Moon Flower and a little Tess Gallagher

Here is another art quilt - I have two yoga quilts and hope to do one more for a nice three in a row for the show. This one is the Moon Flower pose - it goes with Sunflower pose and both are supposed to be very good for banishing depression as well as good for warming up. The background is a rambling, funky Spokane out the 4th floor huge windows. It's not exact but more what I think I'm seeing upside down... twisted and in another 'zone'. Think I might like it better than the 'real' view. :) I'm about to write all over this one...

I thought I'd do something different and share some of my favorite things with you this year. One of my favorite things I always come back to is poetry. I used to write tons of it and at one time was going to major in creative writing with poetry emphasis... but other things went on and I went down many paths before choosing again. Anyway, enjoy!

Oh, this book of poems is one of my all time favorites. She came to my college in her hometown of Port Angeles, WA right before this one was being published. She read a few poems and I was gone. Absolutely besotted with her reading and style of writing. Her husband had recently passed away - Raymond Carver - and there are a lot of grief-riddled pieces in this one but still, the beauty of her work sometimes overwhelms me. Here are a few samples:

I Stop Writing The Poem

to fold the clothes. No matter who lives or who dies, I'm still a woman.

I'll always have plenty to do.

I bring the arms of his shirt

together. Nothing can stop

our tenderness. I'll get back

to the poem. I'll get back to being

a woman. But for now

there's a shirt, a giant shirt

in my hands, and somewhere a small girl

standing next to her mother

watching to see how it's done.

Trace, In Unison

Terrible, the rain. All night, rain

that I love. So the weight of his leg

falls again like a huge tender wing

across my hipbone. Its continuing - the rain,

as he does not. Except as that caress

most inhabited. Ellipsis of

eucalyptus. His arms, his beautiful

careless breathing. Inscription

contralto where his lips graze

the bow of my neck. Muslin half-light.

Musk of kerosene in the hall, fixative

to ceaselessly this rain, in which

there is nothing to do but be happy, be

free, as if someone sadly accused

came in with their coat soaked through

and said, "But I only wanted

to weep and love," and we rolled toward

the voice like one body and said

with our eyes closed, "Then weep, then

love." Buds of jasmine threaded through

her hair so they opened after dark,

brightening the room. that morning

rain as it would fall, still

falling, and where we had lain,

an arctic light steady

in the mind's releasing.

~Tess Gallagher, 1992

Beautiful Felons

Hello and happy Friday! I'm so glad the weekend is here. Meet a group of 13 beautiful felons... I wanted to make some smaller art quilts for my upcoming show... it's nice to have a variety of sizes in my opinion. These ladies were so much fun to draw! There are a few ideas I've been playing with surrounding these women... but haven't decided yet - so they may not be felons just yet. I really would like to do even more, but the clock is ticking faster and faster.

Messenger swallows bringing good yarn to coastal villages... I love the idea of messenger birds and have wanted to play with the subject for quite awhile. This one is already painted and has some writing/journaling on it. I'll be working through the weekend on these things and maybe a few more larger ones. I hope y'all have a nice and relaxing weekend!

Sketchbook Wednesday

Here are a few ideas I have churning today. They've both made it onto fabric for more art quilts. The March show is coming up faster and faster. (well, a late Feb deadline is what's on my mind!)

I'm really having fun with this style of art making. Not many rules and drawing loose... it is very freeing. Oddly, I haven't carved a woodblock for a long time now. This is the longest stretch, I think (although I did do some mastercarve stuff recently). After this project, it's going to be woodcuts galore!

Speaking of woodcuts, I'm honored to be included in an art blog, Apt3 Design... amongst many wonderful printmakers. The writer is Tina, a student at Portland State University - my art school Alma Mater. Check it out here .

A New Year's Day Miracle...

Minutes after he returned home...

