Meditations in the Snow

I've been taking walks and snow shoeing in Northampton while staying at a friend's apartment and taking care of her two adorable kitties.  I found a path by a stream, behind the houses that make up the lovely neighborhoods surrounding Smith College.  The path has shown me many of it's secrets which gives me feelings of peacefulness and delight.  Some signs, perhaps coincidentally or not, came to me on my walk.  There is a spiraling labyrinth under a thick layer of snow with colorful Tibetan prayer flags hanging over it, made by a small community of three neighboring families.  It's a space tucked away from it all where you are invited to walk, reflect and say prayers.  Although I was tempted to go into the spiral, the smooth, beautiful whiteness of the untouched snow as it contoured over the spiral was so pure and poetic that I couldn't disturb the image with my footprints.  I want other's to have the opportunity to stand and admire the spiral's shape in the snow and reflect.

I've been reading "The Way To Freedom: Core Teachings of Tibetan Buddhism" by His Holiness The Dalai Lama and thinking about Buddha's teachings and instructions, and the law of karma or cause and effect.  Coming across these spaces unexpectedly while I was on a quiet walk to get fresh air, exercise and let my mind wander was an interesting and synchronizing way for the physical surroundings to affirm my state of mind.   Later as I came out of the woods that followed the stream on to Smith's campus I found a sitting pagoda with Japanese style gardens around it and a Buddha peaking out of a snow drift.

Shadow Shapes on Snow and Ice

One of my favorite things to do in the winter, after the snow falls, is to look at the shadows cast against shades of white snow.  I love the blues, purples and grays that appear in abstract and recognizable shapes when the sun or moon comes out on a clear, cold day or evening.  I walk and look for interesting things that happen when light plays against objects and textures.  The subtle ridges and lines created by wind over the surface of a field of snow and the play of light against these surfaces can make for some interesting abstract images.  Trees show another side of themselves as their mirror image is cast in shadow on the white covered ground.  Snow, light, wind, cold, ice, trees, plants make some nice art during the chilly days and evenings of winter.

A Path With Shadows and Light

Here is the third india ink painting I made recently.  I finished it on Monday and am happy with what it shows me.  This world is full of light and shadow both outwardly and inwardly.  We all must navigate territories which are full of light and shadow.  The path is our life as it unfolds before us and fades away behind us. 

New India Ink Paintings of Winter Trees And Thoughts About My Creative Process...

I painted these two pieces with india ink and water on newsprint with the intention of loosening up and with the hopes of  feeling less attached to the outcome of the creative process.  The images are 18" x 24" and a bit bigger than what I've been producing.  There is something freeing in knowing that if you do not like what you are making you can just crumble up the paper and throw it in the wood stove.  There is also something freeing about producing more work and focusing on the practice rather than focusing on the result or product.

I am becoming aware that I need to practice freeing up my creative process.  I have the tendency to move slow and put a lot of energy towards individual pieces, exercises and materials.  It's almost like I'm too focused on the end results.  I'm realizing that this kind of approach to my practice whether it's making visual images, practicing the piano or singing makes the flow more cumbersome.  To get better at anything you have to exercise the brain and muscles and therefore repetition is the key.  Yet I am fighting this habit/personality trait of mine.  I become attached to the idea that the end result should be good or interesting.  Notice the phrase, "should be".  These words and thoughts are rarely helpful. I expect too much and put pressure on myself.

What's really interesting is how this edge is continually coming up for me, even as I try to do a sketch, a doodle, a drawing, or a painting a day as a practice with no expectations.    Last night as I produced my sketch of the day I squirmed as the image came out.  It was an image of a female figure and, man, I quickly judged it as "eww, ugly, yuk, why am I doing this!?" Yes, it really is not very good but I need to get comfortable knowing that some drawings, exercises, work, sounds, ideas are just going to be that way.  I am quick to judge myself.  I'm getting to know this side of me.  It's there. Maybe this tendency of mine will always be there but perhaps I am capable of living with it more comfortably by gently steering my focus towards strengthening the muscles of detached productivity and repetition.

