Mindful, Day 118, Sing

Today I share this devotional written for the UCC.org. Sing Quinn G. Caldwell

April 30, 2017

"…with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God." - Colossians 3:12-17 There are about 5,400 animal species that make complex, intentional, repeatable, musical vocalizations.  That is, there are about 5,400 species that sing.  The majority live in the trees, a few live in the oceans, a very few live underground, but there is one—only one—singing species that lives on the ground: us. Another thing: humans are the only singing species with a precise and shared sense of rhythm, which is what allows us to sing together.  Two birds might sing the same song, but they cannot sing it together. Another thing: if a roomful of people sings at the same time, they start to breathe at the same time as well.  Some studies suggest that if the drumbeat or bass line is strong enough, their hearts will begin to beat together, too.  And if we're singing together and breathing together and our hearts are beating together, then it's like we're one body.  And you know Whose body it is. Another thing: all the other species stop singing when danger approaches.  But humans sing louder the closer the danger gets. We sing together, and we become large, and we do not back down. So come racism, and "We Shall Overcome" you. Come fear, for "It is Well With My Soul." Come war, for tonight is your "Silent Night." Come death, for "Jesus Christ is Risen Today." Come, all ye faithful, and sing.

Mindful, Day 117, You Never Know

I had 3 pieces in the 4th Friday exhibit at the Starline Gallery, Harvard, IL last night. One of them was Generation 2500, aka the big red ball, that was part of the Stories of Migration exhibit at the National Textile Museum in Washington, D C just about this time last year. It was great to see it displayed in a large gallery space again and to watch peoples reactions. It also won an Honorable Mention which is always a good thing. You never know what is going to happen when you put your art out there!

Mindful, Day 116, Work in Progress

Working on the many new tree stump photos that I have taken in the woods of late. This will be large - about 42 inches wide when printed. All the little details in the textures will show up more and the large orange crack will be even bolder. And then there will be sittiching or overprinting. Below is the original photo. Sometimes the joy of working on these is to see how far you can go.

Mindful, Day 115, Pointilism

Rain, rain, go away. All of my floewring trees bursting into bloom while we have  more days of rain.   I am only getting to see them through raindrops. The good in this is that they are getting well hydrated but the bloom time is so brief and I want to be standing under the tree inhaling the sweet smell without getting soaked.  I may go do it anyway.

Mindful, Day 114, Remembering

My first husband, Barry, who died 12 years ago today. Remembering the good times and the hard times. He has missed so much. A good and gentle man with a creative mind and a kind heart.

Mindful, Day 113, Unexpected

I have been photographing all of the  monoprints I made last year and digitzing them so that I can manipulate and reprint as textiles that can be manipulated into...something. To be determined. The backing and forthing between the two mediums often leads to unexpected results. And the unexpected results often leads me to new work or insights. So as time intensive as it is to convert these pieces I am excited about what MIGHT happen. This is the original monoprint. We shall see where it ends up!

Mindful, Day 112, Rock and Roll

Rachel and I had a first yesterday! I walked and she rolled in the Human Race, a 5K event to raise funds for our local county charities.  We had a fun time on a beautiful morning with lots of other people include many in superhero costumes.  We were not sure if her wheelchair battery would do 3 miles straight but no problems. It was good to have such a great experience together and I am proud of her for getting out there and making it happen.

Mindful, Day 111, Looking and Seeing

 My glasses laying on the counter took on a very interesting shape when the late afternoon sun hit them. I keep seeing some sort of strange animal walking. And this was before I had a glass of wine! Easily amused.

Mindful, Day 110, Possibilities

Working over the past few days on manipulating the new tree ring photos I have taken on walks of late. I am liking the change in viewpoint to an offset view.  Now I am go ing to do some variations to see what will work best with additional stitching or other techniques.  Sometimes I like this part of the process the most - when I get to just play with possibilites.

Mindful, Day 109, Two for One

The ferns are unfurling more each day.  And with some sunshine we get to see both the real and the graphic version!

Mindful, Day 108, Abstraction

 I walked past the cut log with the Cat Face marks again yesterday, shot it from differing angles and it totally changed my perceptions. I like the closeup above because it is so abstract and dimensional. And I like the one below because I no longer know what I am seeing immediately. I think the detail one is going to show up in some art work soon!

Mindful, Day 107, Standing Tall

The ferns are starting to unfurl in the woods. Some are already standing tall against the backdrop of the dark trees. I need to come back in a couple of days and see how far they progress. I love how the heads are all tucked in at the start and then spiral up and out.

Mindful, Day 106, Cat Face

On my morning walk in the woods I see this in a pile of cut logs. I see a cat face complete with a little black mark over one eye as well as markings for fur and whiskers.  A delight for the day.

Mindful, Day 105, Circles and Ovals

 

The early morning sun (yes sun!!!) is coming in the window from the left, streaking across the room to hit the window on the right and throwing light back along my Chinese chest, creating long oval shadows back to the left. I love the differing ovals and also the fact that the shadow is going in the opposite direction then I would have expected. An early morning surprise!

Mindful, Day 104, Easter Bloom

A walk in the woods before the rain. Tiny little bulbs blooms popping up through the detritus of winter. The earth renews itself.

