In the Land of Weathered Cypress

  

 

 

 A few photos from late October that I've been meaning to post. Today, I'm mesmerized by the palette of soft greys and greens of the foggy, rainy Portlandia day outside my window.  Meanwhile, I'm listening to great music while finishing a painting and tending to household chores.

Ever see the musical "Music Man"? Somehow, the refrain came to me while mulling over the question of how to move forward with art goals while working and maintaining family and social obligations.  I crave long, uninterrupted blocks of time to produce art.  As in days/weeks at a time.  Not possible right now; so instead, I recently adapted and adopted the slightly modified refrain of Music Man's "Pick a Little, Talk a Little" as my mantra:  "Paint a little, blog a little. Clean a little, blog a little. Paint, paint, paint. Clean a lot, blog a little more."  I'm serious --it's working.  If you haven't seen the movie version, follow the link and watch the song being performed to the end.  You'll understand the intensity and effectiveness of my mantra. And besides, the energy of the performance is infectious :)

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend.

Thanks for stopping by!

The Colors of My Days

here

 

I've been enjoying the mild weather and splendid autumn color in Portlandia while thinking of those who were impacted by the storms on the east coast.  Also enjoying a brave little brown bunny that has made an appearance in our front yard a few times over the past several days.  Sampling the clover in our grass, it freezes when it senses me and on one occasion, turned and scampered back into the rugosa rose patch with lightening speed.  Mind you, rabbits are not common here.  In fact, I've never seen one in Portland, and I can't help but wonder if this one was someone's pet that was released.  Regrettably, urban coyotes are prevalent here, so I fear for this sweet bunny.  

The sumac bush was absolutely splendid several days ago, when I didn't have my camera on my walk.  It was like a weaving with a warp of green leaves interwoven with the intense yellow and red leaves.  I kept wanting to get back to it to take photos, but each day, the light was too low by the time I got out for my walk.  I finally made it back to it today in the late afternoon, with light in the sky and camera in hand, but wouldn't you know it, the leaves had withered. 

The photo of the colorful spools was taken at Beam,& Anchor, a wonderful new store in northeast Portland.  More about that next time. :)

Have a wonderful day!

New Painting in the Works

 Winds of Change (in progress)

Acrylic on canvas

24" x 24"

 

Spent a little time trying to finish "Winds of Change" this weekend, but it still needs one more session.  Thought I'd share this photo anyway, because it's been difficult to find the right lighting indoors or out to photograph it in, and the rains may come before I get a chance to finish it and photograph it again.  In reality, the red of the "Kona" rectangle is in the same range as that of the berries, but it's in the shadow here.  The painting reminds me of a fat corner (yardage talk) of  printed fabric.  Though decorative in appearance, it has special meaning for me.

Meanwhile, some little garden spiders were busy crafting snares for "passers-by," and I feel lucky to have discovered their handiwork quite by chance today when I happened to glance at the fencing from a new perspective.  Somehow, the mixed media piece that I did on Saturday morning seems in keeping with the wire fence web graphics. This work was done on white sketch paper that appears grey in this photo.  Late Saturday night, I got brave and put a raw umber wash on top of it all.  Risky business, to say the least, and as you can imagine, it looks totally different now.  Some might even venture to say it is ruined.  Which reminds me of the words of wisdom of Non-indigenous Woman:  "Never give up on a piece."  :)

Everything is dry . . . bone dry and parched.  The weather is lovely, but we will welcome the rains.

Wishing you a wonderful week.

Transparent Circles

 "Transparent Circles With Pink Bars"

Acrylic and graphite on canvas

24" x 24"

I've cleared the dining room table and have set out paints, brushes, water and -- most importantly-- a bare canvas.  I'm intending to lay some paint down tomorrow, but I'm in a bit of a quandary as to whether to jump into uncharted territory.  Meanwhile, the above painting has found its way into the shop. Perhaps if the sun shines, I will be able to get a better photo of it in the next couple of days.

How quickly fall arrives!

Happy weekend everyone. :)  Hope you find time to be creative!

