River Garden Studio

and in the distance...

On July 2nd, Jill Zaheer at Jazzworks posted the most thought provoking post. I have been thinking about Jill's words and photographs  and contemplating her words since. She reminds us to "Awaken our senses-  they are the nourishment of our souls." 

Sometimes in this crazy world we forget to do just that... she has reminded my that each day is a renewal in and of itself...  Thank you Jill...

I have noticed that now I can again awake each morning and see the day as a gift... for what will I create today, what new flower will bloom, what bird will visit my garden?  

My life in the summer is a solitary one... for when the trees leaf out little can be seen of the world outside of my home. 

My love for painting is in a state of renewal, as well...new textures, new color combinations, new visions... 

For my show in April, (thankfully such a long way off...) our plan is for me to show primarily landscapes, collages and books. 

 

This is the story of my landscapes...

...and in the distance there stood a house.  This house seemed to change colors with the sky as it moved by each minute, each day and each month.  I wondered what lied beyond the house.  What did the woman or man, or family inside it's walls see out it's windows?  What was the secret of the house... it's sadness and dreams... it's loves?

I have four different canvases that I'm working on right now... all in various stages but completely covered with textures and layers of gesso and medium... I have been using a pallet knife for this, tired of the messes on the paintbrush..(I ruin one after another!).  I like these paintings to look like part of a wall... a very old wall...

A close up...

I'm trying out some purple here...

And this will be a collage, like two pages open on a canvas...

...and here are some garden pictures to fill you with color...

over the mountain and in the garden

Thank you to all for your encouraging and loving comments on my last post... each one made me so happy and helped to bring the light back into my summer...

And so, as my friend Lynne said, I took back control of my life.  

Outside of Ashland, Oregon there is a beautiful winery that my daughter introduced me to last year... When the gallery that I showed my work closed in Klamath Falls, she said..."Mom, your work would be perfect at "Paschal Winery..." and we went there one afternoon for some wine tasting... 

Well it took me about a year, but I finally called the winery and left a message with my number and my blog address... The beautiful manager, Agnieszka, called me back very excited to set up an interview... and so began a new phase of my life, I think...

I drove over the Cascades, a drive I am very familiar with, all the time watching the scenery and loving the views of Oregon's wine country.

About an hour and a half later, I set down some of my larger paintings on the leather couch inside the winery, where they were completely at home... and I guess my daughter was right, they fit it beautifully. Agnieszka and I set up a time for my own show, complete with an evening of wine tasting and music,  six weeks in April... and talked and talked.  Below is one of her employee's who came out to see my work...

She was so lovely I had to take her picture as she looked through one of my books...

And a view from the balcony of summer hillsides, I live across the far mountains in the top right corner.

 

My heart was dancing ever more when we had our "Art Gathering" at my house this weekend... We began with a drum circle... a dream come true for me... especially when I saw everyone come in with their drums and other instruments...  This is Jan, and Shari in the back...

And Gaelyn, our leader...

The hands of Lynne...

And we began to make art.  I supplied everyone with small tin boxes and many leftover metal scraps, and they got to work.

This is Darlene's beginning...

And Jan's, 

And Gaelyn's...

And here are some of the almost final products...

Anna, who worked on a larger piece...

And Lynne, who stayed late and we talked through the rest of the afternoon...

and one last image, Rebecca's small beauty...

Art and friends in the garden... still making me smile... If you have time you should visit these artist's websites... they are very beautiful.

these days of June

My days are bittersweet.  Sweet  because of the garden.  Sweet because I have time to just be. But bitter because my job as an art teacher are over, (at least for this time), and there was so much more I wanted to do... and I loved this job so much. 

Next year our school district will have no middle school electives at all.  No art, no choir, shop or band.  High school thankfully will still have art and band.  So my sons day will still be rich in music.

Still, I have a job as an elementary school teacher somewhere in my district.  And I will find ways to incorporate art into every day... dance and three dimensional work as well...I can have that science/nature table again, and younger and sweeter students who are not going through such difficult hormonal times.

