These last couple of weeks I have been sifting through the drawings, photos, experiences and memories of one of the most inspiring vacations I have ever embarked upon. My family and I made a big decision this year to take a year off from our annual plans in Maine and head west. With the kids getting older, I knew that this might be the year to let them experience how vast this country really is, before they grow up and leave the nest. So with our “tour guide” and dear friend Lisa, we went to Montana, where she grew up, and soaked up everything Big Sky country has to offer.

It’s all too much to put into one blog entry, one sketchbook (I finished one and began another while out there), one body of work. I plan to write and post a lot related to our time out west in the weeks to come. We experienced landscape that defies imagination while in Wyoming and Montana. It’s as if the very Earth is breathing out there. This is a similar sensation I’ve had when visiting live caves and I have a deep sense that my upcoming residency at Mammoth Cave National Park is somehow related to our recent family travels. I am excited to explore all of it in my writing and via the art work that is bubbling at the surface since arriving home.

Above is a simple stop motion video I put together while at Yellowstone. The music is by a Cincinnati based band, the Pomegranates, whose music was in my head and on my i-pod a lot while out west. This particular song, I feel like I’m a million years old, is a good description of how I felt out there. Time and geology have a different story to tell than here in Ohio. I love that. So stay tuned. Distillation takes time.

- Margaret Mead.

There is not a whole lot I can write about the photos you see here.  These are images of Jessie Henson’s magical work of art, aptly named Stardust, installed this summer at Cincinnati’s new School for the Creative and Performing Arts building in honor and memory of Esme Kenney.

Not quite a year ago, a very small group of us gathered to try and figure out how we might possibly go about honoring Esme’s memory, while attempting to begin the healing process among her close knit community of family and friends.  Over coffee, we threw out some ideas.  About the kind of art we were thinking about.  About the ways we might raise the type of money we might need (it turned out to be double our estimate!).  About how to maintain Esme’s spirit and light throughout the process.

Everything from Jessie’s heartfelt, gorgeous proposal and artist’s statement, to a series of amazing concerts which carried the bulk of the fundraising seemed to be laced with a synchronicity completely beyond our control.  We simply woke up each day and got it done. (I say that from a fundraiser’s perspective!)  As an artist, I am honored to have watched Jessie navigate the process of creating such a large scale public work of art.  I know it has not been easy.  But it’s done.  And it’s stunning.  Congratulations Jessie, Lisa, Elaine, Randy, Jen, Kim… everyone involved in making this sculpture a reality.

Below is my favorite shot from Jessie’s pictures.  In a matter of days, these halls will be bustling with the student body of SCPA.  Esme’s friends often wondered how they could leave the old building and head to the new one without their dear friend.  This is how.  Her light and spirit are now part of this spectacular new facility.  For that I am grateful.

The summer’s travels are in full swing around here which is a nice way to try and weather the smog and humidity that plagues our region this time of year.  We started with weekend trips to various Irish Dance competitions for Maddie who is working her way up the ladder of this sport.   There was also a trip to Chicago for this year’s Irish Music competition, the Fleadh Cheoil (pron: flah keeole) where Jack competed in solo competitions in mandolin, banjo and fiddle and he and I both played in the band competition.  (Jack placed 1st in banjo, 2nd in mando, and amazingly, 2nd in fiddle, in spite of it being his first year in the highly competitive and crowded 15-18 year old group!!  Our little band got 2nd!)

Last week while Maddie danced her little legs off at dance camp, Jack and I headed to Celtic Week at the Swannanoa Gathering down near Asheville at beautiful Warren Wilson College.  This was our 2nd year there and it was like going back home this time around with all the friendly familiar faces and knowing our way to the best running trails and such.  The week flew by filled with laughter, more tunes than we could possibly digest in one week, new friends and renewed fervor for this relatively obscure hobby of ours.  There was a lot of joking among the lot of us about what nerds we are for traditional Irish music.  And it’s the truth.  We are each more nerdy than the next person and we all learn so much not only from our instructors (who literally travel from all over the world to teach at camps like this one) but from each other as well.  We trade tunes and suggest albums to buy.  More experienced players can sometimes be seen helping newer players around tricky bits of tunes.  I had the opportunity to strap on a set of Uilleann pipes belonging to my talented friend Cathy and after a few minutes, I had squeaked out the ‘a’ part of a simple Jig.  I was delighted!  This could lead me even further into the rabbit hole that is Irish Music.

