Openings Connecting

In the Midst of Light

2012-01-27T18:46:00.000-08:00

Images from the class's first winter trek two weeks ago.

"We are constantly in the midst of light. We are surrounded, bathed, and nourished by it. This miracle we call light can transform. It can teach, reveal, evoke, and heal. It speaks in many voices."

"We tend to see light as something that makes form visible, but light reveals much more. It reveals us."

"In the subtle, soft undulations of a snowscape illuminated by an overcast sky, in the rare presence of a backlighted, towering, ancient oak, both subject and photographer are revealed. Light makes visible invisible."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Quotations in this post from John Daido Loori's book, Making Love With Light

My friend and teacher Mary Whalen used her 'stereoscopic' combination camera on the walk. She caught me here, in the light

Making Love with Light

2012-01-12T06:23:00.000-08:00

light is energy,

energy is enlightening.

the group settles:

six souls.

one brave one

begins our journey by

feeding us from Minor White,

Yasuhiro and Tichy~the tarzan that retired,

the creative spirit resurrected

from his confinement

stretching to ours.

we meet again in the morning

and settle into wooded waters...

the six of us ready to relax into

'making love with light'.

i step out into the night

looking for the moon

hidden behind the promise of snow

and

begin this new relationship.

the title is from the book

MAKING LOVE WITH LIGHT:

Contemplating Nature with Words and Photographs

by John Daido Loori

And reminding myself:

MY mountain light is wherever I am.

a new cycle: the arch and the year

2012-01-01T14:07:00.000-08:00

MY Arch

My 'roadside' attraction, my arch,

hadn't been visited by me in some time

Being the first day of our new year

I felt it was time.

A short drive, really.

No texting while driving

but 'shooting' the road

was a must.

documenting

often my forte'

Cold rain, with an occasional snowflake,

gave the weathered basketweaving

a certain sheen in the dreariness.

I wondered if my camera would be

all right in this wetness as I pondered:

Nature has its way of deepening thoughts,

of warding away concerns and time.

The arch pulls me in.

It stands tall through the years.

Grasses were not cut in front of it.

I wondered if the road crews had ever

considered cutting it away.

Should I inquire?

Fate can't always be trusted.

There are a few older posts of this arch in different seasons from the last couple of years. Enter 'arch' in the search box, or click on the titles in the Labels box right below this.

about US, for ME

2011-12-26T08:14:00.000-08:00

living in the now is the anthem.

but, appreciating the moment in reflection

also brings the past into the equation

of blessedness, appreciation,

gratitude.

WE were once in kindergarten, both of us thrilled with life and our new roles in it.

a few years and miles separated us.

it seems it took a long time to explore the world and our souls before we met

finally, we landed, in the same place.

serious about our professions, and celebrating our coming together.

many decades have passed, and our work has changed to 'play' in a way...

his guitar and my camera take us to many places,

with mutual support and encouragement

many things change in life: our appearances, our circumstances....

but we both realized that making a home in each other's arms is the

sustenance~

~and knowing the importance of balancing the separateness

in our togetherness is the secret.

cheers, Dear!

and, of course, a kiss.

ROYAL clicks...rocks picked

2011-12-13T15:30:00.000-08:00

a solid instrument, revisited at a friend's gathering

pressing firmly, one key, one click at a time
one word at a time, thinking about the wrapping of rocks

here's the Random stream of words I 'pecked' out of the Royal:

ROCK ROCK rock rapt
enraptured, emotionally carried away
wrapped, embraced, tied up together, gifted
courted cared for taken home

life transitions, life's hidden released,
cared for in the carrying,
enrapturing your self in the process

rock ROCK stacked paired coupled
kept waiting for the right one
heavy load CHOSE. step. set. stack. WAIT.

Wander Return Layer Lay on, Return
rock, Rapt, wrapped: when it's right
smoothed balanced topple tumble
touch
lightly
bind bound bumped toppled
wrapped rapt enraptured by rocks

water stream mountain flow
sandy, ripply, left by the wind
water feathered, waves washed.
carried with great Motion

embedded quartz
bedded-down to rest
home rest Repeat...Rinse rocks.
recovered honored simply given

Shared with Grace

LAKE MICHIGAN ROCKS, above and below, 2010
PLENTITUDE
what a difference a year made

how to CHOSE?

SAME BEACH, 2011....how to FIND?

aw, A GROUP...chose all and consider the weight

SOME ARE ALREADY "SPOKEN FOR"

some come home with me. some leave together.

"I STILL HAVE EVERYTHING"

2011-12-10T13:13:00.000-08:00

small bowl, feather, shell

one of my new photographs seemed to call for Naomi Shihab Nye's poems. here are two:

I STILL HAVE EVERYTHING YOU GAVE ME

"It is dusty on the edges.

Slightly rotten.

I guard it without thinking.

Focus on it once a year
when I shake it out in the wind.

I do not ache.

I would not trade."

and

HIDDEN

"If you place a fern
under a stone
the next day it will be
nearly invisible
as if the stone has
swallowed it.

If you tuck the name of a loved one
under your tongue too long
without speaking it
it becomes blood
sigh
the little sucked-in breath of air
hiding everywhere
beneath your words.

No one sees
the fuel that feeds you."

ROCKS enRAPTured by Dreams

2011-11-25T12:36:00.000-08:00

FIND MY DREAMS ALL WRITTEN IN CRYSTALS
This year's RAPT rocks were given 'names'.
above and below is the first of this season. i delivered a group of fourteen to Folio today for next week's open house.

'Dreams': sumi ink on parchment, gold leaf, text

"SILENCE
is intensified into a stone: broken circles are closed"

SECRETS HIDDEN
above, with messages and worry stones tucked away

THE ICE STORM ENDED HAPPILY
(above and below: silver dust and wire, pearls, glass)

PROMISE KEPT
(above with beach glass)

GOOD NEWS TO ME
(above with bamboo and reed)

ETERNAL LOVE
(above and below)

VALLEY OF THE MOON, 1300 A.D.
(N.M. pottery chard)

PRESENTATION

START THE FIRE
(above)

love is light
(hidden copper heart and script)

WORRY FREE
(old pocket worry stone captured in the bamboo wrap)

a few laid out at home for their "shoot" on our yard's new hardscaping....

SO LINEAR

2011-11-05T15:34:00.000-07:00

SOME MORNINGS, I NEED A THEME. TODAY, LINES ...

MASKS should stay on the wall..

2011-10-29T15:37:00.000-07:00

the "Soul of the World" ... the source we all drink from... a theory embraced by modern psychologists

"According to this theory, WE ALWAYS TRY TO BE INDEPENDENT INDIVUALS, but one part of our MEMORY IS THE SAME. Whatever our creed or culture may be, we all seek the ideal of
BEAUTY, DANCING, DIVINITY, MUSIC."

"Society takes care of defining how these ideals are to manifest themselves on the level of reality....they change from one generation to the next."

"Carl Jung classified individual progress according to four stages: the first was the

PERSONA---the MASK that we wear every day, pretending to be who we are....

but with that kind of pressure from the persona, we sort of self-evaluate:
"Some people try to understand what is wrong, and end up finding the SHADOW (another mask), our dark side, which dictates how we should act and behave. .... ."

In my terms, a battle develops between the persona and the shadow, we hopefully accept who we really are, the Shadow disappears, and we come in contact with the SOUL.

