Tuesday, September 30, 2014

On this last day of September

"Everything seems impossible until you get it done," I recently read.
A few weeks ago, I felt that I had bitten off more than I could chew, or in other words I agreed to more than I felt capable of doing. But today I accomplished the last task. Whew... It was all good learning for me. Now that I have done it, entering another show will be a breeze.

After I dropped my pieces off at the Arboretum, I drove down to the beach since I hadn't been in two months. How I have missed it! Then I stopped by the Fresh Market where I bought some of their Tuesday specials and of course a few milk chocolate covered malted milk balls that I savored on the way back home.

Today a new neighbor moved in. The first thing he did was put up a modest Reds flag in his front yard. That works for me since I have happy memories of going to two of their home games many years ago. I got to meet him and tell him so.

And tomorrow I have been asked to fill in at a bridge club. I have not played more than a hand or two since I began nursing school, so I hope I don't embarrass myself.

An iPhone pic at high noon.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Simply take pix

I realize it isn't life or death, but I have been sweating some art things this week. Though I have never participated in an art show in my life, I signed up under peer pressure to enter two. And yikes...they both start next week. Why oh why? The real answer is that it is not just about the art, it is about learning the process of how a show works.

This afternoon I felt relief when I decided to resort to my default setting, photos for both. Whew! Thankfully that is considered art. I have loved finding something interesting or pretty to shoot and post to my blog. That is all the satisfaction I ever needed. I hope I won't be too shy about having others see my photos framed and hanging on a wall.

I am not ready to show a painting since  I am less than an "emerging" artist. I feel like a chick inside the shell pecking to climb out. In a few years, I will paint something spectacular and will proudly show it off, but if I displayed something lame now it would only reflect my utter beginner status.

Maybe next year . . .

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

#8: Carolyn

Carolyn is a glass artist, and lovely person I might add, whose space is few studios down from me on Rembrandt. She recycles glass in a unique way and ends up with a delightful piece of art. Since I have never seen the process of transforming plain window glass into art by way of a kiln, I don't have even a fuzzy mental picture of how she does it. From old panes and blue wine bottles, she makes really pretty necklaces, earrings, windchimes, wall hangings, decorative window glass, and whatever else comes from her creative mind. Perhaps remaining a mystery is part of its allure.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Two fun evenings

Last night I helped with registration at a neat event the Art Museum is having, and for over four hours I got to watch as artists brought in one of their own works of art to be in a huge exhibit that will run until February. It was inspiring, educational, and stimulating!



















Tonight the hubby and I went to an outdoor concert at Greenfield Lake Amphitheatre, my first one there. KebMo was the headliner, but the guy who preceded him, Anders Osborne, was excellent, too. About twenty minutes into his singing, the sky to the left of me turned a beautiful salmon-pink (the photo doesn't do it justice) and a pastel rainbow appeared to my right. The crowd started oohing, and the singer came to the edge of the stage so he could see it, too. It was a magical moment.



Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Continuing a Tradition

Last year after I moved to Wilmington, my now eighty-eight year old Aunt Margaret asked me if I would like to join her Book Club. Of course I said yes, and today's meeting started my second year with them. The new president made nice booklets of info for each of us, and on the first page she had written that the Tuesday Book Club was founded in 1942. Margaret had told me it was the oldest book club in town, but knowing the actual date really made it come alive.
The women in the group started talking about what was going on that year. The main thing for me was my mother and daddy's wedding, but of course for the rest of the world the main thing was World War II. We talked about how all Americans had to sacrifice for the war effort, and how books were probably expensive then. This book club was set up so that each woman bought one book and brought it to the first meeting. Then on a monthly basis, the books were swapped around in an orderly manner.
The protocol that was established in 1942 is the way the club runs today, from the serving of the tea and coffee, to the reading of the minutes, to the close of the book report.
I almost feel as if I am part of history when I am there.


Friday, September 12, 2014

after a year

Moving to Wilmington was a long awaited goal that was achieved, and now I have lived here a year. Time marches on, as they say. I still occasionally marvel how it all worked out so well, especially toward the end. I am still happy to be here and into this phase of my life.

