crop crop tree

Trees, trees. I love trees!

Those of you who noticed that the tree in the illustration on my last post looked a lot like the tree in an earlier photo of Lake Michigan were right!
:0)
I like it so much, I thought I'd crop and re-post just the tree portion.

I'm still missing the 50+ year old Russian Olive tree we lost to the heavy, wet snow we had earlier this winter. What should we plant in its place? We won't be living here long enough to see a tree grow to maturity. Hmmmm. . .

Earth Mother

It felt so good to paint something again! Even though I want to try so many new things, I keep coming back to the familiar.

Maybe that's what January is for, up here in the colder parts of the Northern Hemisphere - returning to the warm comforts of the familiar.

This time of year always has me looking forward to the first tiny signs of Spring. On January 21, I actually saw three male robins in our back yard. I always thought this was too early, since it usually gets especially cold here in January and February. A few years ago, though, I saw an entire swarm of male robins in January. There were dozens of them. I've never seen anything like it before or since. They were more like a gang of unruly young men, making lots of noise and fluttering about. Apparently they come back earlier than the females, to hang out with the boys and look for likely nesting spots.

Who knew?

This last month I was thinking a great deal about Mother Nature, Mother Earth, and the many goddesses who were worshiped throughout time.

I ended up doing this little illustration, too. I called it "Erda Greeting the Midwinter Sun." This is the first tree I've done that I'm really happy with.

Have you noticed all the trees that bloggers have been posting about in the last few days? I love it!

Erda actually is one of the names for Mother Earth. It's especially closely related to the German word for earth, which is "Erde." Have I ever mentioned that German was the first language I spoke? I learned English from my playmates and kindergarten classmates in Canada. Only German was spoken in our home.

That's why I chose the name "Erda" for my Earth Mother painting. To honor my heritage and the lives and beliefs of those who came long before me.

Erda was the goddess of fertility, the hearth, home, and domestic life. Some other names for the Earth Mother are:

Astarte
Bertha
Cybele
Ceres
Earth
Gaea
Gaia
Hertha
Herta
Hretha
Hrethra
Ishtar
Mother Earth
Nerthus
Peace Bringer

Rheda
Rhede
Tellus Mater

I've always liked learning about what people thought about and considered important long ago. They often seemed to know mysterious and vital things that humanity has forgotten as we became more "civilized." It's interesting stuff.

Hamming it up in South Georgia

Ed Hose

I'm always looking for inspiration.
I've been slogging through artistic concrete lately.
That is, until I found Ed Hose. Gazing upon her amazing menu of art has my brain basting in creative juices!

Ed Hose is Fabuliscious!
I discovered her (yes, her) yesterday through Camille Ronay , owner of Georgia Made Georgia Grown.
I couldn't wait to share with you her crazy wild parties on paper.
She's promoting a show at Gallery 209 in Brunswick, Georgia.
Click the pic to get the full view and once there, click "press to play".
I've said enough. Enjoy the song!!!

Bacon Wrapped Double Happiness—The Song!
Composed by Ed Hose, Mike Dyche and Pilliard Dickle
Performed by Pilliard Dickle

Press to Play!

Go get 'em Ed!
Catch ya later fellow bloggers,
Ronnie

Absorb

Black-eyed Susan in January

Life absorbed me for quite a while, but I think I'm back now. Although I feel completely out of the loop in Blogland, I plan to get back into everything again rather quickly.
:0)

While I was away from blogging, I came across the following quote, which I thought fit my recent mood perfectly:

"Live neither in the past
nor in the future,
but let each day's work
absorb and satisfy
your wildest ambition."
~ William Osler
Canadian physician
(1849 - 1919)

While my daily activities didn't exactly satisfy my wildest ambition, I did feel quite content and fulfilled most days. And that's a pretty good way to end the day.

During the last month I've been absorbing everything I could regarding art, from the art and architecture of Friedensreich Hundertwasser, to outsider art, to the art of Sulamith Wülfing and Fidelma Massey, to art history and various art techniques.

And by trying to live in the moment (not an easy task for me!), I've noticed more details around me, too. Like this street sculpture in Milwaukee which I was delighted to notice when I was there for an appointment last week.

It is large, about 4 feet in diameter, and made up completely of washers. Isn't it wonderful!?

I plan to continue to notice and absorb and appreciate more of the little things in the world around me. Once you take the time to really see them, you realize they're not such little things.

And one of them might just change your life.

TIME

I can't believe it's the 19th of January already. Time seems to be evaporating. The older I get, time picks up speed.

The Gunns around 1960 Augsburg, Germany
me, mom, turtle, dad, andi

This is a picture of us taken 50 years ago. 50 YEARS!!!! That's Mom and Dad, me and my two sisters, me on the left. Check out that big hair. I would walk with my girlfriends every Friday to a nearby village to get my hair done for one German mark, which translated to 25 cents a pop! Those were the days. Where did all that time go?

