Nest with "plans"

This is my mind as it worries over the status of the present and the imperfect future. I've taken bits of plans together with glue, paper scraps of lists, paint ...stirred it with hope. I am obssessed with blue right now...combining cerulean and ultramarine in hazy borderless overlays. Still feel unfocused and swirling. 7 x 15 in. $275

Martha Miller: Straw into gold

http://marthamillerart.blogspot.com/2008/03/now-i-can-see-moon.html

Check out this woman's words and artwork.

Nest with "things to do"

Went to the city today and looked at art- the Red Dot fair and Volta.

It was fun- and there was some truly special artwork, full of whimsy and craftsmanship. Lots of carved paper and encaustic works. Here is a nest, my nest, full of the slashing crazy list of mind numbing possibilities. Not carved or in wax- just collaged paper and paint 7 x 15 inches.

Big picture and little picture

I painted a bit today and my focus wandered between the grand scheme of things to the personal memento mori. Easter just passing brings me to my knees with a hope that is really really wide- like the colors of "stardust", a glowing nested egg laid on a map of Jerusalem. The map, the feathers, and the texture of the egg have the feel of a thumbprint to them...and then I painted a 10 minute still life of a nest with two eggs, one for Steve and one for Jen, wrapped in a swath of Obituaries...I want to hoard my loss, even though I know it's not unique.

Red Wing Black Bird

Sighted!
6 x 4 in canvas

Turning straw into gold

http://www.contemporarycrafts.org/exhibitions/index.php?f=2006_01_otterson



This artist has taken the subject of cancer and disease and turned it into powerful beautiful art.

Otterson: VolatileSymbiosis

Heron in landscape

DESTROYED
4 x 6 inches on canvas
Nothing like a bit of Nature to cheer a girl up! It can sooth the soul.
In my mother's backyard there were herons, storks, egrets, ducks, a swan, and even a bald eagle.

Muse

SOLD

Meditations on Life and death...these are sketches really- incomplete. Words: Impermanance, Bewilderment, Ignorance.
Curtains obscuring the view, birds flitting by, through treetops, the morning of Steve's passing. We are impermanent...dissolving. I look for the sacred by waiting and praying with gratitude each morning.
Canvas 4 x 12 in, and paper 9x9 in

Tropical holiday

painting on canvas (NFS) and photos

News

For those of you who have been with me through this- Steve died this morning at 7:15am surrounded by friends. I felt his last message to me was "to Live". So life goes on...

http://dailycamera.com/news/2008/mar/19/local-climber-steve-dieckhoff-succumbs-cancer/

Intimate Obit

SOLD
painting with collage
I need to take a break for a while since I am feeling too uncentered to know what to share, or even what to paint. I'll be back- thank you for your patience.

Thankful for Max

NFS
I must say I am thankful for Max. His smile has a way of lighting up a room. He can be such an easy person to be with. Now that he is in seventh grade, being thankful for him is more of a decision than a mood. He itches for independance, sways to his plugged in music. Ah...the bliss of a teenager!

Thankful for my cat

9 x 10 acrylic on map paper collage
I am trying today to work on a gratitude "list". Here is the first one. Mr. Bojangles is a marmalade cat who just appeared in our back yard a dozen years ago. He isn't always nice. He spends most nights outside and comes inside during the day for catnaps, water, and snacks. I love the way he curls into a furry ball when he dreams. He has a lot of personality and, like me these days, a low tolerence for too much affection. Since we didn't go out and buy him, and he wasn't a decision on our part, Mr. Bo is truly a gift from the celestial unknown, God.

Seeker

9 x 10
watercolor and ink on map

Searching

acrylic on paper, 9 x 10 in.,

Desire for Communion

I am dismayed by the darkness in this winter, in my eyes, and in my work. It's getting old, scruffy and unreal. Looking at my life through my brain, checking my calendar to see where I am, and running on empty, I have left my heart somewhere else. (This makes me cry just to write it). Now I want light. I want to use my heart. I want to talk to God. I want peace.
"I want" is such a clogging phrase. I guess it would be best if I lay aside this keyboard and do some praying. Instead of more "I wants" I will seek out the lightness of gratitude.
after all- my boys are healthy, my father-in-law is getting better, my husband loves me, my hens laid 5 eggs today, we have a tank full of oil, ...

Madonna and bird with nest on map

SOLD
I am tapping out...so many needy people (family, students, phone) today- not a moment to think. I haven't even collected the chicken eggs yet. I wish I could take my head off and just think with my heart. This is a panicky piece-wish I had the serenity of Mary - collage, ink and paint on maps...

My first born

Doing a bit of painting, none of it very good- but here is one- my son (who is on spring break) visited the studio for about 20 minutes and I whipped this one out. It's acrylic on paper about 12 x 12 inches, and will be a gift for his grandma. My sons keep me centered-bringing me tears, laughter, and silver wisdom hair. They have expanded my heart and brought the revelation that my parents are (and were) actually brilliant.

Owl and egg

A collage paper painting with lists. About 9 x 10 inches. I am intrigued by the backside of this owl. This is a collaboration with Michael Gellatly. We are playing around in each others work. He'll give me a fine drawing and I'll mess with it. Then he will make it fine again. For now...$100.

Pickles and Poetry

I see a pattern with in myself of a seasonal infatuation with poetry. About this time of year- February, March, April, I am extra-moved by the written word and the resonance of phrases. This collage watercolor was inspired by the line:
"pickled in the brine of self pity" that I read somewhere and jotted down- sorry I don't recall who, or where. But it captured my mood that day and made it to a scrawled script at the bottom of a to-do-list. The poetry with-in the painting is taken from a poem by Jen Holz called, TO JL, AFTER THE DEATH OF HIS BROTHER, published in February's Chronogram Magazine.

Boxer closet

SOLD
watercolor and ink on paper 9 x 9.75 inches.