I have a third "Winter Tree" composition which was made around the same time as the above two. I just put some color on it and I also made some value adjustments.  I will post the third piece later this week as right now the water color is drying and I am not with my home computer to upload photo's of the new image to this blog.

After a holiday hiatus...

The eventful solstice/full moon/eclipse is behind us as well as the Christmas and New Year gatherings, expectations and reflections.  As I sit down to reconnect with my blog and write this, the first week of January is coming to an end, and snow is falling and gently covering the trees and ground with fresh and beautiful white. 

Like the new white, untouched snow, the new year seems fresh and yet ripe with both potential and uncertainty and the unknown.  For me, this new year is not one of joyful resolutions and brightly optimistic plans.  Instead it feels positive but serious...mysterious.  This is a time of deepening and reflecting on myself, my heart, on my relationships and on my path as I continually create the life I lead and desire to lead.  This is what I'll call my striving of being and becoming.  The striving of appreciating and being present in the moments that are my life and the striving of continually and consciously making choices that create a fulfilling, positive, creative and authentic life. 

I missed writing and sharing over the last few weeks as this blog has become a pleasurable way to personally and publicly journal using photos, thoughts, ideas, art work, garden work and music.  Very soon there will be more posts that are already in the works showing recent art work that I created in the time I wasn't posting, trees, thoughts on study & the creative process.... stay posted.  For now, here are some pictures I want to share.  They were taken between my last post and now.  Then, very soon, in a couple days, something fresh and so 2011!

During the hiatus I spent good time in my cheerful and cozy living room, thinking in front of the wood stove and Christmas tree  and enjoying the quiet light and warmth.

My very, very special friend, Gilligan, joined me on the couch for cozy hugs a lot of the time.  Una, my other very, very special kitty friend joined us too!   They are such good company!

Oh, and there was the pre-Christmas Italian food extravaganza at the infamous Northampton neighborhood eatery, Joes, with a dear friend.  We had a blast and honestly couldn't get over the amount of food we ordered!  A couple other diners marveled at our spread, shared some laughs and took our picture before we dug in.

... and finally a photo of a cold and bright winter sundown taken earlier this week as I pulled up the road on my way home from work.  I see this as an image telling of bright and positive things, actions, creations and manifestations ahead.  Wishing you good things this new year...

Night Light in NYC

 

 

I do not have a lot of words to share today...just pictures of sparkly winter light taken this past weekend in NYC.  The approaching full moon makes an appearance and gives it's reflection of light, peaking over and in between tall buildings and lighted trees.  Tomorrow is winter solstice, the full moon and a lunar eclipse.  It is a big day to celebrate indeed.

Study of light

This time of year becomes a study of light.  The days fly by and moments are marked by sunlight streaming through windows.  Light marks it's way quickly angling rays through rooms in my house, the room in the vintage poster studio where I work, through clouds on the western horizon as I drive home in the afternoon, across fields that are cold and dusted with snow. 

Trees become dark silhouettes in the twilight and at dawn with shades of  blues and purples hugging every angle and curve of their branches and trunks. 

In the late afternoon my house darkens and I light candles, turn on lights, the fire sends a glow through the living room.  I have my Christmas tree up and decorated as of this morning and will enjoy my first evening with it admiring it's colorful lights and shiny light reflecting ornaments.

I finished three paintings last week.  All are studies of light.  I made another lighted doorway study and two are studies of glowing light.  I want to share them with you. 

I'm mesmerized by the radiating qualities of light and fall in love with how light changes and shifts our perception of color.  Light silently passes from it's origin and affects all around it. 

 

Above is an image taken of the two light studies in my studio.  You can get a peak of where I work.  And finally a closer look at the glowing, radiating orb.

