Trees Are Poems the Earth Writes Upon the Sky

Trees are poems the earth writes upon the sky

Khalil Gibran

A Refection by Ginny Stiles.

I recently read a wonderful story about the old cherry tree in Washington DC that had been cut back so many times it was nothing but a stump..but it still bloomed.  It soon gained the name “Stumpy”.  When it was scheduled to be cut down, folks had their photo taken by it, drew pictures of it,  left prayers on it and wrote stories about it.  

It got me to thinking about the good bye we just said to our old birch tree at the summer cabin in July.   You can say hello and good bye to a lot of things in this  life and more so as you grow old.   But even a tree can be a cause for a tearful memories and sweet good byes.  

Because of the location of the tree-- smack dab in the middle of our cabin lakefront shore line— it has been in every family summer lakefront photo for probably 50 years.  A very long time for a birch to survive.  I’ve probably sketched it 20 times at various summers in my life.  

It stood through wild storms and winter winds and heavy snow. Still that birch faithfully greeted us each spring with dappled shade and beautiful black and white patterned bark.  Under that tree our grandchildren grew up, we picnicked under it, we napped under it, read under it, sketched under it, wept under it, dreamed under it.  

Gradually however over the last 3-4 years the bark had begun to fall from it, branches began to slowly fall off into the lake and float away.  Shelf fungus began to appear on the trunk and it became clear that it was nearing the end.  We let it stand forlorn for a few summers not bearing to say goodbye.  A shadow of it’s former self now.  

Finally it was time to take it all down to make room for new trees…  for new memories to be made.  When I sit on the deck now…I remember its silhouette and the dappled shade it provided.  Just as I remember all my friends and family that have gone home before me.  

PS The day the tree came down was just an ordinary day.  People were doing what people do…they were getting born, and falling in love, and making soup, and fighting breast cancer.  They were climbing mountains and reading poetry, picking cherries and whitewater rafting.  Only a few people in this world were aware that an old beloved birch tree was finished giving joy on a small lake in Wisconsin.  But then nothing is ever really ordinary is it?  It’s just hard to hold that thought. 

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Here are a few images to share....

 

This sketch from mid August shows the stump 

where the old birch was located

 

Last summer in July, the summer just before the tree came down I sketched some of the bark that had begun to peel off and drop down on the pier and deck.  Another sign that the tree was saying good bye.

 

 

Summer Begins

Musings on a Friday morning in June…

one day into summer in Madison. 

June 21, 2024

Yesterday was the longest day of the calendar year.  Summer is officially here ―meteorologically at least.  We all know that there are a lot of ways that a day can feel VERY long without actual clock time being involved.  I’ve experienced quite a few of them over my 84 years.  And, to be fair, a day can be very short for the opposite reason.  I try hard to think on the delightful too-short days mostly now.  Einstein has tried (unsuccessfully for me) to explain how time is relative and actual physical time varies depending a lot of science.  How fast you are moving for instance.  But for most of us in the real world, it’s mental mood, physical well-being, and the surroundings that determine sense of time. 

The real way I notice these longer days is that when I wake up early it’s light.  Unlike those January and February mornings when it’s pitch dark at that same time and seems to take forever for dawn to break.  And it’s “summer light” which is different as it bounces off warm humid green things and not sharp light that bounces off cold snow and thin air.  

We leave for the Northwoods cabin next week.  Packing has started. That always gets me to thinking about time. It goes much slower up there for no particular scientific reason but instead it’s a combination of huge quiet, big skies, lots of water to look at reflecting that big sky, amazing sunsets, more open windows and the dappling light on the forest floor.  Also the smell of piney woods and wood fires and the sound of loons. Here's a sketch from last July.  

You can go into any gift store in towns up there and find hundreds of hand painted signs trying to capture the up-north feeling enticing you to bring it home to hang it over the fireplace or above the kitchen window.  Usually with a bear or a loon painted with it.  Everyone should get a few…it’s tradition.    

