Cherry Blossoms in their glory

Pink fluffly blossoms, so graceful.

Our cherry trees blossomed and were at their fullness about two weeks ago.  I love seeing the branches heavy with their floral pinkness shouting out their glory.

Alas, last Monday our trees began to rain...  the petals gently flowing down on slight breezes.  It seems magical to walk beneath the trees in one of the moments when the pink petals choose to let go and do their final dance to the ground.  And for a little while our driveway, flowerbeds, the road, the yard are blanketed in this wispy fairy pinkness, and I savor that too.  Spring is defnitely here.

Photos, Yellowstone & Roosevelt Ntl Parks & Family History

Remembering a Yellowstone trip and dreaming of enchanted New Mexico explorations...

Photos, Yellowstone and Roosevelt National Parks
Last fall we went to the Dakota's and on our meandering back to Seattle, we had to stop in Yellowstone.  We have been there several times and it never fails to impress me.  So here are some of my favorite photo's.  I've entered these in the Defenders of Wildlife photo contest this year, why not.  I may make them available as prints on my Fine Art America page.

I lucked into two shots of a bison that was only steps away from our car.  He looked like he was coming out of the mist - like a long ago spirit creature from the past.  Just breathtaking to experience the wonders in the Yellowstone, especially when I remember I'm walking atop the caldera of a huge underground volcano.  Since our trip was in late October there were a lot less tourists, and it was a lot chillier.  We had the first snow the day we left, and were hurrying to get out of the mountains and back home.

A photo from Roosevelt National Park is in the lower right.  Stunning desert like, barren and colorful country.  This park is vast open lands where if you are lucky you can see bison and wild mustangs.

Family History
One of my passions I haven't spoken of yet in this blog is researching family history, genealogy.  I'm thinking about this, because I recently joined a genealogy writing group, and am spending a little time today reading group member's stories.  We will be giving each other feedback as we write our stories.

In the "old days" research was all done by microfiche machine in archives or library.  Now with the advent of the internet, you can stumble upon all kinds of information in a matter of moments.  My journey has connected me with a half sister and several cousins, and since I'm researching my spouse's tree, lots of new relatives for him.  Surprisingly, we found a couple of cousin's for him only 30 minutes from where we live, amazing!

So, if you are interested, here are a couple of free links to get you started:

LDS (Mormons), largest collections - https://familysearch.org/
Find a Grave - largest collection of gravestones/memorials - http://www.findagrave.com/
Cyndi's List - a gi-normous list of sources - http://www.cyndislist.com/us/
Ellis Island Passenger Lists of Immigrants - http://www.ellisisland.org/

Sunset, Sunrise, Be Here Now

Time moves on, the seasons turn, I watch and ride the waves...

Sunset at Seaside, Oregon as another full year draws to a close.  But it will never really be gone, as I have lived it, and it is written in my bones to remember the highs and lows as life moves on.

A gentle feather blown about, nestled atop the rocks.  Soon it will be lifted by a breezy beach wind or tumbled by a rising tide.  Who knows where it will find itself next.  Are we like feathers sometimes?

A new year dawns with wide horizon and open skies, many are on the path, who knows who you might meet.  As far as my eye can see, sky and water.  Barely separate, they merge and dance, and beckon.... come.... walk and see.... feel that cool wind touch your cheek....  be in this delicious moment.... here.... now.

Summertime, Friends and Sketch Paintings

A little bit of heaven with balmy Northwest days, friends and artmaking...

Summertime
I have been savoring our beautiful Northwest, so balmy, just ideal weather.  We may get a day or two of really hot days but so mild compared to other parts of the country.  And even then, we have the cool breezes coming off the waters.  Ideal.

Friends and Artmaking
And also ideal time to get together with special friends and play with art.  My long time friend Lisa (in the photo above) and I reconnected last week, playing, sharing the day, we have seen many Artfests together, that's where we met.  I love the gorgeous colors in her large painting in the background - and her shirt, apron and new Goddess pieces she was working on.  Go see her stunning spirit-filled art here.