Occasionally I will take some ribbing from non-Irish-music-loving friends for being such a nerd about it.  And my response is - dare to be a nerd yourself.  About anything!  If you have a hobby, any hobby, dare to dig a little deeper into it and really make a go of it.  Be passionate about something that you are interested in.  You will be led to meet amazing people who share your interest and can further your own knowledge and abilities in your hobby.  If you don’t have a hobby, then find one.  How?  Well, what interests you?  Seek it out.  Do you like books?  Find a local book making club.  How about kayaking?  There are groups in most cities anywhere near bodies of water and you will probably find the people involved open to sharing their love of the sport.

One of the greatest things about being at what we lovingly refer to as ‘band camp’ is simply being around other Trad Nerds who love this music as much as we do.  It’s a place to feel safe in our nerd-dome and to immerse ourselves in it, if only for a week.

Tomorrow we leave for family trip out west where we plan to hit the hot springs and go for a dinosaur dig (I’m just a little nerdy about dinosaurs too…. but I’ll save that for another blog post).  You can bet, I’ll have my flute and whistle with me to practice new tunes under the huge western sky before they try and escape my brain.  Til next time, dare to find something you can get all nerdy about and dig in.  It really makes life worth living.

Special thanks to my friend and phenomenal photographer, Larry Green in Kentucky.  His photos capture the magic that is Celtic Week.

This is Rembrandt.  He is a screech owl who lost an eye and is now hanging out at the zoo with his volunteer educating the public.  He is absolutely lovely.  and tiny. Though I think those talons could do some damage if they had to.

There is a feed the giraffe station now at the zoo which is really cool.  For a buck you can give the giraffe a cracker.  The giraffes don’t seem to mind and it brings them right up close for sketching.

We caught this old guy napping.  So tender.  And somewhat human I think.  There is a certain person-ness to primates at the zoo.  Especially the orangutans.

That’s all for now.  Off to practice some music!!

Recently I signed up to be a part of The Sketchbook Project out of Brooklyn, New York.  This is a really great project that I consider to be something of a community art project.  None of the artists donating sketchbooks to this project are getting paid, in fact we paid to do this.  But here is how I look at it.  It’s exercise.  People spend billions of dollars each year on exercise for their bodies, why not pay a small fee and a bit of time each day to exercise your inner artist?  The first step in all this for me is to gesso all the pages in the book which is a moleskin brand blank book.

Generally I don’t use the moleskin books because of the paper.  Great for writing or even just pencil or pen drawing, but it doesn’t take watercolor very well.  With the gesso on the pages, they become more like blank slates that I plan to do collage work and maybe some paintings as semi daily exercises outside of my own sketchbook work (which try as I might not to, I still can take too seriously).  The book is due back to Brooklyn by January 2011 and will have a life of it’s own once out of my hands.  It’s good for me to do this sort of thing and let it go.

My theme for the Sketchbook Project is “I am a Scavenger”.  This is pretty much true, from nature bits to quotes to my own ideas, I am constantly scavenging around for new and potentially usable stuff…

Meanwhile, I have been working on an embroidery for a quilt I am making for a special show in the fall.  Here is the beginning…. just blocking in colors and getting the generic form of a howling wolf into place.  Already I love her and she seems to have some wonderful personality.  I will post more on this project as it comes nearer to fruition.  If any of you blog readers are crocheters or thrift store shoppers, I am looking for crocheted doilies (approx.3″-8″ diameter) to be a part of this piece as well.  Please contact me if you’d like to contribute!

But for now, I am back into the studio to draw my new favorite thing I read about in a book last night…. cave pearls!!!  (I think cave formations will translate nicely into wax this fall!)

Yesterday I went to the zoo.  I used to go all of the time with my kids when they were younger and before that I worked there as a teen and young adult.  I love the zoo.  It is the perfect place to go practice my drawing skills.  In the interest of practicing what I preach more by getting out and drawing more, I got myself a pass and plan to go as often as I can.  My friend Dan and I drew a number of animals during our visit.  His capacity for drawing far exceeds my own.  I consider my drawings “mere” sketches.

There are meerkats now in the cat house and they watch as the people stroll by.  They have great seriousness of purpose in their watchfulness.

Many animals, such as the snow leopard and the monitor lizard, could be found sleeping which makes them easier to draw.  But it is also fun to try and capture them awake and moving, like this Sumatran rhinoceros.  He had a mud bath, ate some leaves, and took a walk around his environment.  He is still a baby to a certain extent and I think it shows in his demeanor.

So for what it’s worth, here are a few sketches from yesterday’s zoo trip.  Bear in mind, they are mere sketches.  I’ll post more as they gather in my sketchbook.  practice, practice, practice.