A clock I have in my living room

made by the great artist, Sandy Mastroni

This month, much of our time has been spent caring for our mothers. Watching them age and needing more of our care has me a bit melancholy and reflective. I spent last week, along with my sisters, in a hospital, watching over our 82 year old mom who has pneumonia. She came home on Saturday accompanied by an oxygen machine. She is in good spirits and slowly recovering.

Our moms (mine on the right, Joe's on the left) at our house on Thanksgiving.

No, not that goofy guy on the left.

Joe and I gave this (see below) to each other for Christmas. We found it in an antique shop in St. Marys on Christmas Eve. We hung it on a nail in the back of a closet to give it a test, excited to see if it worked and to wait for the cuckoo to pop out.
It became a ritual by Christmas Day. As the top of the hour approached, Joe would yell through the house, "It's CUCKOO TIME!" Then we'd run to the closet to watch with great ceremony and delight as the cuckoo popped out to announce the new hour. A celebration.
I need to properly hang that clock today. Perhaps in the living room near the other two clocks. It's time to celebrate again.

CUCKOO!!!!!

Love and all good things,
Ronnie
the cuckoo time keeper

Hibernating

I had all these plans for what I would be doing. But here it is, the middle of January, and I just feel like hibernating. It has nothing to do with the weather, either. It's all the suffering going on in the world that gets me terribly down sometimes.

Right now I just feel like looking inward. Not just inside myself, but inside my own life. I feel like focusing completely on enjoying the people and things that are within my immediate grasp. I want to be totally conscious of my surroundings so that I can appreciate them while I have them.

So forgive me for not being more entertaining here on my blogs. And for not visiting you are often as I'd like.

I need to spend some precious time with my children while they are still on winter break from school. By next year my daughter will be studying abroad, and my son is already so hard to pin down. Within a blink of an eye they will be off, living their own lives. I need to make a few more memories with them while I still have them near me.

Art is my future. But they are my present.

I've got lots and lots of ideas for art I will be making, but it will have to wait a few more days. See you then, I hope!

Life, the Lake, and the Maestro

Finally a few minutes to blog! I'm hoping next week things will be getting back to normal around here, whatever that is!

I've always the enjoyed the many moods of Lake Michigan, so when I had the chance to leave the 'burbs and head into Milwaukee, I made sure to take my camera. It was before 9 in the morning, and the lake and sky were still a glorious rainbow of grays. You never realize how many shades of gray there are until you see the Lake in winter.

Beyond the beach and frozen water's edge, there were some pretty magnificent waves. Of course I wasn't able to catch the big ones with my camera, but if you look closely at the photo above, you can see some small ones.

There was even one young man standing on the beach, holding a surf-board, looking hopefully at the frigid open water. The air temperature was 6 degrees Fahrenheit, so personally, I think this guy was crazy.
:0)
I love the many moods of the Lake. The color combinations of water and sky are always just a bit different. Looking to the east, toward the Lake, it was gray and heavily overcast.

But looking west, the sky was turning a gorgeous clear blue. This view is the top of the old water tower on Milwaukee's East Side, north of downtown.

Milwaukee's lakefront is one of the most beautiful lakefronts I've seen, because so much of it is public land, easily visible from the street. There are many mansions along this part of the lake. This one is Villa Terrace, which is now a decorative arts museum. They have been working on the restoration of the building and gardens for years.

It's a real treasure, from the wrought iron gate, to the art housed inside, to the concerts which are held here in the summer.

For more views of Milwaukee's lakefront, you could check out my post from last April here, where you can see some beautiful shots of our gorgeous addition to the art museum, designed by the famous Spanish architect, Santiago Calatrava.

My daughter needed a ride to one of the museums along the lake because she was part of a student screenwriting workshop over the weekend. Several years ago, when she was still in high school, she won a screenwriting contest, and the sponsors of the local international film festival produced her short film. It was shown at the festival, along with films from around the world.

It was an incredible once-in-a-lifetime experience for her, and I know it changed her life. Since then, she's been asked to mentor younger writers each year as they compete to win the contest.

One of the greatest champions for young people interested in film and theater in the Metro Milwaukee area is someone you might have heard of or have seen. He's Mark Metcalf, the actor who played the Maestro in some Seinfeld episodes, Niedermeyer in the cult classic film Animal House, and the Master on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, among other roles on TV and in films.

Or maybe, if you were a fan of hair bands in the 1980s, you saw him in a Twisted Sister video! If you're interested in a little head-banging, be sure to click on this link to the video for "We're Not Gonna Take It."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtiLxhgXPWs

Mark is one of the main reasons my daughter had this terrific opportunity. Thanks, Mark! It's a real pleasure knowing you!

And thank you all for visiting and leaving your lovely comments over the past few weeks, even though I haven't been here nearly as much as I wanted to be. I'm looking forward to lots of art and blogging in 2010. See you next week!