Here is one of the sketch paintings I finished that inspired day, from a pot of flowers in her artist's garden:

"Red Flowers", 5"x7"  watercolor & ink

Copyright Delorse Lovelady

And lucky me, I got to go to this lovely place for our Painting Critique group's annual day out retreat a couple of days ago.  Beverly so graciously hosted us at her Hansville cottage.  There were eight of us, decked out in our sunglasses and big floppy hats, walking the beach, enjoying the view. 

We had fun celebrating the 80th birthday of one of our members, Pam.  We each painted a small piece for her from the same photo.  It was SO amazing to see the different art styles, each so unique, like the women.

 "Pam the Magician", 5"x7"   Acrylic

Copyright Delorse Lovelady

On the way home on the ferry, I sketch painted this scene.

Here's another Northwest day - out with the Plein Air group at Matthews Beach.  There were five of us enjoying the day. 

I combined a couple of areas in the park to come up with this scene.

"Painting at Matthews Beach", 5"x7" watercolor

Copyright Delorse Lovelady

So you see I have been having a lovely summer, with these few samplings of my comings and goings...  and tomorrow I depart for a week long painting retreat with my painting club.  I have big plans for painting projects, canvases are prepped, supplies are at hand, now on to packing...

White Flowers,Letting Go, and Sunday Meditation

In letting go, there is a falling, then a soaring freedom to rise upon...

Flowers

So much color abounds this time of year, lovely rich saturated colors and so many wonderful flowers and gardens.  Rich in inspiration.  They grace my table and sometimes I place a single bloom elsewhere in our house.  Refreshing visually, some with a luscious scent too.  But so short lived, as so are we... a reminder to live fully in our days and savor our moments in the sun.  

Sunday Meditations

"The Art of Letting Go" by Richard Rohr is an audio book I am enjoying listening now.  Rohr is a Franciscan priest in New Mexico, the land of enchantment, and is engaging in this book centering on the wisdom of Saint Francis, exploring spiritual mystery, and letting go.  A very good and worthwhile summer read.

  A recent page from my journal:

Flowers bloom
Then fade...

Falling beautifully,
Cascading down gracefully,

Falling is unstoppable.

I savor the moments of those heady pure white blossoms,
I linger a moment in reverie and wistfulness,
And know I must soon turn the page...

Retreat, Art Play and Sunday Meditation

Beautiful scenery, good company and blissfully painting...

Retreat

A retreat is a wonderful thing, good for renewing the spirit, getting away from the regular routines and events going on in life.  And so, that's what I was doing this last week in a beautiful corner of our Northwest.

I arrived a day late after recuperating from a three week trip to Texas followed by a short illness after returning.   I quickly immersed myself in the camp of good company of our painting club, and gave myself up to painting and experimenting as much as possible.  Our instructor was the talented Jennifer Bowman, a high energy acrylic painter.

Art Play and Experimenting
In 5 days I produced 12 small paintings, experiments in color, shape, lights/darks, subject matter, materials, and using a palette in a different way.  Jennifer showed me how to do the eye on a couple of the paintings and in two others showed me the use of dark and light passages.
Here are the results of my experiments with birds:

and pears, rooster and trees:

and tulips:

I chose this retreat in place of the Artfest retreat in March this year.  And as it turned out this was this last Artfest, so I did manage to go for one day only over to Port Townsend to take a great workshop from Lisa Bebi on painting and photography.  Here is a one sample from my several paintings in that workshop:

Sunday Meditation
The exquisite scenery of both retreat locations nurtured my soul.  Nature does that.  And the one day March workshop plus last weeks retreat will serve as inspiration for me as I try out  different things in my paintings.  I am going in the new directions as I wanted...and am seeing where it leads.

I wonder if every day, there isn't a "mini retreat" waiting to be found by me... an hour painting outside on our deck, meeting at a park with fellow plein air painters and sketchers, a museum visit, or just quietly studying and playing with the many photo's I've taken of places, examples.