The spring/summer season has been climate changed now and we get a lot more huge weather swings…huge rains and then a lot more drought…wild variations that last too long. And this year a lot more heat…breaking records in southern WI with 90s even in May.  And a tornado to boot.  But we are so thankful to not have forest fires or floods as so many have had to endure!   

The older I get the more I anticipate the Adirondack chairs on the deck, the stacks of book by my favorite chair, the fun jig saw puzzles on the porch, chilled wine, morning coffee, my sketchbook and the quiet.  Family comes to visit there…and that is increasingly joyful as life goes on.  

Below are a few samples of some art work or happenings in Madison since last I sent out the blog.  

Here I am sketching at Madison's Olbrich Gardens in early June.

Our newest great granddaughter, Laikyn arrived on May 7

Here's the sketch I did at Olbrich Gardens in early June here n Madison

A sketch in the Oakwood Forest in early May

A sample of the many "triangle" Zentangles done during the latest project pack.  

I did this sketch fairly shortly before we had a tornado come through Madison.  This old tree made it through but we lost a lot of beautiful old trees during the storm.  

A little gouache painting I did of our anniversary flowers.  

We celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary on June 17.  

This is a new medium for me so it's pretty experimental.  

Here's a note of memoriam to my old friend Margaret Gregg who passed away unexpectedly in May.

Greg and I and Julie will attend her memorial service 

next Tuesday in Williams Bay.

Life will never be the same without this dear dear friend.  

Cinco de Mayo

 

So begins the month of May...here are the many examples of Zentangle frames that I used for the class on May 3rd at the Monroe Street Art Center here in Madison.  Later I'll show you the students work.  They were AMAZING.  

I am anxious to get outside more to get some sketching in...my life has just seemed to be full of obligations and I do NEED to get out there.  I know the spring flowers are up and joyful...at church this morning the lilacs were in full glory!!! Does anything smell more lovely?

Here I am at the art center (using my new computer) and all the new cords I had to buy to get everything hooked up!  No better way to teach though than using a document camera and screen!  

The gals who were students did a really great job...stuck to it.  Julie was with me as my right-hand gal and did coaching, passed out materials and made sure the room was as I wished it.  

These gals were beginners!!!  I was really impressed!  I did supply gold pens for them as well.  Just a little extra special glitter.  

This week we will have some rain showers several days...but also some nice sunshine.  We will celebrate our newest family member on Tuesday as our 4th great grandchild is going to be born that day! 

 Can't wait to meet her.  

We'll celebrate our grandson Ben's 26th birthday on Friday with a family get together.  And Mother's Day with a brunch at Julie's home after church.  The church choir I so love, will finish up the season on the 19th of May.  We then take a summer break.  

We've begun to think a little about the cabin...at least in terms of getting it open and ready for the family.  Although Greg and I don't plan to go up until late June after the swarms of mosquitoes and ticks are finished up (we hope).  A friend walked the property this morning and texted us that no trees are down and everything looks in good order.  When you leave a property for 7 months you worry a little.  

Our lovely sycamore tree here in Madison is finally leafing out.  It's always one of the last ones. I wish you all a blessed May.  

End of April Notes

Today I am posting on April 29...the end of a month long riot of weather in Wisconsin that made spring very difficult to find! But the daffodils and bluebells did arrive briefly in Julie's garden and she brought us beautiful gift bouquet.  And out in the lovely woods at Oakwood here in Madison...the bluebells, spring beauties and crocus come just before the trillium.  Bird song is loud and joyful.  

I close the month of April, though, with generally happy thoughts about art and family.  Around here lot of joyful things are on the calendar...a new great daughter due on the 7th, a grandson graduating from high school and some spring birthdays...Maddy and Patrick in April and Ben in May.  I got a new computer and Julie and Mark made is safely back from their winter trip west.  

  

    The new Oakwood art library is beginning to fill in with furniture, paintings, and other joyful accommodations.  Hoping for an open house in June.  

