The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly. ~Buddha
Thanks to you folks who placed orders in my Etsy shop over the last couple days. I found out a couple of my prints were featured on the front page of Etsy this weekend, so that was a nice bit of exposure for the art buying world. The pleasant weather this afternoon called me outdoors, so I walked the packages to the post office and stopped for a bit to sit under a tree on my way home.. and made little pictures.
“I have no right to call myself one who knows. I was one who seeks, and I still am, but I no longer seek in the stars or in books; I’m beginning to hear the teachings of my blood pulsing within me. My story isn’t pleasant, it’s not sweet and harmonious like the invented stories; it tastes of folly and bewilderment, of madness and dream, like the life of all people who no longer want to lie to themselves.”
“The things we see,” Pistorius said softly, “are the same things that are within us. There is no reality except the one contained within us. That is why so many people live such an unreal life. They take the images outside them for reality and never allow the world within to assert itself. You can be happy that way. But once you know the other interpretation you no longer have the choice of following the crowd. Sinclair, the majority’s path is an easy one, ours is difficult.”
I spent my day Friday cooking up a feast for some of my favorite friend & family folk. I love cooking for people and I don’t get to do it very often.. Red lentil soup & curried butternut squash & cashews. My friend Jeanette brought a homemade apple pie with apples that she picked. Good, heavy, autumnal food for a cool, rainy autumn evening. Good times. And I was out like a light by 10pm.. and I’m back to work today after the rain caused me to nix plans to take my kayak out on the water. Can’t wait to get out there with my camera and capture some of the fall foliage in it’s prime from a different perspective. The Maple Leaf Festival is coming up next weekend in Baldwin City, KS. Lots of printing & prep to do, and I’m ready to get back to making some new art.. hoping to finish a couple new pieces to display there. Til next time..
I started out my morning run on the river levy with a sighting of two bald eagles flying along the river. The sky was pretty dark grey which I’ll admit to loving in the autumn. It really brings out the vibrance of the leaves on the trees whose branches are a bit more exposed and creaky in the wind. For some reason, it feels like I’m standing inside a warm memory out there amongst them. There was an area of maple trees beaming their bright reds and purples. I wanted to climb in and never come out.. A little over a mile in, I spotted another bald eagle fly in from the field to my left and over the tree line on my right toward the river. I whispered for it to come back.. and sure enough, about two miles in, it emerged from the trees and flew ahead of me along the trail for about 50 yards before going back into the trees. I stopped where I saw it fly in and it flew out again and hovered above me momentarily before making it’s way to the other side of the river. I watched it through a break in the trees as it landed on a branch above the water. I had been feeling a little sluggish this morning, and that gave me all the energy I needed to continue on my way. I also had a brief conversation with a wolf spider who I stopped for as it was crossing the trail (I’ve reconciled my relationship with spiders), and came up with two more ideas for paper cuttings.. or I should say, they were inspired by the morning. Happy Friday.
UPDATE: I took particular notice of the back of the spider because it looked rather spiny looking — almost like a tiny furry pine cone or something.. and with a little research on the ol’ interwebs, I found out that the spider that I saw is called a “rabid wolf spider” and her back looked spiny because she was carrying her babies on it. Cool.
The Aaron Douglas Art Fair folks posted a bunch of pics on their Facebook page from this year’s art fair, so I’m borrowing a few to post here. A couple shots inside my tent:
