My Resolution

SOLD 
Just as I was pondering the annual opportunity to focus on some changes and improvements in me...and the approaching deadline for declaring these at least to myself I received a New Year's letter from one of the wise women. Kim of Summerhouse Grill in Montrose, PA included this quote in her email:

When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold. They believe that when something's suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful. ~Barbara Bloom

This really struck a chord with me.

The movers were careful and the numerous trips were safe. Yet it seems that upon arrival in my Vermont studio, old patterns and methods are in need of some repair. My tiny Vermont studio's thermostat is not under my control it seems. It is sometimes hot and sometimes not, but it is well stocked with art supplies, quiet and calm and the rent is paid. The only thing largely missing has been me....the artist. So my resolution is to resume my pre-move-normal working hours in 2012 and see what happens. I have an opportunity to make some art (with history) this year. I'll use some gold.

Wishing you the same good luck and fulfilled intentions in 2012.

Was My Mother a Pagan?

Happy Winter Solstice to all! This is my favorite holiday. Its meaning I can relate to; ending of the old, beginning of the new, more daylight - possibly sunshine - each day forth. My mother never missed informing her family that December 21 was a very important day and cause for joy. The daylight from then on will lengthen. In the midst of a hectic holiday season of baking, shopping, wrapping, sewing, cleaning house, care-taking and holding down a job she needed a star to pin her hopes on. As far as I know she never lit any fires on the lawn or practiced paganism or worshipped much. She taught us to treat others as we wished to be treated. She is an optimistic 93 year old and today I will have to inform her of the date, not the significance. That she will know.

As the above photo of my Vermont living room window shows, Solstice suits my holiday decorating skills. Wishing you many warm holiday memories filled with light.

There's a new state on http://fiftystatepleinairpaintingproject.blogspot.com/