Here are a few sketches of faces from some drawing sessions earlier this year... I constantly am trying to improve and capture a moment in time....
And below, here is one that I painted on a small 5"x7" hard canvas... mixed media.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Faces, Sketches, and Drawing Practice
Faces, faces everywhere, all so interesting, all carrying a story...
Here are a few sketches of faces from some drawing sessions earlier this year... I constantly am trying to improve and capture a moment in time....
And below, here is one that I painted on a small 5"x7" hard canvas... mixed media.
Here are a few sketches of faces from some drawing sessions earlier this year... I constantly am trying to improve and capture a moment in time....And below, here is one that I painted on a small 5"x7" hard canvas... mixed media.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Paintings, Color, and Spring
"Color has taken possession of me; no longer do I have to chase after it. I know that it has hold of me forever... Color and I are one. I am a painter." Paul Klee
Delorse Lovelady 2010 "Oh, Give Me Color Today!" 4x6 acrylicI have managed to do some small paintings to enter into a local juried miniatures show, the Edmonds Art Fair that is held every year in June. I won't know til May if any of the four I am submitting will be accepted.
The top one is inspired by our yearly trek to the Skagit Valley tulip fields where we usually enjoy viewing the farmlands, beautiful vista's and sometimes, snow geese. I used my imagination this time, didn't feel like pulling out reference photos. We won't be able to go this year as April is slipping away and other plans are brewing, so here is my tribute to the colorful tulips and springtime in the Valley. However, I am enjoying the many tulips and other flowers blooming in our yard... so lovely...
The second painting is another imagination painting.... I was thinking about the distance, viewing something in the far distance, a panorama. Though not quite a desert scene (or maybe it could be?), I thought of Georgia O'Keeffe and her fascination and love of the desert, what she called the "faraway"... "a beautiful, untouched lonely feeling place", of infinite beauty and space... a place I enter in my mind sometimes in a painting like this one.
Delorse Lovelady 2010 "Somewhere in the Far Away" 4x6 AcrylicI was disappointed that we didn't make it to the Death Valley desert as intended in March, however, instead we went on a wonderful road trip in Oregon I will soon post about...
"Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky. " Rabindranath Tagore
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
An Exotic Bird, Jubilación, and Granny D
"You have to keep the young adventurer inside your heart alive long enough for it to someday re-emerge.... Granny D
It may take some coaxing and some courage, but that person is in you always -- never growing old." Granny D
An Exotic Bird
"For me, the vast marvel is to be alive. For man, or for flowers or beast or bird, the supreme triumph is to be most vividly and perfectly alive." Al Purdy
We happened upon the wonderful parrot in the pictures on a stroll in a Portland park in July 2008. He was perched on his owner's shoulder. I have to wonder who owns who... Aren't we the ones captured by the wildness, that exotic beauty, the sumptuous colors? I couldn't resist taking several photographs. This one is for my current photoartjournal project on birds.
I will soon share more photos from a more recent trip I have been on... meanwhile...
Jubilación
I just passed my 6th anniversary of being "retired". It's hard to imagine it's been that long ago already. First let me say, I detest the words "retired" and "retirement" as they have a connotation, if not a stereotype, that seem to conjure up images of settling into a rocker for the final few days. Not that anything is wrong with sitting in a rocker, it just always seemed to me that it used to mean that life was almost over, and in our culture, you might become one of the invisible folks, the aging, that are not as revered as the youth culture.
Anyway, I happened upon the word for retirement in Spanish - it is "jubilación" -- jubilation!!! Jubilation in the English dictionary means: a feeling of or the expression of joy or exultation or shouting for joy. What a wonderful word to describe the next phase of life after work. Because, in many cases, I'm sure, people didn't do for a career what their "purpose" called them to do, but instead, perhaps as I did, fell into their line of work by accident or as a practical matter of making a living. So leaving and entering the next stage may be with some jubilación, as you become freed to do more of whatever your heart desires.
