1. Sheik Taj Hilali, an Austrailian Islamic cleric, compared women who do not wear traditional Islamic head coverings to “uncovered meat," which attracts sexual predators and stray cats. Inspired by his words I painted "His Little Lambchops" It will be on exhibit at the Larson Gallery in January.

   
   

   

   
   

Insightful Review posted on Amazon

New! Mohammad reviewed Suitcase Filled with Nails: Lessons Learned from Teaching Art in Kuwait

 It's not the suitcase that's filled with nails... It's Kuwait! October 15, 2012

In her book, titled "Suitcase Filled with Nails", Ms. Wakefield pretty much nailed the chronic problems that are being inherited and running rampant in Kuwaiti society. As an arts teacher at Kuwait University, for six academic years, Ms. Wakefield did an impressive job painting a picture that underlined the unbiased truth about Kuwait and its citizens. The kiss-and-kill and downright hypocritical, backstabbing culture of Kuwait--which is often, if not always, accompanied with systemic corruption and helpless injustice--is as epidemic to the country as mosquito-borne diseases are to the Amazon river. In other words, it's a hopeless case, but one that needed to be aired for the whole world to hear.

Ms. Wakefield's sense for delivering thoughts to the reader's mind is perhaps one of the key characteristics that attribute to her personality, as an open-minded and thought-invoking arts teacher. She is simply brilliant and I began to love her, even though I've never had the fortune of meeting her.

"Suitcase Filled with Nails" delivers, to the reader, everything he or she needs to expect from even the shortest of stays in Kuwait. Ms. Wakefield's struggle with the tribal-driven and Islamic fundamentalist forces, which opposed her, her work and her students, was a battle that she willingly accepted to fight, for the sake of her principles and for the sake of those who she loved and cared about--Kuwaiti or otherwise. Unfortunately, not many Kuwaitis appreciate the fact that there are many people who are championing, or have championed, for their rights to become truly free and live in an open society, where the only thing they have to fear is fear itself. I just hope there comes a day when Kuwait officially and formally pays gratitude to the people who at least tried to make a difference, instead of rewarding fools like Dr. Badr, who wants everything to be his way and doesn't feel ashamed to lay his hands on servants.

Thank you, Ms. Wakefield, for this wonderful book. I believe you have a gift for storytelling and narration because you managed to create a visual reality in my mind, while I was indulging on this book. I always thought of Seattle as the best city to visit and live in, and now I have an even better reason to love that place.

I hope Ms. Wakefield returns to the Gulf one day. There are some countries that appreciate art more than Kuwait in this region, such as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Qatar has a Virginia Commonwealth University arts school in its education city, a place enriched with top US schools. Qatar also has an internationally-acclaimed Islamic arts museum, and Abu Dhabi (UAE) is building an arts museum of its own. I hope Ms. Wakefield gets offered opportunities to either teach or manage arts institutions in either of those countries. Hopefully it would make up for the hardship she faced in Kuwait.

"Suitcase Filled with Nails" deserves all 5 stars and more! God bless you Ms. Wakefield.

Nice Mail

Although, I never consider my self humorous or brave....I just normally jump into things feet first, don't look back and keep a stiff upper lip....I did appreciate receiving the following email: 

After purchasing your book on my kindle app, I could not put it down.

Although I may sometimes have a romanticized view about life there, yours and similar expat experiences have further grounded me in reality, though not discouraged me. On the contrary, if I move to the Gulf and meet obstacles (and I'm sure I will), I will remember your story; it already has inspired me and no doubt it will continue to inform and perhaps inspire others.

You are really brave for having continued to return to Kuwait to inspire your students. I can tell they really love you, and I'm glad you got to experience the humility and generosity of Arabs, despite the other bad apples. I wish you all the best, and please keep writing! I really enjoy your

sense of humor, it is thoroughly entertaining and insightful.

When I asked this reader how she had come across Suitcase Filled with Nails her reply: Amazon's memoirs/biographies section; yours came up first 

Hello Kitty with Revenge

I was invited to submit a postcard - sized art piece to a national women's caucus. I was asked to create art that addresses the following question:What is the pedagogy of Feminist Remixing? What does it look like? Sound like? Feel like?" They did not ask for a title. But I call it "Hello Kitty with Revenge."

