Think...Outside the Box

"Outside the Box"

13" x 16" acrylic on canvas

2013

"This afternoon

in my grade level meeting

I must be prepared to

"think outside the box."

Right now

I'm remembering

the painstaking effort it took

to get in the box

in the first place.

Will there be applause

when we emerge?

Will the applause gratify us

the way the gasps of disbelief did

when we tucked our

last body

part

in?"

Poem by Mary Lee Hahn

New acrylic on paper

"Safe and Sound"

8" x 8" acrylic on paper

2013

Safe and Sound

Streaks of red,

Paint the sky,

Pink, orange, and gold.

Before the sun,

Falls from the sky,

And everything goes cold.

Indigo returns,

As do the stars,

A bright, shining light.

Guiding you back,

To your safe haven,

Away from the frozen, dark night.

But you want to begin again,

Stop feeling so small!

So you wait away,

For the light to peek around,

To make your new start,

This time, safe and sound.

~poem by JustARose

Mixed Media on Paper

"Shatter"

8 x 8 mixed media on paper

2013

Sonnet IX: There where the waves shatter

There where the waves shatter on the restless rocks

the clear light bursts and enacts its rose,

and the sea-circle shrinks to a cluster of buds,

to one drop of blue salt, falling.

O bright magnolia bursting in the foam,

magnetic transient whose death blooms

and vanishes--being, nothingness--forever:

broken salt, dazzling lurch of the sea.

You & I, Love, together we ratify the silence,

while the sea destroys its perpetual statues,

collapses its towers of wild speed and whiteness:

because in the weavings of those invisible fabrics,

galloping water, incessant sand,

we make the only permanent tenderness. 

~Pablo Neruda

The New Year

I took this photo the other day of a sweet, chubby Robin sitting in our tree....feels like a good New Year image. I am wishing for a New Year full of grace, simple beauty and feeling strength in myself. I want to sit on a branch and be perfectly happy...and fly when I want to. Takes a long time to get to that place...but I'm workin' on it!

Happy New Year everyone. xox

"I'm not afraid of
storms, for I'm
learning how to
sail my ship."

~Louisa May Alcott

Goats and a silly poem

Isn't this just the cutest picture?! I couldn't resist posting it because we can all use a little sweetness every day...and because that little baby goat reminds me of Abby! I found this on the San Francisco Chronicle's website SFGate.com which I usually check daily for their fantastic photographs. Click on "Day in Pictures" in the right sidebar to view them.

Here's a poem called "Old Hogan's Goat" from "I Went to the Animal Fair". Enjoy!

Old Hogan's Goat

Old Hogan's goat was feeling fine,
Ate six red shirts from off the line;
Old Hogan grabbed him by the rack
And tied him to the railroad track.
Now when the train came into sight.
That goat grew pale and green with fright;
He heaved a sigh, as if in pain,
Coughed up those shirts and flagged the train!

Circus Bear Painting

"Circus Bear"

4" x 5" acrylic and collage on paper

Well, this was fun! I just let myself go with the flow in the studio today and this is one of the things I came up with. It's available for sale in my Etsy shop.

It reminded me of one of my favorite childhood books called, "I went to the Animal Fair" by William Cole and Colette Rosselli. This is a very sweet children's book with 35 different animal poems by different authors. I lost my precious copy many years ago in a flooded out basement. James knew it was one of my very favorite things so he tracked down a copy and bought it for me one Christmas. It was very hard to find then...but now it looks like used copies are readily available. You should get one!

Here is the first poem of the book...

Animal Fair

"I went to the animal fair,
The birds and beasts were there.
The big baboon by the light of the moon
Was combing his auburn hair.

The monkey he got drunk.
He stepped on the elephant's trunk.
The elephant sneezed
And fell on his knees,
And that was the end of the munk,
the munk, the munk.
And that was the end of the munk."