There are new images up in Gallery 2 now. These are older pieces, exhibited but not previously offered for sale. Clicking on the detail will take you to the full image and specifics.
detail – “fragments: evening shadows”
detail: “night garden”
detail: “Peeling Onions”
A percentage of all sales from my website will be donated to Hurricane Sandy Relief.
If you need to make payment arrangements, let me know. thanks for visiting!
October 31′st. Warm and windy here but clear. The leaves are all down from the big trees out front but still hanging on out back. The lilacs will be the last to let go.
Our morning walks are beginning an hour later in the morning now, partly because daylight is slower to arrive, partly because the later it is, the fewer critters are out and about, tempting the dogs to run and chase. I’ve managed to find a walking route and routine that (for four days now) has kept Beau from collecting nasty burrs. This is important. He’s a wonderful companion but spending an hour and a half each day trying to comb him out gets frustrating. He doesn’t like it and it feels like a struggle. Saturday he had a serious grooming and “detailing”. That should help. Gracie has a smoother coat and is much easier to comb out.
A light snow, combined with heavy wind brought almost all the leaves down last weekend. What an interesting carpet texture.
Outside the studio door, the “Burning Bush” is in full glory. What astounding color. I hope it holds for a while.
***Most of my time the last two weeks has been directed to learning more about Social Media, rethinking the museletter and working with Coaching Clients. If you subscribe to the museletter, you can expect a new one in the next few days. (updated subscription information is not available yet. If you are not on the mailing list and would like to be, drop me a note and I will add you. You can opt out at any time).
I have room for two more Coaching Clients right now.
If you want more information, click here.
***
Of course, for the past several days, my thoughts have been with family and friends and everyone on the Eastern Seaboard who has been, and will be, dealing with the Storm and its aftermath. I am grateful that my nearest and dearest have come through, but heartbroken at the widespread devastation.
Here’s how to help:
http://t.news.msn.com/us/heres-how-to-help-sandys-victims
I hope you are well and safe and if the storm impacted you and yours, I wish a speedy return to “normal”.
all best, laura
The dogs and I went to the tree house for the weekend.
This is the view of the “Bowl”, a volcanic formation. Michael situated the treehouse for this view.
If the weather holds, we will go up again at the end of the week. It’s the last opportunity for this year, IMO, and there is much to be done, having neglected the space all Summer.
Highlights: clean air, no smoke! A wild cat screeching one night. Absolute quiet aside from the local critters. Eight inches of snow, but drivable roads in, mud driving out. ick. Crystalline skies with all the stars and satellites – no ambient light from cities, towns, ranches, roads or neighbors.
The dogs had a wonderful time.
Downside: since I’d not been there all year, there is unfinished business plus chaos caused by visits from bears. Next year I must return to a regular schedule of being there.
Despite our long absence, the gray jays were waiting for us and our handouts. The Stellars are more dramatic looking and a wonderful blue but more shy. No pix this time, sorry.
Gracie, at 5 months, still does not know she is a puppy rather than a big dog. She runs hard and gets tired, but is always willing to keep up with Beau or whoever. She had a fabulous weekend.
Now it’s time to write a museletter and update a few other things.
I have space for two new coaching clients if you are interested.
hope you are enjoying this dramatic changing of seasons.
Huge thanks to those of you who pointed out an issue or two with my most recent museletter. Thank you!!
There is still an issue with the “opt out ” option but I will handle it manually if you contact me. Hopefully this will be resolved before the next museletter comes out.
As for the “tip jar”, that is fixed now. Thanks and huge hugs of gratitude to those of you who are contributing to support his venture. It is important to me, and from the feedback, meaningful to some of the regular readers.
There are about 3 slots for Coaching Clients open now. Go to http://www. everyday-creatives.com for info and to register.
wishing you well. laura
Today is the Autumnal Equinox in North America. I had my week confused (imagine that!) and thought it was yesterday. Wrong. Here we are, shifting seasons. If I sent you an equinox greeting yesterday in private mail please just consider it an early greeting <G>.
The dogs and I began our day as usual, walking the Island. Gracie (above) , at 5 months, does not know she is a puppy. She acts like and thinks like the big dogs. Sometimes they have to put her in her place, but she spends a lot of energy trying to organize games and trying to keep the larger groups sorted out. It is a Border Collie’s job: herd the sheep, even if they are other dogs or cats, or whatever. It is a lot of fun having her in the household but a challenge as well. Unlike Beau (who adopted her immediately), Gracie has no “off button”. She will run and run, and then curl up on the car seat and whimper in exhaustion until we get home. Then it’s nap time – and then it’s time to play – more- more- more.
