Valentine's Day

Art thou pale for weariness
Of climbing heaven and gazing on the earth,
Wandering companionless
Among the stars that have a different birth,
And ever changing, like a joyless eye
That finds no object worth its constancy?

-Percy Bysshe Shelley

A Farewell to False Love

 Farewell, false love, the oracle of lies,

A mortal foe and enemy to rest,

An envious boy, from whom all cares arise,

A bastard vile, a beast with rage possessed,

A way of error, a temple full of treason,

In all effects contrary unto reason.

A poisoned serpent covered all with flowers,

Mother of sighs, and murderer of repose,

A sea of sorrows whence are drawn such showers

As moisture lend to every grief that grows;

A school of guile, a net of deep deceit,

A gilded hook that holds a poisoned bait.

A fortress foiled, which reason did defend,

A siren song, a fever of the mind,

A maze wherein affection finds no end,

A raging cloud that runs before the wind,

A substance like the shadow of the sun,

A goal of grief for which the wisest run.

A quenchless fire, a nurse of trembling fear,

A path that leads to peril and mishap,

A true retreat of sorrow and despair,

An idle boy that sleeps in pleasure's lap,

A deep mistrust of that which certain seems,

A hope of that which reason doubtful deems.

Sith then thy trains my younger years betrayed,

And for my faith ingratitude I find;

And sith repentance hath my wrongs bewrayed,

Whose course was ever contrary to kind:

False love, desire, and beauty frail, adieu!

Dead is the root whence all these fancies grew.

Sir Walter Ralegh

a preternatural party of peculiar people in Peru (Indiana)

soooo, anyways, I was frantically searching for a place that would frame a piece of art for me that was due in an exhibition in 48 hours, and a coworker mentioned "The Potter's Bench" which happened to be right in Peru, IN (the small Indiana town where I live).  Alexandria, the artist/owner, did a fabulous job on very short notice, and we hit it right off and ended up chatting for about 2 hrs.  Her shop is an eclectic assortment of artwork, children's clothes and toys and framing in a beautiful brick turn-of-the-century building that she and her husband completely restored.  As I was perusing (ha) the shop, i happened across a 4" x 4" piece of artwork (ink and acrylic wash of a forest) with a tag attached to it saying that it was free, and it was from the community artists co-op of PERU.  Well, I was delighted and surprised that such a small town had a co-op of artists.  The card said they met the third Wednesday of every month at Cafe de Cirque.  I made myself a mental promise that i would go and check it out, but not without some misgivings because I make decisions to do stuff all the time and quite frequently do not follow through because of procrastination, laziness, fear, inconvenience etc etc.  soooo, when the next third Wednesday rolled around, I had a decision to make. It was a gloomy, cold, bone-chilling windy-rainy sort of night.  I didn't want to go anywhere.  I didn't feel like putting on a fake polite smile and gritting my teeth through the awkwardness of meeting new people. What if I get stuck with 3 or 4 really boring people for an hour? what if everyone there thinks I shouldn't be there? What if it's a complete waste of an entire evening that I could've spent doing something productive? What if they are all young hip people and I will look stupid?  What if they are all men and I will be the only girl that shows up?  What if they are some really, really weird people?  But then I remembered that I like weird people so I ended up going. 

The woman/Dalmation that met me at the stairs is Susan.  Overwhelmingly friendly and extroverted, I hardly felt awkward at all.  She made me feel like I belonged there right away.  Apparently it was Halloween theme, so some people were dressed up and there was all sorts of crackers and cheeses and wines and sweets all set out.  I couldn't drink the wine, of course, but there was some really strong coffee. 

the coffee counter of Cafe du Cirque

                                                           She is chicken cordon bleu. 

     Another part of the cafe,  artwork displayed throughout the friendly warm-yellow ambience.

                                                                another view. 

A lovely, sort-of-shy, extremely nice watercolorist who lives on a farm and invited me to go horseback riding :)     this is her abstract mixed-media piece.   Every meeting, they have a theme and everyone presents a piece they made on the theme.  The theme for this month was "dream". 

The above are several other artists showing their theme pieces.  Paintings, photos, collages, etc.  About 12 different people presented. 

This is a "shelf-fungus".  One woman collected some of these, put them in an oven at 200 degrees to dry them out, and then used a woodburner to make designs on them.  then coated with varnish.  I thought it was beautiful.  Below photo does not do it justice. 

After all the presentations were done and some business was discussed, Susan took me to see her studio which is adjoined to the Cafe.  Here are some pics.

How true, how true.  "All wisdom is plagiarism.."

pet birds in colorful bathroom.

This all makes perfect sense to me.  My type of interior decorating. 

I WAS feeling rather proud and content with my spare-bedroom studio space, but after I saw THIS.....yes, it is apparent, I need more room!   no, i need to go back to the not-so-distant past and remember the one-room studio apartment i once lived in, with artwork and glass spread all over the place, on the floor, with little tiny step-stones of bare carpet space to hop around on. 

