Been busy..

making art. It is amazing how much better I feel if I spend a few hours mindlessly painting, cutting and pasting. Oh, and photo editing.

This will eventually support a collage
or cover a book.


This is one of those balsa wood cheese boxes. My granddaughter and I painted a couple of them one afternoon. I have cut pages, accordion style and am collaging them. Then I'll glue them so that I will have a concertina book. Never did anything like this before. Fun.



A dear lady who I admired greatly passed this last week and I spent a lot of time thinking about the card I wanted to make for her family. This is an altered photo of the angel who lives in my front garden. I also have her up as my desktop right now. My gift to you, in honor of my generous friend, if you would like her on your desktop. Just think of me when you look at her. And please don't put her on anything you will sell or mass produce.




I'll close with a quote that I am thinking about a lot this week.

...(life) is like a chick refusing to be returned to the eggshell. Yiyun Li

What a soft day

An old Irish priest used to start his sermon with this phrase on misty Sunday mornings. I thought of him today. I love this weather, it brings out the best in me.

The Ranch is so lovely. All sounds are muffled.

That bird bath has been here a very long time. The Birds of Paradise are giving it their best for a late season bloom.

This bird bath is the one we bought new for our first granddaughters christening. Over 35 people gathered on the lawn to welcome her into their lives.

Wish you were here.

More Zen Brush Painting

Once a Juggler

Once I was a juggler,
a very good one actually.
I juggled balls big and small
all day long, never dropping one.
I wanted to stop but the balls
just kept flying, my hands
and eyes too busy catching
and tossing to see the right
moment in each trajectory
to capture and hold. I asked
for help. I explained that
it just wasn’t fun anymore.
Who was I kidding, it
was never fun. It was survival.
And, while I no longer consider
myself a juggler, I still have balls in the
air. Balls that long ago, I threw so
high they don’t come down
for months, sometimes years.
But they do come down
and my heart stops with
their insistence and urgency.
I want to stop. It isn’t fun anymore.
lm 2010









On the other hand, alone can be very enjoyable.



Very soothing. Sometimes just fun and silly. Something about using this app is stretching my drawing. Somehow I feel more confident. I think it gets me past the terror of thinking of "ruining" a piece of paper.

When I look over this poem and the art, it strikes me as kind of depressed. I'm really feeling pretty good. Got a new prescription that just might work!

Lets all just feel how we feel and enjoy it, whatever it is.