Right now

This morning I'm running a little behind my normal routine, we had some lightning storms last night that boomed right overhead and rattled me out of sleep. It seems some mornings it's an accomplishment just to get ready, you know? Right now I'm enjoying a farm fresh fried egg on homemade bread and the salty pepperyness is hitting the spot. Speaking of peppery, since we've been harvesting our radishes nary a day has passed that I haven't gobbled a handful of them. And something about the soggy greenness outside has me listening to some bluegrass; a little twang sounds good to me this morning.

I'm thinking about having a week of diptychs next week, posting photo pairs daily.  Hopefully I can get that together.

How's your day so far?

H

Lately

Ever since I went to hear Mary Oliver read her poems last week I have been feeling quiet, wanting to be outside even more and inside on the computer not at all. She is amazing, inspiring, and has such a sense of humor. She read more than two dozen pieces, including several of my favorites such as Wild Geese and one that brought tears to my eyes called Red. Then she took questions from the audience and shared bits about her everyday life, why she writes about the beauty of nature, and about her writing process. She made us feel as though she was sharing her secrets with us, which made the full auditorium feel much more intimate and conversational. I wonder if she felt inspired by the Kansas landscape to write a poem while she was here?

On Saturday M. and I walked some trails in the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve. The day was gorgeously sunny and the sky blue. We walked on green rolling hills, saw cows in the distance, a lizard resting on a rock, bunches of wild blue indigo blooming, a pair of yellow goldfinches in a tall cottonwood and we saw a bluebird.  We later enjoyed a picnic lunch under a large elm tree.  I took nearly an entire roll of film, which I can't wait to get processed.

The collards in our garden are coming on pretty strong and I tried cooking a "mess" of them last night. Would like to find a good recipe but all I've found so far (without much hard searching, honestly) call for cooking them for an hour with a ham hock. 

I hope you're well today,

H

More book news!

Today I'm so excited to share a bit more news about my book. When my editor and I were discussing possibilities for how to approach the photography in the book I immediately thought of one person. I knew one person who had the expertise, the vision, and the patience to work with me in this project. Thankfully my awesome editor agreed and selected none other than my good friend Rachel Saldana! Her photographs truly bring the ideas to life and capture the themes and nuances so beautifully. I'm thrilled!

Thanks so much for your comments about the glue batik pieces the preschoolers are making. We sewed them into pillows and they are adorable!

Gosh it's such a beautiful day here today. I hope to finish the writing I need to do so I can get out and work in the garden.

Have a nice Tuesday!

H

ps.  Check out this garden tour!

glue batik with preschoolers

As some of you know I teach in the Arts-Based Preschool program at The Lawrence Arts Center in a multi-age classroom of 3, 4, & 5 year olds. This week we've been making something for their moms for Mother's day. A while back I saw Jen do this child friendly batik method using glue and acrylic paint, and I instantly wanted to try it with our preschoolers for a special project. 

Monday we did the gluing step and yesterday we painted them. Yes I wanted to get photos of the children making them but wow, it was way too busy, working with these little ones, helping them squeeze the glue just enough but not too much, and then keeping the paint replenished, etc. I mean, you know. Well today I brought them home to rinse and wow, am I thrilled and relieved they turned out! I was a little worried when they were drawing with the glue because our glue didn't sit on the surface as in Jen's photos and I thought, oh no, this isn't working. But look at them! A lot of the younger children made interesting dots and dribbles while some of the older ones made shapes and patterns with the glue and paint.  I think they're great and I have a feeling when I take them to school tomorrow the kiddos will like them too.

Tomorrow we will sew and stuff them into pillows. I will try to get a photo but I already anticipate it will be a busy day. This has been a fun and very intense process. Doing one step at a time and allowing the children to draw and paint what they like makes it developmentally appropriate.  Let's hope the moms will like them too! :)

Wiping sweat from brow now,

H

Tuesday

This weekend we began an extensive cleansing of the house. We're compiling stacks of items to donate and recycle, oh what a process. I really want to pare down to just the items we wear, use and those in which we find beauty, with few extras. I dread going through ten+ years of my artwork though! Incidentally, the April issue of Vegetarian Times has an article about recycling organizations. Here's just a few that are catching my eye:

The New Orleans Kid Camera Project gives children impacted by hurricane Katrina a new way to express themselves and explore their neighborhood through photography and creative writing.

DonateMyDress.org has locations across the country that accepts prom and formal dresses and offers them to those who cannot afford them.

Recycle for Water recycles electronics like ink jet cartridges, used cell phones and more to fund non-profit clean water programs. You can even print out free shipping labels from their site. (Wish I'd seen this before I took 9 ink cartridges to Office Depot to recycle.)

This one makes me melt - Coats for Cubs of The Humane Society will use your old fur coat to nurture and comfort orphaned and/or injured wildlife.

. . . . . . .

We Love Liam, a giveaway/raffle comprised of an extensive list of artists is raising funds to help build an accessible bathroom for one amazing little boy. Get your tickets through May 9.

Shari and I opened a new set at What Remains Inside this morning, Blue. As we introduce new themes we are fading out the previous ones, so the images are live for only a short while. We'd love for you to drop by.

Thanks for reading,

H