Inspirations

One good reason to wake up early:

I love this bent over Joshua Tree in our backyard. It feels like an old woman with osteoporosis, bent over with age. Yet she still stands, resilient in the wind.

I found this short little clip about Georgia O'Keeffe on youtube.com. It is well worth five minutes of your time.

Things that inspire

There are so many things in this world that make my heart sing.  One of the most delicious things in that category is friendship.  I am not only fortunate enough to have good friends that live near me, but also I have friends scattered all over the world.  Some of those friends I have never even met in person.  They are people who I have met because of the world of blogging.  It is amazing, when you think of it, that you can meet someone in another country virtually.  Mind-blowing.  To my dear friends, both near and far (you know who you are) thank you for being out there.  For putting up with me, and my incredibly long list of imperfections.   

Not too long ago, I checked my post office box to find a well-traveled brown envelope.  REAL MAIL!  Can you believe something like this even exists today?  Well, I hugged that envelope to my chest, and waited until I was at home to really savor such a special event.  Turns out that fellow artist and blogging friend Cynthia, from Germany, sent me this envelope with all kinds of goodies inside.  (Click on her name to read her blog.)  A beautiful handmade book, a card with an image of one of her paintings, and a tiny book with a cover made from a paint swatch.  So much fun!  Cynnie, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for such a thoughtful, beautiful gift!!!  Treasures.

Another thing that makes my heart sing is music.  I love music - many different kinds.  I nearly always listen to music when I paint.  Thanks goes out to M, my dear husband, who always supplies me with new interesting music to listen to.  Lately, I have been listening to several bands, and enjoying them immensely.  One such band is Over the Rhine.  Several of their albums speak to my soul, one of the favorites being Drunkard's Prayer.  Another band I have been obsessed with lately is a bit more obscure, perhaps, but equally compelling - Broken Bells.  There are many more wonderful bands making music that helps me paint, and I am thankful to them for sharing their music with the world.

I think I will devote more time on this blog to things that inspire me.  It is always nice to remind ourselves that creativity isn't something that comes from a vacuum.  It comes from how we interact with all that is around us.  So much of that is worth sharing. 

Shoreline.  Oil on canvas, 12 x 9 inches.  ©k. swenson2011

Art Happenings in Joshua Tree

On Saturday, I was out and about in Joshua Tree, catching up on just a few of the art events.  The first event I enjoyed was Martha Jacobson's lecture at the public library.  Martha Jacobson paints these really cool watercolors inspired by photographs taken by the Hubble Telescope.  There was a good crowd for the talk, and I enjoyed hearing Jacobson talk about her art.  I tried to take a couple of photos of her paintings, but they had glass on them and I did not get any good images to share.  The show stays in the library until January 5th, so if you get a chance, I highly recommend it.  The art talks are sponsored by the MBCAC and the Friends of the Joshua Tree Public Library. 

After the talk at the library, I went over to True World Gallery, where there is an exhibition of my friend Tina Bluefield's art.  They are showing a nice sampling of Bluefield's art, including abstracts, landscapes, and collage.  Apparently, the Red Arrow has now relocated to a space in closer to downtown Joshua Tree, but I did not make it over there.  I was too busy admiring Bluefield's paintings!  Plus, I was struggling to get myself back in the studio after too much time away from my own art.    

 

It is always better to see paintings live and in person, so if you are in Joshua Tree or vicinity, please do stop at True World Gallery.  If you don't live nearby, you can visit Tina Bluefield's website to see a bigger sampling of her oil paintings.

I have finally managed to get myself in the studio with oil paint once again.  After an interruption of over two weeks, I am struggling a little to find out where I was heading with my work.  I have jumped into an entirely new direction now, but I am beginning to rediscover the thoughts I had before leaving.  I hope to have something interesting to show you soon.

Books

What I have been reading:

1. Georgia O'Keeffe - A Life. Roxana Robinson. This book was generously lent to me by my friend and fellow artist, Lily Stockman. (Thanks, Lily!) It is a thick book, but I am enjoying it. I can tell that Ms. Robinson did a TON of research for this book. I once hated O'Keeffe's art! As I spent more time developing my own art and studying O'Keeffe and other great artists, I also began to respect and even love her art. One of the largest paintings I ever painted was a tribute to O'Keeffe. Here is a photo of it. It measured about 5 by 7 feet. Oil on canvas.



2. Jasper Johns - Gray. James Rondeau & Douglas Druick. This book was published along with an exhibition of the same title that was organized by the Art Institute of Chicago in November of 2007. A favorite quote: "I have attempted to develop my thinking in such a way that the work I have done is not me - not to confuse my feelings with what I produced. I didn't want my work to be an exposure of my feelings. Abstract Expressionism was so lively - personal identity and painting were more or less the same, and I tried to operate the same way. But I found I couldn't do anything that would be identical to my feelings. So I worked in such a way that I could say that it's not me. That accounts for the separation." J.Johns
This book was lent to me by another friend and artist, Tina Bluefield. (thanks, Tina!)

3. The War of Art. Steven Pressfield. Another borrowed book from the divine Tina Bluefield. I just started it this morning, since I just got it this morning.

Interestingly enough, I normally read fiction. I love the way a work of quality fiction transports me to another time and place. This reading of non-fiction is something new. Or maybe not NEW, but something I haven't done consistently since college.

