anonyrrie

Afterwards

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.
- from "Closing Time" by Dan Wilson

sunrise at dusk

Even now this landscape is assembling.

The hills darken. The oxen

sleep in their blue yoke,

the fields having been

picked clean, the sheaves

bound evenly and piled at the roadside

among cinquefoil, as the toothed moon rises:

This is the barrenness

of harvest or pestilence.

And the wife leaning out the window

with her hand extended, as in payment,

and the seeds

distinct, gold, calling

Come here

 

Come here, little one

And the soul creeps out of the tree.

 - Louise Gluck, "All Hallows" 

soul gazing

One day you finally knew

what you had to do, and began,

though the voices around you

kept shouting

their bad advice--

though the whole house

began to tremble

and you felt the old tug

at your ankles.

"Mend my life!"

each voice cried.

But you didn't stop.

You knew what you had to do,

though the wind pried

with its stiff fingers

at the very foundations,

though their melancholy

was terrible.

It was already late

enough, and a wild night,

and the road full of fallen

branches and stones.

But little by little,

as you left their voices behind,

the stars began to burn

through the sheets of clouds,

and there was a new voice

which you slowly

recognized as your own,

that kept you company

as you strode deeper and deeper

into the world,

determined to do

the only thing you could do--

determined to save

the only life you could save. 

- Mary Oliver, The Journey

 

 

Mindful Balance

Blue Moon Lunar Eclipse.  Fireworks cracking the silence of the forest at midnight.  Goodbye to one decade that held so much change, and hello to whatever comes next.  The New Year started with a cosmic and literal bang.

This morning we awoke to stillness after an overnight snowfall, the eclipse and pyrotechnics long over.  The sky was a serene wash of pearl-grey, the trees were laden with damp powder and the forest creatures were burrowed deep in their under-tree nests and rock dens.  And right now, the only sounds I hear are the chirping and calls of the birds that come to feast at our feeder:  warblers, sparrows, finches, bluejays and our resident cardinal couple.  All is well.

Last January 1, I set my intentions for the year by choosing two defining words.  I wrote: "First, I want to learn to Listen more deeply and fully, both to my inner voice and to the unspoken words of others. I want to turn off the static that surrounds me and tune into the messages that come in silence. Then I want to Reach - reach within, reach out, reach for, reach above, reach below, reach beyond the limits I have intentionally and unintentionally set for myself. Listen ~ Reach... my mantra for 2009.  It makes me feel that anything is possible."  Good words, good intentions... and I do feel that I've held true to them throughout the course of this very challenging year.  Sometimes what I learned while listening was tough to take in and sometimes the reaching stretched me thin, but all in all... it's been a worthwhile and enlightening journey.

 

This year, my intention is to continue to listen and to reach, using what I learn to bring myself closer and closer to real integrity.  I'm talking about stepping fully into the process of being authentically myself in all parts in my life.   I know what it looks like, but what it means in practice is something I will have to discover as the year unfolds.  

So, in addition to listening and reaching, 2010 will be all about mindful balance.  I am sometimes impatient for change, and that impatience often leads me to feelings of discouragement.  That's a path I want to avoid this year.  It has too many ruts to trap my spirit and low hanging branches to snag my resolve. Instead, I want to follow the higher path, always mindful that “a journey of a thousand miles starts with one step” (Lao Tzu).  Big changes often come through evolution.

Mindful Balance... my mantra for 2010.  It makes me feel that anything is possible.

What word would you choose? 

Spring Planting

It seems like Spring brings the best art exhibits!  Among these shows is one that has the potential to expand the participating artists' opportunities. Every year at this time,  Artwell Gallery in Torrington, CT holds their Show for a Show exhibition.  During the show, more than 50 major art museums and galleries from the tri-state region view the submissions and select works and artists to exhibit in their galleries.

Flora - 24" x 36" x 1.5" - acrylic & ink on wood panel

I have decided to enter Flora, a painting I did for the Girls,Girls, Girls show at the IO gallery last spring.  She didn't sell and has been hanging on the wall of my office, mesmerizing me with her huge eyes and mysterious beauty.  I almost don't want to part with her, but...  she may plant some seeds of opportunity for me!

The Show for a Show exhibition runs from April 4 through May 17 with the opening reception on April 4 from 6 - 9 p.m.

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Edit - 3/38/09 - I'm also submitting her for Illustration Friday's topic, Poise.  She does seem very poised, yes?  

Medusa: It's Intricate

Medusa - 9" x 12" - micron pen/digital color

Whenever I read Greek mythology, I am always intrigued by the intricacies of the gods' relationships!  This is a drawing I posted a few years ago, along with the story of Medusa.

The Gorgons of Greek mythology were so hideous that the mere sight of them would turn anyone who gazed their way to stone. They were, according to the poet Hesiod, so frighteningly repulsive to the senses that they "were not to be approached and not to be described." Medusa, the only one of the three who was mortal, was born beautiful with a head of luxuriant, shining hair. The lusty Poseidon took a fancy to her, and disguised as a horse, seduced her in the temple of Athena. Enraged, Athena transformed Medusa into a monster whose most common portrayal shows her once beautiful hair as a mass of writhing snakes.

Medusa

 

She is the gypsy

Whose young have rooted

In the very flesh of her scalp.

Her eyes are drill-holes where

Your senses spin, and you are stone

Even as you stand before her.

She opens her lips to speak,

And have you believe.