Some mornings I wake up in a panic... where will I be in September?  But other mornings I am fine... almost.  For now I just wait and love my garden, later in the summer I will begin the job of moving out of my art room.  I remind myself that many people have much worse problems...

This is a collage of two images, one myself, that I cut out and glued on the other, a close up of a peony with matt medium.  I added a layer of the medium over them both.  My husband says... "oh another woman reaching..."  but oh well.  It is what we do.  Here is the peony photo:

Summer days are my own.  My son is working for the Forest Service again this summer.  This time as a leader of his own crew for the Youth Conservation Crew. He and my husband drive down to California together everywhere.  Their district is called the "Goose Nest,"  so appropriate for this area.  I miss them and run out to greet them when they drive up every day...

I used the same method in this picture I took of my daughter when she was just a teen, and sat her on the columbine. To me it is as though she and the flower are having a conversation...

More colors of my world...

And two new collages as I find my new direction...

as the days unravel... and know at least for right now, 

this is where I am, "Meant to Be."

you see things that were

I have finished the pages in Seth's book... "Distressed Elements" for our Inner Works collaborative...  and at this moment it is in the mail, on the way to Rita for her beautiful contributions.  For those of you who have visited Seth's blog, The Altered Page, then you know that he sees the beauty of distressed elements like no other.  Out of our group of six artists it is amazing to me that we have worked on each other's book at the same time...

In this project, I have enjoyed the process of cut and paste more than any other... I just hope I haven't got too carried away!

Finding the "ingredients" for Seth's book has also been a joy... as was the process of what to put where, and how to "tie" things down, (I ended up using old wire and string).

The paper clips aren't really part of the art, and the slide keeps moving to different spots...

Now I am thinking of new projects until my next book arrives and I am welcoming summer with open arms...

as summer begins

As summer begins for me I clean my studio and begin the huge job of tending to my gardens.  I don't grow vegetables, just masses of perennials, spices, bushes and trees. I figure if I work a few hours every day, in between art projects that it will be done by the end of summer. 

I have started to add more to my sidebar, you can see the pages in my hand-made book in "What calls from beyond" at the top of this page... and I wonder... what calls to you as well?

 

My biggest thrill this summer will be to go to an art workshop given by Nick Bantock at Salt Spring Island in British Columbia.  It is July 28 and 29.  Last time I talked with his wife she said that there still may be openings... If you are interested email me and I will give you more info.  It was suggested that we read this book, "Urgent 2nd Class," by Nick Bantock.

Another book that I ordered at the same time as the Nick Bantock book is called, "Signs on the Wind," postcard collages by Lenore Tawney.  Both of these books are filled with wondrous art and ideas.

I have been working hard , (and loving every minute), on my interpretation of Seth's altered book, "Distressed Elements" and have posted a new post on Inner Works about it.  I'll save images of my work until my next post, because I am not quite finished...

On his website, The Altered Page, Seth showed us his "inspiration boards" and invited us to share ours ... Instead of an inspiration board though, I would like to show you my "inspiration shelves". They change with every new project or new gifts from nature or from friends. they are definitely  filled with objects to be touched and held...

Below is a small accordion book I am working on... All the bird images are scanned photocopies that I enlarged or shrunk from my own work... There are layers of papers under the birds, and more layers of paints and glazes over them.  These are all common birds of our area.

Here are some some sample pages...

Now I will share some more garden pictures... they seem very quiet to me...

quiet and calm and gentle... just what I need right now.  

My son and I stayed home together today.  He must have felt the need for calmness as well, because neither one of us wanted to answer the phone.

some pink lupins hide deep in a scattering of phlox...

a frog hides under a stool...

an old chair becomes visible after I pull grasses...

and this summer you can find me here... 

hiding in my garden or in my studio 

where I can look out and see my garden...

on colored wings I will fly

This painting called to me these last two days...  

I first shared it here.... It is now called "taking flight." 

On my work table it changes and changes...  

The bird stays... always the birds stay in my art.  

And wings, I love wings, bird wings, butterfly wings, dragonfly wings...

The sky changed, 

from blue to a lighter blue to yellow to white with a touch of yellow.  

