let the sun shine in...

This morning I was running late for work-not horribly late, I was just on track to get there 20 minutes early instead of 40. Usually I drive to work in a bit of a daze, numbed by the cold and the dark and whatever horrible tragedy is playing out on the morning news. This morning I noticed the world changing from black to grey to a beautiful pale blue as the sun started coming up over the distant trees. I haven't driven to work in light since early fall, and it warmed my brain to have some exposure to sunshine before entering the flourescent false daylight of school. Once again, I am awed by the earth's cycles and feeling re-energized by the return of spring. It must be time to start planning this year's garden...

"There is a vitality, a life-force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time this expression is unique. and if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world will not have it! It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open."

-Martha Graham

Another Mountain New Years

Once again, I spent New Year's Eve on a mountain, watching the snow fall quietly down, landing in whispers and hush. It was a long trek in, made longer by my heavy pack of warm clothing and 0 degree bag, but as I climbed the steep slope of the last quarter mile of trail, I was rewarded with a temporary break in the snow, and a view of the mountain valley that stretches beyond the hut.

The sun began to set just after I arrived, and I settled myself down to while away the old year with a great group of friends. Laughter was more frequent than words, and I was often content to just sit back and listen to the happy chatter around me. After a long while, the clouds parted again, and we had a single glimpse of the full moon, the second of the month, and I had many reasons to be thankful that I have the warm gift of friendship from such wonderful, creative, adventurous people-not just on the blue moon, but all the days of the year.

Inspiration: Gregory Colbert's "Ashes and Snow"

This pair of beautiful short films are a compilation of images from artist Gregory Colbert's nomadic art exhibit "Ashes and Snow". Colbert's work is a multimedia exhibit that incorporates visual, musical and written elements, and portrays man and animal as partners in a graceful dance of life.  More information on the exhibit can be found here. I can think of no better way to start off the new year than drawing inspiration from Colbert's incredible films and unique vision of the world around him. The first clip is an introduction to the concept, and the second a much larger collection of images. Happy New Year!

Please Pass the Cerulean...

Setting the stage for Art Night: idea-generating books, bright and diffuse light, plenty of art supplies and (off camera) tasty soup on the stove- spicy pumpkin stew with anadama bread...very inspirational!

For the last few years, PK and I have hosted a series of "Art Nights" as a way to encourage ourselves to paint more. It's been a great way to build enthusiasm for a project and to companionably share our artistic ideas with others. Some years we are more regular about it than others. Lately, we've had so many outside demands on our time that we haven't been having them as often as we like and the absence of shared creative time has been gnawing a hole in us ever since the summer ended.  We finally dusted off our brushes and organized our first 2009 Art Night over the holiday break.

PK and a friend in action...

We tend to hold more gatherings in the winter, mostly becuase our lives slow down a little when it's cold outside, and our thoughts tend to turn inwards, towards more contemplative and creative activities. The formula for a successful art night is simple: Invite people over, tell them to bring a current project, and throw some good, simple soup on the stove. These gatherings aren't really parties, they are working get togethers, and it's important to get that across right from the very beginning. When we first started having these, we ran into the "problem" that we have a lot of social friends who wanted to come over and hang out. This is a fabulous problem to have, but we had to be firm about the intent of the gatherings. By stressing that this is a great time to experiment with something new, and by emphasizing that our definition of creative activity is really broad, we have been able to stay  true to the focus of the evenings. We've had folks over doing all kinds of activities: Painting, drawing, writing, scrapbooking, fly tying, collage, photoshop and computer art and much much more.

PK painting ducks...his favorite...

I spent the evening doing watercolor exercises. Like my abs, those muscles have been left unused for far too long. I can't wait to break out the brushes again at the next art gathering...

Shadowblogger

Working on a return to updating this blog with regularity...

In the meantime, writing a novel in a month, teaching full time, painting the house...oh, the excuses are piling up!

Slipping in and out of fog

Isles of Shoals

I'm going to call this my "island tour" summer, as I seem to be working my way around all the islands I can get to. In a few weeks I'll be heading out for a week of paddling on the Maine Island Trail, and can't wait for more time to inhale the sea air and draw inspiration from the rocks and birds and waves. The other day I went out to the Isles of Shoals on the border between NH and Maine, and had a great few hours of being stranded on the island and left to wander around the remnants of the old village.

Here is a portion of a poem by Celia Thaxter, who lived and wrote on the islands in the mid-late 1800s...

THE SANDPIPER

Across the narrow beach we flit,

One little sandpiper and I,

And fast I gather, bit by bit,

The scattered driftwood bleached and dry.

The wild waves reach their hands for it,

The wild wind raves, the tide runs high,

As up and down the beach we flit,

-One little sandpiper and I.

Above our heads the sullen clouds

Scud black and swift across the sky;

Like silent ghosts in misty shrouds

Stand out the white lighthouses high.

Almost as far as eye can reach

I see the close-reefed vessels fly,

As fast we flit along the beach,

-One little sandpiper and I.

Nantucket

The first tomato

Most of our garden is a scraggly mess right now, half ruined by too much rain and too little sun. BUT, deep inside one of the most scraggly looking plants of all, I found this little green gem...perhaps all is not lost...