Jung speaks of "a return to the SOUL OF THE WORLD, the source of knowledge. Our instincts begin to grow sharper, our emotions more radical, the signs of life are of greater importance than logic, our perception of reality is no longer so rigid. . .We react in ways that not even we ourselves would expect."

"Then we discover that if we can only manage to channel this surge of energy, we can organize it in a very solid center, which Jung calls the Wise Old Man, or the Great Mother."

BUT
...isn't it always lovely to be able to throw off the 'persona', get out of the 'shadow', and avoid the 'wise ones' taking us over?

the moment has come to throw off the MASKS,

to find our voice,

use our eyes, our senses, and to...

... DIVE INTO THE SOUL...

led by light

2011-10-10T18:10:00.000-07:00

GOLDEN LIGHT
LEADING
to a
WARM NIGHT

NATURE HAS ITS WAY WITH US

2011-09-28T06:50:00.000-07:00

THREE TIMES MY LIFE HAS OPENED

Three times my life has opened.

Once, into darkness and rain.

Once, into what the body carries at all times within it and starts

to remember each time it enters the act of love.

Once, to the fire that holds all.

These three were not different.

You will recognize what I am saying or you will not.

But outside my window all day a maple has stepped from her leaves

like a woman in love with winter, dropping the colored silks.

Neither are we different in what we know.

There is a door. It opens. Then it is closed. But a slip of light

stays, like a scrap of unreadable paper left on the floor,

or the one red leaf the snow releases in March.

from THE LIVES OF THE HEART by

JANE HIRSHFIELD

when a NEGATIVE is a positive

2011-09-15T07:47:00.000-07:00

gentle reminder
negatives are not what they seem
when softened with stillness

(that is the 5"x7"negative propped in the window...)

RANCHOS de TAOS: my friends walk with me in spirit

2011-08-16T11:14:00.000-07:00

a short walk around the San Francisco de Asis church...a big circle... two graces plaza gallery opening of the collaborative show in my last post that included my work took place this weekend in june, and that's one of the businesses on one end of the walk-around, and there are some special spots no longer used on the other end.

long time loved space of mine. many memories. the el cortez theater and martinez hall were across the street. a friend's studio.

{the weekend included some rare alone time for me in taos, and the honor of some of my friends coming to the opening: old friends david and duane hopper & bob watkins from and during the last 40+ years; dear art friend renee howell from 5 years of sas colby summer workshops together at the mabel dodge luhan house; new friends holly sievers and robert cafazzo, gallery owners; and unmet until that weekend blog friend caterina giglio.}

the Buddha and the Bridge

2011-08-08T07:48:00.000-07:00

JUDITH'S BUDDHA

the original photograph

transformed by gum bichromate process:
sized arches paper, printing 4 times with negative
after coating first with ultramarine blue, then
transluscent yellow, again with black, and
another coat of blue...pigment added to gum
arabic solution...

and the Gorge Bridge...two printings, both with black...

first step is creating a digital b&w negative from the original

photograph...size paper, coat with layer of gum+watercolor

pigment powder, dry, expose with negative to ultraviolent light,

bathe a few times, dry, layer next coat of color,

register negative in place, expose, and so forth.

Learning new processes teaches me a great deal about myself.
I most likely will not use this technique again with all its
complexities, but it is intriguing.

try /www.gumphoto.co.uk// for more on process~~~

CHANGE is Good

2011-08-01T06:17:00.000-07:00

TIME TO TURN MY HEAD

TO PLAY IN A NEW WAY

     what will happen to the Buddha above this weekend?

I'll be taking that image into a 2 day workshop here with
EE Smith...exploring what can happen using a
19th printing process: GUM BICHROMATE. . . its alchemy and mysteries
   can make magic~

     we shall see

in the art spirit, for my friend.....this week

2011-07-09T08:03:00.000-07:00

find time for yourself

unfurl your wings

ring the bell

take a risk

write little messages to your heart

share

transform

SHE CAME FROM THE NORTH

2011-07-06T19:28:00.000-07:00

SHE CAME FROM THE NORTH

WITH HER GENTLE WAYS

SMUGGLING A TREASURE

IN A DAUGHTER'S BOX

HIDDEN IN THE TRUNK

ALONGSIDE IT
A DELICATE NEST
FROM THAT FOREST
OF LAYERED GREENS
THAT HAD EMBRACED HER

   TOGETHER
   WE TESTED EGGS.
   THEN THEY
   HEADED WEST.

IT HAPPENED: now showing in Ranchos de Taos

2011-06-09T20:09:00.000-07:00

A FIRST: walking into a space and seeing work I'd done on the walls.

The precious little platinum images on vellum glowing in the corner from the gold leaf backing.

The long line of the silver gelatin prints.

Supportive friends.

Caterina Giglio and I have shared blogging for a couple of years and finally met...her work part of the show as well. . .and my good friend Renee, the most encouraging art pal ever...we've shared five summer workshops at Mabel's, Studio in the Sky with Sas Colby. . .and a blog.

The show is called Four Directions, Four Visions. Once, I was like a 'rolling stone' with 'no direction home'. Not so today as I am firmly rooted right here in Michigan. I am fortunate to have been able to share the Two Graces space for its last show at this site with owner Robert Cafazzo, Caterina Giglio, and Vicki VanAmeyden. . .
GRACE and GRATITUDE

MY 'STATEMENT'

for the show is at the top of my sidebar.

GARDENERS

2011-05-14T19:26:00.000-07:00

   "Let us be grateful to people who
   make us happy:
   They are the charming gardeners
   who make our souls blossom."

   ~Marcel Proust~

coming out of the dark---room!!!

2011-04-22T19:10:00.000-07:00

as if Michigan winters aren't dark enough, I've spent a great deal of it in a darkroom
processing my slides from 1980 that I'd taken in New Mexico...taking classes to convert them into digitalized negatives to print. . . When I finish this series, and it's shipped off to Ranchos de Taos, I'll write about the process and post images: most are silver, and a few of them are coated by hand with platinum/palladium on vellum, exposed to light, and bathed in developer. Dried, and then gold leaf is laid on the back side.....Here are two of my prints:

GIVING US THE LIGHT.

CHACO CANYON, 1980

SAN FRANCISCO DE ASSIS CHURCH, RANCHOS DE TAOS

My work will be part of a four person show across from the church at Two Graces Gallery.

The show is called "Four Directions, Four Visions".

I appreciate this opportunity and will be sharing it with the owner Robert Cafazzo, as well as Caterina Giglio and Vicki VanAmeyden.

It opens June 3rd.

RETURN gallery, Taos, the light of the pyramid

2011-03-12T18:31:00.000-08:00

SINCE YOU ASKED, THE LAST POST'S PHOTO WAS TAKEN ABOUT

25 YEARS AGO IN TAOS. THIS IS THE TOP OF THE ROOF ON RETURN GALLERY.

MY FRIEND DAVID'S GALLERY. HE DESIGNED AND BUILT MOST OF IT.

WHEN I ARRIVED FOR MY SUMMER VISIT, I CRAWLED ONTO THE ROOF WITH MY

35MM CAMERA AND LAY ON MY STOMACH TO SHOOT THE SUNSET.

THE GLASS PYRAMID IS AT THE PEAK, WITH COPPER COVERING BELOW.

THIS IS TAKEN FROM THE INTERIOR, LOOKING UP, WITH THE VENTS OPEN.

A QUIET INTERIOR CORNER...with "chaco canyon" type rock work framing the window.