The bird carries the moon.  Can you see it?  

Her face changed, from shadowed to sad to alert to hopeful.  

And now in her hands she holds the golden wings of a monarch.  

This transformation is not yet over....

Outside the rain waters the earth...

Lightening flashes through the sky leaving more yellow light.  

I love yellow light.

Tanagers bask in the sun and sing, and sing.

A white flower holds light inside it's petals.  

Red finches play in the wind...

The gardens thrive... 

the beauty somehow makes me ache.

The day is like a poem of contrasts 

between the white wings of a bird 

and the colored wings of a butterfly... 

between the subtle and the bright, 

between textured and soft edges,

the transparent and opaque

a dance of the flowers...

And of the magic in the natural world.

on colored wings we will fly...

first flowers

The first flowers appear in my gardens, (other than the tulips and daffodils), trees are leafing out and flower petals and white pollen fly through the air. We had friends over for dinner last night and we ate outside.  Our heads were soon covered with small yellow flowers from our Maple tree. 

My foot is feeling a little better, so today I tried to do some light gardening. Jim repaired all the bricks on the patio, as that is where I fell, in a hole where one had disintegrated.  I broke the same foot three years ago when I decided to start up dance classes again after twenty years or so!  I was attempting a leap and a spin that time and the break was much worse.  

No news about the situation in our school district... but my son and I did go to the board meeting and I spoke to the board as a parent and a teacher... that took a lot of guts, but I know now that I have tried my hardest to save art in Klamath County. 

I have many art pieces to share, journal pages mostly... somehow this week everything started coming together...

The first purple iris hiding in the aspen...

Two pages in burgundy and gold...

The bird and the house are both photocopies of pictures I painted.  I've been loving empty chairs lately...

Creamy white iris's cluster in front of a lavender bush in my herb garden that desperately needs trimming. 

This painting, "light fragments" about two feet square, has been calling to me.  I have been adding texture to the geometric patterns with rice paper, netting and lace.  I added some newspaper strips, but ended up scraping most of it off.  I think I might be finally finished...

Here it is with some of the strips of newspaper, as I scrape it off.

I have used the rose on these unfinished journal pages in other art, but it was for Veronica's altered book in our collaboration, and these pages are for me.  The two middle pages here open, but I haven't finished them yet.

This is actually an altered version of pages I shared in my last post.

One of my pen and inks of a western fence lizard.  In high school I actually kept one as a pet for a week so I could draw it.  I do love lizards.  The pressed flower is from Jackie a lovely Australian artist.

Purple Phlox,  I think it's called "Dames Rocket" and is very old fashioned, I have been told.  This flower is bursting out everywhere as it re-seeds...

And finally, I am laying out pages for Seth's book, "Distressed Elements,"  Oh, these are so much fun.  I have the pages glued and folded, and they are ready for construction.

This rusty piece was a gift from a student.  I hammered it to make it flatter.  It has so much potential.

I want to thank you all again for your lovely comments of encouragement during this challenging time... You have made me realize that my art spirit can shine through even when things are hard.  And even if I am not an art teacher I can still be an artist... 

as I will be

The Klamath river, it's water's calm and then rough, flows to the ocean.

In the meadows May breezes whisper against wild flowers and they bend in response.

A friends Buddha brings light at a glance...

Written words speak softly...

And detailed illustrations from favorite books show the tiniest textures and patterns.

Roses that are left over from a beautiful day are still lovely, as they lie on the garden soil, crying "don't forget me yet..."

Our dog pauses in the daffodils... while we play with a yellow filter...

New pages are finished in my "Be the Light" journal called "What still remains."

"

Amanda and Eric take their turn in the daffodils, a photograph I took  last weekend, more yellow filters...

Now the light changes to a pale green.

It glows in the garden window in the morning.

A scarf colored buttery yellow brings me joy.

Like the fading color of rose petals.

And putting my feet up on a Sunday morning with some more favorite books and my whimsical slippers from Ashland.  I just bought "Exhibition 36" by the lovely Susan Tuttle and it is amazing!

This dresser was my birthday present.   

