Did you ever wonder about what you look like from behind? This might be just a passing wind, but im now offering Butticatures. They're actually kind of cute.

This is what happened. I went to a Clown Alley meeting last night. We were supposed to have a Special Guest Face-Painter. Butt she didn't show up ~ So there we were ~ a bunch of Entertainers out to entertain ourselves. Those of us who were Face-Painters had some Face-Painting supplies because we also planned on jamming.

I set a chair onto the stage, figuring that the person who was running the meeting would organize us into a show. The show happened, but the organization did not. Instead of sitting in our seats to watch the show, everyone gathered around the stage. It was simple stuff to me, so I gave up on jockeying for position to seeeee. And I sat myself back into the audience (where several other people also sat, unable to see the show).

The audience full of Entertainers started entertaining themselves. There was the Face-Painting on the Stage, some Balloon twisting next to that. A man balancing chairs on his nose. One walking around joking with us....

But I see that all week long. That's what I do at work. So I just sat there watching the Face-Painting show. Well, what I could see of it from my seat.

With some old markers. The backs of some used papers.

After a few drawings, I spoke up. "If anybody wants to see what I've been drawing...."

Whoa. Something New. Something that even these professional Entertainers had never seen. They were attracted to my activity like flies to a camp-porch-light. "Draw me." "Will you draw mine?" I drew a few more. With my old markers ~ they're drying up. But it was getting to be more Fun. It's more fun for the Artist to draw when the models stand still for the drawing. And it was much fun for the people I drew to be standing there keenly aware of their rear-ends.

Seeing how the people responded to modeling for this, I realized that it would be much fun for Parties. I didn't have a camera with me, so I asked some of my models to email me the pictures that I gave them.

Oh ~ Look at how lucky I was. I just checked my email, and I found these there already. Two of the Butticatures that I drew at the meeting last night:

This man told me that his name is Joe. He thanked me for the one dollar that I put into his box. He told me that I was the only one who gave him anything in the six-and-a-half-hours that he had been sitting there. In the cold on December 13, 2012. On 34th Street in Manhattan. Right across the street we could the this Believe sign at Macy's.

He spoke about his understandable anger, criticism, and lack of love for all the people who passed him by..... He even said that he cut up his own hand to keep from attaching the people.... He was describing his own heart as well as describing the people he saw. It did look like a very hard experience. BTW: What are all those black dots on the ground?

Oh that we should all be filled with faith regardless of our circumstances. It's easy to see that it would be hard for Joe to love the people in his life. But what about those of us who are more fortunate than Joe, yet we still have black hearts ~ hating people, resenting people, holding grudges, being ungrateful.... How can a comfortable successful person expect Joe to 'have a good heart', if s/he can't even have a good heart in such better circumstances.

It's a struggle to cross that line from hatred to love. To cross that line from resentment to forgiveness. To cross that line from darkness to light. Is it always arrogance or fear that cause hatred? Why do we choose people to hate? Is it Arrogance ~ thinking that we must be honored as though we were God? Is it Fear ~ thinking that some other person is going to harm us ~ thinking that some other person is going to make our weaknesses show?

Happy Holidays to You ~