A Lighter Touch for Spring

Untitled: acrylic on paper, 11" x 14"

The season demands a lighter touch,

to sweep brush on paper,

to let colors swim and play, to caress,

then slide away.

Keep the white --

a reminder

of things to come, of what has been left behind,

of spaces for breathing,

for dreaming --

Time for Art-Making

Virginia Woolf's seminal work, A Room of One's Own, described three elements necessary for a woman to succeed in this world:   her own space, her own money and her own time. These days I believe that time is the most elusive, that our lives are being whittled down, byte by byte, despite all the gadgets that are supposed to save us time.

So it was such a pleasure this past week to take a vacation with nowhere in particular to go except to work in the garden, begin a quilt for my brother's new baby, walk, swim, read and mentally just wander about -- no required destinations, no agendas beyond watching the weather.

Obviously between digging in the dirt and other things, I made time to simply play about with paints and papers, not trying to create something for the gallery necessarily but rather to explore and enjoy whatever evolved. It was also my idea to use up as many materials on hand as possible rather then drive around buying more stuff -- the old "use up what's in the refrigerator first" concept -- and if I could recycle any old scribbles by priming over and beginning again, that was just fine with me. 

First Blossom

9" x 12"

acrylic on Nujabi paper
$175

or Matted Print

The Earth Forgets Nothing

12" x 16"

acrylic on Nujabi paper
$175

or Matted Print

An Oblong Day

12" x 16"

acrylic on Nujabi paper
$175

Zephyr

12" x 16"

acrylic on paper
$175

"Eloquence is spoken through the labor of hands . . . " 

Terry Tempest Williams, 

Finding Beauty in a Broken World