Mindful, Day 103,The Day Between

The day between Good Friday and Easter. Preparing to be with family tomorrow, trying to remember what Easter is really about. In between the sadness of Good Friday and the joy of Easter.

Mindful, Day 102, A River of Blue

I saw this photo on a site that I follow, The Atlas Obscura. This flower display is in the Heritage Garden in Sandwich, MA. They planted 35,000 grape hyacinth bulbs to do this. I can imainge the wind playing over it. A lot of effort for a couple of weeks viewing but it does make me happy to see it. And to admire the tenaciousness and vision to create it!

Mindful, Day 101, The Power of Pause

I read this article at the Selvedge.com website this morning. I am struck by the title first and then the philosophy behind the work of Abigial Booth, an English artist. These quotes below capture it, especially the last one.

This focus on experimentation enables her process to be unhurried, starting each piece with a simple observation of a found object or architectural detail. From there she sketches, designs, naturally dyes and hand-stitches almost all of her quilts.

 As Abigail sees it, all of the materials command a certain level of respect as they are to all intents and purposes still alive – vats of dye for instance, will forever continue to change as they age. 

By tuning into the tiny details of the environment, Abigail’s quilts simmer down their surroundings, and draw out the natural power of pause.

This piece is Torn Bars, 2016, shown at http://www.forest-and-found.com/textiles/

Click on the link below to read and see her work on the Selvedge.com site.

The Power of Pause article

Mindful, Day 100, Changing Views

My kind of shots! Patterns, bedraggled materials, monochromatic, not quite knowing what you are seeing! (Hint-mesh fencing at a construction site.) I like what happens differently in each one. The top one you look through, the bottom one feels like a mirror.

Mindful, Day 99, and Counting

99 Days. 

Thinking about whether this is worth continuing.  Does its help me be  more focused as I go through the day. Yes. Does it lead me to look at the world more. Yes. Does it lead me to remember the orignal poem that I love. Yes.  Is it hard to do at times. Yes.  Has it led others to my blog or website. Not so much. Does it matter. Not so much. Should I keep going, if only for my own growth. Yes. How may days to go? 267.

Mindful, Day 98, Inspiration

 I love the TED Ideas Worth Sharing talks.These 6 talks/presentations cover all kinds of topics from Growing Your Own Cloths to Spider Silk and Fractal Design. One thing they all have in common is making you think about possibilities! Click on the link to go to the talks.

TED Talks for Fiber Lovers

Mindful, Day 97, Light and Shadow

The sunlight coming through the curtains throws the shadow of a tree branch against the curtain pattern that looks like Chinese calligraphy. And after I shot that I saw the larger dark geometric shapes in the two corners. Looking again, I saw the white lines from the street. So much to see in what seemed a very simple photo.

Mindful, Day 96, More Lines

Another amazing exhibit at the Savannah College of Art and Design was this one by Chiharu Shiota called Infinity and Lines. An entire giant room enveloped by red string to create open and closed spaces. It was amazing to walk through and be part of the red web. I am so intrigued by how she created this. Look at the chairs disappearing into the "red" through the web of string. This is when I want to have a conversation with the artist to understand the thinking behind the conception.

Mindful, Day 95, Color and Lines

I am at a confernce in Savannah and we went to the Savannah College of Art and Design to see the galleries. One of the featured artist was a colorist, Carlos Cruz-Diez. These shots were from a room that you walked into in which the color lines and patterns were projected three dimensionally on the ceiling, floor and walls and they were in constant motion. Very cool to see the changes as it went over objects and around the walls. Also dizzying.  I think about how our minds try to process so much information and that it is amazing.

https://www.scad.edu/event/2017-02-21-carlos-cruz-diez-exhibition-chroma

Mindful, Day 94, Give Me Light

Another gray day dawns. So looking for light anywhere to perk things up. I especially like the little area where the shadow falls over the flower. Little things, little things to get through!

Mindful, Day 93, Mind FULL

Mindful, mindFULL, too much going on in my brain.I need some sun, warmth, no rain. I need to get out and MOVE. I need to be in the woods or on a mountain.This is what I feel like.

Mindful, Day 92, Patternmaking

The sun coming through the windowpanes at the Starline creates blocks of color patterns on the old wood floor. I am surprised at how many different colors appear in the light. Usually when I walk through the floor is just a dark mass. So I get to see it with new eyes today!

Mindful, Day 91, Grins

Who would think that light and trash cans could create this image to smile at?

Mindful, Day 90, The Rapture of Seeing

The Rapture of Seeing: In memory of Ellsworth Kelly

“I think what we all want from art is a sense of fixity,” Kelly said, “a sense of opposing the chaos of daily living.” But for that one must risk contemplation, finding the time and space to share his clear vision. And if one does? Kelly’s pilgrimage amounts to a promise. “In a sense, what I’ve tried to capture is the reality of flux, to keep art an open, incomplete situation, to get at the rapture of seeing.”

http://www.americamagazine.org/issue/rapture-seeing

Mindful, Day 89, Happy Feet

Larry had knee replacement surgery 10 days ago and is recuperating at home. He is doing well but still needs rest and recuperation and he needs to wear the compression sox for awhile. Over those he has been wearing these zebra striped sox/booties. He has had these forever - I have other pictures of him wearing these sox. You see this very tall man wearing all black warm up outfit and then... at the bottom of the picture... these zebra feet. Makes me laugh....every time.