Is Anybody Out There?

I don't know if anyone looks at this blog anymore. And why would you? This blog is about making art and I rarely seem to make any. A recent rejection letter from Horace Williams House regarding an exhibit in 2011 stings a bit. I see good art all around me, but I just can't make it happen in my studio. This is not a new phenomena for me. Over the last 8 years of learning to draw and paint, I have had lapses of creativity that are frustrating and sometimes debilitating.

In the meantime, I highly recommend a new gallery in Chapel Hill. This co-op gallery is sleek and chock-full of high quality art. Check out Frank's website at: http://www.frankisart.com/.

Wrapping Paper and Ribbons

Unwrapping gifts at Christmas at my house takes very little time! We are all excited to discover the gift inside the paper and ribbons. As I cleaned up the scattered and torn wrappings and bows under our Christmas tree yesterday morning, I wondered, who would have thought that the birth of a baby in a horse stable to an unwed teen and her fiance' would be a glorious gift to all of God's people? Really? What an unlikely package for such a gift. And yet, how like God to present us with something that appears to be a difficult situation; something awkward, hard, or unsavory.

In my life, God appears to delight in presenting me with the rough and unsightly packaging of gifts. This past year in particular, has been a year of gifts from God that have required trust and obedience. I have had to work hard to trust that the ugliness of a situation did indeed include the perfect gift. His gift giving is extravagant!

Every good action and every perfect gift is from God. These good gifts come down from the Creator of the sun, moon, and stars,who does not change like their shifting shadows.

James 1:17

Summer Reading

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rasnay

a GREAT summer read!

It has been several years since I have experienced the extreme exhaustion associated with suffering through difficult circumstances. I fell into the month of June barely able to put one foot in front of the other and stumbling through my days. But alas, summer appeared, providing the opportunity to rest a bit. I am trying to be very intentional about the following things:

1. exercise

2. sleeping

3. eating healthy

4. making art

5. reading mindless fiction (aka beach reading)

6. solitude

7. praying

8. capturing precious moments with my daughters

9. spending time with authentic friends

10. taking inexpensive, quick trips out of town

It's a long list and reads much like "New Year's Resolutions." But maybe this summer is a "new year" for me! I hope so.

Ginger (1957-2009)

annual weekend together March 2008( Left to right: Midge, Jean, Lori, Amy, Ginger)

sorority party 1977(Left to right: Amy, Midge, Lori, Ginger)

We first exchanged letters when we were assigned to be roommates during freshman year at Duke in 1975. Ginger and I introduced ourselves on paper and made plans to purchase matching bedspreads for our beds in the tiny room we would share in Aycock dorm. We met and began a friendship that lasted 34 years. Along the way, we left East Campus for the snazzier Central Campus and leased a three bedroom apartment which we shared with friends from our dorm. We graduated, got jobs, married, and had babies in various parts of the country. Ten years ago, we reconnected with each other and created an annual "Duke Roomies Weekend" to be held every March. The weekends were wonderful and our friendships began to grow again. We held each up in good times and bad and learned from the experiences of the others.

This past weekend was our "10th Annual Duke Roomies Weekend." We met in Roanoke minus Midge and Ginger. Midge had to work through the weekend, but Ginger's reason for not joining the group was based upon a depressive episode that she was experiencing. She just couldn't bring herself to join us. Ginger stayed on our minds and hearts all weekend. We(Amy, Jean, and I) crafted a plan to cheer her up beginning this week and shopped for silly gifts to send to her. We were hopeful for her full recovery. I returned to Durham on Sunday afternoon and packaged the gifts to put in the mail Monday. I mailed the box at noon yesterday. At 4 PM yesterday, I received a call from Amy telling me that Ginger had taken her own life a few hours earlier.

My heart is breaking...

Summer Garden

butterfly bush, yarrow, snapdragons, rosemary, shasta daisy, baptisia

When God's plan can not be discerned, I am thankful for the beauty that He has created for me in my garden.

Thursday at Arrowmont

"all systems go"for silk screening of fabric!

silkscreen pattern complete!

It is Thursday night and I am just now ready to screen my fabric! The prep and process has been beyond my imagination. I have great compassion for Colonial women. Class concludes tomorrow after lunch and then we clean the studio.

Help!

before...

after...

This is an art blog. I created this blog in order to have a forum to display, discuss, and discern the importance of making art. The current problem: I CAN'T MAKE ART! I keep trying and trying and trying. The results are C+ so far. The weekends afford my only opportunity to spend time in my studio and yet, my time spent there is worthless. Any suggestions? The only productive thing I have done in the studio lately is to clean it! Check out the "before" and "after."

Pat-a-Cake

"Pat-a-cake. Pat-a-cake. Baker's man. Bake me a cake as fast as you can!" My knee has been painful for nearly 4 weeks now and although the previous diagnosis was "tendonitis," following an ex-ray and an MRI last week, it has been changed to "Baker's Cyst." I have learned that baking has nothing to do with the cyst (not a surprise since the chance of me incurring injury while baking is miniscule because I seldom bake), but is named for the physician who discovered the annoying condition, Dr. Baker. Nevertheless, I am REALLY cranky because I CAN'T exercise without experiencing GREAT pain. I am also CRANKY because "Baker's Cysts are COMMON in the elderly. I am NOT THAT OLD! I protest!!

"Writers' Strike"

No, I am not a television writer. But much like the reruns of our favorite shows (Grey's Anatomy) that we have watched the past few months, here are some of my favorite images from previous art exhibitions for you to view while I wonder about which direction my art will take me next.

Baby steps...

It's a start. At least I am making art...or something?

Block

Roget's New Millennium™ Thesaurus -
Main Entry: block
Part of Speech: verb
Definition: obstruct

Synonyms:
arrest, bar, barricade, block out, blockade, brake, bung up, catch, charge, check, choke, clog, close, close off, close out, congest, cut off, dam, deter, fill, halt, hang up*, hinder, hold up, impede, intercept, interfere, occlude, plug, prevent, shut off*, shut out, stall, stonewall, stop, stop up*, stopper, stymie, tackle, thwart

I got nothin! I can't paint or draw or create these days! It is not the first time, which should be of some comfort; however, creative blocks are really UNcomfortABLE.