Essence?

I finished this piece over a month ago, but have had some issues with getting things photographed due to my camera not working and the weather not cooperating (to say the least!). It's hard for me to describe what this piece is about, so I'll just say it's about essence. I was going to title it Between the Veils, but maybe Essence would be a better title.

ingredients: vintage book cover, pages, and spine; image transfer, drawing, collage, stitching, feathers, watercolor pencils



Bone
by Mary Oliver

1.

Understand, I am always trying to figure out

what the soul is,

and where hidden,

and what shape

and so, last week,

when I found on the beach

the ear bone

of a pilot whale that may have died

hundreds of years ago, I thought

maybe I was close

to discovering something

for the ear bone

2.

is the portion that lasts longest

in any of us, man or whale; shaped

like a squat spoon

with a pink scoop where

once, in the lively swimmer's head,

it joined its two sisters

in the house of hearing,

it was only

two inches long

and thought: the soul

might be like this

so hard, so necessary

3.

yet almost nothing.

Beside me

the gray sea

was opening and shutting its wave-doors,

unfolding over and over

its time-ridiculing roar;

I looked but I couldn't see anything

through its dark-knit glare;

yet don't we all know, the golden sand

is there at the bottom,

though our eyes have never seen it,

nor can our hands ever catch it

4.

lest we would sift it down

into fractions, and facts

certainties

and what the soul is, also

I believe I will never quite know.

Though I play at the edges of knowing,

truly I know

our part is not knowing,

but looking, and touching, and loving,

which is the way I walked on,

softly,

through the pale-pink morning light.

RoYELLOWgbiv

It's hard to believe it's the third Thursday of the month already!  Though I've been anxiously waiting for signs of Spring - which I'm beginning to see, though none are yellow - time still seems to fly by.  Paradoxical, isn't it? Coincidentally, in fact, I believe today is the first day of Spring, also known as the Vernal equinox, when the sun crosses the plane of the equator, making night and day approximately the same length all over the earth. Here are a couple of graphics for you (sorry, not yellow):

Since I'm not seeing much yellow in my surroundings right now, I thought I'd start with some of my favorite flower photos from Glacier National Park, in the northwest corner of Montana.

Oh, yes, it's a glorious place!



Next, a selection of  some of my older pieces of art that prominantly feature yellow:

 Transformation 24

 Gateway

 Transformation 4

Icarus Reborn

And finally, here is what I'm dreaming of:

Head on over to Jennifer Coyne Qudeen's beautiful blog for more yellow!

Happy Spring (or Happy Fall, as the case my be), everyone!

Glimpses

Glimpses

ingredients: vintage book cover and spine; monotypes, ephemera, ribbon, stitching                 7.5 x 9.5 inches

I seem to remember
bright flashes
of clarity
I could almost touch
before they dissolved
tantalizing
ephemeral
pieces
of a forgotten dream
moving through time
then vanished

For Emma

For Emma

ingredients: vintage book cover, vintage lace, vintage book pages and ephemera, Derwent watercolor pencils, stitching

I found this written in a 100 year-old book:

Remember me when death shall close

These eyelids in their last repose

And when the wind doth gently wave

The grass that grows upon my grave

                                                   Emma K

I have no idea who Emma K. was, or what prompted her to pencil these words onto a page of this book.  But I tried to imagine her, anyway, and what she might have been like.  Maybe she loved butterflies, and lace.  Maybe she loved to sew.  Perhaps she read a book with a bitter-sweet ending, and it got her thinking.  She wanted to be remembered.  And so I made this for her, a girl I never knew, so we'll remember.

RoyGBiv: Orange

What a wonderful time of year for orange! If there's anything we need more at this very gray and white time of year than a shot of orange (except Spring, of course), I don't know what it would be. Cheerful and bright, just the thought of zingy orange makes me feel a bit warmer.  I hope these photos will do the same for you. For even more orange, go to Jennifer Coyne Qudeen's lovely blog, where you'll find links to more Searching For RoyGBiv participants.

... this butterfly wisely chose the correct color when looking for a zinnia to drink from...

... a delicate orange shelf fungus on a log in the woods...

... a bright orange spotted salamander inside a hollow tree trunck...

... one of my favorites - a turk's cap lily from my garden last summer...

... fiery red-orange Indian paintbrush from my vacation in the Rocky Mountains...

... a variety of nice orange shades in this box of pastels...

...colorful sugar maples from a gorgeous past Fall...

... and this very brightly painted wall at the Kentucky Guild of Artists and Craftsmen's gallery in Berea, Kentucky (the upper left piece is mine)...

Coincidentally, the outside of the gallery is also kind of orange!



Again, visit Jennifer's blog to follow the trail to more orange of all kinds!

What's on My Easel

I promised to show you what's on my easel, so here goes.  The piece on the left is one that was already deemed "finished"- an illustration for my yet to be written book, called, "Crow Creates the Night".

Crow Creates the Night (version 1)

Even though I thought it was finished, the crow's beak really bothered me because I felt it wasn't shaped like the one in "The Separation of Heron and Crow",

The Separation of Heron and Crow

and therefore would be too inconsistent if I ever do finish the book. Finally I decided to fix it, and here's what it looks like now.

Crow Creates the Night (version 2)

Changing it was very difficult, and at one point I was sure I had ruined it, but I'm much more satisfied with it now. 

The piece in the middle of the easel is kind of a re-do of part of an older piece which just wasn't working. I don't have a 'before' photo of it to show you, but several things were erased and a few were added. Right now I'm putting a chaotic flock of birds in the sky, flying as birds do when they're startled out of a tree or something.  The idea is to create a sense of unease here, giving the viewer a feeling that something ominous is about to happen.  I can't tell how this one will turn out, or even if I'll like it.

The third piece is the next illustration for my non-existent book, entitled, "Heron Creates the Day." I hope you're able to see the outlines of the heron, which at this point is just a sketch on a piece of tracing paper.  Hopefully, I will get to this one soon.



                              

A Little Inspiration on a Cold, Gray Day

I don't know about all of you, but this frigid gray weather is beginning to drag me down a bit.  I found this inspiring video about artist Kal Barteski, and thought I'd share it here.  Her determination to follow her dream has sustained her through grerat adversity, and I felt a keen sense of kinship with her.  In her story, I have found encouragement; I hope you will, too.







I've also been greatly inspired by artist/blogger Sophie Munns' work with seed biodiversity.  Like Kal, she uses her work to promote a cause she feels deeply about.





Kal and Sophie are superlative examples of how it's possible to put art to work in service to the greater good, and to remain true to ourselves while making art.