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Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Riding the Thermals

Today I have a few journal pages to share. Feeling pensive as I observe the lengthening shadows and shorter days presaging fall. Oh, I fight the passing of summer. I love the long, warm days so thoroughly.

It's funny how we feel autumn's approach under our skin. The light changes. The senses quicken. I always feel like starting new projects in the fall; enrolling in classes or embarking on journeys.

Last Sunday we picked the peaches off the Frost Peach tree and I made a double recipe of Peach Cobbler to take to a potluck picnic that was a reunion of our old Portland Tilth Group.

For around 10 years John and I attended monthly meetings at the Friends Meeting Hall along with dozens of other enthusiastic organic gardeners and CSA growers. We shared vegetarian potlucks from our gardens and information on growing food and flowers. We met the best people in the world there.

This honeysuckle growing in Liz's garden reminds me of the honeysuckle that grew up the wall in our old house in Orenco. Up the wall and through the wall and finally into our bathroom window on the second floor of the house with the big clawfoot bathtub and the weathered window sashes. John and I fell in love in that house and the memories now are sweetened by time into legend. It was a hard life there but a good one too.

Sweet summer; I plan to stretch time and keep you with me longer.

I did this encaustic titled "Postcard from Mama" based on an old postcard I collected from around 1910. As I worked on it I reflected on the story of my mother's cousin's mother who, on one snowy, bitterly cold winter night, walked in front of a train on her way home from work. "On purpose?" I remember asking. But nobody knew. Maybe the wind muffled the sound of the train. Or maybe she couldn't take it. They were coal miners in that town in southern Illinois and life was a struggle.

Lots of rain this week forced John to dig the onions early and set up the drying racks.

He brought in a beautiful harvest of onions. Our garage smells yummy. He's also harvesting beans, before the rain spoils them.

The image on the right side of the page above reads, "Might as well face it, you're addicted to blogs". ha ha. That's me alright.

One last reminder here. Elizabeth is taking sign-ups for Squam until August 29th and then the doors slam shut. Squam is going to be delicious; in two weeks I'll be there along with many of my blog heros that I've yet to meet. There are classes for writers, artists, craftspersons. In the piney woods of New Hampshire. I'm already thinking about what I'm going to pack (flannel!). I've made workbooks and handouts and goody packets for my students. I'm going to spoil some people (hee hee). I love to do that.

In fact I'm going shopping today for some of the treasure. So if you can join us you will have a wonderful adventure. I'm teaching 2 journaling classes and one class on painting expressive faces in mixed media.

That's the update from here for today. Art in the Pearl this weekend and then on to Squam. I'll keep you posted; Girl Reporter on the job!

19 comments:

Heather, paperfollies.typepad.com said...

i love the picture of the onions in the drying racks...who knew! well, not me, but that image is just wonderful!

about a week ago, we had a conversation here about the shifting of the light...the still-hot days mostly mask the coming of fall here, but the shifting of the light is always the first clue...and that's when i feel so alive, when i know that fall in n.m. is coming ~ perfect days, chilly nights, roasting green chile lingering in the air, the sky shifting to a deeper blue...

Ro Bruhn said...

I know where you're coming from re the weather change, we are just about to start spring, I can't wait for the warmth to penetrate my skin again, this has been a cold winter (for us anyway). I love your journal pages as usual and the ingenious onion drying rack is fabulous.

liz elayne lamoreux said...

as always, seeing your journal pages makes me so happy...

i am so looking forward to seeing you in two weeks!

much love,
liz

Stephanie Lee said...

though I spend most of my time painting and jewelry making and getting "totally plastered" :) my heart really is in the earth (if, heaven forbid, I had to choose only ONE past time until I die). :) The soil, the smells, the patience that is naturally invited by the seasons to tend to things and wait....wait for time to do the rest. Time and the sun and the wind and the rain and the little bugs that crawl in and out of the folds of things. When I see your onions (or any of the harvest pictures you post) i feel the call of the earth inviting me back to myself - back to having my senses tingling at the surface, back to being so aware of the rhythm and the fluctuation energy between the sky and all it offers and the land and all it offers. A cycle in which I could surrender to completely and willingly.
THIS cycle of busyness that I am in right now - in life - is but a season and though I'm loving it - every last taste of it - I look forward to the season, whenever that returns, of honoring the earth-mama in me and living with the land full on, full time. Dirt under my fingernails and all.
Thank you SO much for being that voice of remembering for me. That voice that holds the line, bobs in and out of my awareness and speaks the words of nature saying "I'm still here. Ready whenever you are!". :)

BIGGER hugs than I could type,
steph

kelly barton art + design said...

drool and more drool. your images
make me smile. the image of the onions would make my dad, the gardener smile.

not much longer!