I am an avid reader. Growing up, my family really didn't watch much television. To this day, I find reading to be a much more interesting past time for me than watching TV. In some ways, I realize this makes me a bit of an oddball. It's almost as though I am actually intended for a different era, when people didn't watch tv, but read books, wrote letters and made clothing by hand. Okay, so i don't make my own clothes, but in many ways I think there is something extremely rewarding to many of these kinds of tasks that we are missing out on in our present day lives. I love writing letters by hand. Even more so, receiving letters written by hand is the most delicious of gifts. See, I told you I was an oddball!!!

Fine by me.

What good books have you read lately?

New series of paintings

I forgot that I was supposed to post this photo yesterday. The only weak reason I have for my absentmindedness is that I had so much fun painting this first painting, that I did another one!!! The second one may not be finished yet. I am still thinking about that. It's also smaller, and so far, I don't love it as much as I love this first one. I will let you be the judge, but you have to wait to see the second painting in the series. (I didn't photograph it yet.)

This is acrylic on canvas (acrylic being a new thing for me!) It measures 6 x 6 x 2 inches. As you can see, the painting continues around the edges, which I think is really working. I have to tell you that this painting was inspired by Australian Aboriginal art, especially the art from the region near Utopia. My husband and I actually own quite a number of paintings from artists there. I have admired them for so long! This painting isn't nearly as wonderful as the paintings I have seen done by the Australian Aboriginals, but I had so much fun painting it. These are the quail that we have running all over the desert. They are called "Gambel's Quail", I think, and I have tried repeatedly to photograph them. But they are silly, shy little things, and so far have not been interested in having their photo taken. Hopefully one day I can have a photo for you. Until then, here they are in a painting, complete with their funny feathered tops. I love these birds!

Now, I must go to bed.

I ran off and joined the circus!

Yesterday, I woke to pink clouds over the mountains, so I knew it would be a magical day. What I didn't know is that I would join the circus.

I recently met a woman, Jennifer Dempsey, who is a member of the Scarlet Sisters. She is in the process of relocating here from L.A., believe it or not. I guess we are switching places. Well, she saw that I am small, and asked me if I had ever done gymnastics. Yeah, in HIGH SCHOOL!!! That was a long time ago. (don't tell) Then, she asked me if I missed it. Which I do. So she convinced me to go to "Circus for adults" at the Salida Yoga center last night. (it didn't take much)

We had so much fun! Jennifer is incredibly strong, and multi-talented, as you will see. She would tell me what to do, and I would do it, for the most part. There were a couple of the poses I couldn't do, but how fun! Then, there rings for tossing, plates for spinning, balls for juggling, and stilts for walking. FUN FUN FUN. This is the lovely and amazing Jennifer here, juggling while hula hooping! Whoa... I can barely walk and chew gum at the same time. I am definitely going to try the stilt walking next time. Her boyfriend, Dave was in charge of that aspect. I learned that plate spinning is NOT my special gift. However, I loved it, and I think everyone else who came loved it, too. I must say, it is well worth it to try something new every now and then. It makes life fuller, richer, and much more exciting.

Thank you, Jennifer and Dave, and everyone else who made joining the circus so much fun! (you know who you are!)

baby chicks at Murdoch's!

One of my favorite things in the spring (besides the teeny peeny cows) is that Murdoch's Ranch and Home Supply has baby chicks and ducks. They are TOO MUCH!! So cute and fuzzy and wonderful in every way. If you have the blues, just go to Murdoch's and see the little chirping things, and you won't be able to stay down. You just won't! It works for me. So yesterday, I went to see the baby chicks (they also had socks on sale, which is how I justified my indulgence). I liked those chicks so much, that I went out to the car, got my camera, and took some pictures just for you!

The close up shots didn't turn out, unfortunately. They were blurry. It's too bad, because they were cute. I had one chick in my hand (which you aren't supposed to do, but c'mon! this is free advertising!) and that one would have been particularly good, if I could improve my photo taking skills a bit. Oh well. If I didn't have a Murdoch's employee watching my every move, I might have been able to get a better shot. He was making me nervous, and it was too much pressure for an amateur such as myself. He kept asking if I wanted to buy some chicks, which of course I do, but I can't buy baby chicks when we are about to move!! So I told him that.

It was nap time for the baby mallards, and they were all huddled together under the heat lamp. I was a bit jealous. I wouldn't mind having a giant heat lamp to snuggle under every now and then. I really love to see a baby chick or duck standing in the heat of those lamps, because it almost puts them in a zoney trance, and they get heavy eyelids. Fun! It almost looks like they will tip over from the heat, but I have yet to see one do that. I have also discovered that if you are wearing a shiny ring and you put your hand in the bin where they can see it, they all come over and peck at your ring. It feels really funny.

These are my favorites, (well, they are all favorites!) with the fuzzy legs. I forget what they are called, but aren't they groovy? What amazes me every time is how things that are so tiny can be so amazingly LOUD!! You can hear them chirping the second you open the door. For those of you who don't know this, the chicks are delivered via the US mail. I find that extremely interesting, or at least I did until my sister told me that they don't all survive the mailing experience. I am just happy that enough of them do survive, so that I can visit them every week during the springtime!