I started this series of photos two days ago when I was coming home from the track just at sunrise and saw three or four dying (but still soft and velvety) magnolia blossoms along the edge of the street. As I picked them up to feel the texture, I saw some other great partial plant shards and pieces and took them home to photograph. Here are the first two results – the rules are that they have to be found on the same day at the same time in roughly the same spot and they can’t be over analyzed in terms of composition or quality – just picked up “because.” No precious tacky metaphors on the meaning of life and death and faded beauty are allowed 🙂

What a thrill to meet one of the most famous chefs in the world, Diana Kennedy, at La Vida Gallery tonight. I have many of her cookbooks and have counted her among my cultural heroes for decades. She is a good friend of gallery owners Matt and Carole Weissler, and although she does few book signings these days, she did agree to come to La Vida and sign her wonderful new definitive book on the food of Oaxaca. I can’t wait to look at it -the photos are amazing, and her anecdotes read like chapters in an adventure novel. It’ s a rare glimpse into the cuisine of Oaxaca – she was charming and funny and gracious – she even asked about my artwork that was hanging in the gallery. What a remarkable woman. Viva Diana Kennedy!

I found a painting of a young boy holding an arrow in one of my art books – Children of the Golden Age, I think – and then decided to look through an old song book for some sheet music to use as a background. The first page I opened was titled “The Song and the Arrow”- really a strange coincidence. That became a somewhat collective theme, and this collage is the result. I like the unusual strongly horizontal composition.

I was rushing around doing errands and getting frustrated when the thought of “dove gray and silver” came into my head. I walked to the studio, took off my silver bracelets, added a dove feather that I had found yesterday morning in the garden, and took this shot – it’s one of my favorites now. There’s something good about stopping everything to take a break and listen to whatever muse is calling :).

Last night a group of old friends met at my house for a craft evening – it’s an Herb Society subgroup called Lotions and Potions. I have not been involved for a long time because of commitments at school and studio, but it was great to see them all again. We did a project with dried herbs and printed backgrounds, all pressed under glass.
Each person brought the dried herbs and a short quote or info about the plants – there was a good assortment, done in advance-and then we experimented with fonts and placement for the backgrounds. I printed them out on my computer. Then the paper was dyed with tea or coffee. Great results! I found clip frames that worked perfectly for the project. See for yourself in the video:

I went to a bead show last weekend (wow – stimulus overload) and came away with some interesting beads for Kindle closures. On a whim, I choose four of them to represent the four elements (water, earth, sky and fire) and strung them together as a little protection circle charm for a Wiccan friend. On the card, I put some drops of Clary Sage essential oil for clear psychic vision! She liked it a lot.
*Bright Blessings*, MJ!

Today I took a new collage to the San Antonio Visual Artists ongoing venue at the Foundry Coffee House. Members can enter one piece at this popular cafe for a $5 hanging fee. I’ll go on Thursday to the opening, but I’ve never seen such an assortment of art – every size and medium. The SAVA website reflects this diversity. It’s as much a non-elitist all-inclusive super-eclectic arts group as I’ve seen in the area. I’m looking forward to seeing how it works and participating a bit more in the future. Today was a small start. Here’s the piece I took – it’s called Pearadigm – I almost didn’t have the nerve to use such a corny name, but I did anyway :).

There has been no real rain here since September of last year – today we got a wonderful rainstorm. It’s amazing how rain in a drought can make everyone feel happy and optimistic. There are no half-measures, though. Right now there are flood warnings, but that will pass. Hooray for rain!

It was a good night! The collages were nicely displayed- Matt and Carole do such a fine job. There was an annoying but interesting glare on the plexiglass framing, so you can see the outside street and the inside gallery reflected on the paintings. Layers of reflection. Lots of friends and good food and music. I sold three pieces, which was very nice. One of the best moments was when my former art professor, Bill Bristow, came by and discussed Art with me and some of my techniques in particular – that was perfect, things seemed to come full circle since I was in his class in the 60’s. Yay for art!