Summer is so very lush. Filled with work and play and art, it's often hard to tell where one begins and another leaves off. Not that we'd necessarily want to determine precisely where any boundaries set them apart. If one exists at all...ideally, perhaps, they mingle and muddle and integrate into the cohesive flow of now. Harvesting beans comes to mind. Bending over the plants (at my age) is work, and there's frequently a little back pain these days, but I'm full and happy that my gardening project, nurtured no less than any other artwork, has come to fruition, and... Continue reading

Sorry it's been such a long time between postings, bloggers. It must seem like I dropped off the face of the earth, but I haven't... Y'all remember the Schultz Fire, back in June? The fire destroyed the forest floor over 15,000 acres on the east face of our mountain, burning... Continue reading

Hello blog friends! After blogging about the big fire it must seem like I dropped off the face of the earth. I haven't, really. I've just been preoccupied with projects that require completion before the monsoon rains come. So, I've spent most of the last couple of weeks outside, working in the sun... ...and covered in dirt from head to toe, literally. Kris would laugh when she saw my dirty face at the end of the day. I've been too pooped to post. One of the projects that's not quite done yet is resetting the flagstone next to our driveway.... Continue reading

If there was an award for "Worst Blog Mommy of the Month," I believe I might qualify for June. Blogs need regular care and feeding; mine are neglected and all but starving to death. There have been extenuating circumstances, though, and matters way beyond my humble control. Well, some matters.... Continue reading

If there was an award for "Worst Blog Mommy of the Month," I believe I might qualify for June. Blogs need regular care and feeding; mine are neglected and all but starving to death. There have been extenuating circumstances, though, and matters way beyond my humble control. Well, some matters. Last Saturday, I had just begun to gather my thoughts for posting when I smelled smoke. Pine smoke. Our mountain town, Flagstaff, sits in the middle of a beautiful, lush ponderosa pine forest - a recreational paradise laced with traces and trails, cinder hills and hidden washes. Wild forest lands... Continue reading

In this brutal economic climate, everyone's cutting corners and doing without to make ends meet which, for many, has meant forgoing a daily stop at the local barristo for a steaming cup of gourmet latte to go. And at $4 or so per cup, that noble sacrifice can amount to... Continue reading

I'll never forget the first time I had tabouli...it was years ago, in a little Lebanese restaurant on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. One of those grubby looking, walk-down, hole-in-the-wall joints out of "Casablanca," where exotic smells waft temptingly from ground floor kitchen vents to grab your attention, and your... Continue reading

You almost have to feel sorry for the humble bean curd. Much maligned, mainly by people who've never consumed it properly prepared, it has gained such a bad rap that folks who've never even tasted it tend to make the sign against the evil eye while running fast and far... Continue reading

So, it's a ghastly hot day, you've been out in the broiling sun forever, and there would be nothing so much like heaven on earth as a tall, cold, carbonated, iced something. Instead of popping the top on a chilled high-sugar ( or worse - artificially sweetened) canned soda, you... Continue reading

The phrase elicits visions of firelit dance in shadowed groves, or pagan rituals graced with devas and dervishes and garlanded maidens, doesn't it? Not so much in the real world, I suppose, although Kris and I do occasionally light candles upon an impromptu altar amid a celebratory circle of sacred friends. In spring, we "bless the fields" in the old way, planting red-dyed eggs in the vegetable garden after meditation and song, followed always by a symbolic feast of moon-shaped shortbreads. In a neo-pagan twist on the old "chicken-or-the-egg" question, our celebration inevitably concludes with ritual debate over whether we'll... Continue reading

Okay, what's wrong with this picture? What could possibly be wrong with a photograph of a fully decorated Solstice/Christmas tree? There's nothing inherently wrong about having poinsettias and sunflowers on a holiday tree, especially one that celebrates the return of the sun. Some of the ornaments are slightly unorthodox, but they all have meaning, evoking memories and sometimes outright laughter, like my niece's handmade Christmas Bats. It's a fun and lovely tree. What's so totally wrong is that this picture was taken today. In my living room. May 24th, almost Memorial Day. It's been standing there since Thanksgiving of 2009;... Continue reading

I think that spring may have finally arrived in Northern Arizona. In most parts of the country, the ones that have four seasons anyway, the arrival of spring loosely coincides with the vernal equinox. Up here at 7,000 feet the seasonal shifts and milestones are wildly at variance with the solar calendar. Snow showers are common through mid-May. We watch the nighttime lows, hoping and wondering if this is a year of apples and lilacs. My personal yardstick for determining that spring has truly sprung is this: nighttime lows above freezing for five nights in a row; and as of... Continue reading

