Calvin Worship Symposium

This is the fourth year I'm privileged to participate in the Calvin Worship Symposium. It's always a very rich weekend. Even though I'll be on my little cart, I think I can do this! The theme this year is Parables and it's a visually rich topic. The Calvin Center Art Gallery (http://www.calvin.edu/centerartgallery/) is featuring an amazing collection of works on the theme of the Prodigal Son collected by Larry Gerbens and his wife. It's got everything on the theme from Rembrandt to contemporary abstraction.

I'm going fully armed with pencils and a large sketchbook so that could lead to some interesting work.

going from one thing to another

My friend Nikki Coulombe wrote an interesting piece on her blog which included this:

Career Artists do not generate production like a factory or have the same business formulas and game plans as retailers; for us everything from conception to sale is self-prompted. Motivation to work every day on something often means doing something different every day. I give myself the guilt-free permission to do what I feel best at on any given day. However…


This is especially meaningful to me because suddenly, I'm not called to the collages anymore, but I find that I'm interested in getting back to some icon painting. Yesterday I did research and some printing and tracing. Josph the Worker and the Holy Family are what have caught my eye and I hope at some point to paint the iconic icon, the Holy Trinity after the one by Rublev.

Nikki is an amazing artist with incredibly diverse skills.

Click on the link to the right to her site or go to:
http://www.nikkiartwork.com/trees/logic-is-one-dimensional-creativity-is-not/
(For some reason I can't embed links in my blog and I don't know how to make that happen- I need my computer guru!)

LEAF LAYERS 8+9

The last of the LEAF LAYER series for a while. These incorporate blue jay feathers. I stitched them into the piece.

LEAF LAYERS 6+7

/>

Two more in the series of 9"x9" collages.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

I just finished reading Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. It's an all time favorite. I was reading a library copy, but I may have to buy it so I can enjoy it again and again. The main character has a sharp tongue and doesn't censor herself very much (and maybe I relate too clearly)! The book covers stories of 15 people and Olive is a character in each chapter. I laughed out loud at a number of sections. Very poignant commentary on aging as well.

LEAF LAYERS 1-5

More 9"X9" tissue collages combined with colored pencil, acrylic and leaf skeletons.

art quotes

At moments of great enthusiasm it seems to me that no one
in the world has ever made something this beautiful and important.
::: M.C. Escher :::

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.
It is the source of all art and science.
::: Albert Einstein :::

Great quotes! The lastest offering from Artquotes.net.

Another I'm keeping in mind in my recuperation is the Chinese proverb: Don't push the river- it flows by itself.

GRID VARIATIONS

This is new work. The first of 2009 and the first from my little studio annex.
These are 9"x9" and mixed media- mostly painted tissue paper collaged and combined with paint and colored pencil.

permission to move about the cabin

The doctor likes the way my foot looks and I can now move about and only elevate and ice occasionally. It's immobilized in a big black boot. I won't be leaving the house too often as the back stairs are a real challenge. Now I can do the computer work I've been contemplating and see how functional my studio annex is on the main floor. My knee walker, who I've nicknamed Flicka, is a wonder. Crutches are scary. This knee walker makes me feel secure.

"An inconvenience is an unrecognized opportunity." (Confucius)

BLUE MUSIC

Yesterday, I was watching a show about prayer wheels in Nepal and doing some circular sketches and thinking about prayer. I was reminded of this piece which belongs to Angela Conover. It was inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe's painting 'Pink and Blue Music'. I also came upon a photo of the Milky Way that is influencing the drawings...
Time to sit back down and drift in and out and enjoy my medicated state and the time to do 'nothing'. Fernando Ortega has been playing on my ipod and really been blessing my recovery.

recovering

I'm enjoying my time with my foot up and watching the snow. I'm doing a little sketching and reading. Great opportunity for meditating. It's actually rather lovely, aside from the inconvenience. I am so thankful for my wonderful husband who is taking care of me.

Foot surgery

Tomorrow morning I will have 45 minutes of foot surgery which will require me to alter my life for six to eight weeks. If you're curious, Google 'hallux rigidus' and you'll find out about my issue. They will clean the arthritis out of my great toe joint and screw it together so that it will fuse. Less movement, but no more of the pain of bone on bone. This has been an ongoing issue for me for years. I've had cortisone shots every six months for a couple years, but now it's time to fix this! We have many accouterments of disability gathering in our house on loan from other people with recent experience in the medical pipeline. Then when we get through this, I'll decide when to schedule the left foot. Oh goody!!

