Ulla's Journal

Ulla Event June 15-17-2012

Lawry Swidler — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 19:43:32 +0000

Here is our schedule [so far] for our Ulla Event weekend at Point Lookout Mountain Inn, East Windham, NY [pointlookoutinn@yahoo.com]:

June 15 @ 6 pm … Welcome and Introduction to some of Ulla’s new work;

June 16 @ 2pm … Unveiling of Ulla’s newest work and magical story telling;

June 16 @ 6pm … Ulla presents her art and music, with guest musicians Gus Mancini and Phil Jones;

June 17 @ noon … brunch, followed by a personal salon with Ulla.

Beta Testers Wanted

Lawry Swidler — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 21:38:44 +0000

Hello Friends … we have created three short [1-3 minute] videos that are intended to help viewers de-stress. The content is Ulla’s art and her music. Our intention is to offer several to the public at no cost, followed by others at a very modest cost. Before releasing the first three, we would very much appreciate input from friends and admirers.

Volunteering to be a beta tester would include …

a] watching each video at least once each day for 10 days; this will actually cover 12 days, since we’ll ask you to view one single video each of the first three days.

b] answering five questions after each viewing;

c] answering five additional questions at the end of 10 days. Additional feedback will be most welcome.

Volunteers will receive links to additional videos as they are created and [when available] free downloads of all in the series. Please let us know that you are willing to participate by sending an email to info@ulladarni.com We will then send the first video and the questions.

Thanks so much for your help. Our hope is to provide support in these tumultuous times.

Swan sculpture

Lawry Swidler — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 18:20:52 +0000

Several years ago, I bought this beautiful, antique sculpture in weathered condition and always imagined it ‘’flying.’’ Once the structural repairs were complete, I painted the piece and had the cantilevered mounting system fabricated. It was fun to use the giant, pink-granite ‘’U’’ that Lawry had given me as the foundation for the sculpture. Happily enough, our early Spring weather allowed us to mount the piece, even before the garden blooms.

As you will see from the video … ”http://player.vimeo.com/video/38677742” … getting the sculpture from the ground to its ‘’flying place’’ was quite a job. Many thanks to our terrific crew … Joe, William, Valeri and Lawry!

This inspires me

Lawry Swidler — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 01:43:09 +0000

There is a river flowing now very fast. It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid. They will try to hold on to the shore. They will feel they are being torn apart, and they will suffer greatly.

Know the river has its destination. The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river, keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water. See who is in there with you and celebrate.

At this time in history, we are to take nothing personally. Least of all, ourselves. For the moment that we do, our spiritual growth and journey comes to a halt.

The time of the lone wolf is over. Gather yourselves!

Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary.

All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

—The Elders Oraibi

Arizona Hopi Nation

Smiles for Valentine’s Day

Lawry Swidler — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:59:58 +0000

These Valentine’s hearts are filled with the joy I felt while creating them. They’re being set up as pins … easy and fun to wear. Even though the making process is quite involved, I’m saying ‘Thank You’ to my lovely collectors and offering these up at $35 each. If you’d like one [or more], please write to us … info@ulladarni.com. Love and Light … Ulla Oops, how did those images get rotated? As you see, I’m still learning how to do this.

Wow … thanks to all … the first batch has sold. Let me know if you missed out and want a heart!

p.s. from Lawry

Ulla — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 21:18:51 +0000

Hi … Lawry here …. my connection with Ulla began a few months earlier. During the week of Millennium New Year, I visited Khaled and his family. I saw Ulla’s work in his gallery and was very impressed. Her brush strokes and colors were astonishing. Then I saw much more in a large chandelier. Symbols that I recognized leaped out. They took me on a tour from the Birth of the Soul to its re-entry into The Light. I was amazed! By the time our meeting was getting close, I was looking forward to meeting this terrific artist and was strongly focused on the job ahead … or so I thought.

p.s. I realized that these posts should have been called The Introduction to a much longer story. Future chapters will be titled … we’ll let you know when.

Personal Stories – Ch 4

Ulla — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 22:25:42 +0000

By the end of the four-day consultation, Lawry and I were holding hands, both excited at what was happening. We had been placed into a state of Grace, where everything was possible. Our hearts were singing. Over the next few months, seemingly impossible obstacles melted away. Even being located on opposite sides of the country didn’t prevent us from having faith. We knew that the gift of magic had been bestowed upon us and so, despite all rational anxieties and concerns, we were married a few months later.

