Simple Pleasures!

Girlfriend time!
A sunny window!
Impromptu tea!

A hat!!!

Jackson County Artists & Writers Exhibit

This is the second year I have had the privilege of coordinating the Jackson County Artists & Writers exhibit in Jackson County, Kentucky. This year we had 14 exhibitors for another beautiful exhibit. Doreen Main's fused glass "Starburst" is on view here. The albums for the 2006 and 2007 exhibits are in the Debbie's Album link or just click here http://picasaweb.google.com/redletterstudio

Blackberry Bliss

My favorite youngest son picked blackberries this morning and waving the bucket before my eyes said, "Blackberry cobbler!"...so I pulled up today's favorite recipe http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Blackberry-Cobbler-II/Detail.aspx and with pleading eyes looked at my favorite daughter and said "Blackberry cobbler!" I think she did a beautiful job!

Passover/Spring Cleaning

As I think about and study the subject of Passover, the symbolism of the removal of leaven from the home has intrigued me. Jesus speaks of the leaven as representing hypocrisy in Mark 8:15, Luke 12:1, and Matthew 16:6, 11,12. God says remove every trace of leaven from where you live. The message seems quite clear-remove and beware of hypocrisy. A kind of spring cleaning says a friend.

In primitive or old time Appalachian mountain religion churches, they yearly partake of the sacrament and foot washing or the Lord's Supper (after Leonardo's painting of the same name) only after "setting the church at peace." This is in reference to a time, usually the evening before, of confession, repentance and peace-making among the members. The church will not partake of the sacrament until this is accomplished. Old fashioned? I don't think so. Imagine if the humbleness of Christ truly reigned in our hearts and we washed each others feet with a church set at peace.

Spring cleaning takes on a whole new and challenging meaning!

Taking Responsibility for Our Own Health

I've been interested in and studied issues concerning health for over 20 years now. I've benefited from this interest greatly and so has my family. I've learned a lot from personal trial and error and experienced vegan, vegetarian, raw food, and the Standard American diets. I don't believe that there is one particular way of eating that can be prescribed as perfect for all, but I do believe that there are certain lifestyle habits that can benefit every person. Eating foods as close to their natural form as possible, a moderate amount of daily exercise, plenty of clean water, fresh air, sunshine, proper attitude, connection with God, time with encouraging people, work and other activities that engage you physically and mentally will go a long way in keeping you more fit, healthy and happy. A great site to visit with some great information in each of these areas is http://www.creationhealth.com/ or just click on Creation Health in the website list on the right.

I've also experienced great benefits from short fasts and cleansing programs. As spring approaches, we think about the spring cleaning of our homes and outdoor environments. It's also an ideal time to think about the cleansing of our internal, bodily environments as well. A short seven-day fast or cleanse can make a difference not only in energy and general health, but also help you sleep better and think more clearly. I highly recommend it as a great way to start spring. Sonne's website at http://sonnes.com/ has some great information and I've experienced great benefits from their products especially the #7 Detoxificant and #9 Intestinal Cleanser. I'm trying their 7 Day Cleansing Program this spring while I review a few good books and articles that remind of the benefits of being proactive in my own health care.

There are two ways to slice easily through life;

to believe everything or to doubt everything.

Both ways save us from thinking.

-Alfred Korzybski

Carrie Bloomston

This is from today's posting on Daily Poetics http://dailypoetics.typepad.com/daily_poetics/. She has so eloquently stated the process I often go through in creating my own work.

Carrie Bloomston

Artist Statement:"I usually start by screwing something up. The first marks don’t always matter, they’re just there so that I might begin. The first marks change the blankness, remove the preciousness so that I can move in. The rest is a conversation; a combination of intentions and mishaps, discoveries and accidents until I find what I want. It’s as if I don’t make paintings, but rather I find them. They become what they are through a series of exchanges (marks and cancellations) and then I find them there like that - with my conscious self and I think that I can stop. Phillip Guston said he painted because his images didn’t exist in the world and he wanted to see them. I think, in part, I paint worlds because they don’t exist and I want to go to them - each with a logic and a weather, an emotional temperature, a quality of light. Landscapes of the interior. These spaces become for me enduring visual mantras. The landscape is always present in my work - how things grow and live in context of each other, forms in space, living side by side. One mark can become mountain, tree, mist, unknown, figure or ground. The mark is objectified- sometimes alone, sometimes not. In a way, the mark becomes the emptiness - a place where we might put things or qualities, a place where we might go. I don’t want to confine the images, to signify a too exact meaning for the viewer or myself. There should be more work for us when the piece is finished. I want room in the work for mutability, association and play. I try to create enough space so that we can go into the images as though they were air, so that we don’t get hung up on any one thing- so that we don’t get stuck. One of my painting teachers, Holly Hughes, said that we have to paint things with full commitment and integrity to allow the viewer entrance into the work without having to stumble over a lot of technical questions before we can find meaning. I’m after that integrity."