Goodness! It's been two weeks since we got back from Kelly's classes in Phoenix, and I haven't told the rest of the story yet! *forehead smacking* How time flies. Soooo...here's part 2 of our excellent adventure in the valley of the sun. We arrived at Frenzy Stamper early on Saturday to crawl through Debbie's amazing little shop, and to go "oooh aaah" over all the new stuff she'd brought in since the last time we made the trip down. "Oh! Hey, did you see this?" we call across the store at one another. There's so much to see that it... Continue reading

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the shootings at Kent State, when National Guardsmen opened fire on student demonstrators protesting the U.S. invasion of Cambodia, killing four students and wounding nine others...a moment of silence. The prevailing political climate doesn't seem to have changed much since then. There is still a culture of extreme partisanship, paranoia, and the categorical demonization of those who disagree with us. Politicians work not so much for the people as to gain political advantage over the opposition. Ill-informed and inflammatory rhetoric issues from all sides of any political debate, lately centered on Arizona's SB1070. Informed,... Continue reading

Inspired by a project in the latest issue of Bound and Lettered, I started work on a new journal cover yesterday afternoon. Although the magazine contains very clear and precise instructions for making a clone of the featured project - you know me - I just couldn't resist the impulse to take the methods and techniques described and put my own creative spin on them. The Muse is having loads of fun. The foundation for this book is an old Readers Digest Condensed, deconstructed leaving the soft spine intact. The instructions call for a hard spine. As I will later... Continue reading

We're back from an inspirational and rejuvenating hegira into the Valley of the Sun. I wouldn't want to live there by any stretch of the imagination; I'm more a "small town girl" at heart. But you know, toward the end of a long cold winter it's soooo nice to take a break, to get a taste of what's moving slowly up the hill: warm summer days and nighttime lows above freezing. Stocking up at Trader Joe's and shopping for new tools and toys at Frenzy Stamper only sweetens the pot. The REAL action takes place when we drop our art... Continue reading

It's been a pleasant week here in Northern Arizona, sunny with daytime highs hovering in the mid-sixties, not too windy. It's been a week for yard work, pruning, transplanting hollyhocks, mulching, prepping the vegetable garden, pondering what to put where. With an eye to the oncoming dry season we spent a couple of afternoons raking nearly a foot of accumulated needles and debris out from beneath a huge old ponderosa pine in the side yard. Fire season will be on us soon, but for today there's a welcome unseasonable rain, a little thunder, hail off and on. Chilly and wet.... Continue reading

Spring has finally come to northern Arizona. The sky is the most incredible blue I have ever seen. Penstemons are bursting from their winter beds, purple asters (a favorite wildflower of mine) are pushing up through the dry soil, and apple blossoms swell on the tip of every twig. Any day will bring horned toads and banded lizards sunning on the rocks in the flower beds. We spread a fresh layer of mulch on the pathways through our yard. I love springtime, and that's what today's journal page is all about. Noodling in the studio these days almost always involves... Continue reading

Kris made the long journey home yesterday, leaving BWI at some god awful hour in the morning to arrive home in Flagstaff shortly before noon. Homecoming is sweet for all of us, but no more so than for the dogs, I think. They greet her at the door full of wiggles and wags, squealing dog-joy and relief. The pack is whole again! Pet-me-pet-me-pet-me! After a homecoming lunch of noodle soup and wild blueberry pie, we decompress in the studio with art journaling and play time. Molly and Chamois stay as close to Kris as they can get, lying their heads... Continue reading

Y'all are familiar with The Muse, right? The bringer of those divinely inspired little flashes of inspiration and artful insight? I have yet to discover the formula, the magic spell that will conjure her up; she comes and goes at will, airily regardless of the prayers and pleas of this lowly artist... I've had a piece on my mind, a piece of mail art owed to a lady in Greece who sent me a lovely hand made card painted with Greek blue grass. And I've wanted to send her something uniquely Arizona in return. So I scratch my head, mentally... Continue reading

Today was for a spontaneous trip halfway "down the hill" (as we say) for a visit with my friend Emily and her co-workers at Art Glitter in Cottonwood. Being one who hates to show up empty handed, I carted along some hand made paper beads and a 60's vintage Sunset magazine for Em, and vintage book with red marbled covers for Nancy. Doesn't it feel good to know what people like, and then surprise them with little presents? One of my favorite pastimes. Emily was teaching the premiere offering of a class she developed, and managed to squeeze me in... Continue reading

This hilarious mail art piece arrived from Kris with yesterday's mail. You'd hardly know she hails from West Virginia... What a funny person! We make that face at each other all the time. It's our version of the blinking contest that guys do; we make the face and see who busts up laughing first. Unable to resist the opportunity for a good belly laugh, I generally lose this game. And I'm fine with that, so long as I can still whup her at cards! Kris has developed this clandestine operations thing into an art form; she's very good at it.... Continue reading