River Garden Studio

waiting for my real life to begin

a winter break is a slice of heaven for me... 

time to sleep late 

to dream 

to reflect and starting later today to bask in the glow of family

 

 

I have had time to paint... 

to arrange

to hammer 

to texture, tie and to wrap

these are two finished pieces 

so different, different sides of me 

the tall one is one of a series 

"these hills are mine"  

the small square one i started last week, (shown on my last post),

it may be part of a series too 

They sit on the side of the bath tub (where I display new work)

 that faces my studio.  

our bedroom, sunroom/studio and bathroom 

all are open to eachother with only one wall.

 

splashes of red make me think of Christmastime

 

old memories haunt me 

during quiet moments on these days

some are beautiful 

some are sad

 

but the new memories are so sweet

I try to live in the moment 

 

 

new pages in my journal... 

hand written notes from my father 

in his years as a widower he would sit 

and write about philosophy and music  

these pages are about transition

into the depth of winter

the absence of color

fading butterflies

old love replaced with new love

 

my brother sent me this photograph... 

this is the view from where his new house will stand 

the foundation is down now

these are the buildings I painted, snuggled in the yellow hills, 

in the painting at the top of this post 

this is Issigeac, France... 

I hope to go see Greg and Cathy  again when their house is finished... 

Greg has a new blog here .

 

to all my old friends and new 

and my sweet familly

wishing you a beautiful holiday season

a warm home

love

and creativity. 

 

"On a clear day... I can see a very long way...."  

from Colin Hay 

Waiting for my Real Life to Begin

 

 

 

rest smooth

When I checked my mail this week I was so excited to get my new Pasticcio Quartz... the holiday Issue 8, and my work is in it!  This small canvas is called, "may the blessing of the light be on you."  I would like to say a special thanks to Sara Fishburn for being such a lovely woman and believing in my work.  You can also find one of my "timeless women" published in Issue 5. 

This is the cover... just like a Christmas present on my coffee table.  The flowers are left over from Thanksgiving.

 

Below is a sneak peak at pages for Rita's alterd book for our Inner Works project... it should be safe in her hands any day now... her inspiration was "A Gift from the Sea" by Anne Morrow Lindberg."  This is one of my favorite books... I gave a copy to my mother when I was a teenager, but it remained in my room most of the time.  I still have it.

 

I finally finished the cover to a project I worked  on with Seth Apter on The Altered Page.  You can see my book here. The picture of the monarch is a lithograph that I made in college.  I have several prints of it and want to use them in collages.

 

And finally... I am playing with adding beads and other found objects to some geometric paintings that are on wood... here I am playing with the design... not sure if I will use string or wire...

 
One more week until winter vacation...it promises to be a crazy one... Chris's concert, a Christmas party for my class...(ahhhhhh!), dinner with friends and other get togethers.  

Later today we are putting up the tree and having hot-buttered rums. I saw my father yesterday and this week he is somewhat better. He is talking a little again. The funniest thing he said to me as I grinned down at him was "Why, you look just like Roxanne!" to which I replied patiently... "thats because I am Roxanne, dad."

Thank you all for being such caring and understanding souls to me.  I agree with Robyn at Art Propelled, that we are so very lucky to have eachother.

May you rest smooth.... like the wing of a butterfly

(words from Anne Morrow Lindberg)

quiet moments in december

 
 

It is cold and dreary here... sprinkles of snow spiral past the windows... the river is starting to freeze and cat-tails are bent. A downey woodpecker lands on the maple out front. Black and white and red.  

I sit here with my cat on one side of me, and my dog on the other... they keep me warm and calm my heart.  My guys are back in the family room... I can feel their presence in this  warm place that is our home.  

My father had to be moved to the memory care portion of his assisted care facility... he has been declining rapidly over the last two weeks.  Over the last year I have grown to love him and to feel his sweet love for me and my sister and brother.  

It is funny that as his dementia took hold of him the once mean, critical man that I grew up with dissappeared and a loving happy man took his place.  This morning my son and husband helped pack up and move out some of his stuff and then I visited him... just as I do every week... he can barely talk now... so hard to believe that once he knew several languages....I just held his hands that he had wrapped up in his shirt... close to his heart.

 

This very red collage began very subtly but changed rapidly when I was working on it yesterday in my studio.  The stamps are a gift from Trish... and the little bird is the same kind that I mentioned that was just out in my tree...

 

 

Another collage... both started at my art group... the hawk is one of my own carved stamps... the two corner stamps were made by Kaylie and Trish... I think I got them hooked...

 

I was rummaging through elementary boxes from several years ago, before I taught art... and found these bones of a small rodent... I had been giving a science lesson on owl pellets and had my students take them apart and create skelletons.  I played with my photograph, behind it is a fall scene from our back yard... behind which is an old graveyard.

 

And a picture of what I will be doing tomorrow evening after work... I am loving to wear boots lately... May you have a warm and glowing week...