I'm convinced that the world would be a better place if we all had back porches. Right now, I am on a slab of potential - but hey, it's my slab and I love it. To my right is a hot cup of press pot coffee and in front of me is Uno in a cage. He's not an outdoor cat, so this is a big field trip for him. He's just sniffing and sniffing and sniffing. I think he's enjoying this just as much as I am.
The birds here are singing like mad. At night, it's crickets and cicadas. I loved California - but it has nothing on this when it comes to sounds.
So the back yard has lots of potential. But that's about it. We do have some nice trees in the middle - I really need to find out what the hell they are before my mother asks. Then there is the ground cover that's coming in. I think it's ground cover. Or maybe it's just really pretty weeds. As you may have figured out by now - I don't know jack about landscaping and gardening. But, I am learning! I have many new books. So far, I have discovered what a thatch rake is and know how to use it. Baby steps.
I just completed a new painting and donated it to a local fundsraiser for an AIDS health care facility. It was going to be based on the song "Night Swimming" by R.E.M. but when I started painting it, is ended-up looking like broad daylight. Here's the artist statement I sent along with it:
"To me, memory is not like a snapshot – it stratifies events into layers of importance and prominence. Precise rendering gives way to drips and washes that erode the images beneath them. It’s my hope that the viewer finds the translucent images similar to an archeological dig – as you dust off one layer, something else is revealed. It’s those fragments of memory that insist upon reemerging that I find so fascinating."