Attic Babies, Sunday Meditation, and Wonder

You never know how much goodness a little peep will make...

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Photo

Attic Babies

Exactly one week ago I woke up to some very faint peeps... and they have gotten more insistent and loud as the week has progressed.  Yes!  Our woodpeckers, Northern Flickers are back!  While I am so happy to share in this joyful occasion, the nesting location is not the best... our busy little flickers took advantage of our absence on a road trip for a couple of weeks in late March to hammer a hole thru the top side of our 2 story house and establish residence.  So we will not disturb them, and hope for the best in our attic, to see the fledgings take off.   I read that both the male and female share incubating the 6-8 eggs which takes about 11-16 days before the hatching.  Then both parents feed them constantly til they leave the nest a month later.  So I'm guessing the launching date for the babies will be sometime around June 6...  

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Photo

I've attempted but missed photo's of the comings and goings.  I so wish I could photo the going's on in the nest, but will have to be satisfied with one of the adults feeding at our bird feeder.

 

copyright Delorse Lovelady 2012

Sunday Meditation
It's been a full week for me.  Connecting with friends, art groups, family.  I won an award for a painting!  And yesterday I had the thrill of meeting NY artist/author Seth Apter (so charming) and 5 other Seattle area artists in his new book at the book signing.  Yesterday one of the attendees was speaking about the effect of a few words of a teacher on a student.

So I remembered a couple of personal instances where someone shared some words with me that made a difference, "stuck".  And I wonder how much we all really hear in all the symphony of life that goes on around us.  I can't help but think it could be a few words from anyone at a certain moment when we really take it in and hear it.   Words and images are so important, conveying meanings and layers of meanings.   It's as important to notice what we are sending out to the symphony, as it is to stop and listen to what is coming our way.

Wonder
Meanwhile, I'm enjoying the little singing chorus of peeps, the new energy, spring, life, the growing of wings for flying on the tiny flickers, my attic babies.

Winter Solstice, Grays, and Retreat

The lengthening of the days begin today and I join the journey towards more light and the renewal of Spring...
Winter Solstice
I have been enjoying the grays, the short days, the few frosty frozen mornings. Above I found a whimsical sun enshrined in a sidewalk, as if to remind me, yes, there really is a sun up there hovering above the ever present gray cloud cover here in the Northwest. A reminder, perhaps, to savor this different time of year, the season of resting underground, inside... full of the promise of the new cycles and color to come. Being a painter who uses lots of color, I wonder at the beauty of simple images with that contrast and light. Almost like the difference between seeing an old black and white film versus a color one. Perhaps color can be a distraction from the subject.
Hoar Frost
We've only had a few frosty mornings, but one day I chanced to actually find hoar frost, which I read comes after especially clear cold nights. The frost was fascinating little stems shooting up everywhere on our deck railing. I remember seeing hoar frost a couple of times before. The most memorable time was at the top of Haleakala volcano very very early in the morning as we wanted to be able to greet the dawn and see the sun rise in that gorgeous place.

Retreat
More exquisite grays and blues, lots of contrast is reflected in the photo below. It is from our recent short winter retreat near a favorite Canadian lake nestled between mountains with sprinklings of snow.

Photoshop Art, Flight Museum and Collage

Sifting through photo's, mixing colors, shapes... mixing it up...
PhotoShop Art
Above is a Photoshop composite of 3 photo's taken at a recent visit to the Seattle Flight Museum. I used layers, inversion, several other adjustments and filters to combine the 3 photo's: looking into a jet engine, the bottom of a hot air balloon, and butterflies.