I am sitting at my grandmother's old sofa table that I use for a desk. It is one that she and my grandfather bought in the 1920s when they were newly married and setting up a home for themselves and their daughters. I remember the table from her living room of later years, and how it held her small Christmas tree with its colorful lights and a few precious old ornaments, and I was the child. I remember my grandmother when she was "giving up housekeeping" and the table went to live with my mother. Now it is mine. Sometimes I feel as if it should be locked up as a treasure, but I have locked up too many treasures, and they have become useless.

Outside a storm is passing over, and I am listening to the sounds of thunder and rain. I love the crazy weather here that seems like such a force of life, especially the stunning skies and their ever changing beauty. As with all summers, to me the easiest season, this one has passed too quickly. I must not take for granted the beach being only ten miles away and remember to go as much as I can in the early fall, the best time.

I haven't done anything new to my house since about March. After moving in, I added to and moved stuff around until I reached a place of comfort with how it was. But now I want to go at it again and paint walls and make other changes in one room. Matter of fact, I am itching to get it done.

It is good to be in Wilmington.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

# 7: Cathy and Jeannette

These sweet sisters who are from the outskirts of Wilmington moved into the studio next to mine in May, and I couldn't have gotten better neighbors. Cathy (on the left in the white top) has been painting for forty years. She is an accomplished artist who works mostly in oils, but she also does fabulous woodcarvings. Jeanette has recently retired, and Cathy is slowly but successfully getting her interested in art. We do need something to do post retirement, don't we! Remember the tee shirt with the zebra on it that Jim was wearing in an earlier post? The zebra was Cathy's art. She does fine charcoal drawings of animals. How she does that beautiful detailed work is beyond me!

Monday, September 8, 2014

Cherokee Rose: Take 2

Several years ago - I wrote about it on my blog then - I was at Greenfield Lake and met a nature guy who was photographing flowers on a big bush. He told me that it was one of the finest specimens of a Cherokee Rose he had ever seen. They were new to me, so I wanted to get in on the action and took some of my own pics. I posted one back then. Since I have been living here, I have stopped at that spot a time or two, and I have found it covered in vines and neglected. I don't know if it has been blooming.. So in remembrance, here is another photo of the pretty wild rose.

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Churchill on speaking

While cleaning off a table, I found these notes I had taken during a talk on Winston Churchill. I will see if I can decipher them.

"Give in only to good sense and honor."
"The price of greatness is responsibility."

When speaking to a group, he advised: Start strong. You have ninety seconds to get the audience. Get involved in the audience. Know who is there. State your aim. Know what you want to get across. Focus your message. Paint a picture in the minds eye so the audience can "see" what you see. Talk to, not at, the audience. Relate to the audience. Know their language. Keep your words short and sweet. (I think that may be my paraphrase.)

Now if I ever get called upon to give a speech, I know where I can go for help.

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Swans


Friday evening I went to the concert at Airlie, which has become a favorite thing. I love to sit outside in a big crowd listening to good music and snacking on food someone else has brought! But it is also fun to walk around and see what nature has to offer in that beautiful place at that time of day. It was all so pretty, but my best find were these swans in Bradley Creek. They were far out but eventually glided in to have a look at that woman who was so interested in them.

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

#6: Mary

Mary is pretty special to me because she is the first one I met at the studios. It was a hot August day last year, and I had sweated as much as I could stand by the time I finally left Greenfield Lake. I had no idea I had so much steam left in me! But when I saw the Open Studios sign, I had to turn in and find out what was there. I found charming Mary painting away in her studio. It was hot there too, as it is now, but she was dressed for it, and able to work, and I was impressed. Mary had a career in art as a fabric designer, but has also been painting her whole life. I admire her boldness at working on big canvases and her confidence in tackling any subject, and she always comes up with something wonderful. I appreciate the way she encourages me to go for it. "Just paint!" she tells me.