River Garden Studio

a time to cry

I lost my father on Thursday night.  He passed away twenty minutes before we could get there.  I had seen him twice that day, as we had just arranged hospice care.

Yesterday, feeling numb and listening to my own playlist, (I never realized how sad it was), I started a new piece for my journal.  

I found some old sketches of sea gulls and thought I'd use them as a background.  But then I turned the cut pages around and found a pen and ink drawing I had done of an animal skull in college. 

So I used that side instead.

This photograph was taken at my brother's wedding in Ashland, Oregon. It was a day filled with both laughter and sadness, as we had just found out about my mothers cancer. It was thirteen years ago.
  

So the process continues, 

melancholy thoughts, 

sweet memories, 

sad memories ,

so many what ifs.  

I am grateful that I brought my father closer to my home to live. Grateful that I got to know him as a sweeter, kinder man.  Grateful that I could say I loved him. 

The magnifying glass was his. The tags are covered with scraps, metal and threads from other collages. There is even a bandaid wrapper.

  

This photograph was taken of my mom and dad at a winery in Sanoma County.  A happy day, in 1981, I believe. My mother died eleven years ago.  

 

The finished pages. Click on the images to look closer.

I wish I had taken a picture of his hands.
 

only to fly

We had so many birds here yesterday, only to fly away today.  Heavy wet snow coverd the morning and now the afternoon.  The winter birds must be hiding in the forest, the thick pines will shelter them.  

 
 I've been busy with my art.  this is a clay tile with a magnet on the back.  It is about 2x2 inches.  Such a little thing to give me so much pleasure.

And a dried rose bouquet.  Yesterday there was only snow on some of the bricks out back.  So different from today.

 

I worked on my large canvases some more.  I want them to be similar, but different...

so they could be hung in the same room or alone.  At the Paschal Winery they will hang on either side of large french doors which are the focal point when you walk in. They will be landscapes. I've been building up background colors on the arches, with layers of raw sienna, gesso, glazes, white a ocre. They still have a long way to go.

 

Then I started texturing the sky with gesso and a putty knife, 

which I placed on the surface in a circular motion.  

I want the color here to be yellowish. Lighter in the center. 

Cloudy.

 

 

I made a little tin stand for one of my tin boxes.

You can see the whole box here.

 

And I made a new necklace...

 

My old typewriter keys called for a photograph.

 

A clay bird sits in the snow.

 

and finally, new pages in my art journal called red river mist.

I wanted to show you this most beautiful journal bag. And don't forget to visit Seth's inspirational Secret Sunday!

           

wind watch

"coming home"

altered photograph, enlarged, textured, original painting of a flycatcher and acrylic paints

I have spent a lot of time this weekend looking out the window, watching the wind blow through the trees and listening to it's sounds... 

It sings and moans, and loudly cries out "hush!"  as it wooshes down the river canyon.

I am feeling quiet, thankful for a long weekend, for my home, for water and food, and my loved ones.  Like all of us, my heart and prayers go out to the people of Haiti. 

I have begun to work on two new canvases. They are going to be part of a show I have coming up in April.  I used lightweight spackling for the texture in the arches, mixed it into a paste with water and used a cooking spatula to spread it.  I had some moments of panic when I thought it wouldn't work.  But it feels quite permanent now.

I need to get serious about painting again, but oh, I love playing with my camera... 

 

And I love to make collages.

To me, it is the act of making this kind of art that is so important, to try new textures, to use new color combinations and surfaces, to try new ideas and themes. If I overwork a piece, or even mess it up completely, I have still gained so much.

 

 

I leave you with pages in one of my art journals.  I surprised myself with the bright colors.

   
Wishing blessings to all.