Angela Recada

Boldness and distraction

2012-01-24T09:14:00.003-06:00

a spiral of French knots

There's been no time for painting so far this year. During my free moments lately, I find comfort in stitching. And I find that my stitches, which were very tentative at first, are becoming bolder.

Things are still not back to normal here. I'm still very distracted. All in knots. There's little time for blogging while I spend as much time as possible with our old Beau. Looking deeply into his eyes, waiting for him to tell me when he is ready to go. He may still rebound. I hope so. . .

The flower on my muslin has chosen to be a lotus, a very symbolic flower, which stands for rebirth and enlightenment in some cultures. Very appropriate for me right now, I think.

The spiral of tiny star-shaped stitches has overshadowed the ink, which whispered "begin begin begin" when I first started working on this piece. If you look closely, though, you can still see glimpses of those first whispers on the cloth.

But in the center, the embroidered word has become bolder. I'm not sure if the spiral begins with the word and works its way outward, or spirals inward toward the word. Both, maybe.

I've never really had one word that spurred me on for an entire year. This year might be different. I think "Begin" is a perfect word for this year. This year I'll focus on beginning all the things I've put off for years.

In fact, it might be my word for life. Begin.

Up and down, round and round. . .

2012-01-12T13:25:00.010-06:00

(detail of muslin with acrylic paint, ink, wool, embroidery floss)

Up and down, round and round - that's a pretty good description of my life (and moods) lately. Other than some creative cooking, I haven't had much opportunity to create lately. Just a few stitches to start embellishing the piece of muslin that I've become obsessed with.

(detail of muslin with acrylic paint, ink, Inktense pencils, embroidery floss)

Our old dog, Beau, now only eats if we entice him by hand-feeding him first. Even this takes time and patience on our part, since he is slowly reverting back to the timid dog he was when we adopted him from the shelter. He is slowly forgetting what he learned during his time with us. He is forgetting that he learned to feel safe and confident and happy with us, and that the dog food in his bowl is his to enjoy. It's sad to see him old and confused and in pain. It's sad to know that our days with him are numbered.

Unfortunately, there's been very little time in my life lately to read and comment on blogs and elsewhere online, either. But after next week, I think I'll have a bit more time again.

Thanks to all who commented on my last posts. I may not get around to thanking you each personally, but I value all your comments more than you'll ever know.

In the mean time, I'm really loving this change from painting and drawing on paper and canvas, to stitching on muslin. More changes are coming, too, I think, but I'll still find my way back to painting those portraits that I love.

I have a feeling this will be an interesting year, and I'm working my way into it slowly.

"Take a breath,

take your time,

spread your wings

and rise."

~ Counting Crows lyric

Begin

2012-01-01T13:34:00.004-06:00

It's the first day of a new year- what a perfect day for new beginnings!

Not much has gone according to plan since I posted here last. As a result, I've been keeping a low profile online. And I'll continue to do so for a while.

Maybe I'll use this forced interruption as an opportunity to begin doing many things differently this year. Beginning to do something differently can start as a whisper, after all.

(detail of ink and thread on painted muslin)

The important thing is to begin.

(detail of ink and Intense pencils on painted muslin)

And to simply be, sometimes.

I've been slowly beginning to work on my muslin rags. Letting them tell me what they want to be.

"Be willing to be a beginner

every single morning."

~ Meister Eckhart

Happy New Year, everyone!

Aha

2011-12-14T14:17:00.004-06:00

I had an "aha" moment today. I've been feeling pressure to post something here to mark the end of the year, feeling pressure to make art just to have something to show here. Holiday pressure. Family pressure. Pressure. Pressure. Pressure. But I've also been thinking a lot about this quote I found on tumblr recently:

"The imagination should be allowed a certain amount of time to browse around."

~ Thomas Merton

So I've been taking the time to browse around. And I keep looking at this SoulCollage I made several months ago:

I've been having this feeling that I'm on the verge of something, but what? I couldn't figure it out. Then today, thanks to a facebook post from my blogging friend Julie-ann Bowden, I finally had the the opportunity to watch a film that I've been meaning to see, a film that has deeply moved me. I barely even started watching the film, when I had that amazing "aha" moment. Now I finally *GET* it!

Thanks to the internet, we are all exposed to so many different ideas, but one that keeps nudging at me is the idea that humanity is approaching a shift in consciousness. It's something I've been wanting to believe, but every time I get cut-off in traffic or hear the news about one more tragic event, I think, "No, humanity will never change."

Then today it struck me. I've been looking at it all wrong. Living in this gotta-have-it NOW society, I've been expecting (and wanting) a shift to happen quickly. Overnight, if possible. Well, that's not possible.

Out of nowhere, I remembered how my beloved Cologne Cathedral (which was a big part of my early life, when I lived in Germany with my Grandmother), was built over a period of 632 years. 632 years! If it took that long to build a church, it certainly is going to take more than a day, a week, a year, or even a generation, for humanity to change. Aha!

I can't tell you how much hope this gives me! To realize that things will change over time. Humanity will get it right. Just because I won't live to see it, doesn't mean I should give up hope and not even try to be part of the change. It is a gigantic task, after all. But with the internet and modern communications, it shouldn't take 632 years.

You may have guessed by now that the film is "The Shift" with the wonderful and wise Dr. Wayne Dyer.

"Whatever your age,

you are only one thought away

from changing your life."

~ Wayne Dyer

The entire film is available to see for free, in 13 somewhat choppy segments, on YouTube. Here are two segments (#7 and #8) that really spoke to me today:

Thanks to the internet and blogging, I have met some truly amazing people who have changed my life and made it much richer and better. I am so grateful for that and for you. Thank you, everyone who visits here, everyone who comments here, everyone who writes me e-mails and engages me in conversations I would never be fortunate enough to have in my "real" life.

So, watch "The Shift" if you're ready. Find what makes you "sing" and do it. Be the best you can be.

"Don't die with your music still in you."

~ Wayne Dyer

I look forward to continuing this amazing journey with you in 2012. And I wish you a blessed holiday season.

What next?

2011-11-17T15:03:00.005-06:00

It's a gorgeous, bright, but cold, day here today, so I was able to apply the more muted finish to the leaf/tree paintings I wrote about in the last post. You can see on my other blog (here), that the finish mutes and mellows the acrylic colors so they look less plastic and more organic.

While I was working, I was thinking about all the things I could do next. Several months ago I was experimenting with weaving things, like wood-grained wallpaper samples.

About a year ago, I learned that quite a few of my ancestors had worked in the textile industry in the 1800s. I've always been intrigued by textiles, and learned about fabric art (LOVE IT!!!) a few years ago. I'll definitely be doing some more of that soon. I can carry on the family tradition. :0)

And I'm not one to throw things away, so I have stacks of muslin scraps which I use to clean my brushes when I'm painting.

Believe me, I had to restrain myself from putting more paint on that top piece of muslin!
:0)
I wash and iron them when I have enough of them. Some look like little abstract pieces of art to me already, and in others, I see images I can add to with other materials.

These days, I'm drooling over the work of Flora Bowley. You can see why at her website (here) and blog (here).

The final three, together at last

2011-11-14T16:44:00.002-06:00

Here are the final three 12"x12" landscapes.

I gave you a sneak peek of the center painting on in the previous post.

I didn't have to do too much to enhance the dried, pressed leaf. The colors were already perfect. Before I collage these leaves to the paintings, I seal them on both sides with matte medium to protect them.

I also collaged some dried grasses to the center painting. Love that texture!

Everybody who does landscapes seems to be painting birch trees lately, so I had to paint at least one.

Years ago we had quite a few in our neighborhood, but they have all died and been cut down. I actually like how dead trees look and have been taking pictures of them lately.

I added a fainter, paler purple line along the horizon of the birch painting. It reminds me of how the fog sometimes hovers over Lake Michigan, while the shore area is sunny and bright.

acrylic (faux) encaustic, acrylic, mixed-media, collage, pressed leaves

The light was perfect this afternoon, so I took advantage of it to take these photos outside. You can probably see how the first painting, on the left, looks a bit mellower. That's because of the acrylic (faux) encaustic finish I experimented with. I'll be doing the same to the other two paintings the next time the natural light is bright enough for a longer period of time. Then they'll have a more muted, organic look, too. The leaves will also have additional protection after I do this.

I want to do something completely different next. There are so many things I want to try, I'll need to see which idea pushes its way to the top.

"It is the spectator,

and not life,

that art really mirrors."

~ Oscar Wilde

A sneak peek

2011-11-08T11:26:00.006-06:00

Here's a slightly blurry sneak peek at the landscape I'm currently working on. It's been very overcast here, so my camera wasn't letting me get crisp photos. This leaf/tree has only been pressed, the colors have not been enhanced yet. Isn't it gorgeous?! It's a leaf from the forsythia bush after it was touched by frost.

This painting has more texture than the previous landscapes I've done recently. I do love that texture! But my challenge to myself is to keep it simple, and that's not as easy as it sounds.

Today I'm working on adjusting the colors quite a bit, so it can be a companion to this painting,

which I described in a previous post here.

So, when this one is done, there will be one more 12" x 12" landscape to finish before I begin to work on something more portable. When I paint these acrylic pieces, I need to move everything to the kitchen table, and then put it all away again. Something easier to work on in short bursts would be a nice change.

Ah, the details

2011-11-02T09:24:00.002-05:00

As the natural world around me prepares itself for the long, cold winter ahead, I find myself focusing on the smallest details. The muted colors. The textures and shapes.

I'm fascinated with patterns. The endless variations of circular and linear found in nature.

The many gorgeous differences between the end of an old, weathered log and the inner surface of the trunk of a freshly cut tree. So many textures, and the startling beauty of the simple grays and browns. Sometimes I wish I could make myself very small, so I could crawl around inside all the nooks and crannies. I know I would find many more even smaller nooks and crannies. Smaller and smaller and smaller.

Ah, the pockmarked rust of a weathered wind chime. I was told the symbols on the chime say "Peace" and I like to think that's true. And that it will be possible in more parts of the world.

I'm working on two more landscapes that do not want to be traditional landscapes. And that's OK, I'll let them guide me so they can be what they want to be. It's good to be who you are supposed to be.

And I've been thinking a lot about this painting which I did a few years ago, which I called "Energy (1)" because I knew that some day there would be more. I love the idea that everything is made up of energy, from the smallest seed, to all of humanity, to all the stars in the Universe. Everything. Everything is connected. It's a comfort to me, to know this.

There is so much we do not know, and can't even imagine. But I do know this. More art will be coming soon.

"Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature.

And that is because,

in the last analysis,

we ourselves are part of the mystery

that we are trying to solve."

~ Max Planck

I adore Mary Nohl - part 2 (in which I must see this special house for myself)

2011-10-25T16:38:00.003-05:00

Since the Mary Nohl House isn't located that far away from where I live, I couldn't sit still until I took a look at it for myself.
:0)

The house is protected by a tall vine-covered wire fence, but a friendly, smiling concrete face urged me to step closer.

The house is not open for viewing, since it's located on a quiet upscale dead-end street. These signs are posted on the gate at the end of the driveway.

Two more happy faces flank the driveway. This is the one on the right, which bears the name Nohl.

