Category Archives: help and healing through art

Conspiring Through Smell A Vision

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“A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked.” ~ Bernard Meltzer 

I have found myself caught up in the middle of a conspiracy, and it is me who is being conspired against. I know just who the little schemer is and how she is plotting to draw me in. The little manipulator is Darien Gee, and she is using word tactics of smell a vision to get me involved! 

You see, I never have been one who really likes to cook but, I did have many fulfilling moments of baking back in my days of raising a child. In fact, my son’s friends knew where to get the booty when their sweet tooth cried out for a fix. I was the rare Mom who made home baked goods. When I knew I’d have a houseful of kids, I’d jump into action and make something tasty. When the teen years rolled around, it was a good way to keep tabs on the adolescents, they’d frequently check in to see what was to eat. 

Ever since I became an empty nester and moved to a high altitude environment, where baking is more challenging, my cache of homemade creations has suffered. Author Darien Gee, the little conniver, is trying to lay a guilt trip on me through her book Friendship Bread. Have you read it? 

The magical powers of Amish Friendship Bread is the basis of the book. The wicked descriptions of warm yeast, cinnamon and sweet has made me want to try my hand at a batch. There are real consequences to jumping in because there is no way you can make just one loaf. The bread grows prolifically until before you know it, you are: 

  • Talking to your neighbors
  • Building community through food
  • Giving strangers more than just a passing glance
  • Strategically positioning yourself with groups
  • Building friendships based on commonalities and love 

I’ve peeked ahead in the book, and the recipe is there for the moment when Darien Gee is finished with brainwashing me into baking a pan. http://bit.ly/n50wn.  She is half-way done and I’m already beginning to execute my plan…. For starters there’s the Yampa Valley University Women, my fellow Kiwanians, the guys and gals at SHe Writes Steamboat, the Steamboat Writers Group and Lift Up Routt County (they can always use donations of food). 

I could put Strings in the Mountains on my list. Perhaps they would welcome a starter of something other than Steamboat fare for their own cookbooks. Then, lest I forget, there are always the kind and welcoming women of the United Methodist Church, although they can already abundantly cook! Then there is that other new meet-up group in town. What is it called? Ignite Steamboat? 

We will see, Darien Gee….with the way the recipe works, just getting people started might be the key. Perhaps then I can get out of the kitchen and just spend time creating other fulfilling things. 

Come on back tomorrow…. I promise the blog will not be so long!

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Plein Air Painter in the Act

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“A good picture is equivalent to a good deed.” ~ Vincent Van Gogh 

Last Christmas, our Kiwanis Club had a banner year of fundraising through sales of our collectible, uniquely designed Christmas ornaments. We feel the increase in sales was attributable to doing something a little different last year. We offered two separate designs rather than one. One ornament had an iconic Steamboat Springs scene (which is typical) and the second ornament choice had an image of the four 2010 Olympians from Ski Town U.S.A.We wanted to honor the gold and glory that the athletes brought back to this town! Guess what happened? People couldn’t decide which they wanted to so they purchased both! 

Now the pressure is on to try to top last year’s sales! We have decided that for a second year in a row, we would veer from the norm. This year, we will feature the art work of a plein air painter who has given permission to let the Kiwanis Club of Steamboat use an image of her painting for the ornament design. 

This artist, has found inspiration for her plein air paintings all over the world and she recently independently published images of her art work in her book “Thirty Years Of Plein-Air Painting: The Art Of Jean Perry.” For more information on her book and to read what representational painter Richard Schmid has to say about the artist, please visit http://bit.ly/mXOEuV. 

I am quite excited to see how the ornament turns out. I like having local artists, no matter what medium they work in, involved in the process of creating art for the benefit of community. 

The fundraising dollars from ornament sales will help support a number of worthy causes focused on “improving the lives of children – one child and one community at time.” 

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Artists Supporting Communities

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“In art the hand can never execute anything  higher than the heart can inspire.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Adele in the Garden” by Richard Schmid ’09

In just a few more days August will be upon us! This year, Old Man Winter found it hard to leave and the sun-filled summer arrived much too late, for my taste, here in the mountainous areas of Colorado. The benefit of long lasting snow did provide extra days for plein air painters to capture those last winter landscapes on canvas, however. 

