Wedding gift

One of my favorite projects to do is make embroidered portraits, like this one I just made for my niece and her new husband.

I did it from this photo sent to me by his mom....

They are so beautiful!!

Contained

I notice them most in the early evening,
Packed tightly they shine their lights
Evidence of the life within.
Crammed together, sides nearly touching
Each an entire world spinning precariously.
Hearts pumping,
Lungs breathing, 
Human emotions:
Drama, laughter, anger, grief.
Sometimes I try to steal a glimpse
Of the curious life inside.
The sheer volume of them all Is frightening. 
But soon I am drawn by the force
Of my own world's gravity
Pulling me home.


 

A rescue story

We've wanted a little dog for so long!.  Finally.....meet our little Hobo!

He was rescued wandering around with matted dread locks.  He was shaved to the skin and sheltered about an hour and a half away from us.  They say he's about nine, we think probably older.  At first we thought he was deaf, but maybe it's selective hearing.  He's not really house trained.  But already he's brought us so much joy!

She walked into view

She walked into view,

through the window where I had been watching

the coming and goings of the revolving door. 

She races across the sidewalk into the parking lot

tight jeans, flip flops, a baby bump under her tshirt.

Keys in hand, and only a wallet to carry. 

Too busy to mess with a purse.

This stop was only one in her busy day.

She walks so fast she doesn't consider the

others around her who walk much slower.

An older woman, stout with age,

struggling with an equally stout bag.

An older couple hand in hand,

one woman accompanying another with an oxygen tank,

a father holding his daughter's hand, her arm in a cast.

No, she doesn't consider them,

or what happened to them along the way to slow them down.

I watch her.  I think to myself, I used to be her.

Consumed with my mental list, too busy to even write it on paper.

So focused on my task I'm unable to see the people passing by me

as anything other than obstacles in the road.

I watch her rush to her car, and leave the parking lot.

I find myself wishing her the realization that soon

before she even notices it

time will have slipped through her hands

the baby in her belly will be grown

and she will wonder how it happened so fast.

How she came to the moment when she sees a young woman

who reminds her of who she used to be.

Flower Face by Clare Elsaesser

What a wonderful way to celebrate spring.  I love her work.  You can see more of her work and read the article at: Flower Face – Honestly WTF

Spring Hike in the Woods.....

A sapling growing up through the rock.

Lichen on a fallen tree.

Art for the fun of it or the birth of a poetry journal

Last weekend I came across a notebook I had bought at Anthropologie a couple of years ago.  Writing about how much I love that store is a whole other post, or more.

But staying on topic, over the past couple of weeks I have been reading The Best Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, She Walks in Beauty, and Poems to Learn by Heart, all by Caroline Kennedy.  I've also been discovering Kansas poets by reading the entries of the Kansas Renga.  I loved so many I found myself wanting to copy down my favorites.

Plus, feeling a bit tapped after two months of projects for other people, I needed to do something else, something just for the sake of doing art.  Hence the start of my poetry journal.  But before I had even started it, I heard a story on NPR how contemporary artist were remaking a John Denver cd; they played Leaving on a Jet Plane.  I had forgotten how much I loved that song!  And, how many other songs I've loved; really poems set to music.

So after a week I wanted to share what I have so far....

It's been a sort of meditation for me.  Calming one's monkey mind, so to speak.  So if you are looking for a bit of centering yourself, find an empty notebook and have it. I highly recommend it.