John the Baptist

I just posted some new easy recipes on our farm recipe blog. To check them out, please click on this Veggie Cobb Salad.
Finito! Here's the final John the Baptist! Also, I have to share this painting with you by my friend Karen Wend (kwend@hotmail.com). It's called Lovebird. Aww!Did I say Break... for a week? Doh! What I actually meant was Break until I stop freaking out about the show. Which, hey, happened sooner than I expected! Here's the little hummingbird in John the Baptist:

Break

I'm taking a posting break for a week here on the blog. I'll be back after July 6th with pictures of the reception. Thanks for hanging out with me- have a great week! :)

Announcing!

This flier is the genius work of Roger E. Ingraham

Please come play next Monday! The Stafford Arts Commission is hosting a party for my paintings. There'll be stories, gourmet vegan desserts, a harpist, and of course, totally amazing paintings. The TV station's going to come too!

Mossy St John

I learned something yesterday about different states of being. I started out the day doing stuff like emailing, phone calls, making food to eat, washing dishes, going to the farm. Later in the day I sat down to paint, and I was so antsy that I could hardly be still. I kept getting up and moving around. Meanwhile I was telling myself, "Gotta get this painting done today. Time to get it done." But I can't get any painting done while thinking about getting some painting done. I realized later in the day that painting isn't a doing. In a fruitful painting state, nothing is happening and nothing is accomplished. If I do a painting with clarity, then there is no memory of having painted it- there's no moment to hold on to.

St John has a new outfit! Moss! Little flowers to come. Yesterday I looked at the camel fur and thought, "Eww. That will not do." Hence the change of plans. The under dress is now made of white feathers with lavender tucked in.

There was an amazing lavender development this week! I started lavender from seed this spring, and the little ones are doing well. But check this- I was just given two truckloads of lavender plants by a friend of a friend. Like- massive amounts of lavender! What?! Yes! Lavender all over! Katie helped me pick them up- here she is tickling Aly with a blossom. You can see the little lavender sprout pots behind her and one of the new big plants before her.And here's Aly Grace with some of the planted lavender...
I've been gone for awhile! Now I'm back. Just spent a wonderful summer visit with Katie, Chris, James, Michael, and Aly. We all went swimming in Bigelow Hollow this Sunday. Here we are starting our hike out:

Fishing

"There is no point in telling people about Jesus when they are starving."

MOTHER TERESA

Teach them to fish

how to fish for themselves.

The fishermen had been in the water all day

but they didn't catch any fish.

There's no fish in the water, man.

He said, "Cast your nets into the deep."

They pulled up so many fish it could sink the boat!

Later everyone was together and hungry.

There were only a few fish to eat- not enough.

But he multiplied the fish. And everyone was fed.

"I will make you a fisher, man!"

Virginia

In Virginia! Steve and I headed down here to celebrate Matthew's graduation. Matthew is my cousin and he has just finished high school. Today we went into Washington DC- and got to tool around The National Gallery! I love that place! I'd like to share some pieces I enjoyed today that I thought you might like too...

Here are my favorite paintings from the early Italian Renaissance. First, Portrait of a Youth by Botticelli. See how exquisite Botticelli is with color? He really packs a bright wallop! And yet with such class.
This is Madonna and Child by Domenico Ghirlandaio. Those Italians! I love how they painted so brightly up until Raphael. This painting is a great example of fresh color use: the sky blue and pink Mary wears, and Jesus in that periwinkle. All ensconced in goldleaf! Oo and what a rich trim she has on her cloak!
Welcome to Ginevra de'Benci by Leonardo Da Vinci! On the back of this painting Da Vinci painted a juniper plant that's swirled about with the logo, "VIRTUTEM FORMA DECORAT," or "Beauty adorns virtue."
Also hung out with the American Impressionists! Late 19th Century and early 20th Century. I didn't know I was going to get to see such precious pieces- my favorites again!

First, Repose by John Singer Sargent. This is actually a small painting, and close up it appears to be just a sketch. Yet, when stepping away from it, Sargent's mastery really comes out, because what originally appeared to be a sketch up close morphs into a complete and vibrant painting with distance. His brush strokes are so economical that the finished piece is miraculous in its simplicity! How could so few brush strokes accomplish so much? Here's a piece with phenomenal forms. It captivated me. It's The Mother of Pearl and Silver: The Andalusian by Whistler. So much finesse. In person, this piece is darker- the background looks black- making it appear as if she's emerging out of pure darkness. Whew! Well that does it for me! Do you know that some people returning from European travels post-1800 were diagnosed with a certain psychological disease? Yeah. Doctors said their disjointed state on return to America was due to "beauty overload." I hope we catch it too!

Aphids and Roses

I was tending to the new yellow rose bush today, and found aphids all over the new buds. I killed them all by hand. This bush is a hybrid tea, a class of roses developed post-1700. Hybrid Tea Roses are known to be weak in immunity. They are bred for their long stems and attractive blooms, but through that process they've lost their strength. Some tea roses have even lost their scent to the breeding process, which adjusts the rose's appearance to society's fashion.

Ancient roses, on the other hand, are resilient, grow in the wild, have a lot of thorns, are prehistoric plants, can withstand difficult conditions, have no bug problems, don't require tending, and exude a scent that is its own luscious perfume.

And I wonder how that applies to humans.Today I see my sister! In honor of that, on the playlist I've lined up a portion of the James Laid album, one we used to listen to over and over again... on tape. Right after 32 Flavors!