All in all, I met some insanely-awesome wierd people, found some gallery and art class connections, get to participate in the Christmas art for nursing homes project, saw some great art presentations, and learned that there are over EIGHTY people I still get to meet that are part of this co-op.  Yes, I'm glad i went. 

 Last but not least, this is the piece that got framed in the shop at the last minute that led me to the WONDERFUL group of people I met in Peru (after almost not going) that share passion for art.  And my cute little nephew Douwe who would tell you right away that the title to this post is an "ahwittahwation"

newer stuff

 been painting some...studying trees right now, specifically their silhouettes against different backgrounds.  on my hikes (while Esme meanders off to find scummy ponds to swim in) i have been trying to identify various trees by their bark, shape, etc.  trying to id them now with some leaves still on, and then plan to look at them again in winter when no leaves, and see if i can still tell what they are. 

yes she ran and jumped right in this messy bog, and when we later drove home she shook herself off in the back seat. 

this painting is not quite as dark as this picture makes it out to be.....

no, it hasn't snowed (yet) but i didn't like the finished product (too dull it seemed with only 2 main colors) so i added snow and it made it a little better.  still don't like this one very much. 

this is one of my favorites...the top cloud was kind of an accident...but it turned out allright. 

still working on this concept....i think watercolors might work a little better with this color scheme. you can't see it very well, but there is a burgundy and purple in the tree and underbrush.....i want to do it over with the sky a little whiter and lighter...

another work-in-progress....trying to decide the background color for this buckeye moth mosaic......getting closer but still not quite right. 

i may have posted this one already?  fabric on plywood "collage" can't decide if i want to cover it in a couple layers of epoxy/resin finish to make it glossy and more light resistant......it might get ruined but then again it might turn out great...

Vacation Pics

spent some time in Michigan a couple weeks ago, scouting out good campgrounds and kayaking rivers: here are pictures...probably more pictures than you want to see...

First campsite, about 15 minutes from Grayling, MI...central michigan. i was the only one at this campground...it was pretty primitive. just the way i wanted it.  right next to the beautiful Au Sable River....

Au Sable....within walking distance of campground...

clean, deserted, and beautiful.  several nice put-ins right by camp ground. 

dinner first night (yes it started raining a little, as soon as i had gotten the tent set up).  this is one of my fav camping foods....pizza pocket: italian sausage (spicy) tomato sauce, mushrooms and cheese.  butter outside of bread and roast carefully over fire, voila! 

the only "luxury" at this campground.  the water pump.  all in all, a very nice campground with good river access, but i am very picky.  i could still hear a faint highway sound at night and that was unacceptable.  i need to hear nothing man-made when i camp except maybe the occasional airplane.  so, i packed it up and drove east and north to Ossineke, Michigan, which is right on Lake Huron. 

 can't remember what town this was...there were so many little one-stop-light or one-yellow-light towns on the way.  the drive was beautiful.  mostly forest.

best camping ever!  right on Lake Huron.  primitive and deserted.  the only sounds are the waves on the beach, the wind in the trees, and the sounds of wildlife. 

trail from campsite to Lake Huron.  can see the lake from the site.

miles of deserted beach. 

here's me smiling because its the best camping EVER.  billions of stars at night, could even see several satellites streaking across the sky.

playground near Ossineke.  with totem pole. 

scary clouds.  luckily i had already packed up by this point and was driving home. 

i like dead tree pictures.  don't know why. 

paul bunyan and the blue ox.

the "Double Nickel" roadside thrift shop and hot-dog stand.  stopped in and chatted with the owners for a while.  neat stuff. 

old, old stove.  i really wanted it.  someday......

 Double Nickel owner Dennis and his wife and their son chillin' outside. 

uhhh....i forgot to ask them if this is really rideable. 

charming blue house that caught my eye.  stained glass in windows and gargoyles and statutes in garden.

 some little towns had all cut-stone buildings.  a lot of stone houses. just beautiful.

your typical northern Michigan one-stop-light town.  nostalgia. 

a sunset.

i love these country-side scenes, small farms inbetween miles and miles of dark northern woods.

self-serve corn stand.  just put your money in the box and take your corn. 

self-serve camp sites: just put your money (yes, they even take out of state checks) and put it in the slot. 

Lake Huron, very clean and very shallow for about a mile out.  yes, you can literally walk about a mile out from shore and the water is still knee-deep. 

He's got the whole world in His hands, and the dinosaur garden is next door. 

another sunset.

me again, feeling relaxed, inspired, surreal and a little hopeful that one day i will live in a place like this. 

met family on Lake Michigan on Labor Day...Warren Dunes.  Very windy. 

my wonderful double nickel purchase....2 cypress knees for $8 that immediately found their place in my living room.  I've always wanted some but most places its illegal to cut them. 

 last but not least...newest project just about finished: fabric forest picture i made...about 3 ft by 4 ft....pretty big, not sure where its going to go, but i like it.