Real Snow!

I realize that this isn't a big deal to many of you, but we don't often get a foot of snow in Kentucky, so I'm excited! Snow just floated down like big white feathers, it streaked sideways in the wind, it fell in buckets and just kept coming. Then the shiny ice pellets came, sounding like millions of june bugs tapping on the windows. This was followed by- guess what?- more snow!


Since we've been off all week (believe it or not, we teachers are more excited than the kids), I've had time to work on art, and also to try out my new camera. I stood on my back porch and took pictures of birds at the feeder about 30 feet away; if had set up the tripod (not really practical in the snow) and zoomed in all the way, I could have taken pictures of their eyeballs. I LOVE this camera!


I call this cardinal Marilyn because she loves to pose- or really, she's probably just a glutton because she's always at the feeder. I thought she was beautiful, though, and she didn't flit around as much as the smaller birds. Did you know that birds can move astonishingly quickly? Unbelievable! I really did need a tripod.


Hey! I just found out we have another snow day tomorrow! Whoo-hoo!

Cyberspace Name Change

I finally decided to give my blog a new name. About a year ago, when I was so sadly ignorant of all things bloggish, my son was setting up this blog for me. "What do you want to call it?" he asked. In my typical, quick-witted fashion, I replied, "Huh?" He shook his head and typed in 'Look at this thing I made today', and since I could think of nothing better at the time, it stuck. At the time I thought it would be a daily painting blog; I tried this for a while but it about killed me, since I have a day job which tends to suck all the life out me.
So today I came up with a name which is more apropos of the true nature of this blog. I guess I had to actually do it for a while before I could see exactly what it would be, if you know what I mean. What it seems to be is some sort of visual diary, where I rattle on to whoever's out there in cyberspace. 'Cyberspace' used to seem like a sort of goofy, overblown term until I started doing this, but now its meaning makes perfect sense. I feel like I'm releasing words and images into a sort of vast empty void where they float around until possibly, by some random chance, someone looks at them. It's like, "hey, is anybody out there?"

Aurora

The extra-cold weather we've been having this winter got me thinking about those far northern places where it's almost always cold. In some of those places, people endure not only the mind-numbing cold, but somehow withstand extended periods of darkness as well. I cannot imagine how they survive such conditions; I whine and complain if the mercury dips below the freezing mark, and hate it when it's already dark at 6:00 p.m. I tried to picture what it would be like, to live in a place so dark and colorless. And I thought about the aurora borealis, which plays an important part in the "His Dark Materials" trilogy by Philip Pullman. Most of the story takes place in the far north; just reading it made me feel cold. I've always wondered what the aurora really looks like, and if seeing it could in some way compensate for the cold there. So here is my imaginary aurora borealis, to distract me from the cold. You may notice, however, that I couldn't stop myself from including some "ice flowers" in the foreground.

Inaugural Poem by Elizabeth Alexander

Praise song for the day.

Each day we go about our business, walking past each other, catching each others' eyes or not, about to speak or speaking. All about us is noise. All about us is noise and bramble, thorn and din, each one of our ancestors on our tongues. Someone is stitching up a hem, darning a hole in a uniform, patching a tire, repairing the things in need of repair.

Someone is trying to make music somewhere with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.

A woman and her son wait for the bus.

A farmer considers the changing sky; A teacher says, "Take out your pencils. Begin."

We encounter each other in words, words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed; words to consider, reconsider.

We cross dirt roads and highways that mark the will of someone and then others who said, "I need to see what's on the other side; I know there's something better down the road."

We need to find a place where we are safe; We walk into that which we cannot yet see.

Say it plain, that many have died for this day. Sing the names of the dead who brought us here, who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges, picked the cotton and the lettuce, built brick by brick the glittering edifices they would then keep clean and work inside of.

Praise song for struggle; praise song for the day. Praise song for every hand-lettered sign; The figuring it out at kitchen tables.

Some live by "Love thy neighbor as thy self."

Others by first do no harm, or take no more than you need.

What if the mightiest word is love, love beyond marital, filial, national. Love that casts a widening pool of light. Love with no need to preempt grievance.

In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.

On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp -- praise song for walking forward in that light.

Martin Luther King/ Inauguration Day

Though none of my work could be considered 'political' in any way, I felt the need to commemorate the extraordinary times in which we find ourselves living. In particular, I wanted to honor the great Dr. Martin Luther King, who envisioned this day before the rest of us could. Our hope now resides in a man who has the courage to take on the heavy burden of attempting to lead us out of this fearful time. May all that's holy protect and inspire Barack Obama, our new president. I put together some images of a few small parts of this country that I consider worth preserving. Peace.

Red Tara(s)

My friend Mish saw the gold and green Taras and asked if I could make her red, or black, or white. Those are her other colors, you see, in some of her 21 aspects. So, I started thinking, Hmmmmm.... I guess I took it as a challenge, to see if I, as a Photoshop beginner, so to speak, could figure out how to manifest these color changes. Here are some of my attempts at Red Tara. It's a lot harder than it seems like it would be- you can't just push the color bar over to red (darn!). Can I do black or white? We'll see...

Two Taras

Gold Tara
Green Tara
Tara is the primary goddess-form in Tibetan Buddhism, and is considered to be the embodiment of compassion. She is the ancient nature goddess, coming from the indigenous animist religion of pre-Buddhist Tibet, called Bon. She manifests in 21 different aspects, from gentle mother to fierce destroyer of evil, pain, and suffering. Here are a few verses of the traditional Tibetan prayer, "Praises to the 21 Taras":

Homage to Tara swift and fearless
With eyes like a flash of lightning
Lotus-born in an ocean of tears
Of Chenresig, three worlds' protector.

Homage to you whose face is like
One hundred autumn moons gathered
And blazes with the dazzling light
Of a thousand constellations.

Homage to you born from a gold-blue lotus
Hands adorned with lotus flowers
Essence of giving, effort and ethics,
Patience, concentration and wisdom.

Homage to you who crown all Buddhas
Whose action subdues without limit
Attained to every perfection
On you the bodhisattvas rely.

OM TA-RE TU-TA-RE TU-RE SO-HA (Tara's Mantra)