Attention Artists and Art Collectors: Save the Date of September 4th for the 16th Annual Richard Schmid Fine Art Auction. This auction has been held to benefit the Rist Canyon Fire Department since 1996. Since it’s beginnings, over 1,100 paintings have been auctioned off generating a total of 1.6 million dollars. The proceeds of $600,000 have benefited the volunteer Fire Department and the art auction has created the center attraction for the Rist Canyon Mountain Festival each summer. This is the  Fire Department’s big fundraising event of the year and a great chance for collectors to acquire a new pieces of Art.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with artist Richard Schmid, he has received the John Singer Sargent Award for Life Time Achievement and also has been honored in Washington, DC by the Portrait Society of America. In the opinion of many, Richard is the finest  representational painter of our time. This year he is offering for auction his painting “Adele in Our Garden.”
Other art for auction includes portrait paintings, landscapes, western-theme art, florals, animal-themes, still life, seascapes and even a few abstracts too. For more information on this ever popular art event, visit the following links: 

 Thanks to the generosity of Artist Richard Schmid and the other participating artists, the Rist Canyon is a much safer community in which to live.  This canyon area is dry, and susceptible to fire, particularly in the heat of the summer. The Richard Schmid Art Auction does a great job in fulfilling the financial needs of keeping the Rist Canyon Fire Department operating all year long.

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Fulfilling the Need for More

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“All stories interest me, and some haunt me until I end up writing them. Certain themes keep coming up …” ~ Isabelle Allende 

When Art Strikes was a blog about a photographic print that I had been struck by and finally purchased after a long wait. In reality, it was not just one print that attracted me to the artist’s work. It was the entire displayed collection. 

Once we find an artist whose work we like, we often cry out for more, whether it comes in the form of visual arts, books, films or music. Fans of Stephen King or Tony Hillerman  and many others wait with bated breathe for their next release. For fourteen years, the Harry Potter series of films have entertained children. Many kids grew-up right along with the main character, from childhood to now young adult. Fans of Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox have returned to the cinema for each new film of the Back to the Future series. Music lovers tend to buy more than one cd title of their favorite artist, too. True and avid fans don’t quickly disappear like a passing thought. 

Are you an independent publisher who has had a successful first book? Have you found your circle of loyal readers? If so, consider a sequel or a series. Begin to think of yourself not as the author of a single book but as an author brand. By having more than one publication, you can better create a real market for your self as an author and for your books. If you have a first book that is a “hot title,” it’s selling life can be extended if you are fulfilling the needs of the readers by giving more of what they want.

Obviously some books and films are meant to be “stand alone” titles, and are not suitable for a series or sequel. When writing a book, it can pay-off to keep in mind branding as a possibility. Not only are follow-up books exciting from the point of view of the reader, from a marketing or merchandising point of view, it can add great value to the independent publishers worth too.

Remember, independent publishers, it’s not just about the manuscript. This article will give you insight into what else it’s all about. http://bit.ly/aPEx0B.

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Character Analysis

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“Everyone tries to define this thing called Character. It’s not hard. Character is doing whats right, when nobody is looking” ~Unknown

Yesterday’s blog Gardens Heaven Scent made me think back to a time some years ago when I would hold annual perennial plant swaps in my gardens in Vermont. I’d get out my best china and linen, make fancy finger foods and entertain with a beautiful garden party. I’d invite the gals over to nosh. Some would come dressed in their durable gardening clothes, and others would arrive in their floppy garden hats and finery, appropriate for a high-noon English tea.

What fun we used to have!  Ironically, many of the attendees were book enthusiasts, too. Sharing opinions and thoughts of “characters in the garden” came easily and it was all part of the fulfilling day. We’d discuss:

  • What the reaction of others was to the overall scene.
  • Which personalities had conflicts with their neighbors
  • How figures underwent change through seasons.
  • Which characters ran around spreading their seeds
  • Star performers vs. minor role players.
  • Which cast of characters maintained their uprightness no matter what
  • Weaknesses and strengths in bit players.
  • What elements contributed to the fate of individual players
  • Villains vs. heroes

Gardeners never run out of things to talk about. Swapping talk of the trade is as fulfilling as the act of gardening itself.

As I write this blog, I am about to head off to discuss another of my passions –  growing the garden of independent publishing. Our meet-up group She Writes Steamboat is helping others who want to grow books . We are having a garden party of sorts. Before I go, I’ll leave you with some food for thought. http://bit.ly/oIkV2g

Gardens Heaven Scent

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“ Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.” ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero 

Doesn’t it feel good when our heart sings? That is the result of being involved with things we are passionate about.  

