paint, poems and ponderings

Collages step two

2009-11-11T09:17:00.004-05:00

I had a photo of this collage in step one A, but can't find it so here is the original pile of papers among which I chose to make the collage below.

I don't think this is finished. I also made a mistake. I wrote on it with Micron pen which is okay. But continued writing later and used another pen which blurrs when I paint over it so bluck. Not sure what to do. Could place a layer of tissue over it perhaps and redo? The photo is one of a bunch I bought in a thrift store from the 1920's.

The orginal proposed layout for the collage below.

Not sure if I'll do more tweaking of this one.

suki's page for Marianne's book

2009-11-10T08:52:00.002-05:00

Acrylic paint and a few pieces of scrap paper for the table cloth and bowl. We were asked to have an image of Marianne's cat Sjimmie on our pages. The shadows below the window are not painted on but are from the light source. Marianne had a large peace sign on her own page so I show Sjimmie blowing peace bubbles. The shutters open and close to reveal a moon, also a symbol Marianne often uses.

Oops, my jacket shows here, but I'm to lazy to redo the photo which actually I redid twice already. I mailed the book along w/Soulbrush's book to Katie Jane on Monday. Have fun.

A trip to Chester Vermont

2009-11-09T14:01:00.003-05:00

I've heard a lot about this little bookstore, Misty Valley Books, for years. So on Saturday, a gorgeous day, I drove to Chester Vermont.

I bought Her Fearful Symmetry and some greeting cards. The store was pretty much a typical small, independent bookstore. I think what makes it special is that they sponser talks/readings by well-known authors on a regular basis.

A little buidling across the street.

A big building across the street.

Here is where I ate lunch. A huge Victorian painted artistically. The sun was behind the building so I had to face into the sun to get the photo which is why it isnt much good. As my Dad used to tell me, the sun should be behind the photographer. I had a fun outing. Also stopping into a Celtic shop and purchasing a Polartec jacket on sale and a book about the wells of Ireland.

Digging on the farm

2009-11-07T07:47:00.003-05:00

This machine worked almost all day digging a trench in my bro's front yard, revealing the water line from house to pump. Last winter the line froze so this year it is being redone and insulated anew.

The pump revealed.

Some of the old insulation.
They started around 9 am and finished around 4:30!

My pages for Soulbrush's round robin book

2009-11-06T09:37:00.002-05:00

My page theme was London (where Soulbrush lives) and the idea that all the round robin participants would fly to London and visit Soulbrush! Stonehenge art paper, acrylic paint, gold leaf, doilies, purchased London themed stickers, London street maps from an A to Z (found in a thrift store.)
I bought the letter stickers yesterday at job lot. Muted the maps with white paint. Micron pen, gold pen, airplane downloaded from he net. All our names are in the windows of the bus. Hope I didn't forget anyone.

Photo of Soulbrush's granddaughter Maggie Rae downloaded from Soulbrush's blog with permission. Cup of tea anyone??? This was great fun. I am holding this book here until I finish Marianne's page in her book. I received two books at one time.

repost of a photocollage cant seem to write on the post so this is it

2009-11-04T10:51:00.001-05:00

Puttering

2009-11-04T08:12:00.003-05:00

Gosh, a glance at my blog roll thingy shows many, many new and interesting posts to read. Both from yesterday and last night I guess??? Exciting. You all out there have been busy. As for me, I have been puttering with making a few collages. Here is an unglued proposed layout for an 8X8 collage on paper.

A pile of self-made stencils.

Papers for a second collage on 9X9 art paper. I will do more rearranging and selecting for this collage.

I also have a canvas book I am slowly assembling made from scraps of canvas I splashed paint on awhile back. I am now tearing the larger canvas into smaller sections. I want it to have a rough, uneven look but so far have no idea what the page decorations will be.

stack of collage papers

another walk around the farm

2009-11-01T08:47:00.002-05:00

I don't know what these are but there are a lot of them.

I wonder if this is a little well or if water just gathered in the rocks. This area had been hidden before my bro and son cut down a lot of brush.

The old stone wall, crumbling.

Diamonds and rust.

