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Tis the Season

12/25/2014

 
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Christmas lights didn't exactly get put up, but they're just as pretty.
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Red chile wreath brightening my front door
Growing up Christmas wasn't so much about church or religion. It was a time to celebrate with family and bring some brightness into the dark days of winter.   

The last several years though I found myself lacking the Christmas spirit.  This year was no exception.  Looking back over the past years, I started to think about old traditions, so I wrapped up my presents, got out some Christmas lights (as you can see I didn't quite get them up on a tree, but they're still pretty), and brought out the red chile wreathes.  I'm not sure how it came to be a tradition, but every Christmas Eve my mother made a big pot of beef vegetable soup.  So I started a few days ahead making my own beef stock and starting on the soup.  It's surprising how traditions can help.  I began to feel a bit more Christmasy.
Thinking about old traditions, brought me back to the years I spent in New Mexico.  The time of celebration started early there.  I loved it!  Fun from fall straight through to the end of the year.  It started in late summer with the harvest of green chiles.  The smell of roasting chiles permeated the air.  Soon the aspens and cottonwoods were turning gold along the Rio Grande.  They inspired Georgia O'Keeffe and always brought me joy too. 
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Cottonwoods III - Georgia O'Keeffe
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Dead Cottonwood - Georgia O'Keeffe
Shortly after that the air was filled with color.  Balloon Fiesta time!  The sound of the balloons firing up, their glow in the chilly early morning air.  It was a feast for the senses.  Fall also brought bird migrations.  Hummingbirds started to head south, cranes too could be seen and heard flying along Sandia mountain.  One after the other was a celebration of the seasons.  Halloween and Thanksgiving, followed by my birthday and Christmas.  One of my favorite Christmas traditions there, was cooking for Christmas dinner.  I'd put a fire in the fireplace heating my tiny house and filling the air with the scent of burning piñon and cedar.  I'd pull the sofa between the fireplace and the kitchen as I cooked late into the night. Often with a glass of burgundy and my father's version of Boursin or maybe a fine chocolate.  One last ritual for the year was going through all my things; closets, shelves, and everything stored away.  I haven't done that in a number of years either.

Going forward in 2015, I'm going to try to pay attention to personal routines and rituals, and finding ways to celebrate the seasons.  I've found some already; riding the bus for my early morning commute, drawing every day,  taking walks in the woods or meadows, and seeking out the beautiful winter sunsets.  I hope to reconnect to more as the new year plays out.
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My street with a colorful winter sky

Sketches for Paintings

12/18/2014

 
I've had a canvas up on my easel for a month now.  Between the holidays and a crushing workload at the office I haven't felt I had the time or the energy to paint.  My sister suggested that I make sketches of paintings so that I could get some time with it.  It turned out to be a really fun.  And it got me looking back through my old sketch books to find painting sketches I've done previously.  Here is some of what I found.
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The pussy willows were a real favorite.  I first saw them at the arboretum, they were near the end of their blooming, covered in pollen. They really glowed against the bare branches of red twig dogwoods.
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These are two of my early paintings.  In both cases I was out and about when I was struck by the beauty of something so simple right in front of me.  That's when you really realize the value of always having a sketchbook handy.  These visual cues were enough to bring back the images for me to paint.
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Back to the present.  I have these fun sketches and the prospect of five free days coming up over the Christmas holiday.  I'm excited to find out how these will come to together on the canvas.
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Morning Thoughts

12/11/2014

 
I am a night owl by nature, so imagine my surprise when I realized how much I enjoy my morning trek to work.  It's dark and quiet when I leave the house at 6:30.  Houses are dark and so are the streets.  There's plenty of time to think, watching the steam rise from the nearby factory stacks.  I ride the bus downtown; it's just a short wait, enough time to stop into Michelangelo's for a great cup of coffee if I need a boost.  Then it's on to the second leg, the best part.  Rolling passed Lake Monona.  This time of year, in the early morning light everything is gray and flat.  The gray lake stretching out to meet the gray sky with silhouetted bare tree branches crisscrossing the scene. 
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RichardLinton
And that's what it's all about.  Patterns.  The pattern of the branches, the lines on the ice as it starts to form, the spots of color from ice shanties on the bay side where the ice has already thick.  I look forward to this time every day, a long quiet stretch to slowly gather my thoughts and take in the beauty that I could so easily pass by. 

Don't get me wrong, I still groan and hit the snooze button when the alarm goes off each morning, but once I force myself up and out the door I find a peaceful start to my day.
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dekerivers.wordpress.com

For My Uncle

12/4/2014

 
Not long ago some relatives drove out for a visit.  I haven't seen them in twenty some years and it was nice to catch up again.  It's amazing how the sound of a voice can bring memories rushing back as if no time had passed at all.  We may look different but in most ways we were really the same people we were all those years ago.  One evening we were glancing through my sketches and one of my uncles had a powerful connection to my melancholy drawings.  It's an incredible experience when that happens and it doesn't happen often. 

These are for you Uncle G.
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Sad Woman - esolomon - 6/8/14
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Pencil Sketch - esolomon - 11/2/14
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Moments Pause - esolomon - 12/15/13
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Pencil Drawing - esolomon - 8/23/14
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Reflection - esolomon - 7/26/14
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A Promise - esolomon - 7/6/14
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Marilyn - esolomon - 10/25/14

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    Beauty and Inspiration

    This blog is about my inspirations and my love of art.  I welcome your reactions to my work.

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