Month: October 2008

I took a little quiz (click on the flower below to find it), and it said I am a daisy. Daisies have always been one of my favorite flowers and, along with day lilies, were the flowers for my wedding. I love their simple beauty and the way they blow freely in the breeze.

I am a Daisy What Flower Are You?

A good friend recently asked me to paint a card for her mother’s 90th birthday. Her mother’s name is Bea, but she goes by Bee, as I sometimes do, so I was thrilled to paint a couple of daisy and bee cards for her. These are a combination of watercolor and ink.

An online friend posted a tutorial on using negative painting to get a strong background before even starting to paint the flowers. I really liked this simple group of Cosmos (from another friend’s photo), so painted it using this technique.

I love Arches National Park in Utah! The stark, red landscape, the bluish sagebrush, the dwarf pines— it all speaks to my heart in some wordless and thirst-quenching way. I wouldn’t want to live there, but I think I could spend weeks hiking, exploring, painting, and just quietly enjoying the scenery.

Back here in New York, the voices of the Katydids on August nights are one of my faavorite sounds. I painted the Katydid from a photo of mine a few days ago, but I wrote this poem while listening to the Katydids one warm August night.

Sounds of the Night
“What is that awful noise?”
asked a friend one night.

I heard no awful noise,
only the voices of friends,
the sounds of the summer night

They were for me a joyful sound
but to her a frightening cacophony

Known, loved, they speak to me
of joy in the moment
the wonder of life
exuberance in song

Sadly, some miss the sweetness-
all they hear is noise,
fear in the dark,
and shut windows tight to keep it out The sounds of the night
speak to me of another voice
that tells of life and joy,
but is feared or shut out by many.But now it’s October and the Katydids are gone until next summer. In their place we have glorious fall colors and scents and sounds to fill our senses. Steve and I walked in our woods this evening and sat on the bridge over the wide part of the stream. The trees are red, orange, yellow and green, and the sunset was a fiery red where we could see it through the silhouetted trees. I painted this en plein air, sitting in the warm afternoon sun with my dogs frisking about me with their delightful cool weather exuberance.

We started the next day soaking in a bubbling hot tub by the deck and watching the morning sun bring the hills and trees to life. The air was crystal clear and nippy, especially when we got out of the water. A great way to wake up and loosen up! We spent the day hiking, reading, and eating, then I headed home as the evening light slanted beautifully across the yard, casting an orange glow over grass and trees, as well as over the mountains. A restful two day interlude from the challenging time the past month has been.