locust wing

this grid work has long fascinated me.
at one time i thought i would trace an enlarged replica to fill a wall -- i may do that still.


while i pulled this apart for scanning (note here: no locusts were killed in the making of this image; i found it already dead as i do all my bug specimens) i felt how fragile, ephemeral these apparatus actually are; yet they lift a clumsy (rather) body and propel it through gusts & currents to some destination. also surprised to find the smaller version tucked neatly under the larger. i had assumed there was just the larger. well, happy viewing.

thistles

what a lovely word

emerging from the nut seed

pulled this up while weeding
though not a weed, it's in the wrong place
i am charmed by it from head to root

a single leaf

 i heard the lesson of change whispered into me : begin again

so 

here is a shape to wonder at

i could be with it all day and have it echo in each lift of breeze

after all, 

it is for this that i chose it

and having fallen

if I sit, 

and watch each one fall,

they are precious to me as distinct unique individuals,

and in this way, I will lose my mind

queen's lace

in a dream,

I describe fluently to you

the precise perfect distances

from where queen's lace appears 

as snow

                                    suspended,

a hover above
the August earth's surface

go stand there

Dan's cap

here's a great specimen of that patina that I love so much : well-used, worn, suited to most every purpose of our daily lives, familiar, welcoming.

this is my husband's hat. his birthday is next week.
he, too, has acquired that patina --
and radiates its underlying magical charm
compelling me to reach for him again and again.

many
happy
returns.

tools of the trade

(no matter what your chosen art...)


to never lose sight of the elegance within
those daily companions;
their fit of form and function;
their fidelity.

I owe them my best effort when wielding their power to transform!

broken turtle

there are myths describing the world being 
carried on the back of a turtle... 

weed root

It is mid-May
already.
Should I save my dismay for something else?
I had such plans for my garden this year.
It was going to become a clearer idea
of itself (at least.) Easier to glimpse its promise, the rewards of my hard work and intentions.
But
the weeds have come.
They have over-run some
of my best vignettes --

Because I am in the studio working against
a deadline of futility.
hanging between
hopelessness and the need for hopelessness.

Will I ever again love my life?

tulip cosmos

when the occasion calls for sending flowers to me, i tell my husband -- "tulips."
they look especially good when still mere buds.
and there is something desperate yet strong,
perhaps the word is "heroic," 
as they open and open and open, giving it all up in the end...

pod heads

this is actually a provisional posting. though the image is adequate, i would rather have given you a scan of my favorite branch, but it is too awkward to fit on my scanner bed.

there is something about this i do like -- perhaps the kissing; more likely, it is reminiscent of elephants and, at the present, i am longing to be among elephants for some reason...

pomegranate rind

while browsing through some Etsy listings this morning, i was reminded of something very important :

(from Einstein)

not everything that can be counted counts,
and not everything that counts can be counted.

i wish to thank Mary Burrows for this. if you're interested, take a look see

birds' nest

this is precious to me -- those are my dogs' white hairs mixed in with the other elements.

should i talk about my dogs? or the sweet gift of finding nests in my yard now and then? or, maybe, how i am drawn towards certain animals and feel blessed by their presence in my days?

actually, i'll take this opportunity to suggest that you check out bower birds -- for inspiration, for putting a smile on your face, for getting a glimpse of primeval magic.

I have been drawn to beauty
driven to it hard, hard


screaming.

milk and honey

I like triptychs.

Though each element can stand on its own, the implied evolution speaks to my Heraclitean soul. And, too, I must confess, they compel me paradoxically to stop in my daily pilgrimage and assume a more contemplative stance.

Ah, divinity and gentle happiness!

banana seeds

we are surrounded by breath-taking beauty!

some background : i'm a breakfast person of the 1st order. there are few reasons to get out of bed more compelling than breakfast, and, to my mind, a supreme break fast food is banana. i count myself blessed that they are easy to find ( i prefer organically grown as i find them better tasting.)

that said, i offer this simple vision for you.
and a happy new year!

let there be light

There can be no doubt that what gives this time of the year its power
is the return of the sun after midwinter (December 22nd for 2011.)

though I am
a modern man,
I wonder :

What is it like to feel --
physically and in every sense
and orifice --
the exact moment the sun has ceased
its fall deeper and deeper
each day (since the equinox
in September),
its effortless
leaving of us
with less and less of its light --
more precious to me than bread or water,
though I love bread and am 67% water...

and to awake from this day forward
crowned again
with all our heliotropic philosophies and creeds
by our soul's alma mater?

moss dollop

it was a heady feeling to know that
she could tell him anything
and he would believe it.

just then she leaned across the table
and said,
"Dollop is the French word 
for virgin's nipple."

he laughed, took it in, accepted.

about a year later there was a commercial on tv about how delicious a dollop of sour cream could be on a baked potato -- he blushed. when they saw it together, she laughed and he realized that she had made it all up. for him.

last forsythia

I realize that by virtue of this image, I am now a self-confessed "rank sentimentalist" (but am in good company as such.) I cannot and will not resist the madness of forsythia blooming here in NWNJ in November.

And, offer this, a mere month from Solstice, to tease and dazzle you and me all winter long with the anticipation of the unhinged insanity to be displayed come Spring.

Happy Thanksgiving, my fellows!


ps : I really dislike the pruning of forsythia into any formal artificial shape. Please, if you must cut it back, do it in as random a manner as possible, make it bushier, create more opportunities for blossoms, but don't reign in its essential wild-ness.

green eggs... so lovely!

 Recently we had an Open Studio Day here at zhine-studio -- basically meant as a excuse to create together; all ages, all interests, all manner of expression. There is nothing like the energy of many creatives working in close proximity to one another, says I, cheek-to-cheek, elbow-to-elbow, reaching for the same tube of paint or shiny object.

Maybe you've felt this at a potluck? Or years ago during the heady afternoons set aside for art while in grammar school? Perhaps in the spontaneity of an impromptu jam session? Among the roar in Yankee Stadium? We are social creatures after all, so be sure not to neglect your need to connect with others...

To supplement our Open Studio activities, we shared food. My dear friends brought fresh eggs collected that morning from their chickens. The taste of FRESH EGGS is a significant improvement over store bought. And the color of the yolk! Vivid, vivid yellow!

I was taken in also by the green shells; a mossy green outside and, when first cracked, for brief time the inside is aqua.

As my friend J. tells me:
"Araucanas (chickens) lay green eggs... so lovely!"