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.

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.

A Potpourri of Art Activities over the weekend

Sketchbook Revival again (4th year) sort of drew me in.  Of course my life is not totally my own right now...although we are making progressing as weather improves in Wisconsin we are to get out and about more.  

But in-between I am trying to squeeze in a little art and the mini lesson on stamp carving and then layering the printing seemed to hit the spot for me.  I want to play more with that!  

 Then as we "spring forward" I started a new "mini journal" page in a new journal all together!  I got my clock up in the studio...comforting to have the old clock up there.  And then Marlene knit me some Bernie Sanders mittens which arrived just in time for the snow!  So I got to wear them!  

And Greg and I are nursing a lovely pot of pink tulips on our window sill.  So pretty and so helpful as we wander our way through the fickle and mired weather days of Wisconsin March.  

And then Zentangle is starting Project Pack #13 which is VERY different than one I've ever seen..it includes water-soluble graphite and a brush and a clear glaze pen.  The leaf shaped background is made with diluted graphite and a brush.  

My chop is an inverted V (for Virginia) and and S for Stiles. 

HOME: a theme for sketching

It seems like whenever I start upon a "theme" for some journal work, I like to have some sort of special place for it to reside.  It need not be a whole new journal..it could just be a section of a journal.  BUT sometimes it's just fun to "make" a little quick and easy accordion folding journal to keep the theme in.  Giving it a title and it seems to help "the set up" for inspiration.  "Home" seemed like a good one.  Simple, to the point.  

I added a title (in Zentangle®, of course)




This theme (which some of my community friends are taking on with me this fall) is about recording the place where I have lived for 12+ years and which I know will not always be my home.  Life happens and I know that at some point, Greg and I will head back to Wisconsin.  This will be a nice memory of a home I have truly loved and represents many of our retired years.

The idea is based on a Tuesday Tip sent by Koosje from Sketchbook School this past week. Her idea (since many of us continue fairly housebound right now) is in fact to embrace this.

I decided to put a cloth tie on this little journal (accordion folded).
I just used some of my gel print papers for the front and back cover and glued in a bit of a cloth tie.  Voila.  

Here in Florida the days continue in the high 90s and also extremely high humidity.  So sketching outside is not very comfortable as of yet.  It should not be too much longer.  We are praying now to get through the hurricane season well.  Then on to slightly cooler and more enjoyable weather for outdoor things. 

 There are about 25 small pages.  I just taped the cut watercolor paper with my home made washy tape at the edges.  
Wishing you all a very happy and healthy and safe Labor Day weekend.  

Journaling in Pandemic Days

  

One of the websites my daughter, Julie, sent me had a ton of ideas about how to "journal" your way through the pandemic...or at least commenting now and then in writing about how things are going for you...what do you see...what do you feel...how you are coping or not.  I thought this had merit.  So I started with my 6 Pandemic Zendalas and put them into my journal.  

Then I designed some spaces around them conducive to more patterns and some space for writing.  It felt good to release my thoughts about what was going on around me.  I remember thinking about someone recently interviewed talking about some of the positives that could come from in the matter of being more comfortable with yourself, in sensing what is important in life, in sharing more with people you haven't seen in a long time, in more heightened sense of wonder at the natural world...etc.  I began jotting some of my thoughts and where we are statistically at this point.  How my thinking has changed over the last months.   

But then too, the interviewed person added, you must realize that is a "privileged" view of the pandemic.  If you are not ill, if you are not afraid (for yourself or loved ones), if you are sheltering inside in comfort with enough food, etc.  That is the privileged way to see one's way through a shelter in place issue.  There are so many that will not have that view for obvious reasons.  They are doctors and nurses on the front line,  homeless, sick, economically shattered, unemployed, losing a business they loved, hopeless, angry, trying to cope with young children, caring for people with disabilities, living in a nursing home, or having mental or marital problems that make them unsafe.  

So it is that we must expanded our thoughts to encompass the world view of this as well as our own personal view.  For me to worry if I have a mask and whether or not we'll run out of fresh bananas and have enough hand sanitizer and jig saw puzzles is one thing. But there is a whole other side to this that one cannot put aside.  For me to grumble about whether I should clean a closet or bake brownies or sit on the patio to sketch is a very privileged view of what is going on here.  

