I talk about three things primarily: My interest in the Yellow Vest movement, A review of A Passage of Yellow Red Birds by Robin Peace and Larry G. Maguire's poem, Hello Tree.
More about Robin Peace: (from Worldcat.org)  Robin Peace writes of the world through the eye of a swallow and from the window of a plane sweeping over the earth. She writes as water making its way from mountain to sea, and of time as a passage of yellow red birds that declares a harvest singing from the cut earth. When her mother faces death by starvation, the natural world is called on to give relief – a blackbird to swallow her, silverfish to consume her as a book.This is a debut collection that shimmers even in sight of devastation.

Robin Peace is a geographer, teacher and academic. A rich sensibility of the natural world informs a life bound up with stories of displacement, difference and belonging. She works at Massey University and lives with her partner on the wetland margin of O te Pua on the Kapiti coast.

More about Larry G. Maguire:

Writer, Artist, Podcaster.  Author of "The Artist's Manifesto"  He lives in Dublin, Ireland.

My phone died and I was unable to do any audio within the Museum, but I'm not sure I would have anyway.  The exhibit of Vija Celmins, A 25 Year Retrospective was one that was meditative and like a silent retreat. 

So my trio of short stories is the ambient noise into the Museum, my commentary about what I saw after the museum and the classical music I listened to during the drive home.  An inspirational day for me.
Afterword:  (taken from artnet)

I went to my Mountain this week and was struck with all the old trees barren and coming down after our recent storms.  I love this place, it reminds me of the cycle of life and refreshes my inspiration.

The strength here reminds me to press on.

A tree down on the hillside shows beautiful growth in it's decay.

A trunk with beautiful markings.

Branches "veiled" with backlighting.

California Buckeye seeds

Cobweb of branches

I walk and share my thoughts, lastly reading a poem from Mary Oliver.

 I share the sound of the creek.

A bit of musing about what's next in my creative process.

The image above was taken July 25, 2018, during a night photo shoot.  Today, after walking I sat in the studio and listened to Katie Paterson's Interview from Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark.  You can hear more about this here:

Today is October 8 and for #Octaver2018 I am posting three women that influenced my life.

Listen to my news about an article coming out, my new small work, the Refugee series and some new music I just discovered.

I am doing daily work for at least the month of June.  Along with that, I am participating in a daily audio blog #audiomo with the focus on my paint/drawing process.  Today's post covers the first of three works, with a 30 minute narration as I create these.  Please tune in either at itunes, anchor dot fm, soundcloud to hear the full commentary on my process.

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Per Kirkeby, Danish Painter passed yesterday.  It's hit me hard.  Not sure that I thought he'd be here forever or that I'd ever meet him myself, but it feels like a family member left the universe.

He has given so much to me in just viewing his work.  I was lucky enough to view a huge retrospective of his work while I was in Denmark for my artist residency in 2015.  At the time, I had just learned that he had publicly announced his end to painting, he had suffered a stroke.  That made me sad at the time, and anxious.  I did a few drawings while in Denmark around my thoughts of Kirkeby and painting, or giving it up.

Now he's gone, leaving quite a legacy.  One of the most prolific living artists I've discovered.

I will still look to his work to discover more and more about painting.  Reading his writings has been quite an eye opener for me, I have just the one book translated from Danish, and will look for more.

These are the remaining 4 of the series of 9 in the Denmark series.  I have to make a decision whether I continue into the next 2 (that i do have ideas for).  

I made some progress on the "last three", and also went into the Witches Grave/grace again.  Now i have 4 in progress again.  :)

I am a bit nervous, my portable drive won't open and it has all my images on it.  I know I know, dumb, but i moved stuff off the computer and forgot to back up the portable.  I hope it's only a cord, I'll see.

The podcast is sounds of the process today.  Paint goes on, paint comes off, scraping, mark making, more painting, it's all a part of the work.

Yesterday I took a walk in my neighborhood.  I saw a few things, and of course, my journalistic, documentarian self took photos of "what I noticed today".  #whatinoticedtoday 

The orange tree blossoms, so fragrant, caught my sensory eye.  Reminding me of my Farmor's backyard, and my dad.