Groovie Goolies Monster Mash Music Video

2009-10-30T12:41:00.001-04:00

Yikes. It's Halloween, when all the scaries come out. What scares YOU???

The Pond Revealed

2009-10-30T10:22:00.003-04:00

My son just cut down all the weeds and brush around the pond. Most of the summer I could access the pond only with difficulty, making my way through the brush.

Here is the lawn chair I left at the pond for the summer. It became so covered at one point that I couldnt find it. Now it is faded and the webbing is too fragile to sit on.

The far end of the pond. As my son says, the water is greyish. But plentiful after the rain. This is a man made pond, made many years ago.

Hope everyone has a fun weekend. Happy Halloween.

Introducing Peace of Pi blog and her giveaway

2009-10-27T10:34:00.005-04:00

I read about a great giveaway at Peace of Pi blog on Louciao's blog ragzedge. Peace of Pi is giving away six of her beautiful bird related greeting cards. Fly on over and sign up for this give away. Just leave a comment and also begin to "follow" her blog. I think the giveaway. ends soon. Picture of this card displayed with permission.

The house thang

2009-10-25T18:24:00.002-04:00

Been avoiding writing about this lest I be boring, but Marianne kindly asked what was happening and I feel all you kind folks deserve an update. I did not buy the house. I did not lose a 5 figure sum of money, whew! I don't know why I backed out. Fear? Cowardice? Wanting to stay an irresponsible child?

I could probably go on and on analyzing this but in a sense, who cares? I don't mean that in a negative way. I just mean, goodness Suki there are folks out there in much pain and in traumatic circumstances and you are just dealing with trying to buy a house.

I am pretty sure I am learning things about myself. I do know I want to unpack my boxes, hang all the artworks I have bought and collected just for my new house, get settled in and so forth. I do not want to stay here on the farm. The other day I walked around the property and talked to Mom and Dad. I told them I love it here, it is beautiful and I thanked them for my time here.

But I told them I needed to move on. Thanks to all who sent such wonderful thoughts and advice around my dilemma. I appreciate all the comments and have read them a number of times. Soon....soon.

Paintings are ATC sized watercolors done last week

melange

2009-10-22T13:57:00.002-04:00

We are experiencing a week of "Indian Summer." Admittedly I took this photo two weeks ago in Peterborough, but still. It feels like summer out there and I love it.

Here is my Lojong card for today. Something to keep in mind always.

Birthday gifts to me. A pair of winter walking Keene's purchased in Peterborough. To my dismay I saw the same shoe today in a Bellows Falls store for $30 less, but oh well. Very comfy and a good purchase.

I don't know when is the last time I bought a NEW pair of slacks. Usually I buy used in thrift stores. This was a birthday treat. The first pair was a size 6 which, although it fit me well, I took back and exchanged for a size 8. Love the name. French Dressing.

Love the pocket stitching.
Very nice corduroy too. But why are they many inches too long for me? Now what to do. I never buy petite, which might fit me lengthwise in the legs, but are too short waisted for me.

I was a dog in a past life

2009-10-15T00:05:00.000-04:00

About a month ago I got a massage from a woman I had massages from before. She's more of a body worker than a massage therapist and she does a lot of alternative type healing modalities. This is okay with me, I am always interested in new approaches.

So there she was working on my shoulder, when she said, "You were a dog in a past life." What??? I didn't know she "read" past lives and if she had told me she did I probably would have said no thanks, but there it was and that wasn't all.

"And you were tied up to a tree and left." I think she said more but this is all I recall. She also had me call upon my higher power to help me resolve this past life situation. I suddenly saw an angel who flew with me over the world to new and exciting places.

After the massage, I said I didn't believe in past lives but that metaphorically I could see this as myself because I do feel tied and restricted or limited in some way. Also I often feel a choking in my throat. "No," she said. This was literally a past life.

There we differed.

I have thought about this metaphor often since then. When I practice yoga, sometimes I get a choking in my throat and a release of tension. Also, I do feel tied to Mom's house and have not been successful in flying out of here and getting back into life so to speak. There are no visible bonds holding me. They are all emotional/psychological (I guess). I do not want to remain here, I am doing little of any worth, just reading and watching DVD's, yet I can't seem to cannonball myself into a new me.