The Museum of Flight
The Museum of Flight is a fascinating place. I'm not so much into technology and machines, however, the concept of flight, the history, the airiness of the high glass ceiling lead me into the land of imagination. A fun afternoon spent with visiting family, including the open eyes of a six year old, cannot fail to inspire. I especially liked the room devoted to lunar exploration and pictures of nebula's. Isn't this spiral shape stunning?
More Photoshop Art
Another altered photo follows, I used inversion and color adjustments. It is a rhododendrun blossom at Snowqualmie Falls. I'm drawn to the shocking green. It's fun to color outside the norm, play with my choices...
Collage
A friend and I had a great afternoon about a month ago making 5x7 "soul collage" cards. I've made many collages, however this is my first soul collage card. There is a book prescribing the techniques in using them for those who want to follow a system. I believe any art we make is a picture of who we are at the time, an expression of inner goings-on that we may or may not be aware of. It's good to pay attention to what shows up in our artwork, to ask ourselves about it, to notice and listen, this is what I learned when I trained to become an expressive art therapist a few years back. Noticing, listening lead us up the path of self-awareness.

Death Valley Desert, Wildfires & Gratitude, Sunday Meditation

“Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans”.... John Lennon
Time has moved by at warp speed and I'm realizing I haven't posted for over six weeks. So I suppose I've been taking a breath, or two, away from the little screen that captures my words and images and sends them to who knows where or to whom....

The Desert, Death Valley
I finally got my taste of "Southwest" kind of terrain. We set off on a two and a half week road trip (love them) which included the desert. Death Valley, always wanted to go, finally made it. And added this to my list of National Parks visited, I want to experience them all. How to describe something so vast and so diverse... let me see, did you know Death Valley has very high undulating sand dunes? And a 150 mile long valley floor, called Badwater Basin that has white salt flats on it? Yellow canyons colored like mustard. A canyon named "Artist's Palette" because of the colors - red, ochre, sienna, brown, black, turquoise, all mixed up, just like a palette against the cliffs. Volcanic craters. Mountains, with very high points to look down at the valley on several sides. Flowers. Lots of raucous ravens. An actual Spanish castle in the cliffs of a canyon. Slickrock, narrow canyon passages. And more.
It was very warm (for me) in March, mid-80's, I wouldn't dare wait any later to go. I have to say it was stunningly beautiful in it's starkness and harsh terrain. I love the wide open space, seeing forever, big skies, and all the other cliche sayings about that kind of landscape...... nature undressed, getting down to the bare bones of what's essential, and letting my artist's eye relish the colors, shapes, lines and dancing mirages..... I had fun with my sketchbook and paints. And I left reluctantly, but filled with inspiration.

Sunday Meditations - Wildfires and Gratitude
One day you are peacefully going about your life immersed into your world, your routines. And the next, nature throws some sparks your way, maybe sets a blaze into your world. And it wakes you up (again) to the enormity of our universe, of what a small piece of it you are, of the greater forces always present.

This past week nature stirred some massive storms in the Texas panhandle. Hot dry dusty wind, severe drought conditions with no rain in months, so conditions were ripe for the huge fires that raged across the plains, pushed by 60 mile an hour winds, no mountains or anything to stop them from advancing. There were many homes burned down and lives turned upside down.
Among the lucky, were my two brothers. They both live in the rural areas surrounded by pastureland and both had huge walls of fire raging nearby - one up to the back of the house (see photo's, courtesy of Jonathan Clubb) after it had eaten nearby houses, and the other, across the road from his house. Evacuations, road blocks. Lots of firemen. Very scary.
Foremost, I am so thankful none of my family was hurt. Or suffered the loss of their houses. It's a bit calmer today, but it will be a long hot nervous summer, if the drought doesn't get relieved. I imagine sending them some of our Seattle rain to ease the pain. Water is such a life giving fluid. So today, Sunday, it's a good day to be grateful for family, for rain and water, and the abundance of life and home sweet home.
Namaste

Crows, A Painting, and Flyways

Such smart interesting birds, I love to watch them...
Crows and a Painting
Here is one of my latest acrylic paintings... playing with shapes, colors, movement. I have a series of these going on now.

Crows are such a delight to watch, and I have that opportunity every day, as our house is in their daily flyway. Every evening about an hour or so before dusk, they are winging their way in our direction. They gather in the hundreds in the nearby park, the greenbelts, the lumber yard, the library, and their raucous chatter fills the air.

