It is County Fair Season!!!

There is nothing quite like the county fair! Last night a demolition derby and today:

blue-eyed horses...

and fluffy sheep...

ducklings...

all set against the backdrop of the blue ridge mountains...

We ate too much, got too much sun, but had a fabulous day!

Demolition Derby

Set against the backdrop of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains...

beside a corn field...

I watched my first ever demolition derby.....

the owners spend hours on their cars....personalizing them...

just to smash 'em up...

we made new friends....

and will definitely be going back next year!

My Very First Postcard

Inspiration: Mexican Folk Art

Rowan and I are home today painting papier mache skulls. I've been so inspired lately by Mexican Folk Art...more specifically Day of the Dead papier mache skeletons and Oaxacan woodcarvings.  There is an incredible installation at the British Museum of Art done by the famed Linares Family. 

Mine.....

Rowan's

My Oaxacan-inspired mouse....

Check out these books for lovely images of Mexican Folk Art:

 The Skeleton at the Feast

Oaxacan Woodcarving

El Dia De Los Muertos (The Life of the Dead in Mexican Folk Art)

Check out the artist Diego Rivera and I highly recommend the movie Frida staring Salma Hayek....I love this movie so much I bought it and can watch it over and over! Everything about the movie is artful.....from the story to the editing! 

A Poem by David Whyte

Sometimes

Sometimes

if you move carefully

through the forest

breathing 

like the ones

in the old stories

who could cross

a shimmering bed of dry leaves

without a sound.

you come 

to a place 

whose only task

is to trouble you

with tiny

but frightening requests

conceived out of nowhere

but in this place

beginning to lead everywhere.

Requests to stop what

you are doing right now

and

to stop what you

are becoming

while you do it.

questions

that can make

or unmake

a life,

questions

that have patiently waited for you,

questions

that have no right

to go away.

2003 by David Whyte

More painting.......

  

Closed Doors and Open Windows

I wanted to share  a few pages from my new journal. When I resigned from my job last week it was definitely bittersweet. While I have been in need of a workplace change for at least the last year, not having a back-up plan is scary. I will say that I feel more relaxed and as you can see in my painting....optimistic!

The beginning of an idea:

to almost finished painting.......

The idea for this painting came from an email a former co-worker sent me. He said to "be careful not to miss the open window because you are staring so hard at the back of the closed door." That makes so much sense. So, as I step on to this new path.....adding to my "soul map", I try hard to look for the open windows! 

oh yeah, and handmade journals!

I've also been creating handmade journals! Funny, the little blue one is my stress journal....for writing down my stressors and then hopefully, leaving them there. I didn't realize it at the time but it is the tiniest of all of my journals.....optimistic? you betcha!

Art Lately................

So....I have not blogged much over the past several months.....but I have been painting:

Self Portraits

and...

Faces

and...

Feelings

and in the studio

of

friends.....

"Every child is an artist

the problem is staying an artist

when you grow up"

Pablo Picasso

A Beautiful Gift From the Poet Sally Atkins

I am such a huge fan of the poetry of Sally Atkins. I had the pleasure of meeting her last Fall and taking her dream workshop. I just recently received another one of her books in the mail with the beautiful inscription "For Kristin, Who lives in her own soul house and speaks from the heart in word and image."

From the book "And When " We Speak" by Margo Fuchs and Sally Atkins

Tension

In my dreams

I am very wild

And you can see

The cracks

In my daily life.

Yet there is the impulse

To act, the longing

For letting go.

Still there is courage

In the morning

For making coffee

And in the evening

Making dinner

Keeping up the trappings

Of an ordinary life

When already

I have entered

The silence behind me

by Sally Atkins (Poems of Earth)

Getting Ready for a Return to my Blog

I've been gone too long. I think I've been hiding...from myself....from my words....from the truth....I plan to post soon.....just one problem....where to begin?

been hibernating!

Wow! It has been almost 4 months since I've posted anything on my blog. I'm not even sure where to begin. I tend to hide away in late Fall and Winter...withdrawing from everything.....staying close to home...I think it is probably seasonal affective disorder. I always look so forward to Spring...new growth, new beginnings, longer days and letting fresh air in.....into my home and my lungs. Spring is almost here....right around the corner, and I am beginning to feel a little more like myself. Next Tuesday I begin a new journey....I am getting on an airplane....flying to Seattle, meeting a friend of a friend to share a rental car with....picking up a dear friend along the way and am attending Artfest! in Port Townsend, WA. I will be sharing a room in a dorm with 3 other women I have never met...taking art classes from artist/ instructors I've followed for years. While I know that I am going to have a wonderful time....and as LK says "no need to worry, you are headed out to be with your tribe....really!".....I still worry myself....can Rex take care of the kids? get Rowan to daycare on time? will Rowan miss me? feelings of guilt....feeling selfish for taking a vacation by myself. Crazy, I know. Sometimes I just can't help myself. I am a worldwide worrier! So, for the next few days I will try to just breathe and will look forward to posting about my great art adventure when I return home....to embracing my family, holding them close and sending the Winter blahs far far away..........

Listening to quiet....soothing music this evening.......