I almost did a few weeks ago, and then I retreated back into my doghouse. I am tempted to "blame" my passivity on my cats. I cannot just take off in my car on an adventure to see what turns up for myself. I must be here to tend to my cats. I love them of course. And it is not right to blame my behavior on them. Or on any exterior cause.

This is just a look into my mind at the moment. Nothing much to be done except in my own way and own time. I didnt like hearing this image (although the dog above is a cutie) but it has given me pause. Bow wow.

Prizes

2009-10-14T00:05:00.001-04:00

Recently, Hilary Mantel won the Booker Prize for her novel Wolf Hall. Most likely not a household name, Mantel is an author I have read, especially her early works. Every Day is Mother's Day, Beyond Black, Fludd, Eight Months on Ghazzah Street among others. Her vision is dark and her characters are often misfits. Although the world she often creates is one I do not wish to linger in, I am still drawn in by her prose style, her depth and uniqueness of vision.

I have ordered Wolf Hall at my local bookstore. It is a historical novel centered on Thomas Cromwell. I imagine the prize will shoot Mantel from a little known author into an author on the best seller list. And I say, hurrah.

Meanwhile, Herta Muller, a German writer who grew up in Romania, won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Much of what she writes centers around the dictatorship of Nicolai Ceausescu. I had never heard of her. That's one thing about the Nobel Prize. It brings writers and others to our attention, folks we would miss out on otherwise. I admit that I sometimes have a hard time with Nobel authors' works. They are often dense, experimental and political in cast. That said I love Naguib Mahfouz, the Egyptian writer. And of course Faulkner, Pearl Buck and Sigrid Undset. In fact as I read down the list of winners I realize I have read many of them. How many have you read? I've read 46. List of all literature winners.

Such prizes are interesting things. These authors did not apply to win their prize. They and the others on the short list were selected by a committee or by nominators. The committee reads all the works on the short list for that year and chooses one. We may wish they chose another author, but why get all het up about who is or isn't chosen? The prize is a gift coming from someone else, we are not in the picture. The prizes do not come by demand, effort, or by our definition of "worth."

Not everything in life has to be "earned" by our definition of "earned." There are moments of grace and isn't there something lovely about that?

A bit of this and a bit of that

2009-10-13T12:31:00.007-04:00

On Saturday I drove to Peterborough and stopped in at some artists' open studios. No photos of that after the trouble I got in last year. But here is a little stream running through the town. Lots of people out and about.
Many brick buildings in the downtown area. Bought a new pair of shoes for winter walking. And a book in the little bookstore which I've already finished.

On the way home I stopped to take photos of this mill which I often pass by. Hmm, this photo doesnt show the water.

Oh, here we go.

A number of big old evergreens cut down near my house. I wonder why?

Do stop by Willow's blog today as it is the day of the Ball at Willow Manor. I couldn't go as all I had to wear were some torn jeans and a moth holed sweater but lots of other folks have attended.

artysoulsisters round robin book

2009-10-12T08:00:00.003-04:00

I received Mim's artysoulsister's book, with a page by Lynn. The first two pages were done on heavy cardboard so I made mine on matboard. I was stymied for a day or so. The theme is Women or women around the world. But finally I decided on a magazine cut out collage. Here is the top side of my page.

Here is the back. Now I mail it on to Katie Jane. (This time I am correct about where it goes next I hope.)

corgis singing happy birthday

2009-10-08T11:22:00.001-04:00

apparently made for the queen mum's 100th birthday

Happy Birthday to Me

2009-10-08T00:09:00.000-04:00

Brownie cake made by friend C. Yum. I get one wish. Will have to think on that one.

babbling brook

2009-10-06T09:33:00.001-04:00

a short walk yesterday in the crisp air

Fall around the Farm

2009-10-05T14:18:00.002-04:00

Pocked apples gone by

Ferns are yellowing

Dusky yellow

Faded red

IMAGINE PEACE TOWER by Yoko Ono

2009-10-03T14:43:00.001-04:00

I heard Yoko on the radio today and so looked up this video. It is long, but very beautiful. I've always liked Yoko.