This is the view from our back deck, we happily have a small greenbelt adjacent to our backyard and the trees are often filled with the crows in the evening.
Sometimes when there are no clouds, we can even see the Cascades.....
An Artist's Life is Never Dull
In between the snow, and painting canvases in my studio, it's been a very busy time. I entered the Gallery North miniature show with 3 paintings, and submitted 2 digital entries for the Seattle Co-Arts juried show. Managed to meet with friends for painting critique, so fun and inspiring to see other's work, and helpful too. Played at sketching at a brewery with sketching buddies, stitched button pins with sewing friends... And now I'm volunteering as the Workshop Chair for Seattle Co-Arts so, have just set up two workshops and demo's with terrific artists for our membership.

Meanwhile, soon, we are off on another adventure, to visit a favorite town, Ashland, and perhaps venture farther afield into Nevada territory. So much to explore.

Abstract Floral, Do Over, and Experimenting

Sometimes changing direction is just the best thing to do...
Do Over
Once in a great while I might wonder if a "do over" of a life situation might have been better. But not very often, as, I generally am content and consider myself blessed in many ways. Why am I talking about this? Well, I recently discovered what "do over" means on painting. Having used watercolors for so many years, I didn't see many opportunities for those. But, with acrylics, "do over" is a definite reality.

I was painting in my studio recently and I kept glancing at an annoying painting. It was a crane of some sort, and I really did NOT like it. The shape was wrong, too much of a certain color, wrong feel, you get the idea. I can't remember painting completely over a painting, but I decided to work with it. And I tried out a different style of painting for me. It came out great. So my lesson was, yes, "do over's" do exist, especially in the art world. And sometimes I need a little annoyance, like an unresolved painting, staring me in the face waiting for the fix and a fresh coat of paint.

Abstract Floral
I will show that painting in another post, as I have more to say about a different subject with that painting. But meanwhile, I remembered the painting below, an abstract floral, that also languished for a while in my studio. Until one day I took my pen out and doodled all over it, the finished (for now) version posted at the top, a very different look.
Experimenting
This week I continued my pantry experiments with fabric dyeing. Last week it was avocado skin. This week I have an earl grey tea muslin and a stunning tumeric yellow (canary color) fabric. I tore off a scrap and put it in a glass bowl with each, set it in the sun in a window overnight and voila! What's next? Maybe chili powder? Such a lot of fun. Pictures to come soon. I am getting ready to take a Jude Hill (Spirit Cloth in my sidebar) class on hand stitching soon. She uses natural fibers, many hand-dyed.

Today I painted the edges of 2 large bird canvases. And gessoed 3 small ones to add to the 3 mini bird canvases I already finished. These will be entered into a miniature show this weekend.

And looking about I found another "finished" canvas and started repainting it too. Now I've got my eyes looking for "do over" possibilities... let's see, what do I have sitting in a drawer, a back room somewhere with a sad look, that only needs a new look and fresh coat of paint...?

Sunday Meditation
This photo was shot out of the windshield at a stop light, I couldn't resist that luminous sky, always at the ready with the camera for possibilities.

May the direction you are going, be the one you consciously choose.

Sketchbook Project, Organizing, Just BE

"Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast..." from Alice in Wonderland
The Sketchbook Project
Above is the outside cover from my sketchbook "Lights in the Distance" just submitted to the ArtHouse Co-op a couple of days ago. This previous posting talks a bit about it. I made 2 originals, so I could keep one. I used the moleskin sketchbook sent by ArtHouse, but removed most of the 80 pages. My book has 16 finished pages plus the outside/inside covers..... The paper was so flimsy, so I glued some of the ones I left in the book together, then collaged/ gessoed more on top of them to make them more sturdy. I included a few sketches but found my subject lent itself more to some personal photos (altered in Photoshop), and previous artwork (also altered in Photoshop).
All in all a very fun and productive art project. Some of the the pages will lead to other pieces of art, paintings or 3d, for example the one above. I have used this photo in other art pieces and it's one of my favorites. I've posted the ArtHouse tour schedule for the sketchbooks (thousands of them from around the globe) in my sidebar. Additionally, ArtHouse will be digitizing and posting quite a few of them online too in a couple of months. If you click on the link, scroll down to see what they are about, since they currently have a special message for the sketchers at the top.