I am not living the life I thought I'd be living.  No one is.  But I am so grateful to be where I am and that my children and grandchildren and great children are able to be safe.  I pray all my blogging friends are safe also and that you are able to stay well and keep sheltering until we know things have started to turn around.  It's way too soon to go out shopping at the mall. We need to remember that boredom is not a reason to bring danger to all the people out there.  Stay home.  Listen to qualified medical folks for their opinion when it's time to go out more.  

Sketchbook Revival Days 7,8,9

The prompt for Day 7 had to do with floral watercolors.  The example was "okay" but not what I felt like doing...so I put together my own bouquet.  That felt nice.   I continued my effort to do a Zentangle each day as well.  The second prompt had to do with a portrait.  I was quite fascinated with her approach but I did not have time in one day to do it justice.  So...you see on Day 8, below, I made that prompt on an improvised "envelope" and put the paper for the future portrait in the envelope.  I'll pick that up after the prompt series is over.  

Day 8's prompts were interesting.  Noah had us put 100 dots on the page (on the left).  Completely random.  (I framed the envelope with my hand-made washi tape.).  Then he suggested we look for shapes and see if you can connect the dots to make a picture.  The pictures people found were amazing!  I found a little landscape and used colored pencil to color it in.   The second artist, Youhjung Son, had us work with clay.  Obviously that kind of prompt would not fit into a sketchbook...unless, like me, you had paper clay (which I just happened to have). If interested, I did another one of these on canvas awhile ago.  See here.

I rolled out my clay slab and imprinted it with a favorite sunshine stamp.  Let it dry thoroughly overnight. Then I painted it with gesso and let it dry. Then painted it with acrylic clear gel and dried it.  Then I painted it all over with black acrylic paint and let dry.  Then I removed most of the black paint with alcohol.  I touched it up with a dip pen and India ink.  Then glued it into the journal.  

Day 9 was working with old photographs.  The artist herself picked photos that really had no relationship to her and found artistic ways to feature them.  But I could think of no reason not to use an old photo with meaning.  So this is a photo of my mother...I think it may have been her high school graduation photo.  I used gouache paints for the background.  The second artist was an "inspirational coach" and I so there wasn't anything to draw.  She wanted us to consider how our art journey's developed.  I did write about that in the pink box.  Then the Zentangle was inspired by Molly Hollabaugh's talk-through prompt on line this week.  

Mountains and Valleys and Turning the Page

Or course, this time around in my journal I am noting the difference in my own situation and my feelings between Feb 13 and March 20 and it is remarkable.  A total "SHIFT" in life in general, isn't it?  

I see myself facilitating between meditative florals, and then back to Lysol spray cleaner.  That is sort of the way it's going for everyone right now.  Up and down.   Deep breaths and then fear...prayer and then isolation.  Grateful and then Worry.  

So now I turn the page.  Just as we all "turn the page" and continue on with mixed feelings.  

Lovely Stop Along the Way...

Although weather has not been generally kind to us so far on the annual trip south...we have safely ignored this and followed our itinerary (see previous post) with integrity.  

The wonderful "early" 80th birthday party in Warrenville, IL on Sunday was wonderful and it was sunny and chilly and the party room at my daughter's townhouse association had a huge fireplace that crackled and glowed brightly as I had a chance to hug a lot of people who mean a whole lot to me.  

And our two days and nights with friends Jim and Roberta in southern WI were so so delightful.  They have a wonderful welcoming and comfortable home.  And we found ways to work around having to cook which we all loved...we brought in a Papa Murphy's pizza the first night and then we all ordered our favorite Chinese the second.  Lots of fun conversation with two amazing smart, funny friends.  Our mutual connections to the UCC church and the town of Williams Bay, WI made our enjoyment even greater.  And their wide range of interests from nature and sports to art to music to theater made our talks endearing and warm.  

Above you see one of Jim's most cherished places, the conservancy in Williams Bay. (Also dear to me due to my old friend Kendra and her love of the place).  Being there brought her memory back so vividly.  Despite WIND and COLD, Jim took me for about a 45 minute walk on the south board walk yesterday and I did a few fast sketches to remind me of this special place.  Jim tells me there is a new app to download on your phone that will give names of plants and animals.  It is called "Seek".  I want to look this up!!!

This little sketch in my smaller journal actually took far longer than the one above!  It is Roberta and Jim's "kitchen sink garden" overlooking the beautiful woods.  

