EVERYTHING SHINES IN THE MORNING LIGHT

An idyllic week at the wild coast

We had Long Beach to our selves every day
Not another soul to be seen

 Hours of walking, fishing  and foraging

I'm drawn to the broken shells
especially the black turbans 
which peel back to reveal spirals of rust

BREAKAGE by Mary Oliver

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 clam,
the opened, blue mussels,
moon snails, pale pink and scarred --
and nothing at all whole or shut, but battered, 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.

Our room had a little garret above it
which we named the eagle's aerie
We did a lot of holiday reading there

 I savoured Donna Watson's exquisite book
The Beauty of Nothingness

and lost myself in several novels.

"Of course reading and thinking are important but, my God, food is important too."  -  Iris Murdoch, The sea, the sea

WATERS EDGE

Beautiful photography by Stephen Strom. Website here

There is something enchanting about walking near water and I've realized that I'm happiest near the sea or a mountain stream.... or at any waters edge, for that matter. My husband loves to tell the story (and it's becoming a bit tiresome) about how whenever I'm walking in the mountains and hear a stream burbling nearby I disappear into the bracken in search of it and he knows he will find me kneeling at the waters edge to taste the water.

Marsh (Reduction woodcut) by Jean Gumpper. See more of Jean's work here

AT BLACKWATER POND by Mary Oliver

At Blackwater Pond the tossed waters have
 settled
after a night of rain.
I dip my cupped hands. I drink
a long time. It tastes
like stone, leaves, fire. It falls cold
into my body, waking the bones. I hear them
deep inside me, whispering
oh what is that beautiful thing
that just happened?

 Maureen Shaughnessy

 While searching for an image to go with Mary Oliver's poem I stumbled across Maureen Shaughnessy's blog. Maureen is an artist/photographer/poet who illustrated Mary's poem, In Blackwater Woods with the artwork (above). I think Maureens's images are perfect for Mary Oliver's poetry. Read her blog post  here.

Moon Rising in Grasses by Maureen Shaughnessy.

"In our spiritual tradition, we give away whatever is holding us back -- whatever is troubling us -- by sitting beside running water and letting the negative feelings, thoughts, or obstacles go. We imagine the obstacles flowing away with the current, like a leaf or a twig". Maureen Shaughnessy

I love this idea. Go here to read more.

Ripples by Paul Mitchell. See more of Paul's photos on Flickr, here.

Olli Kekalainen. See Olli's blog here

"Here is the fringey edge where elements meet and realms mingle, where time and eternity spatter each other with foam. The salt sea and the islands, molding and molding, row upon rolling row, don't quit, nor do winds end nor skies cease from spreading in curves". - Annie Dillard from Holy The Firm

 Stephen Strom. See more here

 Stephen Strom

 Suburban sand castles by Chad Wright. Photography by Lynn Kloythanomsup. See more photos of Chad's installation, Masterplan, here  and Lynn's photo stream at Flickr here.

Masterplan by Chad Wright. Photography by Lynn Kloythanomsup. See Chad's website here

 Arc by Sam Lock. See website here

Meltwater by Sam Lock

EARLY MORNINGS

Amanda Boe. See more of Amanda's photography on her website, here.

Hello, sun in my face.
Hello you who made
the morning and spread
it over fields...
Watch now, how I
spread the day in
happiness, in kindness.

-Mary Oliver

St. Charles Sunrise by Dale Janzen. See more of Dales images here

I love early mornings
before the world awakes
Everything is quiet and fresh
and then slowly
creatures begin to stretch and sing
greetings to the new day

Early Morning Web by Mike Autry. See more of Mike's work on Flickr, here.

Morning Mist

"I get the invitation every morning to live a life of complete engagement, a life of whimsy. It's ushered in by a sunrise, the sound of a bird, or the smell of coffee .....  It's the invitation to live, to participate fully in this amazing life for one more day."  -  Bob Goff

Mornings by Billy Collins

Why do we bother with the rest of the day,
the swale of the afternoon,
the sudden dip into evening,

then night with his notorious perfumes,
his many-pointed stars?

This is the best --
throwing off the light covers,
feet on the cold floor,
and buzzing around the house on espresso--

maybe a splash of water on the face,
a palmful of vitamins--
but mostly buzzing around the house on espresso,

dictionary and atlas open on the rug,
the typewriter waiting for the key of the head,
a cello on the radio,

and, if necessary, the windows--
trees fifty, a hundred years old
out there,
heavy clouds on the way
and the lawn steaming like a horse
in the early morning.