I was able to photograph through the gate to get a photo very similar to the one on the cover of the book (see previous post)! I could have stood there for hours. I didn't notice until I posted this photo here, that there is a light on in the right second story window. The spirit of Mary, maybe? If I were Mary, I'd like to stop back to visit once in a while, too

Here's a photo through the fence looking toward Lake Michigan. The tall statue on the left is the one that I could see looking at me over the fence in the first photo.

And a closer look at the happy couple. I noticed while I was looking at all these statues, that they all looked happy. I like that.

Another parting glance at the house and the handsome blue-eyed dude with the pointy head. It was a pleasure to meet you all in person!

Here's the view from just outside Mary's house looking toward the lake to the right

and to the left. . . I'm going to take a little blogging break to read my book about Mary Nohl from cover to cover. She's my new hero, and I know there is much I can learn from her.

I adore Mary Nohl

2011-10-20T11:41:00.003-05:00

One of the many reasons I love the internet is how one thing leads to another and another and another. Earlier this month I had the pleasure to meet a wonderful Wisconsin artist I had recently learned about. Her name is Susan Hale, and she paints the most exuberant, magical landscapes. You can see her work at her website (here) and her blog (here).

And earlier today, while taking a quick peek at facebook, I spotted a wonderful video on Susan's page, about an artist I've been wanting to tell you about. Her name is Mary Nohl, and during her later years she was called "the Witch of Fox Point".

Mary Nohl, who lived from 1914 - 2001, turned her lakeside cottage and property into a work of art. And although she was misunderstood by many during her lifetime, she prevailed in the end. I wish I would have known her. . .

Here's the wonderful short video about Mary that I found this morning:

The image at the top of this post is the cover of an excellent book about Mary, which is available from Amazon here. It's a gorgeous book, with lots of pictures and snippets of her writings.

"I like the days best when I have a lot of projects -

each so much fun that I don't know which to do first."

~ Mary Nohl

"Keep getting more ideas -

all of which I have to try."

~ Mary Nohl

I hear you Mary!

You can see more photos of Mary's house here. And read more about her and her work here, here, here, here and here. (Or just google :0) )

We are very fortunate to have quite a number of incredibly talented outsider artists and outsider environments in Wisconsin. Many of them are generously preserved and supported by the Kohler Foundation.

Before and after

2011-10-17T14:06:00.005-05:00

(detail)

I think this landscape is finished now. I didn't do too much more to it. Just highlighted parts of the leaves with a little oil pastel, adjusted some of the colors, and added some texture to the bottom portion. It has an acrylic encaustic finish, to protect the leaves and to give the whole piece a warm, more organic feeling.

(detail)

The broken purple line along the horizon reminds me of Lake Michigan, of how it looks when you're driving toward it and suddenly catch that first amazing glimpse of the water along the horizon. It never looks the same twice, ranging from the palest gray to the most intense Mediterranean blue. And it's gorgeous every time.

This landscape is my interpretation of Wisconsin's golden corn fields, the Lake, and the short but glorious fall foliage.

So here it was before:

and here it is after:

Wisconsin Landscape

acrylic encaustic mixed media collage with leaves

on 12 x 12 wrapped canvas

Two more 12 x 12 landscapes to go, and then - who knows?

:0)

Keeping it simple

2011-10-17T10:17:00.001-05:00

These last beautiful warmish days before our long cold winter make me appreciate the simple things even more. Like the last few odds and ends from the garden displayed in a tiny vase.

Our sleepy cat, dreaming blissfully on the one and only pillow she knows she's not supposed to be on.

Two surprise late-bloomers sunning themselves on the trellis.

A few relaxing moments enjoying a favorite book outside. And appreciating the beauty of a robin's nest here,

and here. Loving the bright colors of the crisp leaves and seed pods from a maple tree.

Treasuring the words of the wise ones who came before us,

and trying to notice the details of the many things I rarely took the time to notice before.

I hope you have some time to notice and appreciate the simple things all around you this week. I've left the images larger, so you can click on them to see more detail.

Do you ever think about food?

2011-10-15T14:43:00.009-05:00

Sunday, October 16, is Blog Action Day 2011, and this year's topic is food. Let me assure you, that while there will be quite a bit of bad news in this post, it will end on a serious note of hope and good news.

image from an interesting article here:

Chicago Press Release Services

Just yesterday I saw a short but eye-opening article on news.Yahoo.com entitled "More Americans than Chinese can't put food on the table" (read it here) which I must admit shocked me. I knew things were bad, but this was worse than I expected. According to the article:

The number of Americans who lack access to basic necessities like food and health care is now higher than it was at the peak of the Great Recession, a survey released Thursday found. And in a finding that could worsen fears of U.S. decline, the share of Americans struggling to put food on the table is now three times as large as the share of the Chinese population in the same position.

According to Feeding America, these are the most recent US hunger statistics:

In 2010, 48.8 million Americans lived in food insecure households,
32.6 million adults and 16.2 million children.

You can see all the statistics for yourself on the Feeding America website here.

It is estimated that there are over 1.02 BILLION hungry people in the world.

I don't know why the US, or North America for that matter, isn't on this chart.

You can find more of these sad statistics for yourself. But today I want to also share just some of the promising things that people are doing to help ease this food crisis. In Wisconsin, we are fortunate to have Will Allen, a pioneer in urban farming and the founder of Growing Power. Growing Power aims for sustainable food production, as well as the growth of communities through the creation of local gardens. You can see more at their website, here: http://www.growingpower.org/index.htm

Here's Will Allen, describing his amazing work:

Will Allen and others who are reclaiming urban lots to produce food are working on just one of many potential answers to dealing with food shortages. While his ideas are new and innovative, others are looking to the past to find answers to today's problems. One such person is Britain's Martin Crawford, who in this next video takes you through his edible food forest garden, which is a model for resilient local food growing.

Food forests are not a new idea. Here's a short video about a 300-year old food forest in Vietnam:

And another short video about a 2000-year old food forest in Morocco:

So you see, I think there is hope. Great hope. But we need to work together, we need to help those who are less fortunate, and we have to stop using access to adequate food and water to keep some people down. There is no one-size-fits-all solution, but there are enough ways to grow food and distribute it fairly, so that not one single person on the planet should die of starvation.

What kind of world of world do you want to live in?

In case you are interested, I wrote some other articles about food earlier this year on my other blog here:

http://amazingmotherearth.blogspot.com/2011/01/we-are-what-we-eat-bad-news-and-good.html

and here:

http://amazingmotherearth.blogspot.com/2011/06/farm-of-future.html

"Never doubt

that a small group of committed people

can change the world.

Indeed,

it is the only thing that ever has."

~ Margaret Mead

Learning as I go

2011-10-12T18:11:00.004-05:00

Here's a sneak peek at one of the canvases I've been working on. As I've mentioned here before, I've been especially intrigued by the details on the backs of the falling leaves this Fall. I keep noticing how much some leaves look like trees themselves. So, here is a canvas where I used three dried leaves as the trees. It's still very much a work in progress. I'm not sure where I'll go next with this painting, but I'm really enjoying learning as I go, and not rushing the process.

And, because I am so madly in love with the Horicon Marsh this year, here are a few photos I took of the marsh recently.

It was very windy the day I took these photos, so there were lots of ripples in the water. Usually the water is very, very still.

I left this photo larger, so you can see it better when you click on it. It's a huge group of pelicans! Until a few years ago, pelicans were very rare in Wisconsin, but we are seeing more and more here every year. Climate change is changing their migratory patterns.

Did you know that a group of pelicans is called a "pod"? A group of geese is called a "gaggle". And a group of crows is a "murder of crows" - really!

Looking and seeing

2011-10-04T14:57:00.003-05:00

I've been looking more closely at things that are around me every day. Things I may have been taking for granted a bit. And in some ways it's like seeing them for the first time. Like the beauty of fern leaves after the rain.

And the moss on the tree, which looked a lot like an abstract landscape when I looked at the photo in a horizontal format. (Or is it lichen? It may be lichen, not moss. :0) )

I really liked all the different colors of moss/lichen found on this one tree.

This is a small, but tall, zinnia which has been blooming for about 8 weeks. Instead of going to seed, she just gets bigger and better. I like that!

This grasshopper and I looked at each other for quite a while. I think he won the staring contest.

Different fields, different grasshoppers.

Different seas, different fish.

~ Indonesian proverb

I'm including this photo of the last few wild geraniums just because I love everything about these flowers. They bloom for months, and the gorgeous color reminds me of my favorite crayon from when I was a little girl - periwinkle.

I've been spending a lot of time with our old Beau-doggy. He's around 11 or 12 years old, and we've had him almost 5 1/2 of those years. He's had lots of trouble with his hips and legs since before we adopted him, but it's gotten worse and now his front legs are getting weaker, too. He stumbles and falls more frequently these days, so he needs extra tender care. Beau is one of the great loves of my life, and I hope he makes it through the winter. It would be so nice if he had one more spring, so he could lie on the grass one more time, dreaming his doggy-dreams under the warming sun.

In my many travels around the house with Beau, I always see this bit of tree root in the grass. Lately I get the feeling it's looking back. Is it only me, or does this look like a slightly demented cross-eyed owl to you too?
:0)
And since I seem to be going in so many unplanned directions lately, I thought you might enjoy this silly quote I found:

A woman,

like a cross-eyed man,

looks one way

but goes another,

hence her mysteriousness.

~ Austin O'Malley

(United Irish leader, 1760-1854)

I hope you find some sunshine, warm days, and light-hearted moments in your travels.

How like a tree

2011-09-27T12:16:00.003-05:00

Have you ever noticed how the veins and lines on a leaf look so much like the tree they come from?

Smaller and smaller veins, like smaller and smaller branches. It makes me wonder. . . How different can we truly be from all the other leaves on our family tree? If my family tree is a maple, can all my efforts really turn me into an oak leaf?

Just wondering.

"Don't be afraid to go out on a limb. . .

That's where the fruit is."

~ Anonymous

(I don't know what kind of tree this leaf came from. :0) It just caught my eye this morning while I was walking the dog. It was so vibrantly green and big and beautiful among the smaller yellow and brown leaves.)

Loosey Goosey, part two

2011-09-22T16:44:00.003-05:00

I meant to be back sooner, but life has a way of getting in the way, doesn't it? Since my last post, I did have the chance to finish this second painting of Horicon Marsh, though. And today I took the four landscapes described in these last few posts, along with a few paintings of flowers which I did a year or two ago, up to the Horicon Marsh area. They are going to be on display, and for sale(!), at the Celtic Crossroads Cafe in Mayville, Wisconsin, just in time for Mayville's 25th annual Audubon Days celebration.
:0) (Yay!)
Three more canvases are waiting for me to start painting on them next week. But I'll also be getting back to regular blogging and tumblr-ing, as well as visiting blogs and answering e-mails, in a day or so.

Thanks to everyone for all your support!
xo

Loosey goosey

2011-09-15T13:49:00.002-05:00

During this time of year, one of the most beautiful places in Wisconsin is the Horicon Marsh area, where thousands of Canada geese and other birds stop during their migration. Inspired by all those geese (honk!honk!), it was pretty easy to be a little bit looser while painting this marsh scene.

I scratched into the paint to get some texture in the grasses and cattails, and I loved how it felt to just do it and not over-think the process. It also has me thinking I should look at the two paintings in the previous post, to see what I can do to loosen them up a bit more.