Expensive Lesson

I am still reeling from a costly and inconvenient lesson in having Suitcase Filled with Nails, published in Canada.  I believe in jumping on the band wagon of start ups but this time I fell off and got under the wheels.

The flip side is Suitcase has been republished by Book Publishers Network in Seattle and is available everywhere and through mainstream distributors.

A couple of weeks ago Rick Steves, the famed travel writer did two radio interviews with me, to be aired at a later date.  I’ve got readings scheduled July 13 at Eagle Harbor Books on Bainbridge Island and at the University Book Store in Bellevue July 20, plus a string of other events.

From one Artist to Another

Shurooq Amin posted in Shurooq Amin's Art Cafe

Shurooq Amin 9 June 08:50 Wall Photos A brilliant witty book by my friend Yvonne Pepin-Wakefield about her experiences teaching art, deali...

She Asks the Questions I could not

I had these same questions but put them to the back of my mind, fearing if I spoke my mind in Kuwait, I would end up in big trouble, or worse.  I think my answers to these questions are in the paintings I did of women in abaya and beyond. Shurooq Amin 30 May 15:06 Questions. I like questions. They stem from curiosity and a thirst for knowledge. We were created with brains and we were encouraged as children to ask questions. The brain is a beautiful thing; perhaps as an organ it's aesthetically unpleasant to look at, but one would assume your brain is inside your head and so you only need its functional value. You are blessed with a working brain. Use it. Ask questions. Don't be shepherded. Don't "maaaa" and "baaaa". And whatever you do, don't just complain from the comfort of your home and sit back and wait for others to fight for your rights. So I'm asking questions: Would forcing a woman to cover her head with Hijab or Abbaya make her any less sexy? Would forcing a woman to cover her head make her instantly submissive to men or to authority? Would forcing a woman to cover her head create a moral code of conduct WITHIN her to make her a pious, religious woman all of a sudden? Would forcing a woman to cover her head eliminate corruption and immorality from the world or even the country? Would forcing a woman to cover her head solve the problem of hunger, poor economy, mediocre health system, a failing educational system, rape, molestation, pedophilia, theft, embezzlement, or even wife/child abuse? Would forcing a woman to cover her head help the progress of a nation or an entire Arab civilization? Ask these questions with me. Ask them everywhere until they echo around the world. Ask them until "they" (those in authority who are NOT using their beautiful God-given brains) answer with the correct answer. For there is only one correct answer to all these questions. The answer is: NO. I like questions.

Changes

After an expensive and steep learning curve, Suitcase is going into a second printing, different publisher and WILL BE AVAILABLE THROUGH ALL MAJOR BOOK DISTRIBUTORS, and ebook platforms.

New Cover, Second Edition

More and Even More on Censorship

• What is happening to Shurooq, a Kuwaiti, also happened to me and I wrote a book about this journey

  
  

  
  

  Shurooq Amin

  Dear art supporters: I was invited to MBC Beirut to appear on the program Kalam Nawaen to speak about my journey, about the closure of my show, about censorship & about freedom of expression. Yesterday MBC Kuwait came to my studio and filmed for 3 hours. After I land in Beirut, I'm shocked to be told that MBC was ordered to cancel my appearance & ban me from speaking about this on TV! They received a call from the Ministry of Information in Kuwait ordering them to ban me from speaking! Since when is MBC controlled by Kuwait? Since when is MBC against freedom of expression? Who is afraid of my art and why? It's not political; it's not religious: it's just art! What's going on here?

Slide Show/Book Signing Friday the 13th

Port Angeles Fine Arts Center

For immediate release

Enter Stage Left series runs 4 Friday nights beginning April 13

On April 13 the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center begins its fourth annual Enter Stage Left series, which every spring accompanies the annual Strait Art exhibition of north Peninsula artists. Set against the backdrop of this lively and diverse exhibition of 29 visual artists the series presents programs of readings, lectures, music and theater also from local talent.

