The fountains mingle with the river
And the rivers with the ocean,
The winds of Heaven mix for ever
With a sweet emotion;
Nothing in the world is single,
All things by a law divine
In one spirit meet and mingle -
Why not I with thine?

See the mountains kiss high Heaven
And the waves clasp one another;
No sister-flower would be forgiven
If it disdained its brother;
And the sunlight clasps the earth,
And the moonbeams kiss the sea -
What are all these kissings worth
If thou kiss not me?



-Shelley -Love's Philosophy

Outraged Ring-Billed Gull

Hello all,

This week is going to be extremely busy. I hope to find pockets of relaxation time, but there are many demands on me right now.
Today I got out anyway for a bit. I went to the waterfront which in my city is full of industrial waste and a new wind farm. I did not see many migrants, other then some white-crowned sparrows and one lonely killdeer. The killdeer had a broken leg and did not suffer long. An immature peregrine falcon flew past at warp speed and caught himself a killdeer breakfast. I am working with an older extended lens for photography which is no where near the clarity of my newer one that is being repaired. (yes that whole water issue) I did manage to sneak in some terrific shots of a group of turkey vultures who practically posed in front of the wind turbines for me. Lovely and very paintable and so not seen on this blog. (I do keep all of my best photos to myself so that I can use them as references)

I rescued a ring-billed gull that had gotten stuck in the muck on the waters edge. He was very emaciated and did not put up much of a fight. He is hopefully getting the treatment he needs at the vets. I do not have the time anymore to care for them myself. I miss it and rather enjoyed having a rescue today, although I have great sympathy for the injured bird. It is always a thrill to hold a wild bird.

One backing the other

I have had a good chance to reflect on some of my paintings. Normally I race on ahead to the next one and leave the others, finding the flaws in them so apparent. So today I framed them for a show and lovingly patched any scratches. I got a chance to see them again as I had when I danced my brush over them. I felt the space they were born in as they grew out of lines on canvas. I took some time to look over the discoveries I encountered in them and remember the magic I felt as I reached a new level with my skills. These little moments are caught and go to be displayed. Perhaps someone else will discover something in them and give them a new life away from me.

The O'Keeffe Crib

I don't have much tonight, I have work to get to. Do know I have my first ever solo art show (it is at a tiny venue, but still)... So I am busy getting my work ready for the set-up day. It seems my art career is slowly leaving the ground. Otherwise I have been generally not so comfortable since I am dealing with a serious bout of poison ivy. This is bad timing as I want to look decidedly fabulous for my show and will have some lovely rose red patches on me in some not so easy to hide places. I am not overly vain, but it is slightly disfiguring and I want to look damn sexy. It is difficult to type with a cat laying on your arms and part of the laptop. So off I go, trying not to scratch but so badly wanting to.

Pike Skull

I am so eager to keep on under the influence of what is round me here-and develop myself-I know it will be worth it to myself and to anyone who may be interested-I am past the point of having ambitions other than for my work-I have but the one object and I have learned economy through experience and do not interest myself in the game of being the well to do artist. I merely want to prove my right to what I venture to believe mat be true-and what you yourself generously say, that I am an artist. I do not as you know also-aspire to greatness or outward success-I merely aspire toward perfecting myself-and I can do most toward this end at this time here where the atmosphere and general conditions are conducive to growth.

-Madsen Hartley in a letter to Alfred Stieglitz from the book, My Dear Stieglitz

Someone had a wonderfully calm way of making the craziness of today seem to vanish for a few moments.

I really needed this today- it is a rather funny video I found on Udge's blog.

Slicing Ginger

Not sex. Not sex,
but sexual: the way
the weather hangs
at the edges of sight,
the way the paring knife,
pressed and warm as any
lover to my hand, slides
just under the soaked
brown skin, opening
the earth of it, opening
the undiscovered, white-
fleshed seam in the scarred
and sacred earth:
lemon-sweet, lemon-
sweet ringing of bodies
through the room.
Plumes of longing bleed
in my hand as the small
blade pares into the
mole-blind, uprooted,
incantatory fruit-the
slices hitting the
hot oiled iron with
a singing of fire on
wet wood, and the tiny
suns exploding there:
huge and redolent and
almost human.

By Frank Black from Turning Over the Earth

The last day of summer bumblebee

Unrequited

Bury it under layer over caustic layer
the small jewel of the center
it's memory sweet
as it's old illusion
and as you look into it
you can dream
but covered well
it survives harbored
under a thousand old wishes
impermeable in it's centered shell
as it waits for other lifetimes
the core is pure
it can stand the weight

-By the Corbyhawk herself

Now the fact is
that there is hardly
a roadside pond or pool
which has not as much
landscape in it as above it.
It is not the dull,
muddy, brown thing
we suppose it to be;
it has a heart like ourselves,
and in the bottom of that
there are the boughs
of the tall trees, and the
blades of the shaking grass,
and all manner of hues,
of variable, pleasant light
out of the sky; nay,
the ugly gutter that stagnates
over the drain bars,
in the heart of the foul city,
is not altogether base;
down in that, if you look
deep enough, you may see
the dark, serious blue
of far-off sky, and the passing
of pure clouds.

-From John Ruskin Considers the Nature of Water, Circa 1842
-found in Ruskin's Modern Painters discovered by me in Ralph Black's book Turning Over the Earth. He is a poet I met yesterday evening who read to all of us which is always delicious to the soul. I will be posting some of his work soon.
My life, well it is utter chaos lately.

Notched

I feel like my life is suddenly on fast forward and I am unable to catch up. All of these things are happening around me and I cannot seem to get enough done. It is all good stuff but I am overwhelmed. I have this funny feeling that it is not going to slow down any time soon and this hectic pace will become the norm. My emotions are just as chaotic under the surface.

This bird can really travel, check it out here