becåUse tRavelling doesn’t neceSsArily meAn leåvinG hoMe
Eyes Wide Open came into being as this quilted piece made by Jennifer Goodenberger, an artist friend. Because she hangs in my bathroom next to the mirror, she got under my skin, in a good way.
When I look back at my first sketchbook begun during a week-long workshop with Mari Le Glatin Keis (author of The Art of Travelling with a Sketchbook), the first two days are such a struggle – I could only manage pencil drawings because I was afraid of color & I was still afraid to draw. But on Day 3, Eyes Wide Open made her appearance and the page exploded. She brought me color, a sense of style, and a joie de vivre that lightened my days and helped my spirit. She’s been with me ever since.
▴ Sometimes we are one, and sometimes I just use her to help me see the 10,000 things. Even when I forget, that’s what Eyes Wide Open (‘EWO’ ) does. She sees. I draw. We are one. ▾ This sketchbook practice has come to be important to me, to my sanity, and to my center of balance.
If you keep an eye out, you’ll find her within many of the sketchbook’s pages, tho not every one…she likes an occasional nap.
My Solstice Gift to You
Astoria Oregon, even in the dead of winter, is full of so many gifts. That we can be on the edge of the continent – a Columbia River estuarine blend of salty ocean and mountain snow. That the sun is shining on this shortest day of the year. That the hawk just visited our birdfeeder, but the little birds saw him first, so he settles on wire with a grumpy shake of his tail before he flies back into the forest. That on a winter morning we can see dawn reflected off the windows of our neighbor across the river, but the color shows up only in the water; the windows above stay dark-filled. That there are places downtown that invite us in to draw all winter long, maybe even a little pot-bellied fire for warmth.
I love this town. Its gritty, rusty, creosoted and moldy beauty. I wish it a peaceful Solstice, and you as well.
Explore
Explore has become my theme for how to live in New England. For our second trip to Tanglewood, we decided to add on a day of New York exploring, so designed a trip that would take us over the border into the Catskills. This page is, indubitably, a challenge for you, the online reader, but I keep reminding myself my sketchbook is primarily a tool for me. In this case, a mile-by-mile travelogue of notes for my memory and use.
It does include our last visit to MassMoCA with Lisa and Dave as well. I love the image that Greg photographed of the three of us looking through that intense window of cold and light.
What’s Summer Without a Fair?
Have I mentioned it’s been a long, hot, humid summer? This made getting out to explore more difficult. As well, the summer is quiet here in Amherst with most of the students gone. But with Labor Day comes the Harvest Fairs. Greg had been looking forward to this one all summer, held in Northampton. ❤ I fell in love with the oxen.
Summer Is Passing
And too quickly for my taste. Some of these images I have drawn more than once, because now we can go places we’ve been before. But the drawing of something I’ve already drawn is still new, when I see it with fresh eyes, in this moment, this light, this mood. ❡ Tomorrow is Autumn Equinox … I think I blinked.
The Garden Was Extravagant
It seems fitting that, as winter descends, I post my end of summer days. Fitting as well that this particular day found me sitting outside for long stretches of drawing – watching Greg in his gardener role & thoroughly enjoying what this garden has to offer, or sitting quietly staring into the forest. For the forest today, as I write in mid-November, is nothing like it was then. How things change here! ✦ This is yet one more thing I find I’m liking about New England. Seasons change so fast from one to another, I just can’t keep up. It might snow soon!
An Autumn Outing in New Hampshire
Still a little early for deep Fall colors, but we wanted to avoid the crowds, taking back roads north on a lovely day (& not long after the Massachusetts primary). For some reason, I rarely start my journeys in the correct order – one of my tenets of sketchbooking is – just be where you are. So of course I started at the bottom, in order to follow the map north. ▾ & who’da thunk ... Willa Cather is buried in Jaffrey NH. She has a view of Mt. Monadnock❣️
God’s Acre
Whoa, it’s been awhile since I celebrated Greg. Made up for it, tho, & we had fun! ❡ Visiting the Old Burying Ground in Deerfield, we learned the term ‘God’s Acre’ refers to the small plot of land designated for burial in a New England town. ❡ And I’m still unsure about the sentiment on this gravestone – ‘The Mind’s the Standard of the Man.’ Would somebody ask Joseph what he was thinking? ▾ OK, I’ll translate that gravestone for you ...
Mr Joseph Stebbins–
Were I so tall to reach the Pole. Or grasp the Ocean with a Span.
I must be measured by my Soul. The Mind’s the Standard of the Man.
Looking Back
Time enough this winter to pore through sketchbooks ... 8 are complete! Many pages I’ve never posted, so this one wanted to make an appearance. One of our trips to NYC, before we decided to move, I tell the story of Kennis and her Polaroid camera. Drawing creates memory ... and it seems to also create friends. Lucky me❣️
A Spot Spot
A long time ago in a land far away, Greg and I wanted a quiet 4th of July. We found ourselves at a small marina on the banks of the Petaluma River with no one else around. Perfect. Meanwhile, traffic on a nearby highway was, well, insane. We lingered all afternoon, reading, napping, eating . . . quietly. When we were ready to head for home late afternoon, we noticed the tide had changed, and the small sailboat that had been anchored in the river in front of us began to turn. “Let’s stay and watch the boat,” I suggested. “That can be our fireworks.”⬩I love the turning of the tide, especially after 18 years on the houseboat. . . it’s so slow! So we settled in for one long last lingering moment, and when the little boat settled in the opposite direction, we saw the name that was painted on it.
SPOT
UK Explore
Though it was mid-November, we were lucky to have no rain and mostly not-too-cold days, so a lot of walking to our explores. But sketching en plein air, not so much. In Cambridge we expected to have lots of libraries to work in…also not so much. Yes there are dozens of libraries; they require permission to enter. So when we found the Sedgewick Museum, I was happy to sit at a table with a good light to work by, and oh, the things inside the museum to draw! ❡ It’s also always good luck to find a new word. Mr. Woodward’s study was part of the exhibit – who could not love viewing someone’s “Woodwardianum”?
More Summer Explores
This spread includes 2 trips to Tanglewood in one week, and now we feel comfortable with the venue. It is amazing – civilized, sophisticated, lovely, comfortable … all at once. The music – excellent. The grounds – picnickable. The drive there, easy. I might be getting used to this New England frame of mind; could that be possible?
A Dimsy Day
Is it glib to say this has been an overly rainy summer? We’re still not that well-versed on what a typical New England summer should be … but this was not it! ▴ I know … and it’s true … all the world is dealing with havoc, and most of us human types, not so well. So, in light of the world falling apart, how dare I say … it’s still so very lovely out here?
i think we should have an invitation for people to sign up to get notified when you add a new blog post (if you’re willing to send an email for that)