Walkabout this Saturday

 

Three households on Stage Road, where I live, have collaborated to create a winter walkabout to celebrate our work, our creativity, our industry, our local economy, history and beauty in Cummington, MA.  Above are four postcards showing images that represent who we are and what we do here on our road.  Our group includes artists, designers/inventors, musicians, farmers and cows.  You can park your car and walk our lovely, hilly road. 

I'm so happy to be a part of creating something that brings together community, creates community and showcases the diverse talents of my neighbors.  I wish you could all make it on over for a visit and a cup of soup but I know some of you live far away. 

Here are links to the websites of the participants:
  Leni Fried Designs
  One - Off Hand Cycles
  Radio Free Earth
  Gordan's Fold Registered Highland Cattle

The Mystery

"Art evokes the mystery without which the world would not exist."

~ Rene Magritte

This photo was taken at Mass MOCA from an exhibit called Material World:  Sculpture to Environment  which is on view until February 2011.

A Heart and Turkeys for Thanksgiving

My friend's Lauren and Erik raised turkeys at their farm this year.  I was over at their place a few times this month and always spent at least five minutes watching the flock of turkeys and talking to them.  They would come right over to greet me upon my arrival, probably hoping for some grain.  When I said something to the flock they would collectively gobble up a storm in return.  It was so comical.    They really are neat looking: prehistoric and dinosaur like I think!  These two toms posed in a heart shape for me...handsome, eh?

Hope you have a lovely day....

Art, Cheap?

Claymation figures that were made by my students at Balboa City School in San Diego, CA back in 2004.  Yes, we made awesome movies too!  Past life moment.... I taught visual art for 6 years in secondary schools.

I feel I need to say more about my ideas on art and economics.  This word CHEAP, in regards to The Why Cheap Art Manifesto, has been making me feel a bit edgy since I posted my thoughts on how I am going to go about selling my work here on my blog.

First of all, I see Bread and Puppets’ Cheap Art Manifesto as a humorous yet provocative statement.  I chose to post this on my blog because it is a simple, idealistic, political yet funny statement that relates to some ideas about how I want to sell my work. 

However, I realize that the word cheap is a loaded word especially in relationship to art.

By no means do I think of art which is well conceived and executed with an artist’s soulful expression as cheap, meaning that is of little value, vulgar, or inferior.  Creative expression is hugely valuable!   This word Cheap, as used in Bread and Puppets’ Manifesto, means that there should not be walls between the elite collectors, corporate collectors and museums charging fixed and often high admission fees, and a viewing audience or consumer.  Art needs to be accessible to everyone regardless of economic status.  Artists also need to be valued by society.  It is wonderful when we artists can receive something in return for our energy and sharing.  Money is very nice.  However I believe that art cannot be consumed just to increase one’s investment portfolio or show one’s elite standing or status.

Art is humankind’s life blood.  It moves one, it tells stories, it is a record of where we’ve been and where we are going.  Art is at times mysterious, sublime, painful, exuberant, dreamlike, super realistic, reflective, beautiful, ugly and the list goes on because art’s expressions are infinite.  Art, whether it is visual art, performance art, music, theater, film, poetry or story, is meant to be shared, enjoyed, pondered over and discussed.  How do we put a price tag on this?

Full Frost Moon

"Illumination"  2004    Kimberly H. Wachtel

"If the moon shows a silver shield,

 Be not afraid to reap your fields."

The Farmer's Almanac Gardening calendar that hangs in my studio has the above quote written under the name of this month's full moon, The Full Frost Moon or Beaver Moon.  The quote fits in perfectly with my thoughts and actions in relation to this full moon.

A cool book I have called "The Secret Language of  Symbols" states:  "The full moon echos the symbolism of the circle to signify wholeness, completion and achievement." 

The Full Frost Moon has brought with it a heightened time of self reflection.  As I turn towards winter and the darker, colder months ahead I take stock of the past year.  I think about what I am thankful for, what I have accomplished, who I am, where I've been, where I'm going, what to let go of and what to hold on to. 

