Pink Rose Morning

Snowshoe Morning

 Glory all around, then I got home to popcorn clouds and turkey tracks all over the driveway.

Head in the sky, feet on the ground, not a bad job we have.

Lemonade

My neighbor's Hawthorn 

Lemonade from lemons, the ice is beautiful on this Hawthorn.

And again

Today was another persevere word. The morning walk is quite slowed down and difficult, little, mincing, careful steps, not my style. It’s not exercise, it’s not a stretch and my muscles are sore from tight rope walking for miles because we are too stubborn to turn around or not to go. The dogs are wild show offs. They bound around, run ahead, slipping, sliding and all tumbled up, happy as anything, falling all over the icy place. Nowadays I only like to fall gently onto soft things, like down comforters and pillows. And I can see that the day will come when even that will be dangerous. We try to make good choices, but there is much that we don't get to choose, it just is, for the moment and then it is the next thing. Happy dogs, smart pups.

Winter Patterns

Early color

Rocks and ice 

Clouds

Trees

Wonderful

The Hobby Horse has great form. Whoever made him had a great eye or a really good pattern as well as good woodworking skills and practices. The Hobby Horse has also been, well mauled. Someone cut off his mane and his ears. He's lost a stirrup and half his tail is missing. Plus he's quite tarnished and he has various nails driven into him in odd places. As I have been working on this section or that I have thought about who might have made him, when and why. And I have thought about a child altering him. The complex emotions someone goes through when they realize, 'Oops. I can't undo making Barbie bald'.

Last night I sanded the bottom rail where the horse has wood burned initials. Lo and behold, sanding revealed Mr Hobby Horse is dated. 11/18/1979. Day he was finished, day he was given to someone, someone's birthday?

It's not clear to me yet what story my initials on Mr Hobby Horse will tell, maybe still maiming but with the skills to put Barbie's hair back on. Wonderful.

Please Wait

Dunderhead

Both my camera and my phone constantly give me a screen that says "Please Wait".  Those were the words in my head when I came back from the walk this morning and I was adding antlers on the Hobby Horse.

Every morning, every single morning except for today, I wait for Jen to drive away first. This morning the walk ended early as the road had the surface of a bottle and I kept falling even with ice grippers on. When we got back to our cars Jen realized she had dropped her glove. I waited, she picked it up and headed for her car. We had parked just off 100 at the beginning of the Dam Road instead of driving all the way in, I hollered good bye, turned around and drove away as Jen was getting into her car.

Hardly does Jen call me at work but she did and yes, I should have waited. Jen had gotten stuck and after much ado, wound up using her windshield scrapper to mar the road to get enough traction to move the car. And yes from now on, I will wait.

Mr Hobby Horse

He likes to eat browse

 I took the hobby horse home. I couldn't help myself, he needs ears and a mane and one of his stirups is missing. It will be a miracle if he gets those practical assets from me, as you can see I lean more along the lines of making his thinking plain.

and he has apples on the brain.

Winter

The lake froze over

Rose is a happy busy dog

and rocks are in their glory

Red Orange

Here's a red orange sunrise from one day last week.

And more kindness

There was a mean wind kicking up outside this afternoon when Lenny Chapman, Renee Galle and I headed out to install new paintings around the Village. This painting is by Sue Spengler and it is on the east side of the Cady and Dugan building on South Main St. It's a great painting and a great kindness on everyone's part to lend their hands and their skills to care for our Village in its time of need. Thank you artists, Joan Lovel, Jim McGrath, Sue Spengler and Renee Galle. And Lenny Chapman, helping every step of the way!

Kindness

Window at Manyu's, dressed by Renee Galle

Last night I went outside with Rosie at midnight. The slightest little dusting of snow had started. Oh good I thought, it will be too slippery to drive to the Dam in the morning, I'll sleep in. And I did sleep in, I got up at 6. Getting up in the dark used to seem mean and uncivilized to me, now I'd have to be sick to willingly stay in bed through sunrise. Life changes everything. Renee is right, snow and kindness change everything too.

Worry {Joy Huckins}

"Calais Field", Joy Huckins,  oil, 24"x 30"

Worry is one of those words with multiple meanings implying both positive and negative characteristics. Dogs worry bones and people worry rugs. Some painters worry canvas. Artist Joy Huckins worries about the texture of light. Layer upon layer of paint reveals the spectrum of colors invovled in sunlight brushing a tree. Reds, yellows, blues, greens sit upon one another until we can’t tell them apart and yet somehow one sees the green trees brushed with the late afternoon purple light. And the worry of the paint has become pure beauty. New Joy Huckins paintings came in today!

Play

My new chair has play in its legs. I go back and forth in my mind as to whether or not I should try to eradicate it. This a a typical artist type conundrum. Why wouldn't I fix the chair? Well, for one thing, the play in the chair is honest to the chair's age. And furthermore, it is a tad unnerving when you sit in it. Using chairs as my canvas has opened up a train of thought around sitting and seats and staying in your seat. Often since the flood, one thing or another has come up where I'd really like to whirl around and have things come out my way. But it has been just as obvious to me that I would achieve nothing but exhaustion for my thrashings. So for the most part, I have stayed put. True, sometimes nervously wiggling about but sometimes seated, patient and quiet. Waiting.

This Morning

Bountiful

Don't you love that hobby horse? I found him at Chapman's Antique Barn on New England Power Road. Over the course of this winter I am going to have a selection of items from the Chapman's bountiful barn in the gallery. Lenny and Diane brought the first batch over today. A sweet little love seat and a sofa, a sewing cabinet, a clerk's desk, the hobby horse and an amazing old tricycle. They look great in here with the paintings! Come check it out.

Security

Most of my work was damaged or ruined in the flood. The sheer volume of my work combined with my tendency to continue working on a piece if I was in the same room with it led to a lack of photographic documentation. The other day as I was filling out an application to once again be a registered Teaching Artist with the Vermont Arts Council I realized oops, what do I have for documentation of my work?

Sure enough I immediately found a salvaged disc with the exact number of images on it that I need.

It is very easy to find worry these days, half a Village, no snow and an ongoing uneasy national economy. These little random kindnesses like finding the right documentation when I need it, I am betting on it.

Sedate

Sedate with Ernie

This is my new chair. Ernie has been breaking it in almost nonstop since I brought the chair in the house yesterday afternoon. The chair’s sedate life is about to come to an abrupt end. For almost a year it’s been in the back of my mind that I wanted to do something to/with chairs. I have a wood burning tool kit, jewelry saws with sharp thin blades, paint, inks, nails, birch bark, who knows where this will go. For now, the chair is going to have to trust the processor.

Trusting the processor

Early morning, looking for sunrise through the trees.

This week both customers and friends had to help me swipe with the new credit card "Square" processor and my iPad. Yesterday after more fumbling with the processor, the iPad and a cardiologist from Austria, I had a clear thought and decided I might not be the only slow learner with this new technology. I went to my "Square" account online and sure enough there was a four step tutorial on how to swipe a credit card. I did it 25 times minimum. I got it. I can swipe a credit card with that thing. I have to tell you, it is so cool. And I love how easy it is to use now that I know how. And no, my ridiculousness is not lost on me.