12.21.12

it is not the end of the world

it is just beginning

the house is decked in greenery 

ready to welcome the light of longer days

with prayers for a brighter future 

love to all

peace

sharing

From Kelsey Loomer's blog Sweet Mess, I found words of comfort in light of the darkness of the week.

image by Kelsey Loomer

The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be, 

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water. and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come to the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

~Wendell Berry

a cold wet day in December

outside

a view from my studio

 inside

pine silhouette/detail of a new start

a little nuts on a Saturday

pages and news

A few November journal entries

I just finished teaching my journalling class,

 I miss my students!  

I hope to share some of their work here when I get the go ahead.

Ideas are percolating for a big project in the new year,

some new workshops and teaching as well.

I'll be launching a give away in January to mark my

4th anniversary on this blog,

Stay tuned for details! 

first frost

20x20" oil, silver leaf on panel

chilly days and colder nights

the water is freezing in the chicken run

my trusty heater is keeping the studio warm

these are some quiet days for working

before the winter holidays

Lost and Found

I came across this via Keri Smith this morning and it moved me to tears. I saw in these women younger and  braver versions of myself.  Women who were able to speak honestly to the ever conflicting notion of what it means to find room for children, paint, love, and laundry. Please watch and share with each other, the dialogue is just beginning.  I am so looking forward to this film!

the last warm day of fall

November 12th

It is nearly sixty degrees outdoors. 

I am going to hop on my bike for an hour or so to pedal around on this beautiful day.  

the last warm day

oil with silver leaf

20x20"

Work in the studio is picking up again after taking time for other important things this fall.  

I am pleased with this piece.  It feels direct.  

I am realizing it doesn't always have to be so complicated- paintings or life that is. 

Hello November

I just wanted to say that all are safe and accounted for 

even though most are still in the dark

there is spectacular color amidst the grey day

waiting

today I am watching the trees in my backyard

some still full of leaves

they are only just beginning to bend at their crowns in the outer reaches of Sandy's winds

the rakes are put away

the chickens' run is covered

the kids are being sent home early from school

its the kind of weather that makes me uneasy

anemophobia- fear of wind

ombrophobia- fear of rain

lilapsophobia- fear of tornados and hurricanes

(i am thinking titles for a new series of paintings)

mostly today I am thinking about my family and friends and folks further south

I hope everyone stays safe

black and white and red all over

another peek into the sketchbook: gouache, ink, collage, fabric tape, black gesso

snail mail

these postcards are going out today to two far away creative soul sisters

bound for North Carolina

flying to Mississippi

what a difference a day makes

Beech Hill 

tuesday

wednesday

pages

I've started teaching my visual journalling class to ten lovely women on Friday mornings.   Today I spent the day in my own studio using the processes we've covered so far for a little show and tell on how to put it all together:  gouache, tape transfer, gelatin prints, diy rubber stamps, collage, lettering, stamped tape, and indulged in some yet to be taught: "gold" leafing, fabric tape, marbled paper...It was a good way to spend the day as fat raindrops fell on the studio skylights.

my dry spell is over

no real excuse for the hiatus in completing anything; but it felt good to get there this morning.

10x10" acrylic and gouache on panel

found treasure

road side find:

sturdy old table with a history of its own has been invited to my studio and is the perfect support for  journalling

be a part of something big

I am excited to be a part of the Sketchbook Project 2013, and my nifty little book arrived today in the mail!  Its not too late to order one for yourself.

getting ready...

for a trip out to the "other" Portland for a visit and a family wedding

to teach a visual journalling class this October at the
Farnsworth Art Museum

to start knitting again in the cooler months ahead

getting down to business in my studio

summer was...

fresh vegetables and flowers from the garden

laundry on the line

new puppies to train

reading in the afternoons

baking a wedding cake

visiting with friends and family

hiking coast lines

sailing the bay

a happy daughter at camp

swimming in the lake

driving to bike races

working adventures for my son

and thinking about my lonely studio and looking forward to fall

hello June!