We have our work cut out for us here. Fortunately, she’s super smart, affectionate and motivated to please – and Beau is setting limits, which is very good. Honestly, I had only intended to foster parent her, but she has won a spot in the heart of my other 4 legged housemates and in my heart as well. Who can control love?
In the gardens, the drought tolerant plants are showing off. Sunflowers, Sedum, Cosmos are all in wonderful color now. The non-native trees are shifting color, the native trees and super hardy shrubs (lilacs for example) are holding their green. We’ve managed to get through this horrid hot Summer with little damage in my yard/gardens. Although I have been extremely moderate in my use of it, I am grateful to have well water instead of using city water to keep everything alive.
OTOH, the Winter of 2010-11, with the sustained sub zero temperatures, did in a number of shrubs, including the grapevines. There is serious pruning/removal of dead shrubs to do in a month or so. It’s an opportunity, I suppose, to reconsider the landscaping, to reinforce my belief in xeriscaping. In the last month or so, I have put in new shrubs to provide additional privacy since the French Door went in: bottom line – everything new must be drought tolerant and hardy to 40 below.
This is the “Silver Lace Vine” a polygonum, my “living fence”. (it separates the front yard from the North yard and gardens, providing privacy as well as a limit for Beau who can breathe himself over the front picket fence if a squirrel shows itself.)
This vine comes into its own in the early fall with cascades of vanilla scented flowers. In years past it has climbed up the roof, but took a serious hit a few years back when someone decided to eliminate its support, cut it way back and so forth. I’ve spent quite a bit of time this year trimming and training it, and hope that next year it will fill in some privacy spaces. Braiding, twining the sprigs provides an interesting Winter texture. We’ll see how that goes.
Otherwise, it has been a quiet day. A few wonderful conversations with people near and dear to my heart, a nap (imagine that! I never have been good at naps) and a lot of list making and reassessing.
As we move into the new season, I have to consider where my time and energy are best invested. There are decisions to make, resolutions to follow through on and so forth.
Wherever you are in your life right now, I send you wishes for renewal as we move into Autumn.
please check out the coaching page, feel free to subscribe to the museletter, and remember that there are information pages in the right hand column of the blog page.
all best, laura
“From time to time, to remind ourselves to relax, to be peaceful, we
may wish to set aside some time for a retreat, a day of mindfulness,
when we walk slowly, smile, drink tea with a friend, and enjoy being
together as if we are the happiest people on Earth. ”
Thich Nhat Hanh
The color are slowly shifting. It is obvious that Summer is leaving us. So much of it was too hot to enjoy; it was not a good year for the gardens and the smoke from regional fires has made getting out of town an iffy prospect.
Every morning the weather forecast includes red flag warnings and smoke alerts. Maybe this weekend I’ll venture off grid, go check on the treehouse
and remember what silence is outside the bounds of city life.
Here at home and in the office things are happening:
The new “coaching website” is up and running. Right now professional rates are fairly low. They will go up when I hit my optimal daily client limit.
There is still a lot of free content available to you in the pages section – look in the right hand column of this blog. You can expect to see some of these expanded with visual content added and for some of the info to become available as downloadable e-books. in the near future. Editing and anthologizing (not necessarily in that order G>) takes time.
Also in process is an anthology of the Museletters – I’ll keep you posted.
The musletter service is available to you at no charge, (subscribe here) but I have recently begun accepting donations to help defray the costs. thanks for your generosity.
wishing you a fruitful harvest if you garden, whether it is out of doors, in studio , or in imagination.
all best, laura
Do you remember that song? Sandy Denny, what a wonderful voice, what a beautiful song!
Last week a friend visited from out of State. On Friday we drove the Beartooth Highway, all the way up, then back down to explore Red Lodge (I lived there in the 70s and it is a charming town, just 62 miles from where I now live)
Charles Kurault referred to this highway as the most scenic of all. He was right, but driving it can be a challenge. Hairpin turns, people hugging the center line when there’s no margin for error, fast motorcycles, etc. Still, every time I have visitors from elsewhere and the road is open, we take the Day Trip. Debi B was awed and took hundreds of photos.
All these photos are credited to her. I was driving, so my camera never came out, even when we stopped <G>.
This one is for Bob! Last year, August 5, 2011, there was snow on these rocks. Dressed in shorts and a tee, he climbed to the top. I wished we had documented that. He was not warm when he returned to the car. This formation is on Hellroaring Plateau. at approximately 14500′ elevation. The wind is constant. We began our day last year (as this year) in Billings in the high 90s. It might have been 40 above up there.
