Fall, Food, Family, Fading of the Light

Note to self: Take more time to focus. David, Mauizio, Meg

I have some emotional difficulty with transitions...fall used to be my favorite season when I lived back in the northeast, but here in the Northwest, I get melancholy when the day light starts to shrink at both ends.


Best antidote to the blues is food and family fun. Continuing the theme of spontaneous get aways to different cultures, I took the occasion of our nieces, 
Shannon and Megan, and Megan's foodie

Shannon and her cousin Stand Heistand

husband, Maurizio, visiting to do a quick trip to China, for Dim Sum in Seattle's International District. 


A prodigious lunch was followed by yet another wonderful meal at Doug's. Amal and Serene are visiting Thayer in Jerusalem and Hugh and Connie are
on the road for the cruise company, 
but the rest of us managed to consume
huge quantities...and forgot to take food
pictures later!




                                                                                             Alas, no big card game in the evening,

Brian, Doug, David. Good thing Doug doesn't see this.

          David and Brian were off to Disney        for  a belated celebration of his 50th with 
         his family, Meg and Mo to Chicago,
         Shannon to South Carolina. We all 
         promised to re-assemble at a later   
         date.

Kingston Farmers Market Flowers

Fall fruits--I love the wonderful bounty of September

New fabrics (fat quarters) to match my socks

Feeling more cheerful as I journeyed home, I indulged in some colorful
fabric purchases in Kingston and 
Port Gambol, echoing the bright colors
of my socks. (not that I NEED any more
fabric!)

The Dark Season is a time to be in the
studio, surrounded by bright materials!

 The texture under my feet could be
inspiration for a painting...or a paper doll...
more almost done, so Stay Tuned!

Inspiring textures, right below my feet

Changing focus from dull to bright...after all, the average temperature here must be about 50 degrees, which is Perfect for creativity! New England winters were Mostly White.

Never too cold or too hot here. Always JUST RIGHT!

Only One, Very Bright Red Fall Leaf

My contribution to the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center Fall Fundraiser, and a welcome to our new director, Robin Anderson. Coffee, Coffee


Port Angeles has been on the edge of
greatness ever since I came here in 
2005--let's create the critical mass of Art and excitement to  make this the great little city it can be. If Montpelier, VT, can do it, 
so can we!

COFFEE, COFFEE--acrylic and mixed media

This AMAZING Work of ART could be YOURS! Bid and buy October 27th.

Also: Colonel Hudson's should be open October 1st--hob nob with the gorilla. I'll meet you there for the best burgers in town....although the tomato bisque with crab at Little Devil's Lunch Box is quite Spectacular, too!

Support our local Businesses!
 

Following the Bliss...where-ever!

Cool Rock I found in my yard yesterday

A four-day weekend is a treasure to an artist who has to work to keep the roof over the studio. See my other blog: hotflashwomen for Anita and my spontaneous over night trip to sleep in a different country. As Anita says, "If I saved $50 a week from now until forever, I still wouldn't have enough to retire on."

So, simple pleasures, like beautiful rocks, a Round Robin with doll and journal, making paper dolls... so happy that I took the 20 years off from a "serious" work life to enjoy making Art and working for myself. Now I know how to do both work     and play.

One of my pages in the round robin journal from Thea

 Playing with dolls, Playing with paper, images, and ideas...and I still have one more day to go!

More lovely indulgences tomorrow: A haircut, a massage, and lunch with Bertha Cooper...maybe we'll solve the health 
care crisis...as one of my elderly patients 
told me unexpectedly: "there are just
Too many people!"

The first sketch for the body for the gourd doll

Pursue simple pleasures, and keep your mind engaged. Can we share nicely?

Next: play a movie and do some Fabric Journal beading.

France Romance

David and Doug at Ray's Seafood Birthday for David

Several years ago I started a fabric journal titled France/Romance, and I've returned to working on it this summer. Several years ago I was very tempted to teach a week-long class at a chateau in Southern France, but since I would be taking all the financial risk and making all the arrangements, I decided not to do it.

My lunch at Ray's. The smoked scallops were Amazing!

 

 

Now I take the ferry to the mainland, when I can for family events, like David's birthday party at Ray's Seafood last weekend, but do the rest of my traveling in my imagination.


In grade school, the two places I did projects on were France and Egypt, and I have been to both of them in person. Now I sometimes miss family events in Seattle, like the visits from our Midwest Nieces and Megan's husband, who we hope to lure to the West Coast more frequently now.

With Facebook, I see the delicious meals they have been having. Food is a big Favorite in the Hastings Family and social events are organized around food, with pictures to document the gorgeous colors, textures, and flavors. Will food be my last remaining sensual pleasure?

New glasses making me look intelligent, hip, sex

Last April I had a scare about my vision:
the growths on my retinas (drusen) seemed 
to be taking away, too rapidly, my ability to see,
and I feared I'd have to give up my new Honda
Fit, PLUS only be able to do sculpture by feel, 
instead of my current vast range of Art
Work! 

Thankfully The cataract surgery I had in
April has improved my sight greatly. New glasses
that David helped me choose, with color on top
of the lenses to make up for my fading eyebrows.
04/08/12 from my journal: "one old eye, one new
eye. I play with looking first from the clear eye 
(left) then from the right, still covered by the brown
film. I am intent at 65 on seeing all that I can. Al
Jaffee (Mad Magazine) at 89, is still alive and 
creative.

Part of a new paper doll with envelope series

So the France/Romance fabric journal builds an imaginary class/experience, and the new paper doll series, inspired by a fan in Texas, has me back to pawing through all my bits and pieces of found stuff. 

I just finished applying to MAC in Sequim for a solo show of my Hot Flash Women Portraits...24 finished and one of Vickie Dodd in the works. Visual Art and stories make me happy, and I can create my own Universes. 

I treated myself to 10 new flat rocks for the holiday and have already planted them around my house.
 

David BD paper doll

Rising costs outpace my salary, and the treats get smaller
and smaller, BUT I do have my imagination and my art 
projects to keep me happy and traveling All Over the Universe.

I am lucky to be employed and in a home that is perfect for my needs, and there are No boundaries to Imagination!