I don’t know if 11/11/11 is auspicious, evil or ordinary.  If you check it out on line it runs the gamut.  So I get to choose.

I’ll choose auspicious!  Because on 11/11/11 I finished setting Guardians of the Chesapeake.  Yes, I still have to wipe it down with white vinegar to clean it all up sparkly once everything sets, and yes I need to add some color to the thing set to pull sections together, but the hard part is done.  For me that would be placing the pieces one by one.  Anyone who knows me knows I’m a big picture kind of gal.  And yet.  I find this soothing – along the lines of making seed bead focals for jewelry.  I can still amaze myself!

Anyways, everything else is cake!  And I LOVE this piece – which is sort of nice given the amount of time I’ve put into it.   It measures 10″ wide x 5ft tall.  Good indoors or out.  Set up to hang (on a wall or outside on a 2×4 or 4×4). (Yesterday I was half way through).

Guardians of the Chesapeake is the first of two pieces I’m creating for my guest invitiation to North End Gallery in February with the rule that whatever you put in must reflect the area.  The art of the Chesapeake would be mostly birds, boats, barns and bridges.  And so I’ve done my bird.    But the Guardians of the piece bow to the progressive enclaves, Covens, and Native American clans that really broaden what “Southern Maryland” and the Chesapeake mean.  Adds some New Age to the Traditional – and isn’t that the best of all worlds?  A space where everything is accepted for itself?

So I’m gathering my thoughts around a 36×36 canvas mixed media for the 2nd piece.  Not sure where that will lead yet, but am inclined to look up the Piscataway Nation and see if I can find anythere there for inspiration.  We also have several labrynths that I know of and that could make for an interesting background/mandala substrait.  I’m so excited by this notion that I think I will continue my day by focusing on it.

Oh – I guess you might want to see pictures, so here they are (in no special order since I can’t for the life of me figure out how to order them the way I want when I upload).

On the left is a piece of a dinner set hubby and I bought on our honeymoon in an Oxford MD “antique store.”  All of the plates are now gone, but I have the pieces of this last one. Also included is a broken piece of Autumn Harvest which we collect, started with his Mom’s bowl.  Can you find them? [Note:  if you click on the picture, you get a page with just the picture.  If you click on it again, you get an enlargement that allows you to really see everything.  WordPress squeezes the sizes on the main page – so if you want to get a good idea, go ahead and click through and enjoy!)

Wylde Women’s Wisdom

Last night there were owls in the island’s dark
boughs.  There were no stars-
only shades of gray.  The blue heron
huddled beneath the eaves, seemed undisturbed
by the sleepless fog horn, wet feathers
grayer than the night, dripping. Breathe…

(from “Crossing the River” by Tammy Vitale)