songs of light

seasons of the heart

"I tell you this 
to break your heart, 
by which I mean only 
that it break open and never close again 
to the rest of the world. 

for how many years have you gone through the house 
shutting the windows, 
while the rain was still five miles away . . .

and will you

dash finally, frantically, 

to the windows and haul them open and lean out 
to the dark, silvered sky, to everything 

that is beyond capture, shouting 
i'm here, i'm here! now, now, now, now, now." 

- Mary Oliver

Ah, spring. Let it pry your heart open any way it can.

 

 

lately

Lately I feel my heart expanding over the smallest things   . . . winged visitors

the way the late afternoon light seems to elevate even the most ordinary things,

and especially how inspiration seems to be raining down on me right now. I found this vintage book of some of Shakespeare's work this afternoon. It was totally perfect for making this . . .

Thank you to Laura who introduced me to the idea of blackout art, and also to Sarah whose lovely pinterest collection reminded me again yesterday that I must do it.

What is whispering to you?

 

these days

The last few days here have been like summer. Even the snow on the mountains is starting to melt.

This afternoon I pulled the first baby carrots out of the garden. Surely spring is almost here.

And I have been thinking about painting . . . and dreaming about painting, and writing all my art ideas down to stick to my cupboard where I can see them. One day I am going to have the kind of studio where you can tape things to the walls and spill paint on the floor, without it mattering. I've been thinking about that a lot lately. And I have been thinking about a dream I had that told me to go right back to the beginning, to the reason I wanted to make art in the first place. That one dream whispered to me all the things I had forgotten. Important things.

Speaking of lovely things. This arrived in the mail a couple of days ago. Isn't it the sweetest? I bought this gorgeous wallet from the lovely Arounna . Her beautiful work never ceases to amaze me. And now, what about you? What has your heart been full of these last few days?

 

 

snowed in . . . again

It snowed and snowed and snowed . . . until there was no way out the door and into the world.

So we made our own world for two days . . .

a world full of silence

and warm food,

of tiny visitors and

magical beauty.

I sat on the couch for hours watching the snow fall, and reading the most wonderful deep and vast book full of ancient knowledge.

It was just what I needed.