Art + Word

An American Thanksgiving with Good Friends

Danna & Avital. Upstairs hallway/book wall(one of my collections of books).

Danna, Curt hiding, Avital, Pablo.

Curt, Danna, Avital & Hagel sculpture w Santa hat.

Curt, Danna, Avital, Pablo.

Park City.

Pablo, Amaris, Avital.

Avital and I have been online friends for at least eight years, but I finally met her (and her fabulous husband Pablo),in real time last week. It was so much fun getting to know them in person and having the opportunity to share my family, one purely American holiday (of thanksgiving & gluttony), and my little corner of the world with them!

Their arrival also ushered in the beginning of winter, which is a beautiful season all across the state.

Although some believe that people who are destined to be friends will meet over a course of a lifetime, thank the gods for the Internet and Zoetrope, because otherwise, I have no idea how we would have ever met each other since they hail from Brazil and I from Utah (perhaps it is possible we would have met on vacation or at a writer's conference).

Avital is a talented and much published writer, and Pablo is an emerging glass artist. (I'll have to come back in later and provide links).

As per usual, I forgot to take one photo, but luckily they sent these.

The Owl That Came to Visit

La Chouette - Irina http://bellegalleries.blogspot.com/

Emily and the Owl - Dilka Bear dilkabear.etsy.com Trieste, Italy

The other night my daughter and I were heading out to our favorite local Thai restaurant when we pulled around the drive and saw a large avian shape perched on the highest branch of my honey locust tree, silhouetted against the darkening sky.

My daughter was certain it was a huge clump of leaves that hadn't dropped yet. I was certain it was a hawk, or an eagle. We walked very slowly through the fallow hay field, careful not to spook it. It would not be spooked. We walked right up under the tree and strained our necks looking at a Great Horned Owl.

Almost the entire month of November I've been in an emotional tempest wrestling with a thorny question/issue that just would not be ignored, until I finally faced it head on and did serious battle. Well, my version of serious battle. Nothing Athena-like.

I have a bit of a superstitious bone and tend to see meaning in things like owls appearing in trees, especially if it's my tree and I've never, ever, seen this particular genus of owl before on the property. What I'm saying, is that the owl's arrival came at the perfect time, right when I was riding the crest of emotion,and seeing it, how unflappable and unafraid it was that evening, confirmed that my decision was the correct course, however uncomfortable and painful, to take for this time and this particular situation.

I like to think the Athena's totem, her power animal, the owl settled in my tree to lend me its wisdom and vision to see clearly through the darkness.

Trees in Winter - Up Above

Up Above 8x8 fine art photograph Sherri Conley

I think this image captures winter.

I took a photo very similar to Conley's, (although the season was summer),about ten years ago when I was camping with my husband's family in Kamas, Utah. I was wandering around with my camera trying to take an artsy shot when I looked up and realized I was surrounded by six cathedral-tall trees. I remember feeling light-headed, as if I were in a sacred space. It's been a very long time since I've looked at that photograph. I'll have to dig through my stacks tonight and find it.

You may be interested to know that the etymology of temple is templos, which translates to grove of trees.

Sherri Conley is a Richmond, Virginia photographer. You can view more of her work at sherriconley.etsy.com.

This Moment - November 30, 2010 1:37 P.M

Words are falling like snow in this room. alchemy, bone, fir, scarlet, limn, clavicle, grace, hallowed, piscatory, ebony, and thousands more clutter the floor, cling to tables, surround each computer in small clumps, and rest their warm bodies on our shoulders. The world is made of words. The scene outside my wall of windows is made of snow. The mountains are buttoned inside the coat of winter and the sky is a glacier blue. A young woman leans into the cold. Her wheat-colored coat is open, a scarlet scarf hides the thinness of her neck. Her breath comes in jagged exhales and freezes before her. If I were to leave the warmth of this room and join her, I am certain she would be grateful for my story of the deer I saw running down a neighborhood street looking for shelter from the storm. I am certain we share the same sadness, and a longing to find what we lost so very long ago. Yes, of this I am certain.

Willow Pine Lane - After the Storm of the Century That Wasn't

November 21, 2010.

Same day, different perspective.

November 28, 2010.

November 23 was supposed to usher in the storm of the century. Universities cancelled class. Public schools were ordered to lock down by three. The Utah/Idaho and Utah/Wyoming borders were closed. The news media were tying themselves in hyperbolic knots, so much so, that friends from out of state texted caution and safety messages.

My husband had a fundraiser that night, just as the storm was coming in, that he could not, would not miss, and I was certain we were headed straight into a disaster. I couldn't imagine that the event wouldn't be cancelled. We weren't and it wasn't. What it was, was the storm that wasn't.

The fundraiser we attended was sponsored by The Tree House Museumto benefit special needs childrend of Weber School District. Every year the event raises thousands, and this year, recesssion and killer storm aside, the fundraiser exceeded expectations.

I've included photos of our family lane to prove my point that the storm was nothing special as storms go. As the photos from taken on the 21st of November compared to the 28th of November attest, there really is not that much snow deposit for the mother of all storms. In fact, the commute today was much worse than that of November 23rd.

What I Made Today: Hammered Brass & Gemstone Bracelets - November 29, 2010.

Hammered brass & gemstone charm bracelets.

I've spent the last few weeks soldering and hammering brass into bracelets. I attach the gemstone charms after the metal looks exactly the way I want it. It's amazing what inexpensive therapy pounding on metal is. I've sublimated a lot of aggression taking a ball peen hammer to brass or sterling silver. You should try it! At most, it will run you about one to two dollars and hour, rather than the standard $125, and you may not work out your childhood issues, but you'll feel like the antagonist of the moment is of little consequence, and you'll have something beautiful to wear or a gift for that someone.