Newgrange

 
 Ned and I are in Ireland this week.  Yesterday we visited Newgrange, designated as a world heritage site by Unesco.   This is the entrance stone and the magical solar worship roof box .

It was the carvings of spirals and other archetypal symbols that moved me the most.  The fact that this huge monument was built 500 years before the pyramids of Egypt was  awe inspiring.

 The walls were covered with white quartz and a dot pattern made from water washed granite, both of which had to be brought many miles.

 Around the base of the mound are 97 curb stones - many of them carved with spirals.

It's beautiful and it's large and it's ancient and it's spiritual.  You can judge the scale by Ned's figure above.  

A link to more information about this spiritual place click here.  

The spiral carvings are what will last with me.

My writing will be spotty over the next few weeks.  

all stories should be love stories

so many ways of loving that all stories should be love stories I need digital photos of Cry Me a River, a quilt I made in 2001. I pinned it to my studio wall and re-photographed it today. mysteries begin with the body
all stories should be love stories sometimes the mystery is not death but love
all stories should be love stories The photos in this post are of the BACK of the quilt. The text about love stories is from the novel Elizabeth and After by Canadian author Matt Cohen. so many ways of loving that all stories should be love stories

rhubarb pie deep thought

When I make a rhubarb pie, I follow a recipe. If it doesn't turn out either it's a bad recipe or I didn't follow the instructions.

With my art making there is no recipe. When my art doesn't turn out - then I have to either find a way to fix it or abandon it. It's no one else's fault. It's no one else's idea. Somehow, it's not even my own idea - it's more like my insides turned out.

Maybe this is the answer to that age-old riddle about art and craft.
With craft, you have a good idea how the finished product will look and do whatever it takes to achieve that. With art, you have no idea how it will look when you're done. It's a discovery.
Through art one touches the inner self. If we're lucky, we glimpse our inner soul.

"You find the shape you already are" Margaret Atwood

Enchanting blue and white world

Last week, Ned and I visited with friends from the Netherlands who are in Canada for six months. Being with them made us notice the natural beauty of a Canadian winter. We now have a renewed appreciation of that mystery just outside our door. This is Indian Falls, near Owen Sound Ontario.

Katharine and Dore

While researching my essay I was pleased to learn that women were important in the art scene in New York during the 50's and 60's. So much has been written about those 'genius' male artists that it is easy to overlook the women who were involved. I researched Katharine Kuh because she was the person that Mark Rothko called first when he decided to withdraw his paintings from the Seagram building. Kuh had curated Rothko's first solo exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1956 and remained friends with the artist for the rest of his life. Another close friend of Rothko was Dore Ashton, also an art critic. When Dore visited Rothko in his studio and they were surrounded by the dark red and purple Seagram Murals he told her "I have created a place". Dore Ashton's book About Rothko (1973) remains in print to this day. (Because I have not read it I won't give an opinion on its merit but I will say that I am reading James B Breslin's biography of Mark Rothko and would give it four stars.)