Saturday, December 29, 2007

Blackbirds and a black cat

Hope everyone is having a nice holiday, whatever it is that you celebrate. How about celebrating that the days are getting longer again! Have you come up with resolutions for the New Year? My number one is to enjoy each and every day to the fullest. Isn't that hard sometimes? You really have to pay attention too.

Here is a recent piece. I have been using a pouring method to make multicolored sheets of paper. The pours are random. But, like inkblots, imaginations turns them into something!

Here is the sheet after it has dried. Do you see the blackbirds? Immediately the song by the Beatles, "Blackbirds" came into my head. This song has long struck me as an anthem to people who need to break free from whatever has brought them down.



"Blackbird singing in the dead of night,
take these broken wings and learn to fly.
All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise"


I love sewing, and sewing on paper is interesting. You can't not use a hole you've made, so make holes carefully. My teacher, Trish, says that I should do more of this. It's amazing how much stuff there is in the sheets of paper I've been making. Dear reader, you will no doubt be seeing more of these...




Salem trying to sleep in the basket on my worktable. He is so sweet, often purring gently while I work. Sometimes I'll look up at him, and one eye is just barely open, watching me work. It's good to have a friend, especially one who loves all that I do...

Saturday, December 8, 2007

Plant love

This is our front porch now, in Pompano Beach, Fl. As you can see, it's getting overgrown, which is just how we like it. There are statues of Kwan Yin and Rebecca hidden under the pothos, and some shells and glass balls. We love the Vietnamese pots, and over the years we've collected a few of them for all the succulents.

























Behind all the pots in the front there are some ruella which aren't in bloom today, but when they are they are a lovely purple color. You can't see all the lizards, but I assure you, there at least a hundred of them, different kinds too. The iguana live out back in the gumbo limbo and palms near the canal. We had at least 8 babies hatch in our yard this year.