KALEIDOSCOPE

I had a really nice walk through my friends' woods, bordering Appleton farms. I had my camera with me and spent the walk studying the leaves and trees and the colors. I was thinking of a particular passage from one of my favorite books, Tinkers, by Paul Harding:

"The way the clouds moved, mostly invisable, above the canopy of the trees, now revealing the full light of the sun, now obscuring it, now diffusing it, reflecting it, and the way it sparkled and trickled and gushed and spun, and the way the wind dispersed it even more among the flickering leaves and twitching grass, all combined to make Howard feel as if he were walking through a kaleidoscope." 

PEAK MOMENTS old post revised

The rain stopped. The skies opened up, and then the next thing I knew the sun was out, the birds were back at the feeders, and the lighting was so warm and beautiful and peaceful. I stopped. I allowed myself a moment to take a break from thinking about the list of things I need to accomplish today. It was a "peak" moment in my day.

I've been thinking about my four children, and have become very aware of giving them space along with my strong faith that they will find their way in life. I respect them greatly. They are all transitioning, three of them out of college, with one building a career for herself in the culinary world, another supporting himself on the west coast, questioning and searching and exploring new possibilities, and my most recently graduated from college, out in Boulder, working for MMLocal, a farm to market food company. My youngest,  after taking a year off and doing a fall semester with Kroka expeditions, and then an internship in New Zealand is a freshman in college and seems enthusiastic and engaged. So I will focus on my life, and resist the temptation to call them.

They are adults now, and like the weather, one moment it may be raining and the next filled with sunshine. Maslow says that the closer we get to self actualiazation, the more "peaks" we experience. They confirm the realizations we have of our full potential.  I hope, by living my own values and respecting my childrens' individuality, they will continue to seek knowledge and meaning and appreciation for all the beauty in themselves and this world.

I recently discovered the blog of a Norwegian man named Bjarte Bakke, and I have shared two of his posts with my children: The four most important things in life, and The hidden secret of outstanding performance: Learn how to think. They  have opened up good conversations. The TED talk that he posts by Meg Jay on why 30 is not the new 20 is very worthwhile listening to. 

I hope we can all experience more peaks in our lives. 

PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP

I just finished a week long photography workshop on Marthas Vineyard. My teacher was Alison Shaw, who came to Marthas Vineyard in 1975 to work at the Vineyard Gazette, and never left. Her fine art photography is exquisite, and she shares her very favorite locations and techniques in such a warm and professional way. With every new wave, every changing ray of light, and the personal decisions we make on how to frame what we see through the lens of our cameras, no two images are the same. I learned so much. This was one of my favorite shots taken in the early morning at Lucy Vincent Beach in Chilmark.

TODAY

TODAY

I'm very excited, and so are my dogs. I'm excited because my friend and web designer, Karen, has been helping me to redesign my website, and she is about to switch it over. My dogs are excited , although . . .  if they could speak they would probably say pissed off because they never got a walk today. That's the issue when I become creatively inspired, I actually become impaired because I get so totally engrossed in whatever project I am doing that I tend to ignore everything else going on around me. I love NOT multitasking. Not a good attitude. I am now going to feed the dogs and take an evening walk. Stay tuned.

RIDING BOOTS

Woke up at 5:30 this morning in the dark, fed the dogs, and headed over to Cranes beach to photograph the sunrise, but the gates were locked. I drove back through Essex and over to Singing Beach in Manchester, but nothing cried out to me. I cut back over to Hamilton on Chebacco Road stopping to walk my dogs through the woods...my camera around my neck, but never felt inspired to look through my lens. It was 7:30 now and time to go home. I got out of my car and walked down to let the chickens out of the coop. The lighting was flat and they are molting so there were more feathers on the floor of the coop than on their backs. I was just about to give up and retire my camera to its case when Lisa's riding boots, sitting in the early morning sun on the tackroom floor, caught my eye. 

COOL CITIES & CLOSE MOMENTS

My kids are spread out across the country at this stage of our family life. It's actually not all bad because they're living in pretty cool cities that I would have otherwise never had the opportunity to know. More importantly, by visiting each of them in their individual environments, I, myself, am removed from the daily distractions of my familiar routine, which frees me to relax. It's such a luxury to have extended time to focus on the close moments between you and your child.  In the less hectic minutes and hours I can feel strong connections being made, often silently, as I have the opportunity to observe my grown children building their adult lives. Watching them and reflecting on my own life, I remind myself that it's a process.

I painted wall art during each of my visits. The poppies and white cow are in Boulder, the brown cow in Portland, Oregon, and the red daisies in NYC. I'm on my way up to Burlington, Vermont tomorrow for a parent's weekend, but not so sure there will be time to be creative. 

PAINT YOUR PET

SAMMY

Last night was "paint your pet night" at 15 Walnut Cafe in Lynn. An old professor of mine has been hosting these creative events there for some time now, but this was only the first time that I was available to attend one. After experiencing the atmosphere exuding from this funky little cafe, it won't be my last. We sat out back, at a long table, in a small closed in garden area. Our instructor, Michelle Lewis, provided all the supplies...acrylics, brushes, water, papertowels, and a 16x20" white primed canvas perched on a tabletop easel, waiting to be transformed. I was feeling a bit restless and anxious yesterday...just having one of those more worriesome than usual days, aware of the need to stop and listen and to take slow deep breaths, but wanting to be productive, maybe feeling disconnected? All I know is that the minute I walked into the 15 Walnut Cafe and looked around I felt totally at ease. This was where I belonged. This was what I needed...to be absorbed. As the night progressed my thoughts naturally shifted away from myself, and I began to focus outwardly on the abundance of creative energy in that one small place. Painting is so much fun,, but this was a night where it was much more than that. It was the feeling of connection and belonging, openness and acceptance among a diverse group of people without any sense of urgency. Another peak moment in my life.    

