Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Winter Art Show



“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”




Monday was sunny and I looked around with an artist eye.  I enjoyed shadows. I captured snow falling from trees in the sunshine.  Here are a few of my seeings. (I am listening to an audio book No Man is an Island by Thomas Merton while I sew and create...9 hours read by Jonathan Montaldo...it is wonderful!!)





Looks Like a Sculpture Now! ;)

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Everything is Just Duckie!


The Girls Always Give Me a Smile

Just a little bitty blog while I recover from my cold.  Here are some photos of the flock enjoying  a thawed puddle in their pond.   Their hardiness really amazes me.  No eggs right now but plenty of joy! 




Sunday, February 24, 2013

Pause & See ~~~Gratitude Part II~~~


I have a confession to make.  First I have a cold so low on energy.  I was sort of at a loss for today's Gratitude being under weather and all.  Plus, I began to think that my readers might be sick of me gushing on about my love of winter and snow.  I really am grateful for Robert Lax...but I don't think I did him justice in my lack luster post. While writing that post this morning Runa was by my side begging for a walk.  So I thought I would take just a little one and not bother with the camera....then I saw...


I went back to the house, took off my snow shoes, went inside, and got my camera!  So, again, I am grateful for winter and I am grateful for Runa who must have her walk.  There is no way I would have ventured out today feeling the way I do. But, I am sooooo glad I did. Why?  Because...




Pause & See


Queen Anne's Lace




At the end of most walks Runa "gets her tail" and I give her a treat each time she does.  It is her happy dance!


My Happy Face!

Still sick but on the mend.

~~~Gratitude~~~



Robert Lax


Robert Lax is the most influential poet in my life at this time.  I am so grateful that I discovered the work of this poet a couple of years ago.  Much of what I consider my art work, at this time, is inspired by Lax's poems and life.  Here is a mobile I recently created...coming to my Etsy shop soon.....


Robert Lax (1915-2000), 
a little known American abstract 
minimalist 
poet and 
spiritual hermit was the inspiration for this 
Mix Media Mobile.  Much of Lax’s poetry was written in a 
vertical fashion.  His idea was to slow down the reader. I love 
the blank space around the words and the feeling of openness 
created by his style.  This poem is #27 from 
A Thing That Is 
(1997).  The  six panels 
represent   the same spacing Lax used for 
this poem.  I made the poem spin in order to further slow the 
reading. The mirrors are there to remind us to look within, 
something I feel Lax spent most of his life doing.



Lax may be best know for his friendship with the Trappist 
Monk, Thomas Merton.  Though, I wish he could be known 
more for his own works.  Lax wrote many poems but was not 
well published in the US.  I love his writings and hope to bring 
more of his wonderful poems to light through my art work.



This is a collaborative piece.  
The text on the fabric was letter 
pressed at A Revolutionary Press
by John Vincent of Harborside ME





The Mix:  

Letter Pressed Light Block Cotton Fabric, 
Wool Batting, 
Sparkly 
Nylon Tulle, 
Vintage Mirrors, 
Quartz Crystal Chips, 
Rainbow 
Moonstones, 
Austrian Crystal, 
Fishing Swivels, 
and Thread 



Created by debOrah of Freedom, Maine 

www.injoyemporium.esty.com










Here Are Some Robert Lax Links





It is my intention, each Sunday, to share something that fills me with Gratitude. 
I write ~~~Gratitude~~~ with the wavy lines to represent the gratitude ENERGY~~~~~! 
I hope you will join me and share your gratitude moments. 
~~~Amen, Blessed Be, Namaste'~~~

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Pause & See




Having a dog has many benefits, one is frequent trips outside.  Many times they are hurried events because I "need" to be doing something else, I'm tired, not awake, or not into the current temperature.  But sometimes I take the time to pause and see.  This evening as the light was fading I noticed the driveway looked to me like a mosaic.  The combination of the light and the recent dusting of snow made a very pretty sight.  The snow created the effect of grouted pebbles.


Then I looked further to be delighted by lines made of  tire ruts and snow.  When I squinted my eyes they looked like brush stokes, as if painted by a giant abstract artist. Amazing what a driveway can bring to the imagination!  Oh! Runa you want to go in now....well ok....








This a regular feature I plan to include in this blog.  I try to see something new each day.  It is part of my practice in "seeing".  The art of seeing is essential to any creative work in my humble opinion.  My favorites are the ones that stop me in my tracks!  Like so many folks I have a very busy mind that I struggle to quiet.  But by creating this practice it has given me many opportunities to pause and be with a new wonder.  I love to wonder about wonders.  These little seeings can be just the jolt my creative process needs to get out of a rut.  But mostly they provide a pause which is that moment of peace I need to heal from a frustration. These seeings are grounding for me and bring me to the present.  I will admit to laughing out loud with joy over some of these discoveries. They are a moment of childlike wonder!  