After the Wedding. . .Remains of the Day

  

 

 

Somehow, we did it!  Somehow, after eight months of fretting and worrying, and refining Plan A and inclement-weather-Plan B, we scored three days of glorious sun for our daughter's outdoor wedding festivities.  Somehow, between the rehearsal dinner and the ceremony, our youngest daughter was able to complete nearly seventy small and medium bouquets, three gorgeous porch bouquets, her sister's bouquets (yes, two) and the attendants' bouquets; all from flowers she had either grown herself or had sourced from a local grower, and from greenery she had foraged from the woods and shore. Somehow, everything else fell into place for the main event:  the backdrop for the ceremony was completed in the nick of time; the decorative string balls were hung at the very last minute so as not to collapse from the dew and condensation from the previous night; the electrical considerations for the music and the tent lighting were worked out; the photographer, band and caterer all arrived from afar on cue; etc., etc.

Somehow, all the guests from distant lands arrived safely and in time for the short, but very meaningful and personal ceremony. Somehow, the evening fog stayed away, and the chilling breeze held off through dinner and beyond. Somehow we made it through our toasts without falling apart, and were still on our feet and dancing to the wonderful music when the nearly-full moon rose over the bay, accompanied by a legion of twinkling stars.

And somehow, a week and a half later, we are still thanking the weather gods, and counting our blessings for all the help and love that was showered upon our daughter, her husband, and all of us.

I have been visiting your blogs, but after a rather lengthy stretch of preoccupation,  I feel I can safely say I'm finally back in "posting mode".  

  Thanks so much for your patience! 

 

The Other Garden

So nice to savor a cup of coffee in our less-structured garden . . . 

(the one with the chickens :) )

Hope you have a wonderful week!

"Veiled Ovoid" in situ

"Veiled Ovoid"

30" x 40"

"Veiled Ovoid" is almost finished and I couldn't resist capturing it with these fabulous onion orbs from our garden.  We've never used them in a bouquet before, and although a mild onion fragrance permeated the air when my husband first brought them in several days ago, it has since dissipated and surprisingly, not a single floret (no doubt the wrong term) has fallen.

A lovely soft rain has brought relief from the heat to the west side of the Cascades this morning.  I am reluctant to look at the news to see how many wildfires were started by the lightning storms predicted in the central and eastern regions of the state last night.  Currently, the largest wildfire in nearly 150 years is burning very close to a tiny, favorite "hamlet" that is near the southern border.  

I've just spent twenty minutes getting caught up on these wonderful blogs:  Paper Ponderings, Printed Material; and Non-indigenous Woman.   Time to move away from the computer and get into action.

Cheers!

Apricot Poppy and Non-Stop Sun

 

Now that the "sun switch" has been turned on, our suburban vegetable garden has reached a nice state: The plants have come into their own but have not yet gone wild.  Well, that is, all but the flowering phlox.  The phlox (not shown here) is another story.  Phlox is considered a bit of a "thug" plant by perennial gardeners in Oregon because of its rampant spreading tendencies.  It has systematically crowded out our strawberries and is now threatening our few blueberry bushes.  Furthermore, it has paid no attention to our property line and has spread unrestrained into our neighbor's yard.  I have begun an earnest campaign to eradicate it but as my husband pointed out, it will continue to trouble us as it will simply march back across the property line! 

I am almost finished reading Barbara Kingsolver's 2007 book, Vegetable, Animal, Miracle. Even though I have been tuned into the local, organic, sustainable food movement for over ten years, and my husband has faithfully planted and maintained our vegetable gardens for twenty-seven years, I gleaned many new insights from Kingsolver's book, which also features contributions from her biologist husband and her grown daughter. I wouldn't say it is a particularly fast read; rather it moves along at an enjoyably leisurely pace with each chapter reinforcing the tenets set forth in prior chapters. 

While on the subject, I feel compelled to mention, again, the lovely book that Kerstin Svendsen edited, From Orchards, Fields, and Gardens, first appearing on this blog here.  Such a simple, beautiful and moving book. . . . .

Hope this week is treating you well!

And thanks for following!