Julie and I are teaching a Zentangle® class at a new venue in Madison at the Monroe Street Art Center this Friday.  I plan to theme it around this book: We entitled the class "Dingbatz, Frames and Cartouches."

Here's how one of sample frames might look (Maddy's Birthday Card).

 

You'll notice that the frame I tangled is around Layla (Maddy's dog) and then the Dingbatz is in the corner of the envelope.  Which, if look closely, can be cut off and used as a bookmark!  Dingbatz are actually sort of "placeholders" usually in text or poetry to divide spaces, announce new chapters or sections, or otherwise enhance a lot of text.  Or tucked in the corner of an envelope!  

 I'll post more images after the class so you can see more examples.

We had a fun little art exercise here at Oakwood Art groups thinking about the characters from Beatrix Potter.  I picked Mrs. Tiggywinkle who is a hedgehog.  Sketched her into my sketchbook and then sent a copy to 5 year Violet (my great granddaughter.) The hedgehog is holding an iron in her hand (she does the laundry for the forest animals).  I told Violet to ask her grandmother what an iron is.  Would children even know?  

This was just a short blog...to let you know Greg and I are still around and learning new things. Tomorrow night my chorus has a performance and I have two more Sundays in May at church with choir to the end of the season.  I'll miss the music.  

Hoping you are all well and you have a good May.

 

 

The Oakwood Art Library and spring

 So here we are on April 4 in a full blown 3 day snow blizzard in Madison, Wisconsin!  AH spring. 

The crocus and daffodil have been up for a few weeks thinking that the warmer days back in March (even February) signaled a new season.  the robins are back and the lovely mother goose is sitting on her next in the middle of the pond. The grass is green and the Easter Bunny came.  

But alas, we've had about 5"+ of wet heavy snow over the last few days involving street plows and shovels (again). All the local lakes and even our up-north Tippecanoe Lake have opened up early think...haha SPRING!  Foolish as we are, we even began dreaming of "maybe" putting away our mittens.  Foolish people!  I heard from friend Barb that Tippecanoe Lake up at our cabin actually re-froze.  OHmygosh!  Certainly confusing the local turtles and loons!  

So, it's a time for thinking about finishing up inside winter projects.  And just keeping in mind it's predicted to be 60 here by next Wednesday and the community street vendors will be back on April 14 at the Outdoor Markets down the block!  

My latest project has been in trying to complete the new Art Library here at Oakwood University Woods.  Yes we have a great "general" library that is full of wonderful fiction and non fiction and it also has circulating books from the Madison public library!  BUT now we also have 3 satellite libraries here: A Nature library, a Spiritual library and now an Art Library.  

I've been busy collecting furniture that folks have been willing to donate or that already belong to Oakwood but are just stored in hallways unused.  You can see one big bookcase I found but I have an order in to purchase two more as many books are still waiting to be shelved! They will go where the plants are currently sitting. 

Hopefully as we proceed some art work will begin to appear on the walls to cozy things up and I am looking for a foot stool for the sweet chair.  A stamp and stickers to label books have been ordered and the committee will help with that.  In addition I have created a sign to announce the library. It is Zentangle of course!!! This was part of a project put out by Zentangle HQ to help demystify the concept of illuminated lettering.  

You could buy a "kit" of materials for this but I just looked at the project and sort of plagiarized the concept to my own purposes.  Still I followed along with the videos for ideas.  If you are interested you could just do a YouTube search for "Zentangle Project Pact 23" and all of the videos are available publicly.  My project is about 12 x 16.  I drew everything myself and did not purchase the kit which does get mentioned in the videos.   

So here is where it is framed and hanging now

So I am off to fix some hot breakfast for Greg.  We are looking forward to "real spring" and I hope to be out sketching soon!  Hoping all is well with you.  

