation Lab (720 Bathurst Street) Nova Browning Rutherford leads a free workshop on Turning Wounds Into Wisdom, nurturing positive self-esteem.
Full workshop information and WonderFest schedule including Super Men Concert March 7th at The Central and Wonder Women VI concert March 8th at The Gladstone here:
http://www.WonderWomenWorld.tumblr.com
dear exhaustion: you can be a bit overbearing, like a parent grounding me when i have to rehearse and perform the lead in the school play. i appreciate the message but sometimes i have deadlines. but you know what exhaustion? i appreciate you telling me to ease off. even though it took about ten people’s help and you didn’t go easy on me, i managed to get everything done, with one day to spare. by next week the reno on my space should be finished and that will be like heaven on wheels. greased lighting wheels. right now i am living in a cloud of construction dust, workman, cables, floor glue, and fumes. unable to locate anything and dogs barking at every workman move. that’s exhausting on it’s own.
dear ice: please cut me some slack especially when there is water on top. you’re slippery and i’m tired. i can’t…
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WonderFest – Help Spread Empowerment!
WonderFest – Help Spread Empowerment!.
YOU can help us spread empowerment through art!
How? Like this:
1) Choose ONE WORD of EMPOWERMENT
2) Take a PHOTO with your word
3) Tweet @LMGProductions “I’m spreading empowerment through art! #WonderFest”
or email ImWorthItInfo@yahoo.ca
If you wish, there is also opportunity for you to make it into our next video as well as onto our Wall Of Empowerment at http://www.WonderWomenWorld.tumblr.com!
Life With More Cowbell interviews Lisa Anita Wegner, an amazingly stunning woman who credits art for saving her life after a brain injury! She shares her story during Wonder Fest Wednesday March 6th 7pm-8:30pm at The Fringe Creation Lab. Details here: http://wonderwomenworld.tumblr.com/WorkshopDetails
“Figure out what it is you love doing and never stop… Everyone can do this, and I encourage everyone to find what it is for them and go after it with gusto. Pierce the mundane to find the marvelous inside you. You are worth it!” Lisa Anita Wegner.
Do yourself a favour and check Lisa out! For serious, yo! love KAT xoxox
When Kat Leonard introduced me to multi-talented, muti-faceted, multi-media working artist Lisa Anita Wegner, what struck me the most was that Lisa credits art with saving her life. You can read her story here. And when I visited her blog site, I was blown away by the imagery in her pixel paintings.
I had a chance to interview Lisa over email – here’s what she had to say:
LWMC: Hi, Lisa. I was looking at your WordPress blog site and the Mighty Brave Productions site to get a sense of the work you do – and was amazed at the multi-faceted aspect of your work overall, and how it all boils down to authentic storytelling, and using story to make interior and exterior connections. You’ve worked as an actor, producer, writer, filmmaker and visual artist. What else? What came first for you and how did the media you work…
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WonderFest: The Workshops!
Announcing details on our wonderful workshops!
Workshop: Monday March 4,2013
Business Planning for Artists with Heather Hill
7:00pm at The Central, 603 Markham Street *FREE
A dream without a plan is just a wish.
It is easy to dream about your career as an artist, but without written goals, priorities and plans, your dream is just a wish. Heather Hill, an independent musician and a high tech product marketer, will guide you through the business planning process for your art. She will detail the areas you need to consider to be focused and successful: your company/artist story, your market, your goals, your strategy to achieve those goals, your customer/audience, your competition, your marketing tools you will need (the 5 Ps of marketing: Product, Promotion, Place, Price, People) and your financial plan. In this interactive workshop, Heather will help you to further define your plans and goals, and you will leave with a framework to help you continue this process.
Heather Hill – MBA, MA, ARCT
Late one night on a business trip in England, an unmistakable voice told Heather she needed to quit her executive career and return to her music. Heather left a successful high-tech marketing job, sold everything, went backpacking, and the songs poured out. She fell in love, had babies, wrote songs, made two albums, created a songwriting guild, and now she wants to bring change and spread hope and love to anyone who will listen. Rooted in piano rock, Heather Hill is currently working on her third release. She launched her second album Leuty Station in May 2012, which features a collection of songs about women’s issues and the courage to face life challenges head on. She quickly followed the success of the launch with a Canadian tour, TV and radio play. Her first album “Listen” was released in NYC in 2005. Her voice is often compared to Kate Bush, her piano style to and Tori Amos and her songwriting to a young Leonard Cohen. She is working with Jan Cooper Publishing in Vancouver.
Workshop: Tuesday March 5,2013
With various local musicians and YOU!
