Ties That Bind – Cut Paper Art
8 x 10 inch paper cutting.
“The ties that bind us are sometimes impossible to explain. They connect us, even after it seems like the ties should be broken. Some bonds defy distance, and time, and logic. Because some ties are simply… meant to be.” -Meditation Guru
Ties That Bind – In Progress (still)
Today is a desk day. I just picked this back up where I left off and finished cutting it out. Color comes next..
I’m finished with my outdoor shows for the year; only three more smaller holiday art shows to go before the end of the year (and not til after Thanksgiving), plus one exhibit at the Lawrence Community Theater. I feel like I was just gearing up for the art show season to begin before the summer… and it’s already in the past. Officially time to shift gears. I’ll be spending lots more time at my desk with pencil & knife in hand from here on out.
Maple Leaf Fest Day 2 Recap
The lovely sunrise going in this morning was an indicator of a great day ahead, perhaps. There wasn’t much different today than yesterday: lots of kind, smiling folks stopped by.. lots of familiar faces too that have returned from previous years. A really great time it was. Sales wise and just in general, it was my best Maple Leaf Fest so far. I also had really great booth neighbors which made it that much better. Thanks again to all you folks who came out and who continue to come out and support. I really appreciate it.
Maple Leaf Fest Day 1 Recap
Many, many thanks to all you folks who came out to the Maple Leaf Festival today. You REALLY came out. It was such a great day — great weather, great people.. So many kind, inspiring words and smiles. One of my large paper cuttings, “Twinkling Lights” has a new, loving home. Sometimes selling my art is like putting part of myself up for adoption.. I want it to go somewhere where I know it’ll be loved and appreciated.. and there’s never been a doubt in my mind with anybody who has bought my work.
I gotta admit, I’ve been on a bit of an art making hiatus: 1. because I’ve had some lingering things to get out of the way and 2. because my art needs to grow with me, and I’m giving it some time to figure out which direction to grow in. Things have to be constantly transforming.. Seeing so many smiles and positive reactions to what I had out there today was a really nice thing and makes me want to jump back into it just as fast as I can. Such a nice feeling. And just as nice was the sunset on my way home..
See y’all tomorrow.
Music: Dorothy Carter – Autumn Song
I’m off to set up for the Maple Leaf Festival (in the dark..). It runs today (Saturday) from 9am – 6pm and Sunday from 9am – 5pm. Pics and updates surely to follow. In other random news, I bought a ukulele and spent my friday night reading uke chord charts and tablature. It’s fun learning new things.. Have a great weekend.
Thursday Burrrsday: A Ramble
I spent the day matting prints and bagging greeting cards, and then I headed hometown-ward and enlisted my kind kinfolk to help me make up some buttons and magnets. I’m pretty well prepped for the Maple Leaf Fest this weekend.
I came across this photo looking through some oldies a bit ago.. Music has always been a part of my life (maybe a reason why a good portion of my posts here are music related..). “There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.” -Albert Schweitzer
In true Kansan fashion, I’ll bring up the weather. The wind right now is insane and blew me all over the road earlier. I posted a picture last week of a forest-like area which at that time was still lush with leaves, and today, those trees were completely bare. I’m now listening to the wind from a north facing room on the second story and it sounds like a roaring ocean. I like it. It makes me think of one of my favorite books, Song of Hiawatha by HW Longfellow. There’s a chapter about the four winds. Here’s an excerpt:
But the fierce Kabibonokka
Had his dwelling among icebergs,
In the everlasting snow-drifts,
In the kingdom of Wabasso,
In the land of the White Rabbit.
He it was whose hand in Autumn
Painted all the trees with scarlet,
Stained the leaves with red and yellow;
He it was who sent the snow-flake,
Sifting, hissing through the forest,
Froze the ponds, the lakes, the rivers,
Drove the loon and sea-gull southward,
Drove the cormorant and curlew
To their nests of sedge and sea-tang
In the realms of Shawondasee
etc…
I’ve posted Longfellow’s section about Wabun, The East Wind here before. Read it here.
Til next time..
Music: Chris Thompson – The River Song
Maple Leaf Fest. this weekend
I’m in full-on printing mode getting ready for the Maple Leaf Festival this weekend on the Baker University campus in Baldwin City, KS. It runs from 9am – 6pm on Saturday and 9am – 5pm on Sunday. If you came the last two years, I’ll be in the same spot on 8th Street (I think it was..). This is my 4th year there.. I don’t know where the time goes.
A Poem for Autumn: Assurance by William Stafford
Assurance
by William Stafford
You will never be alone, you hear so deep
a sound when autumn comes. Yellow
pulls across the hills and thrums,
or the silence after lightning before it says
its names – and then the clouds’ wide-mouthed
apologies. You were aimed from birth:
you will never be alone. Rain
will come, a gutter filled, an Amazon,
long aisles – you never heard so deep a sound,
moss on rock, and years. You turn your head –
that’s what the silence meant: you’re not alone.
The whole wide world pours down.