Uphill idealist

It happens on her clock, not mine.  After walking past the unfinished canvas every morning, she suddenly gives me the clue I needed - at midnight. It's like searching for the right word, to have it suddenly pop into your mind except it's in a foreign language.  It happens when you relax just enough to remember that creating art is a joy and playfulness is welcome. Playfulness is welcome in this "Dreamscape" and it's just what I needed to feel and see with my own eyes once again.

Luke 3:4-6 As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. Life is unpredictable, to say the least. We have hopes for our families, our friends, and for our work to inspire us. We desire to fill each day of the year with  memories  to hold on to. Mary Oliver, the poet, writes about this desire to live life to the full, in her well-loved poem,  The Summer Day … Who made the world? Who made the swan, and the black bear? Who made the grasshopper? This grasshopper, I mean- the one who has flung herself out of the grass, the one who is eating sugar out of my hand, who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-...

Earlier this week I had the chance to wander down Hertel Ave. in North Buffalo and came upon a store called "The House of Olives" . The store was filled with metal barrels fill of fancy flavored olive oil and various kinds of vinegar. Each barrels was set up with a sample bottle and little tasting cups for unlimited sampling of their supply of oils and vinegar. I smelled and was amazed at the variety of the flavors available. This place could make cooking really fun! After my friend encouraged me to taste the vinegar -I did and was surprised at it's sweetness, but I was also taken aback by something else. While I expected the olive oil to be think and oily (after all it is oil), the flavored vinegar was incredibly sweet but it also was thick and syrupy. It's consistency I discovered, from the gentleman filling the small bottles for gift sets, made it necessary for him to slow down in filling them. No matter how he tried to hurry, the vinegar syrup would only pour so...

“All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.” ―  Julian of Norwich It's the Eve of the second Sunday in Advent and "Peace" is our point of focus for the coming week, Julian's words meet us in a time where peace may seem far off... For refugees wandering... For victims of senseless violence... For those without a place to call home... For those suffering sickness and grief... it seems crazy to repeat her words. Some may even go so to say the her words are foolishness. But, there are some words we need to repeat - perhaps even more in times like these.Julian's words mean to assure each heart that in the midst of all circumstances that Jesus the Christ is always present. 1 Corinthians 1:18 speaks of how some might perceive the gospel message to be foolishness... " For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." Julian of ...

Art is something that lifts my heart and helps my mind to stop it's spinning. Art is rest and release as well as a way to connect and interact with others. Art is an expression of spiritual matters in simple physical matter. Art (in all its forms) - from cooking a new dish to painting on a fresh canvas bring flavor and color to each day of my journey. I hope this colorful collage of text, watercolor and mixed media help illuminate a new shade of  hope for you too. "Color for the journey" is a mixed media original art piece integrating text, color and simple everyday resources.

Rilke advised me to "Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves..." I took his advice. I swallowed his words whole hoping they would take root and grow in my belly like the absurd possibility of eaten watermelon seeds. I watered the questions. I took risks. I went to places I'd never dreamed possible and met people that were easier and harder to love than the questions themselves. I got lost in their stories. I learned the unspoken language and the pauses in their speech. I saw that we shared the same questions and we all struggle to love them. Questions are hard to love. They are restless wanderers that leave as soon as you become used to their company and return to visit when you aren't prepared to face them. "Live the questions now", Rilke tells me. In their curvy strength I'm to live, to breathe and be content. Am I to ride wholeheartedly the uncertainty of this ro...

I can't tell you how many times I've thought about the following quote by Dr. M.L. King... "I have a dream that my four little children will oneday live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skinbut by the content of their character." When I was in sixth grade I was chosen to recite this well-known quote in for a musical that we were performing at my school called, "Kids for America". While I was excited about the singing and dancing and having a chance to have a speaking part in the play, this quote rattle around my young mind in a way that no other words had before. I grew up in a tiny town in western Pennsylvania and the community was lily white. There was no racial diversity to see or speak of. The only significant differences I recognized were religious ones, and this only happened because the kids who were Catholic were dismissed early on Fridays so they could attend  Catechism Class. From my perspective I could not un...