7:00pm at The Central, 603 Markham Street *FREE
The greatest expression and art is motivated by curiosity, creativity and play. It is invaluable for an artist to be able to be spontaneous and creative with themselves and with others. Playing within your art is a magnificent way to be free and let the muse whisk you away; to play without a plan and let spontaneity open the omnipotent channel from the gods; to let a chance surprise become a gift of genius. Have you ever felt the spark and chemistry of creating something with another human being? Have you ever co-written a song? Join us for a night of collaboration exercises and open mic performances. You never know what magic will transpire and inspire!
Workshop: Wednesday March 6,2013
How Art Saved My Life with Lisa Anita Wegner
7:00pm at The Central, 603 Markham Street *FREE
After a trauma, art saved my life. Now I am allowing it to create my life.
Lisa Anita Wegner is an actress and film producer who in 2008 suffered a trauma-related brain injury. The Women’s College Hospital Trauma Therapy Program encouraged her to use visual art for her healing. At that point she began generating creative content, something Lisa had never done in her previous work life. Her first solo video, “So Who Am I Anyway?”, was bought by the Phoenix Art Museum for their video collection and was included in their Selection 2011 screening. Lisa was invited down to Phoenix to speak about her experience and show examples of how the injury has affected her work.
Screening a sample of film clips, personal therapy videos and pixel paintings, Lisa will tell her story for the first time in her hometown of Toronto at WonderFest. By getting to know her authentic self through art therapy, Lisa pierced the mundane to find the marvelous; she unearthed a creative life more fulfilling, rich and wild than she ever expected.
Workshop: Thursday March 7,2013
Turning Wounds Into Wisdom with Nova Browning Rutherford
7:00pm at The Central, 603 Markham Street *FREE
It is a vital process to develop and maintain positive self-esteem.
• Learn to use your past pain to propel your future progress.
• Learn to gain acceptance for what you are and let go of what you are not.
• Gain the skills to recognize and release toxic relationships at work, home or school.
• Take control and discover how challenges can be used as an opportunity to grow.
• Discover the secret to optimism no matter what life throws your way.
• Develop accountability skills – for past successes and for your role in the ‘drama’.
• Learn to use your voice and apply the 3 keys to a successful confrontation.
• See new results by taking action and create a Mastermind list.
Nova B. Rutherford has been helping young women and men develop a thorough understanding of ones own personal values – emotionally and spiritually – by using methods that are crucial to staying mentally connected to those values, which in turn help to create rewarding personal and professional relationships. Nova’s ten years of expertise in the entertainment, music, and marketing industries provides nuance to her programming which help to empower a new generation with these tools for life. Since 2009, Nova has provided her dynamic programming to such organizations in the U.S and Canada such as the United Nations Association, YWCA, NAACP, Youth Mentoring Connection, Voices Of Tomorrow The Remix Project, BlogTalkRadio, the AIDS Project Los
Angeles, Ontario District School Board, StoryCorps, ACT-SO and The Forgiveness Project. Nova has served as the keynote speaker at the “Women Empowering Women Symposium,” and as a featured panelist for the “United Nations Associations 100th Anniversary of Women’s Day” in Los Angeles, California.
And don’t miss…
WonderFest: The Concerts!
Thursday March 7,2013
Show: Super Men in Concert
Doors 9:30pm Show 10:00
The Central, 603 Markham Street
$10 at the door- receive $5 off Wonder Women in Concert
Friday March 8, 2013-International Women’s Day
Show: Wonder Women VI in Concert
Doors 7:00pm Show 8:00pm
The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen Street West
$10 at the door
WONDERFEST IS COMING!!!
MARCH 4-8, 2013 is International Women’s Week, and LMG Productions celebrates by presenting Wonder Women VI: WonderFest, a weeklong series of workshops and concerts to spread empowerment through art. This International Women’s Week edition of Wonder Women will be the largest Wonder Women event yet. With four free workshops and two concerts involving approximately 50 wonder women and super men of varied media, WonderFest is certain to make a positive artistic impact on the community.
At LMG Productions we truly believe that we are in this together, and we would be honoured if you would join us in our passion towards encouraging and empowering individuals through art.
Introducing our new blogsite:
www.WonderWomenWorld.tumblr.com/
WONDERFEST SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
Monday March 4, 2013
Workshop: Business Planning for Artists; Heather Hill
7:00pm at The Central, 603 Markham Street
FREE
Tuesday March 5, 2013
Workshop: Playing With Music; Collaboration/Jam/Open Mic
7:00pm at The Central, 603 Markham Street
FREE
Wednesday March 6, 2013
Workshop: Healing Through Art; Lisa Anita Wegner
7:00-8:30pm at Fringe Creation Lab, 720 Bathurst Street
FREE
Thursday March 7, 2013
Workshop: Turning Wounds Into Wisdom; Nova Browning Rutherford
7:00-8:30pm at Fringe Creation Lab, 720 Bathurst Street
FREE
Thursday March 7,2013
Show: Super Men in Concert
Doors 9:30pm Show 10:00
The Central, 603 Markham Street
$10 at the door- receive $5 off Wonder Women VI in Concert
Friday March 8, 2013-International Women’s Day
Show: Wonder Women VI in Concert
Doors 7:00pm Show 8:00pm
The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen Street West
$10 at the door
HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE! XOX WW XOX
Knowledge is Power!
