early morning on the river

First Ike, then the ice storms, now the wind. Hopefully next won't be the rising water.

The river looked like an ocean today with the 60 to 70 mile winds blowing us away. Tom didn't get any pictures but watched two swans braving the wind and water in front of our studio.

It has been an interesting week on the river. Electric going off, coming on, going off, coming on incessantly causing havoc with the computer and the kiln. We did get a real treat though when a beaver swam up to one of the docks partially under water and took up residence for the afternoon, snoozing, diving for food, and just relaxing in the sun. Tom was able to walk down pretty close to get the photos before beaver-boy took a dive.

Cuppa Joe

Coffee, Java, Joe
Take your pick.
it matters not
what you call it.
Just that you get it!

Rich and black
Bitter liquid in a cup
rising to your lips
first thing
everyday.

How my body needs it,
my morning on hold
until I pick
up that cup
and bring it to my lips.

Ahh - soothing
smooth, tasty little
cup of liquid heaven.
Now my day
may begin.

Sunday

Today was a day of new things. I worked all afternoon in the studio and accomplished quite a bit; four new enamels that I intend to use in some collages I am working on. I'll give you a sneak peek as soon as I get all the elements together. I hope you'll find them interesting as they are different from most of my other work.

Another new thing on this wonderful winter day on the river was that we were favored with the return of the two swans. (I guess the lone swan from Christmas Day wasn't our swan after all.) Tom did get pictures that I'll be posting. They stayed awhile diving for green things from our bank. So beautiful and so fun to see wild things that are as interestd in us as we are in them. The river is up some and they stayed close to the bank and out of the main current. I hope we'll see them again soon.

I'm excited about my new listing on facebook. It's fun to check out what everyone is doing and I'm hoping to add some other artists to my friend list.

I Choose Brown

When I decided to paint a woman on the run, I hurriedly sketched a woman in a suit running for a bus. She was late for an important meeting with her lawyer and was fighting for her job which was about to be taken over by the company owner's son. She had been suspicious for sometime that the young man was after her job. He would stop by her office frequently and sort of hang out, fingering her files and looking over her shoulder at her most current renderings. She was the head of the art department at a prestigious department store in New York, that city of excitement and streets filled with strangers with their eyes straight and elbows out.

I never finished the story but I did finish the glass enamel painting on copper. I call her " lady in the brown suit." Her eyes are closed and her elbows are close to her side. I think she moved back to the mid-west.

I'll post her picture as soon as I get a new photo of the finished enamel.

Wild & Precious

Do you know the poetry of Ohio poet, Mary Oliver? I love this quote from one of her poems and relate to it, "Tell me, what is it you intend to do with your one wild and precious life?" I once took a picture of one lone skinny mushroom popping up from the mulch in my garden and wondered if the quote was meant for it.

Or was it meant for this lovely swan who arrived again this year on Christmas morning, but this time it was alone. Tom heard it beckon him closer to the river with a soft honk and it appeared to be looking directly at him. As he approached it came closer. He tossed some stale bread but the swan swam past it toward him seemingly only wanting company. Tom was able to get within 10 feet of it at the river's edge. The swan never left until Tom (cold without his coat & hat) retreated to the house. The swan left that day

Goodnight from Silverfish, and may we all dream of art and our "one wild and precious life." Thank you Mary Oliver for your beautiful poems.

Who Knew?

I'm really content to be at home. Just busying myself with my boxes of colors (so many to choose from) including oils, pastels, acrylics, pencils, watercolors, and glass enamels. Color has always reached out for me wrapping its warmth around my fingers and urging them to create something on something. Anything will do.

I live on the banks of the river with my husband and our dog. They are a twosome and I am the one squeezing in between them. They allow me to pat them sometimes. I wait patiently to eat dinner while our dog receives hers first. Actually, I am the queen and only allow the dog to believe that she is first in my husband's eyes, for I know better. He is my best friend and lover as well as my critic and fellow artist. My life is good.

Tonight I'll sleep and dream of art I will make tomorrow.