Autumn Glory

Revelled in the beauty outside my windows this weekend.

Fog and frost followed by clear skies.

Went for a short drive, late,

keenly aware of the barren structure of vegetation.

Few leaves remaining, with seedheads and pods

now in their prime.

Too many miles, (though only several, actually)

traveled too quickly by car.

No time to stop to honor

each tree, bush, and patch of wild weed/flowers

while zooming along to my destination.

But in the late, late afternoon sun,

at last, a chance to walk slowly,

breathe deeply of tall cedars and firs,

and capture light

enveloping a small stand of barren bushes.

 

Mixed media on paper

Visit this flickr photostream to see images of someone who clearly takes time to honor the beauty of the natural world. Page after page of gorgeous landscape shots alternating with beautiful and interesting close-ups.

Hoping your week is off to a great start!

Taking It In

   

Well, the November rains have arrived, and with them, the fragrance of foliage and the earth, and a wondrous fabric of leaves that is developing on the ground plane.  I managed to get out for two short walks in my neighborhood this weekend and it became all too apparent to me that "house / car / city office / car / house / car / city office" is a sure recipe for nature deprivation.  Interestingly, it was my olfactory sense that drove home the point that here, in my neighborhood, I was surrounded by vegetation and soil that was actually alive and dynamic, and that I was a part of this web of life. Nothing too profound here, mind you; it's just that it occurred to me while walking and taking in the fragrance, that during the dry summer, this fragrance of the earth, so characteristic of the Pacific Northwest, is virtually non-existent, unless one is in the woods, or better yet, deep in the forest.  And of course, it's non-existent year around in the immediate vicinity of my office downtown.  And therefore, similarly to "out of sight/out of mind," if one cannot smell the earth, one can lose track of just how long it has been since one has been out in a meadow, or a forest, or even in one's own neighborhood, taking it all in.

Hope you're not in a state of nature deprivation.  :)

Oh, and along this line, if you haven't already done so, pay a visit to Jennifer Judd-McGee's Swallowfield and take in Sophie Windsor Clive's short, beautiful video of the natural phenomenon of starling "murmurations."   And then scroll down to see Jennifer's holiday card and recent collages, before heading over to Novembergrass to see Sue's beautiful "murmuration" of stitches on her most recent work.

Have a great week!

Good Cheer from Kristen Donegan

Such a delightful start to a recent grey and cozy Saturday in Portland . . . a lovely handprinted and stitched note, atop the cheerful package, above, from Massachussets artist, Kristen Donegan.   

Image courtesy of Kristen Donegan



And inside the package? A few of her wonderful cards. :) 

Among assorted art works, Kristen is currently featuring a series of bird-themed cards in her Etsy shop, as well as a very nicely curated selection of vintage items.  You can catch up with what she's been up to on her blog, A Sunny Spot, where she shares snippets of her artistic process and creative daily life.

And in our garden ...hydrangea leaves recently in their glory.
(But now suffering the effects of a deluge.)

Hope you are having a wonderful week!
(Hope folks back East are recovering from the storm.)

Thanks for visiting!

(I feel an artistic weekend coming on. . .)

 

 

Columbia River Gorge in the Fall

 



The Columbia River Gorge is a mere forty-five minute drive from Portland and it is particularly beautiful in autumn.   We took a short excursion, travelling east on the Oregon side of the river, and then crossing to come back on the Washington side.  It was wonderful to smell the fragrance of cedar and fir on the forested hillsides; beautiful to see the vibrant fall foliage against the deep green of the conifers and grey basalt rock.  We passed through a series of double tunnels in rock outcroppings on our way back; narrow tunnels for the trains, and slightly wider ones for the cars.  It was rather exhilarating to encounter a train speeding along in the opposite direction, so high above the river, and so close to us as we zoomed around the cliffs.

Time to transition to the week ahead.  Chilly nights are in the forecast, which means the autumn leaf color will become even more intense and the "big drop" will begin in earnest . . .

Cheers!



The Garden in Fall's First Rain

 

 

 

Such beauty in the garden after a rain. 

And in today's grey light, the colors of the produce and flowers

at the farmers' market were almost too intense.

Alas, I did not have my camera with me. . .

Thank you for stopping by. :)

Print on Top of Print . . . Out into the World

One of my small, original monoprints (hidden in the package) recently found its way out into Blogland via Etsy. A bit of color, in the way of a digital reproduction of collaged paintings, seemed an appropriate thing to add to the front of the package.

And isn't the red of the Indian Tobacco in the field gorgeous? (I don't know what the white flower is.)

Tomorrow night, the printing inks and brayers are coming back out to the work table.  I'm looking forward to easing into the weekend while keeping those in the Hurricane Irene's path in my thoughts.

Tracery . . .

 

Tracery...

of veins ,

and vines,

and spines.

Tracery...

of hours,

and days,

and lives.



Holding Hands in the Moonlight

Looking out (and in) through my window....

These two caught my eye as I was turning out the lights the other night.  One might suppose it's just a fluke that their "hands" are touching.  But whether from true love, or intense fright, they managed to remain motionless and "hang on" while I moved around in front of them -- just inches away -- taking a series of five photos with intense flashes.   And yes, I felt terrible invading their reverie.  But it was such an unusual, lovely sight, and quite thought provoking, so I felt compelled to capture it. 