ADD LIGHT

2011-03-09T11:59:00.000-08:00

   OUT OF THE DARKROOM,
   INTO THE LIGHT.

   REFLECTING

   ON REFLECTIONS,

   in
   and
   out

UPNESS

2011-02-23T14:40:00.000-08:00

     many of life's little surprises are UP...
   and OPENING US....to LIGHT,

SECRETS,

EXPANDING PATTERNS.

WHAT MAY SEEM UNINTERESTING,

COULD BRING SUCH JOY!

A LITTLE MYSTERY IS GOOD.

JUST DO WHAT IT TAKES TO SEE:

KEEP YOUR CHIN UP!!

COLLECTING THE EARTH @ the Altered Page

2011-02-06T12:27:00.000-08:00

Collectors Edition: Chapter 6

(JUST CLICK ABOVE on chapter 6 THIS FOR SETH'S SITE)

Seth Apter's ALTERED PAGE has been featuring artists' collections the last few weeks...THIS WEEK, some clay pieces that i've acquired over the years are featured there with others' obsessions as well.

take a peak.

the above are works by martha rosenfeld, maria scott, elena justice, brian hurt, james watkins ..

my statement is below in white.

I collect the Earth, clay/pots and rocks. The pictured clay works are all LARGE, very large, some vessels/others sculptural......and small pieces everywhere. And rocks!! Many many rocks and stones in and out of our house. And years ago i began wrapping rocks...my RAPT rocks, enRAPTured===carried away with great emotion.

What WOULD we do without WOOD?

2011-01-22T19:39:00.000-08:00

WOOD, to celebrate

WOOD, to honor

WOOD, to last

to shelter

to protect

to love

to share

to withstand weather

for 'reflections'

'warming us'

to carry us

for creating

comfort and beauty

for latillas, a rainbow ceiling for dreaming

WOOD...to ponder

   to remind, represent

2011 SPARE PARTS, SKETCHBOOK PROJECT...finished my way!

2011-01-12T06:37:00.000-08:00

DISCLAIMER: having to let go of preconceived notions w/ the 'fear of drawing' ever present,
'sketchbook' was an uneasy self-assignment. in the beginning, i loved developing the idea of SPARE
PARTS, scraps, fragments of my former attempts coming together w/purpose and this helped me
avoid 'actual drawing', which gradually warmed me to a place of comfort: i'll accept it all as process, but begin to CLAIM PAGES 45 and on....

this is being sent, one of 28,000 worldwide to the sketchbook project in brooklyn...check it out for next year
at http://www.thesketchbookproject.com/

and thanks to renee for keeping me moving on~~~~

YOU ARE BLOSSOMING

2010-12-31T19:21:00.000-08:00

.DO NOT WASTE A SINGLE MOMENT

. . .celebrate each day of the new year, each stage of your opening, each breath you take. . .

PEACE be with everyone

2010-12-23T13:46:00.000-08:00

THREE CANDLES WISHING

GOOD HEALTH, LOVE,

AND

A WORLD OF PEACE

that LIGHTNESS of BEING

2010-12-05T17:02:00.000-08:00

Some of my bundled stones, 'rapt rocks', found there way out into the world Friday night during Folio's holiday open house. Festive friends, artists, food, sparkling drinks~lights~smiles all warmed my heart!

Friday night was one of thousands of holiday events all over our country, I know.
This was a treat for me, standing around and discussing "rapt rocks" with new and old friends that stopped by.
"Our town" was full of lights and light-hearted good wishes!

LET LIGHTS SHINE BRIGHTLY FOR EVERYONE IN THE WORLD THIS SEASON WITH ACTS OF CARING, GIVING, AND PEACE.

STONES: enrapturing me

2010-11-25T20:49:00.000-08:00

...this began years ago as I, like so many others, would become enRAPTured by certain stones, connecting with their spirits/markings/shapes/colors and carrying them away with me to make my stacks and altars at home.

Eventually, I became compelled to find ways to join certain stones together

and to enhance others...

IN REVERENCE FOR

what Nature had created.

my Lake Michigan shoreline stones soon found good company with other elements such as vintage papers, quartz, fossils, turquoise, pyrite, obsidian, leaves...

and were secured with wires, waxed threads, beeswax, rattan, fabric strips

and text: Pablo Neruda, of course, E. Meloy's quotes from
the Anthropology of Turquoise, and me.

THIS COLLECTION IS LEAVING TOMORROW FOR THE SHOP AT FOLIO'S.
(Saying good-bye to them as I took the photographs and packed them up)

AWAY

2010-10-31T20:30:00.000-07:00

good to go away.

not too far,

not for too long.

into that transitional time
that meshes the separateness of seasons
and reconnects particles of self.

no expectations.

new surroundings.

two familiar and generous friends
savoring quiet
and
time to walk and shoot,
shoot snaps to share.

crisp and wild winds clearing heads...

then

sleeping well alone in an upstairs room to the roar of waves.

3D steel: reminders of summer's lustre

2010-10-23T12:53:00.000-07:00

silver beach renewal

as artists are called forth to

strike the sky for all the seasons'

magnificence.

DENNIS HOPPER, Two Graces, Ranchos de Taos, Dia de los Muertos

2010-10-06T15:40:00.000-07:00

{Catharsis: Purification or purgation of the emotions primarily through art.}

DAY OF THE DEAD, the BOX, the nicho, the altar, the shrine...

...holds memories of what seems like so long ago:

...a time that was dreamy and as fresh as this young man on a horse wearing a western hat and riding freely through the sage on the pueblo land between the mountain and his new mud palace (the big house/ mabel's) that he'd just bought and escaped to...or so it seemed. But no escape for Dennis.

...that notion of "escape", a theme of the time, was one feeling that i shared with Dennis and many others who'd come to Taos, and across our country.

...a year working for Dennis and living at Mabel's was exciting, chaotic, unpredictable, cathartic. he was kind to me, and brilliant and vulnerable. he was overwhelmed and troubled too. the Mabel Dodge Luhan house was a busy scene of restoration, 'famous' visitors, editing of the Last Movie, and artworks arriving to join the Warhols, Lichtensteins, Price, Bruce Conners, Wallace Berman....a long list could continue.

A few years ago, i told Dennis that although i was just two years out of college in 1970, he was the one who'd given me a degree's worth of art, art in the real world. i learned daily about film, artists, movements, framing, poets, light, cropping, and passion for the work: and, of course, about people.
Reciprocity: I was intent on helping Dennis, and he certainly helped me. Perhaps, a "cathartic time"...

and so it seems that creating the BOX for Dennis and the Day of the Dead show at Two Graces gallery October 22 was definitely a cathartic experience for me...which began when visiting Dennis' grave this summer with his dear brother David.

In the spirit of Dia de los Muertos, the altar's elements include:
nourishment, water, food, B12, candles, incense, matches, crystals, a motorcycle, and other pieces that bring forth sweet memories.
poems and pictures are hidden.
kris kristofferson's lyrics from The Pilgrim, Chapter 33 are on the top.
personal photographs of mine have been scanned and included from the time at Mabel's and some more recents photos with David and Henry...and that little "snapshot" on the horse.
in the background are articles that were mailed to me by friends when Dennis died this year:
the LA Times, the NY Times, and the Taos News.