"When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky"             ~~~Buddha

Garden Sabbatical Ends

My Fedco Seed order has arrived so another year of gardening begins.  You can expect regular garden postings from here on out.  Growing food has been a big part of my life for the last 19 years.  When I became pregnant with our son we decided I would stay home...my husbands work takes him here and there...so I became the anchor in the home port.  I am a worker bee so leaving the world of outside employment left a void in my life.  I created a new career for myself as the grower of food.

Each year my gardens grew as well as my knowledge.  I am a self taught organic gardener.  For the first few years that was the majority of my reading.  I was on a first name bases with my local folks at the cooperative extension office (this is before the internet!).  Anytime I had a question about gardening or canning I would give them a ring...some belated gratitude for all their help!

The gardening enterprise has been mostly a solo venture.  My DH is the rototiller man with occasional help at my request.  He has enough on his plate already with a long work week, caretaker of machinery, and chief carpenter.  (we both may be workaholics)  Anyways, the gardens got bigger and bigger...that is the problem with the long Maine winters...all that time to plan, dream, and scheme.

Summers were beginning to be my least favorite season.  2010 was a record year~~~I single handedly canned 349 jars, froze 58 quarts, and dehydrated 86+ quarts of food!  In 2011 I was hit hard with the late blight but still had a pretty big harvest.  At the end of the summer of 2011 I realized I was maybe just a bit burnt out.  So I decided 2012 I would take a sabbatical.  I still tended my 40 foot double row of garlic and planted a 40 foot row of beans, some summer carrots, and a few zucchinis.   The asparagus and berries would be there for the picking too.  I needed a breather.  I wanted to explore other aspects of summer...like summer reading!  I succeeded, I read some big fat books, I swam more, and had time to just plain feel playful.  I feel refreshed and look forward to a more reasonable plan this year.

Some major changes for this year include not planning for a quantity carrot consuming kid being home this winter...he should be off to college...can carrots be mailed?  Also, I had a recent "disaster"...my greenhouse got smushed. Remember that happy blog, a couple weeks ago, when the rain was pouring and I was dancing about with the ducks...well when I went inside a micro-burst or something must have hit and this is what happened....(It sustained even more damage during the following 2 blizzards)

Here is a before picture...

We are not going to get another or build a new  one just yet...need to do some mulling over.  We built this green house from a kit and have been using it since 2008.  It has been though many windy situations.   It is surprising it was lifted with 2 heavy cement filled lolly columns attached to the sills and we rope down it every winter.  Maybe with the green house gone I will be forced to be a bit more reasonable about my gardens....I think the universe was making sure....I only have so many window shelves!

Saturday, February 16, 2013

~~~Gratitude~~~


WINTER!



I am hearing a longing for spring from many folks in my life and out in the blogosphere.  There is seems to be a general fatigue out and about.  A real tiredness of the short days and long nights.  Not for me, I LOVE winter! This time of year I become a bit anxious that winter will be ending.  I start missing the long nights as the daylight increases. I become fretful over winter projects that have not found there end.  Don't get me wrong I love the other seasons but, winter is my favorite.  It may be because I grew up in the PNW where winters are truly dark with drizzle.  I never cease to be  dazzled by the brightness of a snow covered sunny day in Maine!  I love the shift in energy towards creative endeavors without all the distractions of garden chores.  I feel energized by the cold vs. spring dampness and summer humidity.  Winter is the reward after the autumn push to "get ready".  It is the quiet after the holiday hoopla. I am so grateful to be living in a place that has winter, winter.  So relishing the winter still to come and preparing for the changes that are beginning to emerge.

Some  Beauty from this Winter

BLINDING WILD SNOW
BLOWS, WHIRLS & DRIFTS ABOUT ME...
IN THIS WORLD ALONE
Chora








Pussy WIllows
Close your eyes
And do not peek
And I’ll rub Spring
Across your cheek...
Aileen Fisher




It is my intention, each Sunday, to share something that fills me with Gratitude. 
I write ~~~Gratitude~~~ with the wavy lines to represent the gratitude ENERGY~~~~~! 
I hope you will join me and share your gratitude moments. 
~~~Amen, Blessed Be, Namaste'~~~

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Celebrating Love


Love, Love, Love, Love...All the World Needs is Love...Love is a Many Splendored Thing.....

Some of the songs that run through my head when I think of love.  The first is something I hear on Pandora all the time...

Jason Mraz - "I'm Yours"  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cl88QEll-Xc  

 Of course, the Beatles and finally my Grandma Margaret singing  Andy Williams!  

Love IS a many splendored thing.  There are so many levels of love to celebrate.  


Splendor~~~Brilliance, Dazzle, Gorgeousness, Grandeur, Luster, Magnificence, Majesty, Revelation~~~thank-you thesaurus~~~Even the simplest of acts can open me to the splendor of love.  The little heart on our stone sculpture (created during tractor play) was left by a Reiki client for me.  It reminds me each day of the inner connected love we are all able to access when ever we allow our Self to be dazzled!  

So this is my little Valentine to my growing audience of readers.  

I am sending Splendorous Love to you all and beyond!