Wordless Wednesday/Leap Day

I bought myself flowers last week and they are slowly fading...

I thought I would capture their last moments

I love- love

Thankful Thursday

It is thankful Thursday today, and I am thankful for lots today.

Today I am reminded how much I am loved: seen in little gestures

A text from a friend, telling me about an art opportunity

A clean teacup placed on the counter next to a full kettle for my morning cuppa

a lap filled with a warm purring kitty

a borrowed lens, that lets me play with light in a new way

and an afternoon of quiet to slowly contemplate my work

Happy Thankful Thursday

Down for the count....

So Hubby was sick earlier this week, now it is my turn....I am feeling less then at full speed so I have been watching a bunch of movies!
Being sick on the weekends seem to be how I roll, which really sucks because it is also when I am suppose to be working in the studio. It requires all my focus and energies and being sick drains all those elements and simply has me sitting her trying not to beat myself up over not working!
it is a no win situation.....

In the last 24hours I have

I watched the whole first season of Downton Abbey last night (thanks to movie streaming)

Today I watched the first episode of Mad Men wanting to get into that, but all I got was incredibly frustrated at how sexist it was...I blame it on the cold...zero patience.

Then two documentaries

DMT the spirit molecule

and then

and Note by Note about making Steinway pianos

I have also napped a bit and ate some veggie sushi thanks to hubby

Ugh colds suck...

Thoughtful Tuesday

Upside Down, Left To Right: A Letterpress Film from Danny Cooke on Vimeo.

New Year

laughing my jetlag away in the Monster Truck Gallery

Ok so I suck pretty bad at keeping up with the posts this year so far...I plan on changing that...I have loads of plans for this year...but it seems like I am a heavily laden bird trying to run fast enough to take off...but finding myself exhausted before gaining enough speed.

I have spent some time at work today looking at due dates for submissions and wondering

 "when can I sit down and get cracking?!"

We have just returned from a HUGE trip abroad, because of an exhibition I got into...and now I have literally THOUSANDS of images to go thru...I took pictures of EVERYTHING

I am wanting to work in the studio for days and days but work is a reality I can not ignore.

Here I am a week after returning feeling overwhelmed by my reality obligations...

and in this same week I am also attending funerals...two this week.

Heartbreaking and heavy with emotion and reflection.

So forgive the false start, or delayed inspiration...but I will be back soon

Krampus!!

I adore folklore, I mean ADORE and it is something I often go back to for nighttime reading when I am in between other books.

The stories inspire me and make me dream.

When I was visiting Europe the first time on my own, I encountered St Nicolas

....I was in Holland and there was a parade and I had no idea who this person was

and why there was a parade.

I slowly uncovered the story and then lore and began thinking about this holiday.

Then years later while wandering in and out of shops in Prague, I came across a little corn husk doll that had horns and ropes...when I asked the shopkeeper who this was she grimaced and said, it was the devil.

This sold the doll; I use to have corn husk dolls when I was little so I had an immediate sense of nostalgia. I figured she meant it was a winter spirit or something, it was winter time and all the shops had winter things on display...

We pulled out our little doll when it was Dia de los Muertos and thought nothing of it and then I found a little article....

All the parts suddenly fell together and I discovered who this little doll was...and it was AMAZING

Now every year we pull out the doll at the beginning of the month and remember to be good kids, because we don't want the KRAMPUS to take us away.

Here is this years parade in Austria...we have added this to our list of festivals to see