We are now headed to Janesville to visit Greg's cousins, Len and Rick and their wives and then up to Madison, WI tonight to stay with my daughter, Julie.  Saturday is THE wedding.

North woods Summer

Today I had a an hour or so in my Northwoods studio and decided to freshen up the covers on the 3 current journals that I am working on.  I chose 3 prints from my gel plate and glued them to the covers.  Then I embellished them a little with extra paints.  Here are the 3 enlarged.
The option are endless.  And fun.  And it gives me pleasure to pull out a journal with the interesting shapes and colors before I even open it to draw or sketch!  

I got a chance to start up another page of "littles".  Left to right...Katy's yard in southern WI with her bat house, our bird bath and feeder here at the cabin, the window box I got planted in Friday, and my little hammer which reminds me of Greg and I  hanging a lot of pictures out on the summer porch today.    

It's taking us a full week to settle in...but that is normal.  Weather is up and down...45-80...you never know.  Hoping that June will getting a little more reliably warm soon.

I hear that it's close to 100 back in Leesburg.  That almost seems unbelievable now.  I wouldn't wish that though!  85 is perfect.  Hoping for that!  We are smelling the smoke from forest fires up in Alberta, Canada now.  We've had amazing sunsets due to the smoke.  

Outdoor Sketching by a river...

Looking Out at the Scene by the river...

Final Sketch including a little sketch of the outside the deck and a map of where it is.  
Note the interesting metal fish Welcome Sign.  

In another journal...I did a quick 15 minute sketch of the interesting restaurant architecture.
I was taken with all the dormers.

This past Thursday, the Outdoor Painters met at a restaurant in Boulder Junction,WI called Headwaters, about 40 minutes north east of our cabin in Lac du Flambeau. Somehow we got a lovely sunny morning and about half dozen of us spread out over the hillside leading down to the river just beside the restaurant.  It was quiet (except for now and then a car passing over the bridge).  

The moments were magical there. There were no mosquitoes and just a slight breeze.  We were all in shirt sleeves....and later at lunch time, 4 of us were able to stay and enjoy a quiet visit together talking about art and food and life.  Perfect morning.

The summer season is drawing to a close...we only have one more scheduled outdoor art gathering next Thursday in Minocqua, WI at the Boat House restaurant near Lake Minocqua.  We don't try scheduling for September.  Although I have found September can be a lovely time to sketch.  And I try to find sometime around my area to do that before the temperatures begin to plummet.  

Fall comes quickly here.  We are already contracting for someone to come and pull in our pier and boats about a week after Labor Day.  We will start seeing some leaf color in about 2-3 weeks. Every year for this is slightly different.  Some years wild color...some very subtle.  No one really knows why.  The amount rain fall, number of cold or warm days, etc. all impacts the color.

Joanne Sharpe's workshop

Here is Joanne (from upstate New York) leading Day One of the two day workshop on "Whimsical Watercolor and Fonts" at The Villages.  FAST PACED would be an understatement!! Some samples of her folded books are on the table.  I think we are headed that way for Thursday!  

This is just a small portion of the day...wow, it went so fast.  Beginning to focus on some of the variations of your own handwriting that one can practice.  

If you look back at the first photo of Joanne you see her holding a fold out booklet (4 parts) that are just plain silly fun.  The theme is a warm-up helping to relax and get into the mood of a "second grader".  A time in our lives when we were up for most anything and still thought of ourselves as artists. The theme was just wild and crazy dresses for the 2nd grader in us.  And a chance to play not only with wet watercolor washes but Tombow pens in wet washes.  

Hard to show here but this is a simple inexpensive composition notebook (like $2-3) from office supply that each of us creating to hold "work samples".  The pages are thickened by using Washi Tape to "bind together" three- four pages thus making it relatively stable.  

So on to day two...wish me luck.

The Odd World of Trees Underground

This is a rather odd artistic post.  It is sort of an abstract, surreal sort of piece of journalling that is supposed to reflect the theme of "Trees".

The topic was a prompt from one of my arty Facebook groups.

The only real requirement is that there be some words on the page.

This reflects some of my interpretation of the book The Hidden Life of Trees and that I previous posted about.  I think I put it under the label "Thoughts".  The book is an interesting conversation about things you never knew or thought about concerning trees.  Written by a German forester, his information is quite fascinating!!!  Trees actually have a whole life UNDER the ground that you never much think about.  Scientists can actually measure some sort of "electrical hum" under the ground.  They are not sure what it is.  

