Her Harmony Rising

Here she is, a woman of transformation, a stage that can come at any point. Yet arriving usually requires lots of care and exploration directed towards the outer container.
Now, it's all about the inner world, although she's attentive to her outer duties. Qualities like hope and gratitude feel deeply tangible, as if she is holding them with overwhelming familiarity.
This linocut is 12 by 18 inches, an elegant size and the perfect container for both detail and balance ...and ambition (a size like this takes at least a month to get through without rushing the slow and steady process of printmaking). ; )
Thanks for stopping by during this exuberant Spring!

Union

Union is a part of our intrinsic condition. Our separate identity is also undeniable. Here we have both. There is something immensely liberating in watching a significant other grow and transform, all the while standing respectfully (and emotionally) at the sidelines. We are born to move and extend our branches, to unite with others in moving and melting and surprising ways. Yet our own journey is always our own. And as we grow, aligned to our unique frequency, our own hearts grow larger and deeper.
For a linocut, this size (12 by 18 inches) is significant, and it took me a few months of gradual work and incubation. It's only at the end of all the carving that the artist witnesses the whole, and then, with overwhelming gratitude, thanks the journey into the unknown of the final outcome.
This linocut was hand pulled and printed on rich Arches mould-made paper, all the way from a mill in France that produced some of the first bound books in Europe.

And here is a recent watercolor of a Blue Jay that left us for a while; in the meanwhile, a equally visually intricate Sapsucker is in its place, making lots of squeaky-toy squeaking noises, quite a contrast to the Jay's shrill and authoritative calls.
Have a wonderful 2015, with lots of time to look up at the sky and marvel and marvel!

Six in the Morning

Before each painting, the prolific folk painter Grandma Moses started with her process of finding a suitable picture frame. Once she discovered one she liked, she would arrange her canvas to fit the frame, and off she went!
With linocuts, the entire process begins with the menial task of cutting a piece of Battleship linoleum to a certain size. After that, it's impossible to ignore the piece, and so conceiving and carving begin very quickly as the block calls out to be transformed.
This circle linocut (sized by tracing around a large salad bowl) is 12 by 12 inches, titled after that lovely time of the morning (at least, for those of us who are early risers!) and carved in the beautiful Piedmont Park, Atlanta. Have a wonderful rest-of-the-week-and-month!

New Installation

New installation! Thanks, Ananda seva, for the great pic! And thank you, Satchel, for the wall space, and, Judy, for expert facilitation. And a new study: Purple Crow (8.5 by 11 inch watercolor), for the passionate walkers among us, urban or rural. Have a wonderful, meandering week!

Women of Wisdom

This linocut is 12 by 18 inches, printed on my favorite Arches cream 250 gsm printmaking papter, which literally embraces the inked block when rolled through the etching press. Depth, connectivity, thoughtful honoring of the gifts already present in our lives, ancestors (I recently met a wonderful woman who told me she dreams often of her grandmothers and grand-aunts), rising to embrace our richer, expansive, compassionate self...all these things were woven into the intention of this piece. Thanks for stopping by!

Last Day of March

It's Spring and a metaphorical time to savor our resilient qualities, our innate strength to embrace both change and dormancy. The Gita, the beautiful conversation of 5000 years ago, focuses on our spiritual nature, and also gives guidance for living in this day-to-day world; the external world, with the senses and mind pulling this way and that, needs to be gracefully tolerated.  But that can only be when we embrace our deeper nature and personal path!
This piece is my favorite size (7.5 by 9.5 inches) to carve; the block is small enough to complete within a few weeks, but large enough for details, and inclusion, with a # 1 V tool.

Isn't this fern frond beautiful with possiblity! It is outside my studio, and by now it has already stretched out, unfurled, lapping up the sun and the intensity of the forest. Have a wonderful, and wise, spring!

The Graceful Journey

The Graceful Journey is a 12 by 16 linocut on Arches printmaking paper and a celebration of our deeper journey where external events cease to hold their power over us.

And next weekend is the annual Right Whale Festival at the Sea Walk Pavilion in Jacksonville. If you are in the area, stop by for a educational glimpse into these beautiful giants. Above is a 8 1/2 by 11 watercolor, painted on the thickest grade watercolor paper (inviting layer upon layer upon layer). Have a wonderful weekend!

New Work

Recently I witnessed two cardinals feeding each other, skillfully placing cracked-open seed into each other's beaks, and "two became one".
This piece was painted shortly after visiting Hong Kong, the land of enveloping, reassuring mountains. Three-quarters of Hong Kong is countryside, providing a great "stop over" for hundreds of varieties of birds, with its protected wetlands, mountain ranges, and seashores. Thanks for stopping by!