The Third Act

Sunday

It's really hot and humid today.  A little bit of puttering in the garden was all I could stand.  I did manage to pick a few different medicinal herb leaves to press for postcard cyanotypes. I'll be working on those this coming week.  The pile of poppy stalks that was on the porch table have been cleared.  After deheading, the pods were brought inside to empty of seeds.

Working with cyanotypes using digital negatives again has been fun.  It's also been a little frustrating because I need to get back into the swing of the practice.  Botanical photograms and wet cyanotypes have been the bulk of what I've been making for a couple years.  Using negatives requires a different kind of attention to detail.  There are a lot of mess ups in my future I think.  But that's always been the way I work...for better or for worse.

 

 

 

I've been doing stuff

Last weekend I found myself in a funk I couldn't really understand.  One of the ideas I did have, though, was that I had drown myself in social media...namely Instagram and Facebook.  There really wasn't anything in either of those places that was serving my best interests right now.  I was caught in a virtual world and my energy wasn't going other places (at least not in the way I wanted).

So, for about five days now, I've not ventured to those sites.  I'll allow Flickr because it's inspiring.  I'll allow YouTube because lately I've found some awesome videos about art and artists...and a new cooking channel.  But even with those I've been able to loosen my grip.

It might not matter as much for other people.  But I live alone and left to my nature could easily become a hermit.  Vicariously living through other people's posts/lives just isn't a good idea, because it's too easy for it to overwhelm me and overshadow what I really want to be doing.

I've started making digital negatives and prints again.  I made a little book out of all my Instax mini films from the Poland trip.  There is coated cyanotype paper, although I've only made one print so far (I'm still making those negatives).  It's been good.  My mood has improved and I'm excited to be creating in a more physical realm.

 

 

 

Sunday

It's a lazy day because of the heat.  We had company yesterday and I think Avery and I are both taking it easy.  A thundershower finally came through.  It wasn't much, but it was something.  Of course, although it might be a couple degrees cooler, it's way muggy now.  Still, I'm not going to complain about rain.

 

 

 

Friday, Full Moon, Solstice (well, close)

It feels like a good time to let go of stuff that no longer serves.  That being said, it's a work in progress...a life in progress.

I've come to terms with a lot of stuff.  Or maybe I just tell myself I have because it's uncomfortable otherwise.  Survival methods?  But I feel okay, pretty much, in general.  I could complain about the weather, or fret over things I'm worried about, but that's just background noise.  

I've come to enjoy being alone.  That eccentric old lady with a forest of plants in her front yard...the one who talks to her trees and sits outside watching fireflies twinkle, thinking maybe they make up for the bane of mosquitoes.  The one who buys paintings of goats to hang above a ridiculous amount of liquor (which she doesn't really drink all that often but likes the option and the botanics of the spirits).  No one to tell her taste is wacky or her interests overly weird.  Of course there's a flip side to the solitude, but it's better to not dwell on that and less and less that happens.

 

 

 

 

 

new art!

My errands got delayed this morning, because after walking Avery, I noticed one of my apricot trees had a totally wilted branch.  After doing some research, I've concluded it's been affected by verticillium wilt (a soil borne fungus).  Ugh.  It can be a death knell and I was feeling rather bummed.  But then I looked around and found that there are things that will help get a little more life out of the tree, so I'm not feeling so bad now.  The life of a gardener.

So my errands were late.  Before I left I'd been just checking something on FB and saw a post by Furbish Thrift my local thrift store.  There was this goat painting...being a Capricorn I was definitely drawn to it.  I set my self a price limit and stopped by the shop before running the rest of my errands.  It was in range, so I got it.  And here it now resides.  I had to shift around some other artwork to have it in this spot (which for some reason felt appropriate to me).

( you can see the work in full color here)

 

 

summer's here

It's still a few days to the solstice, but the weather is saying summer's here.  The temperature is currently 89F and it'll still be going up a few more degrees.  As yet, it's not terribly humid.  But the flip side of that is that it's been very dry.  My water bill is definitely going to be higher this month!  I seem to spend my days moving the hose around.  

Avery is funny.  We had our walk when it was still tolerable out this morning.  But after we're home, pretty much every time I go outside to tend to garden needs, she absolutely must follow me out.  She'll plop right down in the sun, even though she's panting.  Of course, a good roll will follow.  Then she's ready to go back inside.

So far the garden is faring ok.  I picked enough St. John's wort flowers to start a jar of oil.  The raspberries keep coming, as do the green beans.  The cucumbers are just starting.  I've been pulling out the larkspur since it has mostly gone to seed and is drying up.  As I pull a plant up I'll strip off the seed pods, crush them up and they go right back into the soil.  They're a pretty easy plant to naturalize.  There's always something to do in the yard...and in back too, although it's getting less attention right now.  I'm thinking towards winter and what I want to do next to make garden care a little easier on my body.

 

 

 

 

 

home

I haven't been feeling super that last couple days.  That being said, I'm still trying to get things done...with some respect towards how much time it's advisable for me to be out in the sun and heat, or doing strenuous, acrobatic type projects!

Lately I've been doing some focused cleaning.  I'll admit, I'm not the best housecleaner.  It's not that my house is messy, necessarily...there's just a lot of dust and localized clutter.  So, a few days ago I tackled the liquor cabinet (it's not how it sounds!)...removed all the bottles and cleaned them off, got rid of a few bottles, and dusted/organized the whole shebang.  It looks so much better.  Then yesterday, I got the idea to wash the exteriors of my kitchen cabinets...again, it feels so good now!  Not only that, I finally got the chocolate cake batter splashes off my ceiling (AND cleaned the ceiling fan blades).

But today...I'm dragging.  I did some harvesting in the garden, have a load of laundry going, and I'm probably not going to be doing too much more today.  I don't like feeling under the weather, so I usually push myself.  That's not very kind to my body, though.

I'm so grateful for this home, my garden, my little kitchen and space to make art.

 

 

sorry Avery...nothing interesting going on here...

 

 

Sunday

Happy Father's day to all the dads out there!

These are from the last set of color negatives I've been working my way through.  I was shooting with close up filters on my Holga to make a video and thought I had black and white film in the camera.  Once I rolled it on, I realized it was color and had to shoot all over again (so I could process the film quickly).  This roll of film sat until I brought in my stash of color a few weeks ago to get processed.  

They're still pretty though.  Light was a little low for 200iso, so I tweaked a bit in post processing.

 

 

 

 

 

last September in Wyoming

Straggler film.  Good memories!  At my brother's place in Wyoming.

 

 

 

 

 

in the present

There are still a couple more sets of older negatives to scan and edit.  But today, I'm into the present moment.  The garden has been getting a good bit of tlc lately, although honestly, it could use a lot more (but I'm only one person and there is always so much to do).  The weather is getting more and more summer like, with spiking temperatures.  That being the case, I always need to keep an eye on things out there.

Today while I was doing some transplanting, the yard care guy from next door told me he really liked my garden and was asking what some of the flowers were.  He was surprised to learn I was growing veggies out front, because of my green "fence" along the front of the yard hides them (totally my intention).  I pointed out the deer fencing around the kitchen garden and he asked if he could take some pictures.  Later on a car was driving by and the woman stopped to tell me how much she loved my garden, that she was a gardener too and always wanted to see what was blooming next.  It's so gratifying to know other people enjoy my garden like I do.

I can't take for granted my good fortune to have this space to care for.  It gives so much.  I'm always thinking about how I'd like to keep the magic growing around here...doing things to the house, the garden, building a studio out back!  It's an art practice (or certainly a creative one) all on its own.