Are the trees chatting?  

 I mean we all know they have roots but who knew about the fungi that connect most of the trees in the forest?  Who knew that the fungi not only live off the tree but BENEFIT the tree as well and help it by communicating with other trees?  They can actually WARN other trees about invasive insects in the area...things like that!  Who knew that in a tablespoon of dirt there are more living organisms than can accurately be counted?  And that many of them are yet unknown and unnamed?  

These strange piece of reflective art came from a ghost print I did on the gelli plate.  When I scrolled through my journal trying to decide how to represent trees this called out to me.  I tried to "spatter" representations of bits of living matter and insects too.  The complicated underground web that we do not see unless a storm uproots one unexpectedly.  

The font is done with my fine line paint pen using high flow acrylics.  

Fine Line Paint Pen Anyone?

Mark making tools become an obsession after awhile.  It's fascinating to try all KINDS of pens.  This is a Loew Cornell Fine Line "Paint" pen.  It is designed to hold any thin liquid.  I am trying out Hydrus Watercolors here (pre-mixed liquid Dr. Martin brand).  

The barrel at the top is gently filled with the liquid (I use a small paint brush as the filling tool because it helps keep any bubbles from forming.  You can also dip it fully into a liquid but then you have a lot of wiping to do.  So I prefer the paint brush.  You don't get a huge amount of printing before having to refill, of course. That is a downside to this.

It is definitely a "studio" printing technique end not designed to be carried about for use.  I have used liquid acrylic paint in this and this works nicely too and would provide more opaque lettering that you could wash over.  And the white works nicely over black backgrounds too.  I like that you can use a huge variety of colors and paints with it...not just your normal black, white, and blue.  

It's important to wash and clean immediately after use, of course, so the tiny nozzle won't get clogged and it does come with a tiny wire you can use in case this happens.  You can also blow through it to clean it out after it is washed in clean water.  So it has some housekeeping issues. But I rather like it.  The marks are easy to make...liquids flow so nicely that the pen just glides over smooth paper.  

Has anyone else tried one of these?  It is not expensive.  

Journal Prompts…3 weeks worth!

This prompt was simple "Do something unique with initials".

I'm afraid this was not too gorgeous or anything…but I picked up a set of letter stamps a few weeks ago at a garage sale.  And I decided to include my immediate family which is a generous # of people.  Greg and I near the top (with the same initials) and then our 6 kids and then my sister & hubby, my nephews (also with the same initials) and then at the bottom our grandkids…two of whom have double  initials AA and NN.

Of all the prompts to play "catch up" with, this was the most fun. The prompt was about "Back to School".  I picked up some "blackboard paper" somewhere and used a pastel pencil on it to simulate "chalk" since I did not have chalk around the house.  Then I went back to when I was 10 years old and tried to remember some typical things we did then.  No iPads, no cell phones, and in my case no TV (not until 1951).  Lots of trading cards, bike riding, paper dolls, and desks bolted to the floor in rows.  Good memories for the most part.  

The dog days of summer (in the north woods) if they ever appear at all are in late July…long past.  I can remember some long hot summer days in Illinois growing up though and it would mostly be August when you lay in the hammock or went to the local pool.  Time kind of dragged as the bees buzzed and the tomatoes ripened.  Time slowed way down.  So I decided this little sketch of an old slipper would possible evoke the timelessness of that.  

Very dark and big time thunder and lightning and rain this morning in the north woods.  If there were street lights here they would be on.  The rain is falling gently and there is no wind…I am grateful for that.  Wind up here is so destructive with so many trees!  It is actually warm up here today…oddly enough…mid 70s.

We have 5 weeks left now to our departure toward Florida.

And the last 10 days is pretty much full of packing and closing the cabin chores.  So for all practical purposes it's only about 4.  I go through this packing whining every spring and every fall as we make the transitions.  

Journal Prompts 26 and 27

9 x 12 Strathmore Visual Journal

acrylic paint

Black Gesso added to above

The prompts were to post about gardens and to post about the 4th of July.  So I decided to post the two together…a red, white and blue garden!  

Journal Prompt 14: Shadows

I think the prompt writer was trying to get at people taking a look at their "darker" side.  She called it their "shadow" side.  I had some trouble thinking exactly how to pursue this.

