Sunday was good (really good)....

How can a day be bad when it starts off with Breakfast Pizza and ends with Cedar-Plank Salmon? In between there was lunch with new friends, golf for the boys, a furniture stripping project nearly completed and then some time at the beach with old friends as the sun went down. August, I think we're going to get along just fine. We moved back into our house exactly one month ago today while I've missed being here and in the studio I've been keeping busy. So far I've retiled the fireplace surround, gutted the kid's bathroom and am finishing up work on two tables that needed a makeover before I start a bit of painting (yes, i know it's a bit ambitious for summertime but my need to re-feather my nest is strong and so i'm just going with it). I'll be back to work in the studio soon but until then I'll be here with bits and pieces....see you soon.

It's time...

Good Morning...

It's early but there's not a lot of sleeping going on in these parts. I'm finishing up a large commissioned painting and doing a little happy dance over the small box of sample tile i found at heath ceramics (which is just enough to do my fireplace surround) and preparing to teach an encaustic workshop tomorrow. I've gotten lots of packing done while my big guy and my little guy have been away but they return tomorrow evening and I can't wait. I'm living in that moment where they walk through the door and we are together as a family. When things are as they should be once again. I've been putting this off but I believe the time has come to say goodbye for a while and wrap up all that a cross country move entails. To say that I'll miss it here would be an understatement. I may not be writing for the next few weeks but I will be keeping an eye on what you're up to and will be chronicling my journey in pictures and words to share once we're settled back in the mid-west. I wish you all a joyous summer filled with family, friends and of course good food.

Thanks for reading and I'll See you back here August 1st.

I'll leave you with this favorite poem:

"The Flight of the Reader" by Billy Collins

You'd think we would have had enough
of one another
after all the rain streaming down these windows,
the walks out to the garden when it clears,
the same yellow and white flowers,
all the sleepless nights—
the toy car going in circles on the bed table.

But still, you stay perched on my shoulder,
cricket or bluebird,
wild parrot digging your claws into my loud shirt.


Is it because I do not pester you
with the invisible gnats of meaning,
never release the whippets of anxiety from their crates,
or hold up my monstrous mirror,
a thing the size of a playing field?


Whatever makes you stay,
I hate to think of that morning
when I will wake up to find you gone,
heading toward the open sea,
dragging the cables that bound us together,
leaving me with nothing more to say.

But don't get me wrong.
It's not that I cannot live without you,
cannot sit under an ordinary green tree
with no desire to reach for the pen in my pocket,
or lie contented on a couch all day,
one hand over my mouth.

It's not like I have a crush on you
and instead of writing my five-paragraph essay
I am sailing paper airplanes across the room at you—
it's not that I can't wait for the lunch bell
to see your face again.

It's not like that. Not exactly.

Don't you just love....

salad season?

Here's my new favorite:

baby lettuce

shaved fennel

butter beans

toasted walnuts

shaved parmigiano reggiano

balsamic vinaigrette (this one is delish with 1/3 c. balsamic v and 2/3 c. red wine v)

What's your current fave?

Want to know a secret....

I like stacks. I like to work my way through the stacks feeling as if bit by bit I am accomplishing something big (in a manageable way). I have just over three weeks to get to every cupboard, drawer and shelf emptied and packed up so if I keep at it slow and steady, no worries. What I haven't been doing, however, is painting. It has been too cold and rainy to open my studio door (for ventilation) this past week and to tell you the truth I've lost my focus. I did notice something really strange when I was looking around my studio the other day assessing the packing required. I have sold all but two of the paintings I've made during my time here in California. My work created in this past year of massive upheaval and transition will exist in my mind and in other places but I won't be looking at it daily in my teeny-tiny (warm, dry and well lit) studio. None of the California pieces will live with me. I kind of like that...

I wish you a long, lovely and relaxing weekend.

nest: collaborative tangles with a delicate internal balance

Ok, here's the skinny on the happenings around here. Last month the public school behind my "new old house" announced that it would only have room for current students to be enrolled for 1st grade next year (due to state budget cuts). In light of that fact we had to make some magic happen. So yesterday afternoon Chuck and Sage flew back to Evanston to enroll Sage for the last few weeks of Kindergarten there. The weeks leading up to yesterday filled me with a nervous energy that made it hard to focus on anything other than preparing myself for the separation. I've been a mom for over 13 years and I've never missed anything big and here my littlest guy is going off to a new school without me. But you know what, he's there now and he's fine and I'm fine. Sage is so excited and is in the more than capable hands of my husband with my best friend (and her amazing family) as back up and support (ok, the fact that we can use the mac to video chat doen't hurt either). So for the next few weeks it's just me and the big kids and I will have more time to paint, to pack and to be present here. This is probably much more information than you needed but I feel as if I've been hovering here for a while and this first step back towards home has put me on more solid ground. The image of a nest has been presenting itself to me quite often and I am especially loving the unexpected photo of a nest gifted to me by Tara which will have a special place in my "new old house". The nest photo above was taken with my iphone from a couple weeks ago and forgotten about until this morning...it was a sweet surprise. My nest is messy and tangled for sure, but it is also strong and beautiful. I bet yours is too...thanks for reading.

this and that...

Hey stranger...how are you?

Things are rolling here as one car leaves today, one child and a husband leave on Monday (i'm still in denial about this part and will fill you in next week). Many books have been donated, a few furniture items have been sold (thank you craigslist...i love you) and a large quantity of empty boxes have taken up residence in the living room. I spent a little time in the studio yesterday and started on these two small block paintings. Normally I'm a fan of odd numbers of objects in my work but I'm still in the "this or that" mode I mentioned last week and so each block ended up with two objects rather than one or three and they play off each other as light and dark (go figure). I'm planning to work on these a bit more today and post them tomorrow (we'll see how that goes)....

ps: I also am thrilled to say that I finished up my pieces for ETA LA and am preparing to ship those off tomorrow!

Focus (on what's inside)

Last week I took my daughter for an eye exam and as I sat in the office listening to the doctor ask "Better like this, or like this? Clearer on one, or two? Better on 3 or 4 or are they the same?" I thought to myself doctor you are so wise (isn't that just what we all keep asking ourselves). The constant effort to focus and to clarify keeps us asking those questions over and over and at times it can be exhausting. I'm completely immersed in a shift of focus which is why I haven't been here as much lately (i think about being here often but am easily distracted these days). I've been busy over thinking, purging, planning, packing, and painting as well as trying to stay on top of the daily goings on around here and I have to say things I'm a bit bleary eyed. Time seems to be slipping by quickly but I'm rolling with it knowing that soon this big adventure will conclude and I'll be back in my nest....thanks for understanding and happy Friday....