She has more tongues to deceive

Than you can deafen your ears to.

If you could look away, the voices

From the heads of her vipers

Would be hard to argue.

If you could look away,

The pedestals of your feet might move.

If you could look away, 

The song from the cathedral of her mouth

Would fall to the floor like a lie.

- Frieda Hughes (1960 - )

Silver & Gold

work in progress - 12" x 16" x 1" - mixed media on wood

It's been one of those weeks... and I feel like I've had one foot in the twilight zone.  There's been such a surreal aura around me - weird synchronicities and strange happenings, but somehow I have managed to hold on to my calm center.  

Perhaps all the turmoil has stirred up some creativity, because I've started a new painting that I hope to finish by the end of the weekend.  The story is evolving... two friends, a secret, who knows?  I guess I'll have some idea by the time it's all finished.  I'll simply let instinct and intuition guide the way.

Here's what's I've been hearing in my head as I've been painting:

Make new friends but keep the old,

One is silver and the other is gold.

- from the Girl Scout song 

2/21 - here's some progress on the painting, which I worked on yesterday.  

I still need to do the background and finish up the detail work on the figures and the foreground, both of which are still rough.  The flowers in the foreground are collaged from paper napkins, a technique I first learned about from my friend Lenna Andrews and more recently was reminded of by Sharon Tomlinson's  article in Cloth Paper Scissors. I'm going to need to paint them in, but I really love the fine layer they add!

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2/22

I did a bit more today... I layered on some decorative papers for background texture, and then painted over them.  I also did some more detail work on the figures. Now it's time to let it sit while I ponder the rest of the background.

 

 

Be Present

be present - 10" x 10" x 1" - acrylic/mixed media on wood panel

{from the Mantras & Meditations series - available for purchase in my etsy shop}

To the Moon

   

Art thou pale for weariness

Of climbing Heaven, and gazing on the earth,

   Wandering companionless

Among the stars that have a different birth,--

And ever changing, like a joyless eye

That finds no object worth its constancy?

- Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822)

Climbing, climbing, always wanting more, or something just beyond reach... living for the future... believing in "if only"... not stopping to breathe and see and touch and understand that everything in this moment is perfect and as it should be... 

Sunrise

You can

die for it-

an idea, 

or the world. People 

have done so, 

brilliantly, 

letting

their small bodies be bound 

to the stake, 

creating

an unforgettable

fury of light. But 

this morning, 

climbing the familiar hills

in the familiar

fabric of dawn, I thought 

of China, 

and India

and Europe, and I thought

how the sun 

blazes

for everyone just

so joyfully

as it rises

under the lashes

of my own eyes, and I thought

I am so many! 

What is my name? 

What is the name

of the deep breath I would take

over and over

for all of us? Call it 

whatever you want, it is

happiness, it is another one

of the ways to enter

fire.  

- Mary Oliver (1935 - )

Winter Blossoms

blossom - 9" x 12" x 1" - acrylic - mixed media on wood panel 

{from the Mantras & Meditations series - available for purchase in my etsy shop}

We all have contained within us seeds of beauty, strength, compassion, understanding, creativity, love...  seeds that must be nurtured in order to blossom.  The trick is to discover the right environment within which to grow.  It's not necessarily a place, but more a state of mind.  

What does it take to get it just right?  Well, for me it all starts with honesty and self-acceptance; knowing that if I stay true to who I am, that is more than enough.  

The Jewel

There is this cave

In the air behind my body

That nobody is going to touch:

A cloister, a silence

Closing around a blossom of fire.

When I stand upright in the wind,

My bones turn to dark emeralds.

- James Wright (1927 - 1980)

Listen and Reach

listen - 10" x 10" x 1" - acrylic - mixed media on wood panel

{from the Mantras & Meditations series - available for purchase in my etsy shop}

I have been thinking a lot lately about what's most important to me and where I want to go next on this life-journey. Although I am energized by setting goals and making plans, I've never been one to make New Year's resolutions.  If something seems like a good thing to do, I either go for it or put it on the back burner until the time is right; if it's meant to be, it will happen.  Nonetheless, there's something to be said for rituals that challenge us to step back and reflect on who we are –  our values, our dreams, and our intentions to bring the two together - and so I've been thinking about what kind of ritual would help me move forward in 2009.

It's funny how sometimes that universal magic of synchronicity can weave together so many random threads.  As I've been working on my Mantras & Meditations  series of paintings, I've been focusing on being still and simply listening to my inner voice for words and affirmations that are meaningful and inspiring. The practice of creating art around mantras and meditations has been very grounding for me, and I have been sensing myself opening up to new ideas and possibilities.  In the midst of this focusing on words that shape being and action,  I came across a post that Leah, host of Creative Every Day and Art Every Day Month, wrote about Christine Kane's practice of choosing a defining word for the year.  Instead of creating a long, onerous "To-Do" list of resolutions that inevitably fall by the wayside, Christine suggests that we create a one word theme that will serve as a guide and inspiration throughout the year - an annual mantra! 

I chose two words, because they represent a process that is very important to me.  First, I want to learn to Listen more deeply and fully, both to my inner voice and to the unspoken words of others. I want to turn off the static that surrounds me and tune into the messages that come in silence. Then I want to Reach - reach within, reach out, reach for, reach above, reach below, reach beyond the limits I have intentionally and unintentionally set for myself. Listen ~ Reach... my mantra for 2009.  It makes me feel that anything is possible.

What word would you choose?