Linda's Poem

Wonderful poem by Linda Paquette."Faces framed in oval maple creep up the stairway wall. A cobweb sweeps across black lace lightened by countless tiny buttons and gold encircled cameos. Haunting eyes and somber mouths, stoic grins. wide brimmed hats, and flopy white bows. Who is that little boy clinging to a pleated skirt? An old man supports his life with a whittled cane and a ruffled child on the other. She looks beyond the camera, through the dusty layers and down at me. Generations of my family glassed in, trapped, protected, guard this house while we are gone. If I brush away the dust, will I find out who I am?" Glass pieces tumble out of his hand.

Sing and Dance

“Sing and dance together and be joyous but let each one of you be alone. Like the strings of a lute are alone, they quiver with the same music.”  is from the music group Cradle Duende. I loved the quote and have individual people as the strings. Sad that this is my last summer post.

Heroes

“That’s what it takes to be a hero, a little gem of innocence inside you that makes you want to believe that there still exists a right and wrong, that decency will somehow triumph in the end.” – Lise Hand submitted by Patty Grover D

Makes Us Stronger

My friend Beth Wolven posted "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger". I have a beautiful but fractured face and the guardian angel waiting at the side.

My Heroes

My friend Patty Dunchus contributed "My heroes are those who risk their lives every day to protect our world and make it a better place- police, firefighters, and members of our armed forces." by Sidney Sheldon
Please take note of her dolls. It is hard to see but the words "Protect and Serve" are in the background.

Memory

Meghan Wood submitted the word "Memory" and I instantly thought of antique photos and the memory jars from down south. These jars would have all sorts of items stuck to the outside; human hair from a loved one and shells from a visit to the ocean.

Blessed Be the Muses

Denise Bach submitted, "Blessed be the Muses for their descent, dancing round my desk, crowning my balding head with Laurel" from Allen Ginsberg. I have always imagined my guiding muse to be a raven so the wing of my raven becomes the laurel wreath.

Books

Becky James posted "Books are a uniquely portable magic", a quote from Stephen King. I instantly thought of a altered book Kate LaRose had created. It is very hard to photograph but I have a fairy, dragon, unicorn, mermaid and griffin and coming to life from the pages.

Blown Away

Penny Froeschl contributed, "Melissa sitting in front of a fan painting (self portrait). Well I thought of doing something funny but I decided to get conceptual. The paint has been blown from the palette to the canvas and the scrapings make up my face. I used my Facebook image as inspiration.

Forgiveness

Janet Chandler submitted the word "Forgiveness". For myself growing up with "Catholic Guilt" I instantly went to forgiving oneself.

Letting Go

Jeanette Dennison Kononan posted "Life is a balance of hanging on and letting go. The young girl is releasing one bird while another still clings to her shoulder.

Well Begun is half done

I am so excited to see my fellow artist and friend April Hallock. We will be dining out ans seeing the concert. I timed it perfectly as I just completed her quote; "Well begun is half done". I saw a journey so that is what I created.

Something Within

This is part of a story from Amanda Posch. ". . . there is something here, something waiting, something in me. During the day something . . . watches. At night something in me stretches, at first lazy and slow. But the more time I spend on the land and in the cabin, the more it becomes restless. It is becoming uncomfortable and is playfully brushing the edges of painful." I now want to read more.

That's what Counts

Dr. John Collins heard about my painting project and contributed a quote from Stephen Sondheim. "Everything depends on execution, putting it together, that's what counts." Balance on a feather on a tightrope held up by faith.

Nostalgia

A word from a wonderful photographer and former student, Marissa Zarriello; Nostalgia

Be Yourself

Chris Baker gave me a very popular quote from Oscar Wilde; "Be yourself, everyone else is taken." Put away the painted mask and be who you are meant to be.

Blessed and Adventured

Kim Maercklein contributed a great quote from Jack Kerouac; "They lived and loved and asked, blessed and adventured...." Yup, this will be one of your boys very soon.

A Dreamer

Another quote from Charlene Mead; "A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world", by Oscar Wilde.

Attempt the Absurd

I am behind 2 but will be catching up soon. Scott Holliman contributed a quote from M.C.Escher; "Only those who attempt the absurd....will achieve the impossible". The word absurd brought to mind the image of me dancing. I cannot dance but I would love to so I have my person dancing with the birds up in the clouds.

Music is All Around You

Christina Holzmacher-Roach contributed  Music is all around us, all you have to do is listen. They are dancing and one with the music. 

Mothers and Daughters

Catherine Raishart contributed Mothers and Daughters.

Blue Child

Denise Bach presented "...I wondered, an empty child, Heron, whose ghost are you?”

Strange Sadness

"Do you ever feel a strange sadness as dusk falls? They say it’s the only time when our world intersects with theirs… The only time we can feel the lingering regrets of spirits who have left our world. That is why loneliness always pervades the hour of twilight… "from Kate LaRose

Wolf

I saw this on Humans of New York and fell in love.

