This year I'm counting all the different birds I see each day. Not the number of birds I see, but the variety. I got the idea from one of Nikki McClure's instagram posts. She counted the variety of birds in a year, but I decided to go for it and count the variety for each … Continue reading counting birds 2.25.21
Are you new to blogging, and do you want step-by-step guidance on how to publish and grow your blog? Learn more about our new Blogging for Beginners course and get 50% off through December 10th.
In my continuing study of Notan, these are the remaining exercises I completed from the book Notan: The Dark-Light Principle of Design, by Dorr Bothwell and Marlys Mayfield. You can read Part One of my Notan study here. The third exercise in the book was about the control of tension, balance and movement in a … Continue reading notan, part two 2.11.2021
The creative life is not a straight line. There is no map for making, only an orientation. It’s a poetic, unpredictable spiral. It’s the discipline of returning to the same practices again and again, regardless of circumstance. No matter how flourishing your life as a maker is, or how successful you are, you don’t ever … Continue reading art quote – Doctor 1.14.2021
This year, in keeping with my desire to "give back" by donating a portion of my art sales to charitable organizations, I'm donating to the Madison School & Recreation pottery program. Their mission statement is "MSCR will enhance the quality of life for individuals in the Madison Metropolitan School District and for the community by … Continue reading annual donating in 2020, and a poem 12.31.2020
Walking Home from Oak-Head By Mary Oliver There is somethingabout the snow-laden skyin winterin the late afternoon that brings to the heart elationand the lovely meaninglessnessof time.Whenever I get home - whenever - somebody loves me there.MeanwhileI stand in the same dark peaceas any pine tree, or wander on slowlylike the still unhurried wind,waiting,as for … Continue reading poem – Oliver 12.17.2020
One of my favorite songs is Kate Bush's 50 Words for Snow - basically a list in song. And posted on my wall I have a list, cut out from a newspaper long ago, of 100 words for precipitation. I like lists. Perhaps I learned list love (or list lust) from my mom, Eleanor, who … Continue reading word orbs 12.3.2020
I've collected perennial seeds in the past and started them in small pots, but after I watched this video about seed starting, created by the park staff where I live in Dane County, Wisconsin, I decided to "go bigger!" Perennial seeds in the midwest need a cold period to germinate, so they have to spend … Continue reading perennial seed starting 11.19.20
Art isn't explanation. Art is what an artist does, not what an artist explains. (Or so it seems to me, which is why I have a problem with the kind of modern museum art that involves reading what the artist says about a work in order to find out why one should look at it … Continue reading art quote – Le Guin 11.5.2020
In August of this year, I learned about a collective, community mural to be displayed on the University of Wisconsin campus here in Madison. Any community member could participate in this socially distanced art event, called "Threads of Hope." One could use any media they wanted, as long as it fit on an 8x8 inch … Continue reading community mural 10.22.2020
