RAINBOW DANCE

This is a recently finished piece started in 2006- I never know how long it will take to finish these things!

Tosebo website

Our beloved Camp Tosebo just had a website facelift. I know I've raved about them before, but just the thought of the place lifts my spirits. Take the virtual tour!! www.tosebo.com

LOST FOR WORDS: 9/11

I found the picture of the columns intended for the World Trade Center in a 1964 newspaper. This is where I decided to use it. The others in the series are playful. To read the copy close up, click on the image for an enlargement.

LOST FOR WORDS: hurry!

Another in the letters series. I just framed this piece yesterday and I now have five framed that I hope will fit on a wall at the Terryberry Gallery in the lower level of St Cecilia when I have my show in December and January.

AERIALS 16 and 36

AERIALS 5 and 10b

AERIAL 5 and AERIAL 10b

AERIALS 1 and 2

These are acrylic on 12" square canvas.

BIRCHES #1

Another from the 2002 series.

ONE PLUS TWO #1

This is another in the Hidden Arithmetic series done in 2002. This was a breakthrough series for me. The mixed media technique I used evolved for me from the reductive drawings I was teaching in my Beginning Drawing class. It's charcoal rubbed over a watercolor. Some areas are lightened by erasing and other areas are enhanced with charcoal pencil.

This week I'm learning new techniques of collage in a workshop with Edee Joppich. What a lovely lady and a wonderful teacher. It will be interesting to see if this results in some breakthroughs too.

FOUR #1

I didn't realize that I had not posted many pieces from this series. This is probably the most stark. Though I really like it many people prefer the pieces that have some green in them.

QUEEN ANNE'S LACE #1

This piece hangs in my daughter Angie's house in Chicago, earned through computer consultations. It's from the Hidden Arithmetic series from 2002.

Hidden Arithmetic

TWO PLUS THREE #1 has found its home away from home. This was a great series from 2002.

Here's what I wrote about the series:
The “Hidden Arithmetic” series has an abstract focus on scenes in the Michigan woods. I’m reminded of how God numbers the stars and the hairs on our heads. Psalm 139:16-17 says: “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.” My father recently died at the age of 88 years, 6 months and three days. The mysteries of God’s varying plans for his children and the numbers of ways that he teaches us and blesses enter in as I ponder the ever-changing compositions and arrangements in the woods. Psalm 90:12 says: “Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are: help us to spend them as we should.” It’s arithmetic that’s hidden from us, but we can trust his calculation.

Dostoevesky quote

"It is not as a child that I believe and confess Jesus Christ.
My hosanna is born of a crucible (furnace) of doubt."

Dostoevesky

I'll admit I've never been able to get into reading the Brothers Karamazov, or anything else he wrote. (Honest, I tried. The names overwhelmed me.) But our minister used this quote today and I thought it was an excellent way of describing my Christian walk as well as that of many fellow travelers. My hosannas also sometimes have a bit of an edge to them. They may not have been through a crucible. It's more like my hosannas have tiny fluorescent postit notes with question marks all over them.

COLORADO BIRCHES ONE AND TWO

Colorado birches one and two. They have the same frame, same lighting. Hmmm....
Many nuances of photography elude me!

LOST FOR WORDS: BE

This is the latest in the 'letter' series. It's also a salute to my favorite coffee place- Biggby's- get it? big B's.

Image and Spirit

My computer friend, C. Robin Janning, asked if she could use my Magnificat in a blog posting on Image and Spirit. Here's a link: http://imageandspirit.blogspot.com/

I'm delighted by the response to that image.

Robin is an artist who does wonderful abstract work. You can see her work at:
http://gramercygalleria.com/Index.htm

Robert Genn

I get twice weekly newsletters, Tuesday and Friday, from Robert Genn, a Canadian artist, who sends these letters out to hundreds of people across the world. They are always interesting and he also prints some of the responses to his letters in 'clickbacks' on the following post. My letter was chosen as one of the responses to his Friday letter about Icons. My recent painting, Magnificat, was published alongside the comment. Here's a link:

http://clicks.robertgenn.com/world-icons.php

new postcard

FIELD STUDY 33

Another little 8x10 study.