Power to the Poppet!

Skye Poppet

by Mercy

Blogging takes you places and connects you with people you would never expect in your three dimensional life. Take Mercy for instance. She is one of the most courageous people I've ever met. She appeared on my radar screen back in February 2009...

Mercy said...

Hi, i just randomly stumbled across your blog from my own.
your art is so inspiering, everything you have created that i can see makes me happy.
what are your influences?
i want a studio like yours and just wanted to let you know im gonna be your online stalker from now on.... peculiar of stalkers to introduce themselves but i thought it would be polite.
you have an eye for a differnt kind of beauty.

February 25, 2009 7:10 PM

The stalker line got me!

So I clicked to see what Mercy, this little duckie, was all about.

Here's a hint...

And Boy did she talk.
I read and I read and I read about things I'd never heard anyone express. What she wrote was startling and sad and brilliant and harsh and hopeful and she stole my heart.
I've been following Mercy's blog for nearly a year now. It has been an uphill climb for her. I am amazed at her progress and I find myself feeling so proud of this girl who lives thousands of miles away.

Self Portrait at 20
by Mercy

She stole my heart again this week, when she showed me Skye (see the poppet above).
"I made a poppet", she said.
"What's a poppet?", I asked.
"It's like a Voodoo doll, but good", she said, "You send hugs through him."

Do a Google search and you'll find lots of poppet info, but none as good, in my opinion, as Mercy's idea.

Skye is a real guy. He has leukemia.
Mercy's response to the news of his illness was to make a poppet version of Skye to send to his mother.
Skye's mom is too far away and unable to be with her son.
Thanks to Mercy, Skye's mom can now hug her poppet son and send immediate hugs his way.

I LOVE Mercy's idea.

What do you think?
I want to know!

POWER TO THE POPPETS!

Love and all good things,
Ronnie

Get Going!

Let Go Go On

by Mary Engelbreit

As the new year begins I always find myself inspired. A clean slate! That OLD YEAR is GONE!

G-O-N-E gone!

Out comes the legal pad and pen and the list begins. At the top...

Fitness:

Dust off the Elliptical trainer,

the Yoga mat,

and set the Tivo to record Gilad and his merry band of skinny Hawaiian girls sweatlessly exerting themselves on the beaches of Oahu!

It's January 4th.

So far, I have Tivoed several installments of "Total Body Sculpt with Gilad", moved the suitcases (left there after our Summer trip to Hawaii) which blocked my path to the Elliptical trainer, and literally (cough) blew off the dust from my Yoga mat.

All righty then!

As soon as I finish my first blog post of 2010, I will turn on the Food Network and do 30 minutes on the Elliptical. I'll let you know how it goes.

Happy New Year Everybody!

Love and all good things,

Ronnie

aka Joe's stove operator

Happy New Year!

encaustic painting
by Susan Najarian

Happy New Year everyone!

This is one of my absolute favorite times of year. The holidays are over, it's the first day of a brand new year full of promise and possibilities, the days are getting longer here in the Northern Hemisphere, and Spring is coming!

"Cheers to a New Year
and another chance for us to get it right."
~ Oprah Winfrey

I want to start the new year off right by thanking a wonderful new blogger I found a few months ago, Susan Najarian, from the blog Blackbirds & Bumblebees. Thank you so much, Susan, for the gorgeous painting above, which I won in a give-away over the holidays! I love it! Please visit her blog to see more of the little gems she creates in her home on a beautiful island near Seattle, Washington.

I adore birds, and the colors and textures of this painting are incredible. It's done in encaustics, which is a form of painting with pigments and hot beeswax. Encaustic painting is an ancient art which was done around the Mediterranean as far back as hundreds of years before Christ. I saw a demonstration of it a few months ago at a local art supply store, and I have tremendous admiration for encaustic artists.

Don't you just love crows and ravens, too?

Did you know that the average lifespan of crows in the wild is 14 to 24 years? They are monogamous, and both parents raise their young. They can fly 30 to 60 miles per hour, and will eat anything. Gregarious, adaptable and extremely intelligent, crows were regarded by indigenous North American cultures as benevolent tricksters. The Inuit people have a myth about how a crow brought daylight to the world. They are so smart that they can count to 6 and have been taught to play a bird version of soccer in Japan.

Our cat, Skitzi, likes to make sounds like a crow, rather than meow. And our dog, Beau, tries to chase crows when he sees them flying overhead. We are a crow loving bunch!

"For last year's words
belong to last years language
and next year's words
await another voice.
And to make an end
is to make a beginning."
~ T. S. Eliot

This year I'm looking forward to focusing more on art in my blogging, my own as well as other art and artists I find noteworthy or interesting. I'm also looking forward to continuing the many precious friendships I've made here in the blogging community, and I'm looking forward to meeting more new and interesting people.

I think it's going to be a good year!