Up Early

Hello, Its just 10am now and I have been up for hours. Must have been the crows they were especially noisy this morning and very early with their noise. That was it for me, I was ready for the day. Began with a cup of white tea and my notebook of which I mean an old fashioned loose leaf notebook not the lap top. I wrote for a long while. Lots to mull over. I went to the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, Maine yesterday to see the Charlie Hewitt show and was bowled over. So much energy, such depth of feelings and emotions when confronting the work. Now that's a strange word to use but that's what it felt like. A confrontation. And yet I was drawn into the darkness, the range and richness of color, the ideas that informed the work. The titles were also leading you into thought patterns of what our world is now and where it had been. These were mostly new work but some had been done a some years ago. It is called a 20 year retrospective. His wide array of mediums was also exciting. I too, like a lot of different mediums and have always gotten chastised for that so it was validating and refreshing as well to see what he took on with passion, color and subject. He repeats several images that can be read from your own perspective or you can actually read the catalogue and learn where they have come from. Rooster, comma, spade, fox or wolf, fish/man, jazz trumpet, nails, rebar and on. He uses these image to break the plane of his canvasses and under the many layers some other meaning is formed. His drawings are very beautiful on white Arches paper with ink. Then a few prints hidden over in a small corridor were worth the search. Pure delight and again just a few colors, sanguine, white of the paper and black ink. One wall when you first came in was covered in 8 by 10 canvasses which formed a grid not unlike a quilt. And according to one security man was done to engage the feminine perspective. He had more to say about the whys and wherefores of hanging and curating a show. Some was interesting some not. If you live in Maine I highly recommend this show its up until October 15th. Then we are also in luck as he will have a print show at Bates this fall from October 27th thru March 18th, 2007. This will be in conjunction with the Maine Print Project which has its own web site of the same name fmi.

I have had some interesting comments lately about writing and even books using my paintings in them. For now I am rereading all my Natalie Goldberg books and highly recommend them if you have any inclination to write. I just finished The long Quiet Highway where she tells of her encounter with Zen practice and what it has meant to her as a person and a writer. Just beautifully written, Next is Wild Mind. Then I have to find a copy of Writing Down the Bones as mine has disappeared. So looks like I will keep on filling notebooks for a while but writing is important to me now. I welcome your comments!

Be creative and engage life, Diane