But, as with any change in life there is what I call the "land of in-between" where you have one foot in the past and one stepping forward into the unknown. I remember vividly my last work day having stayed late to "finish" things up, feel that completion, while everyone else had gone home. I had the card key pass that I left for a manager on her chair, then hesitated as I walked out the door for the last time without the key, knowing I would never go back in. I was closing the door on that world, a thirty-four year career, and walking into an unknown world.
There is that one moment of trusting the momentum of the step forward, and releasing the energy in the foot stuck in the past that propels you into the new. And suddenly, in a step, a blink... life is different. And you might wonder why you resisted at all. And you might realize that there you are, everything you were and are, is still there, the adventurer, the artist, the person with experiences that have prepared you with tools, still there. New and different, but still the same after all... we are such paradoxes. And that land of in-between is always with us as we shapeshift from one phase of life to another...
Granny D
Here's an interesting life story of "Granny D" who just passed on at 100, what an inspiring woman. I read about Doris Haddock a couple of years ago and was so impressed. She walked 3200 miles across the country at 89 years of age just to make a point, stand up for her beliefs and educate people along the way about campaign finance reform. And she even ran for the Senate at 94. Her autobiography, written with Dennis Burke, is being republished soon, "My Bohemian Century" with the subtitle "You're Never Too Old to Raise a Little Hell." Don't you just love that? It's on my list to read. And, we are SO, never TOO old if we stay awake to our possibilities........
Here's a You-Tube about her; copyright the Boston Globe and filmmakers:
And another; copyright Arts Alliance America and filmmakers:
It may take some coaxing and some courage, but that person is in you always -- never growing old." Granny DAn Exotic Bird
"For me, the vast marvel is to be alive. For man, or for flowers or beast or bird, the supreme triumph is to be most vividly and perfectly alive." Al Purdy
We happened upon the wonderful parrot in the pictures on a stroll in a Portland park in July 2008. He was perched on his owner's shoulder. I have to wonder who owns who... Aren't we the ones captured by the wildness, that exotic beauty, the sumptuous colors? I couldn't resist taking several photographs. This one is for my current photoartjournal project on birds.
I will soon share more photos from a more recent trip I have been on... meanwhile...
Jubilación
I just passed my 6th anniversary of being "retired". It's hard to imagine it's been that long ago already. First let me say, I detest the words "retired" and "retirement" as they have a connotation, if not a stereotype, that seem to conjure up images of settling into a rocker for the final few days. Not that anything is wrong with sitting in a rocker, it just always seemed to me that it used to mean that life was almost over, and in our culture, you might become one of the invisible folks, the aging, that are not as revered as the youth culture.
Anyway, I happened upon the word for retirement in Spanish - it is "jubilación" -- jubilation!!! Jubilation in the English dictionary means: a feeling of or the expression of joy or exultation or shouting for joy. What a wonderful word to describe the next phase of life after work. Because, in many cases, I'm sure, people didn't do for a career what their "purpose" called them to do, but instead, perhaps as I did, fell into their line of work by accident or as a practical matter of making a living. So leaving and entering the next stage may be with some jubilación, as you become freed to do more of whatever your heart desires.
But, as with any change in life there is what I call the "land of in-between" where you have one foot in the past and one stepping forward into the unknown. I remember vividly my last work day having stayed late to "finish" things up, feel that completion, while everyone else had gone home. I had the card key pass that I left for a manager on her chair, then hesitated as I walked out the door for the last time without the key, knowing I would never go back in. I was closing the door on that world, a thirty-four year career, and walking into an unknown world.
There is that one moment of trusting the momentum of the step forward, and releasing the energy in the foot stuck in the past that propels you into the new. And suddenly, in a step, a blink... life is different. And you might wonder why you resisted at all. And you might realize that there you are, everything you were and are, is still there, the adventurer, the artist, the person with experiences that have prepared you with tools, still there. New and different, but still the same after all... we are such paradoxes. And that land of in-between is always with us as we shapeshift from one phase of life to another...
