Sometimes have difficulty expressing how I feel in word but I'm finding art to be a way in which I can open up a lot more. It's really hard to describe Anxiety, especially because a lot of times (at least with things like GAD) it's hard to know where it comes from. Anyone who has ever had an attack can relate. Also Spiritual Desolation can often accompany it which makes it confusing and people experience it differently. Nothing has ever made me feel more in union with Our Lord in the Agony of the Garden. There is also that sense of abbandonment on the cross, and for me the crown of thorns because of migranes which are connected with it. But there is hope, you can see the light in the heart... in the soul... Often times it feels like a dark cloud and no magic formula of words or advice will do the trick, we know the logic, we understand the solutions but in the moment one just has to experience the Cross. An artist shows beauty, soul, personality, emotion, life. This transcends language, boundaries, cultures and connects humanity. This unity is what brings us closer in solidariety, fraternity and love, and this is what again, leads to joy, joy even in the midst of sorrow. And so even if I express sorrow or anxiousness, let this help you know that you are not alone, have joy in your heart even if you don't feel like smiling. Never give up, I know it can seem lonely but know that people really do love you. Peace be with you
Poppies are among my favorite flowers---vibrant AND delicate. Great swaths of "bread poppies" garnish our garden. We harvest seeds for lemon-seed cake and poppy-seed rolls. (No, we don't harvest that other stuff.) They reseed generously and we have beautiful crops of red and purple flowers each year. I've been working on this colored pencil drawing for the past week. Enclosed are some images of the progress over that time.
A quick sketch of the flannel bush in my garden as the sun was setting. I was going to replace it with a salvia munzii, but then the flannel bush bloomed.
Magnolias are spring harbingers in our garden, as well as our annual ornamental cherry display. Star magnolias are over, tulip magnolias are in full swing, and the occasional Southern magnolia is starting. Perhaps I should have done this with a gouache paint, but I used colored pencils. Oh well. Outlined after with various sizes of Pigma Micron pens.
Our garden: www.edgewoodgarden.com
My friend Steve from the art studio suggested we do studies in blue in honor of the #lightitblue campaign. Just when I was needing some inspiration! These are the late afternoon tree shadows at the foot of my garden.
Annuals are encouraged to seed in the less formal beds in our large garden.
We tend them, photograph them, and I draw and paint them. This is a colored pencil (Prismacolor) drawing of one of our seedling poppies. It was an odd form. Not exactly a single, nor a double and lacked the common cross markings in the throat.
After a gorgeous sunny day in the garden, the wind picked up in the late afternoon. Too windy for a walk, so I drove my son to the GG bridge for his nap and stopped at the welcome sight of St. Ignatius on the way back.
This is the forsythia fool's gold I asked the garden center to put on hold for me just before the governor's statewide shut down came through. I hesitated to bring it home because I had already bought 17 plants in anticipation of the isolation.
The Garden of Ede. I sat down at the dining table and drew the garden from that perspective. The city is called Ede. It was on the 9th of December on a rainy day. Typical Dutch weather.
The Garden Roan, horse and base made from Super Sculpey, painted with Acrylic Gouache. This guy was one of my first sculptures. Inspired by nature and the beauty of my favourite animals, the horse!
...initially was going to replace the spiders meal for a banana (referring to the piece #Comedian created by artist #Maurizio_Cattelan)...but just could not do it. Had some good conversation about the concept, so hope it leads to more.
Instead, it has lead me to explore some other ideas.
Emotionally speaking, this is definitely the hardest pieces I've made so far. On July 18th, 2019, an arson attack on Kyoto Animation's Studio 1 left 36 dead and 34 injured, one of the deadliest mass casualty incidents in Japan since the end of WWII. KyoAni has some of the best working conditions in the industry and have made some of the most iconic anime to date, including Clannad, A Silent Voice, and the show that got me started on anime, Violet Evergarden (as seen in this drawing). I sent this drawing to them through their website, and there's a good chance it was displayed along with thousands of other fan submissions in Kyoto this past November as part of a public memorial service. While this was a tragic blow to the company and community, they're healing and getting back to their feet, and I can't wait to see what they create next.
