Another Journal Page

After sharing my journal entry from NC yesterday, I decided to share an extended page I created after an early October trip to Washington, DC. I went there to meet up with some friends from graduate school. It took 20 years to begin, but for the past 2, we have met for a annual reunion (last year in Cape May).

Getting together with women friends is wonderful. We all leave our family responsibilities behind. We don't have to cook, clean or be responsible for anything but ourselves. Last year we took beach walks, this year we toured the Washington mall and art museums.

With my camera at home, I, instead, recorded words and art that touched me in my journal.  I have a couple journals, one just for writing, one for drawing and collage, and this one that I take on trips. I won it in a blog contest here. It is thin with the softest leather cover and creamy pages, some with prompts suggesting you draw while listening to music or collage around your favorite photo. I stuff each page honoring the space hoping the journal will last a long time.

Below are the closed and open page with collaged attachments I made on and shortly after the trip:

I copied words that inspired me as we walked the mall:

At the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

At the Franklin Delano Roosevelt memorial
"The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little."

I drew artistic works that spoke to me.

At the National Gallery West I saw a wonderful portrait photography exhibit. At the bottom left is my rendition of a surprising photo by Ilse Bing from 1931. With 2 mirrors and her camera, she captured herself head on and in profile. As an artist. she hides behind the camera yet exposes herself in such a compelling way. On the way out of the museum I grabbed a flyer that had a copy of the photo. I collaged it in on the open top right.

In the same show were the ethereal, ghostly photos of Francesca Woodman. I had recently seen a documentary about her and her family's life. Otherwise, I wouldn't have known who she was. I am intrigued by coincidences like that. In addition, there were much more recent photos by Nikki Lee. She was featured in each photo as part of a crowd of Hip Hop kids, yuppies, lesbians or other groups. Her work showed how we can change our identities, yet how fixed we can become as part of certain groups... suburban moms for example. See a video about her work here.

Outdoors at the Hirshorn Sculpture Garden I was transfixed by Rodin's Burghers of Calais. I tried to draw the anguish of one of the figures (in blue at the center right). I didn't know the story behind the work, but the art drove me to find out more. The sculpture was done in the late 1800s to honor the leaders of the city of Callais on the French coast who in 1347 surrendered themselves, starving and nearly naked, to the English forces to save their blockaded city. A powerful work, a powerful story.

Inside the Hirshorn was an exhibit by controversial Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. His highly political art can be both tragic and humorous. A huge wall of the museum is covered with a chart from his Citizen's Investigation Project, listing the names and ages of children lost in China's earthquake. More than 5000 were killed--many in their schools--because  of corruption and shoddy construction. On a lighter note, a work called Study of Perspective Tianamin and the White House, showed two large photos (one of each place). In front of each landscape, someone holds up a middle finger that looks large before the small facade. It was as interesting to watch people encounter the work as it was to see it. No one could stand before it without laughing. Here are some of his Perspective photos:


 

I love making time to explore art in my community, in my travels and in my journal.

A Sad Prediction Fulfilled

This seems an odd day to finally write this post. It's the morning after an election where the most radical tea party sentiments were turned back throughout the country. Candidates who would require a woman to carry a baby created from rape were defeated. Elizabeth Warren, a women who began fighting for financial reforms to benefit the middle class long before she had any thought of running for office, became the first female senator from Massachusetts. Perhaps having those concerns off my mind has allowed me to consider something else that's weighing on me.

Climate Change Is Here.

When I'm relaxed on vacation I like to spend time observing and drawing. During our August NC vacation, I drew this picture.



I was fascinated by the efforts of the man rebuilding the stairs of the home on the left (note the tiny figures working under the house). The supports of the house on the right were in the water at high tide. Here's a photo in the mists at the edge of the warming, rising Atlantic.



I wrote about risk and building on waterfront land here. Here's a video of the house on the right side of my journal picture and the photo above breaking apart against the neighboring house after its fallen into the ocean.

This was in the early stages of yet another 100 year storm, perhaps the 3rd one in a year and a half, well before it deluged the NYC subway tunnels, put millions of people in the dark, destroyed hundreds of homes and killed over 100 people.

Beautiful Fall Food

Perhaps it's about time to do another Using the Share post like this one.

The seasons are changing and so are our local, fresh veggies. Apples and pears replace berries and stone fruits. Butternut and acorn squashes appear rather than zucchini and summer squash. Chard and kale replace more tender lettuces.

And there's lovely arrowhead cabbage like this:

I chopped and sauteed it in a little bacon fat with garlic and mixed it with some pasta and Parmesan. Simple and delicious.

Winds of Change

Have you noticed fall has arrived? All of a sudden a dry, cool breeze is blowing all the time. It occasionally grabs the first colored leaves from the ash trees and flutters them down across the yard. The other afternoon, the sun suddenly came out after a cloudy rainy morning. The leaves were sparkling as they shook back and forth.



I'm trying to spend more time staring out the window, taking more walks through the woods, and riding my bike down scenic roads before the leaves are gone.

How School Should Be

Last night was back-to-school night for my 6th grade Middle Schooler. I was so impressed with the enthusiasm of all the teachers. They are focused on helping the students succeed, learn and have fun. They are eager and smart.

Their methods and projects are as creative as our kids. Here's a social studies assignment my daughter did for today. It's a brochure, "Welcome to Confection Island, the sweetest place on Earth." The assignment was to make a real or fictional brochure, story, or poem with pictures and descriptions of 6 land forms.

Hers are: Meringue Mountain, Hot Chocolate Lake, Cream Cataract, Caramel Canal, Cake Canyon, and Peep Plain, where the Peep bunnies live.



The High School in our town has recently adopted a 1:1 computer initiative where each student was given a computer. The teachers are incorporating computers into their classrooms, and students are using them for homework and research. There are many opportunities for the school to be creative, and for the kids to learn at their own pace. There is also the chance that computers will interfere with the deep interaction and discussion between teachers and students.

And, of course, no sooner had we gotten the computers than a column appeared in the local paper calling for increased efficiency and class size to lower the budget. For our town, this is totally the wrong approach. Here's my response to our local paper in full support of our amazing teachers:

http://www.wickedlocal.com/wayland/topstories/x928643436/Letter-to-the-editor-Computers-cant-replace-interaction#axzz26SdRCmKb

We should do what is necessary to make parents across the country in every school so proud of their teachers and students. It is our most important investment.

Someone Likes Damp Cushions

Yesterday afternoon I wanted to sit on the reclining porch chairs as I wrote in my journal, but the cushions were wet. I took them off the chairs to hang dry. Underneath the damp crease of the cushion sat this toad. It was the second toad I found in two days. Toads are nice surprises. They make me smile and stay long enough to get a good photo.

Back with New Plan

I'm going to try to post the occasional (or maybe more often) single photo with a short text. Somehow the longer posts of the past seem too overwhelming now. I feel like my brain is always full of swirling emotions. I need to focus on the reality before me, focus on the things I'm doing.

Working: I got a job (paid) in our local library
Cooking: It seems my kids are growing so fast and need so much food. I feel like I'm shopping, planning, baking, chopping, and cleaning up so many times a day. It's seems never-ending.
Biking: I'm going to ride to Walden Pond with my daughter's 6th grade. I'm getting in shape.
Painting: Finally I finished the pieces for our pergola. They had been stained reddish-brown.

Update:
Painted pergola puzzle put in place.