Creating artwork for my VIDA account is lots of fun.
Sometimes the inspiration comes from an item
I would like to own.
Other times the artwork has already been created,
waiting silently in the depths of my studio
until I stumble upon it and a new idea is born.
Both ways are very satisfying and I happily
spend my days knee deep in artistic chaos,
painting my heart out!
Sometimes I sit down to write
and nothing much seems to happen.
I sit and wait
and maybe daydream a bit....
and still nothing.
I have a diversion that may be good for my soul
but not much help for my
resolution to write everyday.
I grab a glue stick and a box of scrap papers and bits
and spend my "writing" time
playing as I imagine I did in kindergarten.
Sticky fingers full of paint and glue.
Happily lost in a haze of pure fun
for no reason at all.
Accomplishing nothing
and at the same time,
everything.
I collect bits and pieces of paper
and scraps.
Nothing is out of bounds.
If I cannot get the whole label
off a wine bottle ~
just a scraped off bit will do.
I have had lots of fun
decorating envelopes
and postcards to send to
Victoria in London
and Alex in Chicago.
It's a fun way to share some of
my favorite quotes
and they enjoy receiving
my art postcards and each uniquely
designed envelope.
Lots of fun!
Everything
I want to make poems that say right out, plainly,
what I mean, that don't go looking for the
laces of elaboration, puffed sleeves. I want to
keep close and use often words like
heavy, heart, joy, soon, and to cherish
the question mark and her bold sister
the dash. I want to write with quiet hands. I
want to write while crossing the fields that are
fresh with daises and everlasting and the
ordinary grass. I want to make poems while thinking of
the bread of heaven and the
cup of astonishment; let them be
songs in which nothing is neglected,
not a hope, not a promise. I want to make poems
that look into the earth and the heavens
and see the unseeable. I want them to honor
both the heart of faith, and the light of the world;
the gladness that says, without any words, everything.
~ Mary Oliver ~
Summer has come and gone.
I have been busy designing and decorating our new condo.
The last four years we have rented a condo
near the Notre Dame campus
to enjoy our family and friends
and our beloved college football team.
We finally decided to buy.
These are photos of one of the collages
I have been working on to adorn the walls.
Victoria is back at school and snugly enschonced into her
sophomore year.
Even she thinks time is flying
much too swiftly.
Our Alexandra has flown the cozy
suburbs to experience the excitement
of city life in Chicago
as she starts a new and challenging
consulting career in the city
and a new apartment in Old Town.
Stevie will enjoy a final year working
with his father and
and cheering on his team mates
before his life takes an
adventurous and exciting turn.
*details to follow at a later date.
In the meantime,
being present in the moment
is as always,
my secular and spiritual challenge.
Wishing you and yours
a fabulous new school year
filled with appropriate challenge
and sweet success.
GO IRISH!
p.s. I think I may have to rename this post due to
all of the "challenges" I noted upon re-reading!
How about "New Year New Challenge"?
It has been a busy summer so far. Lots of parties and company
and building a condo two and half hours away
have taken a big chunk out of
the lazy, hazy days of our summer.
While I love the commotion of family and friends
and wouldn't trade one second of our get-togethers,
I tend to get a little fussy when I don't have
my quiet time to putter in my studio
or sit under a tree in the back yard
with a big fat book.
So instead of taking the time
to open up messy paints and inks and such,
I have found my meditative and creative sojourn
with some scraps of paper and a glue stick.
Soft classical music and the sound
of scissors clipping away.
Just the thing to
quiet my head
and soothe my fraying nerves
with as little mess as necessary.
Victoria has been teasing me lately
about my obsession with chandeliers
and sconces and lanterns and so on and so on.
We recently bought a new condo in South Bend
and I have been busy picking out lighting
and colors and furniture and hardware.
My husband picked out all of the appliances
in one outing to the appliance store.
He makes it all look so easy as I research
and compare and fret over each and every design element.
Still searching for dining room chairs and bedding
but I am "mostly" done.
Our village's premier home furnishing store
has decided to call it quits after 52 years of service.
It was sad for them but very timely and lucky
for us as I picked up some fabulous pieces
at wonderful savings. Yay!
I have also been putting some of
my photos from Italy
into books.
As you can see, lighting was on my mind
during that trip too!
The end of Victoria's freshman year in college
came upon us in the blink of an eye.
Even the kids were melancholy.
Glad to be done with studying and finals
but sad to see the year end.
Sometimes I need to be quiet.
To go inside,
to empty my head and become clear.
I get a little out of sorts when
the schedules get too full.
As this summer starts to heat up
both literally and figuratively with
almost every weekend filled until August,
I found time this past week
to do the small things
that get lost in the hustle and bustle
of everyday life.
I took the time to actually smell the flowers
as I cut them and scattered them thru
the house.
I sat on the deck in the morning with a cup of cappuccino
instead of jumping on the treadmill
or running off to the gym.
I struggled with my conscious,
feeling guilty and lazy
but I moved through it and enjoyed
each and every precious morning,
softly and quietly
beginning my day.
I played in my studio
doing a little of this
and a little bit of that
with no purpose or end in sight.
I took the time to plan some summer outfits
so I am not in a panic at the last minute
finding things that fit.
And I made some new jewelry pieces
to accessorize said outfits without
the usual frenzied chaos that
accompanies getting dressed for an event
or packing for a weekend away.
The boys were on a business trip to LA
so it was just Victoria and me,
making our own schedule
and honoring our hearts desires;
eating salads every night for dinner.
And of course Rockne.
We let him bark almost as much as he wanted to!
My boys are in LA on business all week.
That means a week of no laundry or dinners
and no interruptions
or the phone
ringing off the hook.
(They work at home)
I promised myself I would clean and organize my
mess of an office/studio.
But every time I start...
some new little artistic tidbit
peeks its head out
wanting to be played with.
I have been making my photos from Italy
into postcards.
It is so much fun embellishing
and collaging
and writing
and sending
to family and friends.
I promise I will
MAYBE
have my office cleaned by Saturday.
If you'd like a postcard,
hand written
and decorated,
leave your address!
When the kids were small we started a tradition of hand crafting
our gifts for family and friends.
Of course that has changed over the years as the kids grew up and
started driving and shopping on their own.
One of my very favorite things has always remained
the hand making of gifts.
Even as time for art and crafting becomes ever more difficult to find,
I am always on the look-out for ways to continue our tradition.
Jewelry is my constant passion as well as turning my
collages into note cards to be tied up with antique ribbons
and unique packaging.
My newest project is sharing some of my favorite
images of our trip to Italy in the form of
embellished postcards.
But don't tell anyone.....
it's a surprise!