Fun With Journaling

 I am posting today for a couple of reasons...one, I am behind in posts again (oh no).   AND I would like to post some of my favorite books about journaling for a presentation here in Madison in March so the class can just come here for the resources.  

So let's begin with the books.  All of these are available although I will mention that two are out of print and you have to buy used. 

Here is the list of fun book resources for journaling:

1. How to Make a Journal Your Life by d. price

2. Art Before Breakfast by Danny Gregory

3. How to Draw without Talent by Danny Gregory

4. Draw Your Day by Samantha Dion Baker

5. The Complete Decorated Journal by Gwen Diehn now out of print but available used for about $7.50 including shipping

6. An Illustrated Life by Danny Gregory

7. A Life in Hand by Hannah Hinchman (1999 available still...roughly $15 for a used copy.  This book is, I think, considered a sort of "journalist's bible".  Hannah is sort of the founder of modern journaling. Note Danny Gregory reviews this book here.  You might actually find this even better than getting the book!  I believe it's a two part video if you want to watch both.  

I'll finish the blog today with a few photos of some of the Zentangle® valentines I used to inspire the classes I taught here at Oakwood in February.  Here are 3 I created for my great grandchildren!

And here are a few more assorted ones to inspire my class.

A Long Time Coming: Christmas Day 2023

  

 So now here I am writing on Christmas Day afternoon.  A little spot fell into my time frame between events where I suddenly thought of all the photos I've been dropping into the "blog file" as time as gone. My goodness but it's been a LONG time since I pulled up my blog.  You surely have thought I'd given it up.  But no...I just needed a break for awhile. The big decision now is just what is important to share.  

I'll start from now and work backwards a bit...here is my family (missing 5 people) but that is pretty darn amazing to get THAT many in one place!  Held here at Oakwood on Dec 9.  Some of my blog followers already saw this picture.  But I just had to share it again. 

My last blog post was spring and summer so I pretty much slipped over autumn.  I'll just drop two little sketches here about autumn...a little sketch walking in the prairie here at Oakwood and then under the lovely Sycamore Tree next to our apartment. It was a nice autumn...not as bright as some in the past but still pretty.  We left the cabin a bit early this year--September 8--although others followed and used the cabin up to the closing in early October. 

  

And a small sketch done in late October at my step daughter's home in Poynette, WI.  One of the last days of autumn...80 degrees and this was overlooking their pretty pond.  We were enjoy watching Oliver, our great grandson (almost two) play in the leaves.  

Oliver will have a baby sister in May.  Our 4th great grandchild!

I had an 84th birthday in early November...the 4 Old Fashions were not all for me!  "Likely story" says friend, Deb.  

A farewell card for a church member

on hospice who loved labyrinths...it's a finger labyrinth.  Folks signed their names.

Below are examples of some of the 

Zentangles™ from the Project Pack #22 

offered just before Christmas.  

I'm hoping to teach another class here at Oakwood in January.  

My mini journals really suffered this year.  Most of these pages I complete take about a month or two...but this page took a whole year to complete. I guess I sort of took breaks from a lot of things this year. I have promised to do better on the next one.  

Julie and I had fun playing with a different kind of wonky house in watercolor and ink.  It was awhile ago...I may have posted this before?

I'll let our other two great grandchildren sign off for me.

Viggo 4 and Violet 5 (she just lost her first tooth two days ago).

They now live in Michigan so a little closer than CA!  

I wish you all a New Year filled with hope and courage.  Filled with rest and walks in forest, time for old friends, good books and creativity.  Here's to 2024. 

 

 

 

A Summary of Spring and Summer thoughts...

 

So summer came and went with alacrity this year...streaming by in a myriad of images from here in Madison to up north at the cabin. Back and forth.  This year we went with a 3-4 week on and off plan.  The idea being not to have to pack and unpack so often which for two old folks is arduous.  

Weather in Madison was on the average this summer was dry and quite hot.  Weather in Lac du Flambeau was on average cold, dark, and rainy.  So both had their ups and downs.  