On Saturday, I played guide for the Strings in the Mountains Kitchen & Garden Tour. The home I was assigned to was a little slice of Vermont right within the city limits of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. The lush green gardens were filled with most of the same species of plants that my extensive gardens inVermont contain. 

When I first arrived at the gardens where I was to volunteer, it was as if the names of the perennial flowers had been filed away in the archives of my brain. I had to dust off the files and dig back into the records of my mind, to remember the names of a few. Once the names of all my favorite flowers were brought to the fore, there was no stopping me. The names all came spewing forth. I had identified each type of bloom before it was time to leave. 

There were Master Gardeners at the site, and I was in heaven for just a few hours, talking the language that plant aficionados find so fulfilling to speak. We talked botanical names vs. common names, climactic zones, acidic soil, shade plants, sun lovin’ plants, invasive species, succulents, ground covers and so much more. 

It has been two and one half years since I have returned to my home in Vermont. This weekend was heaven sent. I  visited Vermont without having to travel and I nursed my dire need for some garden talk, all at once. 

How grateful I am that I have lived in two beautiful nature-inspiring, mountain communities. One is as magnificent as the other, in very different ways. Thanks to the folks that organized the Kitchen and Garden Tours www.stringsmusicfestival.com  for assigning me to this most appreciated locale. I was able hear my heart strings sing, very loud and clear.

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All Things Beachy and Beautiful

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“Truth makes on the ocean of nature no one track of light; every eye, looking on, finds its own. ” ~ Edward G Bulwer-Lytton

This weekend, there is a place where spirit and beauty will  come together for a  special weekend event that will be worth the trip to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The charming Beach Rose Inn, in Falmouth, Massachusetts will be host to an exhibit “A Passion for Light – Paintings by Timothy R. Thies from Private Collections and New Oils by NJ painter, Judy Stach.” 

Timothy R Thies always painted from the light of his soul. His paintings are in collections across the country, and they will be gathered for this exhibit to celebrate his life as a nationally known landscape artist. Cape Cod was one of Tim’s  favorite places to paint. He often gathered artists together for painting workshops when he came to this coastal area, an inspiring  place for artists wanting to experience  painting en plein air. Tim studied and painted with the best artists of our time. To read the article in American Artist Magazine, in tribute to his life as an artist, please visit http://bit.ly/rrcehF. 

Judy Stach, an artist whose career has really taken flight in recent years, resides by the seashore in New Jersey and Florida. Friend and student of Timothy Thies, her beach scenes were recently selected to grace two covers of the New Jersey Shore Magazine this summer. Judy’s impressionistic landscapes, waterscapes and coastal living scenes will be featured in this show appropriately located near the beach! For more information on Judy’s art, please visit her website at http://bit.ly/nlDB3T. 

The opening event for this exhibit is Sunday, July 17 between 5 -7 pm. If you are unable to make the opening night, the paintings will be on display until July 31. The beautiful Beach Rose Inn is a favorite place for artists to stay and gather. http://bit.ly/mYCDUJ.

 Fulfilling the duties of curator of  the show is  Kristen Thies of West Wind Fine Art, LLC. http://bit.ly/qEWu9G.

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She Writes Home

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“The way we communicate with others and with ourselves ultimately determines the quality of our lives.” ~ Anthony Robbins

 

The other day, I began to think about the consequences of the digital world with regard to personal communication. I think back to my college days of long ago – leaving my family and my high school friends behind. Long distance calling was not cheap, nor was it a daily or weekly occurrence, so I wrote a prodigious amount of handwritten letters to my friends and family, all about the fulfilling life I had rebuilt for myself  some 500 miles from home in the Green Mountains of Vermont. 

Sometimes I tried to be creative. I’d send my family and friends a token from Vermont. A pressed, dried wildflower or single frond of fern, tucked flatly in the envelope. I often walked to the college grounds, through the woods, from my off campus housing. I was always on the look-out for large treasured pieces of peeled birch bark to be used as an alternate source of stationary. Sustainability was not the buzz word back then, but, I did realize on some level that I was recycling and re-using a natural resource. 