There are a few important things I'm learning from doing these landscapes. First, I can't rush the process. No matter how much I want to finish multiple paintings in a day or two, I've realized that I need to step away for a while. It really helps me to come back to a painting later to look at it with fresh eyes before I can finish it.

Second, doing these landscapes is forcing me to focus on details in a different way than doing portraits has done. Because of all the portraits I've done recently, I notice people's eyes more now, for example. Have you ever noticed that most people have one eye that is smaller and slightly less round than the other eye? I've also noticed that it is more often the left eye that is smaller. Really. Try it for yourself. I find this fascinating, and I'd never have noticed if I hadn't started painting portraits. I love that!

With these landscapes, I need to focus on distance and perspective. It has made me think how these are important in life, too. How sometimes distancing yourself from a situation can give you a different perspective. Yes, I do a lot of thinking about such things while I'm happily painting away.

So, next I have another marsh painting that I've started. I want to go back and see how I can improved the first two landscapes, and then I already have some ideas for a few more landscapes. And then, and only then, will I do some more faces - or flowers - or maybe some abstracts - or something involving textile or sculpture.

Sometimes it feels like I'll never have enough time to do everything I want to do, see everything I want to see, and read everything I want to read. Like thanking everyone for their sweet comments on my last post, for example. Big, big thanks to all who commented and e-mailed me recently. I'll be getting back to you as soon as I can.

"Time brings all things to pass."

~ Aeschylus

The only thing constant is change

2011-09-13T13:43:00.005-05:00

. . . so I decided to paint a few landscapes instead of portraits.

I think I'll do a few more. I'm going to work on loosening up my style a bit more, too.

Today our sky here in southwestern Wisconsin is hazy and smelly from the smoke of a huge fire in the gorgeous Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of Northern Minnesota. It amazes me that we can smell the smoke over 500 miles away. (You can read about it here and here, if you're interested.)

My heart goes out to all the people and creatures who are impacted by the many wildfires around the country and the world.

"It is your concern

when your neighbor's wall is on fire."

~ Horace

A few random late-summer thoughts

2011-08-30T16:14:00.014-05:00

"Smile,

breathe,

and go slowly."

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

It's been a delicious luxury to be able to take some time to be introspective this summer. And I'm happy to say that some very important things have become clearer to me in the process.

It wasn't until a few days ago, though, that I finally realized something that's been bothering me for many years. I rarely see a horizon anymore. It's a small thing, I know, but it turns out it's very important to me. Here in the suburbs, where I've never felt really at home, I can see a few cars ahead. I can see a few intersecting streets up the road, but I don't see a far-off horizon for months at a time.

Oh how I missed that! And I didn't realize just how much I missed it. Whenever I thought back on my trip to Germany earlier this year, I was also remembering the various plane rides fondly. That was strange, because I've never really been that fond of flying. But this time was different, and I couldn't put my finger on why. When I was in the air this time, with only endless horizon and big glorious sky to look at, I could feel the joy welling up inside of me.

Then it hit me! Up there, I could finally really breathe deeply (yes, even in the stuffy airplane!) because I could finally SEE far, far beyond myself again. It was an exhilaration I hadn't felt in years.

"Breath is the bridge

which connects life to consciousness,

which connects your body

to your thoughts."

~ Thich Nhat Hanh

I was thinking about that last weekend again, and decided to take a drive into the Wisconsin countryside to see if I could find a far-off horizon. I needed to find a panoramic view so I could feel that same wonderful feeling of freedom I had rediscovered on the plane.

Since I didn't head toward the hilly part of the state, it was a bit of a challenge to find a really distant horizon, but I'm really happy with what I did see. Stopping to take pictures along roads with no shoulders, with other cars are flying by, wasn't going to stop me, either.

In fact, it made me realize something else. You have all heard the phrase, "Grow where you're planted," right? Well, I've never liked that phrase, because I honestly don't like where I've been planted these last 22 years. But while I was driving around, looking at the fading wildflowers and the many cornfields, that phrase kept popping into my head.

For 22 years I've fought putting down deep roots where I am, and quite frankly it has hindered my growth in ways that have frustrated me for a long time. But yesterday I finally realized that I CAN grow where I'm planted, and need only have the shallowest of roots here. I can grow and still be ready to be transplanted as soon as the opportunity arises. I don't need to wait to do all the things I've been wanting to do!

"Listen,

are you breathing just a little

and calling it a life?"

~ Mary Oliver

This might seem very obvious to you. But I've been fighting some things so long, I couldn't see my own life clearly anymore.

to see with the other eye."
~ Rumi

Being the change I want to see

2011-08-13T11:31:00.006-05:00

"Your vision will become clear

only when you look into your heart.

Who looks outside,

dreams.

Who looks inside,

awakens."
~ Carl Jung

I'm still enjoying my silent summer, and I feel it has changed me for the better to be silent and listen to the world around me. But most of all, I've also been listening intensely to my heart. This simple change in what I've been focusing on has helped me immensely to clarify who and what and how I want to be for the rest of my life.

I'll be sharing more here as these shifting thoughts turn into action. Once I figure it all out, that is!

In the mean time, here's a sad, yet hopeful, video which my dear friend Julie Mitchell shared on her blog today.

"What are we doing?
How can we allow this?
What is going on?"

~ Julie Mitchell

"Non-violence leads to the highest ethics,

which is the goal of all evolution.

Until we stop harming all other living beings,

we are still savages."

~ Thomas Edison

2011-08-06T13:56:00.002-05:00

I'll be back to regular posting again soon, I think. In the mean time I've been enjoying the summer, spending time with family, and absorbing beauty and wisdom wherever I can.

I've also been finding so much inspiration on my tumblr blog here:
http://angelarecada.tumblr.com/

Until then. . .
xo

Ring the bells

2011-06-30T12:21:00.000-05:00

With everything that's going on around the world, I've been thinking a lot about freedom and peace and security and all the world's children. I just happened to find this video today, and I think you might be moved by it as much as I was.

God bless us everyone.

Portrait of my Mr. C (also known as "the big guy")

2011-06-29T14:34:00.008-05:00

Mr. C

Here he is. Finally! The big guy, my husband, portrait #4 in my family portrait series.

(detail)

Like the other portraits, it has lots of texture and many layers of acrylic washes, many of which were wiped back to create layers of color.

(detail)

Each portrait tells a little story, too, and on this one I included collage elements relating to his job as an engineer.

While it was fun to do these portraits, I never realized how challenging it would be to paint people so near and dear to me. Some days, when I was ready to paint, I realized I was too annoyed with them to paint them. Especially the boys. Ha! That was something I never expected, but there you go. It's true confession time.

So here are all four portraits, together at last.

Mr. C, the big guy

self-portrait, the dreamer

Katrina, the linguist

Chris, the philosopher

As I look at all four portraits together, I can't help but notice that my head is bigger than Mr. C's head. In real life, I am not nearly as stern as this, and his head is really much, much, MUCH bigger than mine. Ha! But he does have killer dimples.

Now that this project is finally finished, I'm moving on to the many other things I've been wanting to do. Can't wait to get started!

Just because. . .

2011-06-23T10:11:00.000-05:00

While taking a peek at my neglected facebook page a few minutes ago, I found this beautiful video and just had to post it here. The music and images a just so lovely. . .

"Waves of forgiveness

and waves of regret. . ."
we all have those, don't we?

I've been working on "the big guy" painting and will have something to post soon.

:0)

Working it out

2011-05-31T08:29:00.007-05:00

I'll be posting here only very sporadically for a while, while I try to get back into my own rhythm. I feel a strong need to surround myself with as much peace and beauty and wisdom as I can find, maybe creating some of my own along the way. Finally, fearlessly forging my very own path has become more and more important to me.

My deep and sincere thanks to all who left messages after my last two posts! I have removed these posts from the blog, but I've saved each of your lovely messages, so I can read them again and again. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'll be popping in throughout the summer, to see what you've been up to.

I'll probably only be popping in here to post some of my art, including the finished portrait of "the big guy."

Besides art, this will be another big focus for me this summer. I was a lucky winner of a free "Mindful Makeover Kit". I won this amazing multi-media program from Janice Lynne Lundy by leaving a comment on Laura Hegfield's wonderful blog, Shine the Devine: Creativity IS a Spiritual Practice. Jan Lundy is one of the wisest, most insightful people I know, and you can find her at her blog, Awakened Living and and her website, buddhachick.org.

Don’t bend;

don’t water it down;

don’t try to make it logical;

don’t edit your own soul according to the fashion.

Rather,

follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.

~ Franz Kafka

(found on tumblr)

Ancient urges in modern times

2011-05-24T09:11:00.001-05:00

(detail of self-portrait)

I've often wondered why I am so drawn to spirals. Why do I hunger for the evidence that something was made by someone's hands, not mass-produced by a machine?

Today I found this video, which gives the perfect words to these ancient urges I feel in these modern times.

"The Big Guy" (or stepping into my newest adventure in acrylics)

2011-05-20T12:28:00.008-05:00

The big guy is a work in progress. Now the fun begins, but there are always a few missteps along the way.

I was happily painting some luscious washes of Windsor Blue when I noticed some paint on the kitchen floor. Make that LOTS of paint on the kitchen floor. Dozens and dozens of splotches of dark blue paint on the kitchen floor. Somehow a blob of paint had ended up on the floor, and I must have stepped in it - twice with the same foot. And then I apparently danced around the kitchen table and the rest of the kitchen before I realized I was painting my FLOOR!

So imagine me, hopping on one foot, ripping off my sock and throwing it away, finally making it to the sink with lots of paper towels, very energetically scrubbing the bottom my foot, and then on hands and knees frantically scrubbing all the blue splotches off the floor.

Yes, you are right, I DO lead a very exciting and fun-filled life!

At least I'm happy with the progress I'm making with this painting, and it shouldn't take too long to complete. I love adding the textures and washes and then repeatedly rubbing them with a scrap of muslin, because I never know what the layers and layers of paint will look like after I work with them.

Many more layers of paint still need to be added before this painting will have the rich, warm depth I so love to create. You can't really capture it in a photo, unfortunately.

Sometimes I also like to just step back, (hopefully avoiding stepping in paint!) and look at a portrait upside-down. I can get a better idea of whether I like how the colors are coming together this way. And I can see whether the shape and details of the face work.

I hope you all step into something good every chance you get!

"Creativity comes from

looking for the unexpected

and stepping outside your own experience."

~ Masaru Ibuka

The Philosopher

2011-05-05T12:23:00.000-05:00

Portrait of Chris

acrylic mixed media

on 16 x 20 wrapped canvas

Finally! It seems like I have been working on this painting forever! This is #3 in my series of 4 family portraits - my son, the philosopher.

All the background details of this painting reflect that - like this definition of the word "philosopher" and this window, open to things as yet unknown.

As you have probably noticed by now, I'm not an assembly-line artist! In case you've forgotten what the first two portraits look like, here they are:

Portrait of Katrina

self-portrait

I'm really, really happy with how these three paintings look together. And it won't take as long for me to finish the next painting. I promise! I've been working on the painting of "the big guy" already, and it's coming along nicely.

Hello hello!

2011-05-04T08:50:00.004-05:00

Happy May! I hope your month has started well. Here are a few more photos of my trip. The top photo is the maypole in Munich.

This little guy reminds me of myself lately. :0) A little frustrated! I think I'm trying to go in too many directions at once.

