November Light

Though I am almost asleep, I wanted to add a bit more to the trip images. I am still thinking about the light that is so different in this month. This is also called stick season and the light certainly does stick to the sticks.

The apple desk area is from the Hotel Indigo, Albany, NY. The blown up images on the walls were very affective....gave me ideas and I want to have keys to trigger those memories.

Today I sent scarves off to 2 galleries and I wove one scarf in teal chenille. The pre holiday season is intense and I am behind, but the leg is healed and I can weave again. Hurrah!

Trip Homeward

Leaving Norwalk, Ohio, we made our way eastward for 9 hours with the plan to meet up with my sister of Tucson who was in Albany for work. She had the suggestion of Hotel Indigo and what a great idea....freshly remodeled with lovely beds which Martha made her way to immediately and posed, but when I went in for a portrait she gave me the eye. Oh, Martha! Birthday celebration for the sister and she loved the scarf and the buckeyes brought special from Ohio and Bruce's book.



Then dinner...my how we feasted at Blue Note...must return sometime!

Today we wandered a bit in beautiful sunshine to Manchester where we picked up a box of books--For Love of Yurts and made it back before dark. These days are short for driving in the light but the light is quite spectacular. A successful trip, many seen, much accomplished, and gratitude for my family. A happy Thanksgiving.

Last Yellow Rose and the Parachute

A rosebud still braving it in Ohio just at the door of our new home for 2 days....I couldn't help myself, I had to help myself to it for furthwe study and what a joy it has been!
The Tim Horton cup comes in handy...I so often am rewarded for not throwing things out right away and use comes again to what might be trash.
Parachute game....Mama has to smile with her efforts to keep the assorted balls aloft. Laughter is such an essential skill in aging. I am keen on it myself. Mama and I laughed together...it is one of our best means of communication. Mama's roommate Eunice sits to her left. She hears so little but she loves my smile. Sad how we sink within ourselves as we age.

Headed to Mama's

Mama is waiting for our visit. We are in Erie, PA looking out at heavy clouds, raindrops like tears...so different than the bright clear skies of yesterday. Bruce is dealing with his website and book sales...work travels with us when work is virtual. According to my brother, mama was disappointed that we didn't come yesterday. I called her at lunchtime and told her this morning we would come...her mind has so many holes where most of the facts fall through and she is left with untethered emotions. Fortunately for us she is mostly happy and positive. But there are difficulties with her roommate and Mama is being nasty to her and lashing out. Can the pumpkin pie I am bringing be a peace offering as we all sit together? This is another place of exploration and experimentation. I am grateful that I have been practicing experimentation my whole life. I have art supplies with me also...so onward into the day. Blessings to you all!

Changing perspectives

I'm trying to see things in a new light. Today the sun was shining and I worked again on the back deck painting silks, but the sun hardly could make it above the tree line, so low in the southern sky already. Out came the hair dryer again...so much dampness in the air, but that was after I got home from the doctor's and my ankle was declared healed. I was rebooted, a new run for me! Black boot is now a souvenier and I am wearing my high top winter boots as protection of this fragile ankle which has been supported with metal braces for weeks. It is a bit weak, but so happy to be released...I could almost dance! Instead I am trying to get some tasks finished so we can make a journey to visit my mama in Ohio. We leave on Wed if all goes well. Got a big check for sales at Frog Hollow and I've been asked to be the feature artist for Dec in LA Downtown Magazine...online magazine. Tomorrow I write up that 400 word bio and I'll steam a batch of fresh silks to send off into the world.

Silks painted under a November Sky

Green and silver were requested and the dye table outdoors called. It wasn't warm, and the porch was still wet from the rain of yesterday, but there was a freshness in the air and a clear light. I pulled off the 4 layers of plastic to find the table top dry with some lovely rust, green and yellow leavings from previously painted scarves. These dyes when rewet by fresh dyes enter randomly into the scarves being worked. It is magic and exciting and I wasn't cold as I worked, too fired by inspiration. But I did have to dry them with a hair dryer because they weren't going to dry. I call the scarf in the second image November Day. I'm not going to put it in the order, but will steam it and hope to post it on etsy.

Blood Red and Healing

So, here I sit healing. This break has allowed me to find couch time, the pause which is needed in a busy day. I hope i can keep remembering how important the down time is. If I could type better, would I write more? probably. i do enjoy writing, letting words flow like paint does, but my fingers are not at ease with typing and the mistakes made are far more!

I am tired...Just this morning, I got a request for scarves for the holiday...reds and greens and silver...oh my! Could I rise to this request before Thanksgiving and still get to Ohio to visit my mother, brother, his ailing wife, and then get to Albany, NY to meet up with my sister while she visits from Tucson for a bit of birthday celebration...for Martha, not me. Oh my!

So, I put my oil/wax scratchings aside and gave them a new smaller crowded home, so i could unearth the paint table. Alas! The cover cloth was already in the red family and I could pin new blanks directly onto the surface. I mixed dye and it was deep blood red and deeper still into burgundy, I swished some claret in dye form for an uplifting giggle, found some aged black and other misfits from weeks ago. I hadn't painted since Sept and not on this inside table since June.

Now I have come back to it, break over-- for some hours in the day--, boot still on, but I've found a shoe which pairs with it well enough to move without total mindfulness. When i paint I want my mind not in my feet and silk dying takes a lot of movement. Maybe I am more conscience of this than I have been before...or on another level. I am trying to learn from the break and move on to do the work I am called to do.

Somehow writing this blog seems like one of those things I am called to do. I used to do a journal...is this a form of a journal?

Okay, I give up...can't seem to add an image, so no image today, only those made by the words.