So to simply highlight our happiest days...my sister's visit in May as she was making her way across country was splendid and so wonderful.  Then in June the visit of our granddaughter, Maddy,and her entire family was amazing. Getting to meet Maddy's fiancé AND our two beautiful great grandchildren.  What a special time.  

So summer "up north" was totally full of joyous community and family gatherings.  4th of July was a local potluck of lake folks.  Great to see everyone!  

In between family gatherings I tried to keep a little sketching going.

I found the name of the clouds to be amusing as they sounded like perhaps a bad chest cold?  When they gather in the north like this it is time to be watchful.  

Beth made the trip all the way from Rochester Hills, Michigan by car this summer to the cabin for a sister duo with Julie!  Greg's son Mark and his big family came and my son Rick and his darling family came.  Katy and Chris came as a sister duo and we loved that!  Julie and her husband came.  What a treat. They all spoiled us so!  

I found a wee amount of time to keep up with sketching some  botanicals around the cabin although I found that walking too far along the verges was harder for me this year.

We returned to Madison on Friday the 8th of September.  The summer warmth will linger awhile in Madison..as autumn generally comes on slowly and with sweet colors.  Then suddenly as October approaches it will rain and the colors will slide away from us offering us the always bleakness but coziness of November.  We are already beginning to think of the holidays in general terms.  With a large family one has to plan ahead! 

 

Art wise Julie and I have a few Zentangle® "gigs" in the works.  I am helping here at Oakwood to plan a new Art library which should be fun.  Choir at church starts this week AND a new Oakwood choral group is beginning here which should be joyful.   

I brought back a lot of old paintings stored at the cabin that "never made the cut" and so am thinking of collage and gift card making with those this winter.  I am sure I'll start up some beginning Zentangle classes here at Oakwood and need to look over the calendar for that. 

In the spring I did part of the project pack for Zentangle.  I'll drop a few of those in so you can just see a sample.   It was an odd project which was designed to get one to look at familiar zentangles in the sense of possible botanical implications.  Here's an example.  The format was unusual to say the least but I enjoyed the challenge of making "make believe" plants.  Complete nonsense, of course, but a way to push your ideas into a project that most of us wouldn't have dreamed of.  I got five of the 8 done before we went up north but hope to get back and finish the rest this fall.  

 

Wishing you a good autumn.  And GO Packers! 

Entering the Good Old Summertime

 "Way beyond pretty pictures, cool techniques, gripping stories, or fancy footwork, artists make art that’s worth spending time with because it makes us feel like we are not alone in the universe.....but you do need to be authentic and unafraid. Art is the opportunity to share yourself. Seize it." Danny Gregory

Suddenly it's June and I haven't posted since April.  Cliches about time flying come to mind but I promised myself not to say that.  Instead I'll note that life has been and continues to be full of surprises and most of them are pretty okay.  

Above and below are a few of the 2" Bijou tiles in the latest project pact from Zentangle HQ.  All in all they posted 21 videos of various prompts.  I only missed one.   Black, white, and translucent tiles.  Quite fun and enjoyable.  They are meant to be put into mosaics.  

While I am writing this on June 6 here in Madison we are getting a little rain storm.  I do hope it lasts a bit as the lawns here are going yellow and brown and my daughter's garden is suffering and I am sure the farmers are worried about corn and soybeans and hay too.  

Up north for our recent 10 day stay to open the cabin...we had high danger warnings for fire. No campfires allowed.  The mosquitoes were swarming so much that most of my sketches were done indoors.  

I've been able to do a few sketches here at Oakwood this spring..this one in May near a lovely Fountain Pond on the east side of the Oaks. 

The blossoms were falling fast and floating in the pond like confetti from a celebration.  

We have a busy month planned for June here in Madison with farmer's markets and garage sales and art shows and outdoor music concerts.  We will return to the cabin just before the 4th of July and stay about 3 and half weeks. 

Wishing you all a good, safe, and creative summer.