Return

Mountains, flat-topped and cold. Snow has come, finally. To open the season of return, the Festival of Iron.

Spirit

Love this jet-window photo: an offering, running river spirit? Flight from Baltimore to Boston, somewhere around Long Island, I think.

Painting weekend

A November 11th-13th workshop coming up, 6 spaces left. A fine immersion in painting. Here in Boulder CO. See details and registration form at my website.

Paint

Detail of a JS Sargent painting, society portrait, a polka dot dress… Lush, beautiful, fakery of painting, gotta love it.

From the sky

Flight to Boston, earlier drawing field patterns, then weather along a river with power plants, power plants creating their own kind of weather, clouds drifting downwind. The serpentine curves of rivers flow over the ground, so many as we fly east; from the air, patterns of flow not the real sense of moving water, but the pattern made by moving water. Just beautiful. The visible mythology of snakes & water.

Sewing

Happened upon Alabama Chanin again and her dedication to hand sewing. So, sewing again, by hand, making homely little bags for things – this one for a silver compote, a family piece. The bag is made of silver cloth that keeps tarnish at bay. I found a reference to Judith B Montano's Elegant Stitches at the AC site. Now this is a fabulous reference for decorative stitches! Trying out different ones to embellish these projects, designing & learning as I go. To the tunes of Laura Marling…

Enchiridion

A couple of pages from the ENKHEIRIDION I started in the summer. (I like the Greek spelling with the "k" and "ei".) The class ended this week, and most of us feel the process just got started. It's a curious one – writing one's own painting manual. I'm planning to keep at it, surprising connections crop up; it helps to work on it with others as their insights shed light on what we're blind to on our own.

Autumn equinox

OOPS! Forgot to post these on the Fall Equinox. One of two days you can balance eggs on end, most commonly done on the Spring Equinox and its association with eggs (Easter Bunny) and fertility. Here is the phenomenon demonstrated on September 23rd this year. Can it be done on other days? Never tried it.