The skies are still rainy-grey and cold in Maine, 

but

here is what's blooming today

from the garden

from the studio

8x8"

Last night on my drive home,

Sunset over Lake Megunticook

I had to stop.

friends and family

It is a glorious monday in Maine, the breezy air is sweet with the sea and the spring blooms are electric against the dark earth.  It is a day that is hard to be inside.  I want to be out, digging or pedaling or hiking, but that will come later.  For today, I wanted to share some sites of friends and family who have new or new-ish on line presences.  Please visit their sites and share your thoughts!

i just got this buckle in time for spring

First I will introduce you to my lovely sister-I-never-had-in-law, Andrea.  Andrea lives in Rhode Island, is married to my brother (no small feat), is a mom to three young darlings, caring guidance counselor by day, and super crafty by night!  Andrea makes fun belt buckles that you always want just one more of.  Andrea sells on etsy and at local craft fairs in New England.  Here is her etsy.

I want this

Next, one of my dearest friends Julia.  Julia and I met when my daughter was just barely two weeks old, almost 15 years ago.  Like Andrea, Julia is a married mother of three, and hers are, gasp, teenagers!  She works full time at the Family Place in Norwich, Vermont with their Families Learning Together Program.  She is a long time jeweler and I LOVE her work.  In fact most of what I wear on my fingers and ears and neck is made by Julia.  She also has taught some of her Moms to make a line of jewelry at the Family Place.  See her new web site- it has links to her etsy, her work at The Family Place, and also work by her two daughters Elsa and Grace.

2011 xmas card, Chris Purdin

Finally today, husband and wife team of Chris and Emily Purdin.  This creative couple met at the Savannah School of Art and Design, fell in love, got married (pulled off a very beautiful, creative, personal wedding) moved to the other Portland (Oregon), had a little Gus and a bunch of chickens!  Chris is an illustrator/animator and we are all wait anxiously for his funny xmas cards every year.  He's worked on TV, film and print, and is working on his own book(S) as well in his spare time. Here is his website.

hedge hog hiker logo- Emily Purdin

Emily is one of my very few girl cousins and she is a textile/seamstress Goddess. Emily has designed fabrics, made a line of lampshades and accessories for children's rooms and is now focusing on a line of children's clothing called Hedgehog Hiker-inspired by the needs of kids living in the pacific northwest-staying warm and dry and looking fab!  

I hope you enjoy taking a peek into these sites and share them as you will!!

another small panel

8x8"

I'm making some more mixed media one day pieces

the marbled paper in this was made by moi as well

messing around

sometimes I draw

sometimes I paint

sometimes I print

sometimes I collage

but usually not all at the same time

charting new waters

its been chilly, rainy, misty, foggy

gulls squawking overhead 

the air is full of the sea

i love that smell

living on the coast of Maine

you might think that more of my art 

would have a nautical theme to it....

while I try out some new imagery, 

my little one ( in blue)

flies through the water at her first high school regatta

so much fun!

my sometimes day job

I have been working though out the school year on a really fun project involving printmaking, middle schoolers and my favorite art teacher Kristen Andersen.  Kristen and I collaborated together on the Alphabet Project.  The goal of this project was to have each student contribute 2 letters to our alphabet. As part of an ongoing effort to improve the vocabulary of our students, Principle Maria Libby and Literacy Coach Michelle Gabrielsen have been working to introduce grade academic vocabulary (GAV) throughout the year.  In a spring celebration at the school, we will be using the letters created in our yearlong project to highlight as many of the words as possible in a temporary installation in the school’s main corridor. 

Students learned various methods of printmaking throughout the year.  We covered gelatin prints, linoleum prints, collographs and monotypes with collage.  The students learned about illuminated manuscripts, transferring their images in reverse, the use of printing tools and a printing press, positive and negative space, color theory and texture.  For a student exhibit this week at the CMCA, we chose to spell out words inspired by the creativity we see in the students everyday in the classroom.

The Alphabet Project was funded through a grant from Youth Arts, a non-profit organization I am involved with here in Maine.

back home

to lovely afternoon light

casting long shadows across the yard

settling back into routine

walk, studio, garden, bike

and taxi service

highlight of our college tour week:

an early morning bike ride with my man-child

signs of spring

porch mornings

green lace on the hillsides

birds and peepers busy in song

colors just emerging in the garden

time to take a moment

it will be over in a minute

I'm off next week 

taking my eldest to visit colleges

having just survived 

the first 'parent drive' of many

time to take a moment

it will be over in a minute