Granny DHere's an interesting life story of "Granny D" who just passed on at 100, what an inspiring woman. I read about Doris Haddock a couple of years ago and was so impressed. She walked 3200 miles across the country at 89 years of age just to make a point, stand up for her beliefs and educate people along the way about campaign finance reform. And she even ran for the Senate at 94. Her autobiography, written with Dennis Burke, is being republished soon, "My Bohemian Century" with the subtitle "You're Never Too Old to Raise a Little Hell." Don't you just love that? It's on my list to read. And, we are SO, never TOO old if we stay awake to our possibilities........
Here's a You-Tube about her; copyright the Boston Globe and filmmakers:
And another; copyright Arts Alliance America and filmmakers:
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Morning, Sunlight and a Blog Tip
"Morning has broken like the first morning... Mine is the sunlight... " Cat Stevens
Popcorn Sky Morning
The photo in this artwork is one I lucked into quickly one day as we were out and about several months ago. I am always taken in with capturing light and cloud formations whether painting or photographing. This is one of my favorite cloud formations, I call it a popcorn sky or a Georgia O'keeffe kind of sky since she painted them. I played around with words and a favorite song, a meditation of sorts, and various art materials to inspire my creation. It's a page that I'll bind into a book full of altered photographs.
I am taking an online class from LK Ludwig about techniques for using your photos in your artwork... very fun... Perfect timing for me as I have been in a very introspective phase, a time for changes and examining choices, and what better way than to sort through old photos and take new ones too.
Another Blog Tip
Did you ever land on a blog or website that looked interesting, then found yourself waiting while your computer seemed to be in an endless loop of cranking and loading up their site? I have and I can say, I won't wait around too long... I'm not sure what "too long" is, but I do know, it's annoying and the average person just isn't going to linger.
SO, here's a nifty thing I ran across recently... a way to test your blog and see just how fast it loads up. When I tested mine, it was running a good 18-20 seconds to load the page. After looking at the test results data, I made a couple of adjustments: 1) decreased the number of posts showing on a page to 5 instead of 30, and 2) removed a cute little sidebar enviro icon that was chewing up loading time. Results: my blog page now loads up in 5-8 seconds, I try it at different times.
So, here's the link to Pingdom for this free test (and I am totally not affiliated with them). Just enter your URL and click test now. You'll get a report showing how long each item takes and the total.
I'm beginning to feel nerdy.... but I hope this is useful for you.
Popcorn Sky MorningThe photo in this artwork is one I lucked into quickly one day as we were out and about several months ago. I am always taken in with capturing light and cloud formations whether painting or photographing. This is one of my favorite cloud formations, I call it a popcorn sky or a Georgia O'keeffe kind of sky since she painted them. I played around with words and a favorite song, a meditation of sorts, and various art materials to inspire my creation. It's a page that I'll bind into a book full of altered photographs.
I am taking an online class from LK Ludwig about techniques for using your photos in your artwork... very fun... Perfect timing for me as I have been in a very introspective phase, a time for changes and examining choices, and what better way than to sort through old photos and take new ones too.
Another Blog Tip
Did you ever land on a blog or website that looked interesting, then found yourself waiting while your computer seemed to be in an endless loop of cranking and loading up their site? I have and I can say, I won't wait around too long... I'm not sure what "too long" is, but I do know, it's annoying and the average person just isn't going to linger.
SO, here's a nifty thing I ran across recently... a way to test your blog and see just how fast it loads up. When I tested mine, it was running a good 18-20 seconds to load the page. After looking at the test results data, I made a couple of adjustments: 1) decreased the number of posts showing on a page to 5 instead of 30, and 2) removed a cute little sidebar enviro icon that was chewing up loading time. Results: my blog page now loads up in 5-8 seconds, I try it at different times.
So, here's the link to Pingdom for this free test (and I am totally not affiliated with them). Just enter your URL and click test now. You'll get a report showing how long each item takes and the total.
I'm beginning to feel nerdy.... but I hope this is useful for you.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Paintings, Two Art Shows, and Self Portraits
“Your life is an island separated from all other islands and continents...