I'm watching you by Kim Kocinski (Please don't pin this image... All Rights Reserved). See more of Kim's photography on Flickr, here

for some reason I imagine Billy Collins tapping out poems on an old typewriter

"Is there anything I can do to make myself enlightened?"
"As little as you can do to make the sun rise in the morning."
"Then of what use are the spiritual exercises you prescribe?"
"To make sure you are not asleep when the sun begins to rise."

- One minute wisdom

(Images without links are from pinterest. If anyone knows the name of the photographer please let me know)

RAIN

Rain by Nazar Bilyk. See website here

It has rained steadily for several days. A relief for farmers in KwaZulu Natal! We are on the verge of being declared a drought stricken region and farmers are pleading for the increase of emergency relief to save their crops and livestock. We're not out of the woods yet but the sound of rain on the roof is comforting.

Rain by Nazar Bilyk (Bronze and glass) Website here.

"The figure has a loose and porous structure and relates to dry land, which absorbs water. In this work I play with scale, making a raindrop large enough to compare a man with an insect, considering that man is a part of nature. Moreover, this work concerns the question of interaction and difficulties in coexistence of man with environment,"

"Almost each sculpture is autobiographical. Senses and questions which fascinate me become fundamental in the creation of 'Rain'. In almost all cases, the sculpture provokes the viewer to look up in anticipation of the same raindrop."  -  Nazar Bilyk

Ukranian sculptor, Nazar Bilyk with 6 foot tall  sculpture, 'Rain'. Website here

RAIN  by Raymond Carver

Woke up this morning with
a terrific urge to lie in bed all day
and read. Fought against it for a minute.

Then looked out the window at the rain.
And gave over. Put myself entirely
in the keep of this rainy morning.

Would I live my life over again?
Make the same mistakes?
Yes, given half a chance. Yes.

Sculptures by Nazar Bilyk and Anne Gillespie bring to mind our friends in Australia who, not so long ago, were praying for rain to douse the bush fires. I can only imagine the relief they feel when it rains during the dry season. 

Taste the Rain (detail) by Anna Gillespie. See Anna's website here

Taste the Rain (Mixed media; materials fallen from trees) by Anna Gillespie. Website here.

"Petrichor, the name for the smell of rain on dry ground, is from oils given off by vegetation, absorbed onto neighboring surfaces, and released into the air after a first rain." - Matthew Bettelheim

David Tress. Website here

I love the way David Tress creates atmosphere in his paintings. He scrubs and scrapes, scores, patches and reworks until he is satisfied with the effect.

" .... there are several recent paintings that explicitly deal with flash storms by apparently tearing a fundamentally tranquil landscape apart with downward flashes or slashes of white or blue slanting dramatically across the composition. Sometimes, again, Tress loves to create a turbulent effect by folding or collaging the heavy handmade papers on which most of his works are painted to create an almost sculptural surface." - John Russell Taylor, The Times

David Tress (See website here)

Storm 1 by Karine Leger. See website here

"Last night
the rain
spoke to me
slowly, saying,
what joy
to come falling
out of the brisk cloud,
to be happy again
in a new way
on earth!"
- Mary Oliver

Hard Rain  ( gouche, ink and iron on paper)  by Dale Lindman. Website here

YOUR OWN WAY OF LOOKING AT THINGS

Inner Journey by Robyn Gordon

"In order to accomplish an experience, you have to have a chance to dance with it. You have to have a chance to play, to explore. Then each style of exploration that takes place is a different manifestation, we could say. Nevertheless, it is all part of one big game." -- Chogyam Trungpa

It's a good feeling to be surrounded by my totems again. 
Just before the big clean-up, 
I was sitting quietly
trying to trace back to a time when I didn't feel
that something was missing from my art practice
and it dawned on me 
that I was no longer surrounded by my own art. 
I've been setting my totems free too soon 
and feeling empty without them.

Stillness by Robyn Gordon

There are now three completed pieces watching over me, 
a work in progress nestles on the workbench

and the missing spark has returned.

"Stop thinking about art works as objects, and start thinking about them as triggers for experiences."  -- Brian Eno

Party Girl by Robyn Gordon

When I met my muse  by William Stafford

I glanced at her and took my glasses
off -- they were still singing. They buzzed
like a locust on the coffee table and then
ceased. Her voice belled forth, and the
sunlight bent. I felt the ceiling arch, and
knew that nails up there took a new grip
on whatever they touched. "I am your own
way of looking at things", she said. "When 
you allow me to live with you, every
glance at the world around you will be
a sort of salvation." And I took her hand.

Inner Journey by Robyn Gordon


" .... and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own." 
-- Mary Oliver (from The Journey, here)

"Do you keep your creative work close enough? Is it always available? Keep it so close that when you turn around you run right into it!"  -  Eric Maisel