The Third Act

Baba Yaga's garden

One of the final things I needed to do for my exhibit at Artist and Makers Studios was a write up for a cover sheet.  I often feel extremely unskilled at writing, particularly in this regard (writing about my work in a way that is presenting it).  But I did it...got it done like everything else...and am satisfied.  I spent today getting last minute tasks done and will be driving back to Rockville tomorrow for the opening.  I'm looking forward to seeing friends and celebrating the fact that I actually did this thing!

Tonight I'm going to try to chill and get a good night's sleep (haha...yeah...well, we'll see).  

Here are a couple goops from this morning.  The second to last pack of this film is in the camera.  I haven't come up with any grand or profound concepts, so I return to the mundane aspects of life that give me joy...like morning light through the windows.

 

 

 

one step at a time

This exhibit is at Artist and Makers Studios in Rockville MD. I was supposed to be up there today, installing the work, with a friend who generously arranged to be off work today to help me. Well, Sunday evening there was an email indicating that the building might be closed Tuesday on account of weather, but that they would open Monday for those who might be able to get in early to install their work or push back to Wednesday.

I didn't sleep much that night, trying to figure out the best way to travel, whether I should put it off a day and hope the roads wouldn't be too bad after the Polar Vortex moved through and whether I'd be about to get out of town on Wednesday early enough to make it a full day (there was talk of messy travel that morning). I went back and forth, back and forth trying to figure out what to do, finally deciding I'd high tail it out early on Monday and see what I could get done on my own.

After arranging for Avery's care and letting my friends know I would be staying a day early at their place in NoVA, I packed it up and took it on the road. The travel spirits looked upon me favorably and I made it up in record time.

When I carried all my work into the gallery, I looked around and felt slightly overwhelmed. I'd convinced myself that I couldn't do this by myself, that I was bad or impatient at measuring and my brain wasn't suited for such tasks. I knew I had to get started, so I began with one wall (a hallway) because there were only six pieces going up that required one nail each. I had spoken to a friend a week or so before who mentioned measuring to the center and working out from there, so that's how I started. And I continued, one wall at a time. I held myself back from looking at the whole space and number of prints I had to install, and just took it by sections. It took me about four hours with nothing other that a break for a drink of water a couple times and voila!

I can't express how happy this makes me. While I would have loved my friend's help, I also feel it was really important that I have the experience of moving through this process, both mentally and emotionally, on my own. I would say I did it all by myself, but I did have help from friends in other ways and that's important too.

 

memories of Flickr

Or, I should specify, the hey day of Flickr.  I still use the site, which has become part of my artistic process.  But it lost its usefulness for socializing once Facebook came on the scene...or so it seems.  There are some folks there who still get tons of comments and seem pretty friendly with their followers.  But that's not really so for me (although I'm grateful for whatever interaction there is).  I won't lament about it...it just is what it is.  I'm still going to do my thing.

But anyway, I was thinking about (and reviewing some photostreams...my own included) how many of us who formed our own little tribe, shared so much of our lives.  We shared our homes and workplaces, our kitchens and bedrooms, our gardens and projects.  I loved that.  Instagram doesn't replace the feeling that I got from Flickr at that time.  But then again, my life was much different then, so maybe I look at photos from that era with a fair degree of wistfulness.

All that being said, I created a set (which will also be posted to my Flickr ) as an ode to those times.  I honed some of my photography skills back then...I had a lot of practice and got a lot of feedback and learned a lot from others (I still do, for that matter).  I also have to remind myself that I still create beauty although my circumstances and environment are different...and I have much gratitude for the past, but also for the present...and delight in the potential for what has yet to come.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

drawings from 1/12 to 1/23

I'm having fun with these.  There are days when I sit down with the pad, though, and have to wait because I've had no conceptual ideas before hand.  Yesterday was weird because I was monitoring the photo studio and a couple people came in to talk about the facilities.  Nothing would come to me while I was partially engaged with their conversation (probably because I was anticipating questions about the space).  That's the first time it took so long for me to choose a color and pick up a pencil.  It's an interesting process to observe, if nothing else.

 

 

in the morning...