There is nothing like a road trip to wake up the senses.  This is especially the case when traveling from one distinct landscape to another very different one.  As we traveled north toward Michigan, the land leveled out and we saw all sorts of tall grasses which were growing in the marshy ground leading up to the lakes.  Some of this grass is apparently invasive but I don’t know enough about it to know the difference.  To an artist’s eye, it just seemed like a nice place for some red winged black birds to perch and swing in the breeze.

Meanwhile, some feisanna are longer than others…. I had some time to sketch while we waited for competitions to start….

I love pines silhouetted against a dusky sky…..

It feels great to be drawing on a daily basis again.  Intellectually I know that drawing everyday is good for me personally and professionally from all of the work with Drawing Down the Vision.  Why I seem to lose my way and get bogged down by life at times forgetting the subtle power of my sketchbook…. I may never know.  Must have something to do with being a human bean.

But enough about the sketchbook for a minute.  Here’s the news…. a few months ago, in the midst of my work on the ArtWorks mural, I applied for a residency at Mammoth Cave National Park on the off chance that I might have the privilege of spending a month there making art and teaching people how to “take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints” with a sketchbook and pen.  Today I got the call from them that my application was chosen based on my portfolio and proposal for work I’d like to do there.  I am honored and humbled and tremendously excited to go explore the caves and work with the folks who work at Mammoth Cave all year round.

What a cool thing to look forward to…. I’ll keep you posted.  (I simply cannot stop grinning.)   

I had a minor meltdown the other day.  Ok, maybe slightly more than minor.  It may have been a case of burn-up-on-reentry after my NYC trip, faced with real life again with all of its complexities.  It may have been this nasty cold that I am trudging my way through.  It may have been the fact that tornado season is about to end and with it, my earning potential as a puppeteer.  It was more than likely all of these and more.  I spiraled downward into the familiar dark hole where the questions of why do I make art, will I ever make a living doing anything artful, is it even worth it….are the norm.  It’s not a fun place to be.  Even at my grumpiest, I usually don’t have the chuck-it-all-away sensation more than once a year, but here I was, feeling like I just wanted to quit.

Timing is everything they say.  And so it has been since my little existential crash.  Here are a few examples:

1.  The long overdue dedication to the ArtWorks mural Tina, our teen apprentices and I worked so very hard on all winter, was yesterday.  We got to unveil the work in dramatic fashion and were treated to a wonderful reception by the appreciative folks at the Convention Center.  Our friends and families were there to cheer and ooh and ah.  It was great!  It is not often that such work is so publicly celebrated.  It cheered me up a bit in spite of being in crisis mode internally.

2.  While at the dedication, a good friend of mine congratulated me and asked how I am doing.  I let her know that I was a bit down and just didn’t feel like the art life is for me.  I think I may have said something about looking for a real job.  A standard day job.  She just smiled and said, “you can’t quit being an artist Amy.  It’s like motherhood.  you don’t just quit.”  I smiled back.  She’s right.

3.  I came home from the party and checked my facebook and email as usual.  I am an NPR fan both on the radio and on facebook.  On their FB fan page there was a post about a video for Josh Ritter’s song The Curse which features puppets handmade by the drummer in his band.  It’s so beautiful and artful.  I fell immediately in love and watched again and again.  It reminded me of what I love about puppetry.

4. Then, in my email, there were three separate messages from 3 very different places.  One was a follow up from my sketchbook class last fall saying she would like to take the class again now that there’s a book making component to it and that she’s tremendously excited to go on the Taos trip next spring.  The other two messages were from people whom I know personally but who had never seen my art work.  They both want to meet to talk about art for their homes.

5.  Ok, so by now, you get the point.  Avalanche of reminders.  But I have one more little thing to share.  Today I have been at the computer most of the day getting caught up on Drawing Down The Vision work with emails and blog posts, research and finding my way around this cool thing called Basecamp.  I am trying to pull myself up by my boot straps.  Getting some illustrations out onto Veer and other online stock photo websites to maybe make some extra arty income.  One guy’s work that Adam introduced me to is Hugh McLeod, creator of cube grenades which are little art works geared toward the business set.  He had this to say about art:

“I’m inte­res­ted in how art affects what some peo­ple call “The Real World”- the work­place, the world of  work, the world of busi­ness. That’s what the cube grenade idea is all about.

My adver­ti­sing buddy,Vinny Warren, grew up in a Roman Catho­lic hou­sehold in Ire­land. He was telling me that his parents would always have a few reli­gious icons han­ging on the wall somewhere. Pic­tu­res of Saints, Mary & Baby Jesus, that kind of thing.

Why? Says Vinny, “To remind us who we are.”

Art that reminds you who you are. Exactly. What applies in Catho­lic hou­seholds also applies in pla­ces of busi­ness. Sha­red Mea­ning. Exactly. Social Objects. Exactly.