I've noticed that I'm really drawn to spirals of any kind. This was the staircase at the old hotel I stayed in, located about an hour East of Berlin. The hotel is so charming, and is almost completely restored to its pre-East German beauty.

I also adore stained glass windows! These were in the stairway of the hotel. Aren't they gorgeous?

I loved this statue, too. It is located in front of a school, and it looks like lots of kids have sat on her lap, doesn't it?

I must admit, when I first came back home, I moped around a bit, because there were so few signs of spring here. There were so many flowers and leaves sprouting everywhere in Germany already. But then I realized it was really a blessing, because I'd get to experience spring, my favorite season, twice this year! I know I won't have that chance very often.

"The world's favorite season is the spring.

All things seem possible in May."

~ Edwin Way Teale

Earth Days

2011-04-20T07:33:00.003-05:00

This week, it's been one year since the BP oil spill and 41 years since the first Earth Day. Last night I watched a very well-done documentary called "Earth Days" about the modern environmental movement, and the science, politics and philosophies impacting the health of our planet.

Here's the trailer:

The entire documentary is also currently available for free online here:

http://video.pbs.org/video/1463378089/

Absorbing it all

2011-04-12T17:33:00.008-05:00

I admit it. I haven't been creating much lately. I've been too busy absorbing as much as I could of the world around me on my recent trip to Germany. I've left the following pictures big, so you can click on them to see the details, if you'd like.

I was captivated by all the brilliant colors and tantalizing smells in the famous Viktualienmarkt in Munich.

I couldn't help but play tourist in this gorgeous city, which is one of my favorite places in the world.

Every corner caught my eye, since I knew I may never have the opportunity to visit again.

There were street performers and sidewalk cafes everywhere.

I gathered with thousands of others to watch the Rathaus Glockenspiel in the heart of the city.

The beauty of this city was overwhelming at times, so very different from where I live.

I saw more swans in one place than I've ever seen in my life.

Palaces and castles which looked magical, even in the early Spring.

I saw so much old art!

And I saw colorful new art, too, as I traveled beyond Munich and Bavaria to the Berlin area, where my daughter is currently studying.

I even saw new art, combined with old architecture, and graffiti which is everywhere these days. I absorbed it all.

I couldn't pass an ancient doorway without wondering how many people had crossed those thresholds.

I looked in every nook and cranny. I didn't want to miss a thing, and I was rarely disappointed.

I even had the opportunity to walk across a bridge into a quaint little Polish town.

This trip was different from any experience I've ever had, and I was aware of it every minute. It fed me in many ways, but most importantly it fed my soul.

I was able to accomplish many things on this trip, and many of them were bitter-sweet. It gave me the opportunity to spend some precious time with my daughter before she started her exciting new adventure. It gave me the opportunity to visit with family members I have rarely had the opportunity to see, to tell stories, and to make new memories.

And was able to walk in the footsteps of my ancestors, who probably never dreamed that someday someone in their family would be born in Canada and raise a family in the United States.

I still have a great deal to absorb, about this trip, about life, and about where I go from here. But I look forward to the rest of my journey, and I'm doing my best to really be present in every moment of my every-day life from now on, as well.

This is really something

2011-03-11T15:17:00.004-06:00

"The Outcast" - industrial wall clock by Paula Mccullough

made from found objects assembled onto a railroad fish tie plate

I love art! All kinds of art. I love the colors, the textures, the sheer creativity of it all. In my travels around the internet, I keep coming back to the work of a few artists in particular. Artists who don't need expensive art materials and a picture perfect studio space to create their work.

One of these artists is Paula Mccullough, who makes funky, edgy and gloriously functional pieces, seemingly out of nothing. Her art materials include metal and wooden scraps found along roads, in junkyards and rescued from landfills. Out of these discarded bits of "nothing", she makes something really special.

Just take a look:

"Asian Flair"

Another wall clock made of railroad fish ties and found objects

Candleholder/sculptures made from metal railroad nuts

Candleholder - metal found object

Woodstack table

made from reclaimed wood

and early 20th Century sawmill foundry form

Vase made from reclaimed pipe

Vase made from square pipe

Vase made from metal found object

found object "flowers"

Mixed media wall art

made of metal railroad plate and found objects

Mixed media wall art

made of metal and wood, puzzle pieces and found objects

See what I mean? Fabulous!

To see more of Paula's work, visit her website:

http://www.paulaart.com/

her blog:
http://selftaughtartist.blogspot.com/

her etsy shops:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/PaulaArt
and
http://www.etsy.com/shop/IndustrialBloom

and her facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Paula-Art/113143238544?ref=mf

***All the works shown in this post are by Paula Mccullough. All photos are her sole property and have been used by her permission. She retains all rights.***

Imagining, evolving, playing and changing

2011-02-17T08:58:00.008-06:00

Self-portrait detail
2009

So much has been happening in my life lately, yet I find myself at a loss for words here so often these last several months. This will be a year of much growth and many changes for me. This I know. Much of it is still a bit unclear, even to me, at this point. All I know is that, more than ever, I will be following my heart, allowing my creativity to flow, appreciating the present, and looking at kindness and compassion as strengths rather than weaknesses.

Art-making, except for a few commissions, has stepped aside temporarily for me to devote a large part of my time to helping my daughter plan for her semester in Germany. What a wonderful time she will have! I can only imagine what exciting adventures her future holds.

I'm also going to Germany to visit family members I haven't seen in over 20 years, as well as some I have never met. It may well be my last opportunity to see them, and I will savor every moment of this special trip.

Today I've been inspired by Robyn at fragments treasures memory, who recently posted a wonderful series of random videos on her blog. These are two videos that struck me as especially meaningful today.

This, for so many reasons. . .

This, because I have a daughter and a son who have been bombarded their entire lives by unrealistic images of beauty. . .

I'll be back, but I'm not sure how long I will be taking a break from this blog to find my new direction.

Art museums online

2011-02-02T09:42:00.001-06:00

I found this wonderful video today, all about Google's new Art Project. You can now see the art of 17 international museums online - up-close to the tiniest bush stroke, if you're so inclined. That's the work of 486 artists in 385 gallery rooms! See more at their website here.

A sample of what you can see up-close:

The Birth of Venus

Sandro Botticelli

Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy

I've been crazily distracted lately, helping my daughter plan a semester abroad. I'll even be going along to introduce her to some relatives she's never met, and I haven't seen in decades. Stress! But happy stress!

Learning how to be

2011-01-18T15:36:00.000-06:00

A wonderful little video I found today, with a thought provoking message that I love - all about how to be alone. I haven't been alone much at all the last 5 weeks or so, but I've thoroughly enjoyed the pitter-patter of big feet all around me.
;0)
I do enjoy my time alone, too, though. Alone, but never, ever lonely.

I hope to get back to a more normal rhythm again soon, including a bit more blogging and and a lot more art-making.

"The foolish man
seeks happiness in the distance;
the wise grows it under his feet."
~ James Oppenheim

See you again soon!

2011-01-08T09:20:00.001-06:00

I'm so sorry for not posting here for a while! I'll be back soon - I promise!

2010-12-17T09:41:00.001-06:00

I just found this and had to post it. Did you know that Mariah Carey's mother was a former operatic soloist with the New York City Opera? I had no idea, and just found it interesting. . .

I'm taking a short blogging break to spend some time with family and friends over the holidays. From the bottom of my heart, I thank all who follow this blog, all who stop by here, and especially all who comment. You all have a very special place in my heart.

Source:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/c-s-n/4200679003/

I wish you all the happiest of holidays. Happy Solstice, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

See you next year!
Angela
xo

These are the good old days

2010-12-11T11:01:00.003-06:00

These words have been popping into my head frequently in the last few weeks. No matter how much I do, it never feels like I've done enough. "Slow down," I tell myself. "Enjoy this moment, because some day you'll look back at this time, and see that these are the good old days. Right here. Right now."

I was trying to remember where I had heard these words before, when I remembered the snippet of a melody that accompanies them. They're from "Anticipation" by Carly Simon. Perfect for this time of year, don't you think?

Anticipation

by Carly Simon

We can never know about the days to come
But we think about them anyway,
And I wonder if I'm really with you now
Or just chasin' after some finer day

Anticipation, anticipation
Is makin' me late
Is keepin' me waitin'

And I tell you how easy it feels to be with you
And how right your arms feel around me
But I, I rehearsed those lines just late last night
When I was thinkin' about how right tonight might be

Anticipation, anticipation
Is makin' me late
Is keepin' me waitin'

And tomorrow we might not be together
I'm no prophet and I don't know nature's ways
So I'll try and see into your eyes right now
And stay right here 'cause these are the good old days

(These are the good old days)
And stay right here 'cause these are the good old days
(These are the good old days)
(These are the good old days)
(These are the good old days)
(These are.....the good old days)

And just because I thought they were cute and made me smile, I'm including these two pictures I found online a while ago. The dog looks so much like our wonderful dog Beau.

In case I don't post anything here until after the holidays, I want to wish you all the very best of everything this holiday season. Right here. Right now. Make some happy memories. I'm going to!

Portraits, masks and other obsesions

2010-11-21T14:27:00.000-06:00

Mblo portrait mask

I'm obsessed lately. I react to so many things that I see or hear about with an "Ohhh, I want to do that!"

I'm obsessed with painting a portrait just right, and then painting the dozens of other ideas that are floating in my head at any given time. I'm obsessed with Tumblr. I'm obsessed with Facebook and blogging, and trying to work on some new ideas in textiles and sculpture. And now I'm obsessed with portrait masks.

I want to do it all!

I also want to visit all the wonderful bloggers who have been leaving comments and e-mails. I will do my best to get back to you soon, but in the mean time I'd like to share a wonderful video with you. I first learned about Margaret Fabrizio a few months ago, when I saw a video about her fabulous quilts. She is an amazingly accomplished woman who has been a concert pianist, world-traveler, artist, writer and free spirit. She is my new role model for so many reasons!

Margaret has a number of interesting videos on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/user/atree3), but today I'm totally in love with this one about the portrait masks she made several years ago. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I also just love the cover of this book, too. Don't you?

currently available from Amazon here

Work in progress

2010-11-18T15:55:00.000-06:00

far from finished

I feel like I've been neglecting this blog, but I've been so busy! One of the things I've been doing is this portrait, which is still far from finished. But, since I like seeing other people's works in progress, I'll show it anyway. It's my son, the philosopher, and it's the third in my series of family portraits. Quite a challenge, since I don't usually paint men, but I'm quite enjoying the process.

Wordless Wednesday - What if we look at conservation as a patriotic act?

2010-11-10T09:18:00.001-06:00

A page from my sketchbook . . .

2010-11-05T17:06:00.001-05:00

"Compassion

is the keen awareness

of the interdependence

of all things."

~ Thomas Merton

I just love this quote, don't you? It's one I've been thinking about a lot lately.

I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Catching up

2010-11-04T10:16:00.001-05:00

For more than a week we've been without home land-line phone or internet service. It wasn't too bad, actually. I was able to miss all the political robo-calls and calls from pushy volunteers in the days prior to the mid-term election this week. What an ugly, mean-spirited election it was again, too. Such a shame that so many adults haven't learned to play well together.

Most importantly, being off-line for a week has helped me focus on what I really want from my life from here on. More than ever, I realize that I am a bleeding heart liberal. AND PROUD OF IT! I feel much better when I can let my kindness and caring shine. Caring isn't a weakness - it makes us ALL stronger.