I don't ordinarily consider myself a portrait or figure painter... however, recently I took up the challenge of the Art House for artists to do self portraits, and I painted it in my latest experimental medium of acrylics. I used a reference favorite photo of my smiley happy self and painted it in a somewhat realistic style. I look so in-the-pink! But then, I guess sometimes I am...
Delorse Lovelady 2010 Passage Through the Islands 5x7 Acrylic
"...Regardless of how many boats you send to other shores or how many ships arrive upon your shores, you yourself are an island separated by its own pains, secluded in its happiness” Kahlil Gibran
Behind the Painting
Do you ever wonder what might have been in the mind of an artist when looking at a work? Well, I am not so much a literal painter as a metaphorical one. The quote describes a bit of what I was contemplating when I painted the "Passage Through the Islands", a scene from my imagination but not unlike scenery I have viewed in the Northwest... basically that we are all self-contained separate islands floating past each other though still connected in the cosmic soup...
Sundays 11-5pm
Artist's Reception: MARCH 7 from 1-4pm - refreshments served
Edmond's Art Walk: MARCH 18 from 5-8pm
"...Regardless of how many boats you send to other shores or how many ships arrive upon your shores, you yourself are an island separated by its own pains, secluded in its happiness” Kahlil Gibran
Behind the Painting
Do you ever wonder what might have been in the mind of an artist when looking at a work? Well, I am not so much a literal painter as a metaphorical one. The quote describes a bit of what I was contemplating when I painted the "Passage Through the Islands", a scene from my imagination but not unlike scenery I have viewed in the Northwest... basically that we are all self-contained separate islands floating past each other though still connected in the cosmic soup...
Local Miniature/Small Painting Show
HOURS: Mondays-Saturdays 10-6pmYou are invited to the First Annual Miniature/Small Painting Art Show at Gallery North featuring 65 Northwest and other artist's work. I'll have 3 mixed media/acrylic paintings in the show including the one above, "Passage Through the Islands."
Gallery North
508 Main Street
Edmonds, WA 98020
SHOW DATES: March 1 - 30, 2010
SHOW DATES: March 1 - 30, 2010
Sundays 11-5pm
Artist's Reception: MARCH 7 from 1-4pm - refreshments served
Edmond's Art Walk: MARCH 18 from 5-8pm
An Artist's Self Portrait
“A portrait is a painting with something wrong with the mouth.” John Singer Sargent
I don't ordinarily consider myself a portrait or figure painter... however, recently I took up the challenge of the Art House for artists to do self portraits, and I painted it in my latest experimental medium of acrylics. I used a reference favorite photo of my smiley happy self and painted it in a somewhat realistic style. I look so in-the-pink! But then, I guess sometimes I am...Delorse Self Portrait 8x10 acrylic
It is definitely challenging to paint portraits, particularly of yourself. You have to really look and take in all the details, the little line here or there, that didn't used to be there. And, after all, we are ever changing, not static beings. There are hundreds of expressions and ways that we all have looked over a lifetime. Which one is the real you? Well, they all are, and we are just perfect in our imperfections at any stage. However, I do like the Sargent quote, because it seems to sum up what most people think when looking at any portrait, that it needs a little something on the mouth, or maybe the nose could be different... So, no that painting is not an exact replica of me, but it wasn't meant to be, and I could never do it anyway. I don't know that anyone could truly capture an exact replica of a person. Painting portraits or self portraits from my view is more about trying to capture just a moment or a sense of that person...
I finished it just barely in time to mail it off to Art House this past Monday on March 1, to be displayed in Brooklyn in April, and be added to a book collection of artist self portraits. If you haven't visited the Art House, it hosts quite an array of artist projects that sound quite fun. You can also post some of your art there.