I don’t think any of this is roc­ket science…”

Hugh’s art is pretty edgy and cool.  Very different than mine.  But he reminds me that there is a place for art work anywhere.  In the homes of people who admire our work.  Or in the day job offices of folks who might not be artists themselves but like surrounding themselves with reminders of who they are.

I am sitting here in my studio, surrounded by all kinds of reminders such as books, art from friends, bits of found stuff, grateful that I have an artist’s mind and heart.  Difficult though that path may be to hike from time to time.  I’m grateful for the reminders from the Universe or whatever Its Name may be that came to me in a low soul time, though this one’s gonna take some serious diggin’ out.

Below are some snapshots of the great unveiling of our mural.  Enjoy.

oh, and p.s.  I hope you get to spend some time this Memorial Day Weekend to think about those who have been lost, in war and beyond…..

Here’s Tina, tearfully thanking everyone and explaining her vision for the mural.

Jake Speed and the Freddies were there to entertain.  Their lyrics are in our piece as well.

…. and so the veil comes down….

Lots of time in front of the mural for pictures and congratulations.

Here Kim finds the lyrics to her song, The Greatest Story.

We had quite a crowd for the party.

I guess it’s official.  I’m an artist.

“Science works with chunks and bits and pieces of things with the continuity presumed, and the artist works only with the continuities of things with the chunks and bits and pieces presumed.”

~Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintainance

Last week I traveled to New York City.  This was only my third visit to the ginormous metropolis but it was the most relaxed visit I’ve had thus far due to a comfortable home base and a good long time to stay in town, not to mention friendly locals.  The primary reason for the trip was to accompany my friend kim on a music trip but I also knew that it would afford me the opportunity for some time on my own to think, draw and write in my sketchbook.  The week was filled with music, coffee, more music, amazing salads, subway rides, dog parks, more coffee, lots of thinking, writing and a bit of drawing.  From an art making perspective it felt very deep and nourishing.  Un-rushed, with very little schedule to adhere to, I just wandered around NYC some, watched Kim make a few new songs, and thought a great deal about art making, my career, and this balancing act called life.  It occurred to me that I don’t often have so much time on my hands to think and it felt really great.

Lately I have been so wrapped up in the business of art and the teaching of art that I haven’t allowed much time for the making of art.  My sketchbook is a great place to keep myself drawing and noticing the world around me, but I have not spent enough time actually working on the more conceptually sound art work that is a bit like therapy to me.  It’s been months since a concept has grabbed a hold of me and begged to be made into some semblance of a body of work.  A visit to the American Museum of Natural History reminded me of what makes me tick artistically.   The displays at the museum are nothing short of art in and of themselves.  I really loved all of the fossilized bones in the paleontology wing.  I find myself looking at these collected specimens and wondering where people fit into the puzzle.  We are the cause of so much extinction and yet capable of such beauty as well.  This dichotomy is interesting and worth exploring through visual art.  I wondered why we are compelled to make art when so much of nature is so beautiful to look at already.  Like I said, deep deep stuff.  But good to ponder.  A bit existential maybe, but healthy over all I think.

Some early drawings….

I look forward to pouring over my photographs from AMNH and hitting the library for further inspiration.  As usual, the sketchbook is capturing whatever pours out.

Besides the museum, a trip to the Tompkins Square park was another fun venture which resulted in a few dog drawings.  It has been quite awhile since I have made a point to draw dogs.  I suppose there is just no one to draw quite like old Caskie.  But I need to get back into dog drawings.  They are tremendously good exercise.

All the while I doodled and pondered the trappings of the visual art world, Kim was hard at work in the studio writing and demo-ing, meeting with important people and doing a show.  It is interesting to me how much work goes into art.  All forms of art are so much more process laden than most people ever realize,  and music is no different.

One new song has a line in it, “What do I know?”  That’s a good question.  I am often so filled with questions about what’s around the bend, where to go from here, what next? etc. etc. etc.  But when I think about what I do know instead of what I don’t, or even can’t know, I find some comfort.

I know that I am incredibly grateful for what I have.  I know that I may love traveling but I also love coming home to my quiet little acre and the group of people that I love most.  I know that I love the work I do and that while it hasn’t paid much quite yet financially, it’s rewards have been priceless in the form of growth and experience.  I spend quite a chunk of my writing and thinking time contemplating the financial end of my work.  While in NYC, I met up with a fellow artist who is also straddling the lines between business and art and making a go at life as a working artist.  It’s an adventure ride for certain.  But we plug away at work we know is important.  This is all we can do.