"Kindness is the language

that the deaf can hear

and the blind can see."

~ Mark Twain

I've been shifting direction in many ways for quite some time, years really. But now's the time to finally rid myself of as many remaining toxic things in my life as possible. Attitudes, people, food, habits, everything. This will scare some people away, and that's OK.

"To be nobody but yourself

in a world which is doing its best,

night and day,

to make you everybody else

means to fight the hardest battle

which any human being can fight;

never stop fighting."

~ e.e. cummings

I'm opening myself up completely to everything positive. Eating only what truly nourishes, exercising, focusing on what is good and meaningful and important to me. And most importantly, seeking out like-minded people to share the rest of my time on earth with.

I know that I'm not able to change the world, but I can change my little part of it and make it the best possible place to be for me.

"The universe is full of magical things

patiently waiting

for our wits to grow sharper."

~ Eden Phillips

Blown away

2010-11-03T18:29:00.000-05:00

Due to a storm with very strong winds, I've been having some technical difficulties. But I'll be back soon.

Mellow

2010-10-18T10:23:00.002-05:00

I adore October in Wisconsin. One of my favorite things to do is to visit Holy Hill, a national shrine and basilica which sits on the highest hill in this part of Wisconsin.

It's always a peaceful and beautiful place to visit, since it's surrounded by acres of wooded countryside and farmlands.

The last few years we haven't had the brilliant red, orange and yellow leaves I remember from years ago, but even the muted colors are spectacular.

You don't have to be Catholic, or even Christian, to appreciate the beauty of the basilica.

And my snap-happy finger took the following picture of the side of the building without the rest of me knowing about it. I think it's actually one of my favorite photos.

Closer to home, this is the maple tree behind our house. The photos were taken three weeks in a row.

And, finally, here are a few others things that caught my eye closer to home during the last week.

I hope you have something pleasant to look at, wherever you may find yourself.

The importance of water

2010-10-14T13:47:00.002-05:00

Blog Action Day is October 15, and this year's topic is water. Once you start doing a little research, you come to realize that it's a huge topic. So while I'm writing about a single water topic on my earth blog, A note from your Mother, I thought this would be a good place to simply highlight a variety of facts about this essential resource.

Did you know these facts about water?

1. In some organisms, up to 90 percent of their body weight comes from water.

2. Up to 60 percent of the human body is water.

3. The human brain is composed of 70 percent water.

4. Human lungs are nearly 90 percent water.

5. About 83 percent of our blood is water, which helps digest our food, transport waste, and control body temperature.

6. Each day humans must replace 2.4 litres (81.2 ounces) of water, some through drinking and the rest taken by the body from the foods eaten.

7. Unsafe drinking water and lack of sanitation kills more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.

8. Nearly 1 billion people lack access to clean water. That's one in every six people on earth.

9. Every week, nearly 38,000 children under the age of 5 die from unsafe drinking water and unhygienic living conditions.

10. A report commissioned by the UN found that in the 21st century, water scarcity will become one of the leading causes of conflict in Africa.

11. Every day, women and children in Africa walk a combined total of 109 million hours to get water. They do this while carrying cisterns weighing around 40 pounds when filled in order to gather water that, in many cases, is still polluted.

12. The average American uses 159 gallons of water every day – more than 15 times the average person in the developing world. From showering and washing our hands to watering our lawns and washing our cars, Americans use a lot of water. To put things into perspective, the average five-minute shower will use about 10 gallons of water. Now imagine using that same amount to bathe, wash your clothes, cook your meals and quench your thirst.

12. It takes 6.3 gallons of water to produce just one hamburger. That 6.3 gallons covers everything from watering the wheat for the bun and providing water for the cow to cooking the patty and baking the bun. And that's just one meal. It would take over 184 billion gallons of water to make just one hamburger for every person in the United States.

13. Every iPhone requires half a liter (17 ounces) of water to charge. That may not seem like much, but with over 80 million active iPhones in the world, that's 40 million liters (over 10,566,882 gallons) to charge those alone.

14. That cotton t-shirt you're wearing right now took 1,514 liters (400 gallons) of water to produce, and your jeans required an extra 6,813 liters (1800 gallons).

15. The US, Mexico and China lead the world in bottled water consumption, with people in the US drinking an average of 200 bottles of water per person each year. And, over 17 million barrels of oil are needed to manufacture those water bottles, 86 percent of which will never be recycled.

16. More people have access to a cell phone than to a toilet. Today, 2.5 billion people lack access to toilets.

17. Every day, 2 million tons of human waste are disposed of in water sources. Around 90% of the developing world's waste water is still discharged untreated into local rivers and streams.

18. Water is also polluted by runoff from agriculture, as well as oil, grease and other toxic chemicals which result from urban sprawl.

19. Death and disease caused by polluted coastal waters costs the global economy $12.8 billion a year.

20. Today, 40% of America's rivers and 46% of America's lakes are too polluted for fishing, swimming, or aquatic life.

Many of these facts are from the Blog Action Day blog. For more information about water, a good place to start is water.org.

Let's not take this precious resource for granted.

In retreat and moving forward

2010-10-11T09:02:00.003-05:00

Energy #1

acrylic and mixed media

on board

I can can honestly say that I can't remember the last time I felt so at peace and so pampered as I did last Friday during my first SoulCollage retreat. The location, the people, the weather, everything was absolutely perfect! For several hours we were all enveloped by a beautiful Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired building, surrounded by gardens and woodlands. The only sounds to be heard were soft music, singing birds, and the gentle breeze rustling the Autumn leaves and a wind chime.

Over the weekend I debated whether I should post images here of the SoulCollage cards I made. They turned out to be much more personal and revealing than I ever thought they'd be, so I'll be keeping them private. The intuitive process of SoulCollage is incredibly effective, much much more so than I ever imagined.

I'm still trying to process everything I learned on Friday. There was one thing I noticed again right away when I returned home Friday night, though. Whenever you learn something new and uplifting, you will be tested and challenged somehow, by someone or something.

I was able to carry that wonderful positive energy with me until this morning, when I let something I perceived as negative get the better of me again. But I found that I could relax more quickly by remembering how peaceful I had been on Friday. So, for today, I will not let the negativity take hold of me. That's progress.

Moving forward. One day at a time.

Now that I've found SoulCollage, I know it's something I will enjoy continuing to work with. I even found a local group of women to meet with. You have no idea how thrilled I am to find some kindred spirits close by!

"Sometimes our light goes out

but is blown into flame

by another human being.

Each of us

owes deepest thanks

to those who have rekindled this light."

~ Albert Schweitzer

Following my nose

2010-10-07T14:25:00.002-05:00

When I was a little girl, whenever I asked my mother what I should do or where I should go, she told me I should follow my nose.

Tomorrow I'm following my nose completely out of my comfort zone. I've never been to a retreat of any kind, but I've decided to participate in a one-day SoulCollage retreat. (See SoulCollage website here, and blog here.)

It's being held on a 12-acre country property about 35 minutes away from where I live, at the beautiful and peaceful Shalom House in West Bend, Wisconsin. The word "Shalom" means peace, hello and goodbye in Hebrew. But that's not all. It also means completeness, contentment, soundness, wholeness, health, welfare, safety, prosperity, rest, harmony, tranquility, the absence of agitation and discord. What a perfect word!

It sounds like it will be a really special and memorable day.

I'm looking forward to meeting some kindred spirits while I'm there. Do you think there's anyone else like me out there? Sometimes I wonder. . .

Shalom to you all.

Choices

2010-10-06T10:25:00.001-05:00

Dream Imagine Create

my first manadala

2009

Thank you all for your heartfelt and thoughtful comments on the previous post! What struck me most, as I read them again today, is how each of us handles things differently. We make choices every day, every moment, which determine how we will act or react. And our choices are as unique as we are.

There is no one "right" choice. We have to choose for ourselves which path we will follow. What's right for one is not necessarily right for another.

For me, I know that I need a lot of time to myself. Time to think, and feel and internalize everything I see and hear. Like all of us, I need time to heal from the information overload that is part of modern life. But I also need to know what's going on in the world around me. I need to get angry and frustrated and shake my fist. I need to cry and raise my voice in anger at injustice.

I may feel helpless to help in many situations, but if I can write about what I've learned, maybe that's the small bit of difference I can make in the world.

I found this wonderful quote today, which says perfectly how I feel:

There can be no happiness

if the things we believe in

are different from the things we do.

~ Freya Stark

So, for me, I have to keep learning about things that may depress me. And I have to keep dreaming and imagining that someday we could have a world where we are all wiser, a world where everyone will do better for the benefit of all.

With our thoughts

we make the world.

~ Buddha

Keep dreaming.

Want

2010-10-04T09:34:00.002-05:00

I'm not sure I believe this today, but I'm ready to try:

Everybody talks about wanting to change things

and help and fix,

but ultimately all you can do is fix yourself.

And that's a lot.

Because if you can fix yourself,

it has a ripple effect.

~ Rob Reiner

I find myself thinking and worrying about so many things I have no control over. The climate, the government, the ignorance and cruelty that I see around me, and on the news, every day.

This morning I'm thinking again that ignorance really is bliss, and I'm ready for a little bliss.

Should I continue to educate myself about things, BIG things outside myself, things that matter to me, knowing that I can't do a damn thing about them. Knowing that so few people around me feel the need to know or care.

That's what I ask myself more and more these days.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, that's OK. Even I need to vent and rant about something here once in a while.

This is the view from our kitchen this morning.

There's not much fall color this year, but a glimpse of the morning sun through the trees still warms the soul, if not the body.

Maybe that's all the knowledge I need, too, just little glimpses, enough for me to get by in life. Too much knowledge may turn me into Icarus.

Henri Matisse

"Icarus"

1947

Fossils

2010-09-21T13:31:00.003-05:00

Fossils 1 - 3

mixed media

on 4"x4"x1-3/8" wrapped canvas

Many years ago, when I was very young, I used to take road trips across the U.S. and Canada with my parents. On one trip we went to the Pacific Northwest, where I was amazed to learn that there was a place called the Yakima Desert in Washington State. Yes, there is a desert in Washington!

thunder egg agate

Here's the thunder egg agate I bought in the souvenir shop at the time. I've always loved how the agate looks like a maple leaf with a seascape inside. Nature never ceases to amaze me.

The poetry of the earth

is never dead.

~ John Keats

So it made perfect sense when these three little canvases I've been working on turned into fossil paintings.

click to enlarge

It almost felt like a fossil hunt when I painted them, too. I applied layer after layer, wiped away paint here and there, until the fossil images emerged.

Adopt the pace of nature:

her secret is patience.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

I gently wiped the layers of paint so much, the result is a burnished look I've never seen in one of my paintings before.

Fossil mixed media painting (detail)

Can you see the texture? I don't know if I'll ever be able to duplicate this method again. Maybe these will just be three unique little paintings, pale imitations of the fossils they represent.

In wilderness

I sense the miracle of life,

and behind it

our scientific accomplishments fade to trivia.

~ Charles A. Lindbergh

International Day of Peace

2010-09-20T13:24:00.009-05:00

Did you know that tomorrow, September 21, is the International Day of Peace? The first Peace Day was celebrated in September, 1981, and in 2002 the United Nations officially declared that September 21 would be the permanent date for the International Day of Peace.

