Keeping the Flow

Greetings everyone...hard to believe it's the beginning of the last full week of August!  I'm establishing my new rhythms and the structure of my day seems to suit me just right.  Mornings in the studio, beginning with 10 meditation drawings and a short writing practice.  I started doing these meditation drawings as an opening exercise each day at Brush Creek...10 sheets of copier paper and one pencil or pen....just letting my hand make marks on the page and turning it over when it felt right, going on to the next. I love these small rituals and this practice allows me to get out of my own way so that I can see the kind of marks I make at any given time. I am working at keeping the flow going, aware that I am not at Brush Creek any longer, and as much as I want to hold on tightly to that experience, I have to realize that each moment is a new moment and I must be present in the here and now.  A simple thought, but really a tangled web, full of emotions, desires and other things deeper that can't quite be named.  So, I continue on, trying to be open to the ongoing flow, and present to what wants to be revealed in my work and in my being.

I'm trying to shoot the new work and do it downstairs in the studio, so I don't have to be dependent on the fickle natural light.  We have this fancy digital camera that I just barely know how to use and that's if it's set on automatic.  I saw how the shots Johntimothy took of his recent work turned out and I was blown away when I realized he did it downstairs under the fluorescent lights....but using manual settings.  My first attempt at doing this was not very successful, so we're going to have another session tonight and hopefully I can get the hang of it.  In the meantime, here are a few of the new pieces....more to come, I promise!!

Vase and Storm Clouds

so far, untitled

so far, untitled

The top drawing was one of the first....these are all on Johntimothy's handmade paper.  I was in love with the landscape, but I'm not one to work directly from life and so the elements of the landscape began to appear. After the second piece, I understood that it was really the rocks that were the key for me and for the rest of the time the pieces were all about the rocks...like this third one.  I have to reshoot that one, along with the rest of the finished ones in the series, but I'll show them to you as soon as I can.  I am still working on a number of these "floating rocks" and it looks like this series will keep me busy for a little while!