Optimism and faith and light put shadows and shadow feelings "behind" you and while I don't think there is anything that completely eliminates this in our lives…we have choices.  I choose to face forward.  

I used to teach a whole unit on "shadows" when I taught kindergarten.  I did it around Valentine's day because so many valentines classically included "silhouettes".  (Did you know that there is a person named Mr.  Silhouette and that's where they get their name?)  Look it up.

Anyway my feelings about shadows are scientific, artistic, and amusing.  I think of Peter Pan and I think of Robert Louis Stevenson's wonderful poem…remember…"I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me…And what can be the use of him is more than I can see…."

So focusing on my darker side using the shadow metaphor really didn't work.  Maybe by the time you get to be my age, you have "resolved" this paradox in life somewhat?   Thoughts?

Finding creative time

What I am writing about today is a comment to Anne Lamott's latest blog on her Facebook page.  You can read the full article here

https://www.facebook.com/AnneLamott/posts/817214388408206

She says:  the foundation of almost all wisdom traditions—that there is nothing you can buy, achieve, own, or rent that can fill up that hunger inside for a sense of fulfillment and wonder. But the good news is that creative expression, whether that means writing, dancing, bird-watching, or cooking, can give a person almost everything that he or she has been searching for: enlivenment, peace, meaning, and the incalculable wealth of time spent quietly in beauty.

Then I bring up the bad news: You have to make time to do this.

And of course you cannot "make" time you have to "find time.  I was joking with friend Lou the other day about how I bought a new book on some new art technique and I had been putting it under my pillow trying to absorb it over night.  But then I figured out you actually have to read it and PRACTICE.  Duh.  

What Anne is trying to do is to get us to remember that time is precious and that "creative expression" time is more than precious.  It is essential.  And that time can slip away from us. Which we already know, of course.  But we need reminding!

Most of my friends are "creatives".  In fact for many of us deciding WHICH creative things is the problem.  We want to do so many things.  But that is not really a bad problem, to my mind, as long as one spends enough time with each thing to receive the gift it has to give.  With me the question often is which medium shall I work on today or this week or this month.  And I stave off the temptation to put too many eggs in my creative baskets.  (A good analogy for a Easter blog, right?) However, some would argue you can just get another basket.  And I wouldn't really argue with that.  

My point, however, is that if your studio is just filled with baskets that you flit from one to another frantically than you have created the same time issue you tried to stave off in the beginning!  You need to be able to spend some QUALITY time with each basket and if that become too difficult..give some baskets away.  Pick the baskets that fill your emotional and creative needs the best.

My Zentangle® basket is always near by.  I love my Gelli-arts basket and the mono-printing journaling and collage that spins off it.  I love working with fonts and calligraphy (a new basket for me but one that blends into the others) and I adore my watercolor basket and watercolor sketching baskets. That one is never far away from me.  I play now and then with my basket called "multi-media" which gives me real freedom to "free up my creative juices" and use my journaling to sort of map out that journey.  If I pick a new basket, I sometimes have to put away one of the others for awhile.  The joy in these choices is that they fit the moods.  

Part of Anne's blog suggests that we also need to "get outside the studio often" into nature.  This will inspire your creativity no matter what you like to do.  Whether a walk in the neighborhood or a jaunt down to the river side or beach or woods or….?  I really do agree with her on that one.  

So we are all given the same # of minutes each day.

And I know things interrupt us…family and friends need us and you get a cold and unexpected interruptions just happen.  Excluding those, give some thought today of how you spend your precious creative minutes.  Where could you find some that are being wasted?  (Naps don't count…as they are useful and important.)  I'd love some comments on this.  

Remembering Georgia O'Keeffe

Journal page 9 x 11

Acrylic/paper collage/pen and ink Zentangle®.

Our week 11 prompt had to do with somehow putting some of Georgia O'Keeffe's work into our tangling life.  I just enjoyed putting some of her work with her image and tangling it together a bit.  Next week's it's MY turn to put out the prompt on the Facebook page.  

There is only one of YOU in all time….

It's the birthday of Gerardus Mercator, born in Rupelmonde, Flanders (now Belgium), in 1512. He developed the world-mapping technique that we still use today and call the "Mercator projection." He developed a method to accurately project the globe onto a flat surface so that longitude and latitude lines would always be at right angles to each other.