my girlfriends page for Cathie's book

2009-10-03T10:06:00.001-04:00

I've finished my page for Girlfriends. Background is self-painted rice paper. Beads and stones and brads. Ribbon and more rice paper. Glitter. The quote is "joy is exactly what's happening minus our opinion of it." Joko Beck. I will mail this on to Katie Jane in a few days, as she is away in the Rockies next week.

the soap opera continues

2009-10-02T18:45:00.002-04:00

photo: turned leaves. I am so ashamed and such an idiot. It is hard to believe I have created so much chaos out of wanting to buy a place to live. About an hour or so after I wrote in my journal (see previous post) I received a phone call from my Realtor. You recall I had backed out of the offer to purchase the house and might or might not get my earnest money back. I didnt know yet.

My Realtor said the seller's Realtor indicated the sellers might come down on their price as they wanted to sell the house so they could buy another one. She suggest we offer a price ten thousand dollars lower than the price we had previously agreed upon. I got excited and danced around and my adrenaline swooped up.

Photo: fungus for M. Heart We hung up so she could call the sellers Realtor. VERY quickly, she called back (was this all a faked up thing to get me back in the game?) and said the sellers wouldnt budge a dollar lower than the previous price agreed on. I said well I had to back off and think about this. My realtor kept talking and I found myself saying I would pay the original price. I did the same exact overbidding thing I had done originally. I ran out and mailed a large check for a depost along with the Purchase and Sales agreement to my realtor.

Photo: more fungus I am NOT good at pressure and doing things fast. I can do it, but I do it without time for thought. That evening I was filled with remorse. Why had I again agreed on that high price plus sent along even more money?? How weak and gullible and persuadable a person am I? To give myself credit, I did not call the realtor and ask to put in a new bid. She called me. She is a seasoned salesperson and knows how to manage people. I put the blame, if there is any, fifty/fifty.

This morning I called my lawyer and realtor and told them once again I wanted to back out. Although the realtor had not yet received my check, and although I asked her to hold on to it and mail it back to me rather than turn it into the sellers realtor, on advice on my lawyer's secretary, I don't know what happened with all this.

My lawyer won't be in the office until monday, so I don't know what is going to happen. I may lose a five figure sum of money. With that, I could have sent money to many charity organizations. I really really wonder if I am having a nervous breakdown. I just tell you all this for your continued amusement/bemusement. I really don't know what to do now.

the school marm and the bohemian

2009-10-02T09:05:00.001-04:00

Months ago I drew this picture in my sketchbook of my two opposite selves. On Thursday I looked again at these sketches and wrote the following:

My frugal practical self--left- brained-- helped me do the steps to search for a house, contact Realtor and lawyers, drive to the cape, organize cat sitters and places to stay, drive by homes for sale, choose ones to see, go see them. Sort through the available options.

Due to all of this left-brained activity I found a number of perfectly good houses to buy. This was good work, left-brained, school marm self!

The time when you got in my way though, was in the "go for it" stage. Then, you held up a hand of CAUTION. First with house #1 that I decided to offer on. You said stop and therefore I did not make the offer. I waited a tormented month, decided I would make the offer, and the house was gone.

Then on house #2, you let me make the offer but later held up a hand of "no" to the Purchase and Sales agreement, even though this caused you and others pain.

Oh school marm. I thank you very much for your help in getting me into and through the intricacies of a home search. You did an excellent job, ending up finding me a lovely home. But now I feel you must sit back and go along for the rest of the ride. You can enjoy following the bohemian side of me, the risk taker, the roller coaster rider, the side that went off to San Francisco, the side that plunges into creative activities, the side that plunges into romantic entanglements.

This is a complex job I have set forth for you two sides of me. And you can work together to buy me a home, to fulfill my heart's desire. The bohemian me speaks more quietly, is less frugal than you dear schoolmarm. But she also has much value and love and discernment.

Hand it over to her. You have done your job. Let her do hers. With love. Remember Suki is worth it. She deserves a home.