The full moon illuminates,  like the title of my painting above suggests.  It provides an opportunity to look at time passing, how the cycles shift and shine light on one's achievements, talents, shortcomings and/or areas of needed work.  I gather my harvest, take stock of what has been gained and lost and move towards the darker months.  This is a fertile time of dreaming and creating.  My gardens are just about put to bed and I'm ready to move forward with the next cycle of growth.  As of this week I'm back in my studio drawing and painting.   A month and a half ago I began studying music theory on the keyboard with a great teacher and I practice, practice, practice.  I sing everyday.  I'm reading books that go along with my interests and relate to what I am learning.  I meet with a talented and gifted artist, mentor, friend regularly for meaningful conversations, reflections and work.  All this is so rich and important to me especially after some big personal decisions that were made earlier this year.   This is coming from someone who was intently considering and applying to go to school and get another formal degree at a college or university but this time in music.   I could have been in Boston attending Berklee School of Music this winter but honestly I am so happy with my decision to create a course of study using local teachers and resources.  I can feed my head and my soul in the comfort of my home and in my community.  I look forward to sharing more thoughts on my studies in future blog entries.  Stay Posted.  Happy Full Frost Moon to you!

The Why Cheap Art Manifesto, Bread and Puppets

I'm changing how I sell my work on this blog because I've been thinking a lot about the economics of art and the current state of the economy.   Before this recent election I became convinced that my voice, power, choices and vote are expressed most honestly and clearly through how I choose to spend my MONEY.  What do I want to support in this world? Art? Yes.  Beauty? Yes.  Local Healthy Organic Food/Farms? Yes.  Local Business?  Yes.  People and organizations that create positivity in my community and in the world? YES!!!  

So, I'm making some changes.  Here are my thoughts:

I've been thinking about how to get my art out there in the world. How can I sell it and share it?  How can I make it available in a way that is fair and takes into account the buyer's budget and/or skills along with my dream to earn some income using my talents?  

A friend of mine from years past and I were very interested in starting a cafe that ran on the principle of "Pay What You Can" based on the idea that almost all human beings are inherently good. The idea is that those who have a padded wallet will pay equal or more than the value of the product.  Those who are more financially strapped will pay equal or what they can. Those who are truly hungry and lack the ability to pay money will be fed anyway and can perhaps trade a skill in return.  I know this idea is idealistic but to me there is something inherently honest about it.  An economic yet energetic exchange can feel respectful from both sides.

Like Bread and Puppets states in its Why Cheap Art Manifesto, art, beauty, the food of the soul need to be available to everyone.  At the same time many artists including myself want to get their ideas, images, songs, poetry out there and share them.  Art requires an audience. The dynamic relationship between the artist and audience -- however difficult due to economic and social restraints -- must exist for there to be an active creative spirit threaded through society.  

In case you are wondering, Bread and Puppets is a theater troupe based in Vermont.  On Halloween I saw them do a political, funny, circus like performance at The Northampton Center for the Arts.  I highly recommend seeing them if they come through your town.

I am taking the prices off my paintings and future creations here on this blog.  Those of you who are truly interested in having a creation of mine can come to me, email me, call me and we can have a conversation.  I can't give my art away, but one can make an offer that feels fair to them and that takes into account their personal budget ($$$ or barter) with the hope from my end that they see value in the time, energy and materials it takes to create something unique.  My idea is that one person might pay $50 cash plus $50 worth of locally grown vegetables while another may have a skill I want to learn that they can teach me in exchange.  A person might have $500 cash to pay for a painting while another person might have a piece of artwork, clothing, jewelry, furniture or other handmade item that we can exchange.  I am interested in having open conversations to see how this approach can work.  If you want something that I have created to have a home with you, lets talk!  If you want to talk more about these ideas, let's talk!

Rescued Hummingbird and Junco

My friend found this video on you tube and posted it on Facebook.  I watched it this morning after having a bird rescue experience of my own yesterday afternoon.  It's so sweet to watch human caretakers nurse an injured baby hummingbird back to health.  Also, it is so interesting for me to see the kinds of attachments animals of all kinds form with one another.

