Winter keeps invading my spirit. I rally and laugh, and then a cold wind knocks me down to burrow under layers of fleece. The singular gift of winter in North Georgia is the lovely lace of bare trees. White oaks, red oaks, maples, poplars, sweet gum, sourwood, their dancing arms and fingers choreographed to some music … read more Branching out
Tag: art
Suddenly simpler
Sometimes my to-do list is so long, it makes me incredibly anxious. Even worse than the long to-do lists is the mess at my desk. Since November, even before I had a brain aneurysm, my desk has been covered with growing piles of paper: magazines, memorabilia, bills, receipts, cards, and random sheets of information. It corresponds to the … read more Suddenly simpler
Self-doubt
There’s nothing like doing market research on a book to make you feel that you’re not so special. Hundreds of thousands of books are published every year in America. The top nonfiction sellers mostly are written by people who are already famous – actresses, comedians, CEOs and mainstream media investigative reporters. I’m not famous, not … read more Self-doubt
The tugboat and the snowboarder
It’s just a messy pile of color – seven pieces of construction paper that I drew at random this morning and tossed on the board. What I saw in the pile was pleasant because of the colors. But no one would say it had beauty. I played. The triangles suggested mountains. First I did “A Stoplight … read more The tugboat and the snowboarder
Art therapy
A morning of colored glass. The gleaming pieces caught the sun and the glint of snow through the window. I wanted to handle them all. I got out all the glass fragments that I’d cut this week, and spread them out. And played. I made a dozen small pieces, just a few inches across, and experimented … read more Art therapy
Bluebirds and icicles
As I drove down the main road away from home, I braced myself for a lot of driving. Today was a long day full of errands and medical appointments. The car in front of me was going slower than I wanted it to, and I was annoyed. There was a sudden, brown blur. A hawk landed … read more Bluebirds and icicles
In search of perfection
[I drafted this post the day I had my brain aneurysm.] As I read the book Edward Hopper by Lloyd Goodrich, I was arrested by this sentence, The result, he said, was never quite what he had in his mind. This gave me a great sense of relief – that even Hopper, whose work is in the … read more In search of perfection
Workouts on paper
The state of my brain has begun to come out in my construction paper workouts. One that partially expresses the feeling of having been attacked: Trying to regain my sense of equilibrium: From yesterday, one that gets at the resistance from my brain to my own commands: Here’s me, with my ever-shifting levels of energy: And … read more Workouts on paper
The divided self
There is a split in my mind, in my love of life. It makes me crazy. Painting, photography, writing essays, singing … these make me feel happy and free when I’m immersed in them. But always the argument from the other side of the brain. That’s not enough. It’s not practical. You can’t make a living … read more The divided self
Coloring, at least
Around this time of year, I usually take a break of a week or so and do nothing but art. I call it the “Art Sprawl.” This immersion usually produces some nice drawings, progress on art projects and ideas for paintings. It’s also a time to focus on a particular technique. But I can’t do … read more Coloring, at least