When he first published his world map in 1569, it revolutionized navigation. For the first time, sailors could plot a route between any two destinations in the world using a straight line, and then follow that route without having to adjust their compasses.

To project the globe onto a flat surface, Mercator straightened the vertical lines of longitude into parallel lines, and he added space between the horizontal lines of latitude. This distorted the distance at the North and South Poles, which is why Greenland and Antarctica appear so large on flat world maps. The Mercator projection soon became the authoritative world map. Mercator was also the first person to use the word "atlas" to refer to a book of maps.

I get these "bits" off Garrison Keillor's amazing blog sent to me each morning for my perusal.  Included is always a poem.

I highly recommend his blog called "Writer's Almanac" and if you want you can hit "listen" and he'll read it to you in his wonderful drawling voice.  (I rarely do this).  But it's a shame because he's fun to listen to. Why am I in such a hurry?

Anyway he picks and chooses bits that "happened on this day" in history. And there is almost always at least one that fascinates me.  

For one thing knowing now that Gerardus Mercator even existed is a new piece of knowledge for me.  I'll bet you never heard of him either, right?  And think what an amazing thing he figured out and how it changed everything.  One man, one bit of genius shared, one world changed.  Sounds almost like a prayer, right.  I feel like saying "amen".  

Even saying the name of the place he was born is magical…who knew about Rupelmonde, Flanders?  And because I am an American and I think my country is the center of the world and everyone is like me, this sounds mysterious and and exotic.  Bringing to mind how traveling to other countries helps to de-mystify that concept.  But I digress.

I think my original point in commenting on Mercator is that I was again wowed by the concept that each of us is so unique and that we must not hide our creative lives because there is only one of us and it will be lost to the world ... our contribution however small or large if we hide it.  

Brings to mind Martha Graham's now famous thoughts about this….

"There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and it will be lost. The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe in yourself or your work. You have to keep yourself open and aware to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open... No artist is pleased. [There is] no satisfaction whatever at any time. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction, a blessed unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the others."

Martha Graham

So despite the inspiration not always working out (see graphics above) we must always try…not give up.  I probably won't invent a new word like Gerardus did but I will affect the world in some way.  Even if it's just through my offspring or because one of my painting might show up on Antiques Roadshow and bring the owner some amazing amount of $. 

Before me lies another precious day to amaze the world.

Off we go then…carry on.  

Leap Year Fun

Daughter Julie making mono prints in my studio

So today is that extra day we get every four years…it is Leap Year again.  We take the calendar so for granted that it's quite a jolt to remember now and then that "marking" time has a history of ups and downs just like lots of other things that you take for granted (see history of leap year below).

My daughter Julie is here from WI where the winter winds still swirl around making everyone have spring fever.  We've had a whirlwind week trying to STOP time for awhile as we stuff everything we can think of into the 7 days she's here.  

Today we are off to canoe on Lake Griffin with a docent so that we hope to see tons of birds!  Hoping you all have a great "extra" day today.  

Today is Leap Year Day, when the month of February has 29 days instead of 28. This happens every four years and only in years that are divisible by four, such as 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016.

The length of time it takes the Earth to completely orbit the sun is 365 days and six hours. Most calendars only list 365 days. An extra 24 hours accumulates every four years, requiring an extra calendar day. If we didn't account for this extra day, eventually, we'd have Christmas in July.

The Egyptians were the first to calculate the need for this type of regulation, but it wasn't put into practice until Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator, consulted with the top astronomers of the day and in 46 B.C. began adding one day (known as an intercalary day, or "leap" day) every four years to make up for the discrepancy. At the time, the ancient Roman calendar system was based on a total of 355 days, a full 10 ¼ days shorter than a solar year. Not one to waste an opportunity, he also decided to rename "Quintilis," the fifth month of the year (counting from March), which is how we got the month named "July."

Unfortunately, Caesar's new calendar system wasn't strictly enforced, and by the 16th century, it was almost 10 days off track, so in 1582, Pope Gregory reformed the Julian calendar. The calendar system we now use is called the Gregorian calendar.

According to British historical tradition, a leap day is the only day of the year a woman can propose marriage to a man.

A person born on February 29 may be called a "leapling." If you are born on February 29, you're eligible to join the Honor Society of Leap Year Day Babies.