Gilligan, my cat, brought a Junco into the house through the cat door and proceeded to drop it on the floor next to me as I was making a butternut squash casserole.  I hoped it wasn't dead and it was not.  It picked itself up and flew into a few windows as Gilligan chased it, hot in pursuit.  Luckily I grabbed Gilligan just before he got the bird between his teeth again, put him in the bathroom and firmly shut the door behind me as I went out to the living room to look for the poor, distressed bird.  I shut all the doors in the house but couldn't find the bird.  Where did it go?  I went back to the casserole I was making as Una, my female cat, came in through the cat door.  Then the Junco jumped up from behind the coach and perched itself on the window sill above it.  Una zoned in as I caught her just in time to put her in my second bedroom.  The poor bird was panting and covered in the dust bunnies it picked up when it disappeared behind the couch.  It let me gently take it in my hands and laid there with its eyes half closed as it caught it's breath with one foot firmly gripping my pinky as if to hold on for dear life.  I inspected it for puncture wounds, blood, ect. but it looked okay other then missing a number or feathers from it's tail and back.  I just stood in my living room for a few moments holding this warm, light, soft being in my hand and looked into its bright, shining eye as I sent wishes to it, praying it would be okay and survive this trauma.  I took it outside to a Hemlock tree near where a flock or Juncos were hanging out and gently positioned its feet on a small branch in the tree.  It held on, standing there breathing and resting as I walked away to give it space to fly off when it was ready to be with the flock. 

Rocktober with THEM covering Dylan

I drove home to my parents house this past weekend in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.  It was a beautiful drive as the colors of the leaves on the trees seemed to intensify and quadruple as I drove south from the late fall color and barer trees around my hilltown home.  As I pulled off the crowded New Jersey highway onto a beautiful country road in Clinton, NJ, I tuned in to one of my favorite radio stations of all time, Princeton's student run college station, 103.3 wprb.  The young woman was playing an eclectic assortment of music...an Indian raga sounding song from the 60's with a psychedelic electric guitar solo, followed by a discordant and synchopated Indonesian song sung by male and female voices, then the song that really captured my attention and fit my mood and the scenery perfectly.

Here's a little history before I continue on about that moment.  Since high school I always had a thing for listening to Bob Dylan in the fall.  My best friend and I would call October "Rocktober" and put Dylan and Neil Young on heavy rotation as we took long drives around the Pennsylvania countryside.  The feel of the music, the sound and the lyrics pulled at our melancholy, pensive, soul searching heart strings.  Hearing Bob Dylan songs in the fall still does this to me.

Back in my car last Thursday, the sound of a sparse, rhythmic electric bass with a 1960's tamborine shaking slowly filled my car's speakers and pulled me into some hypnotic trance.  Then a twirling, spinning sounding keyboard/organ/electric guitar came in adding a lovely layer of sound.  "What song is this!" I thought.

"You must leave now take what you need you think will last..." sang a male voice.  It was, It's All Over Now Baby Blue, but a version I had never heard before.  I listened for a few seconds... "Ah, that's Van Morrison!"  Wow, what a great rendition of this song!  Van Morrison breathed a whole new life into it and sang the song with such feeling.  Turns out this song was recorded in 1966 by a Belfast band called Them featuring Van Morrison.  Driving over the hills and valleys of New Jersey horse country on that late afternoon/early twilight in a full moon rising moment with this song filling my car and head with it's sound, I was in autumn heaven.  Here's the song for you to enjoy: 

My Friend, Razvan Mitulescu, and His Creations...