“The wolf howled under the leaves, And spit out the prettiest feathers, Of his meal of fowl:Like him I consume myself.” Rimbaud I had issues with the red dye in the feather leaking through.

Radiating Light

José Gálvez Contreras posted this on Facebook and I saw this instantly." I'm radiating light and feeling alive after sharing a cosmic weekend with the stars.."

Winning

Nicole Bogucki  sent me,"If winning isn't everything, why do they keep score?" - Vince Lombardi. I didn't want to single out a sport so I went for triumphant joy.

Row Your Boat

My dear friend Karin Birbeck submitted "Row, row, row your boat; gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily; life is but a dream." I hope it looks dreamy enough.

Red Thread

 I took this from Hayley Mead's Facebook post, "An invisible red thread connects those destined to be together, regardless of time, place, or circumstances. The thread may stretch or tangle, but never break."

Fireflies

A beautiful Haiku from Linda P; Single firefly,Lights from within in darkness,Illumination.

My friends are trees

The Poultney Area Artist Guild went to the Georgia O'Keefee exhibit at the Hyde Art Museum. It was a wonderful show and Penny was inspired and submitted one of her quotes; "If people were like trees, I would have a lot more friends"

Day at the Lake

Michelle Folger gave me- "A bad day at the lake is better than a good day inland." I saw a sailboat and seagulls.

Wood Fairies

The youngest are most often the wisest. Lindsey's conclusion after thinking about where people came from~ "Maybe all the people came from little wood fairies and they were so little, they turned themselves into big people." There ya go!

Love to Dance

Pam Hunter submitted "Love to Dance".

Poison in your heart

Charlene contributed-"The gods are faithless. The poison is in your heart”- Rick Riorden The Lightning Thief

Cradling spiders in his head

Here is a poem Linda P. wrote awhile ago after seeing a photo of a homeless boy.

"Rain drips down between broken venetian blinds,
Drops falling slowly, drowning black windows and
Glistening reflections from lonely skeleton streetlights.
Brown brick and jagged cracks, roof to empty parking lot.
Man-child alone slips silently down the wall to sidewalk bed,
Cradling spiders in his head."

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Sunset is my favorite color.

The fabric as a sunset came easily but what to put against it gave me trouble. I was on Facebook and had an "Ah-Ha". Amy, I hope you enjoy "sunset is my favorite color."

This was no boating accident

This is for all trying to cool off in the ocean and not have the theme from "Jaws" running through your head. Thanks Dan Bennett for "This was no boating accident."

Lush

Thank you Becky James for contributing the word "Lush". Enjoy the nymph playing in the deep greens of an ancient forest pool.

My first Pay It Forward Complete

I decided to do the "Creative Pay It Forward" again and I am now getting my list done. This is for Michele Harmon-"Happy Bluebirds". My plan is to have them all done by the end of August. Only 5 to go.

I missed Sunday; Karma and Seashells

I forgot to post on Sunday so I am catching up today with 2. the first is for Pam Hunter and "Karma". This is good karma floating out to those in the world doing great things. The second is for Karen Jockell, Seashells remind us that the very passing life leaves something beautiful behind.” My broken shells have fish swimming within them.

Hope and Strength

I could have done each of these words separately but instead I decided to have them work as a team. Thank you Jennefer Paquette Eaton.

Beauty is Bizarre

"The beautiful is always bizarre" is a quote I borrowed from Dominico Petrillo. The texture gets a little lost and you can't see the electronic that is coming out of the right eye.

Applause

Charlene posted a quote, perhaps from all her late night rehearsals- “Applause may be good for the moment, but love is everlasting” Pepe-Adventures of Pinocchio

Scream

Jen Howe-DaCosta gave a "shout out" to the following quote- “She screams at the top of her lungs I’m whole in body, mind, heart, and soul” Alix Olsen. I was playing with paint scrapings and she emerged.

Quoting Gadhi

Gretchen also got serious with the following quote. I went very textural and zen.

Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words.
Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior.
Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits.
Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values.
Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.
-Mahatma Gadhi sent from Gretchen Burch

Cold Soul

I saw this quote somewhere and I do not remember who posted it but I painted my image. I believe it is a line from a song.
“You’re going to catch a cold from the ice inside your soul” singer Christina Perri

Monday Salute

Karen Giachino must have been psychic because I received the following quote from Gretchen Birch the same day that she posted an amazing photo of a very feisty, beautiful woman. I fell in love with the photo and asked if I could borrow the image. The quote is "There are not enough middle fingers and coffee for this Monday". Happy Monday everyone.

Magic And Fantasy

Mary DeRosia Mead gave me "Magic and Fantasy" to paint.

I'll always be with you

     Cindy Cassidy contributed...“If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together... there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart... I'll always be with you.”
― A.A. Milne Her oldest just graduated and my feelings for my sons as they graduated came flooding back. He has a light here on earth and a light up in heaven helping to guide his way.