A complete miracle happened around 9am on new year's day. Knightley found his way home... by himself!!! We still can't believe it. I was sitting, drinking my tea - Mr. Darcy was barking up a storm on the deck. I was conveniently ignoring him ( surely the neighbors were coughing in their coffee) when he began to howl. He NEVER howls. ??? Weird. 5 min later, the phone rang - and after a few grumblings, I got up... missed the call. The message was from Mr. K next door, thought he saw Knightley walking in the street by himself. I ran to the door and saw him in the driveway... flung open the door and called him in (in between squeals which soon turned to sobs). He was looking wild-eyed and wired - he was being skittish for a bit, but as soon as he saw Mr. Darcy - he ran in the house.

We are still baffled by this miracle... according to the humane society, 90% of dogs who are lost are never found. We had a few leads and 'sightings' from the lost corgi posters - but none panned out. We did get a few calls from a retirement apt complex - some ladies saw his photo in the paper and knew it was the dog they'd been trying to coax in, feed and keep him warm. But, he was too skittish. They left a box with a blanket outside and food for him. It had been 0 degrees F. for a few nights and the rest in the low teens and single digits. (Spokane is covered in snow)... We can't believe he survived these temps and found his way home too. He was so tired when he came back... was asleep on the kitchen floor about a 30 minutes later. He was warm, had food and was home!

Prayers were answered and we are so thankful. There you have it - a corgi miracle. It was a great start to the new year.

Peace in the New Year!

Another year's almost here... to unfold and live, live, live!

A prayer for peace in the new year... albeit crooked - but a good prayer all the same!

Blue sky and snowy pines... we had very low temperatures today but lots of sunshine, but we couldn't convince the kids the snow was not going to melt. :)

Bonfire of the Fish Spirits... the painting part is done, I've been writing all over it for most of the day. This one is my favorite so far - it's very personal.

Happy, happy new year to one and all. Thank you for visiting and reading my blog... I hope the new year brings you goodness and happy surprises around every corner.

Knightley Come Home...

That's me petting Mr. Darcy just now as night is falling.

Here's a short but very sad story...The day after Christmas, the corgis were out in the yard. Somehow the gate was ajar (the power meter man?) and they got out. Mr. Darcy came right to the front door and sat there until someone noticed he was out! (they NEVER get out)... but, sadly, Mr. Knightley ran off and was nowhere to be found. My husband and I took turns driving around, calling out his name and searching for him until about 10 pm. He probably got out around 6:45pm and we didn't know they were out til about 7:30pm - so, he could have gone quite far in that time. We are so heartbroken about this, and so is Mr. Darcy. (he is the older brother). After visiting shelters, putting up flyers and ads in the paper and online... the only thing we can do is hope.

Here is Prudence Fat Cat holding my yummy, soft fuzzy scarf in progress. It is the frothiest yarn I've found. (sorry, will have to find the tag to tell what brand it is.) We are in the middle of a big snow storm and are expecting up to 12 inches. We just came in from shoveling. Brrrr it is cold!!

Celebrate the Solstice!

We are getting ready for Christmas at our house... and taking in all the sights around town. The Christmas lights are at the Geyser Conservatory at Manito Gardens - an annual must see if you are near Spokane. This year they were handing out free banana splits to eat inside! We have plenty of snow - it's clear and cold. Should be good viewing of the LUNAR ECLIPSE tonight! (we are so excited to see this - and the fact it's on winter solstice makes it all the more magical).

Last night was the school Santa story time event where the school logo Christmas ornaments I made were sold... next year we'll have to start selling them around black Friday! But, we did sell a lot and it all goes to the school. Glad to be done with that project... it was a bigger one than I had imagined - but well worth it :)

The cinnamon buns are my first attempt... I'm so excited to have made a successful batch. We'll be eating them on Christmas morning. (fresh, of course:) Just a little more wrapping to do - in secret, some baking and we'll be all set. The girls in the family are making homemade lip gloss for the first time (we have some serious lip gloss users around here) just as soon as the mail man brings us the little tins! Tonight we're having a Solstice party with a big fire, pizza and chocolate chip cookie dough pie. Yum.

Have a great day and enjoy... whatever you are celebrating :)