Artsmiths

The Call of Summer (by Deb Trotter)

(Chapel In The Tetons ~ © Deb Trotter)

I love this chapel on the way to Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

I remember when my family discovered it on our first trip to the Tetons. It was only by chance that we stopped at this exact location - there were so many little roads we could have explored along the way. It was one of those moments you suddenly realize you are where you were meant to be at that exact moment. Karma at its finest.

I begged to linger there a while, using the excuse to take more pictures. But it was really all about that special moment that I didn't want to let go.

Peace. Blue skies. Trees. Sagebrush. Threatening, dark clouds overtaking the blue skies. Unbelievably beautiful mountains. And a sweet little log chapel where anyone was free to pray or meditate at will.

Here at Artsmiths we are posting about our individual summers. What summer means to us. June, July, or August. The happenings in our neck of the woods. Summer's magical pull on the soul.

This particular photo symbolizes what my summers have always been for me -

Mountains and clouds - clouds and moutains ...

The soft, dreamy clouds over the Blue Ridge in North Carolina.

The hazy, misty clouds sleeping in the Smokies of Tennessee.

The rolling, legendary clouds of the Taconic Mountains in Connecticut.

The powerful, threatening clouds over the Tetons of Wyoming.

I love mountains. I am a mountain kind of gal, through and through.

Each summer the mountains have a special pull for me. An irresistable primal call I am unable to ignore.

Right now it is the Rockies I belong to - but I can't forget the other mountains that have all become my "Soul Friends." They are the answer to the call of my summer.

Is there a mountain calling somewhere to your soul?

Answer the call, my friend.

It is Summer.

It is time.

June Turned into July: PEACE (by Sylvia Luna)

June turned into July, before I know...August will be here.

I took this photo in the old mining town of Bisbee, AZ this past month. I'm a native of AZ and had never been there, shame shame. It's a gorgeous artist community south of Tucson, it's heydey high in the early 1900's. I stayed at the old haunted Copper Queen Hotel and of course requested the 'most active' room they had. That is another story, for now i will stick to my June theme.

The grafiti wall spoke to me, PEACE. I snapped it with my cam and loved how the shadows played into it. Look at the darkness of the gaping black window...always outside looking in...

This past year has been a life changing hardship for me, but despite all the bad, I always look for the good. I try so hard to never feel sorry for myself...Is this what  inner peace is about? I don't know...it could be, who am I to say? Maybe it's a denial factor, a protection mode...either way I have found peace in the worst of all chaos. My home is still in disarray from unfinished remodeling, I now say my home sits in a Frank Baum Kansas field. I have managed to do a little bit of art despite the mess...it's not easy but I try. I have gone back to teaching and am slowly dipping my toes again into the convention waters.

I have to look around me and say that life is good, my five dogs are well adjusted and seem more peaceful than they were a  year ago. Someday things will be more smooth, but for today I have peace and that's what matters the most to me. Thank you to my family who I love so much and my friends, especially the art friends I have been blessed with.

I wish you a peace that will embrace you and hold you tight throughout your darkness. There is always light....up ahead. Trust me.

Luv and PEACE....Silver Moon / Ps I love Steve!

Scattered Thoughts on the Color Green

I can never seem to get enough green.
In any shade.Ever.

So with all of the rain that we have had this spring here in Missouri,my favorite hue is showing its varied and true colors.Brilliantly.

My green is raw,earthy and new.She gets along well with others.

This June it appears to me that Mother Nature has been tinkering with the color saturation levels just a bit! Bravo,I say!

I have been inspired to snap a few hundred photos of green and her friends lately,I will use the images for a project that I am working on for an upcoming festival I hope to be participating in this Fall.I will choose chartreuse thread and felt emerald roving.Stay tuned.

Ruth Stout said:

"Working in the garden...gives me a profound feeling of inner peace.Nothing here is in a hurry.There is no rush toward accomplishment,no blowing of trumpets.Here is the great mystery of life and growth.Everything is changing,growing,aiming at something,but silently,unboastfully,taking its time."

And so goes the color green.So goes June.

Inspiring green & growing places,
places I can go nearby to touch and smell green:

Missouri Botanical Gardens            

Laumeier Sculpture Park

Shaw Nature Reserve

The Butterfly House

The Conservatory

Oak Knoll Park

The Jewel Box

Forest Park

My own backyard

 

                                                                  

-denise lombardozzi
                                                    

June River Walk by Deryn Mentock

"River Walk"

What does June mean to me?  About every other year (sometimes every year) my family and I go home to Wyoming.  Wife Whisperer is originally from there and I used to live there as well.  We usually try to go back near the end of June to catch the Independence Day festivities.  We see the Cody parade, and sometimes the Sheridan parade, and the fireworks.  Sometimes we visit the museum and the Park is a regular trip when we're home.  We go to all the old haunts as well but, one of the highlights of our trip is spending time at our cabin in the Big Horn mountains.  It's incomparably beautiful there with the cabin right on the Tongue River.  When we're not fly fishing, hiking or relaxing, one of the things we do (well, some of us!) is float the river.  And, dang, it's cold!  It's a pretty swift current so you have to wear shoes unless you want to tear up your feet and get swept away.  I snapped this picture of a line-up of our drying shoes one day after a big float.  This photo just about says it all for me concerning June!

