May ATCs

Time is just flying by: how could I have missed posting my last month's ATCs?
The theme of these cards is "My Garden at Night". They are pastel, colored pencel and Gellyroll pens on black mat board.

I'm thrilled!! My painting sold at the Art Fayre.

Art Fayre

Once again, the Pioneer Museum in Dunvegen, Ontario is hosting the Art Fayre, a show and sale of artworks created by 17 local artists, including me. My submission this year is "Waterfront", a 36" by 48" acrylic painting. It is a bit 3D, with the "mirror effect" paint on the surface of the water, the swirling lines giving a connecting texture to the whole image, and the raised stones with inclusions of sand, pebbles and snail shells along the bottom third.


Here you also see my newly opened irises in the evening light. Nature is astounding!

Irises and Puppies

The month of May has been cold and wet. My irises were waiting for a warm day to finally bloom....and bloom they did.... yesterday. They have a very special exotic scent to match their spectacular form and color. I'm a happy gardener today!

My friend asked me to help her weigh her 3-week old golden retriever puppies. They weigh between 1.5 and 3 lbs. We also clipped their tiny little claws so they wouldn't hurt each other as they pile up on top of each other for a nap. Here you see them all snoozing away in a big cuddly heap.

Morels

I have a week off work and I am LOVING IT! Time to muck around in the garden, go shopping, clean up my barn and ....blog. Here is a picture of myself with the harvest of morel mushrooms found last week, when it was cold and damp. My pet man, Reto, found them when he lifted up a pile of branches. Later he found more under a wood palette that was near our pile of composted leaves.

My True Self

Last month, I participated in another three-day retreat given locally by Sri Vast, the enlightened master I first met in India in 2005. The main thrust of his teachings is the use of Self-Inquiry to discover who we really, truly are and then, to find the right environment, company and activity for that True Self to thrive. It is a given that your True Self is a happy healthy and fruitful person, caring for the planet Earth and all Beings, no matter what your specific talents and interests are.

I have always been fascinated by the question "Who am I?". Through astrology, numerology, palmistry, tarot and art therapy, I have approached the question from many angles. Yet Sri Vast brings an added element. He asks us to investigate who we are without "domestication"! What is the pure essence of our Being before we were trained, subdued, educated and adapted by our parents, schools, social environment and media inputs? The dictionary says that to domesticate means to "make (a wild animal) able to live with people and work for them". So what is the unique nature of that animal?

Our next meeting of the Women's Circle will approach this question. I was asked what my genuine, authentic person would have been....if all that domestication had not gotten in the way! My first answer was that I would be exactly as I am now. Whatever I did came out of the person I was at any given time and led to the next step in life.

Now, a few days later, I am wondering if maybe, had I had the support and means to bring out a the talent and joys that were in me......... I would have become a comic strip author! My style would be a bit like Hilary B. Price's "Rhymes with Orange" (fresh and pulpy"). I also like Dan Piraro's "Bizarro" and Wise and Aldrich's "Real Life Adventures".

Laughing and humour are timeless, indomitable ways of experiencing and expressing the beauty of life. Sri Vast knows: he loves funny movies!

My Seniors

Today I went to visit my favorite senior citizens at a residence in a nearby town. For the first time, since meeting them a year ago, I took their pictures. Please meet Margery, Doris and Dorrit!

Margery asked me for some magazines: I brought her a pile of National Geographics from the 70s (that I had saved to cut out pictures) and she was delighted. When I dropped into her room she had the TV on and asked me to turn down the volume...she was so excited about having a visit! She is always concerned about my well-being!

Doris had just switched to a different room that she shares with a new room-mate. She seems to have adjusted well to this change. The door of her room was open (because she is interested in all the coming and going in the corridor) and she called when she saw me walking by. We always have a great laugh together because her mental state causes her to make up very fanciful stories. Her favorite theme is "I have to pack my bags and get ready to go home".

Dorrit does not look cheerful in this picture but she was not keen on having it taken. When I showed her the result on the screen of my digital camera she asked "Is that me?? Oh well..."
Since her son came to visit her at Easter, she has been in good spirits and today was willing to go on an adventurous journey...out the front door of the building. Due to her mental state, she has a difficult time understanding my explanation about how I get into the building....so I decided to show her. It was a bit chilly outside and she was anxious about "finding her way back" but, once we had returned to familiar territory, she had a big smile and said " I learned something today"!

I really enjoy visiting my seniors and I have learned so much from these women. They are about the age my mother would have been, if she had not passed away in 1990. Have you ever thought about where you would like to be and how you want to live when you are 85?

View from the Top

On Sunday, I took a walk to the top of Rigaud mountain. It has a cross at the top that is lit up at night, like the one on top of Mount Royal, the "mountain" in the middle of Montreal, which is about 60 km away to the east. It is a tradition in Quebec to place giant crosses on top of prominant hills.

I walked up with a friend and my dog, Trinkette. Although the day was overcast, we enjoyed the pleasant walk through the woods and over some rock-strewn fields, starting at the Sanctuary of Notre-Dame and reaching the wooden lookout on the peak about an hour later.

Here are some views from the top, looking northeast and northwest.