ariston vinegar

Day 21 and I'm still going strong on the gift-a-day program. Today's gift will go to our neighbor Julie. She often brings us cookies. We are going to go visit her tonight and will bring a small bottle of Ariston vinegar. She is a foodie and will appreciate a very high quality balsamic vinegar. It is the best balsamic on the planet, in my opinion.

I have received many requests for collages so will continue to send out one a day. I'll be in the studio again Wednesday night so will continue to make them.

Tonight was my last prenatal yoga class. I called the coordinator today and left a message that I don't want to continue teaching. It is always hard for me to say "no" and to give something up. I was happy to return to teaching this fall as it represented a return to "normal", i.e. pre-cancer life. While that is true -- I returned more or less to my usual pattern of work and teaching -- I have to admit that my energy isn't what it used to be pre-cancer. I can't do it all anymore. I need more downtime. So given the choice of teaching or going to the studio, at this point art-making is more energy-giving, so I'll go with that inclination. I'll also be starting a weekly meditation class in February and don't want to be out every night of the week.

It's a short week. Mark and I will both work through Wednesday, then will be off through January 3. We'll spend Christmas Eve with my sister and The Angels on the Cape, then will head out West. I think Mark's dad will spend most of the week with us. He is turning 85 and we want to spend as much time together as we can.

Cynthia's collage

Here is Cynthia's collage. It features 1970's pattern tissue. I found a lot of it at a Salvation Army thrift store a few years ago, and even more when we cleaned out Mark's mother's basement a few years ago. Cynthia is a psychologist -- I hope she has fun trying to make meaning out of the various elements. Collage as Rorschach test. Now there's an idea!

Jane sent along this poem in response to yesterday's blog:

Snowshoes

Floating is easy
with them, the netting
of my step hardly touches
the top of our white backyard.
All winter they hung
by the hunting rack, and smelled
of gun oil when I lowered them
in the dark garage. But soft,
and I strapped them on softly
and walk out now where snow
drifts into the woods,
and follow.

Nobody here, but the rasp
of the dried hydrangea
as I brush past, snow
scalloped with animal tracks,
blue inside. At dusk
I glide on soft piles
to the woods' edge, where overhead
Orion is stepping into
his field of cold dust,
the blade laid quietly
on his belt, the light
it threw down ten thousand
years ago just now
beginning to filter
into my father's field.
--Debra Bruce

We had a blast with Shayna again today. We woke to her smiling face at 7:30am as she roused us from sleep. We started in the studio where she industriously worked on a collage that she had started last September, then started to collage a discarded papertowel tube. Mark made her favorite breakfast, pancakes, then we headed outside for another snow shoe, this time with the camera. She has quite a good eye for photography and is adept using the simple digital camera. We went out to the same spot as yesterday. Again, she wanted to sit next to the frozen brook and just listen to the sound of the water. She suggested that next time we bring along a thermos of hot soup and mulled cider. I suggested that we include chocolate as well. She thought that was a most excellent idea.

We met at my brother's house with his wife and Miracles and my sister's husband and other 2 kids. I have never enjoyed a Christmas season as much as this year. Mark and I will work through Wednesday, then will join my sister and her family on the Cape for Christmas eve.

Goodness flows.

Shayna's First Snow Shoe

We picked up Shayna this morning for her first solo overnight with us, and drove out West. She and her younger brother have come with us as a pair, but this is a big step for her. In the car she asked if we could snow shoe -- music to my ears! We barely got settled and had some lunch, and she was raring to go. I thought that it would be too hard, too cold, too whatever. But she totally enjoyed it. We were out for over an hour. It was really cold, about 18 degrees. As we walked, she would say, "let's be quiet and listen to the silence". Or "the rustling leaves sound like wind chimes". She later commented that being in nature is better than any kind of art could ever be. She asked to sit by the mostly-frozen brook so we could relax and enjoy the sound. What a kid! I asked her when she had started to appreciate nature, and she said, "today!". It was a most satisfying outing.

Tomorrow (depending on the severity of the snowstorm coming this way) we will all meet at my brother's house for a pre-Christmas meal. I am so happy that we can be together.

I just finished reading JM Coetzee's "The Life and Times of Michael K". It was published in 1983. It was a challenging book as it was a sad, sad story that book place in South Africa during the civil war. I gave my copy to Lynn yesterday -- a really most excellent read.

If I haven't sent you a collage and you'd like to receive one, let me know! I have about a dozen made and would like to extend the gift-a-day until I reach everyone. How long might that take?

