"...At my grave" and "...Bright Song"

OVER GOLD MOUNTAIN

ORIGINAL GLAZE PAINTING ON HANDMADE TILE BY ZOLA DE FIRMIAN

Watching the day's light slide through in shifting angles, all day from my computer... clay below me, in the sunlit studio sighing, "where are you..?" And still I'm here. Working on StudioZola, my Etsy shop, images to upload, etc.


Took a "fun" break to create a curated Treasury List today. "Blue Bird of Happiness- A Wish- Bright Song."
In memory of my brother, Tony Hites, who had bluebirds flying all around his newly built mountain home, in Ashland,  midst snow and stark trees...such beauty... the last time I was there with him.

They are my favorite bird, in a certain way. (IF such a thing were possible, I'll add.) Packed with associations.

Here's link: BLUE BIRD OF HAPPINESS- A WISH- BRIGHT SONG

Then, I find this fine reminder, a poem in collage- a poem/art piece/ collage book,  by PattyMara on her Esty Shop.

A poem by Mary Frye, written in 1932:

Do not stand at my grave and weep.

I am not there.

I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.

I am the diamond glint on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you wake in the morning hush,

I am the swift uplifting rush

of quiet birds in circling flight.

I am the soft starlight at night.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.

I am not there.

I do not sleep.

Do not stand at my grave and cry.

I am not there.

I did not die.

CATERPILLARS, WINTER DAZE

GLAZE PENCIL, ORGINAL SKETCH ON PORCELAIN TILE, HANDMADE.


Orange and black woolly caterpillars are here: Reminder of clouds of butterflies who fed all summer on the purple lantana bush outside my studio.They like the road- dirt and short grass, easier traveling I guess. Rabbits, bobcats, quail, too, all seem to like the road we made- clear views, easy to traverse.

Carefully, I lift and toss each caterpillar I find into the long grasses as I walk the drive- one more, maybe thousands, to be hopefully cacooning and awakening in flight next spring.

How many forms taken on, then shed, before scattering brightness all around. Reminder to be patient with our process and how it looks today.

Beneath the Silver

Soft light this morning, slimmest of crescents, last evening's moon.

Working more on computer that I might want, still.... here to share the inspiration of the natural world, I look out my window-walled space to see a few deer dashing madly about.

Wonder if they ate the amanita mushrooms again... something making them oddly playful.

Time to join them. Ciao!

Celebration of Craftswomen!

Posted afterwards ( found in Drafts file.) for 10-12-2011

Autumn 's a tawny lion racing over the meadow... blasting in with rain then sun in amazing variations. Opening the studio door each morning, I feel grateful for this place- scents so clean, meadow grasses damp, birds migrating all around. The Goldfinch are gone, Phoebes and Kestrels returning. So much to celebrate. Much beauty.

So I work- clay under my nails and in my mind, whirling with new work for the upcoming show. It's a great thing for me, to have gotten in at this moment in time. It's a wonderful holiday exhibit of craftswomen's fine work, benefitting women and girls.Grateful.