Margie said...

mmmmmm I can actually smell the onions from the pix. Drying racks? I must study more.

I hope to spot you in the Pearl this weekend. (big wave) We didn't get to go last year so this is my first and I am excited.

I love it that you post your journal pages! They are fascinating. I wanna do it too. ;)

Anonymous said...

Oh...your onions are gorgeous! And your journal pages aren't too bad either ;)

katie said...

i never tire of seeing photos of your beautiful garden. have a most wonderful experience at art in the pearl - wish it would have worked out that we could come down, instead walter must put on his mr handyman hat and do some house repair before the rains come.

xo

Gwen said...

beautiful post, Judy! I, too, love the onions! I feel for all of the gardeners this year, cool weather and now all of this rain!! It looks like you are salvaging a lot of things, though.

Beautiful pages, and I LOVE the postcard painting!

Squam really sounds like fun, maybe someday...

have a great time, and keep up the reporting, we love it!

hugs,
Gwen

Anonymous said...

I WANT SUM OF THAT COBBLER - yummmmmmmmmmmmmm !!! we went wild blackberry picking up in our local mountains and want to make cobblers out all the berries we were fortunate to pick : ) your/& hubby's onions look so scrumptious and of course that ingenius drying rack WOW : ) thanks for sharing your wonderful journal pages, they inspire me every time : ) what size is your journal? I just received my first molestin journal, but it's waaay too small, didn't notice "pocket" size only $$, but I doooo love it, it feeeels reeeallly goood : ) is your journal a moleskin or an altered boook ?? that is what I journal in right now, an altered boook and thanks to your blogg, I am enjoying the process of washing over with paints and journaling on top : ) thank you, thank you, thank you for alll the inspiration you offer : )
Blessings, Sandra in AZ

Anonymous said...

Your journal pages are awesome! And thanks for the tip regarding Squam. I checked it out and it looks wonderful. Too late for me to plan anything this time, but maybe the next class.. ~Joann

Judy Wise said...

To answer Sandra's question, my journals are 8x10" made out of a variety of papers (really whatever's around) by me in my studio. I really like that page size as I travel a lot and it is manageable. (my older journals are larger)

Anonymous said...

Thanks soooo much Judy for answering - I love making my own books but just not tooo goood at it, guess I'll just have to practice, practice, practice, ha. Ohh, BYT, I tried your technique on painting with house primer on newspaper, after cutting them to half-sheets, and had a blast doing it outside, now I want to ???? stamp, paint sum-more ?? but ohhh what fun it is to PAINT !!!!!!
Blessings, Sandra in AZ

Candace said...

Some harvest you and John have there, young lady! I do love autumn but this year, I feel more melancholy about summer ending... dunnowhy.

Judy, I do love "hot August" and the lady with the veil of words. Me, I am doing halos or auras... isn't it fun!?

Good luck with all you do, which is everything in general, busy bee.
Big hug
Candy

Anonymous said...

summer marches on down here in LA, but the light is waning slowly slowly. i look forward to the cool and hopefully wet. reminds me of our wet night in PDX. where's my rainhat?
your journal pages beckon to me during these long weeks months of classes and school where art life seems to have vanished.

Barbara said...

your journal pages are fabulous, altough a bit difficult to cling to summer here in AZ... find ourselves longing for sweaters. I have never seen an onion rack. Too cool!.

Joy Logan said...

Yummy pages and peach cobbler and omg do I love onions too!!!

Karen Cole said...

I am SO with you on that not wanting to lose even a moment of summer.

Everyone around me is jumping up and down with the joy of fall. NO...I say. Give me my flip flops and the warm sun.

Now to try some 8x10 pages.....

barbara said...

I love the way you dressed the woman in headpiece and veil with threads of words. Beautiful and clever!