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DAWN & DUSK |
FEBRUARY 19 to MARCH 19
Between 2/19 and 3/19 we gained 53 minutes of light in the morning and 41 in the evening. |
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Beginning a new cycle with mars yellow and terre verde watercolor, and a"wash" pencil. I've decided the shape of the bottle is given so I made a stencil. I will use it each day. The gray of the pencil is an overlap from the last cycle. Both colors are moody, and pretty deep. To me they spell the first letters of spring beginning. There is clearly a shift in the light. There are more contrasts, and the light is stronger. The big birds want in the houses for the swallows. A sure sign that nesting has begun. The swallows should arrive in 3-4 weeks. The fog bank this morning was dense and white. |
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Because our lives are dawn and dusk--birth and death. |
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One lone skunk cabbage blooming. It is my personal sign that spring has arrived. I wait for my first sighting of a blooming skunk cabbage every year. It heralds the spring. |
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Leap year: Reading about the mathematical gymnastics necessary to keep our calendar on time with the solar cycle amazes and amuses me. I am prone to agree with the ancient Egyptians who realized the same counting dilemma, but decided to use the extra days at the end of the year for festivals and celebrations. |
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3/6/00 |
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The simple scene of the grass,trees,and sky at the preserve stopped me cold. That tiny piece of the universe was bursting with vitality and information. At that instant I knew I needed to get rid of my mind and get closer to my body if I was going to make any art that was worthwhile. Over and over I've tried for big themes with multiple layers, and ideas that you can talk about all night long. I don't want to make anything that I can talk very much about. I want to focus on the light, and the only way I know how to work with a subject that vast is to choose an uncomplicated view. |
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The swallows are back. This year they are early. I saw two of them checking on their houses. I need to keep in mind that this is a study. I want this project to be direct, without excess baggage. |
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Tonight I read about the vernal equinox being a time to cast off the darkness and cold of winter. For the last few days I have been realizing the weight of the overcoat I've been wearing. It keeps me warm. It also is heavy on my ideas. I am itching to be outdoors, anxious for each days light and amazed at how long it is between dawn and dusk. In December and January I felt like I made the dawn drawing and turned around to suddenly find the light fading into dusk. |
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Our drive to Astoria, Oregon was filled with intense and very wet colors: black/brown of wet bark, saturated concrete and pavement contrasts with the brillant yellow/green of moss, rosy red and acid yellow new sprouts on the alder and willow trees, bleached yellow of last year's grass, the vivid green of this year's. These colors have been present since last month, but this last week they have reached strength and density. |
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