"I heard the news today, oh boy..."

please check out
TWO GRACES TAOS
link on my sideboard under
Sparks for Me. Robert is
a wonderful writer, and the
gallery shop is an artist's
haven...!

the GYPSY WAGON bringing bookmakers to town

2010-09-26T16:15:00.000-07:00

our local Kalamazoo Book Arts Center hosted Peter and Donna Thomas from Santa Cruz this weekend...It was great fun taking their miniature book workshop. . .resulting in two 2x3inch books...Here are my pop-up accordion book and the box/scroll book! (please note my handmade knobs for turning the scrolls, a real challenge to my fine-motor skills!)

Photo Play 101 4me&my mac

2010-09-12T11:42:00.000-07:00

safe place for trials
waiting quietly
unafraid

day 6, trial and no errors, no mistakes, enjoying the play with

my long awaited upgrade:

the new friend to share the winter's interior..

homage to Rosario Mac
the writer, the passionate one

lover of stones, lover of mountains

2010-08-20T18:34:00.000-07:00

mud walls washed

dried into dust

distant ancient pueblo

my breath taken away

Water Street Coffee Joint - Now Showing

2010-08-07T06:09:00.000-07:00

Water Street Coffee Joint - Now Showing

my FIRST PUBLIC "appearance".....so extra exciting for me!

my dear friend and aesthetic ed partner, Mary Whalen, included five of my paintings and collages in HER EXTRAORDINARY new show of wet plate images of stones and flowers......on glass. click on link for description of her process . here are 3 of my collages: the floating dreamer, the red/black, the calligraphic piece, and one of my paintings/waxed Taos mountain.

"MY" MOUNTAIN REALLY DOES LOOK LIKE THIS

2010-08-03T08:29:00.000-07:00

LIVING THE ART SPIRIT On the edge of the desert

2010-07-24T11:07:00.000-07:00

On the edge of the desert,
at the base of the mountain,
in between now and then...
There is a freshness
surrounding the familiar.
A chance to take on
vulnerability, moving forward
fearlessly.
THAT is the freshness.

AND, in the air
that warm chill on the cheek,
just a short-lived wisp
as the light begins to
kiss
my spirit.

neva, july 11, 2010
taos

Edward Hopper postcard altered for a new San Francisco friend.

THAT was day one of the week long workshop with Sas Colby, Studio in the Sky, at the MabelDodgeLuhan house in Taos. . .called Living the Art Spirit, my annual trek into my favorite place ...

between sessions, i worked in my journal....

"A bird doesn't sing because it needs an answer. It sings because it has a song."

Imagine under one roof being nourished. Listening. Waiting.

What is the real purpose of art?

Seeing.

Taking time to notice what's buried below.

Seeing in a new way

with Reflection.

Remembering.

Making connections. Putting parts together.

Experiencing: the freedom of a weathered feather.

Sharing.

and Playing with new materials.......

while "singing my song".

the "SCAN artist" demystified, (check out link in side bar re: Doris Mitsch)

2010-07-02T04:07:00.000-07:00

INQUIRING minds wanted to know:
the image of the lip rock and pods in the last post was scanned on my printer, and using a friend's mac, layered with a photograph i'd taken of buddha...creating the first collage.
the second image is a layered "multiple exposure" of the flowers in the last image and was made with my picasa program. limited possibilities with that.

the mac, as many of you know, with photoshop, is very exciting to me.
it's now on THE LIST!!!

the SCAN artist.....?

2010-07-01T10:47:00.001-07:00

exciting lesson

oldest rock
symbolic pods

process

(desiring a mac)

How to Share: Buddhafully

2010-06-14T05:41:00.000-07:00

for a friend
you'd share anything.
for a friend,
you'd create ...
call & response.
how to be there
while being here.

when you don't know what to do,
do something. the right thing happens.

(Collage recipe: one of your paintings, some of your photographs, glue, wax, heat, apply...THEN, CUT INTO TWO TO SHARE, turn, look, send half off in the mail. which half did i send? the top photo shows the 2 parts put back together, with cut line)

the incredible lightness of rocks...

2010-06-07T19:55:00.000-07:00

just delivered these "newly enraptured rocks" of mine to Folio Salon...
using more of my images/photographs/drawings, a large crystal, as well as 1850's period Japanese wood block papers (the hand/japanese lettering) ~~~~~
my friend noticed that these are so much lighter than the last group.
and they indeed are. these smooth greyish-white stones call for that, and i respond.

here's Pablo Neruda's homage to the crystal:

"Quartz opens its eyes in the snow
and grows spiky,
slipping on the white
into its own whiteness:
multiplying the mirrors
it poses in facets, at angles:
white sea urchin
from the depths,
it is son of the salt
that shoots up to heaven,
glacial orange blossom
of silence,
very principle of foam:

by virtue of the earth's pride
the clarity that awaits me."

changing perspective

2010-06-06T06:36:00.000-07:00

"THE REAL VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY CONSISTS NOT OF SEEKING NEW LANDSCAPES BUT IN HAVING NEW EYES"
marcel proust

what changes can come through
retrospective perception
when viewing life, work

the continuum when we're privledged enough to be given time to turn our heads, our eyes, our hearts~~

(fyi: above~one of my paintings, turned from horizontal to vertical...)

NOW It's all you have...

2010-05-22T07:23:00.000-07:00

"MUCH LOVE BEING SENT TO AN ETERNAL FRIEND", Reb

that's the 'closing' to a message from MY eternal friend Rebecca, who IS part of the "now that i always have", one of many reminders from her. I MISS HER, but to quote more of one of the many, many emails we shared, i record a few that were all part of note intended to give me the name of her above painting in September, 2003, which i now have with me on my wall:
it's titled
"HE WHO JUMPS INTO THE VOID OWES NO EXPLANATION TO THOSE WHO STAND AND WATCH"
jean luc godard.

Reb gave me so much, like: "I try to remember to live in the ocean and not merely be a wave. This does not mean that I don't forget and become the fierce or funny little wave much of the time......to see you again, or not, is not important because your essence and my own are jewels in a larger sky...we exist...always, in our friendship to one another."

'Turning to the One Mind,
I find my Buddhahood,
above self and others,
beyond coming and going,
this will remain
when all else is gone.'

Tanzan (1819-1892)

her birthday, may 21, my friend forever.
aren't i so fortunate?
(a little misty eyed, but fortunate)
so many cups of fresh brewed coffee in the kitchen,
of margarittas on the patio.

{she gave me lessons, memories,
the sense that she's ever here,
especially through an astonishingly brilliant daughter
and grandson ...}

the luminosity of spring~~~ awakens the mind

2010-05-19T19:18:00.000-07:00

'The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you---
don't go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want--
don't go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the doorsill,
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open--
don't go back to sleep.'

`mevlana jelaluddin rumi`

growth shared: mothers and more

2010-05-08T20:06:00.000-07:00

i thought i'd use these two monoprints (the empty silhouette filled by nature) made last year
to coax out some thoughts about nurturing and growth and friendship:

true.
mother's day can do that,
ring memories up in me
of mom helping me along,
wanting for me what she couldn't have had.

mother made me dresses like these early on, when she could.
gave me the outdoors to dream away my cares...
a clothesline duty to feel the breezes
blow faraway places into my head,
inner thoughts out.

faraway places, sometimes exciting,
often empty~ but never for long.

spirited friends have helped heal my heart
and let breezes, and dreams, ruffle me around again.