WINDBREAK- RED HORSE RANCH

These are the results of my Red Horse Ranch paintings (see the photo that inspired me 2 posts down). The first is 8"x10" and the second is 20"x24". The large painting was done 'alla prima' or all at once- in one sitting (though I stand when I paint), with only a little tweaking after it dried. I love the immediacy.

Another quote

Chance is always powerful.
Let your hook always be cast.
In the pool where you least expect it,
there will be fish."
Ovid

What an inspiration to continue getting ready for some art shows!

Rumi quote

"In your light I learn how to love.
In your beauty, how to make poems.
You dance inside my chest where no one sees you,
But sometimes I do, and that sight becomes this art."
Rumi

I found this wonderful quote on the latest edition of the Painter's Keys by Robert Genn. It's a twice weekly artists newsletter that is a real inspiration. There's a link on the right to check it out.

Red Horse Ranch

I took this at the 2008 Porkapalooza at Red Horse Ranch and I'm in the middle of two renditions of it. There's something captivating about a windbreak.

RED TREES revisited

It seems like I've revisited this canvas every fall for the last few years. I wonder if it's done yet? I rather like the first version now that I see it again. I've learned a lot with every layer.

JULIAN OF NORWICH

This is a painting of Lady Julian in the icon style but a design of my own invention. She is a fascinating character and Tom Schwanda introduced me to her, so I dedicated this icon to him and sent it to him as a surprise.

OCTOBER FIREWORKS

I think it's done. The orange masonite is to hang small pieces on in an upcoming show and it's also the same color I just painted my front door.

layers

This is today's progress.

back to landscape

On this glistening fall day, I plan to get back to working on this painting after taking a walk in the world. I'm looking to capture the fall gold. We'll see.

framed pieces Magnificat 2

framed pieces Magnificat 1

I love the way this frame works with this piece.

framed pieces Madonna and child- Joy to the World

Madonna and child- Joy to the World

postcard for Terryberry show

Dining with Squirrels

I just encountered my niece's new blog by that title: Dining with Squirrels
It's at www.saradeboer.com and it's a hilarious account of her life with her family. Since she's one of my all time favorite people and the captain of my cheerleading squad, I'll be checking her site regularly.

She got to sit with the VIP's at the Barack event (due to hard work for another Dem) and she even has pictures!

Here's a gem I found on one of her posts:

Marion Howe:

“We want the spring to come and the winter to pass. We want whoever to call or not to call, a letter, a kiss — we want more and more and then more of it. But there are moments, walking, when I catch a glimpse of myself in the window glass, say, the window of the corner video store, and I’m gripped by a cherishing so deep for my own blowing hair, chapped face, and unbuttoned coat that I’m speechless: I am living.”

Yes, we are living.

Barack

My husband and I took the bus downtown to see Barack Obama and it was worth getting up early. He is a dynamic speaker and even though we didn't get very close to the stage, the atmosphere was wonderful and it was great to be in the company of such a cross section of America! People were really excited. I think we need his kind of change.

MAGNIFICAT 2

This is another rendition of the idea. Mary's robe has music embedded in it and the last verse or #7 in Singing the New Testament. The first six verses flow behind her. The words are by Grayson Warren Brown.

There is another painting in the series that's not quite finished.

MAGNIFICAT 1

I was finally able to implement an idea that's been in my mind for a long time. Mary is praising the Lord and the words and music to Psalter Hymnal 622 act as her halo. (Text by Bert Polman and music by Jaques Berthier). Other music is floating in the background behind her. (I'm not a musician- I have no idea what the music is.) I have an ornate silver frame that I can't wait to put this into.

Magnify the LORD! Magnify the LORD! Magnify the LORD who is my Savior and my GOD!

GUARDIAN ANGELS

These are Guardian Angels that I've worked on over time. It's interesting to work on more than one of the same image to see the variations that result even though they are the 'same'. The one in the center has some omissions and mistakes that I noticed while varnishing them. I think that is one I'll keep.

Archangels Gabriel and Michael

These icons are ones I did earlier this year and I don't know if I posted them, but since I'm uploading images, I thought I'd add these as well.