I did a bit of a podcast today, remembering my father, he would be 80 today.

A few other images:

I realized today, that these three are the last of the original 9 pieces I began about 6-8 months ago.

Three came back from a show this week, and so all 9 are back in the studio.

I took my bold steps yesterday, making large changes again on each, leaving them again in a place I know they must be worked further to resolve.  Before, I could have just as well said they were finished, as nothing bothered me about them in particular, but they just didn't feel finished to me.

Now, the Egeskov piece feels more unresolved than the other two, which is a shift.  The Odense:HCA (Hans Christian Andersen) was feeling more unresolved before I took a mix of blues to it and the others.

Egeskov

Odense: HCA  (wip)

I feel a distinct need to start two more, fresh pieces in the series before going further, because I am still unsure of finishing work to be done on these.

I have been observing our continuous stream of refugees over the last several years, the Syrians, those from Libya, Yemen, Gaza . . . I weep.

Today I looked at some of the abstractions I did last year in  my "topical spaces" series.  Eerily still very present and relevant.  But today oddly, the three I looked at looked better in the upside down orientation.  So I am posting them here with some music in the "upside down" orientation.  As I look at them today, and like many in this series, they appear as "painting sketches" for future work.  For now I am naming them within the series:  Refugee Today 2 (above), Refugee Today 1 (middle) and Refugee Today 3 (bottom)  Somewhere in 2017.

The above piece is the nearly complete Ashøje:Witches Grave. I’ve been pondering changing the title to Witches Grace. Will see what it ends up like. 

Below:

Ashøje Forest. Nearly complete. 

This piece came up early this morning, after waking up in the early hours of today.  Political musings but insightful for me as my life has been influenced politically forever.

This piece is a self-portrait, inspired first by Frida Kahlo's self-portrait of herself painting in front of a canvas and a mirror.  This too started that way.  It shifted into a work that was more developed into a more psychological look into my feelings about war and military and love as a mother.

Here is the long rambling (about 24 min) of my insight this morning on a podcast I did on an audio podcast.  I'm feeling introducing my own voice, the sound of my voice into my work is an important new step into my work.  I am trying out a new platform called "Limor", I think it's out of Ireland.  Anyway, it may only be accessed via  mobile device, I'm not sure, would like some feedback if that is true or not.

It was interesting for me to revisit this self portrait in light of my feelings behind it and also where I am now regarding politics and wars.  Also, to acknowledge my long respect for Kahlo's life and work.

http://limor-api-production.herokuapp.com/podcasts/share/49c5856c6043

I explored a walk today with audio podcasting.  Exploring the format is good fun.  Trees and creek flow are good for the soul.  I worked a bit on the "odense: HCA" piece.  A bit at a time.  I've adjusted my way of working so I won't get so tired and sore.  It's new, isn't as fast a pace in my usual painting manner, but I have to take care of my physical needs now more than I have.

Here's a collection of musing/rambling from my day today.

My piece is a detail from "From a Bench: Føllenslev" but the real post tonight is a musing about Per Kirkeby, Danish Painter. 

This is one piece of the 11 in my Denmark series.  The series is named "Hygge".  I've been looking at this piece for a few months now and I'm not feeling it needs much more.  I have another piece called, "Ashøjoe: Witches Grave", it's still in process.  This piece is 36 inches square on wood panel.  

While in Denmark, in the town of Hurup, where my great great Grandparents came from, this forest, Ashøje, was planted near the family farm.  Beech trees I think.  In Thy, there are many beautiful trees and the light makes it's way through the leaves leaving a kaleidoscope reflection, angles and symmetry.  It is a joy to be there and walk in the quiet of those that live there.  The bugs, the wind, and all you cannot see.  

I am putting a Ted video here because I truly believe there is communication in these forests.  I went here daily during my visit to Thy, and during my art residency there in 2015.

I hope to return and do a series of work for all the seasons in that little forest.  Small but grand in my memory and visual language from that experience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un2yBgIAxYs