Organizing Art
Speaking of impossible things - maybe this year will be the year? I've seen at least half a dozen blogs talking about cleaning out the studio's. Hmmm, I wonder, is "organized art" an oxymoron? I think I need a certain amount of chaos or jumble to stimulate ideas, you know, unexpected things or colors randomly colliding in a great way...

I have art all over the house, some is organized (kind of) and some not so much. I think it's because my art from very early years evolved from watercolor painting and some sewing into "why not try everything". I suppose it's an organic process & grew so much with all kinds of art, that I didn't create "homes" for some things. So that's my thought now - instead of getting lost in the details too much - to envision "homes" for everything, how all the space in the house would be most useful, and then reorganize from there. And at the same time, consolidate some things that are scattered. It would eliminate some occasional "search & rescue" missions for tools or supplies I sometimes can't find. Here's a very small glimpse of my art messiness...
And here are examples of some things, but not all, that I do now; at least it's a start....
Labeled clear drawers or plastic boxes - "Adhesives" drawer for wet, stick or tacky tape; "Tape" drawer for masking, dble-sided, washi, packing, etc.; "Tools" for some larger ones (hand drill, heat gun, etc); "Sewing Notions"; "Ribbons"; "Threads"; "Felting"; "Embroidery", "Stencils", "Inks", "Pens, Colored Pencils, etc", and more
Zip plastic bags (the kind linens or sheets come in) - easy to find & take along somewhere. I have one bag that is all about matting, framing paintings & hanging up a painting show. I have one that is for bookbinding kind of tools..... And then a misc general tool bag.
Small clear boxes - for pricey tube acrylic paints; separate ones for watercolor tube paints. Old thrift store wooden CD holders - for cheap $1 acrylics
Wood CD holders & wire baskets & closed cabinet - for fabric quarters & larger pieces
Clear Over-Door Shoe Holder - great for art mediums, gesso's, etc.
Plastic bags for projects - I haven't been doing this consciously, but I always have a bag with one or two small handstitching projects (fabric books, embroidery, collage, beading) ready to be worked on. And another bag with my small sketchbooks, journal with pens & mini-palette & waterbrush also at the ready. I do make time every night working on something as I wind down maybe watching tv at the same time. But I think I might expand this, and "bag" up more at-the- ready projects that are small and portable. Or possible "art experiments" I have been dreaming up and wanting to try.

I don't know about any of you, but I've decided that as part of figuring out how best to use & reorganize my space, I must include a "staging" area. As well as arting alone, I often come in and out of the house - going to sewing or painting groups, meeting friends, a workshop now & then - so tools/supplies/art projects come in or go out with me... and often don't get put away, then I'm scrounging to find something later. I'd love to hear some ideas for this problem!

Sunday Meditation
In spite of the post New Year's organizing frenzy, do remember this: all those lovely art tools and supplies are there for a reason - to support your creativity, nurture your inner soul, provide ways to express yourself... Maybe it's ok to have them visible to remind oneself to take the time, to make the time, to just be, just play. And maybe it's about a balancing act between how much time you owe to play and how much to maintenance. Perhaps an organized space is possible with time for play too...

A quote from Einstein: “... although I have a regular work schedule, I take time to go for long walks on the beach so that I can listen to what is going on inside my head. If my work isn’t going well, I lie down in the middle of a workday and gaze at the ceiling while I listen and visualize what goes on in my imagination.”
Meanwhile, here's an interesting blog read that I've followed off and on, and added to my sidebar, Zen Habits. Here's what they say in their "About" page..."Zen Habits is about finding simplicity in the daily chaos of our lives. It’s about clearing the clutter so we can focus on what’s important, create something amazing, find happiness." How true.

Sending you a Peace-Filled Artful Day,
Namaste