All programs begin at 7 pm. Admission is by donation at the door and benefits the programs of the Fine Arts Center.

April 13 • Program 1 vYvonne Wakefield: Suitcase Filled with Nails

Port Townsend artist and arts educator Yvonne Wakefield presents a slide lecture and reading from Suitcase Filled with Nails, the recently published book chronicling her experiences in Kuwait. Leaving a secure career and home life in the Pacific Northwest Wakefield immersed herself in the climate, landscape and culture of this small desert state.

For six years she taught art to university aged Muslim women, and learned to “negotiate tribal and misogynistic land mines set by detractors who are threatened by anyone, especially a spirited American woman, who encourages freedom of expression.”

Suitcase Filled with Nails transcends prevalent Middle East stereotypes and is filled with insights on working, living, and coping in a culture that is in many ways the total opposite of what she had known before.

Four of Wakefield’s paintings drawn from that experience are included in Strait Art. Wakefield holds a doctorate in Human Organizational Systems and has been widely recognized for her art education methodology. She has taught art on three continents to a wide range of ages and abilities. Her own art and articles on art have been exhibited and published internationally.  She divides her time between Port Townsend and the Tieton arts community in Eastern Washington.

More on Censorship

If it could happen to a Kuwaiti, it would have happened to me...this is why I chose never to exhibit the Women in Abaya paintings while in Kuwait.


The Daily Star


KUWAIT: A Kuwaiti artist whose pictures of men were deemed "obscene" by authorities said she would keep on producing art that challenged perceptions of society in the Gulf Arab state after her exhibition was shut down.
Officials sent by the government told the gallery showing Shurooq Amin's work to close her "It's a Man's World" exhibition last month, three hours after it opened, the artist said.
The works were "indecent" and "obscene", a notice from the Commerce Ministry, seen by Reuters, said. Officials from the ministry - which issues licences for art galleries to operate - declined repeated requests to comment.
Amin said officials focused on two of her 16 works - a painting of a woman in a mini-dress sitting on a man's lap entitled "My Mistress and Family" and a picture showing three men playing cards and drinking "grape juice" from a bottle which suggested contraband alcohol.
An Interior Ministry spokesman also declined to comment.
"I am going to continue to paint and I am going to continue to push the envelope. If anything, this is making me more determined than ever and more stubborn than ever," Amin told Reuters.
She has held nine solo exhibitions in Kuwait, including one called "Society Girls" in 2010 about the role of women in society, which she said sparked debate but was not banned.
Although Kuwaitis enjoy greater freedom of expression than citizens in more conservative Gulf countries and have access to a comparatively lively and outspoken domestic press, the state can censor publications and films it deems morally offensive.
Amin and other members of the artistic community said that this was the first time that they had heard of an exhibition being closed down. The Al M. Gallery declined to comment but a notice on its website showed the exhibition was "suspended."
Works seen to be insulting to Islam, the emir, or calling for the overthrow of the leadership are prohibited in Kuwait where pornography and alcohol are banned and adultery is punishable by law.
Opposition Islamists made gains in a snap parliamentary election in February and liberal commentators have voiced concern that political change in Kuwait could lead to restrictions on freedom of expression and public life.
A small group of hard-line Islamist parliamentarians said last month they wanted to propose a law banning flirtatious behaviour and "indecent attire" in public, which would include swimsuits on beaches, according to Kuwaiti media.


Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Culture/Art/2012/Apr-03/169039-kuwaiti-artist-more-determined-after-exhibition-ban.ashx#ixzz1r1QGN6JW
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb) 

"They" tried to shut her up by shutting her down

Scroll down in this article for a concise review of my friend Shurooq Amin's art show, closed down by the police. What happened to her, I also experienced in many different ways in my six years in Kuwait. I mailed her a copy of "Suitcase Filled with Nails." so she could write a cover blurb, for the soon to be released second edition. Just hope it gets to her....the government closed down the Virgin book and music store for good...

