43 0f 52 weeks

I am catching up on everything, after my long illness. I even made it to the gym today. I was gone for so long they threw away my work-out routine! I recently saw a blog that calmed they would only be posting once a week so as not to pollute cyberspace. Well, I have been doing that for a while now haven't I! Alas not on purpose.

I am not going to make any grand proclamations as to how I will post everyday and be funny and interesting. I will promise to take baby steps everyday and post as much as I can. Art, bees and the Chug guaranteed!

ONWARD!

42 of 52 weeks

Here I am cooking up some black beans for my Lizard. I snagged the last bag of black eyed peas at the Super and they are waiting to be made on New Years day. Hey I do follow a few traditions, now and then. Things are moving slowly around here like molasses.
onward--slowly--onward..

41 of 52 weeks

Snow! I am loving it especially the blue shadows. I think the combination of a clear blue Winter sky and blue shadows on snow reminds me of growing up in MI. Walking down to the ponds in the park in our ice skates as the bright sun cast long blue shapes across the frozen ground. Dodging the clusters of weeds that poke through the ice. Waddling home in our skates, feet frozen snow crusted on our scarves. 'Don't get any snow on the Kitchen floor!"..., crawling across the linoleum to the nearest heat duct--pins and needles, our feet sting through the pain of thawing out. Hot coco with little marshmallows tops off our cold Winter day.

Here are some photos of our Richmond Winter so far.

Onward through the snow....

Almost 100%

I have been sick for almost 2 months. Mostly it has been a really bad ear ache. I really don't want to talk about it. I want to go forward. I limped through Thanksgiving and have been too out of it to even think about Christmas stuff. I finally broke down and got myself a Netti pot. It is really great and I feel better already!

In other healthy-product good news--I hate to admit, I found a great alternative to nasty products used to get old wallpaper down (I did manage to work on the bathroom wall paper while sick, the thought of pretty new tile is a great motivator!). I first tried the chemical stuff and it worked pretty darn good. When the bottle ran out I switched to my trusty Dr. Bronners Peppermint Oil Soap deluded in a spray bottle. I found it worked even better and it left a nice minty scent in the crusty ol bathroom.

For now I am taking it slow hoping to feel 100% real soon. I think maybe I needed a break way back in March after my art show. I was determined to push forward without a break. Well here it is: Uncle! I said it, I give in! Not doing, not moving, not making huge or even baby steps just kills me...but I have. So I will say it, onward....all lower case in a hushed whisper...onward. Unless I start feeling bad then it is life back on hold--mad respect body, mad respect mind...but please can we start moving again...onward?

One week ago...

A week ago today I woke up and realized our power was out. I saw Truman on her perch with no heat lamp or lights and rushed to warm her. She was cold as ice. It is funny how automatically while trying to comfort and warm her I bounced up and down gently and spoke in warm tones. As if she cared, as if she wanted more than my heat. As she got warmer she released her grip and rested her head in the crook of my neck. We both got what we needed.

Luckily we have a gas fireplace, so we had some heat. I set Truman up on a blanket in front of the fire. She stayed there or in my arms until the power came back a day later.

I gathered all my candles and kept them going not only for light but for the impression of warmth. As crises go this one was pretty easy. We got take-out and Mr. Eleven even went to the movies (He saw Paranormal Activity, as you can see by some of the photos he took,later). We even picked up a hot water bottle for the lizard, that has since become her best friend--she loves it!

Mr.Eleven was lost without his computer and TV remote. I am used to being alone with my work--living in my head. It is my job, so I was content. He was restless. This prompted some creative activities. He played his guitar for us, by candle light, Frankenstein, Truman and I lay by the fire with eyes shut listening-drifting. Later he got the camera out and played around with the settings and got some pretty cool photos, check them out here.

One week ago we spent a day and a half in a strange isolation. Not all of our neighbors lost their power. We saw one neighbor late at night siting in front of his garage drinking a beer, facing his car bathed in it's glaring head lights. Still another fled in a glory of generator light and hubbub, to a Hotel. As I stood by the window bopping up and down cooing to my green friend, I found comfort in my own drama.


and so it goes--

Onward..

More bee stuff...

Bees-bees-bees

-bee wings

-Biomimicry

-Bee photos

-honeybee

-close up bee photos

-bee blog

-bees in art

-honeybee dance

-Waggle dance, honeybee dance

-bee as symbol in christian art


-bee as symbol in Chinese Art

-more bee photos

-Beeball

Working like a bee----Onward!

36 of 52 weeks

I am feeling like I am part of a mystery story today. Trying to navigate the hall of mirrors that surrounds my studio. When I feel close to getting back in, I find I am even further away. The Chair Affair auction is this weekend. I think once that is over I will have a clear space that may led back 'in'. I did start some little sculptures this weekend, but in a passive way. I had a few paintings in this past First Friday show at the Schindler Gallery, but the paintings have already been up for a month so I felt detached from them. Nothing wrong with that, it was a social event not an art theses I was presenting this time around.

I have started collecting images and info:
-vintage insect art
-cool bee biology
drawings
-bee myths
-more bee myth and info
-a honeycomb vase
-bee symbolism
-a word from Albert Einstein on bees
-more bee mythology
-beeswax Collage
-beeswax art
-and this guy!--amazing face painting art, don't miss this!

The mystery is here, in the struggle, in the research, in the prep and in the obligations. We all experience it every day in our lives-seeking joy between cleaning the dirty laundry and raking leaves. I admire the bees, still aggressively collecting from the remaining flowers in November.
In fact I got stung multiple times last weekend, when I ran over the bee hole (entrance to their under ground hive) with our leaf blower, yow!--they got me good! I want to make art like a bee works, with unadulterated focus. I want to sting anyone or thing who keeps me from my work! But then I would have no life and no friends or in the end no reason to work. The mystery is as always how to find balance and thrive. Maybe there is no balance and there will always be a hall of mirrors surrounding my ultimate goal. Maybe I am doing what I am supposes to, taking baby steps with my eyes and senses wide open--searching for the next big flower--like a bee.
Onward...