For more information, please visit the United Nations here.

Peace cannot be kept by force;

it can only be achieved by understanding.

~ Albert Einstein

I also found this perfect 3-minute video at Fragments Treasures Memory, a wonderful blog by Robyn in Australia. If everyone had to see this video, maybe we would come closer to understanding each other better, and maybe peace would actually be a possibility someday.

For more information about the Miniature Earth, please visit their website here.

You may say I'm a dreamer

but I'm not the only one.

I hope someday you will join us

and the world will be as one.

~ John Lennon

In deep water . . .

2010-09-15T10:12:00.000-05:00

A short video worth watching. . .

Did you know there was a little oil spill in the Chicago area over the weekend, too?

Interior landscapes

2010-09-14T12:51:00.008-05:00

I came across this quote recently, and it really made me stop and think.

Excellence can be obtained

if you:

care

more than others think is wise.

risk

more than others think is safe

dream

more than others think is practical

expect

more than others think is possible.

~ author unknown,

(although I suspect it may be the words of some motivational speaker)

:0)

I'm more than happy to let go of striving for perfection. I'm certainly never going to do most things perfectly. Perfection is so subjective anyway. But excellence. That's something else. That's something I can work toward in life and art.

I already care, dream and expect a great deal, for myself and others. But risk - that's a tough one. When I started blogging, I think I really began to open up to risk more than ever before. I put my ideas and art out there, for better or worse, for all to see. So, yeah, I'm taking more and more risks, trying ever-more new things.

Spreading my wings. I'm even back on facebook.

When I started working on these three 4"x4" canvases, I thought it would be easy to quickly paint something on them and move on to something else.

Ha!

These little canvases had other ideas.

Interior Landscapes

textured abstracts

acrylic, found papers, oil pastel

on 4"x4"x1-3/8" wrapped canvas

For weeks, I kept returning to them.. Tweaking this. Covering up that. Trying something else.

But, man, did I learn things!

During the process, I found this quote:

We are what we repeatedly do.

Excellence, then,

is not an act,

but a habit.

~ Aristotle

(384 BC – 322 BC)

This is why I love quotes! I know some people don't like them, but I really, really do. When you find the right quote, at the right time, you know you're not alone. You don't have to recreate the wheel. Someone else has put your feelings into the right words for you already. You can say "YES!" or "AH HA!" and move on, knowing there are others out there who have felt and still feel just like you do.

So while my art will never be perfect, I will gladly devote the rest of my life to creating something excellent whenever possible.

After all, I also found this quote, just this morning;

Excellence

is not a skill.

It is an attitude.

~ Ralph Marston

Oh yeah!

Learning to follow my bliss

2010-09-02T17:41:00.001-05:00

I hope you enjoy this video as much as I do! Robert Burridge is such an inspiration to me.

Have you found your bliss?

Who does she think she is?

2010-08-31T08:39:00.000-05:00

Fabulous inspiration!

Find more here and here

Inside and outside

2010-08-27T09:10:00.000-05:00

This summer, I've been rather oblivious to the passage of time. I've been a bit preoccupied, taking the luxury of deep introspection for the first time in my life.

Each summer day has flowed into the next, warm and sticky and sweet, like honey. Until I awoke one morning, a few days ago, and noticed the welcomed scent and feel of fall in the air.

Outside, I noticed the strangest thing in our little garden - the forsythia, which is one of our first signs of spring, has little flowers tucked under its leaves. Forsythias typically have lots of happy little yellow flowers in spring before any green leaves appear anywhere. I've never known it to bloom in the fall.

Have I just never paid attention before?

One thing I have noticed, though, is that even when you choose to define who you are and change your direction, there will always be people trying to block your chosen path. There are even a few who will reject you for your honesty, even though it poses no threat to them, or to your relationship with them.

Personally, I think we should all be free to blossom in our own way.

I much prefer a world where you can show your true colors.

I think the most important thing I've learned this summer is this:

The beauty of truly being yourself

is in knowing,

and celebrating,

that we all bear fruit in different ways.

~ me

I also appreciate what the poet Sharon Olds said:

I was a late bloomer.

But anyone who blooms at all,

ever,

is very lucky.

May you bloom, and may you celebrate your true self.

[Re]defining me

2010-07-27T13:08:00.005-05:00

I am Angela Recada.

I am a self-taught artist.

Much of my life, who I am has been defined by others. I have been a reflection of their idea of who I am, and I accepted their ideas. I have been a daughter, granddaughter, niece, cousin, friend, wife and mother. These roles will always be an important part of who I am.

But I have also been an employee, a marketing coordinator, a public relations manager, and a Vice President in my career in publishing, in banking and with several very large, very well-known corporations. These were all transient titles someone else gave me to define my role at a given point in time. I accepted these titles and the roles I was given.

Over twenty years ago, I gave up these titles and roles. I chose to focus primarily on motherhood and family, becoming at times a free-lance writer, jewelry-maker and watercolorist, too. Now, with my children grown and well on their way to leading fulfilling and productive lives of their own, I am, for the first time, free to define completely who I am. And who I will be from now on.

Throughout my life, I was more my father's child than I ever realized. He, too, is a self-taught artist.

portrait of me as a young child (unfinished)

by my father

oil on board

I was born in Canada to German immigrants, both of them had been impoverished children in war-torn Germany. As the daughter of a self-taught artist/engineer and a young full-time mother, I grew up with few material things, but was always surrounded by art, music and books. And we traveled. Everywhere we went my father painted watercolors. At home, there was always an easel with a painting in progress set up in the living room. To this day, the smell of turpentine brings childhood memories flooding back to me.

My first love was always art, and one of my first memories is "helping" my father with an oil painting when I was three years old. That painting hangs in my living room today.

Neither encouraged nor discouraged by my parents, I sketched and drew anything and everything for the next 10 years. But eventually I became more interested in the written word. I read voraciously, and I wrote lengthy, tortured poems and wordy, complex stories.

Finally, armed with university degrees in my beloved English and German, I entered the corporate world, as was expected of me. There I learned to tighten my writing, to use only the most essential words in the advertisements, news releases, newsletters, brochures and the articles I wrote for newspapers and national magazines.

In my life so far, I have lived in Canada, Germany and the US, and I have been greatly influenced, as well, by my many travels throughout North America and Europe.

I realized at an early age that neither the world nor the universe revolved around me. I see myself as a small dot in the continuum of life in this vast universe, and I'm grateful for my time and place here.

No longer a reflection of anyone else's ideas of me, I now use only my first and middle names. Angela. Recada. When I create art, I am truly myself, not a reflection of my father or my husband, or anyone else.

And so, I return to my first love. Art.

self portrait

2010

acrylic and mixed media

on 16 x 20 gallery wrapped canvas

I am Angela Recada.

I am a self-taught artist.

This blog is on hiatus, but . . .

2010-06-14T17:10:00.008-05:00

. . . in the mean time, I will probably be posting a few things during the summer on my other blog, A note from your Mother, or my website/artblog, Bleeding Heart Studio. Stop by, if you get the chance. I'd love to see you there.

Thank you for your friendship and support. See you back here again in a few months.

(The painting is by a self-portrait of Caterina van Hemessen (1528 - ca.1587), the first artist of either gender to paint a self-portrait seated at an easel. To read more click here.)

The fullness of time

2010-06-08T10:09:00.008-05:00

I finally finished a canvas I had prepped many weeks ago. I mentioned a few weeks ago that it seemed to have mind of its own, so I was leaving it alone until I was able work on it without my mind and my expectations getting in the way.

I'm so glad I waited! It is my absolute favorite piece so far.

"The Fullness of Time"

mixed media

on 11 x 14 wrapped canvas

There is so much texture here again. This time I used found papers, stenciled soft modeling paste, extruded acrylic gesso, and embedded dried ornamental grass.

(detail)

I'm really, really pleased with the complexity of colors, too. And I think I've found my style now, a style I can eagerly expand on.

In the fullness of time,
everything seems to fall into place,
somehow,
doesn't it?

Thanks to everyone for your well-wishes for my son! He only had one set-back, and is now well on his way to recovering from the removal of his wisdom teeth.

My time has been so full the last month or so. My main focus from now on will be to get back on track again, especially with my creativity.

Wordless Wednesday - Paradise Lost

2010-06-02T11:53:00.000-05:00

Photo source:

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/may/22/frustration-mounts-oil-seeps-gulf-wetlands/news-breaking/

For some ideas for how you can help, click:

http://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Wildlife-Conservation/Threats-to-Wildlife/Oil-Spill.aspx

What feeds my soul

2010-05-24T10:07:00.005-05:00

Georgia O'Keeffe's words summarize my feelings best these days, I think.

"I found I could say things with color

and shape

that I couldn't say any other way

- things I had no words for."

~ Georgia O'Keeffe

I understand this quote, and this profound feeling about certain colors and shapes, completely. Reading this quote again this year, I can see that what I expect from myself artistically has evolved a great deal over the last year. I'm expecting much more of myself now, and I know I'm capable of much more than I ever thought possible.

There is nothing that pleases my eye and feeds my soul as much as certain combinations of color, shape and texture.

And I would never limit myself to paint on canvas. Art comes in so many more forms! The architecture and mosaics of Antoni Gaudi are a terrific example of what I mean. I simply can't get enough of his functional art, much of which is found in Barcelona, Spain.

And then there's Friedensreich Hundertwasser, one of my absolute favorites.

His artistic influences went beyond paint to architecture, as well.

Many of his creations also reflected his strong feeling toward respecting and embracing the natural world, too. He was famous for his environmental posters, inventing an evironmentally-friendly humus toilet, and incorporating gardens and green spaces into urban mixed-use buildings.

"Anyone who says

you can't see a thought

simply doesn't know art."

~ Wynetka Ann Reynolds

Knowing that people like this have lived, and being able to see what they have created - these are the things that feed my soul.

Knowing that I have the opportunity to create something that pleases my eyes and makes me feel something, as well - that's what feeds my soul.

"Life beats down

and crushes the soul

and art reminds you

that you have one."

~ Stella Adler

"Art washes away from the soul

the dust of everyday living."

~Pablo Picasso

"All art

requires courage."

~ Anne Tucker

Right now I'm working on several canvases, but family responsibilities are taking up so much of my free time. One canvas, in particular, seems to have a personality of its own, and I can almost hear it arguing with me whenever I start to think about what colors I should play with. I'm putting it aside until I can create from my heart, not my head.

"Every creator painfully experiences

the chasm

between his inner vision

and its ultimate expression."

~ Isaac Beshevis Singer

The more I know about art and various techniques, the more I realize I don't know.

"Painting is easy

when you don't know how,

but very difficult when you do."

~ Edgar Degas

Thanks to my love of art, everything I do and see and hear is opening new doors for me. I'm seeing things I've never seen before and never even imagined existed. And I'm seeing familiar things in a new way.

I'll be back soon, but first I'll need to nurse my *baby* boy (just short of 19, and 6'4" tall) one last time. He's going to have all four of his wisdom teeth pulled next week.

Doing loving things for those I love - that feeds my soul, too.

Contact?

2010-05-20T15:39:00.004-05:00

Thank you, everyone, for your comments yesterday.