Sending handwritten letters on beautiful stationary, envelopes sealed with stamped wax, have nearly gone by the wayside. Now with instantaneous digital communication, people reserve handwritten notes and cards for special occasions – Fathers Day, Mothers Day, Birthdays and Anniversaries. E-Cards have reduced the need for “Belated” cards because you can deliver electronic cards, PDQ! 

It has been a while since I have sent a heartfelt letter through the mail home. Next time I do, I’d like to enclose a sprig of prairie grass, sagebrush, New Mexico privet or maybe a small branch of Apache plume, will do. But I am reminded by the words of Gerard Manley Hopkins: 

“What would the world be, once bereft
Of wet and wildness? Let them be left,
O let them be left, wildness and wet;
Long the weeds and the wilderness yet.”

On second thought, I think I’ll just send an e-card, that way I can design the page with any flower or plant that I want. http://bit.ly/q89tj7.

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Wings and Roots

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“The greatest gifts you can give your children are the roots of responsibility and the wings of independence. “ ~  Denis Waitley

 

 

Last week’s blog entitled “A String of Summer Memories” elicited a response from one of our most loyal readers, Marie. She voiced her concern about the over-scheduled lives of children in this day and age and the effects it has on children’s ability to know how to entertain themselves and to discover and create themselves. I would concur.

Marie’s remark about creative play led me to remember a scene that I witnessed in a parade years ago, in the tiny hamlet of Moscow, Vermont on the 4th of July.

My happy memory involves not a group of children creatively playing, but a group of over-the-hill women who truly understood the concept of finding their own fun. Dubbed the Women’s Lawn Chair Marching Drill Team, they joined in the parade toting their lawn chairs, in celebration of Independence Day. Just as their own self-created, wild and crazy fun got a little out of hand, they’d tire and stop with precision, perform some drill team exercises, and take to their seats. Their movements were orchestrated by the live audio-broadcast of radio station WDEV. It was a fun spectacle to watch, and it made me remember how important and fulfilling it is for aging people  to have fun, too ! 

For more information on Vermont’s shortest 4th of July parade, please visit http://bit.ly/iKGIUF.  Moscow, Vermont, with a “downtown” of  less than a city block,  located in the heart of the beautiful Green Mountains of Vermont, has grown in population more than 14% since 2000, please visit http://www.bestplaces.net/zip-code/vermont/moscow/05662.

 I send my Best Wishes to All of you on this 4th of July. I am proud to live in a country that was born out of the independent spirit. Right now, it is ever more important to keep that kind of energy and attitude alive! It begins with me and it begins with you!

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A String of Summer Memories

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“Childhood is the most beautiful of all life’s seasons.” ~Author Unknown 

Yesterday’s blog writing about summertime in Steamboat Springs, Colorado set-off a string of magical childhood memories of growing up in ‘burbs of Baltimore in the 1950s and 60s. When I return to that time and place in my mind,  it is so fulfilling that I enjoy remaining stuck there; not rushing back into present day life. 

Our neighborhood was outside Baltimore City limits, developed as part of the post WWII surburban boom. The community was filled with children to play with. In our family, as was the case in most others, kids were shooed out the door to play and not allowed to spend much of the day in front of the TV. Had we spent the amount of time in front of screens as kids do in this digital age, it would have given our mother apoplexy. Instead of being inside, our summer days were filled with: 

  • Spontaneous BBQs and games of softball with neighborhood families.
  • Running through the neighborhood playing flashlight and catching fireflies (lightning bugs as we called them).
  • Basking in the sun until our skin turned a lovely shade of toast.
  • Playing in the stream that bordered our family’s multi-acre wooded property.
  • Gathering green moss and piecing it together to make moss mattresses, in the woods, resembling patchwork quilts.
  • Doing swan dives, cannonballs and back-ward flips off the diving board in our family pool.
  • Listening to hits of the 1960s on my treasured transistor radio. It came complete with a wrist strap.
  • SummertimeVacation Bible School at the church my Dad built. http://bit.ly/jA0Cpp.  
  • Selling colorful tissue paper flowers, we had made, outside the neighborhood store
  • Taking a drawing class at the YMCA (I was no better at drawing than playing the clarinet). Some things are just not meant to be! 

Childhood times may be gone, but they need not be forgotten! Have you ever considered independently publishing your life story as a “love letter to future generations?”   Begin telling your life’s tale today! Don’t know where to start? There are companies that can help you along the way.  http://www.telling-your-story.com/seminars.htm

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