Mindful, Day 248, Beautiful Tools

While photographing my old calligraphy brushes I am reminded that tools can be beautiful as well as functional. When they are both they are a joy to use.

Mindful, Day 247, On the Edge

Some of the treasures I picked up earlier in the week are starting to be incorporated into possible new work. I like the fragility of this leaf, on the edge of curling, on the edge of crumbling.  It is what fall feels like to me right now.  Everything on the edge of of ending.  Each beautiful warm day now is a precious gift.

Mindful, Day 246, A Glimpse of the Past

On Sunday when we went to the Rock River Thresheree I picked up this book at the flea market. I picked it because it said it was a 1920 Income Tax service book which seemed like it could be an interesting reading. To my surprise, it was re-invented as a cookbook binder.  It was so much fun to look at the old, handwritten recipes and to open up the newspaper clippings and other ephemera that was tucked inside.  A small glimpse into someones' life from 1920-1930.  It was definitely worth the $3 it cost me!

Mindful, Day 245, Persistence

My autumn flowering clematis starts out every year cut back to about 6 inches of spindly looking vines and by now it has grown 12 feet straight up and through the railings and floor of the deck! All the beautiful star shaped white flowers are just starting to open. Soon it will be covered in white. The ironic part of all of this is that my neighbors get the best view of it in bloom. Every year I am re-astonished by how profuse and strong this scrawny little plant is in the end!

MIndful, Day 243-244, Gathering

I am mindful that it is TIME to start gathering up the beautiful things that summer has created that I can be working on this winter. I love this golden yellow hollyhock leaf. I think it is going to make a great addition to the Still Life in Indigo series.  I am looking forward to working on it - when it gets cold out!

Mindful, Day 242, Being in the Way

"I cannot cause light," Annie Dillard writes in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. "The most I can do is try to put myself in the path of its beam." 


This quote sums up what I am most often trying to achieve with my continuing to work away on my artwork.  The daily observations are one way to try to be in the path of the light. And often it comes, usually in unexpected ways or thoughts.

MIndful, Day 241, Today's Treasures

This morning's walk in the woods yielded lots of goodies that are potential for future work. And it was a beautiful day, sunny, cool, hardly any mosquitoes! What more could I ask of an early morning walk?