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/7eafc450-6d2b-11e1-b6ff-00144feab49a.html#axzz1pTnn4De9

The art market: Dollars and censors - FT.com
www.ft.com

The art market: Dollars and censors - FT.com

www.ft.com

Each year Tefaf – the European Fine Art Fair in Maastricht, Holland – sees the launch of a new report on the art market by art economist Dr Clare McAndrew. Most art market data is based solely on auction results but this report draws on interviews

 ·   · Share · 2 seconds ago

Censorship

• Shruroug Amin, a painter I know in Kuwait, had her exhibition closed down by Kuwaiti police only hours after it was opened, just another way of spelling censorship. For this same reason/fear, I never showed my Women in Abaya series in Kuwait. Four paintings from my series will go on display at Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, Strait Art, opening March 18.
  
  www.anhri.net
  Kuwait: Art exhibition raided and closed two hours after opening : Arabic Network For Human Rights I 

  

  الشبكة العربية لمعلومات حقوق الإنسان

  www.anhri.net

  الشبكة العربية تطالب بإنهاء حالة الطوارئ فورا القاهرة في 8 مارس 2012 رحبت الشبكة العربية لمعلومات حقوق الإنسان اليوم ، بالحكم الصادر من محكمة القضاء الإداري والذي ينص على إلغاء قرار رئيس المجلس العسكري المشير حسين طنطاوي بإحالة المدنيين 

Potty Mouth and More...

Toastmasters International is a great organization and membership in it is a fantastic way to hone your public speaking skills.  I was a member for years racking up enough speeches to earn a CTM and ATM.  I abruptly cancelled my membership in Toastmasters when I learned they had given Rush Limbaugh an orator of the year award, there by honoring him as a homophobic, sexist, racist, and more…bag of gas.  Based on the guy’s recent tirade about birth control, his intelligence factor remains on par with his potty mouth.

$8499.00

From 6 a.m. until noon, today I received eight email solicitations.  Each of the eight promised they could help promote my book for a fee.  Added up, the total cost of all these helpful solicitations was $8499.00 and there were no guarantees. 

Who is Ringing My Chimes?

I do not own an Ipod, Ipad or smart phone.  I own a dumb phone.

Along with 24/7 phone availability, I mothballed my sophisticated cell phone and expensive contract a couple of years ago.  Then, contrary to my politics I went to Wal-Mart.  For about fifty bucks I bought a TracFone.  You can buy minutes, at 30 cents a minute and you pay either way for incoming or outgoing calls, basic service, no contracts on this one-way street.

The problem is the Fone has gremlins.  It will go off in the middle of the night, louder than a smoke alarm chiming out that I’ve missed 58 text messages…and the Fone is not even set up for text messages.  Or, the Fone will ring with wrong number after wrong number so many times I don’t answer it which defeats the purpose of a mobile phone.

To address these Fone inconsistencies means calling a toll free number and talking to someone in Honduras with an accent thick as his or her inexperience at working the phones and resolving Fone problems.  The resulting two hour conversation brings no results.  So, the Fone takes its place in my office drawer filled with similar phoniness in this cellular evolution.

From the Ground Up

Horse tail, steel wool, seaweed.  Pit-fire, sagar, raku.  Porcelain, stoneware, clay hunting.  Centering, burnishing, wax resist.  How sweet the sounds of these words to the ears of this dormant ceramist.

“From the Ground Up,” an exhibition featuring 14 central and Eastern Washington ceramists, opened yesterday at Larson Gallery in Yakima, the “Palm Springs” of Washington state.  My ceramic breast plates were among the featured work.

Half way into the reception I found my self in a group of exhibiting artists sharing not so secret, trade secrets.  Like how the minerals in kelp, depending on the season it was harvested, change the flash of color on a primitive fired vessel.  How horse hair leaves fine clean lines on a raku surface and copper key shavings thrown onto wet red glaze turn green at cone 06 but burn off at cone 05.

We talked about the merits of pit, salt, wood, gas firing, about the malleable world of clay until the exhibit closed.  We went out to dinner and continued a conversation, natural and unpretentious and one I didn’t realize I’d missed so much working to center myself around this writing business.