I thought about the image off and on during the work week; mentally going through my "archives" of art images, thinking about which of them I might include with it in a post.  But in the end,  I decided it should just stand on it's own.    As I sat down to post it this morning, I took a moment to scroll through the recent posts in my blogger feed and came across the newest image in Golly Bard's Drawing Room.  Holly's photographs are always stunning; the result of an amazing eye and an excellent camera.  An avowed naturalist, she captures both flora and fauna in their height of glory, and long after that glory has faded.  But frequently, in that faded glory, there is amazing beauty, and her most recent photos illustrate this in stark, but soft detail.  Truly, I could spend hours studying the last image on her post today.  It is incredibly evocative. For those of you who follow Holly's blog, you'll be delighted to find her link to a new interview where she talks about what inspires her, and the romance of summertime.  

Which reminds me.......summer appears to have finally arrived in Portlandia.  It's time for me to move away from the computer and head outside for a breath of the rose-scented air.

                                                           Have a wonderful weekend!

Texture, Color and Morning Light at the Bay





I suppose the most spectacular eye candy on this particular morning outing was the "fairy dew". 

Huge pink swaths of it.   Softly stunning.

Visit Coco for a wonderfully peaceful and calming sense of reverence for life and the earth.   Each image and word so carefully chosen. Rather Haiku-like.  And also visit Abby Meadow's Infusion Fibers (where I first learned of Coco) for a similar sense of awe and gratitude, and a peek into the very intentional lifestyle of this creator of the gorgeous Infusion bag line.

Wednesday tomorrow. That's a good thing.

Cheers!

Small Print...Small Finds

 

 Monoprint 5" x 5"

 Delicate blossoms and orbs on a coastal woodland native...(but which one?)

Small "forest" of coastal moss

Last weekend offered a visual feast in contrasts of scale:  delicate new growth, as shown above, and  four glorious bald eagles at close range; two in low flight, directly overhead, and two in trees just past the shoulder of the road.

This weekend, I'm concentrating on bringing order to my home. And maybe, just maybe there will be time to resume some projects in the studio.

To all of you who are celebrating Mother's Day with mothers, grandmothers and/or children, I wish you a day filled with much love, warmth and happiness!!

Deconstruction

 Quince

 

 Mixed media "snippets"

I've had a wonderfully quiet weekend that is coming to a close all too quickly.  Catherine was visiting and she painted up a storm while I "deconstructed" prints, prints, and more prints. (None of which are shown above.) I am planning to turn them into small collages and add them to my Etsy shop at some point.....hopefully, sooner rather than later. :)

Daphne (my favorite winter fragrance)

While she and I were working on our respective projects inside, my husband was busy in the garden.  He offered some grasses that had outgrown their beds to a neighbor down the street, and she brought this Deodara cedar cone for us to see.  So amazing to see the intelligence of nature! Turns out the cone makes a perfect starting pot for seed germination.  

Of course, I thought the cone had been on the ground and had come apart and collected seeds that then germinated.  But no, it's a genuine, high-density seed nursery where multiple layers of cedar seeds germinate in pop-up seed "cups"  that eventually "deconstruct" and swirl off the center spindle.  How cool is that?!

Deodara cedar cone 

Hope you've had a wonderful weekend, too! 

(Oh, and by the way....am I the only one that didn't know about the magic of these cones??)

:)

Webs Amongst the Sedges... and Connectivity

I started a painting yesterday afternoon but really didn't get any color on it until after dark.  I took it to a stopping point and then laid my brushes down three to four hours earlier than I typically would in the course of a painting session.  I thought I should hold off on my next steps until I had a chance to view the painting in the light of day.

Alas, today dawned shrouded in a heavy fog, and although the fog has since diminished, everything is still bathed in grey light.  I have yet to resume painting, but while making a couple of quick trips up and down my steep driveway, I happened to notice these delicate, intricate, misty spiderwebs laced throughout the sedges in the bioswale that we designed to reduce storm runoff into the nearby creek.    I had never seen such webs there before.  Granted, the sedges have recently been trimmed to about 4" in length, rather than their typical 24". That being the case, I wondered aloud to my husband, "Do you think they're always there, deep in the shadows of the sedges, or do you suppose they're there now because the sedges have been trimmed?"  His guess was the latter; the thought being that more light at the ground plane of the bioswale probably increased insect activity in the habitat, creating a heyday for the spiders.   Regardless, the point is that I almost missed seeing them, in all of their misty blue subtlety. 

While photographing them, I couldn't help but think of all of the intricate webs of connectivity that are developing amongst artists from around the world through the greater worldwide web of the Internet.  Such a wonderful happening.....

Off to catch up with what you've been up to.

Welcome new followers and thanks very much for your interest!

Cheers!

In the Late Afternoon Light. . .

December is nearly upon us.  The low afternoon light of late autumn is spectacular.... so much moreso than is conveyed here.  But at least I rushed out to see it ....and be in it.

Have a wonderful day!

:)