The AT&T repair man finally came late yesterday afternoon, so a Tuesday morning appointment for service really meant a late Wednesday afternoon appointment. That's terrific customer service, wouldn't you say? What if I had been in a position where I'd have had to take time off from work for two days, waiting?

I would have been even more annoyed, and vocal about it. That I know.

Since I spent so much time waiting much of Tuesday and Wednesday, I had more than enough time to think about technology, communications and customer service. I was thinking about how much the world has changed in the 21 years we've lived in this house. In this house 21 years ago, we had no cable TV, no cell phones, no computer, no internet. No air conditioning, either, but that's a different story.

Then I couldn't help but wonder what the world, technology, communications and customer service will be like 20 years from now.

Will we have even more unreliable and confusing ways to communicate with each other poorly? Will more and more people become marginalized, because they won't have access to ever-newer, more advanced and costly technology? Will people become even angrier and more lackadaisical about their work, specifically those in service industries?

I don't even want to think about it.

I think I'll probably look back fondly on the good old days when I blogged and met the most wonderful people.

It's always something . . .

2010-05-19T10:09:00.002-05:00

Another self-portrait

:0)

I've been waiting around here for two days, unable to really start any major project. I've been waiting for someone from AT&T to come and repair our phone line. Waiting isn't something I do very well. I'd much rather keep busy.

We've been having internet problems for a while, but I found out last week that this time it was the phone line which was causing our problems. We hardly ever use the land-line phone anymore, so it took a while to realize this. Last Friday it was very windy, and neither our land-line phone nor our DSL for the computer was working properly. With every gust of wind - poof! - we were cut off from the outside world.

So, yesterday someone from AT&T was scheduled to stop by between 8 am and noon to repair the line - no one came, no one called. It was windy again, so land-line phone and internet service were sporadic again at best. Now, someone is supposed to stop by today between 8 am and noon. I'm not holding my breath, but I'll hope for the best.

The last time we had a problem was about 15 years ago, when a squirrel had started to nibble through the phone line outside our house. Nibble, nibble.

At least I've had an internet connection long enough to write this post.

:0)

I miss blogging and all my wonderful blogging buddies!

This waiting is beginning to eat away at my nerves. I hate waiting for service people to show up.

Nibble, nibble.

Perfect Genius

2010-05-13T13:51:00.002-05:00

"Every child is born a genius."

~ Richard Buckminster Fuller

image found here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/selmaw/4603473937/

"We must teach our children

to dream with their eyes open."

~ Harry Edwards

"Your children will see what you're all about

by what you live

rather than what you say."

~ Wayne Dyer

"If we are to teach real peace in this world,

and if we are to carry on a real war against war,

we shall have to begin with the children."

~ Mohandas Ghandi

"In helping others,

we shall help ourselves,

for whatever good we give out

completes the circle

and comes back to us."

~ Flora Edwards

Wordless Wednesday - Computer Frustration

2010-05-12T09:05:00.002-05:00

(I've been trying to leave comments on various blogs, but keep getting an error signal when I try to publish them. All my wonderfully witty and wise words of wisdom are lost somewhere out there on the worldwide web. Oh well, I'll try again when I have some time. I'll just have to make a spinach lasagna instead of blogging today.)
:0)

Eyes wide open

2010-05-11T09:52:00.011-05:00

Sometimes, when I think back on my years in the corporate world, it seems I'm looking at someone else's life. Who was that person? I changed so much when I traded in my power suit and briefcase for jeans and a diaper bag years ago. Now that my own babies are almost all grown up, I am finally claiming the time to focus more on my own life again.

Most of the time, I like what I see. So I'm trying to go through the rest of my life with my eyes wide open.

"Open your eyes,

look within.

Are you satisfied

with the life you're living?"

~ Bob Marley

My old corporate self would not have noticed a nest of baby bunnies, for example. I noticed the carefully mounded dead grasses, leaves and bits of rabbit hair about a week ago, tucked behind a bush in our garden. When I took our dog out a few days ago, we scared the mother rabbit from her nest while the babies were uncovered.

There they were - a wriggling mass of furry short-eared cuteness!

I hurried our old Beau back into the house, took a closer peek at the little cuties, and went back into the house myself, so the mother rabbit could finish tending to her family. Since I didn't have a chance to take a photo, I borrowed the photo above from the internet.

I know I'll be cursing at least one of these little guys out in a few weeks, when they are munching on something in my garden, but for now they are just so darned cute.

It's very cold and rainy here today, but yesterday I was preparing part of the garden for the tomatoes and herbs I'll be planting soon. As I was pulling up unwanted mint and grass, the tiniest frog I've ever seen hopped out.

photo from

http://handlensandbinoculars.blogspot.com/2009_03_01_archive.html

I didn't have a camera handy, but I found this photo online. It turns out this little guy was a Northern Cricket Frog, also known as a Blanchard's Cricket Frog, and it's a species which has been endangered since the 1980s. (More info here.)

Sad. So sad.

It makes me sad that so much of our natural world is changing so rapidly - much of it through the thoughtless acts of humans. Yesterday, when I was driving around the area, I noticed so many people spraying pesticides. Home owners with spray bottles, men with tanks of pesticides on their backs, men with hoses attached to huge tanks filled with pesticides on trucks. The air was filled with the horrible stench of the stuff. I rolled up my windows and held my breath as I drove by.
'

No wonder these little creatures love our little piece of property. Here, the dandelions are plentiful, and pesticides aren't used.
'

For some information about the danger of pesticides to humans, there's an easy-to-read fact sheet here. Reliable information is available all over the internet, if you're interested.

"Chemicals have replaced bacteria and viruses

as the main threat to health.

The diseases we're beginning to see

as the major causes of death

in the latter part of this century

and into the 21st century

are diseases of chemical origin."

-- Dick Irwin,

toxicologist at Texas A&M Universities

Lingering in the Shadows

2010-04-29T13:31:00.003-05:00

"Lingering in the Shadows"

mixed media

on 11 x 14 wrapped canvas

I really don't know where the time has gone. When I allow myself to dwell in the creative right side of my brain, I become a different person, it seems. Time means little to me, and I become very absent-minded. My mind is focused only on colors and shapes and ideas, not the minutiae of life.

I've been lingering in the shadows of creativity and memory and hope.

It's a welcome change for me, since I've spent so much of my life forcing myself to be almost completely left-brained.

Now I'm not forcing anything anymore, and look what happens.

I wish you could see and feel the rich colors and complex textures of this painting! I've left the top photo larger, so if you click on it you can get an idea of what I mean.

I don't know if I prefer it horizontal or vertical.

What do you think?

This time I started by covering the canvas with plaster cloth, an idea I adapted from the gorgeous art two incredibly talented blogger friends are creating. Lynne Hoppe paints the most amazing faces on her own combination of muslin and plaster cloth. You can see an example here. And Annie Coe has been using Venetian plaster in her paintings to create fabulous textures, an example of which is here.

Armed with their inspiration, I decided to use plaster cloth instead of modeling paste this time. I just can't get enough of experimenting with colors and textures.

(detail)

I really like the grainy texture which remained in many places, and the ridges formed by manipulating the cloth. Many glazes of acrylic paint were added, and I was happy to discover that you can see previous washes of color peeking through the colors which were added later. In some place, the paint has the appearance of watercolor washes, and in others it looks like encaustic. I crackled a few spots, too, just to see what would happen.

Another canvas is almost ready for some more experiments. But I do plan to leave the comfort of the shadows long enough to travel through Blogland to visit a few of my favorite places during the next week.

I know I've been terribly slow about getting back to all the wonderful people who have left me comments and e-mails during the last few weeks. I really appreciate hearing from you, and I'm so grateful for your patience and understanding.

Earth Day and Stuff

2010-04-21T09:33:00.001-05:00

"One of the first conditions of happiness

is that the link

between Man and Nature

shall not be broken."

~ Leo Tolstoy

Tomorrow is the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day. That first Earth Day, April 22, 1970, about 20 million people around the US united to champion the basic human right to a clean and healthy environment. This year, nearly 1 billion people around the world are expected to participate in Earth Day activities.

So Happy Earth Day, everybody! Let's try to make every day an Earth Day.

If you are a consumer (and we all are, aren't we?), I found an interesting video you should watch. It's only 21 minutes long, very fast-paced, informative and entertaining.

It's called "The Story of Stuff" and you can find it on youtube at :

http://www.youtube.com/storyofstuffproject#p/a/u/2/9GorqroigqM

You can also find out more about where most of our stuff comes from, as well as where it ends up, from "the story of stuff" website:

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

I recently heard of a book you might be interested in, too. It's "Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough Planet" by Bill McKibben. Bill McKibben is a well-known environmentalist and author, and in this book he provides warnings and hope for our future and the future of our changing planet. You can find his book at :

http://www.amazon.com/Eaarth-Making-Life-Tough-Planet/dp/0805090568

or visit his website for more information about this book, as well as his other books and articles:

http://www.billmckibben.com/index.html

"Trust in Nature,

in what is simple in Nature,

in the small Things

that hardly anyone sees

and that can so suddenly become huge,

immeasurable . . .

then everything will become easier for you,

more coherent

and somehow more reconciling,

not in your conscious mind perhaps,

which stays behind,

astonished,

but in your innermost awareness,

awakeness,

and knowledge."

~Rainer Maria Rilke

Not Quite Wordless/ Not Quite Wednesday - Home

2010-04-20T14:58:00.003-05:00

"Only when the last tree has died,

and the last river has been poisoned,

and the last fish has been caught,

will we realize we cannot eat money."

~ Cree Proverb

"There is hope

if people will begin to awaken

that spiritual part of themselves,

that heartfelt knowledge

that we are caretakers

of this planet."

~Brooke Medicine Eagle

Two new paintings

2010-04-16T12:50:00.002-05:00

"Trilliums"

acrylic

on 8 x 10 canvas board

SOLD

I feel so much better because I finally had the opportunity to finish the two paintings I started last week!

I've always loved flowers, and two of my favorite flowers bloom in May here in Wisconsin. Trilliums are wild flowers that grow in shady woodlands. They are called trilliums because the flowers have three petals and three leaves.

"Bleeding Hearts"

acrylic

on 8 x 10 canvas board

SOLD

For years I had a bleeding heart plant that bloomed briefly each Spring, but it hasn't come up this year. I'm glad I took pictures of these beautiful flowers last year, because I had a wonderful reference photo to use for this painting.

This is the first time I've painted flowers in acrylic. Several years ago I went through a brief phase where I painted flowers in watercolor at a friend's request. I think I might have to try that again, too, because I found the watercolors easier to work with.

It's amazing how much better I feel when I can create something. Like these paintings, for example. It's as if they were just bursting to get outside of me. I was so uneasy until I could finally work on them, and eventually finish them.

"You need chaos in your soul

to give birth to a dancing star."
~ Nietzsche

Wordless Wednesday - In my right brain

2010-04-14T08:07:00.002-05:00

image from wired.com

(Thank you all so much for your wonderful, lovely, kind and welcomed comments on my recent posts! Sometimes I focus on what I don't have, rather than all that I do have. This kind of thinking gets in my way and is very unproductive. It's just a bump in the road. I'll be back in my right brain again very soon. Thanks for your support!)

Quiet/Time

2010-04-12T09:19:00.000-05:00

I've been in a strange mood lately. Not one to divulge every little detail of my life on my blog, I find I have very little to say here lately. Even commenting on the many other wonderful blogs I visit has been difficult recently. I want to say something worth reading, but lately meaningful and interesting words seem to be just outside my grasp. I write something and delete it. Blah-blah-blah.