One of my breast plates, “Jason,” sold.  It is made from clay I dug at low tide on the Strait of Juan deFuca.

Read to Rover

Every Friday morning my main interests come together for an hour or more…dogs, kids, books and art.  Henry, my 10 pound Chorkie and I are members of Read to Rover, a volunteer program that helps children with reading difficulties. 

The program is simple.  Dogs who pass the AKC  Canine  Good Citizen test and a basic obedience  test are then eligible to go into schools, libraries, etc. to listen to kids read books.   The theory being the dog is not judgmental and the child feels more comfortable to read.  

Years before dog reading programs were implemented, 

I was doing a similar program of my own.  I called it Lunch with Bucky.  During my lunch break, I invited kids with special needs into my art room at school so they could eat lunch and talk to Bucky, my 10 pound Yorkie, who came to school with me every day in a basket.  I just sat at my desk and listened and on one occasion I heard a six year-old girl say to Bucky, “Daddy came into my bed last night with a pair of scissors,” which led to a long story now in CPS files.

Every Friday morning I brush Henry’s teeth, and hair and we go to elementary school.  Some days there are eight or more dogs in the library.  Henry sits in the same basket Bucky left behind, and he listens to kids read for 15 minutes at a time.  After an hour, kids who want to stay in for recess an we draw pictures, an added treat since there is no art program in the school.

Dogs, kids, books and art; a perfect picture.

How Many Pies til I Break Even?

This from Amanda  Hocking’s blog, the overnight best selling author of young adult, paranormal kiss and bite books….

“There is so much stress in doing it all yourself. The editing is never good enough. And finding an editor isn't as easy everyone thinks. People thinking an editor is just having someone read through it a few times, checking for basic grammar and spelling, and while that is part of it, it's also much larger than that. It's helping tighten up sentences, watching repeated phrases, helping with flow, etc.

And it is really, really hard (or at least, it has been for me) to find an editor that can do all that. My books have all been edited - several times, by dozens of people with varying backgrounds - and people still find errors.”

And, she’s just talking about the writing.  Not the marketing part. Fortunately, I worked with three good editors.  Just when I thought the world was my oyster, Suitcase Filled with Nails, was finally published and the orders would come rolling in, the pearl fell out of the shell and landed in my lap.

 I never planned on being in the book business.  Now, I  am and doing the math and facing the reality that I might pocket a buck, maybe less from my book which retails for $16.95.   It’s like an author is a pastry chef and she or he works really hard making the best pie possible and in the end she or he  receives  the smallest piece cut from the whole.

Blue Hole

Last night’s reading at Pacific Mist Books in Sequim, Olympic Peninsula’s alleged blue hole, was a cozy affair.  Chairs were already filled when I arrived ten minutes early. Lots of educators and some old friends were there.  Surrounded by books and people buying books, I read and fielded questions and signed the books people bought. 

This was the third reading/signing in one week, not as large as the one drawing over a hundred people and requiring me to use a microphone.  But in this intimacy, the audience sitting in chairs only feet away, I felt appreciated.  This supportive audience, unlike some reviewers, like dark holes, did not make allegations they would not defend.

No One Has Promised me a Rose Garden

In the past three weeks I’ve started three different blogs, all shedding light upon and lamenting this book business.  But, I’ve gotten  bogged down with bad barcodes,  distracted by distribution, sell at cost, sell at a loss- publishing problems I want no part of but must face. 

The only high point in all this mind-boggling brouhaha is getting to meet some of the bookstore owners who sell Suitcase, three different book stores with three different and personable book store owners.   In all three cases the stores were busy with buyers.

I love book stores.  I love books.  By the time I was ten I had my own library, a check out desk, the whole wad, all shelved in my bedroom.  This was years before my mother said to me “You can always afford to buy a book.”  This came after I said I wanted to buy “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden,” but I didn’t have enough money when I saw it in the book store.  The next day, when I came home from the 7^th grade a new copy of “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden,” was waiting for me on the kitchen counter.

If only the give and take of the book business was this simple and direct.