I finished it just barely in time to mail it off to Art House this past Monday on March 1, to be displayed in Brooklyn in April, and be added to a book collection of artist self portraits. If you haven't visited the Art House, it hosts quite an array of artist projects that sound quite fun. You can also post some of your art there.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Trip to Canada, Experimental Painting and A Blog Tip
"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul. " John Muir 
Canada
We took another short British Columbia trip recently as I was recouperating from cold and sinus, it was wonderful soaking in an outdoor hot springs and walking on this peaceful lake. Although friends warned of lengthy border crossings, there were none, we were over the border in 5 minutes. Actually, you can google a webcam of each crossing, which I did before we left.
We took a side trip to the Hemlock Valley and the river area above which is a wildlife refuge, and a particular favorite spot for eagles since the river is filled with salmon spawning at certain times of the year. The beach was littered with bones, I love taking pictures of bones. They are evocative for me. It was a crispy cold beautiful sunny day, creating the darkest shadows, stark contrasts against the lit areas and the hidden areas... and the stillness and peace inbetween... nature is so soothing.
I was fascinated with this particular tree, the undulating shapes, the new twiggy growths sprouting everywhere headed straight up towards the sun. I must have taken at least a dozen pictures to satisfy myself. Of all the shapes, the undulating wavy shapes are my favorite, and then circles too. I can see a wave pattern in the branches along the ground. An art instructor once told me that each artist needed to discover which shape resonated the most for them, that O'Keeffe had done that. Here is a quote I like about shapes from her book "Some Memories of Drawings":
"I realized that I had things in my head not like what I had been taught - not like what I had seen - shapes and ideas so familiar to me that it hadn't occurred to me to put them down. I decided to stop painting, to put away everything I had done, and to start to say the things that were my own."
Experimental Painting
This mixed media acrylic piece I started probably 3 or 4 months ago, and was almost done with it. But it was one of those where I still didn't get that "I'm finished - it's done" feeling. Do you get that? That nagging little voice saying, it wants something else, what is it? I'm new to abstracts and have to listen harder to hear what it wants me to do. After a critique last week, I added a bit more white highlight at the top to what I already had. Then a few very light strokes to unify and now I'm done and I like it's organic feel. It's called "Rising". Notice the undulating shapes and movements, and circles.....
A Blog Tip
For those who use Blogger, they have added two new gadgets you may want to try. One allows you to add a Search Box which I thought might be convenient for me too if I wanted to find something from the past. The second gadget allows you to create separate Pages, almost like a website, with a "Home" Page too, making for easy navigating. Look at the top of my blog, and you'll see what I mean, I've moved something out of my sidebar into a separate page. I have several others in mind, but I have to think about it first. To find these new gadgets, go to your Layout, then look under the Header, where it says "Add gadgets". When you click on that you will find these two new ones at the top of their list.
CanadaWe took another short British Columbia trip recently as I was recouperating from cold and sinus, it was wonderful soaking in an outdoor hot springs and walking on this peaceful lake. Although friends warned of lengthy border crossings, there were none, we were over the border in 5 minutes. Actually, you can google a webcam of each crossing, which I did before we left.
We took a side trip to the Hemlock Valley and the river area above which is a wildlife refuge, and a particular favorite spot for eagles since the river is filled with salmon spawning at certain times of the year. The beach was littered with bones, I love taking pictures of bones. They are evocative for me. It was a crispy cold beautiful sunny day, creating the darkest shadows, stark contrasts against the lit areas and the hidden areas... and the stillness and peace inbetween... nature is so soothing.
I was fascinated with this particular tree, the undulating shapes, the new twiggy growths sprouting everywhere headed straight up towards the sun. I must have taken at least a dozen pictures to satisfy myself. Of all the shapes, the undulating wavy shapes are my favorite, and then circles too. I can see a wave pattern in the branches along the ground. An art instructor once told me that each artist needed to discover which shape resonated the most for them, that O'Keeffe had done that. Here is a quote I like about shapes from her book "Some Memories of Drawings":"I realized that I had things in my head not like what I had been taught - not like what I had seen - shapes and ideas so familiar to me that it hadn't occurred to me to put them down. I decided to stop painting, to put away everything I had done, and to start to say the things that were my own."
