Don’t forget to feed the lion

Last week I dreamed I had a pet lion chained up in my backyard and I had forgotten to feed him.  He was chewing on a rawhide and I brought him a bowl of dog food, wondering how much he really needed to eat and if dog food was good enough.  It was distressing, I did not want a pet lion yet had no idea how to find him another place to live.  Needless to say, I was glad to wake up from that dream.

Today I made this pillow for the Gallery in Vermont.  It says:

Don’t forget To Feed the Lion
Speaking dreams Of Worlds To Come
Laugh What you Know

This pillow will be on sale at the Gallery (I still don’t know the name of it)  in Pawlett Vermont at the end of the month.

Lulu keeping watch while Simon rests.

The wind is blowing the apple blossoms into the water buckets, my windows are closed and the heat on high.  Warnings of a freeze tonight.  It’s Monday morning after a weekend away and I’m glad to be back in my studio.  I came home to tall grass and lilacs blooming outside my window, a rested mind and willing heart to once again find my footing, my place in the universe. Coming home to myself, where I belong.

Jon at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

Emma and I waited under one of the many Wisteria arbors for Jon, as he lagged behind taking pictures at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens.  Azaleas, Lilacs, Cherry blossoms, Wisteria, Japanese Tree Peony, lots of early perennials and most of the trees were blooming in one way or another.  It was overcast so the crowds were light on Saturday afternoon.  Moments before were were walking through the streets of Brooklyn,  inundated by the sights, sounds and smells of the city and now were were walking on grass, surrounded by the sweet smell of lilac, the humming of bees and the colors of nature.  And if that wasn’t enough, just to remind us who was really in charge, it started to thunder.    We  made out way back to Emma’s apartment and came up from the subway to a downpour.

Whenever I’m in a city I find myself looking for the natural world.  A park, a pigeon, a tree or weed in the crack of the pavement, this time nature found me.

Lenore on the front porch

We’re going to Brooklyn to visit Jon’s daughter Emma, leaving today and coming back on Sunday.

Besides getting to see Emma, I love taking the train to New York City and walking around Brooklyn.  It’s always such a sensory overload for me, even though I grew up on Long Island and spent a lot of time in the City.  It never used to faze me, but since living upstate,   I am now content to just walk through the streets and see all the different people and the clothes and shop windows and smell all the smells ( weather they are good or not) and let all the noise overwhelm me.  It’s so easy to be in the moment there, because there is so much stimulation, it takes lots of concentration just to try and take it all in. (when I lived on Long Island I would become a true New Yorker in the City and just ignore it all)   And as an antidote to all of that, we’re planning on visiting the Botanical Gardens, the perfect time of year, I think.

I always wonder when I take a trip or do something different what colors, visuals and  ideas it will stir up in me.  What I will take back to the studio and how it will manifest in my work.

Kim at the Cambridge Co-op

Between yesterday and today I dropped off 13 scarves and 17 potholders for Kim to sew.  I sewed one scarf together, a rush for Mother’s Day, and told Kim that if I had to sew  the scarves as well as design them, I wouldn’t do it.  I just don’t enjoy it enough, and more than that, sewing all those fine fabric hankies together makes me tense.  Kim gave me a hug and said we make a good team, because she wouldn’t want to design them but loves to sew them together.

This afternoon, after finishing the last of the potholders for the Gallery in Pawlett, I went to the Cambridge Co-op to work my monthly shift.  I enjoy working at the  Co-op, stocking shelves and filling up the jars of loose tea and granola, it appeals to the obsessive in me.  And I love the immediate gratification of filling up the empty spaces and making the shelves look good.    But part of the fun is that Nancy and Kim work there too.   Nancy’s the manager and on one Thursday afternoon a month, Kim becomes my boss.  She tells me which items to price and where to put them, when to take out the garbage,  and how to weigh the bulk food into small bags.   When I have a question, it’s Kim I go to for the answer.   We work well together, and have fun too, so I guess Kim’s  right, we do make a good team.

Minnie and Flo looking though the kitchen window this morning,  silently sending the breakfast message. 

Once I heard them, they went back to worshiping the sun.

Kim’s Notecards

Kim has announced the winner of the Common Thread Give-a-way on her website Pugs n Pic.  Click here to see if it’s you.

One of my first streaming pieces that I’ll be finishing and showing at the gallery

When Gregory and Judith came into my studio they went right to the streaming piece that was sitting on my table.   “This is great” Gregory said, “Can we have this.”  Like everything else I had to shown them, it was already sold.  Judith walked over to my stuffed pink chair covered in forgotten,  half finished steaming pieces.  “What about these?” she asked.  I told her they were old and she said “Not to us”.

And I gave into the praise of this couple opening  a new gallery in Pawlett Vermont,  even though I would make more money selling my work on my blog compared to the commission they would take.  I agreed to sell some of my work in their gallery,  10 – 15 chicken potholders and  a few streaming pillows. So why did I agree?   Because I liked and trusted them,  because they liked my work, because my work would be seen by a completely new audience, because I like being involved in art shows, because when I step out of the norm, I always learn something new, and because it feels right.

The soft opening for the gallery (which as far as I know doesn’t have a name yet)  is May 24th.  That gives me about 2 weeks to make the potholders and pillows I promised.  Today I made 10 chicken potholders and Kim said she would be able to sew them up and  get them back to me by the 20th which is when I’ll deliver them and the pillows to Gregory and Judith.  Next week I’ll make one or two new streaming  pillows and finish off a couple of the old ones that are draped over my pink chair.  I like the idea of selling some of my old pieces that have been hanging around.  They are different from what my steaming pieces have evolved into, which is why I’ve been reluctant to sell them on my blog.  I’m also thinking that the pieces I make for the gallery may break away from what I’ve been selling on my blog lately.  In a way, it’s an invitation to do something new, since there’s no context for them.  That’s just why the old pieces can work at the gallery.

I’m curious to see what happens,  what sells and what doesn’t.  Jon will be selling some of his photos there too.  I imagine there will be an opening reception.  I’ll let you all know when it is, maybe we’ll even see  some of you there.

Such a different view from the first photo I took out my studio window.  Now the apple tree is in pretty pink bloom and the giant old maples are sprouting delicate  green leaves. The dandelions are up and that’s Simon and Tess grazing on the right.  Shade, soon I’ll have so much shade I may not have to use the curtain on the west window to block the strong sun.  I’ve also noticed, with the change of season and position of the sun in the sky, I don’t get the hot sun coming in my south facing windows.  Soon screens on my windows and lilacs on the bush.