From the highest elevations we can look down at sterling lakes. This is an example. Our disappointment this year was that the air was smoky due to fires all around the region. If you are not from here, you wouldn’t notice the haze.
And now it is the ending of August. There’s a Blue Moon on Friday and the earliest signs of seasonal shift are here. The river is very low. I will collect cottonwood roots, either this evening or early tomorrow before meeting my dog walking friend, K and her border collie.
Beau, K’s dog and ms. Gracie all do very well together as they are all herding dogs, very very smart and with similar temperaments. Gracie keeps up with the big dogs, despite her youth and size. This is an important clue. Having a border collie pup presents particular challenges. I am resolved to protect her “wiring”, to not expose her to neurotic dogs or their people, to help her become the best dog she can be, given the absence of real sheep in her life <G>. Finding “substitute sheep” is a lot of fun <LOL>
Now it’s time to think about a museletter. Maybe later this evening, or in the morning after my walk. There are only so many words available to me at any given time <G>. The concept of writing ahead of time and scheduling ahead of time just does not fit for me. Maybe some day.
***Big and important news flash: There is a lot of demand for the Coaching I am currently offering. The fee as listed under “coaching” on the side bar to the right will change as of September 3. Registration before then will be honored at the current price.
Beginning the 4th, fees will go up. At that point I will offer a discount for committing to a 3 month plan instead of month to month. Stay tuned. Meanwhile, go make something or weed in the gardens, or sit and watch the sky.
Fill your well.
thanks for visiting!
laura
The new roof is on, complete, lovely. It took only two and one half days, a crew of five, working 7 a.m. to 9 pm. and they were wonderful. Yes, it was a dirty, noisy and messy process, but it is finished.
It was pretty cool to see the bare bones of the house from inside the crawl space:
The roofers took off three layers of old roofing, started from scratch and now, everything is to code. What is charming is the grace curve of the roof line, invisible with all those heavy layers. My house is breathing more easily.
Our weather has continued to be brutally hot with brief respites here and there. Today is in the 80s, a welcome change from triple digits. The sunflowers and cosmos, vines, weeds and grasses are thriving. My tactic this years is to let it be. I’ll water just enough to prevent crisp grasses. In the Fall, when it cools down, I will dig our the perennial beds and replant, once again thinking about xeriscaping: minimal maintenance, minimal water requirements. It seems to me that these new weather patterns will be with us a while.
Right now the goldfinches and chic-a-dees are loving the holly hocks and cosmos.
In other news, I am renewing my coaching practice, after a long hiatus, Details here.
Spaces are limited so don’t delay!
It is also possible that a group of “Women in Transition” will be forming soon. if this interests you, send a note.
To subscribe to my Museletter click here.
My wish for you as August matures is that you are enjoying the Summer, exercising your creativity, relaxing and making stuff!
Thank you all for your comments and inquiries. There were some glitches, but for right now the “may dazed sale” pieces are on Gallery 4. We all know the old adage about the last minute don’t we?
Prices will fluctuate and new things will be added from now until the June 15, after that, I am hoping to get back to a regular listing of new work. Right now, these things need new homes. Maybe you will find something you like and snatch it up before someone else does <G>.
The Museletter is back, let me know if you’d like to subscribe. It may be a few days before the proper links are on my Home page and elsewhere.
I hope that May has been good to you and that June is even better.
It’s a gray, gloomy looking morning but warm. Most of the snow and ice have melted off with the Chinook winds.
Beau and walk the Island almost every morning. Here are some things I saw today, along with random thoughts..
The first signs of Spring buds on the cottonwoods. Very subtle but the leaf buds are beginning to swell.
This was NOT there yesterday! A little cheer, a lot of magic. My gratitude to whoever is keeping this spirit of cheer going.
An earlier view of this installation was posted several months ago, after the flood waters receded. It has become an interactive project. Some days a white pebble is added, on others, red berries.
**
Generally we walk alone, this gives me time to sort myself, it’s a walking meditation. Sometimes we meet up with other people and their dogs, this makes for light conversation, good socialization for the dogs but puts a different slant on things for me.
Today before we met up with a “pack”, 10 dogs and 4 humans (too large a group for Beau, he sticks close), I was noticing subtle shifts in color, the wonderful ornaments and installation, raccoon tracks and thinking about specific sorts of gratitude.
My feelings about the gift of the Island and how it keeps me connected to the larger cycles; the companionship of my dog, how he gets me out and about and moving whether or not I want to; the gifts of friendship.
