Sumac & Squirrel

Is that another branch in the tree?  

No wait, that is a squirrel showing off!

Autumn

 Imagine this...

Sumac leaves like flames of fire

A bluejay darting out of an ochre ground

Coyotes howling

Sunshine & blue skies

A perfect Hallowed Eve...

 

Some selfies,,,

 

I will probably dream of Sumac leaves tonight.

a lily and technology

"Lily Rising"  encaustic w/Androstephium lily from the prairie

I'd like to recommend two TED talks that I watched this week.
They balance well and are,,,
well, UBER inspirational and insightful.
 
YOUR BODY LANGUAGE SHAPES WHO YOU ARE
by Amy Cudd

and
 
THE POWER OF INTROVERTS
by Susan Cain


We're enjoying some rain in SW Oklahoma this week.
And....
Today I submitted my info and images to the
Leslie Powell Gallery for my upcoming January show.
It felt good and like a big weight lifted.
I would like to take a little reading sabbatical now, but nope,
I will continue on in the studio. :)
I'm going to share some really good info on the Artist Statement
in a coming post (not my expertise, but the experts. ha!). 
Anyway, I gleaned some useful info that you may also enjoy. 

I'm also converting to my new MAC BOOK PRO.  Goodbye PC. :)
Greg is a Mac guy, so I have the best tech support.

Be well.

i had to connect

 

swam through waves of grass to get to the house

 

my neck, shoulders and back are aching, 

fingernails are caked with wax

a burn on my middle right knuckle.

it's been mentally and physically rough.

encaustic art is a beast,

but i like to take a hold of that wild medium

my will ~ and its will, butting heads like bulls.

the deadline has arrived for submitting to my january show.

i had that mental conversation about 'why didn't i create some

large panels?'  well, now is not the time to be my own enemy.

i've worked hard on my exhibit. i've worked hard this year.

i also work full-time and say yes to a lot of  'things.' 

you know, how it goes.

"Meditation" encaustic on panel

so i flung the work apron aside and headed outdoors

into perfect weather ~ even sweating weather,,,

criss-crossed prairie hill

crunched through indian blanket seed heads

while grasshoppers crashed into my forehead.

a lone crow flew with the wind

lizards sunned themselves on the rocks

i watched my every next step, for, 

you know, the R snake.

i was blessed by bright blue skies,,,

dirty blond grasses waved and rustled

and butterflies raced passed me.

in my medicine pouch i collected:  ragweed, sage, 

slender day flower, asters, and unknown  grasses...

i sniffed their earthen scents.

healing.

i had to connect ~ with nature ~ with the cycle

with my land... i had to look up (and down).

but it felt good to walk with nature...

no title yet...

the girls (encaustic collages)

"Mona"  (encaustic collage on a wooden box)

something i'm enjoying lately,,,

making these collaged ladies.

you may remember this one,

"Rain (Lucian's)"

since the altered eye worked so well on my first girl,

i'm going to stick with this idea.

i made a couple of antique book covers as well,

but need to take some pictures of them.

 

  ~    ~    ~

i hope your weekend is going wonderful.

nonpareil

this will probably be one of my most beautiful posts.

for flute and piano

do you remember the early anniversary gift i received from greg?

the beautiful cedar flute...

well, he composed a piece of music for me.

nonpareil means "without compare" in french,,,

it's what they call their painted bunting bird

because of its exquisitely-colored plumage.

the music - a priceless gift

and blue delphiniums my wedding flowers,,,

so thoughtful...

have i mentioned that i have an amazing husband every day of the year!?

our wedding kiss on 10/23/10

bronze and gold

 ten thousand flowers in spring, the moon in autumn,

a cool breeze in summer, snow in winter...

if your mind isn't clouded by unnecessary things,

this is the best season of your life.

