Works in Progress

Hi, everyone! I feel as if I should be apologizing to you, as it feels as if I've abandoned all my friends here. It's been a time of replenishing the stores with reading and working outside in the garden beds....at long last!! My last post was almost a month ago and I was reminded of that photo I took of one of the many snowstorms we had in April....but that one wasn't the last of it....we had several more between then and the last one on May 1st. But....at long last spring has taken hold and I want to spend every minute outside in the fresh air....digging in the weeds, planting or just sitting on the porch with a book and a glass of wine! If you'd been here this winter (and many of you endured a long, hard winter as well, I know!) you'd certainly want to do the same.

I have been making some new work in the studio, but it's going slowly....mostly because I'm so distracted with my spring fever! I've included a few quick shots of the three pieces in progress....a continuation of the Dust to Dust series I started a couple of months ago. These are all on 8x8" clay coated Ampersand cradled panels. They are evolving in connection to the reading I've been doing about the land and its history...a wide scope of events including the gradual loss of the prairie and the bittersweet stories of the peoples who have passed through these parts. It is a complex, yet fascinating piece of history, still unfolding, and the way I can come to terms with it all is through making the work that I make. These pieces seem to be more about drawing than painting, but I think the next panels will move in another direction....but we'll just have to see, as I don't seem to be in control of how they evolve! Here are the three in progress on my rather messy desk and details of each individually.

Above is a short found text poem made a few weeks ago....I used to make these regularly and kind of missed the process, so have been making them here and there. This one fits nicely with the ideas I've been working with and I thought I'd share it here.

My other last piece of exciting news is that I just received my advance copy of 500 Paper Objects to be published in the next month by Lark Books. Two of my pieces were selected for the book and it's exciting to see them in print! It's doubly exciting around here lately, as my husband Johntimothy, who is a printmaker, is represented in another publication that just came out, 500 Prints on Clay!

Well, I have missed you all and hope everyone is having a fine spring or autumn, depending on your locale. I've just seen some of the pictures of the devastation from tornado in Oklahoma....I know there have been many others and my heart goes out to all those who have been in the paths of those tornados. Frighteningly powerful and heartbreaking to see the damage.

Best wishes to everyone and I will try to get back here much sooner next time!