Thresholds

transitions and new steps

recycled tea bags, wax paper, thread

harassment emails, thread, bamboo scrap that refused to allow itself to be place in the recycle bin, and acrylic paint

Behold

the collsion between reality and brutal stone.

Trust

share

carry

anger feels good today

assembled with a needle and thread

patches of what I let myself believe

that your disrespect

is the dress or frock which I should forever wear

anger is my jewelry

my necklace of self belief

sparkling with a faith in myself

flashing lights upon my hands and fingers

mend (renew)

wax drawings

"one red thread through the middle of a song"

A young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley. A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect. There was not a mark or a flaw in it.

But an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said,
“Your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine.”

The crowd and the young man looked at the old man’s heart. It was beating strongly but full of scars. It had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in … but they didn’t fit quite right and there were several jagged edges. The young man looked at the old man’s heart and laughed.
“You must be joking,” he said. “Compare your heart with mine … mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears.”

“ “Yes,” said the old man, “Yours is perfect looking … but I would never trade with you. You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love….. I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them … and often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the empty place in my heart but because the pieces aren’t exact, I have some rough edges.

” Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away … and the other person hasn’t returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty gouges … giving love is taking a chance. Although these gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding me of the love I have for these people too … and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I have waiting. So now do you see what true beauty is?”

The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect young and beautiful heart, and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man.

The old man took his offering, placed it in his heart and then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young man’s heart.

It fit …. but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges.

The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man’s heart flowed into his.

-PAULO COELHO

Bridge

Gather

"....street photographer of the twentieth century was a nanny who kept everything to herself. Nobody had ever seen her work and she was a complete unknown until the time of her death. For decades Vivian’s work hid in the shadows until decades later (in 2007), historical hobbyist John Maloof bought a box full of never developed negatives at a local auction for $380. -"

See more at: http://www.the-open-mind.com/man-buys-10-000-undeveloped-negatives-at-local-auction-discovers-one-of-the-most-important-street-photographers-of-the-mid-20th-century/#sthash.9hAPTB4K.dpuf

approach

Wanda Gag

wrote and illustrated the first book I knew (and could recite by heart before age 2).

Wanda Gag (1893-1946) illustrated the children’s book Millions of Cats (1928), and pioneered the double-page book spread, using both pages for one illustration that furthered the story. In Millions Of Cats there is use of bright colour, but a lot of her work is high-contrast black-and-white.

http://www.slaphappylarry.com/picturebook-study-hansel-and-gretel-by-neil-gaiman-and-lorenzo-mattotti/

Tend

"Middle English (in the sense ‘move or be inclined to move in a certain direction’): from Old French tendre ‘stretch, tend,’ from Latin tendere .""care for or look after; give one's attention to."

2007, showing an upset 5 year old Jane, how to incorporate a spill / drop of paint into the picture.  Remember telling her there are no mistakes... it's just part of the story.

Inch by inch, row by row, I'm gonna make this garden grow
All it takes is a rake and a hoe, and a piece of fertile ground
Inch by inch, row by row, someone bless these seeds I sow
Someone warm them from below 'til the rain comes tumbling down

Pullin' weeds and pickin' stones, we are made of dreams and bones
I feel the need to grow my own 'cause the time is close at hand
Grain for grain, sun and rain, I'll find my way in nature's chain
I tune my body and my brain to the music of the land

Inch by inch, row by row, I'm gonna make this garden grow
All it takes is a rake and a hoe and a piece of fertile ground
Inch by inch, row by row, someone bless these seeds I sow
Someone warm them from below 'til the rain comes tumbling down

So plant your rows straight and long, temper them with prayer and song
Mother earth can keep you strong if you give her love and care
Now an old crow watching hungrily from his perch in yonder tree
In my garden I'm as free as that feathered thief up there

Inch by inch, row by row, I'm gonna make this garden grow
All it takes is a rake and a hoe and a piece of fertile ground
Inch by inch, row by row, someone bless these seeds I sow
Someone warm them from below 'til the rain comes tumbling

Inch by inch, row by row, someone bless these seeds I sow
Someone warm them from below 'til the rain comes tumbling down
partial to the Peter, Paul, and Mary version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf01KuTdjHs

touch

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2015/09/100-year-old-footage-of-legendary-artists-monet-renoir-rodin-and-degas-working-and-walking-near-their-studios/

Anchor

 my favorite surprise experimentation results with Pipenberg Patina amidst 2015 vandalism glass... 

I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.

-Goethe

Approach. Near. (Near)

Press, relief, tentative, step with a solid heal and a slipping toe towards some glimmered idea.

https://instagram.com/word_and_image/

out of sequence

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2015/08/tromp-loeil-ceramics-that-imitate-the-natural-appearance-of-decaying-wood/

@ aaron

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/29132728814152839/

Family Crest