artandsoul

My First Collage

 I'm taking a collage class.  I started out feeling somewhat intimidated.

I still feel intimidated.  But I do it anyway because I love it.

The first assignment was letters.  I really had no idea how to be abstract and use letters.  NO WORDS??? 

I got home and began using colors.  And paint.

And I kept thinking of my nieces who would really dig this.  No matter what age you are, anyone can do this!






This was an old face I had drawn while on a plane.  Drawing and coloring helps me not be so anxious. 

But it was plain, and unfinished.

Now it became the base of a new piece.

Not sure of her name yet, but I like her.  Alot.

This is another old drawing.  Repurposed.

This last one is totally in process....not sure where she's going.... but I think the journey will be sweet.

I think the first commonality for me is that all of the items in all of the groups are specific to me.  I had something particular in mind, even though I wrote a rather abstract word.  I've been to each city, landscape and interior.... and I wear those items of clothing, and am surrounded by those colors.

Another commonality is that I have a very positive association to all of them.  Each color, or city or anything at all that I wrote down made me smile.  That's kind of funny to me.  I don't know why.



My colors all ones that remind me of people, of paintings and of pictures that I love.  They are also colors that bring to mind other senses beyond seeing.  I can taste and feel them as well.

The cities all are places where I've gone with Joe.  Seeing the world.  Getting out of my small town, and being part of the larger planet.  I have loved these cities.  Eaten, walked, played, laughed, cried, made love, friends and favorite spots. I have felt fully there in each one and would go back in a heartbeat.
The landscapes are all ones that are archetypal to me.  Places I have been and that have swooned me.  I can see the grandeur of Yosemite and Glacier in the mountains, as well as the softness and ancient beauty of the Blue Ridge.

The beaches range from my home of St. Augustine to the Gulf to the Pacific and most recently to the North Atlantic in Prince Edward Island. 

Interior spaces are mine.  Places where I relax, I create, I pray, I live.

And the clothes are all about comfort, warmth and solitude.  I also wear these things into the Church at the Monastery when I go in the middle of the night for Vigils.  :)

From my Lovely Friend, Robin, here is an interesting set of Questions:

After a delightful ferry ride across the Bay of Fundy we meandered our way through New Brunswick toward Woodstock.

We found a sweet diner open for lunch and consulted the map about where to cross back over into the US, looking for parts of Maine we hadn't seen yet.

In all our travels we have spent a fair amount of time on US 2.  Especially from Minnesota to Washington ... so we decided to cross over and look for the beginning of that Highway.  (After you've been on the road together for six weeks it's the little things that seem like such fun.)

So we sailed right through the modern, space-age, Homeland-Security-enabled, camera-ridden Customs Megaplex near Houlton, Maine and before we got on I-95 we noticed a sharp turn to the left and lo and behold .... it was the beginning of US Highway 2!



And what else was there?  Why, an abandoned Customs House! With not a fence, or a prohibitive sign in sight.  So, Joe pulled up (over my objections) and got out to inspect.

It was beyond fascinating ... into creepy, crazy and confounding.  I mean, why did they just leave it?  And, to be honest, it looks like they left in a hurry.

 There are documents on the counter, books on the shelves and even toilet paper on the roller in the bathroom!


I mean, why didn't they take their stuff?  Or at least throw it away?

Shattered glass covers every surface, and the peeling paint gives the whole building an air of organic movement... almost like it is sloughing off a skin that no longer fits.

I wonder what it will turn out to be.

 The brochures in the bag are dated 1982.  They look almost new.  Nothing was blowing around or on the ground.

They are full of helpful tips for coming through Customs.  (I left our copy in the car, so I'll have to add those in a future edit)



All in all it was a good stop.  Perfect for the endings (of Canadian Maritime adventures) and beginnings (terra nuovo in Maine and beyond) of this part of our trip.  Joe was hoping for a stamp of some sort on his Passport, but the picture will have to do for now.

And it's always nice to know just where the Highway (or Sidwalk) ends.  Don't you think?

The rocks fascinate me.  I keep picking them up, putting them in the car, as if somehow I'll bring home some kind of essence of the Bay.  These pictures are from Nova Scotia - most of them from up in Cape Breton, and the Cabot Trail.



 We had some fabulous weather.  Overcast and misty, the roar of the waves against the rocks, temperature hovering around 50 degrees.  We've been listening to a brilliant reading of Moby Dick and the weather brought the sea and salt and wind right into our bodies. As an aside,  I haven't seen a whale on this trip - it's a little early this far north.  (Truth be told I haven't seen a Puffin or a Moose either - not a big wildlife trip).

Looking back down the Cabot Trail

Up close and personal with the rocks

And then we would get a day, like this.  Where the colors were too vivid to be real.

We would just sit in awe and soak it in.

Everywhere we go we've met the nicest people (of course, this is Canada!) and had delicious food.

People here are proud of their province and love to talk about its history and its unique character.  They love their Anne of Green Gables on PEI; and they love their lobster fishermen wherever you are!

 Many of the small communities are vibrant and busy, filled with young families who work hard at providing clean B & B accommodations as well as good restaurants.  You can't imagine how nice it is to get so completely away from chain everything!