IN GOOD COMPANY

2010-04-28T13:30:00.000-07:00

FRIENDS:
good company keeping...

my rapt rocks in their temporary home,
FOLIO salon & boutique,
whose owners also showcase an homage
to nature in their works:

larry builds bird-friendly, chemical-free houses with
recycled materials and whimsy, donating sales to
the local land conservatory;

laurie's photographic images and ecaustic work
are shown here as well as her handmade books;

and my wrapped 'rapt rocks'...

it's more than a place for the best haircut ever!
it's a wonderful place to shop as well!

take a peak at foliosalon.com

my complements

2010-04-24T16:50:00.000-07:00

THE TEMPLE BELL STOPS
BUT THE SOUND KEEPS COMING
OUT OF THE FLOWERS
koan: matsuo basho

there's not much to say,
but there is something about pink with green
coming off as opposites on the big wheel...
a long walk with a good friend, two cameras,
few words, abundant beauty shared
in gratitude

ARBOREAL PROJECT, part 3, the sheltering playground tree

2010-04-20T10:53:00.000-07:00

As one of many, I've posted one of my favorite trees, the 'sheltering tree' that stands outside my former classroom and graciously accepts thousands of children over the many years it's been marking the seasons on the sloping green or snow covered land around this fortunate school building.
the CHARGE: photograph a tree/trees on certain dates. the first two photos are from last week, APRIL, early spring, where it welcomes not only children, but happy robins. the last shows the shots from last august, november, and december. longer postings are dated 9/4 and 11/10 in my archive if you're interested. Julie at Lost Luggage began the Arboreal Project last August, and there are many links to see others postings as well on her site.
yes, never stop hugging trees!

hot wax, loose arm, my mountain, and color PLAY

2010-04-16T12:43:00.000-07:00

SPRINGING into action...
it's not all walks and no play.
loosening the spirit and the arm
with color for my continued repeated
renderings of MY mountain...

{the last one, my other obsession, arches..
more to come.
the 2 top photos are oil sticks on board, 5"x12"
and a couple layers of beeswax}

ribbon, pins, wall

2010-04-10T08:47:00.000-07:00

Last night's opening of the West Michigan Area Show, Kalamazoo Intstitute of Arts...juried, 660 entries, 104 chosen pieces...tremendously diverse pieces.

This caught my eye, reminding me of my honeycomb geometry. One piece White Ribbon, pins in the wall on penciled grid. probably 6 ft square.

spring forth

2010-04-03T17:31:00.000-07:00

early spring here, warm and then a great rain ...
imagine, fire hazard warnings in michigan in april, true.

so the golden forsythia and pink buddings on the trees have gone mad,
daffodils capture the eye on sunny banks around the neighborhood..
but, along the trail you have to look closely ...

there, at the side of the path,
the forces find their way
breaking through
the layered leaves.

enRAPTuring rocks

2010-03-30T04:36:00.000-07:00

Out of the quiet,
answering the call.
rocks needed, wrapped.
so it began again, the bundling. which goes with which, who needs paper, or a little old bead?
the "call and response" works everytime. a message from a friend who once displayed and sold my pieces a decade ago in their aveda salon. happy to throw myself into the process, the weekend buzzed by, a window open, birds chirping, spring has come and the rocks are moving on. some sitting outdoors, some in, all put together in my little world and taken off to the shop yesterday to begin their new life, enRAPTuring others. carried away to a shelf, as a gift, a tiny voice from the earth.

at least i like to think that.

and i'd like to leave this with a poem:

LIKE A LITTLE STONE

Like a little stone, feel the shadow of the great earth;
let distance pierce you till you cling to trees.
That the world may be all the same,
close your eyes till everything is,
and the farthest sand can vote.

Making the world be big by hunting its opposite,
go out gleaning for lost lions
that are terrified by valleys of still lambs,
for hummingbirds that dream before each wingbeat,
for the mole that met the sun.

If time won't let a thing happen, hurry there,
to the little end of the cone that darkness bends.
Any place where you turn but might have gone on,
all possibilities need you there.
The centers of stones need your prayers.

david rome

Nonno's Eyes

2010-03-10T06:37:00.000-08:00

this is the only grandparent i knew.
he lived with us and died when i was ten.
i've kept this one photo and the note that he
wrote with me forever, in my many moves.
i hadn't really realized how beautiful he was
until i scanned this small 2" sq photo,
and made it my wallpaper on the computer.

now, i look into that sculpted face,
those deep eyes everyday.
he was quiet, a writer, a poet.
he spoke little english.
he took care of me when everyone
was off on the farm.
he had creamy coffee and bread for breakfast.
he tied my shoes. combed my hair.

this note in italian and his gorgeous handwriting, which i must have translated,
was written on my first birthday, december 11, 1946.
there's my name, nunzia neva.
there's AMORE
from Nonno Rosario.

he was born in 1883 in catania, italy (sicily), came to the US in 1905.

(i've been feeling maybe reflective, certainly VERY quiet these days,
very quiet. no posting lately, but well and happy. thought i'd check in with a hello.)

WINTER~SUMMER: Buddhafull

2010-02-24T09:36:00.000-08:00

same center in all seasons
the comforting winter stillness
the light touch of summer's
dragonfly

2 views, 1 vantage

for SETH

2010-02-23T11:50:00.000-08:00

prompted by the mere mention,
i sped off to capture
the snow frosted ARCH.

perhaps "last chance"~

next year, first blizzard,
i vow that i will find it
thickly blanketed, buried.
the hope ... ever present.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A FRAME MAKES

2010-02-22T07:44:00.000-08:00

i've always known framing was important to works of art that i'd acquired.
however, being in my sixties before i actually created pieces of my own, and
then taking a looooooooong time to realize i appreciated what i'd done: this was
another story.
so pleased is what i am since i have finally framed and hung some of my own work.
an acceptance, yes, but more than that. seeing. hard to SEE my own. strange, that self-critical voice, it causes objectiveness to depart. you all know that.

it's exciting to walk past things i've created. the first little one greets me in the foyer. and the BIG PODS finally at home at the top of the steps.....
and with the walk-bys, sometimes there's a touch of a memory that the making of the painting holds. the way the breeze felt that day i was outdoors and splashing on shellac. finding the pod that it all came from.
touchstones. personal and pleasing.
good memories, especially today, during the LAST big snow of the year.

SAFE: your voices have been heard!

2010-02-16T06:12:00.000-08:00

Protected BEE ART
Safe on a sill with the remains
of many past walks and
sweet memories

i listened to all your comments: the don't melt it ones. i really didn't think i would. i feel like i've been made the caretaker of a delicate part of nature here. amazing work. LOOK AT THAT LAST CLOSE UP...mind-boggling.
i first thought that i'd be unwrapping a big clump of yellowish wax, not THIS. i guess the beekeeper cuts off the 'overflow' of cone? and i was astonished to see this. so, i'll just order up some wax. and leave this masterpiece beeeee.

please click on the last photo to enlarge it. such perfect geometry..

OH, HONEY, WHERE ART THOU?

2010-02-15T06:21:00.000-08:00

yesterday's best gift
delivered with chocolates
from my photographer friend

mary whalen dropped by yesterday with handmade chocolates
for my husband and i...and brought this delicate work to me.
she'd been photographing her neighbor's beehives, and knew
i was beginning to experiment with encaustics...
now.
how
can i possibly melt this?
p.s. it's 16 inches long

FEBRUARY 14TH, reality view, WE ARE OUR OWN BEST KINDLING.