-wu men

we took a walk around prairie hill tonight - enjoying 

a bronze and gold landscape.

shared a banana bread beer.  maybe an early

celebration,,,

tomorrow is our third anniversary.

fall break end

 

we took a long walk this evening,,,

 saw a van driving around downtown - big letters on the side:

The Southwest Paranormal Investigators.  really?

have a good week, dear friends.

around here

"Evanesce"  (5" x 7" encaustic)

"evanesce" ... created for an upcoming exhibit with the theme of "time."

  we were eating dinner and watching a show on the ipad,,,

i happened to look up,,,  and gasped at the 

display outside the arched window,,, 

we marveled at the fleeting golden moments

 on prairie hill...

a miniature flower arrangement - a small verse in the day's poem...

 

have you seen the movie "gravity"?  it's stunning!

  we went to carnegie, okla. and watched it 3D

in a retro theatre.  that was fun.

 don't worry that's not a snake - that's a fence lizard - 

they hug my house and it makes me happy. 

i do have a snake story though,,, 

we had a baby rattlesnake in our garage the other night!

their bite can be worse than an adult's because the venom

is more concentrated!  i'm concerned for zody... 

i would say this has been a bad snake year.

wish i'd see more roadrunners.

on a bright ending note.

i was awakened by coyotes howling the other night...

i smiled in my sleep.

the sun has been hijacked by the color grey

it turned cold here in sw oklahoma - a north wind blew in and

it seems the color grey hijacked the sun.

i'm wondering where are my winter clothes?!

i guess it's time to switch my closet around over the fall break.

i have a few random bits to share...

my sister & i had a nervous discussion over the pecans.

last year, we had a successful wild harvest of nuts, but haven't

seen any buds yet this year.  yesterday, i was driving down a

street and saw a squirrel drop something large from its mouth 

as it was trying to cross the road. i thought it was carrying a bird 

or its baby,,,, but as i got closer,  i saw what it was trying to 

pick back up - a branch with about 5 huge pecans!  

it may as well have been an olive branch!

hallelujah there will be pecans this year. thank you squirrel 

for the sign. ha ha!  mother earth magazine recommended this

nutcracker and i received mine in the mail today.

i'm ready for pecans.

~ ~ ~

the wind blew a tiny nest out of a tree.

it was laying at the entrance to my work building

so i scooped it up and placed it on my office windowsill. 

i'm intrigued by the single green plastic string that 

decorates the nest wall - so simple and hopeful.  

saturday

 

finally, a few more notes and a cover! 

i bound the summer travelogue today!  

tying up loose ends feels good. :)

my husband is the best!  he makes encaustic medium

for me!  he's got it down,,, my working ratio:

4 lbs of wax to 8 oz of damar resin.

this is no easy chore.  it takes 5 hours to melt!

creative energy is up -

capitalize on it.

encaustics on the shelf

"any landscape is a condition of the spirit."  

- henri amiel

i hope you 're having a nice weekend.

morning spectacle and sweeping wind...

 

one morning, a painting in the sky 

a performance really,,,

the colors danced and teased

and disappeared.

encaustic collage - material from real hummingbird nest...

over the weekend i cleaned and organized

my entire studio. cleared fuzzy cobwebs from the 

ceiling corners and even killed a spider (i'm sure

it was a brown recluse) hiding behind a picture frame.

i opened the window and door and welcomed a 

strong wind to enter and sweep through

with fresh new energy.

~  ~  ~

the art walk end of september was incredible.

the bird series is now laid to rest...

i continue to work (focus) on my january show.

many of these works have yet to be photographed, 

or even titled for that matter.

i'm still trying to catch up with myself. ha!

life is good on prairie hill.

i hope your october is magical. 

~   ~   ~

"god picks up the reed-flute world and blows.

each note is a need coming through one of us,

a passion, a longing-pain."

-rumi

quick hello

catching up with housework

bundling sage 

learning to play my new cedar flute

thai food

walking in october warmth

heavy-hearted over refuge closure

daily rhythms, rituals & responsibilities

just a quick hello

more from me later

stay in peace