seagulls

Yesterday at the beach, the seagulls were cavorting around in the water, daring the waves to swallow them. Considering the motion of the ocean and the rapidly flying birds, I was lucky to get some decent stop-action shots.

win win

I feel like I never do good deeds anymore and was so pleased with myself for planning one for today. A man in our art organization needed assistance uploading images of his art for the April show, so I volunteered to help. When I talked to him yesterday, he told me his wife was in the hospital, so I also said I'd take him there after we did the computer work. He is a Wilm native, attended the black high school here (segregation you know) graduating the same year as me. I asked him if his mother used to have fish roe for supper as mine did, and he said yes. Fortunately that was something Mother quit serving after we moved to Charlotte, but I always wondered if it was a Wilmington thing. We kept chatting during the lengthy process of figuring out the technical nuances of uploading the images. At one point he said he wanted to give me something, a print by one of Wilm's best but now deceased artists, and I reluctantly agreed. So glad I did. When I get it flattened out, I will post it. Also he showed me around his garden, his outbuilding that holds many of his paintings, and told some cool stories. I was really blessed by my good deed.

I like this

A quote from Sir Thomas More:

Lord, give me a sense of humor so that I may take some happiness from this life and share it with others.

from death to life

The end of an era.
When I was eight, we moved to a house on Park Road, maybe a quarter mile across the street and up from Billy Graham's family home. He was already in his thirties and was becoming well known. His parents used to eat at the S&W where we used to go and get the special plate for supper a couple of times a week when Daddy was out of town. Once I saw Billy there standing in line with his mother. During my teen years, he did a crusade in Charlotte and my memory seems to recall singing in the big choir. I probably did, as I always took advantage of any opportunity to sing. Later when he and his team came to Columbia for a crusade, we were there for two of the nights. It was terrific. His book Just as I Am came out after I moved to Greenville, and I read it while working night shift. I felt like I was reading parts of my own life since I had been to some of the same places and knew a few of the same people. I knew him better after that book. And when the Billy Graham Organization was one of the conservative targets of the IRS a few years ago, the only finding was impeccable stewardship. Billy was the hero of the Christian faith, but knowing the breach between God and man, he would not agree. There must have been a big celebration in Heaven when he crossed the finish line.

arty stuff

Since being here, I have gotten to do things I did for play during those years that I worked for money. Photography for example. It is something I enjoyed because it allowed me to stop a moment of time for a closer look no matter the subject. And I tried to learn what made a nice composition and how to achieve it. I know I am just a hack picture taker with a pocket camera, but it provided many satisfying experiences. Occasionally I have been asked to take a few pix for other people, today for example. With our Spring Art Show on the April horizon, we are trying to get the word out to come and perhaps purchase. So some of the members who live in one of the most populated Wilm neighborhoods got together this morning for a photo shoot to help with publicity. Though I did not get any great shots, I did get a couple that will be ok in their magazine. It was fun. It is good to learn and practice. Keeps life interesting. By the way, they are standing in front of an enormous painting that was done by the wonderful woman in green. It, along with some others of hers, will be going to a gallery in Atlanta soon.

art excursion

Along with a few other people, I spent yesterday at the NC Art Museum. Ever since I went to MoMA about twenty years ago, I have enjoyed art museums, and our state's is a pretty nice one. After the meeting and a lunch of delicious turkey and brie sandwiches, we were able to look around. When I got to the main building, rather than wander I asked if there were any paintings by Lucas Cranach who is a prominent person in my Martin Luther Study. They had two. One by the elder and one by the younger, the son. I was glad to see my friend Martin up close and with his best bud no less. And then there was a gigantic painting by the most famous living artist, G Richter. Sometimes artists take their work very seriously and sometimes non-artists take it seriously too. They dig into it and interpret it like poetry. I say let it be. Sometimes I think it is tongue-in-cheek. And as Richter said, "Painting is another form of thinking."

at the lake

Jacob won't be able to spend much time with me anymore, because he has a job that will start next week. His adjustment period is coming to a close. Since I had not yet taken him to Greenfield Lake and reminisced about my childhood, I took him there today. While he was on his phone, I took a picture of a waterfowl I had not seen before. I thought it was a goose, but maybe it is a duck. I am so ignorant about so many things.

my debut

Not only was this Groundhog Day, but it was the evening of the reception for the art show, my coming out party. We, my co-artist Mary and I, didn't publicize it much, but enough loyal friends and family and other folk came, and the time passed quickly. A few people commented that they had not seen my work, and I told them nobody has. Mostly I enjoyed the big gorgeous orchids in the florist shop. They seem delicate, but then I remembered the ones I saw growing in the wild in Guatemala. So it was all good - the art, the reception, the venue. I am glad I worked hard to do it.