Sealing the Seal

Back home Zoey allowed her precious memories to steal her heart. So she set to work making a new weathervane for the Bjorn Museum.   Izzy gives her seals of approval.

Five days of museum hopping in NYC

So I had the opportunity last week to visit 5 Museums from the NY,NY area.
The Brooklyn Museum, The Morgan, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Natural History, The Rose Pavillon, The Breuer Museum .

Here are a few highlights.

  

Jean-Honore Fragonard 

Portrait of a Neapolitan 1774

Casper David Friedrich

Moonlit landscape  1774

The artist says "The painter should paint not only what he has in front of him, but also what he sees inside himself. If he sees nothing within, then he should stop painting what is in front of him."

Samuel Palmer 

Oak Tree and Beech 1828

Honore Daumier 

Two lawyers Conversing 1862

Georges Seurat   

The Black Horse 1882

Fernard Leger

Composition 1918

Giorgio de Chirco

The Poet and the Philosopher 1913

Here is a poem by Andre Breton who inspired Giorgio de Chirco create this painting.

Five Ways To Kill A Man

 There are many cumbersome ways to kill a man.

You can make him carry a plank of wood
to the top of a hill and nail him to it.
 To do this
properly you require a crowd of people
wearing sandals, a cock that crows, a cloak
to dissect, a sponge, some vinegar and one
man to hammer the nails home.


Or you can take a length of steel,
shaped and chased in a traditional way,
and attempt to pierce the metal cage he wears.

But for this you need white horses,
English trees, men with bows and arrows,
at least two flags, a prince, and a
castle to hold your banquet in.


Dispensing with nobility, you may, if the wind
allows, blow gas at him.
 But then you need
a mile of mud sliced through with ditches,
not to mention black boots, bomb craters,
more mud, a plague of rats, a dozen songs
and some round hats made of steel.


In an age of aeroplanes, you may fly
miles above your victim and dispose of him by
pressing one small switch.
 All you then
require is an ocean to separate you, two
systems of government, a nation's scientists,
several factories, a psychopath and
land that no-one needs for several years.


These are, as I began, cumbersome ways
to kill a man.
 Simpler, direct, and much more neat
is to see that he is living somewhere in the middle
of the twentieth century, and leave him there.

inspired by Nietzshe, Andre Breton and Paul Elvard

Luca Signorelli 

Man in Profile 1490

Maurice de Vlaminck

Sails to Chatou 1906

Sir Henry Raeburn

William Faser of Reelig

And here is the write up I found particularly interesting

In late March and early April 1801, the seventeen-year old son of Edward Satchwell Fraser and Jane Fraser of Reelig traveled to Edinburgh from his family home in Inverness-shire en route to London. It was the first of William Fraser’s numerous visits to the studio of Sir Henry Raeburn, where this dashing portrait was painted. The finished portrait was dispatched to the family dining room in northern Scotland while its sitter was relocated to Delhi as a colonial servant of the East India Company. William fell under the Mughal spell, fathering numerous children from his harem of five or six Muslim and Hindu wives. He never returned to Scotland, for he was assassinated while commissioner of Delhi in 1835.

Giovanni di Paolo

The Creation and the Expulsion from the Paradise 1445

Funny how his motif has been popularized in this pair of shoes by Doc Marten

From the film titled  Chair Anxiety - I'm not sure of the author but it is from 

an exhibit called Delirium

There was more, much much more and that is the way it is in NYC. I will be influenced both on and off art table by this visit for a long time.

Play time

And so Zoey and the seal became acquainted.

Play with me

A playful harbor seal 

woke Zoey from her moment of bliss. 

The Benches of Spokane

Mateo and I are checking out benches here in Spokane while his mom is busy at a conference. This one is from Manito Park

This is from the downtown mall

This is from the nearby elementary school

This is from St John's Episcopal Church

And this one is from Nap Time.

She took it all in

Zoey stopped paddling , 

let the current take her. 
Zoey took it all in 
and discovered that 
she could never be truly alone.

Fully connected

Splish splash splish splash, She stopped feeling small when she started feeling  fully connected.

Solitude and adventrure

Despite the threatening skies, Zoey left Budd Bay in search of solitude and adventure.  After all according to the Strickland kid, the mystery of life is not a problem to be solved but a reality to be experienced.

Out of his bubble

Finally out of his bubble, 
he dipped his toes into the cup of tranquility, while she basked 
by the light of the mood.

Alicia arrives at Bosque acres today

And the Strickland Kid meets Alicia at Bosque Acres Assistive living.

Chippy gives Zoey a hard time

Fiona to the rescue

Just in the nick of time, Fiona spots LeeAnne finding good use for her mirror app.

When you can't be there, be here.

Dear Diary,           

I visited our new priest today to pray for LeeAnne who is fighting for her life post hurricane in the British Virgin Islands. Fiona has gone to find her in her solar powered Cessna as she was last seen on her 26’ sailboat just before the storm hit. I asked our Father what to do and he said to go to the senior center and hold hands with someone in need. He said when you can’t be there, be here. So that’s what I did.

Zoey

Zinnia

Dear Diary,

Beautiful blooms called me across the street this afternoon. After picking this Zinnia for my window sill I sat down to sketch and watercolor. Crystal has done a great job establishing Erica Meadows. Bees, butterflies and beautiful wildflowers make my heart zing!

Zoey

An updated Map of Zoeland

Introducing Becker

Dear Diary,

I saw Becker today as he is setting up his classroom at Lakewood Elementary for the start of school. He loves to search for the meaning of measurement.

He said “ A heart pretty much weighs  11 ounces

But how about the weight of my heart after hearing of the flood? About 71.4 pounds.”

Introducing Crystal!

Introducing Crystal. She is Zoeland's free spirit who run the Crystal Palace. A flower, bee and butterfly indoor garden. Crystal has asked me to make a sculpture of a butterfly for the front entrance. It's going to take a few weeks, but I'm on it!

Her favorite quote is

Travel light, live light, spread the light, be the light

First Map

Zoey gets a map. This is a first map and I am working on a more complete version to be completed sometime in September. For my  60th Birthday Party present, I asked my family and friends to add themselves into Zoey's world by way of a character or place.  The new map will reflect these additions.

Do check out the Characters as they evolve on the page found in the tabs called Zoeland Characters.

Dear Diary 7-31-17

I love my life in Vernon Valley, although having stayed in my childhood home after my parents moved to Florida might just make me a FUDDY DUDDY! And my own regret is to have never married. I know my true love is out there SOMEWHERE but we just haven't met yet. In the meantime I follow my passion for art and sculpture. Making art is an obsession and full-time occupation. It all started with making mud pies in my back yard when I was 10 years old. I spend hours enjoying the feel of clay between my finger! As the cups came to life, so did I.

From the Desk of Zoey 7-13-2017

Generational Vision

Zoey's using sand pudding to finish her sculpture today. A method by Elder’s Jones http://www.sandpudding.com
She is so tickled that he is coming to the Party on Saturday!

The sculpture was inspired by Peter Donaldson and Son. Peter's son carries him on his shoulders in tribute of his turning 60.

Rock Painting

Zoey is busy painting rocks to day for a very important birthday party just around the corner!

Here and Now, Connected

Zoey's off shore to explore.

Zoey's World

Zoey is sailing out of Devil's canyon soon!  She can't wait to get home.

Rock On

My life has gotten really hard lately and I find myself seeing no easy answers and not much I can do to change my situation. At least I have Zoey in my imagination to help me navigate a direction towards sanity.

Zoey is missed.

Sky HIgh

Had a rough day yesterday. Good news is that the ice is melted. Bad news is that I am blown sky high!