Experimental Painting
This mixed media acrylic piece I started probably 3 or 4 months ago, and was almost done with it. But it was one of those where I still didn't get that "I'm finished - it's done" feeling. Do you get that? That nagging little voice saying, it wants something else, what is it? I'm new to abstracts and have to listen harder to hear what it wants me to do. After a critique last week, I added a bit more white highlight at the top to what I already had. Then a few very light strokes to unify and now I'm done and I like it's organic feel. It's called "Rising". Notice the undulating shapes and movements, and circles.....
A Blog TipFor those who use Blogger, they have added two new gadgets you may want to try. One allows you to add a Search Box which I thought might be convenient for me too if I wanted to find something from the past. The second gadget allows you to create separate Pages, almost like a website, with a "Home" Page too, making for easy navigating. Look at the top of my blog, and you'll see what I mean, I've moved something out of my sidebar into a separate page. I have several others in mind, but I have to think about it first. To find these new gadgets, go to your Layout, then look under the Header, where it says "Add gadgets". When you click on that you will find these two new ones at the top of their list.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Happy Heart Day, Wear Red, and Smile
"When in doubt, wear red..." Bill Blass
Red is my inspiration today....
Vibrant, loud, a look-at-me color
Happy, exuberant, exciting
Dressing up flowers everywhere
Dancing with the hot chili peppers
I see you in Spring peeking from the buds,
In Summer you are blooming mad, and
Falling into the leaves in Autumn.
With Winter you arrive in poinsettias and ribbons.
Passionate, Luscious, Red Marilyn lips...
Silly, lovely heartfelt Valentines...
The other colors, well, they are beet red with envy...
Spread a little love today, wear red, smile and remember, Spring is just around the corner.
Red is my inspiration today....Vibrant, loud, a look-at-me color
Happy, exuberant, exciting
Dressing up flowers everywhere
Dancing with the hot chili peppers
I see you in Spring peeking from the buds,
In Summer you are blooming mad, and
Falling into the leaves in Autumn.
With Winter you arrive in poinsettias and ribbons.
Passionate, Luscious, Red Marilyn lips...
Silly, lovely heartfelt Valentines...
The other colors, well, they are beet red with envy...
Spread a little love today, wear red, smile and remember, Spring is just around the corner.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Rumi, A Painting, and Hot Tea
"Keep walking, though there's no place to get to. Don't try to see through the distances...
"She Stepped Into the Light" Delorse Lovelady
"She Stepped Into the Light" Delorse LoveladyCopyright 2009 - Acrylic on Canvas
That's not for human beings. Move within, but don't move the way fear makes you move. Today, like every other day, we wake up empty and frightened. Don't open the door to the study and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument. Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground." ~ Rumi
Today I'm enjoying hot tea and the exquisite poetry of Rumi while I recover from this cold..... taking time..... The hot tea is Earl Grey and my newest favorite, Numi White Rose. The painting is an abstracted angel/ woman that I painted last fall.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Peyote, Dreams and Breath of Life
"What orbit of the planets has put you and me in this place, at this moment? Where time takes a breath, and we dance on the edge of our dreams?" Anonmyous
Time seems to have flown by in a whirlwind this month. A trip to the sea, reconnecting with old friends, a couple of workshops, learning new stitchery things, sketching and painting, museums, walking,and now... resting, as the latest cold bug has gotten hold of me to slow me down. But not for long, as the gleam on the horizon is calling to me, and there are more trips to plan, and national parks to see and much to do...
Peyote
The picture above is of peyote stitch band bracelets I made this month. It doesn't do justice to the lovely shimmer and pattern of the beads. Thanks to my friend Wilma, in one of my sewing groups, who taught us how to do it. I started one in our meeting, went home and finished it, and loved the process so much, made three more. Now I am in process of making another, blue and white, I find it rather zen-like to sit and stitch slowly in the pattern. The first two thinner bands are a bit "wonky", they don't lay perfectly flat, as I was stitching too tightly, but I've learned to loosen up the threads making the whole piece more flexible. Hmm, there's a metaphor in there. And I wonder how the stitch got it's name...