2010-02-13T11:17:00.000-08:00

A gift of a poem this weekend, titled "God Went Away for the Winter, She Said" written by Renee Gregorio, New Mexico, from The Storm That Tames Us.

"It's hard between two people.
Some days we walk the clouds of these mountains.
Others I hear only complaints, the straight
lines of will. Embracing the ordinary
is wrestling the winter-god. Note the shifting
color of your skin. What is the same
can gather strength, a rolling snowball,
can be ally, mistress, lover.
Yesterday I woke to three rainbows
on the living room floor, your chest
rising and falling under my splayed fingers.
Today you said 'Look at that,' pointing
to the intricate spaces between the piled wood.
'It's an accident,' you said, meaning the beauty
that arrived outside our window, or
that you noticed it. I have a bar of soap
from Mexico with a man and woman kissing.
My friend's gift. 'This brings the man you want
to you,' she said. On the wall there's a photo
of you and me kissing, years ago now, on a patio
in Santa Fe. That alchemy once came to us, will again.
It's hard between two people. In December I wrote:
Dearest love. This is the world we've always wanted,
our breath rising and falling like one hundred magpies
under the dying lilac bush. The sun is hiding.
We are our own best kindling."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

above, my rapt beach glass and twigs, 2x1 inches

exciting times, new beginnings

2010-02-10T14:35:00.000-08:00

my husband, jerry, has worked with his sounds on his hollow body jazz guitar for years.
i benefit at home, hearing his music in the next room while working in here.
last friday, a great gathering shared the experience at an art opening for mary whalen's photography!
it's only the beginning!
SHARING THE SOUNDS

a very good year right HERE!

2010-01-28T22:00:00.000-08:00

FEBRUARY:

love~

when it's celebrated in
the deep meaning of a message on
a second grader's heart-shaped candy
that melts in the mouth as quickly
as a 'crush' comes and goes.

anniversaries~

when we wed and when we met.
applauding perseverance and patience
and the strength of the heart strings.

another,
the beginning of my postings~

one year ago...an interesting, unpredicted event
that was simply started to join
in the disintegration collaboration.

ONE YEAR LATER, 156 POSTINGS,
COUNTLESS PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN: LOTS OF
JOY, a few INNER
FEARS, MANY HAPPY DISCOVERIES SHARED
AND
REPRESENTED IN THIS COLLAGE* OF
ARCHES~
CIRCLES~
OPENINGS CONNECTING.

(if you're reading this, thank you for being there. i mean here!)

(*a picasa collage of photographs taken by me over the year for this blog)

write, draw, paint: MEDITATION-IN-ACTION

2010-01-21T06:38:00.001-08:00

zen drawingII
after writing the post below last week,
gesso and brushes found their way
off the shelf, at last! it's been
six months since i played like this.
memories of the rio grande's waters quietly
keeping the pace ..
i got back to that by writing.

words work for me.
a bridge forms,
and a movement begins.
lines and dots flow~
and i lose myself and self-consciousness.
not quite "the FLOW", but perhaps
more of what is described here:

"Meditation-in-action:.. is to stop the mind's confused obsession with little Me.
In seeing/drawing the entire concentraion--for a change--happens to be what is not-Me...
It is not only meditation, it is meditation-in-action, by eye and hand in unison."
Frederick Franck

"TO KNOW THE EGO IS TO FORGET THE EGO, TO FORGET THE EGO IS TO BE ILLUMINATED BY ALL THINGS" Dogen

'ZEN SEEING, ZEN DRAWING' as Haiku

2010-01-13T19:17:00.000-08:00

ZEN SEEING, ZEN DRAWING Meditation in Action by Frederick Franck has been an ally in diminishing the voices that formerly told me 'you must learn to draw realistically'.
as a long lover of Haiku and Tanka and eastern sense, grasping the idea proported by the author was a comfort.
Some excerpts from Franck:

looking at one of his drawings, he began:
" 'Ah! But this is a haiku, a wordless haiku written in lines and dots!' Since in Japanese the same verb can mean to draw and to write, I was drawing haiku-legitimately....
In Japanese, haiku are...the rediscovery of seeing, of celebrating the sensitivity of the eye. It converts deadly looking-at into living seeing!

The poet Masaoka Shiki wrote:
'I had a flowering branch placed by my pillow. A I draw faithfully, I feel I am gradually coming to grasp the secrets of creation.'

Basho, the father of haiku, warned his students:
'Jot down your haiku before the heat of perception cools!' "

"An AUTHENTIC HAIKU must, in one breath,
GRASP THE JOY AS IT FLIES,
THE TEAR AS IT TRICKLES DOWN THE CHEEK.
In its seventeen syllables it must catch the unsayable, the mystery of being and non-being: timeless mini-satori in fleeting time:

this dewdrop universe
just a dewdrop
and yet,
and yet...

Issa

A haiku is:

a flash of illumination in which we enter into things...

a minimum of words that grasp a moment of grace,
joyous or heartrending...

an expression of inner feeling totally devoid of ego...

the eye-heart-hand reflex of seeing/drawing the intellect...Seeing and feeling condence themselves into the ink marks a hand jots down.

TO FORGET THE EGO IS TO BE ILLUMINATED BY ALL THINGS."

and above are my 'haiku marks':
*sitting alone at the rio grande's edge and letting my pencil move to the sound of the water you see in the photos,
*sumi ink markings,
*and a page from a book of tanka that i have been altering (tanka has 31 syllables in 5,7,5,7,7 pattern).

2010-01-06T19:35:00.000-08:00

in response to a maya angelo poem and a snowsuited child making an angel in the snow on kim's beautiful posting at WORDS ON PAPER SCRAPS(in the sidebar), i commented with this:

there were days:
for snowsuits and angels,
for fear of love,
and then falling:
for someone, for a moment,
for the snow, for myself.
for being brave
alone in the cold.

i'll add a poem from ALISTAIR REED that i've kept close by for years:

to rise to the sky you need
two wings,
a violin,
and so many things,
incalculable things, things without names,
a license for a large slow-moving eye,
the inscription on the nails of the almond tree,
the titles of the grass in the morning.

WINTER BLUES, and painting too

2010-01-04T08:20:00.000-08:00

the new year called me
out into the blue crystal
light and shadow play

brought me in to finish
the tiny winter twilight
painting begun so

long ago

(pretend you're squinting your eyes at the painting,
it just won't come into focus with my camera...it's spirit
is protecting itself, i guess, and i think it looks better
this way .. hmmmm, and grin)

AND PLEASE CHECK OUT MY FASHIONISTA WINTER GARB IN THE LAST POST. so many comments about my HOOD!

THE SPLENDOR IN THE ... snow

2010-01-04T08:12:00.000-08:00

RECAPTURING:
former fashion statement.
it all comes back to functional
form, very contemporary in that way.
the splendor in the snow/ minus warren beatty,
(but my husband is better! cute, plus he went back on the
trail to rescue my new down mitten!)
six decades later, inspiring myself
to leave the window view
with all my brand new winter wear...
surprisingly fabulous
out there (at 15`F)
when warm!

WINTER ROCKS, in my HOOD

2010-01-01T08:36:00.000-08:00

word play...

rocks covered with winter's fresh snow photographed while walking in my hooded gear.

or

winter rocks/as in is fun in my neighborhood when i'm in my warm snowgear!