Julie's collage

Here is Julie's collage, my friend from high school. Making these small-scale pieces has been so satisfying. I made 6 more this afternoon while gallery sitting. Lucy kept me company for most of the time, as we sat on the floor of the gallery and played together, making collage. Using other sources, you have unlimited access to ideas and playing with color, text, line, design. In the process of gift-a-day, I have discovered a really wonderful way of art-making. I have been making collage on and off for years, but never on this small, intimate scale. I showed the 6 I made today to Anna, one of the gallery members. She suggested that I put a bunch in our January group show. The members all envcouraged to contribute 1 piece that costs less than $100 and give the money to the gallery as a donation. (BTW, we are also asked to invite our artist friends to contribute work as well that if sold will be a donation to the gallery. If anyone wants to put in a piece, let me know!).

There is a "free store" in the studio building which has been a great resource. Today I found an English-German dictionary which will also be turned into collage.

Lynn joined me in the morning in the studio. The 3 of us had lunch together in a funky little restaurant in the most unlikely of locations. It is right in the middle of Boston Shipyards. I took a lot of photos last time I was there and will post them at some point. We all agreed it would be a wonderful place to explore with cameras.

Tonight Mark has invited an Indian colleague from the Bangalore office to join us for a show at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Mark has been doing some very good photo work and I am happy to go see a show together. Here is a blurb about what we will see: "Harry Callahan was one of the most innovative photographers working in America in the mid-twentieth century. Images of his wife, Eleanor; passers-by on the street; cityscapes; landscapes; close-ups from nature; multiple exposures; and darkroom abstractions reveal the elegantly spare formalism and lyricism of his style. Callahan's wide-ranging and experimental approach to photography influenced a generation of American photographers, including students at Chicago's Institute of Design where he taught from 1945-61, and at the Rhode Island School of Design where he taught in the 1960s and 1970s. "Harry Callahan: American Photographer" features black- and-white and color photographs that survey major aspects of his remarkable career."

Christiane's collage

I chose this collage for Christiane, aka Strawberry Girl. It is in the mail and on it's way. We studied Russian together in college. I haven't spoken a word of Russian in decades so decided to put my old textbooks to good use -- as collage materials! This week she mailed Mark and I some cool t-shirts that she got on a recent trip to NYC. They have Russian text and images on them -- I have asked her to translate for us -- I am not even able to read a t-shirt at this point! That's kind of sad.

Narayan has given me permission to take her "old yogis" class which starts in February. I just heard today from her assistant. The class meets almost every week from early February until the end of the end of April. She teaches it every season, ie 4 sessions per year. She gave me 2 books to read in preparation: What the Buddha Taught by Walpola Rahula and Seeking the Heart of Wisdom by Jack Kornfield and Joseph Goldstein.

Tomorrow is another studio day. I am so excited to go again. I think that Lynn is planning to go again as is Lucy. Just at different times. My job has been pretty exhausting, trying to get everything done in 4 days. But that's OK -- it's really worth it.

Kathleen's collage

Today's gift went to Kathleen. We have never actually even met. She is a friend of my cousin Jane. They both live in the Denver area. We "met" through this blog! Jane sent her the link many months ago and we're in regular touch. It's funny to think that you can meet people this way.

I rode my bike today in really, really cold air. It was exhilarating. The high was 30 degrees. It was probably about 15 degrees on the ride home tonight. Mark said I was nuts. Our neighbor is a psychiatrist and I saw her as I headed out this morning. I playfully asked, am I crazy for biking in this weather? She said, no, not if you think it's fun. And I DO think it's fun. Much of what I do these days is because I can. I have this fear that at some point I will not have this freedom in my body -- so am taking advantage of it now.

Another Lemon Bundt Cake

This morning I delivered a fresh cake to our neighbors Lisa and her mom Joan. Lisa called tonight to say "thanks" and that she hoped she would get home in time to get some cake -- her kids were very excited and there was a possibility that they would finish it off before she got home. I also re-gifted a piece of jewelry to a colleague at work. This particular piece was really meant for Goldie. When I gave it to her, she was so appreciative. It is the anniversary of her favorite aunt's death, and this aunt had turned her onto jewelry as a kid. The style of this piece reminded her of what her aunt shared with her. So it founds its rightful home.

Today was not an easy one. My job is driving me crazy -- I am very stressed, trying to get everything done while maintaining a full patient schedule. It feels unmanageable. Lucy and I met up briefly at a new vintage store in Cambridge. That was the one bright spot. Other than going Christmas shopping for the Angels after work. That was fun, too.

Today's image was taken in the woods on Sunday. I liked the old oil barrel on it's side with light shining through the holes which were probably made by hunters' target practice.