More new journal pages... I am still inspired by shades of red-orange.

As I will be again and again...

I know I post mostly about my journey in art and glimpses of my world.  But times are getting harder as economic problems in Oregon are causing all art, choir and band teacher's in our school district jobs to be on the line for next year.  I realize how much of my identity is in my being an art teacher.  I am lucky enough to be able to teach other subjects but many are not.  

The wonderful music experience my son has had in band may not exist for his senior year.  His amazing teacher and father of his best friend may take his family and move back to Michigan.  And topping off all the bad news of this week, I stepped in a hole outside and fractured a bone in my foot.  I am definitely feeling vulnerable.

I wish you all peace and happiness this coming week.

all that spring reveals

Spring is by the river.  It is in the clouds, the water and the earth.  Spring calls to me and cries... open the windows... listen to the concerts of the birds in the air... watch the water birds soar.

Spring reveals my disintegration project, that I begun here.  This projects was Seth's creation that he began here: The Altered Page.  He wanted to see what would happen to our art over the long months of winter.  Through the snow storms and showers of rain, through the wind and the icy air of cities and countries all over the world. This is what is left of my gift to nature now... colorless in the bright blue sky...  And these is what has become of Seth's project as the idea spreads around the earth.

and this is then...

My road home calls to me, it follows the river past the fields towards the Cascade mountains.

Color is in the flowers. I take photograph after photograph in my awe of color.

This bird, and Evening grosbeak, was lying on the bricks outside, frantic and injured, so bright in it's yellowness and bigger than any other song bird, that it frightened my dog... and I scooped it up hesitantly.  After cradling it  for a while, I placed it in the fence to rest and hoped it would not die...

When I later looked out it was gone... I wish I could tell which one of dozens of birds that fill our trees was the one held in my hands.

 

May brings Mother's day... and beautiful roses from my sweet son.  I have never used this bowl for flowers before.  It is actually a deep, cobalt blue, the color is hard to capture...

Color is everywhere on this day...

In the present from my daughter that I hung inside the kitchen window...

In the vase my mother made.  She was an artist as well.  When she was alive we would be out in her gardens... just as we are out in mine now.

In the red-orange flowers of the quince...

In the branches outside, as I tried to decide where to put this beautiful gift.

Color is deep in my heart and surrounds me with love.

And after dinner we sit and talk.  My husband made us giant scallops in wine sauce, crab, fresh asparagus, sour dough bread with garlic cloves...

Amanda and our adorable son in law, Eric.

My heart is full...

a time when everything comes together

At work I cleaned up my work space that I save for my own projects.  The surface is an old paper cutter.  I like the roughness of it and the grids.  

The little block of wood below is a little of everything.  Wire and string, paper and paints, glass and wood... all symbolizing the elements of the earth.

My work art journal that I "play" with, this time with layer over layer of images and papers.  And a watercolor feather of an rainforest bird, unlike any bird we have here in Oregon.  I was intrigued by the blue.

This page is called "and the butterfly returns."

and "looking back over winter..."

The cover and scraps for another page,

And the mask I made reminding me to take chances.  The round holes in the top were where I put two glass beads,  well they ended up shooting out during firing and making two perfect craters in my kiln in the classroom.  I love red clay, carving into it and adding dimension.  If you look closely you can see that some stones made it through the firing process...

Back home a four-pronged rake waits for the rain to stop,  still carrying decaying leaves from it's last job.

And a yellow tulip begins to open...

I took some daffodils inside to photograph.  Their yellowness and details are surprisingly hard to capture, I think.

These little antique copper measuring cups are a new treasure, I wonder how I can use them in a still-life...

And now for a sneak peak at my pages in Veronica's book for our Inner Works Collaborative

The theme is friendship.  Visit Veronica's blog, "Simple Pleasures" to see her amazing artwork.  Her paintings of chairs and interiors are exceptionally beautiful.

As I grow and change as an artist I am so thankful to all of you in all your different corners of the world.  In the last year and a half I have been making art more spontaneously and intuitively than I ever have before.  I feel challenged and exhilarated.  I feel a connection and part of an amazing community.  Thank you.