Raymond acquired a special relationship with this peak last year making it extra special to share the mountain magic together. For me it had been a decade since I dragged myself to the summit along with the 5 pound tumor that eventually robbed me of my uterus. Both the devastating loss of my girlie parts and the embracing love of this man have opened previously unimagined places of deep soul healing - rich, rewarding and beautiful.
The lure of a summit exponentially better (and more humbling) with Tala waiting patiently at the top. Pure joy.
Work in Progress
Radiance and Courage - hmmmm.
Not the way I woke up this morning swamped in hot flashes and confused by the light in the sky. I rarely miss sunrise since I find radiance and courage in the horizon. Today I shuffled blurry-eyed through the woods to climb the ladder and light candles in the “Loftie Room” at my studio. Now I sit, an hour later in my mother’s faded antique armchair listening to birdsong. I am grateful for the Kundalini practice which spun my mood. Meditation helps to burnish off anxiety and depression on mornings when the darkness creeps inside to grasp my innards. Breathwork, movement and mindfulness teamed up to remind me that radiance and courage are within. Wether sipped from sunrise, infused by birdsong, found in a lover’s arms, sprung from a child’s curiosity, beamed from your pet’s joyful eyes or composed via paper and paint within a gold gilded frame - radiance and courage are our birthright.
Studio Visitors
Full spring velvet glory, just hanging out at the studio…yes…look close… that is not a dog lounging at my studio.
Big Hearts Best Friends
Nearly inseparable, I cherish the bond between these two BIG-hearted unconditionally loving souls.
Image detail from the sculpture “Something Keeps Me Joyful” sculpture from “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden” series
Gold leaf, barbwire, and chisel marks seem appropriate as I reflect on the hardship, courage, cruelty, grace and goodness revealed in Emil and Adeline’s story. I grew up hearing bits of their harrowing ordeal - fleeing Stalin’s oppression, persecuted by Nazi’s and finding their way west to plant strong roots in my hometown. Emil and Adeline were both as tender and huggable as they were formidable. Their love for each other and family glowed - like a warm hearth with dancing flames I felt drawn to them. Halfway through reading Mark Sullivan’s recently published account of their story “The Last Green Valley,” I am humbled, gripped, heart-stretched, tender, torn and in awe.
Facebook Flashback
When your sweet little town asks you to gussy up a skateboard to raise money for the local skate park... (‘tho I‘m certain they didn’t use the words “gussy up”) - looking at the date from this Facebook memory (2016) I wonder just how I managed to squeeze this project into my overfull life.
The painted rabbit was inspired by Beth Cavener Stricher’s sculpture and the carved gilded leaves were remnants from “Autumn” an original sculpture I carved then cast in bronze.
SBCAST - artist residency
Early morning ocean energy soothes and invigorates my soul. Yes. Both.
I finally (after five days) ventured in the pre-dawn darkness to the beach. What took me so long....?! The last time I arrived in Santa Barbara (pre-Covid) the first thing I did was walk to the beach. Almost burned my Montana mountain white flesh as I forgot sunscreen in my eagerness (November 2019). Each morning during the month-long residency, I’d bike a few blocks to the ocean where I walked and meditated beneath impressive sunrises. This round , my second residency here, I realize just how much COVIDness encouraged my hermit tendencies. Lordy the adjustment from my studio at the end of a road near the top of a mountain to the hustle and bustle of city-life is an overwhelmingly bigger leap than usual!!!!! Frankly I find myself overwhelmed by SO MUCH civilization outside my door and between the ocean and me. Goodness the first time I visited the beach this trip was upon the invitation to a silent disco where my ice-climbing un-boot bound bare feet joyfully danced on grass next to the sandy beach. Headphones silenced the ocean while strangers’ smiles expressed unmasked joy on gyrating bodies (socially distanced) but so many peeps.
Thank you Ocean, for calling me out, inviting me IN -giving me strength and comfort, inspiration and recognition. Gratitude.
The foxes are in-the-raw at my studio for final approval before they go back to the foundry for patina (patina is the process of using a torch and layering colors for metal). I find myself exceptionally giddy about shipping the little sculptures off to their new homes since collectors have been patiently waiting for months. COVID crunched sculpture casting progress as foundries still struggle to to keep up. Don’t Fancy the little buggers look kinda fancy in front of the frame? (another new painting)
Change of Seasons...
Feeling spring as the ice melts and rivers flow...
“You do not step twice into the same river; for other waters are ever flowing on to you.” - Heraclitus (ca.549-480 BC)
"Song of Solitude"
“Work at least as hard in the invisible world as you do in the visible world.” -Rumi
Asked to participate in an exhibition with 49 other female artists and their response to COVID, “Song of Solitude” is the piece I shared in the exhibition called “I5OLATION - A Portfolio of 50 Drawings X 50 Women Sculptors during COVID”
Gratitude
I am a hungry big-eyed featherless baby bird perched in our nest on this mountain - happy to be fed bits of sky.
Crystal thoughts...
Grandma Smells Like Roses
Still feeling Valentine-ee - so how about a carved rose or two? Detail from “Grandma Smells Like Roses” - a series of sculptural fountains I created a few decades ago...
My Valentine
….gawd I love this man!!!
Raymond wrote this note on Facebook today:
“We still grow, learn, and love each other more each day. This adventure is what fuels our compassion and allows us to love the world and everything in it so.”
Will you be my Valentine?
Even when the cubs where just in clay they were obviously meant to be together - always.
True Cold Carries Crisp Clarity
Warm Tones on a Crisp Cold Day
“Rain Takes Off Her Clothes” - from the Neruda Sculpture series
I thought a warm-toned pic would be nice on a fat snowflake, deep-snow, super-cold day.
Hiking Above our Cozy Mountain Home
Light-footed and fluffy with tail-wagging delight (and almost incognito), Tala is a daily dose of flow (with curiosity and awe).
New Year....on ice (isn't it nice?)
More deeply aware and appreciative of the transience in all things - my overwhelming feelings are gratitude and awe as we embark in a NEW year together.