Aerial Landscapes

(Written 09.03.08, but somehow not posted until 09.04.08)
Flying home from a quick visit to see my dad... These are shots I took on my flight out -- of fields as we approached Sacramento. The photo doesn't do the very-graphic landscape justice -- the shades of green were beautiful. Now, as I fly back to Denver, I see the first white of snow on the mountains. It looks like powdered sugar just dusted over the highest peaks. When I look down from a plane window I often think of Georgia O'Keefe's cloud paintings from above, inspired by one of her first airplane flights. No clouds this evening, but spectacular scenery. I always love the window seat!

Makeshift Studio

This is a 12 x 12" portion of a collage that I have been working on in response to a poem by Hilary DePolo. It is for a "Past Lives" show of art, and the poetry that inspired it, at the Curtis Arts and Humanities Center, opening in October. I was able to get away for a few days to Keystone, Colorado recently and I took my collage in progress with me. Here is a photo of my temporary studio near the picture windows of our room at the lodge, looking out on a mostly rainy day.
What the photo doesn't show is the four tote-bags of magazines and papers I took along, plus a 36 x 18" panel and the smaller square panel. (The bellman got a kick out of it, and a nice tip to boot!) I have now finished both pieces, which will be attached to each other for the show. It was a nice change of pace to work from a room with a big view! Since we had rainy weather, it was perfect light and a hugely productive time. Thanks to my friend JP for the timely invitation to travel!

Reflections

This photo was taken at the Museum of Modern Art last week while touring the Home Delivery exhibit of pre-fabricated structures. I was inside a plastic-walled house with photo cells embedded in the walls and the sun was setting so these great patterns were created. MOMA always inspires in unexpected ways! The Dali exhibit was spectacular. The following day I saw the Louise Bougeois show at the Guggenheim. She is one of my heroes and I can't wait to read more about her -- I splurged on the catalog. One of her "cell" pieces had the following embroidered text: Art is the guarantee of sanity. All this visual and intellectual stimulation is so great... plus time away to reflect on my work and motivations. Today I am at the National Gallery in Washington. More on that to come.

Moments

So glad I got to enjoy these wild clouds on the beach in Oregon a couple of weeks ago... life has been chaotic and challenging this last week as I am again reminded how life can change so dramatically in the course of a few seconds. As a result, I haven't finished the website galleries and they will have to wait a bit. Meanwhile, I hope to get back to my art-making routine very soon as it provides such solace and time for reflection when everything else is in a state of upheaval.