I Have Migrated to a New Location

All further blogging is going to be done on my new blogsite

See you there!

http://marysgardens.blog

What Changed?

My readers now tell me that it is difficult to leave comments.  Google Blogger must have modified something in their programs.

Recently, readers try to comment on my blog, but cannot.  They send me email messages about the problem.

I find that I, too, have a similar problem and cannot reply to comments from readers that I do successfully receive.

This is a new experience.

Has anybody found a very simple, efficient way to receive comments and offer comments on Blogger?

Does anybody know what changed?



Watercolors by MJChamie

Canopies of Glory

Branches arch streets and sidewalks,
offer shade from hot sun,
sigh in soft winds saying no relief to roots.
Time for cement to go, loose
dirt to tickle tree toes, share nutrients
and shade, softness, glory, shelter, quiet,
now shifts to autumn to show new glory.

Trees I Have Met

Swaying beauties, oft dismissed
columns emptily treaded around.
Look up and see their capes, the 
soft shade embracing color shape design
food shelter comfort.
Shouldn't we take better care of them?

Morning Walk in Portland

Trees hover, leaving shadows,
dance of light, reflecting branches.
Coffee cup in hand,
I stumble over awkward sidewalks,
erupted by roots,
enjoying the beauty.

Photo and poem by MJC

Life Change

Trivial moments spiral,
arriving nonsensically,
angst driven.
What is the catch, the trigger
turning sadness to joy and laughter?
Maybe a long, satisfying walk,
vigorous bike ride,
or a child speaking or a butterfly slipping by.
Nothing much, but awareness.

Poem and sketches by MJC

Rainbows I Have Seen

Rainbows
celebrate light,
announcing the end of noisy blue rain storms
calming nerves caused by
lightening streaks and thunder beats of crazy drums.

Abstract Thought through Art

Abstract Art by Jordan

Children watch everything that we do and are involved whether we know it or not.  

Yesterday, while the children and  I were doing art together, I wrote a short poem and did a brief a sketch showing them how I blog.  The result is here.

This morning, my grandson brought me a picture that he drew and asked me whether I thought it was abstract.

On the back was a poem.  His smile indicated that he had enjoyed the moment, as did I.

He is always teaching me new things.

His abstract art is above.  Here is his poem.

On his own, he is busy writing a long story, and I am looking forward to reading it.  

Abstract Thought

I don't know what this is.
But it seems right to me.
It expresses my inner thoughts, I guess.
But since I don't know what it is,
The meaning of it is elusive.
It seems to set a direction, then moves on.
Much like my life.
Is that what it is?
Each twist and turn leaves a larger decision, a
footprint of sorts. 

Beach Junk for Art

Below is a water color painting I completed on a piece of old plastic found on the beach.

An artist friend asked me to help her find a piece of driftwood she needed for a commissioned art piece she was trying to complete.  She had searched several beaches near her house and couldn't find the correct size, and asked for help.  

On our beach, I doggedly searched for the piece of driftwood with her specifications and found only some small pieces of wood, along with old shoes, pieces of plastic, an unhinged toilet seat, a few seashells, as well as plenty of seaweed and lots of old, jangled, plastic rope. 

Are you surprised by my description of what I found on the beach?  You shouldn't be, as most ocean beaches are cluttered with junk.   Much of it is plastic.  

When I told my friend that I couldn't find anything she wanted, she replied,  "Well, we should just switch to painting on plastic.  There sure is plenty of that laying around."   

A few days later, while again scrounging around on the beach, I found a rather large piece of blue, eroded, plastic that used to be part of a 25 gallon container.  It was an interesting shape, so i took it home then scrubbed it up and left it outside to dry in the warm sun of our Island of the Abacos.  

Then I painted the plastic, first designing the structure with gesso, a kind of acrylic base, then following up with watercolors.  The roughened and worn plastic surface moved the water colors slowly around in interesting ways. Where the plastic was still smooth, the paint moved about quickly and then mingled and mixed with other colors.  

As I shifted the brush size and character, I started to get some pleasant varied patterns on the old plastic.  

Pretty soon, I was lost in the painting and having a great time.  

The end result has a sort of shiny, porcelain look to it.  

I like finding junk to paint on.  And I sure like the price of the canvas.  

Plus, now there is one less piece of plastic garbage on the beach.

Learning from a Dog

We have a guest in our house.  It is Pickles, our grand children's family dog, who we are dog-sitting while the family is away on vacation.

Pickles

Lucky for us, Pickles is an exceptionally easy dog to take care of.  First, she is elderly and rarely barks; second she eats and sleeps a lot.  Her attention span is good, especially when it comes to watching us open the refrigerator or make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  

She loves to eat home cooked food, and will stare at us for hours if she thinks we smell like a hamburger, or a good piece of cheese.  

If I rub her head affectionately, she incessantly licks my hand to tell me to "keep going." I have to order her to stop.   If we lean down to pet her, she rolls over and asks for a belly rub.  It actually isn't very lady-like, but after all, she is a dog.

