Savor

Greetings and welcome to Autumn, one of my favorite seasons. Oh, forget that....I love them all, actually. It seems that each one rolls around just as you are ready to move on and be rid of the last season. I am welcoming Fall with open arms....crisp nights, slowing changing leaves, earthy autumn scents in the air.

Johntimothy and I have moved beyond the first phase of our change of diet lifestyle and have moved beyond the part where you cut out a lot of things, one of which was dairy. I missed cheese, but more than anything I missed the half and half in my morning tea. The first morning I added the cream back into my tea, I was on top of the world and sat quietly, enjoying every moment of that rich flavor. Of course, I realized even at the time what I was doing was savoring that tea after the absence of the thing that made it special for me. I'd been having tea all along the last few weeks, but tea with cream is quite a different thing altogether from tea without and while I sat there with that warm mug in my hand, I contemplated the notion of slowing down, of pondering the large and the small things in life, appreciating the quiet moments, along with my tea. I don't think we open ourselves up to savoring quite enough....it can't be done in a hurry, after all. I know that I need more of it in my life and am trying to cultivate it on a daily basis.

There is another week full of daily drawings over at MissouriBendMusings....I'll just post one of them here as a little incentive to check out the others, if you are so inclined. You'll notice the teabag fragments slipping back in. I missed the warmth of that mottled tea stained paper. Here's a favorite from this past week....

September 23, 2012

I'm in the final stages on a couple more pieces from the Notes From The Ancestors series. In the meantime, I realized I never showed you no.7, which is posted over at robertspizzuto.com.

I'm headed back down to the studio....I'm planning to savor the last couple of hours of quiet working time, letting the inner conversation reveal some fresh new insights. Have a wonderful week! Thanks so much for reading these words and supporting my work!!!

Any Given Moment

Greetings at the tail end of another week...hope all is well in your world! If you are crazy busy, as I seem to be, remind yourself that it's all good and the challenge is in finding the balance in life. Lots going on and new opportunities presenting themselves that must get added in to the mix. I intend every week to do a post each Monday in addition to Friday, but I never seem to make it. 

Last Monday, I was forwarded a short video by another artist (and follower of this blog) Karen Anne Glick, that I must share with my readers as well. Karen Anne makes a beautiful small quilt each day in her daily studio practice. Here's a short video of another such artist with a daily practice....it captures in so many ways what I am trying to reach in my own search through these daily drawings. Click on the link HERE to watch the video.

September 8, 2012

September 9, 2012

September 10, 2012

September 11, 2012

September 12, 2012

September 13, 2012

September 14, 2012

Another new group of small drawings is emerging....these are quite small, about 5 1/2" x 5 1/2". Below is the first in the series whose title has announced itself as Any Given Moment.

Any Given Moment

Sometimes I am overwhelmed by the enormity of it all...the immensity of all that exists and the infinitely large and minutely small scale of activity that never ceases. From the movement inside our cells or the colonies of ants going about their business to the hum of people passing on the streets in any large city, the movement of clouds, of the earth....you can't begin to capture it all. But think of it....at any given moment....how can we even speak of it? I cannot find words, so I make something...and I'll make another something....and something after that. These pieces will find their way to the MissouriBendStudio shop and, of course, the dailies continue to mount into quite a number as the days go by over at MissouriBendMusings. Thank you so much for sharing the conversation....always wonderful to hear from you! 

Where Did That Week Go?

Cloud Navigation

Hello! I have had a very busy week, which began with an extraordinary opportunity to see President Barack Obama when he was in Sioux City, IA last Saturday. Through one of my co-workers, we were able to get VIP tickets and were very close when he was there to give a short speech....very exciting! I happen to think he's a wonderful President and of course, his speech was an inspiration. Lots of evening activities lately, which is kind of unusual for us....out three evenings in a row this week. No wonder I'm feeling off kilter and behind in everything.

Johntimothy and I have begun a new way of eating based on The Abascal Way, which works to quiet inflammation in the body. It's a most interesting read and we are learning things about how the body actual works, how food is processed and the immune system functions. There is a three week phase where many foods that our western (especially American) diet has come to rely upon are eliminated so you can get the body realigned. Mostly we are eating whole foods, including vast amounts of fruits, vegetables and nuts, with some selective meat and fish. We were both already way too busy, but now we've added this turnaround in our eating habits, which necessitates actually spending more time in the kitchen preparing food and planning our meals to take to work so they are proportionally balanced. Wow....it's a lot. There are times when I am ready to give it all up so I can just go out on the deck with a glass of wine and forget it all....but alas, not for a while.

So, there is one thing in my life that remains on course and it is these little dailies that keep me balanced on days when I am overwhelmed. It's a good thing to get up early and go downstairs to the studio when it's still dark and all is quiet, inside and out. Sometimes I can tell you what was going on in my head when I made them, but sometimes I'm not sure at all and they just are what they are....it's a conversation in which the moment of making is given over to the history of everything that came before. Then the rest of the day unfolds and before I know it, the morning has come around again and I am at my table, stamping a new page with the date and beginning to let my hand move across the page.

Thanks for all the kind words about the Somerset Studio magazine....still awaiting my copy, so I haven't actually taken a close look. I do so appreciate hearing from you and apologize for the sometimes long lapses in my response time. It is hard to keep up! I haven't read the blogs I follow in ages and am way behind on that front. There seems to be no way to stay on top of everything....does anyone have any secrets? I don't want to give one thing up, but am also a bit weary of feeling behind....time to set some new priorities! Okay, that's quite enough rambling from me....here are the week's dailies! Do stop over at MissouriBendMusings to see more views and get more information.

September 1, 2012

September 2, 2012

September 3, 2012

September 4, 2012

September 5, 2012

September 6, 2012

September 7, 2012