Ron Powell: Piano Man
Ron Powell is missing in action. We haven't heard from him in a while and we're woried. The embedded article shows a side of Ron I personally never knew about before. (Click the link in the story.)
Et. Cetera
Self-prescribed Art Therapy
Making art is the best stress-reliever I know of. This new painting has been a very fulfilling experience.
Catching up…
Just a little update
since I haven't been here in a while.
The Wreck of the Peter Iredale
My newest painting is a view of the shipwreck of the Peter Iredale, lost on the Oregon Coast in 1906.
Back at the Easel Again
Here are two new paintings and a bit of commentary about my creative process.
April is Poetry Month
Ars Poetica brings writers and visual artists together. April is poetry month! This is a description of my experiences with Ars Poetica at the Collective Visions Gallery in Bremerton, Washington.
Crazy for Octopi, That’s Me
I've spent the last couple of months making pottery with an octopus motif.
Is it Spring yet? No…but I can still paint it.
A painter's signs of spring on the Puget Sound. It seems slow in coming this year.
Time to Breathe and a New Painting
I have time to paint again! Here's my latest.
The Stars From Our Youth
A poem upon hearing that David Crosby had set sail for his final destination
I’m Still Here!
I haven't been here much but will be back again soon.
Cold Hands
I said my hands are cold...
Not Just Paint
How I came to be a potter as well as a painter.
The Yellow Teapot
This is the story behind my painting of a yellow teapot sitting on lacework made by my grandmother.
Poem: Delusions and Eidolons
They laid claims to their versions of reality while ignoring our claims to the same
Poem: Iliads and Odysseys
Iliads and Odysseys, Odysseys and Iliads, they come and go, they came and went, heroes and villains remembered together
Some Thoughts on What it’s Like for Me These Days as an Artist
Just me, musing on what it's like to be a working artist who doesn't have to support herself with her art.
A Passing
Musings on the passing of my mother.
Precarious
A still life arrangement at the Georgia O'Keeffe studio/museum in Abiquiu, New Mexico, provided the inspiration for this painting.
Third Abiquiu Painting
Features of many adobe structures in new Mexico include the warm orange tones and soft edges of the adobe, contrasted with the sharp turquoise blues of windows and doors.
Flower Portraits
About some of my flower portraits, all painted since the start of COVID.
Daytime Moon at Abiquiu
The daytime moon was visible in Abiquiu while I was there visiting Georgia O'Keefe's home.
Georgia’s Ladder
A new painting, and a short description of the events surrounding it.
All That Quiet
Still painting and sometimes even still writing about it. Here's the latest one.
Bang, Bang
You're going on about your business doing ordinary things on an ordinary day when, all of a sudden, bang, bang, bang, bang, your existence is shattered by gunfire.
Musicians I found on YouTube during COVID
Like everyone else, presumably, I spent a lot of time on YouTube during COVID. I ran across a few musicians whom I thought were worth learning about.
“All We Know Is That We Don’t Know…”
I like listening to him, and he’s even more interesting to watch while singing, and at the same time, he makes me want to punch his face flat.
IF GOD WERE
A jocular poem about an unjocular subject.
THE FINAL OUT
As you get older
life is like
always being up at bat
when it's two out
in the bottom of the ninth,
the score is two-to-one against you
Consumer Advisory
This is the first of more than 980 poems that I plan to post here. Gotta do something to make this site worthwhile.
Red Velvet and Other New Works
New paintings for 2021 include landscapes, more flowers and some new materials.
Which posts would you save?
When you look at your posts, which ones would you want to save and why? I guess this is sort of an open call.
A question, using the Rice Krispies jingle
Snat Crackle Tot
The Silence is Deafening
Well, it has gotten very quiet around here for the past few days. I find myself starting new articles, getting a couple of pages into them, and then grinding to s stop thwarted by a feeling of utter futility triggered by the perception that nothing I say, write, or do is going to make any difference
Jonah’s Yorzeit, that time of year again
There are people here who were very supportive and I want to thank you. Oddly, that’s most of the people here. Not everyone here knew me at the time.
Studio backdrop for Laura’s broadcast today
Very teetery. May collapse mid-broadcast.
Laura’s New Year’s Cards
Look forward, not backward
A photo for Christmas Eve
I like the mood.
