I am the Audience

Non-objective

December 22, 2016

art

I have been a fan of Wassily Kandinsky ever since I first saw a picture of his work.

And it puzzled me because I don’t (didn’t) really get abstract art. And I presumed Kandinsky was doing abstracts.

I was wrong.

Recently, I was at a gallery show with artists hanging around to meet the public. (Last Friday in Hillsborough) Lolette Guthrie was one of the artists at the Hillsborough Gallery of Art and we had a very brief conversation. She explained her Summer on Pamlico Sound to me.

There is a line that is the beach. There is a line that is highway that parallels the beach. There is blue that is the ocean and there is blue that is the sound. I don’t entirely get abstraction. But, I have a better understanding.

So, a couple of months after that, I was in Charleston and there was an exhibition at the Gibbes Museum of Art that included work by Kandinsky.

I learned that there is non-objective art. Art that doesn’t represent, in whatever form, objects. Rather, it creates a mood, a feeling, using space and color and shapes. And it resonates so much for me. It is jazz for the eyes.

It just grabs me by the heart.
Downy

December 20, 2016

a day in this life, birdwatching

Look who’s back!

We don’t see woodpeckers often and they’re skittish. So, I’m tickled when they do show up. In the past, it’s been late January or early February before they’ve made appearances. I’m not sure if this simply means that they know we will feed them or if this is a bad sign for the coming Winter.
The Dead by the Side of the Road

December 8, 2016

dancing in the field of dreams, poetry and songs

THE DEAD BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD

How did a great Red-tailed Hawk
come to lie—all stiff and dry—
on the shoulder of
Interstate 5?

Her wings for dance fans

Zac skinned a skunk with a crushed head
washed the pelt in gas; it hangs,
tanned, in his tent

Fawn stew on Hallowe’en
hit by a truck on highway forty-nine
offer cornmeal by the mouth;
skin it out.

Log trucks run on fossil fuel

I never saw a Ringtail til I found one in the road:
case-skinned it with the toenails
footpads, nose, and whiskers on;
it soaks in salt and water
sulphuric acid pickle;

she will be a pouch for magic tools.

The Doe was apparently shot
lengthwise and through the side—
shoulder and out the flank
belly full of blood

Can save the other shoulder maybe,
if she didn’t lie too long—
Pray to their spirits. Ask them to bless us:
our ancient sisters’ trails
the roads were laid across and kill them:
night-shining eyes

The dead by the side of the road.

~Gary Snyder
Turtle Island
Yoga philosophy

September 5, 2016

Beautiful, dancing in the field of dreams

Patanjali’s 8 Limbs of Yoga

Yamas (Restraints)
– Ahimsa (non-harming)
– Satya (non-lying)
– Asteya (non-stealing)
– Brahmacharya (of Brahma)
– Aparigraha (non-hoarding)

Niyamas (Observances)
– Soucha (cleanliness)
– Santosha (contentment)
– Tapas (zeal for yoga)
– Svadyaya (self-study)
– Ishvarapranidhana (surrender)

Asana (pose)

Pranayama (breath)

Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses)

Dharana (intense focus)

Dhyana (state of meditation)

Samadhi (state of oneness)
Bat flower plant

August 8, 2016

a day in this life, dirt under my nails, home

Chuck and I went adventuring into Virginia last Thursday, looking for a labyrinth in Boydton. Coming home, we stopped at Cedar Creek Gallery in Creedmoor, NC. (It’s right off I-85, and worth a visit.) In addition to a gallery and studios, they have lovely gardens and a little plant sale area.

I wandered over to the plants (as I must) and found a bat flower blooming its heart out. I have seen pictures of them, but had never seen one in person. And they had a relatively small one (with no blossoms) for sale for $5.

It’s a terrestrial orchid and needs low light and high humidity. I accidentally did the right thing when I repotted it with extra vermiculite in the mix. I have it up against the back wall of my house where it gets early morning sun and it seems to be happy there. For now. When nighttime temps get close to 50ºF/10ºC, we will bring it into the living room and put a humidifier nearby.

I have friends who think I have a green thumb. I think I am simply willing to give a plant a shot. And I read the instructions that come on those little tags. (That wasn’t a lesson quickly learned.) And my yard has all the choices for sun.

I think the trick to keeping plants, is finding things that like what you have to offer. If you tend to want to water a lot, don’t get cacti or succulents. If you have a tendency to forget to water, go for those. And don’t beat yourself up if the plants you wish you could grow don’t love your climate.

When I lived in Charleston, SC, I had a collection of bromeliads and all of them bloomed for me. I moved from that house to a different angle and amount of sun and they all died. My care didn’t change, but the environment did. That has affected my plant expectations since then.

Non-objective

Downy

The Dead by the Side of the Road

Yoga philosophy

Bat flower plant