I was going through old Flickr photostreams last night...my own and others.  The old days, ya know?  I loved how so many of us simply shared our lives, but each with our own unique, creative spin.  I suppose maybe that's what Instagram has sort of turned into.  But at least with the folks that I knew (and continue to know) back then, we seemed to be real at the same time as creative...and it was more hands on, not just using a filter.  Anyway, that's what I thought of this morning, as I used up more of my [now very limited] stash of Fuji3000b pack film.

My art production, my creative efforts, have been constrained lately.  Maybe it's winter and that energy is hibernating (I'm okay with that).  I have been, however, taking little steps to get ready to hang work in Rockville next week.  That's only a week away now?  I remember first talking about it in September...February seemed so far away!  The 365 (well, intentioned 365...I'm not making any grand promises) drawing project seems to be putzing along quite well.  It's really quite enjoyable, particularly since there aren't a lot of expectations surrounding the effort.  

 

 

blood moon

Sunday morning...

I'm coming to the end of my fuji3000b stock (a pack film for one of my old Polaroids).  I should be more careful about what I'm doing with it...more thoughtful or creative or methodical.  But, as is often the case concerning the impulse to make pictures, the moment can sweep me away with a thought (but more often a feeling) that compels me to pick up this camera.

Somehow I jumped on the nostalgia train this morning.  Feelings of melancholy and loss were creeping up inside me like that damn English ivy on the trees in the yard.  Funny thing, pulling out the Polaroid to try and...what?...somehow illustrate these feeling?...was very liberating.  Maybe that's not so funny.  Maybe I intuitively know that's how to move into and through these moments.  Sometimes I think I know more than I give myself credit for.

 

 

cup of warmth

rough sandpaper hands

freezing and stiff from winter

cradle cup of warmth

 

winter

It's been enriching to live in a place with real winter.  After growing up in southern California, then living in central Arizona, and then moving back to California, this time in the northern part of the state, the colder months of the year were never really all that cold.  In none of those previous places of residence had I experienced living with snow.  Granted, Richmond Virginia isn't exactly the snow capital of, well, anywhere.  That being said, I do now own a snow shovel and know how to use it!  I like it!

Sure, winters are dark and yes, when freezing temperatures and gray skies carry on into late March, it can get old.  But there's something about nature resting that just feels right to me.  There's something about cold, invigorating air with bright sunshine that can shock my system in a good way.  And there's nothing quite like seeing a neighborhood blanketed with snow, revealing shapes and contours previously hidden from my eyes.

The last snowstorm was on the skimpy end of things.  There was more ice (or was it sleet?  it's hard for me to distinguish) than snow, I think.  Still, it was pretty.  There's only a little white left on the ground now like a threadbare quilt, with patches of leaves and tired ground cover showing through.  An arctic front is supposed to push its way through on Sunday evening.  But there's only minimal precipitation forecast (lots of wind, though, which makes me nervous).

With all that being said, it's the time of year when my thoughts occasionally turn to the garden.  What will I plant?  How can the garden be expanded?  When will the first bulbs start to bloom (and in fact, I've seen shoots already pushing up...and I tell them, "wait, wait, it's too soon!!")?  

The cycles, they do keep moving round and round.  And I get older and older...which is okay.  What a blessing to be alive, to continue to create, to connect, to love.

 

 

a little snow, but mostly icy rain

Another winter storm moved through the area.  Richmond only got a couple inches of snow before it changed over to freezing rain during the night.  Once I could actually hear the precipitation, especially the little pings of ice, I knew the snow was not for long.  It's pretty slushy outside on softer surfaces.  The streets and walkways seem to just be wet, which isn't a bad thing (as opposed to icy).  The dormant plants and trees look rather lovely, in their crystalline sheaths (which at this point don't seem to be doing damage).  It's cold out there though...or at least it feels really cold owing to the moisture in the air and zero sunshine.  It's a good day to stay inside (mostly)...and I took the opportunity to stay in my robe a bit longer this morning, sitting by the fire and sipping my tea.

In other news (or...something), there's been a challenge (I think that's what it's being called) on FB, for people showing how their profile pics have changed from when first on the site.  I felt like the most current photo of me, from August of last year, wasn't quite honest enough...so I made one today.  I've decided I look like a 60 year old and that's quite all right.  What a blessing to be 60 and have the good fortune to experience life!