One Word - HOPEFUL- by Sally Turlington

I Am HOPE-FULL!

 

It could be obvious that I am hopeful. Aren't procrastinators inherently hopeful? (I procrastinated right past the deadline for this exercise!) If not hopeful, we wouldn't dare to be late -- we have hope that all will be ok. That is also the mantra of the optimistic, the confident, the assured.

Not helpful in meeting my deadline was the fact that I was no different from some of my artist friends trying to select one word that wraps up their essence. . . not to mention that while I was procrastinating, one of the sweethearts that posted on time used the word I thought I wanted to use. LOL.

Never fear. I thought (before I sat to write) that there would be many such words for me. Words I love -- like love, joy, happiness -- I thought I could be inquisitive, searching, obsessive, compulsive, helpful . . . and on and on. But when I got serious and thoughtful -- not one of those words alone has the exact shade of meaning I would use to describe my total self. I then thought maybe I don't even know who I am so maybe I should ask some of my friends or family . . . NO-O-O-O, nevermind. I wasn't brave enough to go there --- maybe my word is "coward!" LOL.

I decided to just start my collage and perhaps my essence would show through. What I found was a little picture of me as a very small child. What a cute little pose -- (I was always a ham in front of the camera!) Didn't that little girl look hopeful? "Oh, I hope I get the part." "I hope I get an ice cream cone." "I hope you choose me." "I hope you love me." "I hope we win the game." " I hope I don't owe any taxes." "I hope my ship comes in." "I hope my life turns out great." In the end, I settled on "hopeful." If not hopeful, then what kept me pushing on this assignment?

I looked up hopeful in the dictionary:
     adj. 1. optimistic, confident, assured, looking forward to, anticipating, buoyant, sanguine, expectant
     adj 2. promising, encouraging, bright, reassuring, cheerful, rosy, heartening, auspicious, propitious

Oh my, that sounded like Pollyanna me! In all aspects of my life -- even the dreary parts -- I am, if not cheerful, at least expectant. If not bright, at least promising. I tend to live in the future - can't remember the past and usually put off the present. Anyone who focuses on the future must, by default, have hope, I think. The final scale-tipping thought was that I know that my God holds me in His hands. He has promised me -- and you -- hope and a future.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11)

The lyrics to the song below, Hopeful by Sean Wiggins, can also illustrate the biggest and best hope I have --which is the hope in my Lord, the light of the world. In my final analysis I declared, it is His love "that keeps me so hopeful." After all, love is the basis of all hope, wouldn't you say?

Listen to the song here:
(Be sure your sound is on - then hit the play button below)

Hopeful
by Sean Wiggins & Billy Cioffi © 2001 BMI

I'm not rich
I'm not well known
Sometimes that hurts
Down to the bone
But even in my darkest night
I reach my hands out toward the light
Hopeful

I don't need
The world at my feet
Knowing I've been loved
Makes me complete
Though the gray clouds block the sun
I wish blue skies for everyone
Hopeful

There are days in my worried mind
I want to walk away, leave all this behind
But something deep within holds me here
It's your sweet love shining bright and clear

My soul gets heavy
My heart grows weak
I want to say something
But I don't speak
Years go by, they ebb and flow
Please know it's your love that keeps me so
Hopeful

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  ~Romans 15:13

I am hopeful that you are hopeful!
(And now I am hopeful that I can get this collage finished so this post can be published before everyone forgets the "One Word" challenge!) Yea! I did it.

My Word is....DISCOMBOBULATED by Silver Moon

Not only has this challenge been difficult for me to focus on but it seems like just getting out of bed lately to focus my eyes after an insomniac night, is quite an ordeal for me these days ...which happen to be flying by so quickly yet very  s l o w l y for other reasons.

Other synonyms for DISCOMBOBULATED are: addled, befuddled, bewildered, dizzy, jumbled, mystified, perplexed, and puzzled. You do catch my drift here? This word screams out my name!!!

I actually heard a really good friend of mine use this word several weeks ago and it stayed embedded in my head. I not only liked the rhythm of the word, but I like that there are other words within this sesquipedalian word.  I see DISCOM...which of course would have to mean discomfort ...LATE....which is me, late for this entry...I see DISCO....I just got home from a dance club that was blaring the disco tunes of the late 70's (how could I NOT mention that?, especially the song Bad Girls!)... and then I see good ol' BOB, so... where are you Bob?

As you can figure out by reading this bit of zany playful nonsense, the word DISCOMBOBULATED is THE perfect one word description for my Moonster Madness Personality and Art. I have managed to confuse myself once again, and if I'm confused, I am betting you the word COMB that you will be too! Now..where in the heck did I leave my car keys again ??? mwah! xoxo 

One Word Challenge-Pilar Isabel Pollock

When given this challenge I found myself dumbfounded. If you asked me to describe a friend, a meadow or a seashell words would roll off the tip of my tongue. However, I can not seem to find a single word to describe myself or a quality I possess. Perhaps, it is my fear or being arrogant or the fact I am too close to my inner workings, but my vocabulary abandoned me.

