Something That Quickens the Heart
6” x 6” x 1.5”, mixed media on cradled wood.
The bidding in MassArt’s Silent Auction starts online this Monday, March 21st at noon and runs through April 10th at noon. MassArt is the nation’s first public, independent college of Art and Design. The auction supports academic programming and student scholarships. Registration is now open at Bidsquare.
My triptych, Something That Quickens the Heart, 6” x 6” x 1.5”, mixed media on wood is in the silent auction. See the link below to participate!
At the end of each year, I create a small book. It’s a good exercise in seeing where I have been and where I might go in the new year.
Looking.
Beautiful thinking allows our imaginations a turn at the helm.
When I look at an abstract painting, I feel transported, given the gift of another way of seeing. When I paint abstracts, I let go of routine, rigidity, and process; I explore possibility, harmony, and beauty.
Abstraction is beguiling. When in the flow of painting, I am lost in solving the visual complexity of disparate forms, colors, and textures, searching for a framework with harmony. Leaning into the joy of painting abstracts, I find greater ease with complexity, I grow into new ways of looking and thinking.
When a painting connects with another person through its language of color, form, and line, it can be transformative. Like poetry which allows, in its abstraction, for multiple interpretations, abstract painting is a means to beautiful thinking*. By identifying with the gestural quality of a line, the ambiguity of a shape, the emotion of color, we get insight into ourselves and others, we allow for difference, and find a way to get comfortable with complexity.
*Beautiful thinking: Looking for the interconnectedness and interdependence of things. Describes transformative thought, an ability to glimpse our unfurling, growth, and interconnectedness.
This last year has had us focused on the interiority of our lives, taking heart in small things, appreciating what we have. It has been a year of quiet transformation. We’ve been both metaphorically and in real-time settling into new space, small heroics that have transformed us; we’ve learned things. Can I hear a little heck yeah we did that?!
In my painting practice this last year I have been absorbed in my love of abstraction but I had a couple of surprising episodes of working into more realistic representations of things that move me visually. While this is surprising I think it came from a desire to look, to notice more carefully the details that draw me in. This painting, a work in progress, lies in-between. An ode, abstractly, to my little vermillion reading chair. Here’s to a love of noticing small things that sometimes get taken for nothing.
It was a beautiful snowy day in October to be indoors making Amaro. Lots of different herbs, spices, and citrus, and four different batches created. I name them for the bitter used as the base note in each recipe. Year two of a newly minted tradition, cheers.
Nature is an inspiration for me in my abstract painting, sometimes more than I realize. The following are recent paintings paired with nature images I saved from my Instagram feed.
Elaine Scarry writes about beauty “It comes to us, with no work of our own; then leaves us prepared to undergo a giant labor.”
Painting is my giant labor.
Bird photos @audubonsociety and @bbcspringwatch. Moth photo @kerikimura.
Have you seen them… all those fledglings heading out into the world? I had a fuzzy little Finch greet me on the porch this a.m. It soared down from its nest on a first flight to take a sip of the water that had spilled on the decking after my watering of the flowers. It came very close, trusting and was all about thirst. It seemed unfazed by my presence though I’ll admit I was holding very still and felt as though I had been given a gift.
Sending meditations out into the world. It’s all about energy. Pictured here is a custom necklace for the heart chakra, made with Green Onyx, Fluorite and Chalcedony. The heart chakra energy works as a bridge between our bodies and our minds creating a balance between physical and spiritual.
More Chakra necklaces are getting ready to fledge here at WFLLT. They are meditations and a labor of love.
New gemstone combinations in the works are:
Crown: Amethyst and Labradorite
Brow: Iolite and Lapis Lazuli
Throat: Aquamarine and Labradorite
Heart: Green Onyx and Apatite
Solar Plexus: Yellow Jade and Moonstone
Sacral: Sunstone and Fire Opal
Root: Garnet and Pink Quartz
You can read about the chakra necklaces or see what’s currently available in the shop. There are more coming so let me know if you want to be kept in the loop.
Feeling the desperate need for a change, for an awakening, a holding of disparate ideas and emotions, and the ability to bend before we break. Let’s vow to honor our best nature. Let’s not miss another opportunity.
Settling into new space. We have the time.
UNFURLING, 24”x24”, Acrylic and Oil on Board
Openings to wonder.
There was much to catch the eye but my heart (and camera) are always drawn to the simplicity of color, light, and texture.
My graphic designer hat is always looking for a way to play with paper and pattern. This jungle-like painting (A Different Conversation) begged for a wrapping paper application don’t you think?!
or… How Did We Get in This Handbasket?
#talkinghead #talkingabluestreak