friday

Chairs in Rain, Paris, 1931

Ilse Bing, a German/Jewish self-taught photographer who was born March 23, 1889, and lived to be 98. She lived in Paris until WWII, then leaving for New York City.

Self-Portrait with Leica, 1931

A part of the Avant-Garde movement, she was referred to as the "Queen of the Leica" because of her talent with the then new 35mm camera.

Greta Garbo Poster, Paris, 1932

Boats with Windmill, Veere, 1931

In the early 1950s she quit photography. She didn't think it suited her any longer. So she began writing poetry instead, which she said was creating, "snapshots without a camera".

great things list #23

buying some seeds. and new garden gloves. at the hardware store.
knowing that it will be warm enough to plant, one day soon-ish.

in time of daffodils

my first daffodils this spring.
I was beginning to fear they wouldn't show up in this high desert town.
I don't see them in people's yards.
Though so many people's yards are hidden by tall adobe walls. so maybe they are there.
but in kansas, they are a part of the spring landscape. growing everywhere like weeds.
and I was missing them.

I used to smile at how silly it was, to buy bunches of daffodils at the grocery store.
I didn't know how spoiled I was to have them growing in my own yard.

today, I felt so happy when I saw them in the florist section of the store.
and bought myself two bunches.
they smell sweet & soft. and they bring a welcome sunshine-y brightness to our home.


......

in time of daffodils(who know
the goal of living is to grow)
forgetting why,remember how

in time of lilacs who proclaim
the aim of waking is to dream,
remember so(forgetting seem)

in time of roses(who amaze
our now and here with paradise)
forgetting if,remember yes

in time of all sweet things beyond
whatever mind may comprehend,
remember seek(forgetting find)

and in a mystery to be
(when time from time shall set us free)
forgetting me,remember me 

e.e.cummings

friday

crocus, 1874

botanical illustrations by Mary Vaux Walcott, an American Artist who was known for her watercolor paintings of American wildflowers.

grape hyacinth, 1920 

butterfly violet, 1923

blueflag iris, 1919

images were found at the Smithsonian
(click on image for link) 

spring eve

I opened iPhoto to see what my pictures were a year ago, on this eve of the Spring Equinox.

a farm in Kansas turned & turning even more, green.

for turning five

just a little project d. & I worked on, as a birthday gift for the little one who is turning Five.
I told him my idea, he turned some old boxes into the frame. and then I covered it in pretty things.

a little theater for a little girl who likes to make up stories and act them out with her dolls & animals.







mi'nina curiously checked it out before I packed it up.
I had a few moments of imagining how I would have played with it myself.







I made her a few skirts as well. some bright prints with ribbon edges.


and my brother video-ed the opening of the gifts, which was a big present for me. to see my little ones. and to see the sweet one smile & kiss her new little theater. there has been sadness for me, in missing this birthday with her, much like many things I'm missing with the kids. but the video helped me feel better, I didn't have to miss her smile as she opened her gifts.

friday

convent of tepotzotlan, 1924

Tina Modotti, an Italian photographer born in 1896.
She moved to Mexico City for love, only to arrive two days after her love  died of smallpox.

costume from tehuantepec

She stayed in Mexico. She met and began working with Edward Weston . She documented Diego Rivera and the Muralist movement. He painted her into his murals. And she then hosted the wedding party for Rivera & Frida Kahlo.

man with box of plants on his head,

staircase, 1924

She joined the Communist Party, quit photography & moved to Russia for political work, which she considered more important.

She died in 1942 in Mexico City, and Pablo Neruda wrote her epitaph.
He wrote that she was made of, "bees, shadows, fire, snow, silence and foam"

woman with flag, 1928

She took beautiful photographs and she knew many of the finest artists that I can only read about.

great things list #22

taking a lunch-break walk on a sunny day.
(& stopping for a hot chai)

saturday art night

last night we had the time to visit an art opening.
we live in a town full of galleries & artists, but don't often take part in the sociable openings.
the small talk can be intimidating.
but I tell myself that these are the things that help a person learn about the place around them.

the show was called High Art/Low Brow.
and it was a mix of artists using found art & pop art.

my favorite was right by the front door of this little gallery. stacked up the wall were sketches on the inside page of old book covers. many of the books had been stamped as "withdrawn".
i like that they were books meant to be thrown out. and instead are now art on a wall.
simple pencil sketches on beautiful old, embossed panels.
it was the kind of art I most felt could have been mine.

the night was pretty & snowy. snow had fallen all day, in huge, wet clumps.
i'm still surprised by all the snow here. but i live in small mountain town now.
my skyline is now snow-white dusted mountains.
looking wise & old.

after leaving the gallery, we walked around the corner to the Taos Inn.
we talked about how our own talent & creativity could be art on a wall someday.
we talked about how we could do it together.

the Inn was crowded with skiers and out-of-towners. it was a cozy, talkative place to be.
we had drinks. and some dinner.
a lively jazz band was set up in the lounge, playing away.

what started as a visit to an art opening, turned into a date night.

friday

early evening

sun and clouds

waterfall in the adriondacks

some works by Homer from the Freer Gallery.
I have always loved the richness of his colors, and the roundness of his lines.

(click on photo for the link)

more pieces

we visited Posi awhile back, and this time we visited Poshuouinge.

also a pueblo ruins site. on a climb up to a large mesa, which overlooks the Chama River near Abiquiu.

the Poshuouinge people lived here until the late 15th century, leaving for other parts before the Spanish arrived. they are thought to be the ancestors of the Tewa people (who now inhabit places like the Santa Clara Pueblo.)

I had read about it before we left for the daytrip. D. was suspicious, as he'd never heard of it. The directions instructed that the sign was small. And it was. A bit off the road, just past a gas station, is a parking lot. And after a short, steep climb, you arrive to the mesa.

What is now a large area of sandy hills & pottery shards, was once a city with three-story buildings and about 700 rooms.

Much like Posi, it is a (visual) treasure hunt of pottery & the possibility of an arrowhead. Unlike Posi, it hasn't been as visited, so the shards are under foot and still mostly scattered (at Posi we found them in groups all over.)

we both got caught up in what was under our feet, and wandered away from each other. trying not to do harm, trying to take in the immensity of what is now and what was then.

having loved the idea that guests before us at Posi had begun collections & left them, I began a few at Poshuouinge.

great things list #21

learning my own way around this town.

friday

some 1930's book covers from favorite books.

found through this site here.