Dreams
I spent a day in a Jungian dream analysis workshop with a long time friend. My formal education and studies included some former training in this subject, and I always found it so fascinating. I haven't tracked those nocturnal stories in the theatre of my mind for a long time, but I have been lately. Process work, it can be heady stuff, where do those strange little vignettes come from... that raw archetypal material that floats up, hidden in our own personal symbols. Pay attention, see if you can decipher them.
Breath of Life
And I spent a day taking an Adult 1st Aid/CPR class from the Red Cross too with my instructor husband. The class is well worth taking, and I urge you to do it and keep your skills up. Did you know that with every 1 minute of delay, there is a corresponding 10% less chance of survival. And if you are lucky it might take the 911 Aid response 5 minutes to arrive on the scene. Think about that. SO, your CPR efforts for a few minutes might save your loved one, or a friend, or even a stranger...
Here are the new CPR models we had to practice on. Red Cross replaced the pink "Resussa Annie's" with these blue models called "Actar" (interesting, I kept thinking of them as "avatars", by the way, we saw the movie this month too, it was terrific!). They are kind of strange looking. And I took a couple minutes to quick sketch one. They aren't too scary. Do check out the Red Cross and either donate for Haiti or consider taking a class (take your spouse or a friend too).
Meanwhile, take some deep breathes and concentrate on them, in/out... the little miracles that sustain us in life, just breathing. What could be more important...
Time seems to have flown by in a whirlwind this month. A trip to the sea, reconnecting with old friends, a couple of workshops, learning new stitchery things, sketching and painting, museums, walking,and now... resting, as the latest cold bug has gotten hold of me to slow me down. But not for long, as the gleam on the horizon is calling to me, and there are more trips to plan, and national parks to see and much to do...Peyote
The picture above is of peyote stitch band bracelets I made this month. It doesn't do justice to the lovely shimmer and pattern of the beads. Thanks to my friend Wilma, in one of my sewing groups, who taught us how to do it. I started one in our meeting, went home and finished it, and loved the process so much, made three more. Now I am in process of making another, blue and white, I find it rather zen-like to sit and stitch slowly in the pattern. The first two thinner bands are a bit "wonky", they don't lay perfectly flat, as I was stitching too tightly, but I've learned to loosen up the threads making the whole piece more flexible. Hmm, there's a metaphor in there. And I wonder how the stitch got it's name...
Dreams
I spent a day in a Jungian dream analysis workshop with a long time friend. My formal education and studies included some former training in this subject, and I always found it so fascinating. I haven't tracked those nocturnal stories in the theatre of my mind for a long time, but I have been lately. Process work, it can be heady stuff, where do those strange little vignettes come from... that raw archetypal material that floats up, hidden in our own personal symbols. Pay attention, see if you can decipher them.
Breath of LifeAnd I spent a day taking an Adult 1st Aid/CPR class from the Red Cross too with my instructor husband. The class is well worth taking, and I urge you to do it and keep your skills up. Did you know that with every 1 minute of delay, there is a corresponding 10% less chance of survival. And if you are lucky it might take the 911 Aid response 5 minutes to arrive on the scene. Think about that. SO, your CPR efforts for a few minutes might save your loved one, or a friend, or even a stranger...
Here are the new CPR models we had to practice on. Red Cross replaced the pink "Resussa Annie's" with these blue models called "Actar" (interesting, I kept thinking of them as "avatars", by the way, we saw the movie this month too, it was terrific!). They are kind of strange looking. And I took a couple minutes to quick sketch one. They aren't too scary. Do check out the Red Cross and either donate for Haiti or consider taking a class (take your spouse or a friend too).
Meanwhile, take some deep breathes and concentrate on them, in/out... the little miracles that sustain us in life, just breathing. What could be more important...
Monday, January 11, 2010
Trip to the Sea, Lewis & Clark National Park, and New Year Thoughts
I often find it nourishing to step back and let nature work it's magic upon my soul...