One of the great affirmations that occurred during those early months was a relaxed ability to work together. We developed a monumental sculpture, larger than either of us had created before. Our “Peace Portal” was over 9 feet tall, 8 feet wide and 8 feet deep. The magic continued, as it was purchased by the National Liberty Museum in November 2000.

I’m glad to tell you that magic has continued for us. Sometimes the road has been smooth and sometimes bumpy … but never boring. Our consistent realization that magic is present has led to many adventures. I’ll be sharing another one with you very soon. Love & Light … Ulla

Personal Stories Ch 3

Lawry Swidler — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 22:37:08 +0000

We continued to my friend’s restaurant, talking more about what had just happened. Astonishing as it was, we both believed that we had witnessed a UFO. It blew our minds! (It turned out later that this was really true – Lawry had intended to continue to talk about business during dinner, but now could no longer think in logical terms). We began to talk about feelings, then attitudes & then belief systems. To our mutual surprise, we were very much on the same wavelength. As we drove back to the hotel after dinner, I was excited to have discovered our commonality (he felt the same). That night, I was awakened by a vivid dream that included Lawry. The next morning, when he and Khaled came by to begin work, I was stunned when he described that the identical thing had happened to him, with me appearing in his dream. We began to look into each other’s eyes a little more searchingly. Later that day, my gardener came into the house and asked if she could cut down the weeping cherry tree that was in the front yard. I asked: “Why would you want to do that? I saw it yesterday and it was setting bloom.” She looked at me and said: “It must have died last night.” “Trees don’t die overnight.” I went out to the front lawn and was shocked to find the tree shriveled and bone dry. Almost immediately, the realization flashed into my mind: “My late husband’s ashes are buried under this tree. I think he realized it was time to say goodbye.” During the long illness that claimed his life, he apologized for his condition many times and spoke about how he wanted me to have a better life. “Oh my gosh, has it arrived?”

Personal Stories-Ch 2

Lawry Swidler — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 15:36:54 +0000

The night was pitch black, with only a tiny crescent moon showing in the sky. As we drove, I was explaining a large project to Lawry. At one point he interrupted me to ask what “that” was off to our right. He was pointing at an illuminated magenta-colored cloud, hovering about 20 feet off the ground. He asked if I knew what that was and I said no. He looked up, through the window and asked me to stop the car. We were on an empty country road. We got out of the car, looked up and the words that came from us were identical: “oh my God.” We were looking at a giant circle of illuminated white cloud, only a few hundred feet above us. From the edges of the cloud were streaming pink rays of light, looking like search lights pointing to the ground. Along these beams of light were more of the small cloud forms. They were white, pink and magenta and, as we watched, they changed color from one to the other. We were transfixed, leaning against my car, looking up, fascinated by what we saw. We were standing in the center of a dozen columns of pink light for almost 20 minutes. At that point, the illuminated circle that was above us looked like it was descending. Both of us got a little nervous and decided to leave. The next day, the incident was reported on radio and television and some good friends telephoned me to report that they had seen the same thing. As astonishing as this was, it turned out to be the introduction to a much larger story.

Personal Stories

Lawry Swidler — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 21:38:37 +0000

Hello to all-I would like to share many of the amazing experiences that are going on in my life these days. In order to do that, it will be helpful for you to understand some of the things that happened to me during these past 11 years. I’ve asked my dear husband and business partner, Lawry, to co-author these posts. He has lived through many of these experiences with me and will be able to add some interesting observations from time to time.

A good place to begin is to tell you that magic arrived in my life in a big way in the year 2000. During the 10 years prior, most of my time was devoted to creating my artwork & the idea of finding a perfect mate wasn’t on my horizon. I didn’t know that magic was behind the scenes when a gallery owner friend spoke to me about the business difficulties I was experiencing due to rapid growth. When I told him that I had no one here to consult with on these issues, he suggested that his longtime friend, now a glass artist in California, could be of help. In early April, 2000 he and Lawry came to my home for what was to be a 4 day business consultation. I wasn’t prepared for what happened next.

The 3 of us worked together that 1st day for almost 10 hours. I was asked so many questions about the business and my objectives for it. By early evening, I needed a break and invited the 2 of them to dinner. Our gallery friend, Khaled, wasn’t well and excused himself, so, after dropping him at the hotel, we set out for the restaurant. En route, Magic made an appearance.