STORYTELLING

STORY TELLER

After opening an email from storyteller, Jay O'Callahan, and reading a poem he wrote called Summer Vacation, I started to dig back through some of his earlier blogs. I came across his entry, below, which I felt drawn to share. I am reminded that I really want to take one of Jay's workshops. After a refreshing reacquaintance with him, I am determined to make it happen!

   "We’re all creative! I’ve learned that giving workshops – storytelling and writing workshops – for over thirty years. I’ve also learned that there is something in our cultural genes that fashions invisible doors inside which we learn NOT to create. As a result . . . crayons are put away when we’re seven. Clay is put away after camp. Poems are no longer written after high school or college. On and on. This is absurd. Life is short. Create! Sing a lullaby to your child. Make one up. Who cares if it isn’t “good.” Wink at someone. Plant a lettuce you’ve never tried."      -Jay O'Callahan

We are planning on selling our old 1977 VW Bus this summer, which is difficult to let go of, but it's time. The drawing above is one I did about a year ago. Images allow us to hold on and let go at the same time.

ROSES

The roses ON our tool shed will bloom well into the autumn season as the days will get shorter and the temperatures cooler.  

RAINY DAYS

Another rainy day in New England. Our sisal rug has been hanging out over our pasture fence now for almost a week. We're in need of a few consecutive days of sunshine. Even though the sound of the rain is kind of nice to fall asleep to, I'm feeling a bit waterlogged. 

LAYERS

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SELF PORTRAIT

I like the idea of doing a self portrait everyday. Danny Gregory's father did it, and now Danny does it, and it is just a really cool idea to look at yourself and draw what you see every morning, and to imagine all the possible interpretations you might come up with, depending on what you're wearing, or the time of year, your mood, your choice of art supplies. Not so sure I can be disciplined enough, or that i'll like what i see!

JOURNALING

Last Saturday evening, after dinner, Danny Gregory let us look through his assortment of wonderful illustrative journals he had filled over the many years. That's where I saw this technique he likes to use of painting around the drawing. These fire engines were hard...a challenging exercise. My truck got a bit squashed in the front, but I was determined to fit it all on the two pages. Precise measuring is really difficult, but fun. Danny strongly advises against using pencils, so I have transitioned to beginning all my drawings right from the start with a pen. Make sure you use a waterproof pen like the Micron pens so they won't run when you add color later.

WISTERIA

...I felt them, early, warning Lest I miss any part of the day."

                         -Ann Mcgough, Vineyard Gazette

SIMPLE & SPONTANEOUS DRAWINGS

Danny Gregory advised us to divide our page into little squares and to create small close-up drawings. These squares are roughly 2x2" and a really fun and manageable way to be productive, because if you always carry your journal with you, the drawings can be done quickly and spontaneously throughout the day. I also try to remember to carry a small pocket watercolor set with me. My drawings are very simple and quite amateur, but adding a splash of color really spruces them up!

DRAWING WORKSHOP

Just returned last evening from The Rowe Center in Rowe, MA, where my son, Charlie and I, along with another mom and son friend team participated in a drawing workshop, lead by Danny Gregory, called Everyday Art: How to Start Drawing and See the World. It was too good to be true to have a whole weekend of being inspired by Danny.

This was a drawing I did in my room on our first night there. On the second evening Danny began to personalize our journals with the signature penmanship he is known for by using his favored "dip pen".  

This morning I was reading through some underlined passages in the book, Big Sur And The Oranges Of Hieronymous Bosch, by Henry Miller, when suddenly this particular one rang out loud and clear:

"I had never displayed the least ability to draw; at school, in fact, I was so hopelessly untalented that they use to permit me to skip the drawing class. I'm still bad at it, but it doesn't bother me much anymore. Whenever i sit down to paint I feel happy; as I feel my way along I whistle and hum and sing and shout. Sometimes I put down the brush and do a jig."    - Henry Miller, Big Sur, pg. 88.

RUSHING

RUSHING

Rushing to get my last drawing of the month done. This Ivy plant has been thriving in this little bird pot in my kitchen. I'm leaving in 5 minutes with my son and friends for a drawing workshop in the Berkshires hosted by my mentor, Danny Gregory. I will hopefully have alot to post when I get back.

SHOES

PET'S POINT OF VIEW

Day # 29:

DRAW SOMETHING FROM YOUR PET'S POINT OF VIEW.

Two more days to go in May. This everyday matters in may challenge to draw something has been really fun. 

PITCHER

PITCHER

THIS IS A WONDERFUL OLD SPONGEWARE PITCHER MY MOM GAVE TO ME YEARS AGO. I HAD SO MUCH FUN SITTING OUT BACK IN THE SUN PAINTING THIS. I WASN'T VERY OPTIMISTIC THAT THIS DRAWING/PAINTING WOULD AMOUNT TO MUCH IN THE END, HENCE I DIDN'T REALLY SPEND ALOT OF TIME FUSSING OVER IT. AS A RESULT I ACTUALLY LIKE ITS ABSTRACT QUALITIES.