A Sunrise
We were graced with viewing these incredible skies with the Cascade mountain range in the background early one morning this week... a fabulous window dressing for our morning breakfast.
A Road Trip to the Sea
We had just returned from spending our New Year's on the Oregon coast, a supremely beautiful and peaceful place.It rained heavily going and coming back, but there were pockets of calm and light, and I got my dose of walking the beaches.... and noticing... a feather here, a broken shell there, a clutch of feathers from a fallen bird, driftwood, foamy puffs (sign of a healthy beach) , lots of sand patterns....... much to take in and enjoy, allowing the busy mind to rest and drift along in random thoughts and possibilities.
A National Park
We discovered something new on this journey to the sea we have made year after year... a side trip into history. We visited Fort Clatsop, part of the fairly new Lewis and Clark National Historical Park. This newly designated National park (2005? how could I miss that all these years of driving by??) encompasses about 40 miles of Washington and Oregon coast composed of half a dozen sites including state parks. All of these are historic sites that were of importance in the Lewis and Clark expedition after their grand 4000 mile journey west in the early 1800's. Fort Clatsop is a replica of the small fort that housed them through the winter. We walked through the forest, awestruck by the gigantic Sitka spruce there, a cathedral of trees whispering all the ancient stories they had heard... We have been to several of the other sites, very much worth a visit: Ecola St Park, Nutel Landing, Ft Stevens, Cape Disappointment, the Salt works, Dismal Nitch (such a name, baptized upon it's shores because of the bitter winter storm the men endured in that spot)...
Beginning a New Year
Another new year, though I count my real new year as starting with my birthday month..... Change is afoot, as it always is, waiting in the corner... as I bring my attention and focus to being more in nature/outdoors and less in sedentary activities, more house maintenance and order, more travel, more painting and experimenting with art and listening to my own voice and less workshops, and cherishing of the true relationships that are of importance to me.... and taking time to just be and breathe... And sending you many wishes for peace, harmony and abundance wherever you may walk this year.....
A SunriseWe were graced with viewing these incredible skies with the Cascade mountain range in the background early one morning this week... a fabulous window dressing for our morning breakfast.
A Road Trip to the Sea
We had just returned from spending our New Year's on the Oregon coast, a supremely beautiful and peaceful place.It rained heavily going and coming back, but there were pockets of calm and light, and I got my dose of walking the beaches.... and noticing... a feather here, a broken shell there, a clutch of feathers from a fallen bird, driftwood, foamy puffs (sign of a healthy beach) , lots of sand patterns....... much to take in and enjoy, allowing the busy mind to rest and drift along in random thoughts and possibilities.
A National ParkWe discovered something new on this journey to the sea we have made year after year... a side trip into history. We visited Fort Clatsop, part of the fairly new Lewis and Clark National Historical Park. This newly designated National park (2005? how could I miss that all these years of driving by??) encompasses about 40 miles of Washington and Oregon coast composed of half a dozen sites including state parks. All of these are historic sites that were of importance in the Lewis and Clark expedition after their grand 4000 mile journey west in the early 1800's. Fort Clatsop is a replica of the small fort that housed them through the winter. We walked through the forest, awestruck by the gigantic Sitka spruce there, a cathedral of trees whispering all the ancient stories they had heard... We have been to several of the other sites, very much worth a visit: Ecola St Park, Nutel Landing, Ft Stevens, Cape Disappointment, the Salt works, Dismal Nitch (such a name, baptized upon it's shores because of the bitter winter storm the men endured in that spot)...
Beginning a New YearAnother new year, though I count my real new year as starting with my birthday month..... Change is afoot, as it always is, waiting in the corner... as I bring my attention and focus to being more in nature/outdoors and less in sedentary activities, more house maintenance and order, more travel, more painting and experimenting with art and listening to my own voice and less workshops, and cherishing of the true relationships that are of importance to me.... and taking time to just be and breathe... And sending you many wishes for peace, harmony and abundance wherever you may walk this year.....
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