 

I decided to take opportunity of this situation and choose a word that describes this experience: enigma. From the Greek root ainos and later ainissesthai, an enigma is defined as “something that baffles understanding or can not be explained.” I am clueless as why this challenge has been so difficult for me to complete. The reason for my inability to find the perfect word is in fact an enigma.

 

Working within the possibilities of the word, I created a digital piece to reflect aspects within myself, which are arcane, mysterious, and hidden; elements, which are enigmatic to myself and others.

One Word - Pregnant! by Crystal Neubauer

Before you get any ideas, just let me clarify, I am not with child.

 

But I am pregnant.

 

Pregnant with ideas, and life, and desire, and hope, and possibilities!

 

There were many words I thought of to describe myself for this art challenge. Serious words, funny words, words that describe my character, my faith, or my physical appearance. Words that would lift, words that put down even, depending on the moment, my mood, or my circumstances. And I did have one word picked out that I thought maybe summed up my life, but every time I sat down to create with that word in mind I couldn’t see beyond the blank canvas. The deadline for the challenge came and went and still I had nothing. It was a good word, an inspiring word, a word that gave me many ideas of what I wanted to say, but I finally resigned myself to the fact that it must not be the word. So I let it go and sat back down in front of that blank canvas and that’s when it hit me:

 

I am pregnant!

 

With pregnancy there is a time of development that is necessary for the baby, but uncomfortable for the mother. Morning sickness, weird cravings, expanding waistline, midnight anxiety, and false labor. This pregnancy of mine has been no different.

 

The past two years have been a few of the most difficult of my life. My husband lost his job two years ago marking the beginning of a season of difficulties and trials that turned my world upside down. Painful trials, difficult times that I begged God to remove me from. But I’ve come to realize that the pains, not unlike the pains of labor, have had a special purpose. Intentionally designed, as with the pushing necessary to give birth, to cause me to push past the stagnant place I was once content to graze and dare to give birth to my dreams.

 

Like a child growing in the womb, these dreams have been inside of me, growing, developing and waiting for their time to come. And as with any pregnancy the pain of labor had to be endured in order to give birth. The pain comes with the promise of a new life.

 

“A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.” John 16:21

 

Last week I put my notice in at my job, a literal end to my labor? No. Giving birth to this dream will be hard. I will have to nurture it through its infancy in order for it to survive. But I can’t hold it back anymore, this dream I have of becoming an artist full time. I am pregnant.

 

Pregnant with ideas, and life, and desire, and hope, and possibilities!

One Word - Challenge #1 - Mary Beth Shaw

I am a Seeker and I've known this for years although I've just embraced it more recently.  Driven by challenge, passion and zest for life, I am just plain curious about lots of stuff.  I get really obsessed about things though, like figuring out ways to get certain effects with my art.  Being self trained, I often struggle to find my own answers.  And geez, I do not joke when I say my best techniques come out of mistakes.  Solving problems with my art is oddly rewarding to me.

Being a Seeker also means I often ramble around somewhat aimlessly, exploring whatever tickles my fancy.  For me, a perfect day is one of spontaneous drifting. 

Although I am certainly capable of setting goals, I often achieve more success by trusting my own process because the passion that rides behind my quest propels me more than any defined goal ever would. 

I fully believe the Journey *is* the destination, didn't Dan Eldon say that?  Because oddly, even though I am always seeking, I don't desire or expect to find a definitive answer to all my seeking.  I am at peace with this journey and wouldn't have it any other way.

Challenge #1-Deryn Mentock

"Faithful" by Deryn Mentock

The first word that comes to mind in describing myself is "faithful".  Not so much the amount of faith that I have or don't have but the faith that I aspire to.  The following is a prayer said by a man who had a rock solid faith.  Bonhoeffer wrote this in Tegel prison in Berlin, Germany during WWII.  Two years later he was moved to Buchenwald concentration camp, then to Flossenburg concentration camp where he was executed by the Nazis.

God, early in the morning I cry to you.
Help me to pray and gather my thoughts to you, I cannot do it alone.
In me it is dark, but with you there is light;
I am lonely, but you do not desert me;
My courage fails me, but with you there is help;
I am restless, but with you there is peace;
in me there is bitterness, but with you there is patience;
I do not understand your ways, but you know the way for me.
Father in Heaven praise and thanks be to you for the night’s rest,
Praise and thanks be to you for the new day.
Praise and thanks be to you for all your loving-kindness and faithfulness in my past life.
You have shown me so much goodness; let me also accept what is hard to bear from your hand.
You will not lay a heavier burden on me than I can carry.
You make all things serve for the best for your children.
Lord, whatever this day brings, your name be praised.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (a prayer written in Tegel prison, Berlin)