Something Different (and not a flower)
A visit to Fort Worden/Point Wilson in Port Townsend in late 2018 resulted in a series of works.
Pink is Not My Favorite Color
I am usually not a huge fan of painting with pink. It is challenging to get it to look the way a flower looks, delicate and natural. The danger is always that it pink can be insipid or look like stomach medicine.
Good morning
However, it lacks a certain.........perspective.
I think I’m there, now.
Another flower, and some info about posting...
With help, I’m making blogging progress
Hello Old Friends, I've missed you! Insta and FB are poor substitutes for the kind of communication a good blog can do. It's been a long time since I made a blog post. I hope this means I'm back with you.
For Algis Thomas Kemezys
I've known Algis Thomas Kemezys for so long that I can't remember when we first encountered each other on Open Salon. He's an award-winning photographer, artist, and filmmaker. I've written several poems about his photography and artwork over the years, He's going through hard times right now....this poem is intended to bring him good cheer from an old friend.
A new old photograph
The [photograph] above came into my mother’s possession (electronically) a few days ago. She’d never seen it. I think she was told it was taken in 1910 in Jamaica Bay, Queens. I think it may be a bit more recent, like maybe 1912. In any case, certainly over a century old.
I knew three people in the photograph.
BindleSnitch Membership Update
Requesting input about changes we're thinking about making to the website.
T’kiah
the shofar didn’t originally exist for the High Holy Days. It existed as a sort of ancient siren, a call to action, often with military applications
Practice Makes Perfect
Practice & Rehearsal
Book challenge, #4.1
Limits or no, I can't leave this one out. It's the best book I've ever read and I'm not good choosing favorites. I'm not even done with it, I just keep reading and reading and reading.
Book challenge, #4
I'm not sure how to categorize this one, fantasy, futuristic, maybe dystopian? Mostly a beautiful and meaningful novel.
Are we still doing this? #3
It's not a great book but it taught me a lot.
Wolfman’s book challenge, my #2
The dog book that had possibly the greatest influence on my understanding of and relationships with them, written by a brilliant writer/philosopher who's been rejected by the dog training establishment.
Wolfman’s book challenge, my #1
It's the old, ugly story of racism and cruelty we all know too well, with a different story and an amazing, surprise ending. It's Whitehead's newest and the book I read most recently. (And I don't know why I can't control the size of the featured image.)
One Origin, in Shame, of My LGBT Advocacy
...insisted they'd no memory of my shabby behavior.
The Process
I put my mind in neutral
turning off the slide projector in my head,
Publishing Fiction on BindleSnitch
If know anything about the publishing industry, you know that the odds are stacked against you when you try to get your fiction published. There are very few top tier publications that still publish short stories from new authors, and the rest of the magazines out there don’t pay very much (if they pay anything at all) and don’t have enough subscribers to generate the word of mouth you need to attract attention to your work.… more
About Deer Crossings and Hurricane Seasons
"How do the hurricanes know when to start and stop forming? Do they watch Hurricane Central?" Of course not. This is really a matter of nomenclature rather than the conscious intent of the hurricanes. It turns out that, if a storm develops before May 1st or after November 30th, it almost never gets a name.
Drunk While Flying: Minnesota’s Avian Alcoholics
There's an epidemic of drunkenness among the younger residents roosting in the small northeastern Minnesota town of Gilbert. where the town's avian residents are dive bombing the human residents of the town, flying around in circles, flying into windows and cars, scaring residents...
Consumers Conned by Restaurant Rankings: True or False?
Consumers are increasingly dependent upon second-hand recommendations from total strangers when deciding where to spend our money. Whether we refer to reviews posted online, or studies conducted by people who study market trends,
The WordPress Professional: Extracting Email Addresses
I’ve been building websites since the early 1990s. That was long before WordPress appeared in 2003, so I was building websites with HTML, PHP, and a whole bunch of other packages I would rather not remember even if
Jim Nabors, 87, Led a Charmed – and Charming – Life
Legendary singer and actor Jim Nabors passed away in Hawaii on November 30th, at the age of 87, leaving behind a legacy as a gentle comedic actor with a superb singing voice. See him here, one more time....
Tom Petty: Remembering an American Original
Tom Petty was an unpretentious American original, a musician of rare talent, a singer blessed with unique voice, a story teller whose songs summarized four decades of the American experience...