Lucky for us, Pickles prefers short walks with long breaks while she takes time out to sniff blades of grass and tree trunks.  One really doesn't have to go very far, or very fast, to make her happy.  

Lucky for us, our eldest granddaughter wrote down the instructions for how to take care of pickles, and the notes aren't that difficult or too demanding.  

Instructions

Not so lucky for us, we attend to everything on that list, even using good manners and picking up the dog's droppings and taking them home with us to put into the waste container.  This is not my favorite task, but it is the law.

We do not have to put her to bed or read her a bedtime story.  At exactly 9pm every evening, she voluntarily hops into her indoor "dog house" and curls up and goes to sleep.  

  

When we first arrived, she was nervous and stared at us, wondering what's next, I suppose. 

Dog Staring at Spouse

After a while, she relaxed and now spends her time sitting on the couch and lounging about, or lying on the rug and rolling around.  She will yip if she thinks we might step on her by mistake, but we never do.  But she yips, anyhow, just in case.

She might best be described as a fully, unkempt ball of white fur, with a mouth and long ears and significant eyes.  

When she curls up beside me, she kind of looks like a smurf.

What has Pickles taught us?  

Here goes:  

1. Food tastes better when it is not served in a dog dish;
2. Walking at a very slow pace soothes the nerves and makes one relaxed, unless one is in a rush or actually has somewhere to go;
3. Loud sirens cause one to howl; and, last but not least,
4. Sleep is everything.

Pickles the Smurf

Winter Wonderland - The Abacos

We stay for the winter months in the Abacos, one of the northernmost islands of the Bahamas.  It is a place often nicknamed Paradise by those who visit and by those who live here, when describing its natural beauty. The extent of its unending changing beauty is hard to describe.  Much of it is the subtle colors, the shifting of the light, the way the breeze runs across the beach.

Recently, I have tried to depict my feelings about this place using watercolors.

The more I paint, the more I see the wonder of this place.  The more I see, the more I paint the wonder of this place.  It is becoming quite an obsession.

The first painting is of early morning, what we see when we look toward the ocean.  It is followed by paintings at various times of day.

Early morning.

Late afternoon

Mid-day 

Before a Rain

These paintings were from our front yard. The stillness and motion of the ocean is what makes for much of the beauty.

The natural island settings of the low trees and bushes along the beach edge, facing the backyard are also very beautiful, however quite different from our front yard.

More to follow, next time.

Turning Wood into Art - Through Woodturning

Our neighbor, Steve Knowles is a wood turner who makes beautiful wooden bowls and other wood products that are all hand crafted in his workshop at his home in the Abacos at Bahama Palm Shores.  He has taken on woodturning as a hobby.  Every year his work becomes more popular and he now shows his pieces at art fairs around the country.

He currently works at Abaco Hardware where he services home appliances.  He is also the Assistant Fire Chief for the High Banks Volunteer Fire Services.  He and his wife Anita live in a natural and woodsy part of the Abacos called Bahama Palm Shores, an area surrounded by beautiful trees and bushes, with many different kinds birds settled in the greenery.

Bahama Palm Shores is well-known for its parrots and for its natural beauty, and is also well known for being a vibrant, active little ocean-side community.  It is a great place for Steve to find wood for his many craft projects.  Neighbors call him to tell him that a tree or branch has fallen in a storm and he comes over and retrieves some of the wood.

Poison wood tree

Picking up wood from a neighbor.

Wood piled up ready to take to his wood shop.

Cutting wood into blocks.

Palm tree downed by neighbor.

Steve stacks the wood that he has collected and prepares it for woodturning through a process of cutting and seasoning.

He works with a variety of different kinds of wood, highlighting their grains in his designs.

Bowls emerge along with candleholders, bread boards, hot plates, billy clubs and spinning toys.

Candleholder, prepared years ago.

Ready to go to an art show.

Fish hot plate and bowls.

While he works, he thinks and dreams up new ideas for future projects, sketching them out as he goes along.

Interested people stop by his wood shop to see what he is working on or to ask him to make them something out of wood. When tourists and  birdwatchers visit the neighborhood, many stop in to see his work, some purchasing items to take home with them.

Neighbors drop by to purchase gifts for weddings, birthdays and other occasions and often bring their guests to see Steve's work.  Steve has also taught some people how to wood turn. 

Early shaping of a bowl.

Initial wood cuttings

Sawdust on the floor.

Turning the wood.

Bowl, ready to go.

Selected finished pieces of Steve's work were recently displayed at The Bahamas National Trust, Art for the Parks held at Abaco Beach Resort in Marsh Harbor.

Steve will soon be retiring, and when he does, he is going to be very busy just keeping up with all the demand for his beautiful bowls and other wooden items.

Steve Knowles' wood turning  is a good example of how one might ease out of the work force while adding a very interesting project to ones life.

Here is a short video showing his recent work.

Steve Knowles