Reflections Archives - Page 6 of 48

Spring Fling

April 30, 2019

I landed in Iowa two days ago to join my sister for her hip replacement. Great little town called Ames- if I ever make it out to the great walks and shops. I’ve heard it’s a great place to enjoy the out- of-doors too. Love the people. This was the week for flat out work on fair prep for our Spring show in Simsbury. Then, re-locating all Paola Prints pieces to the car…in the pouring rain. This gala event was the day before my flight to Ames. Great planning- not. And who knew, the flight took 7 additional hours due
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Relief From the Everyday

April 23, 2019

So much in life can become mundane if we’re not careful. Stay alert! Spring offers so much new life without any effort on our part except to stay alert to the signs. Smells, bird sounds, new green and yes, daffodils and hyacinth scattered about the slumbering beds. Gardeners experience firsthand the benefits we draw from gardening. I love my gardens and am inspired every time I look out over them. Others take comfort in ways that are uniquely healing for them. This week is full court press getting ready for the Simsbury Flea and Smorgasbord Show. Saturday, (rain or shine)
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Spring is Sprung

April 13, 2019

Sedum (aka Stonecrop) is a beautiful succulent that appears in early Spring (that’s today in Litchfield). I recently posted a new scarf design and asked people to guess what plant I drew the green from. Sedum! An unusual shaped succulent that spans the length of our growing season in New England. Sedum is a hardy, perennial addition to a sunny garden. There are both tall and creeping varieties. Mine get pretty tall- up to 2.5 feet and leggy. One might choose a creeping variety for a more tidy garden. It’s early Spring in Connecticut and the usual suspects are slowly
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Your Home Can Be Your Personal Art Place

April 9, 2019

“Artists are picky people. The objects they live with — furniture, artifacts, ceramics, works by other artists — are usually carefully chosen, and they look it.”* My parents were both ceramicists, clay their primary medium. They engendered in us a certain mysterious connection between creativity and nature. Potters surround themselves with organic materials including plants. As children, we were in the garden daily in warm weather, playing and raising flowers and vegetables. Bennington Pottery, Bennington, Vermont Last week we visited Bennington Pottery in Vermont, a business that put its town on the map and employed many local residents for years.
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Easter Bonnets

April 2, 2019

We found Jack in Savannah a few years ago just about this time. He was buried in the basement of a familiar antique haunt. He caught our eye because he was alone. How many fu dogs have you seen without a partner? Few fu. Because they’re generally conceived in pairs. We brought him home and welcomed him into the family. Today, it was just too cold for me to pose outdoors in a hat. Then there was Jack. For years, my mother dutifully attired myself and my six sisters in thin dresses and flowered bonnets for Easter Sunday. It was
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They’re Baaack!

March 26, 2019

They’re Baaack! The skunk cabbage are here. And more coming. One of my favorite signs of spring. I just have to write about them every year! It’s not just their color and shape. Or the fact that they’re pioneers, early adaptors. Or perhaps it’s their undeniable motherly qualities against all odds and threat of inclement weather. Interestingly, skunk cabbage also reminds me of the work of the artist Henry Spencer Moore- a celebrated English sculptor known for his monumental semi- abstract bronze sculptures. An artist my dad was a big fan of. Read more here about the story of incredible
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Some Flowers Resemble A Flight of Fancy

March 23, 2019

People spend a lot of time dreaming of foreverness -thinking that the “now” will last forever. It never does. Nature offers some flowers just one day- like the incredibly beautiful morning glory. It opens in the morning and enfolds by end of day. I planted morning glories a few years running until I discovered that although it’s a glorious flower, it’s born from a destructive invasive vine that returns and multiplies every year, even diminishing in its ability to bear flowers. I’ve grown more cautious with plant selection. And I’m still digging those vines out of the garden. Every plant
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It’s Sewing Time Again

March 19, 2019

I love sewing. It brings quiet. It helps one make connections with personal history. My mother and sisters taught me to sew many years ago. Exploring all kinds of fabric, texture and colors. My passion for the arts began in a fabric store looking for prints, lace and thread for doll clothes. Followed by patterns and zippers for my own clothes. And then, sewing special dresses for my daughter too! The sensation of peace often emerges as a welcome consequence of handwork. Sewing can allow one to move forward in an ordered fashion- without undue haste. In this way, it
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Obsession – The Inescapable Dimension of An Artist’s Life

March 12, 2019

Who isn’t obsessed with the promise of Spring/Summer right now? Can you just feel the sun and smell the garden in this scene from May 2018? I signed up for a show the end of April and spent lots of time this week readying art files for an order. Followed by updating the website to match. Too much time spent doing things not very fun. (And no, I haven’t started my taxes) The artist’s obsession drive for perfection overtook me as I finally made time to complete two designs, Caroline and I Feel Pretty. I’ve been selling both of them
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Mardi Gras

March 5, 2019

Mardi Gras is a tradition that dates back thousands of years to pagan celebrations of spring and fertility. Christian leaders decided to incorporate many popular pagan traditions in a new way. In this case, the craziness got condensed into “Fat Tuesday,” a single day before the period of 40 days of fasting and penance between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. In 1857, a secret society of New Orleans businessmen called the Mistick Krewe of Comus organized a torch-lit procession with marching bands and rolling floats. This set the tone for future public celebrations that continue today in 2019- known as
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