WITH all good wishes this lovely 01-01-10

to the one who APPLAUDS

2009-12-28T06:18:00.000-08:00

i never shared the little book i'd made for the art exchange...my "HUMBLE OFFERINGS":
some pages are above (click on them to enlarge).

as always with giving, it's not about receiving.
no'thing' came to me in the exchange,
but it inspired the creating and as always, that's the best thing.
= i received a reason to make something
for a person/artist/bookmaker/supreme blogger
who always applauds, encourages, and recognizes us,
and who is a big fan
of "MY ARCH"...

which is part of a circle which we create,
and it curves and comes back to us
and causes us to create.

AND I DID!!

wishing one another well

2009-12-20T14:43:00.000-08:00

less is more in our home for the holidays. simple. quiet. a few candles, wreathes, and a small sparkly tree outside the window. no children or grandchildren. it seems in retrospect that much of the holiday spirit that i've created and shared was centered in my classroom for all-all-all those years with all-all-all those darling young ones.
so now, i will post my good wishes to those of you who visit here, encourage here, share here: all in THE spirit.
while sorting through my files, i found the above photo of a tree of ours from one of the first holidays in our house so long ago, and written on a slip of paper with this quotation:

"Let the winds come singing here,
Let the clouds with rainbows greet
and most comfortably embrace
the people of my life,
the ones who own my heart.
And let us....each one...
wish one another well."

and may we celebrate each day's goodness (and each day's new postings and visitors) with deep gratitude!

solstice greetings (12/21)

2009-12-19T12:51:00.000-08:00

ABSTRACT MINALMALISM: Nature's Way

2009-12-14T17:00:00.000-08:00

i know most of you follow Seth Apter's blog The Altered Page. He's surveyed over 200 artists for the upcoming edition of PULSE and features ideas from that in a post called SECRET SUNDAY every week. Fran Meneley has a beautiful site as well (both are in my Sparks on the sidebar)and her secret was posted this last sunday. Fran is a great writer, photographer, collage artist, and reveals her secret in a great narrative plus these two words: "PAY ATTENTION"!!

it brought to mind the Maxine Greene quote on my sidebar, part of which reminds me to:"UNCOUPLE FROM THE FAMILIAR....JUST IN ORDER TO SEE".

somehow this has been synthesized into the word NOTICINGS...and when out there in the natural elements, with my camera, i tend to notice a great deal more, noticing details/changes in a different way, and some of these are captured digitally and when viewed on the computer, bigger connections to art are made. Paintings are often brought to mind as in the photos above.

abstract? minimal? subtle and beautiful and created over a long period of time. and it could happen with a brush, paint, and a canvas! in this case, part of that DISINTEGRATION COLLABORATION with NATURE!!

(SO while you're over reading secrets on the altered page, be sure to check out seth's project from last winter called just that: the DisCo for short)

THE LIGHT OF FRIENDSHIP

2009-12-08T15:10:00.000-08:00

perusing the file
thinking of new friends found
and you all came to mind

i was thinking about new "art" world friends while pondering my title "openings connecting" after reading the latest from leslie avon miller's blog TEXTURES SHAPES AND COLOR. she always inspires us with her postings about art: the process, the people, and most recently~ friendships formed in that process.

which brought to mind one of my best friendships that has grown during one-week summer workshops over the last 4 years, and although renee and i live too far apart to visit, we continue to communciate in the most supportive of ways. i'd found this quote from c.s. lewis and added it to the photo collage above, in honor of those sparks shared across a studio table, or through our blogging, all in the ART SPIRIT!!

'FRIENDSHIP IS BORN AT THAT MOMENT WHEN ONE PERSON SAYS TO ANOTHER, WHAT? YOU TOO? I THOUGHT I WAS THE ONLY ONE!'

EVERYBODY NEEDS A ROCK

2009-12-04T07:09:00.000-08:00

(TOP collage: me and my first rock, 1971, (which is right in front of me now after moving back and forth across our country with me a few times)..illustrates why the 10 rules are important: it's ="a special rock that you find yourself and keep as long as you can---maybe forever"...
and the second photo is Peter Parnall's illustration for Rule Number 9)

after the responses from robyn's post "tied up with string" on her blog ArtPropelled, i realized more than ever that Byrd Baylor had it right in 1974 when she wrote the book "EVERYBODY NEEDS A ROCK"...not just me, and not just children.
this book was part of an annual ritual in my classroom, with beach rocks piled in the center of our circle, i'd read this book to seven year olds (before we'd head out to find rocks, tell stories of rocks, draw rocks), and it began:

'everybody needs a rock.
i'm sorry for kids who don't have a rock for a friend.
i'm sorry for kids who only have tricycles, bicycles, horses, elephants, goldfish,3-room playhouses, fire engines, wind-up dragons,and things like that--
if they don't have a rock for a friend.
that's why i'm giving then my own TEN RULES for finding a rock...
not just any rock.
i mean a special rock that you find yourself and keep as long as you can--
maybe forever.'~~~~
and some of the ten rules follow:

RULE NUMBER 3
'bend over.
more.
even more.
you may have to sit on the ground with your head
almost touching the earth.
You have to look a rock right in the eye.
Otherwise, don't blame me if you can't find a good one.'and

RULE NUMBER 9
'always
sniff
a rock.
Rocks have smells.
some kids can tell by sniffing whether a rock came from
the middle of the earth or from an ocean or from a mountain
where wind and sun touched it
every day for a million years.

you'll find out that grown-ups can't tell these things.
too bad for them.
they just can't smell as well as kids can.'

BITTERSWEET BLUESKY

2009-11-24T03:53:00.000-08:00

BITTERSWEET BLUESKY
(yesterday's walk)

Bittersweet orange
against the bluest of skies~
forgotting summer's petals
of deep purple splatterings
with sharp sunmarked centers~

the heron waits to fly

my RAPT ROCKS, enraptured~carried away with deep emotion

2009-11-22T12:01:00.000-08:00

"call and response" it is again.

about 15 years ago, i began WRAPPING some of the many rocks together that i'd long stacked around our house. I called them RAPT, from enraptured. an aveda salon wanted some to display with their products. some were sold. this entry has some of those rocks posted.
some are wrapped with their own sort of fossils, and silk/waxed linen threads, silver or copper wire, various papers.
the latest rocks also are wrapped and then waxed. i will post some of them later as part of the "response" to a blogger friend, donna. they were sent off to her. from here,lake michigan, and she'll be sending some from the pacific to me. the great trans-continental rock exchange!

this caused pablo neruda to fly off my bookshelf: and from his STONES OF THE SKY:

"Silence is intensified
into a stone:
broken circles are closed:
the trembling world,
wars, birds, houses,
cities, trains, woods,
the wave that repeats the sea's questions,
the unending passage of dawn,
all arrive at stone, sky nut:
a substanstial witness.

"...it (the stone) is the mute word of earth:
it says nothing because it's the heir
of the silence before, of motionless ocean,
of empty land.

"The stone was there before the wind,
before the man, before the dawn:
its first movement
was the first music of the river."

ART PRIZE | Ran Ortner

2009-11-21T18:51:00.000-08:00

Causey Contemporary | Ran Ortner The art journey continued a week ago. Visited more galleries, and then the winner of the ART PRIZE ($250,000) in Grand Rapids, just an hour north of us.
I never cared much about seascapes...you know, the horizon with waves breaking on shore and the light shining through part of one of the waves.
but this was different. 3 panels, huge, focused and detailed.
a surprise. chosen by the voting of general public.
and the painting sold.

the causey contempory link above for more of the surf!

Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison

2009-11-17T14:05:00.000-08:00

Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison
(PLEASE click on their link right above this to look at the collections)
LAST WEEK,
ART JOURNEYS FOR ME.
one trip was on thursday.
a photographer friend and i went to ann arbor to hear robert and shana ParkeHarrison speak in a lovely venue, the michigan theatre in the downtown area, followed by a reception at the shusser gallery on the University of Michigan's campus in the art/design center...the pieces were about 40 inches square or larger. haunting, intriguing.
i've long been intrigued with their work, which is perhaps less about photography than performance/staging/messages for the earth. I'd seen his work at the Edelman gallery in chicago, and i'd bought his book, the architect's brother in 2000 from twin palms publishers in santa fe. a small reception with time to visit with robert about the work and their time spent in new mexico.

ARBOREAL PROJECT, the sheltering tree, part 2

2009-11-10T09:30:00.001-08:00

This week, those of us participating in the Arboreal Project (organized by Julie @ LAND OF LOST LUGGAGE) will post photos of our chosen tree/trees...the first posting was in August. . .and here's MY playground tree, outside my former classroom at Winchell School, hugged and loved by thousands, photographed TODAY, and last week with a few leaves left, and in August.
It too seems to be a unit of
two or more trees,
gathered together for the good of all.
to nestle, hide, protect.
shelter.
dream.

CALL AND RESPONSE: blog style

2009-11-06T15:09:00.001-08:00

WAITING FOR THE SNOW
TO SOFTEN THE SEASON'S REMAINS~
NAPPING AWAY WORRIES

my little haiku, again personifying nature, thinking of dried seeds and stalks 'napping', waiting to be reawakened in the spring:
a response to a 'call' ... not intended, but heard. by me. more than once. the beauty of community is provocation at times, provoking/stimulating>>> thoughts/responses/action perhaps. and so it is for me in the blog world. when i see that haiku simple has a new posting, i go there. and then the words start rolling in my head and i respond.
happens with photos posted, or quotations, or collaging, bookmaking, suggestions to relax, or center, or even cook!
in this case, feel and say and then happily count the syllables.

BOOOOOOOOO!!

2009-10-31T09:58:00.000-07:00

bridges to nowhere

2009-10-20T19:54:00.000-07:00

back out "in the field" today,
stalking heron. caught a few
with the zoom, but needed a telephoto.

humanmade pieces pop in these wetlands,
and these brought alaska to mind.
the assosciation wouldn't have been there
a year or so ago.

today's warm walk

2009-10-19T15:21:00.000-07:00

tranformations
seen in the smallest details.
walk slowly, hold a hand.

remembering the river

2009-10-12T13:59:00.000-07:00

the river ran wide
in back of the farm
where i grew into me

I AM NOT AN ARTIST

2009-10-10T10:12:00.000-07:00

I'm not an artist. I AM PRACTICING (this is a little play that my friend and i adopted. we say we're practicing artists, haven't "graduated" yet)
And i'm not even enrolled in a class right now.
I've been busy on the other side of my brain editing curriculum as a paid favor for my former school system. Who knew it would take so long? T E D I O U S.

Now i'm back to practicing. When i went to my first post retirement painting class about 2 years ago, and was asked what interested me, i laid my hand on the stack i'd brought along: watercolors, acrylics, pencils, oil sticks, gouache, pastels, ...and said, "i'd like to learn how to use some of these".
It takes lots of practice, including the practice of telling my brain off once in a while. the chatter. the frustration. the arguments.

I read in a book called SPARKS OF GENIUS by a MacArthur fellow, Robert Root-Bernstein, about the tools of creative thinking as he presented many of the macarthur foundation fellowship recipients from a great variety of fields. The painter described had a 'successful' career, schooling, shows, sales...but was not satisfied. He decided to work on a painting, one painting, over and over, repainting it many times, and everyday for maybe two years, varying the positioning of a line. huge pieces. when he finished, he had a huge collection.

that's my lead. i'm painting MY mountain (i own a lot of geography: my arch, my mountain, grin) over and over again. PRACTICING with my stack of stuff that makes marks. it started in that first class, which is the last picture that i posted, in acrylics. and then ... many have followed. above that are smaller ones, one of my photos and journal entry from last summer, and the first group of four are not finished, and may be tossed, but i'm working on them now...they're 4x6 inches and on the same grainy piece of paper with too much gesso on it. but...i'm learning this way. by myself. and the more i play, the looser my head becomes, and the wiggly lines and blending colors start to emerge.

the first photo....my license plate, and one from new mexico. that's where MY mountain is. my arch is here in michigan with me. MY LOVES, these two states.. BUDDHAFULL NEW MEXICO, and a reminder to "LOVE THE ONE YOU'RE WITH."

NOTHING LIKE SEEING YOUR NAME HANDWRITTEN IN THE MAILBOX

2009-10-08T05:02:00.000-07:00

REAL TIME.
SNAIL MAIL.
TIME TAKEN
TO STAMP AND POST.
IN THE BOX.
THROUGH THE AIR.

these are from taos friendships formed at workshops at the mabel dodge luhan house.
Carol Austin sent the first talisman with the cross. on the rothko calendar now.
yesterday, the joy of opening a card from my friend renee in
denver, dancers around the fire, so old blinking light on margarittas
in arroyo seco. two georgia postcards that i bought at the harwood museum there this summer.
the red asian silk piece is from caroline in montreal. and a card from sas in berkeley.

SO YOU SEE, IT'S NOT JUST THE MOUNTAIN I LOVE THERE.
and from a card from my vllbff, this quote:

"FRIENDSHIPS don't just 'happen', but the best ones seem to fall into place right from the start, naturally and easily, as if they were always meant to be..."

MY ARCH: waiting for winter

2009-10-02T10:04:00.000-07:00

of course, for every thing there is a season. and of course, we should "love the one we're in..."
as some of you know, i'd claimed this roadside arch of twisted vines as mine late last winter, and i keep a close eye on it as i move along in my vehicle.
it seems to be having its last hurrah as it wards off the thoughts of being buried alive under snowdrifts in the near future, and as i described it to a friend, it has a 'flurry of flaming leaves across the top, like a crew cut gone wild'...

if you have a description to add, please do so.

MORNING WALK

2009-10-01T04:00:00.000-07:00

first signs
with the big chill
just seconds away.

DROPLETS, MORNING WALK

2009-09-30T05:36:00.001-07:00

HAIKU X'S 2

2009-09-27T09:06:00.000-07:00

night held the soil's warmth
as it rolled in its chill...
the morning's ground cloud
a soft, cool embrace
muffled my senses to its departure
like early life's loves.

and then there was CHOCOLATE

2009-09-26T11:07:00.000-07:00

AND THEN
there were handmade dark chocolate truffles
and apple pie

and a long drive home.

my renewed love of the great outdoors
supporting all just causes..
the spirit, beauty, and delicious detours.

local color

2009-09-26T05:26:00.000-07:00

back in an orchard again~~ take me home country roads. childhood memories. places to "run away" to, hide out, pout, find some peace and still make it home for dinner.

not only a good year for flowers, apples too. perhaps i haven't looked closely in a long time, but this seems overly bountiful ... laden...strong branches holding the wealth. could it be the chocolate fumes from down the road?