end of a dry spell

     Photo: Kathleen Faulkner     

I usually create art from my mind, sometimes photos.

While walking on the beach,

I came upon this material 

all wrapped into the rocks.

Looking at it,

I knew immediately

that I wanted to create something 

from it.

A challenge!

Will I use pencil or ink?

It's going to be Large.

Greetings from the Pacific Northwest

It is Christmas.  The year is winding down and I've been thinking about all that has happened in twelve short months.  One thing this last year was not and that was milque toast.   It has been a challenge, a real roller coaster ride but I've managed to come through it and I'm grateful.  

I am especially grateful to live in one of the most beautiful places on earth.  

I feel safe here.  I was born here.  My daughter is here. My parents were laid to rest here.  I spend my adult life painting here and I will probably die here.  There are worse fates. 

     

The view from the top of Mt. Erie, Anacortes, WA; Kathleen Faulkner

The view from my studio, Anacortes, WA;  Kathleen Faulkner

Forest Lands, Anacortes, WA;  Kathleen Faulkner

Eagle Convention, Edison, WA;  Kathleen Faulkner

Geese, Skagit Flats;  Kathleen Faulkner

Skagit Flats;  Kathleen Faulkner

Cormorants, Guemes Channel, Anacortes, WA;
Kathleen Faulkner

Guemes Ferry Dock, Anacortes, WA;  Kathleen Faulkner

Heading back to Anacortes from Sinclair
Island;  Kathleen Faulkner

http://kathleenfaulkner.blogspot.com/2010/02/magic-skagit.html

To the New Year!

'Hope' sign in the window at the Lucky Dumpster in Edison, WA

Here's to strong friends, healthy family, good cheer and happy life. 

Here's to the time, energy and inspiration required to tap into our potential. 

  

May we all catch a glimpse of enlightenment as we save our earth and live happily ever after

Cheers!

Every action has a reaction

'On the Way to Edison' photo; Kathleen Faulkner

I stand in the middle of my studio and hear the world outside.  I am surrounded by manmade objects and materials that, once living, are now dead.

I stand in the middle of a forest and become part of an interaction with an energy that isn't in any house, studio, building except for maybe a barn.  

I stand in the middle of a field and feel that I am a part of it all.  

Observation can be a participatory sport

The favored one

'My Favorite Weed'  photo;  Kathleen Faulkner

I grow in her yard almost everywhere.  I guess that doesn't say much about the state of her yard:  I prefer poor soil, abandoned areas.

In her defense, she grows a fine garden of vegetables and flowers, she allows for wildlife habitat, there is even some grass in the back.  She could pull me out by the roots and that would probably be it.  I think she likes me, though.  Sometimes she comes over and rubs my leaves, she's taken many photos of me.  She lets me grow.  

I have some useful qualities, although I was brought over by the Puritans.

Dipped in tallow my flower stalk can be used as a torch.  Mullein stalks were used in ancient Greece as funeral torches.

I can cure leprosy and, if you have asthma, you can get relief by smoking my leaves. 

A tea made from me is good for catarrh or as a sedative.  

Maybe she keeps me around just in case.

Or maybe my leaves remind her of something 

or someone.

Quality of life

'Every Dark Cloud' Shadowbox 12x10" brooches: sterling silver, graphite,

colored pencil, mica; photograph, wood, plastic; Kathleen Faulkner

Sometimes I wonder if we'll make it.  Mother has cancer, we are losing whole species everyday and there's a lot of fear and hate out there.  

Struggle, strife.. everyone I know is struggling.  The artists really have it tough.  You can't eat art.  There  is no barter system to pay for health insurance or the electric bill.  Some days it seems overwhelming.

It is a time when one has to decide on priorities. There's a fork in the road.  One path is smoother, easier,  the other path may not go all the way through and the terrain is steep and rocky.  The smooth path has it's downfalls, though.  Younger is better, college degrees help, and, of course, a stable partner.. still, it's not a given. The rough path really asks nothing except to be true to oneself. Older can be better, degrees don't matter but passion is a must. The rough path has absolutely no guarantees and it's steep terrain is dangerous. It is a precarious yet intensely inspiring path,  if you make it.

My silver lining is called freedom: the independence and the joy in doing what I do.  I'm not talking about Apple Pie here.  This isn't an American Dream,  far from it.  I have chosen the steep and rocky path  and it's hard and I get worried and wonder if I'll end up falling off the cliff but, I wouldn't have it any other way.  On my death bed I will not be filled with regret.  

Digital photo; Kathleen Faulkner

'I am interested in art as a means of living a life; not as a means of making a living'  Robert Henri