Like I wrote in the title of my last post, I'm in a constant state of longing.

I'm so tired, in so many ways. Frustrated, too.

For weeks now, I've been craving quiet and sleep, and time and space. Especially time and space to be creative in ways that have nothing to do with anyone else's needs.

Ah, well, I don't have much patience for whining, so I'll stop before I start.

I'm working on two new paintings, much more realistic ones this time, so it's taking some time to get them to a point where I'll be satisfied with them. There was no space to spread out and work on them over the weekend, so I feel a bit stalled today. I've lost the wonderful momentum I had last Thursday and Friday.

There are so many things I should do today. What to do first?

At least I'm certain of one thing.

"If you have nothing to say, say nothing."

~ Mark Twain

Wordless Wednesday - Longing

2010-04-07T08:30:00.001-05:00

(photo by Graham Hobbs)

http://www.panoramio.com/photo/21433204

Wayward Wednesday

2010-03-31T15:26:00.007-05:00

"Bluebird Fantasy"

acrylic and mixed media

8 x 10 gallery wrapped canvas

I'm blaming it on the beautiful weather we're having today. This painting insisted on being finished, even though I had too many other things to do. It's more of a sampler, really, because I used this canvas to try out some new ideas again.

Yes, I feel very guilty about all the things I didn't do. But I feel better about getting the painting done, especially because I was able to play around with more textures and colors, and the subject is totally new to me. Not a portrait, not an abstract, pure fantasy. Perfect for an early Spring day!

The painting is continued on all four sides, including the texture and crackle of the sunflower.

(detail)

I don't think I've ever seen a real Bluebird, although I think we have them in some parts of Wisconsin. I rather like the attitude of this crackled blue bird! Chin up!

Now that I have this painting out of the way, I only have about 14 other art projects begging to be worked on. I think it's time to relax a bit before I get too involved in those projects, so I can take some much-needed time to visit all the other blogs I've been meaning to visit .

:0)
(Which is a good thing, too, because I was going to write a TRUE story tomorrow, April Fool's Day, about how you must never, ever, mistakenly put your purse in the "sink" in a porta-potty (portable WC), because it is NOT a sink. No, it's definitely not a sink, its a urinal. I know, because I did this many years ago, and I felt like a FOOL. And YES, I immediately threw the purse in the trash. EEEEWWW! So, aren't you glad I won't be writing a story about that tomorrow?)
:0)

***I'm sorry if Blogger isn't letting your comments go through. I don't know what the problem is, but please try again. That usually works.***

Somewhat silent Sunday

2010-03-28T12:10:00.002-05:00

Yes, it's real!

But after reading Bettina's sad and enlightening comment about how these giant rabbits were abused, maybe this little bunny is more appropriate. (Thank you for the information, Bettina.)

So much to do, so many blogs to visit, so little time.

Be back soon, I hope.

Earth Hour - Saturday, March 27

2010-03-23T08:38:00.006-05:00

"It's not what country you're from,

it's what planet you're from."

~ Ban Ki-Moon

UN Secretary General

http://www.panda.org/how_you_can_help/earth_hour/

http://wwf.org/

You learn

2010-03-18T08:19:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I was looking through some important papers, when a little newspaper clipping fell out of the envelope which holds our marriage certificate. The clipping is yellowed with age by now, since it's been safely tucked away in the envelope since the 1980s.

It's a poem I found in a Dear Abby column around the time we were married. As I read it again yesterday for the first time in over two decades, I realized how differently I interpret the words now that I have experienced so much more of life.

After a While

After a while

you learn the subtle difference

between holding a hand

and sharing a life.

And you learn

that love doesn't mean possession

and company doesn't mean security

and loneliness is universal.

And you learn

that kisses aren't contracts

and presents aren't promises.

And you begin

to accept your defeats

with your head up

and your eyes open,

with the grace of a woman

not the grief of a child.

And you learn

to build your hope

on today,

as the future has a way

of falling apart in mid-flight.

Because tomorrow's ground

can be too uncertain

for plans,

yet each step taken

in a new direction

creates a path

toward the promise of a brighter dawn.

And you learn

that even sunshine burns

if you get too much.

So you plant your own garden

and nourish your own soul,

instead of waiting

for someone to bring you flowers.

And you learn

that love,

true love,

always has joys and sorrows,

seems ever present,

yet is never quite the same.

Becoming more than love

and less than love,

so difficult to define.

And you learn

that through it all

you really can endure,

that you really are strong,

that you do have value,

and you learn

and grow.

With every goodbye

you learn.

~ Veronica Shoffstall

How interesting that I save this. I wonder what the words will mean to me two decades from now.

Wordless Wednesday - Finally!

2010-03-17T07:21:00.001-05:00

:0)

Exploring textures again

2010-03-11T08:53:00.002-06:00

"Energy(#1)"

I've been having fun just playing and experimenting with textures and colors again. It's taken me years, but I think I'm finally getting over the feeling that, by experimenting, I might waste some of my art materials. If I look at them as being that "precious," I'll never grow as an artist.

"Behind the Gilded Facade"

(detail)

So I try to keep moving out of my comfort zone and push myself to try new things.

If you click on these two pieces, you'll get an idea of what I'm loving about these experiments. While you can't see the colors as well in these photos as you can in person, you can see some of the rich layers of colors that I absolutely adore.

My first experiments with texture and color can be seen in some previous posts - click here and here to see those posts.

For Renee, whose suffering is finally over

2010-03-10T07:59:00.003-06:00

Only when you drink from the river of silence
shall you indeed sing.

And when you have reached the mountain top,
then you shall begin to climb.

And when the earth shall claim your limbs,
then you shall truly dance….

For what is it to die,
but to stand naked in the wind
and to melt into the sun….

And what is it to cease breathing,
but to free the breath
from its restless tides,
that it may rise,
and expand,
and seek God
unencumbered.

~~ Kahlil Gibran ~~

Renee of Circling My Head

Renee has died after a long, painful and courageous fight with Inflammatory Breast Cancer.

She was a beloved friend to many, and will be sorely missed.

Welcome home, dear friend.

**Top image courtesy of Alice Popkorn. Visit her website here.**

Fabulous Art Blogs

2010-03-04T08:40:00.003-06:00

Charles Rennie Mackintosh

Orange and Purple Spirals textile design
found on The Textile Blog

One of the things I enjoy most about blogging is how one blog can lead to another, and another, and another. I find some of the most interesting blogs that way, don't you?

Lately, I'm really drawn to blogs which showcase the works of other artists, past and present.

Artisans Gallery Team (http://artisansgalleryteam.blogspot.com/) is a new blog put together by a group of talented artists from around the world. They have created a unique on-line art gallery of high quality handmade items ranging from clothing and jewelery to mosaics, pottery and mixed media pieces.

The Textile Blog (http://thetextileblog.blogspot.com/) is a fabulous resource for anyone interested in a wide range of textile designs.

A Polar Bear's Tale (http://polarbearstale.blogspot.com/) is a feast for the eyes in so many ways, you really need to take a look for yourself.

Portraits of Painters (http://portraitsofpainters.blogspot.com/) is a gorgeous collection of artist self-portraits.

Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May (http://gather-ye-rosebuds-while-ye-may.blogspot.com/) is one of the most beautiful collections of the art of John William Waterhouse, the Pre-Raphaelites, William Morris, the Arts & Crafts movement, Art Nouveau and various Victorian artists.

Anonymous Works (http://anonymousworks.blogspot.com/ ) is an eclectic assortment of anything interesting. You never know what they'll find next.

Love the Art Forever (http://lovetheartforever.blogspot.com/) is a collection of the blogger's favorite art prints.

The Constant Gatherer (http://theconstantgatherer.blogspot.com/) is an interesting art treasury, which also features architecture.

I'm always looking for more blogs which feed my mind and soul and imagination. I'm sure I've missed listing a few which I already know about. And I know there are many more out there I haven't discovered yet. Are there any you'd like to add to this list?

I knew I was missing one!

Be sure to have a look at this one, too:

A Faerietale of Inspiration (http://a-faerietale-of-inspiration.blogspot.com/) is another feast for the eyes where you'll find anything from delicate watercolors to art dolls and sculptures and jewelry.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-03-03T12:08:00.000-06:00

Corners

2010-02-23T09:31:00.007-06:00

Unlike when I was a child, these days I enjoy sitting in corners.

I've created two for myself recently. This is the corner of the living room, which now has enough light so I can do my crocheting, knitting, stitching and such. I'm surrounded by books, too, which makes me happy. The pillow in the chair is one I stitched about 18 years ago. It's done in crewel work, but I think it should be renamed cruel work. I think this little piece took me two years to finish. I began working on it when my daughter was 19 months old and my son was a newborn.

The brown and white of the background is made up of countless teeny-tiny stitches. As my daughter used to politely say when she was very little, "It's very nice! But I will never do this again!"

Here's a corner I made for myself in the dining room. It's not nearly as functional as I'd like, but it's a start. I still do most of my drawing and painting at the kitchen table. The light is so much better there.

It's interesting how I've outgrown this house in many ways. It was fine for when we were newly married and planning for a family. I was still in corporate management, with no thought of ever leaving the corporate world.

I didn't have a clue.

This house has no real wall space. It has windows and doors and closets and cupboards, but very little open wall space. It has lovely wallpaper and very nice tongue and groove paneling, if you like that sort of thing. I don't. I crave white walls. I may want to paint them wild colors later, but right now I crave lots of blank walls I could fill with art.

MY ART!

A little over a year ago, I wrote how we came to be in this house in the first place. If you're interested, you can read the post here. We will probably be here another 4 to 5 years, so I'm making lemonade out of lemons.

Moving forward. Learning from the past. No regrets.

"No great thing is created suddenly."
~ Epictetus
(Greek philosopher
associated with the Stoics
A.D. 55 - c. 135)

"Creativity is discontent
translated into arts."
~ Eric Hoffer
(1902 - 1983)

For Renee - some words of comfort I found on the internet today

2010-02-21T11:40:00.009-06:00

A Prayer for the Dying

Time has passed, the Wheel has turned.
It is time for me to move on.
I will walk hand in hand with the Ancient Ones,
and with my ancestors who came before me.

Great Mother, welcome me back into your womb,
I come to you and know I am blessed,
for my life has been one I am proud of.
As I enter your world, wrap me in your loving arms,
and welcome me.

Lord of Death, I wait for you to take me,
I come to you willingly, with eyes wide open,
as my last moment approaches on the horizon.
May I look upon you without fear, without pain,
and knowing that those who walked before me,
await me on the other side.

O Ancient Ones, give me strength to take these final steps,
and allow me to do so with peace and dignity.
Let my family mourn my passing but not my loss,
and let them heal knowing I will see them again.
Time has passed and the Wheel has turned.
It is time for me to move on.

(I'm sorry, I don't know who wrote these beautiful words.)

For Renee

2010-02-20T11:12:00.003-06:00

Our dear Renee, beloved by so many, is dying. Her daughter has told us it is the beginning of the end. There are no words to express my sadness. I only hope her passage is peaceful and painless, since she has suffered so much, especially in recent months.

I am honored to have been called her friend. She has found a place in my heart forever.