Greetings from the Skagit

from my home to yours;  Kathleen Faulkner

It's been a difficult year.

I've had worse

but it's been a while.

The good thing about a new year is

Hope

and I have it!

I raise my glass and toast to YOU!

Here's to Peace, Joy, 

good Health and 

Inspiration 

for us all! 

CHEERS!

these are trying times

'Boo'Ya Moon' 24x50" oil pastel;  Kathleen Faulkner

There are places that draw us in.

They can be beautiful yet dark, places that can go black.
We choose, to a degree, whether or not to go there.

I think most people want to be good.
I think some people go into a dark place but are still good.

Then there are a few that just go there.

it's seasonal

'That Afternoon Breeze'  20x20" oil pastel;  Kathleen Faulkner

In these warm last days of summer

I am noticing the change

Light is different  moody

and the blackberries are so ripe

I try to pick them 

but they are soggy now from the first rains

others have missed the season

they won't make it past that lovely blush of pink

the leaves are starting to turn

night comes a little earlier 

and morning is beginning to show off 

it's dew covered webs

I'm lost in these thoughts

then that afternoon breeze 

comes dancing around my head

waking me up

sending me on my way.

family business

'Teen Town' 36x24" oil pastel;  Kathleen Faulkner

The mother stumps

run along grids

made by men with money in mind.

A new generation emerges 

from the nourishment and energy of those mother stumps

and life goes on.

saving the world

'Horsetails' 16x16" oil pastel;  Kathleen Faulkner

 The horsetails were our handy tools when we played outside as kids.

  

I usually used them as swords.  

They worked well.

soft green

'Forest Life' 16x16" oil pastel;  Kathleen Faulkner

I remember, as a kid, 

always having to touch the moss as I'd walk in the forest. 

  

I would imagine wrapping myself

in sheets of soft green moss, 

curling up and taking a nice long nap. 

details

'An Organic Matter'  16x16" oil pastel;  Kathleen Faulkner

It's usually overwhelmingly green in the forest.

Sometimes I have to stop and look in order to see.

another story

'Under Story' 24x48" oil pastel;  Kathleen Faulkner

It is a slow start to Spring:

cold and record rainfall here.

It is good for our water supply and the under story

which, in turn, 

is good for us.

 

shades of grey

'Winter Woods' 18x24" oil pastel;  Kathleen Faulkner

It's been a long winter.

I appreciate the cold, white light but

I look forward to Spring and a little more color.

Life during wartime*

"Pay Close Attention"  12x12" oil pastel;  Kathleen Faulkner

I didn't see her at first.  

Then, the weird feeling stopped me and I backtracked.  There she was sitting quietly, majestically.  

Non human beings are innocent and have no voice.  

It is our duty as stewards of the earth to speak for them.  

*'Life During Wartime', Talking Heads

a day in the life

'A Day in the Life' 12x12" oil pastel;  Kathleen Faulkner

.

It is early. 

Fog horns sound in the distance.

Hawk lands on a pole and

surveys the field

planning her strategy for the morning kill.

It's a daily thing.

Hope Springs Eternal*

blank slate, as they say

 New Year

my favorite holiday

it is so hopeful

clean up time

This last year was not so horrible

personally

Some good things happened.

I'll have to work harder this year

more obstacles 

I can do it.

Hope springs eternal in the human breast;

Man never is, but always to be blessed:

The soul, uneasy and confined from home,

Rests and expatiates in a life to come.

– Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man *