Here's a great picture my friend, Razvan, holding one of his sculptures which is made out of wood coffee stirrers.  He is a wonderful person, artist, and friend.  His perceptions, insights and taste are always interesting for me to hear about and see in his work, in our conversations and correspondence.  I really, really love his creations because they seem to come from a world of dreams.  His images and sculptures are akin to those that were made seventy or so odd years ago by the dada-ists and surrealists in France, Germany, New York and elsewhere.  I like his world of fantastic beauty and danger, a world where the mythical and mechanical, the spirited and human-made mingle and sometimes collide.  His drawings on paper spill over with images that speak the language of the visual and dreamlike unconscious.  Some images I read like words on a page and others are what they are and seep into my mind in an intuitive, pleasing and wordless way.  Themes and images repeat themselves in his work: key holes, fish, eyes, mechanical gears, wheels and sensuous organic shapes both abstract and in human, animal and plantlike forms.  Each drawing tells a story with the symbolic language that Razvan is speaking.  I like to create stories about his pieces in my mind.  What do you see in yours?

Razvan came to North America from Romania where my husband, Josh, met him while in the Peace Corps in the late 90's.  I was lucky to have visited and gotten to know Razvan and his wife, Eleana, in Bucharest, Romania while they were still living there 6 or 7 years ago when Josh and I spent a month in Hungary and Romania.  Our friends are the loveliest people and hosts, eager to show us around, make us comfortable, cook us delicious Romanian delicacies and share with us their cultural heritage.  Razvan and Eleana are creative souls who openly talk about their interests, thoughts and feelings and I really love this about them.

Razvan lives with Eleana and son, Dari in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.  He's made his home there with his family for the past three years.  He carves out a living for himself and his family as a mechanical designer.  I admire that despite living a full and busy life, spending time with his family and earning a living as a designer,  he still manages to make time for himself, his drawings, sculpture and music.  There is a lot more art, music, and inspirations to check out on his website and blog:  Ochiade  and Ochiade: Blog


Please scroll down to see some examples of his artwork.  The following are some of my favorite drawings of his.  Enjoy!

"Horizontal Spring"

"Falls"

"Late Night Fish-o-Jazz"

 "Status"

"The Legend"

"The Poem Who Stole the Horse"

There's no place like home... Cummington! Part 4

Here are some pictures taken during a beautiful weekend spent here in the hills.  Cummington, MA is an amazing town for many reasons and I'm happy to call it home.  The autumn beauty found across the hills and valleys is breathtaking and one of the reasons this place is so special.  Enjoy!

So much to say...where to begin?

As you may (or may not) have noticed, I have not posted anything on my blog for a very long time.  It's really not for a lack of interesting news, thoughts and tidbits to share.  Life has been full and good. 

At this point, I'm not sure what I want to share, start with ... ?   How about I blurt it all out here then in future posts slowly develop thoughts, stories and examples complete with pictures, songs, poetry, stories, evidence?   Well, I'll just list a few highlights of the past few weeks here...
Hopefully, then, I will feel jumpstarted into continuing to share my thoughts and creations on this here blog.

1. My paintings are hanging in Keene, NH at the Colonial Theater gallery space.  I will be up there hosting an open studio during Keene's world famous Pumpkin Festival.  Friday, 10/15/10.  Yeah, my paintings are pretty nifty but you really don't want to miss the 30,000 or so jack-o-lanterns lining Main St. that night! 

2.  After going to into the recording studio with Appalachian Still, a local bluegrassy, oldtimey, rootsy band, to record one of their original songs back in August, I joined them onstage at their CD release party at the Iron Horse a few weeks ago.  The whole experience was great.  Check out the CD, Feelin' Alive on CD Baby.  I sing "Nothing Left to Say", # 14 on the album.

3.  Singing Jackson (yes that Johnny and June Carter Cash ditty) last Saturday a bunch of times with my friend, Mike Jennings and other guys from The Mike Hooker Experience and (one time that night with) The Bum Steers at a fundraiser in honor of Fred Knittle from The Young at Heart Chorus was FUN! 

4.  Went to a party later last Sat. night where members of these bands, Haunt and Ware River Club, played.  I loved their sound so I'll leave you with a song from Haunt.  Enjoy!

Find more artists like Haunt at MySpace Music