Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Definition of eddy

 (Entry 1 of 3)
1a : a current of water or air running contrary to the main current especially : a circular current : whirlpool
b : something moving similarly
2 : a contrary or circular current (as of thought or policy)

eddy rolls out 29 year old watercolor....



I painted this watercolor back when the tafoni caverned coastline near Pescadero, California was my "stomping grounds"....it remains one of my favorites....

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

heritage rose and rob brezsney...









my "Rose Heritage" in the middle of my mom's Backyard circa 2012

I have always loved this and other versions (via the folk process) of this Navajo/Dine song...Thanks to Rob Breszney for reviving it again....

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In beauty I walk
In beauty I walk

My eyes see beauty
My thoughts find beauty
My feelings rouse beauty
My words name beauty

With beauty above me, I walk
With beauty below me, I walk
With beauty behind me and before me, I walk
With beauty all around me, I walk

Through the returning seasons, I walk in beauty
On the trail blessed with pollen, I walk in beauty
With mist falling and moon rising, I walk in beauty

It is finished in beauty
It is finished in beauty


—DinĂ© prayer

As a double Libra, Scorpio rising...I tend to read both...





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LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): It's natural and healthy to feel both the longing
to connect and the longing to be independent. Each of those urges deserves
an honored place in your heart. But you may sometimes experience them
as being contradictory; their opposing pulls may rouse tension. I bring
this to your attention because I suspect that the coming weeks will be a
test of your ability to not just abide in this tension, but to learn from and
thrive on it. For inspiration, read these words by Jeanette Winterson.
"What should I do about the wild heart that wants to be free and the tame
heart that wants to come home? I want to be held. I don’t want you to come
too close. I want you to scoop me up and bring me home at night. I don't
want to tell you where I am. I want to be with you."

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): The Louvre Museum in Paris displays
38,000 objects throughout its eighteen acres of floor space. Among its
most treasured thirteenth-century artworks is *The Madonna and Child
in Majesty Surrounded by Angels*, a huge painting by Italian painter
Cimabue. When a museum representative first acquired it in the
nineteenth century, its price was five francs, or less than a dollar. I urge
you to be on the lookout for bargains like that in the coming weeks.
Something that could be valuable in the future may be undervalued now.



Saturday, November 16, 2019

new acrylics...

  Above is another addition to my online effort to honor my friend Leslie Pray. See below. It is a combination of a collage done with photos from an Athens,Georgia tourism brochure I received in the mail a few weeks ago, rubbings of our floor here and acrylic paints.  I guess I call it "Leslie doing tricks in the great beyond..."


My little Brother, Patrick left behind this square (stencil) that he had made and I have been using it more lately for art.....








I have also been using an old tiger balm jar to stamp and paint around as I love the beehive shape....



Analyze these babies GEO!!!!

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

for my november birthday folks!......

 ABS Watercolor circa 2004 or 6/15/00 i have so many and dated only a few.......

Click on this to see more of my favorite paintings from back in the day so to say: 

https://anniebsiemer.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-08-12T11:53:00-04:00&max-results=7&start=49&by-date=false

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

This black and white picture immediately brought to mind the art of paper marbling.  I have taught paper marbling to thousands of children,a few hundred adults and a plethora of friends here and there, and at least one lover.
Using oil paints (now known to be toxic so discontinued for a long time) and good old wheat paste and water, we swirled our way to little masterpieces
 one and all.
My favorite part about marbling was the blending of the colors
naturally there on the water
looking like so many rivers and clouds and the ebb and flow of oceans...all of the patterns of this Earth....
But this isn't that.
This is this:
 
 
Coal ash swirls on the surface of the Dan River following one of the worst coal-ash spills in U.S. history into the river in Danville, Va., in February 2014. The T-RUMP Environmental Protection Agency wants to ease restrictions on coal ash and wastewater from coal plants.
 
Gerry Broome / AP
 
 
 
 



Monday, November 4, 2019

Nasturtium Tunnel
Pigeon Point
2007

Fire Cider Remedy, by Rosemary Gladstar

Remembering Leslie Pray part 3...









 A Ventana for Leslie


Yesterday marked the one year anniversary of the loss of a beautiful soul and  gentle laughing, creative spirit, my friend Leslie Pray.  She was intentionally run down by a mentally ill person in Southern California, while riding her bike.  I have posted the link to her obituary on a previous post below.  I decided to honor Leslie on this day by staying outside in the wilderness of our backyard, and did.

 

I still cannot really wrap my head around this senseless act of violence.  Last year after hearing this shocking news, all I could really do was be outraged, cry and color.
This past September I decided to try and do a little Dia de Los Muertos altar for my friend, and three paintings/ art works came out of it. 



Leslie in 1988 as part of The Glen Helen Outdoor Education 
 and Raptor Rehab Center staff


 "Leslie riding off..."






Above is the first painting that came out of this effort to somehow heal myself and others from this tragic loss.  
I still really don't have the ability to come up with words to describe the shock.
I wish for love and healing for Leslie's life partner and family. 
The second was The Ventana above.  The third painting is truly in the spirit of Dia de Los Muertos, but it's all still too raw for me to display here right now. 
 Rest in Peace my friend. Rest in Peace. 


Here is a link to a blog I found while looking for more info. This tribute/vigil held last year looks beautiful.


http://centerlinerule.blogspot.com/2018/11/be-inspired-by-her-kindness-ghost-bike.html




 

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Remembering Leslie Pray part 2

Breakage
"I go down to the edge of the sea.
How everything shines in the morning light!
The cusp of the whelk,
the broken cupboard of the clam,
the opened, blue mussels,
moon snails, pale pink and barnacle scarred—
and nothing at all whole or shut, but tattered, split,
dropped by the gulls onto the gray rocks and all the moisture gone.
It's like a schoolhouse
of little words,
thousands of words.
First you figure out what each one means by itself,
the jingle, the periwinkle, the scallop
       full of moonlight.
Then you begin, slowly, to read the whole story."
Mary Oliver

Remembering Leslie Pray.....part 1




“When I take you to the Valley, you’ll see the blue hills on the left and the blue hills on the right, the rainbow and the vineyards under the rainbow late in the rainy season, and maybe you’ll say, “There it is, that’s it!” But I’ll say. “A little farther.” We’ll go on, I hope, and you’ll see the roofs of the little towns and the hillsides yellow with wild oats, a buzzard soaring and a woman singing by the shadows of a creek in the dry season, and maybe you’ll say, “Let’s stop here, this is it!” But I’ll say, “A little farther yet.” We’ll go on, and you’ll hear the quail calling on the mountain by the springs of the river, and looking back you’ll see the river running downward through the wild hills behind, below, and you’ll say, “Isn’t that the Valley?” And all I will be able to say is “Drink this water of the spring, rest here awhile, we have a long way yet to go and I can’t go without you.”

Ursula Le Guin from Always Coming Home  

 Rest in Peace my friend. I cannot believe still  that you are gone. Now you and Ursula are in heaven laughing at it all , I am sure.