She’s Listening!
OVARIAN CANCER – The Little-Known Killer of Women!
We the Four Winds Collective (independent artists Kat Leonard, Arlene Paculan, Meghan Morrison and Heather Hill) played a fundraising event for Ovarian Cancer Canada last Friday night with local artist Kelly Sloan at Bass Line Station in Ottawa, Ontario. Mike Anderson of CanadaParties.ca organized the event. As the Winds traveled the 401 east, we discussed our issues with supporting certain types of charity fundraising events. We agreed that we are not as interested in supporting organizations that are backed by pharmaceutical companies as much as we want to support the charities that are lean, agile and creative and not backed by organizations that serve to benefit from the illness and its treatments.
Upon arrival at Bass Line Station we met Lynn Griffiths, who has been an active volunteer for Ovarian Cancer Canada since losing her dear sister Ann to the disease in 2007. The Four Winds were pleased to learn that Ovarian Cancer Canada is not backed by pharmaceuticals and relies heavily on volunteers and donations to help raise awareness and funds for research. Lynn had all kinds of literature for us and she shared some incredible information.
When Corinne Boyer succumbed to ovarian cancer in 1997 at the age of 57 years old, she left an enduring legacy. Corinne’s husband, Patrick Boyer, created the Corinne Boyer Fund to advance ovarian cancer research and awareness. In 1999 the name was changed to National Ovarian Cancer Association (NOCA). In 2002 the name was changed to Ovarian Cancer Canada, and it remains a member-based and funded organization. There is a research chair at the University of Ottawa as well as one that was added recently in Toronto.
Every year, 2600 Canadian women are diagnosed and 1750 women succumb to ovarian cancer. What is most difficult is that there is no test to screen for whether you have ovarian cancer, and the symptoms are incredibly generic and subtle and very easily missed. And ovarian cancer must be treated early to increase the chances of successful healing. Lynn mentioned that one of the risk factors is ovulation, that the more you ovulate the greater the risk of ovarian cancer. So women who have not given birth and are not on the birth control pill could be at greater risk for developing ovarian cancer.
For more information, please visit www.ovariancanada.org.
What every woman NEEDS TO KNOW – or tell a woman you love!
▪ There is a lifetime risk of 1 in 70 that you will develop ovarian cancer
▪ Many doctors are unfamiliar with the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer and fail to consider it as a possible diagnosis
▪ Failure to find the disease in its early stages is partly due to (i) lack of sensitive detection tests and (ii) health care providers and even women themselves may ignore warning symptoms
▪ A Pap smear does not detect ovarian cancer
▪ HPV vaccine helps prevent cervical cancer, not ovarian cancer
▪ Recent research has found that a large proportion of ovarian cancers actually start in the fallopian tubes rather than the ovaries. If you are having gynecologic surgery, ask your doctor whether or not removal of the fallopian tubes would be beneficial to you. For more information, visit ovcare.ca
▪ Pain in the abdomen is not necessarily a symptom of ovarian cancer – even if you have no pain, your doctor cannot rule out ovarian cancer
▪ Even though ovarian cancer is known as the “disease that whispers” the majority of women with ovarian cancer report symptoms, including women diagnosed at an early stage
▪ Ovarian cancer rates rise after menopause, peaking from age 60-75, although it can occur at any age
▪ The hereditary form, found in families where many close relatives have had breast and/or ovarian cancer, tends to occur at an earlier age
The Four Winds enjoyed a warm night of music and amusement with Lynn and the staff of Bass Line Station as well as friends and audience who came out to join us. We were thrilled to learn that many of the audience members donated very generously to Ovarian Cancer Canada and we were happy to donate proceeds of CD sales to the important cause.
Please do inform yourself about ovarian cancer and its symptoms as well as other insidious diseases, and please share information with your friends and loved ones. As the Ovarian Cancer Canada tagline states: Knowledge is Power.
Four Winds with Mike Anderson and Lynn Griffiths
And now, for your listening pleasure, please enjoy two of the Winds’ cancer-inspired tunes: How Long by Heather Hill and Fuck Cancer by Kat Leonard.
Be well and be informed.
Love, Heather and Kat
(Two of the Four Winds Collective)
KAT LEONARD 