CHUTES AND LADDERS

I'm having a cooking marathon in advance of my foot surgery and meditating on the ups and downs of life while I make zucchini bread, pot roast and chocolate chip cookies. I'm hoping that a foot without pain will improve my life. Maybe I'll be brave enough to have the second one done. No pity parties for me, I know too many people who are making the most of their lives with less. I went to see my friend Bev yesterday at a local health facility. I've visited her for eight years. She had a stroke and couldn't talk when I met her. Now she can make herself understood if you listen patiently. She's almost totally paralyzed, but her face is expressive and she has a wicked sense of humor. She gives an enthusiastic thumbs up and loves chocolate and ice cream. I gave her a Chippendale calendar a while back. The calendar is meaningless, but the beefcake still is hanging in her room.

So I was thinking about the children's game, Chutes and Ladders, the roll of the dice and the luck of the draw. I have a couple paintings on the table downstairs which may wind up with that title. No wise conclusions, just trying to make the most of what God has sent my way and enjoy the chutes AND the ladders.

Interestingly, I googled the term 'chutes and ladders' and went to the site of artist Rodger Roundy who has wonderful convoluted paintings and one of them is Chutes and Ladders. http://www.rodgerroundy.com/shads2_html/ChutesLadders.html

bookmarks

These are one of a kind bookmarks I made for the gallery. I took some old paintings and 'resized' them into bookmarks. I have some foot surgery coming up and I'm trying to think of small things that can be done upstairs so I don't have to go down to my studio. I think I'll spend a lot of time with my foot elevated and working on the computer cleaning up files and manipulating photos of dancers, but I have some small small projects in mind. I'm preparing the materials and bringing it upstairs. I've got some collages in mind and perhaps a few more icons.

White Christmas

For all the White Christmas fans, this is quite a year. Personally, I'm not a fan- okay, it's pretty. It's dangerous and my favorite snow cleanup person is getting worn out and so am I!

We spent ten Christmases in Phoenix with my family and a saguaro cactus with Christmas lights is my kind of decoration!

REJOICING ANGELS

Angels from the realms of glory,
Wing your flight o'er all the earth;
Ye who sang creation's story,
Now proclaim Messiah's birth:
Come and worship,
Come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King!


James Montgomery 1816

Photo of Turning Pointe dancers by Virginia Wieringa 2006

Waiting

"Contemplative waiting, purposeful waiting is what makes Christmas an experience rather than simply an event. It is a lesson meant to color the entire year." by Sr. Joan Chittister, read more at http://www.benetvision.org/Ideas_In_Passing/12_15_08.html

I found this on the Image and Spirit blog and added my own image WAITING.

We are praying for traveling mercies for many of our loved ones who are in transit through this storm and waiting for them to arrive safely. Church was cancelled today so we are singing our own Advent songs.

This is hilarious!

My niece wrote about her daughter's birthday party and it's just hilarious- especially if you've ever had a quirky six year old girl yourself. This is a photo of my dear niece and her husband and my very own girl when she was six- only about 20 years ago now!!

Check it out for a good laugh.
http://www.saradeboer.com/

"Ready my heart"- Lois Shuford

A song we've used at our church for Advent the last few years is very meaningful to me. Called "Ready my heart", it's written by Lois Shuford. The first two verses are:

"Ready my heart for the birth of Immanuel.
Ready my heart for the Prince of Peace.
Heap the straw of my heart for the baby to lie on.
Light the candle of hope; let the Child come in.

Mine is the home that is poor and is barren.
Mine is the stable of cold and stone.
Break the light to each corner of doubt and of darkness.
Now the Word is made flesh for the birth of me."

The image is my mixed media piece CELESTIAL TIMING #3

I wonder

I wonder where this painting is. I've been wandering through some files on the computer and came across this painting. I recently went through some stacks of work and I don't remember seeing this one. I think it's got some merit (at least on the screen). If I ever come across it, I should name it "I wonder".

This is part of the process of getting back to work after mounting a large show or finishing a series. Now what? The studio has been tidied up and the empty canvas and paper is at the ready. Time to smear some paint.