the stone circle in Keswick

The stone circle near Keswick in Cumbria, called Castlerigg, is thought to be one of the earliest, dating to 3000 B.C. There are 38 stones in a 100 foot circle, and another 10 stones in a small rectangle. There are some local signs calling it Druid's circle, but the Druids came 2000 years later, so the name must have been added much after the fact.
Humans have lived near this circle for 5000 years, so I bet that some of the beliefs about it must still be intact.
Look at the three apples left as offering at one of the bases of the stones. . . .
Again, I get the sense not that the stones are here because people wanted them to mark some reoccurring human behavior, but that they are there because they mark something about the Earth herself. We in our species-centric modern way of thinking have a hard time understanding maybe it is not about the humans at all.
Anyway - it was wonderful to visit and try to connect to the mystery of this place.



"The Eternal looked upon me for a moment with His eye of power, and annihilated me in His being, and become manifest to me in His essence. I saw I existed through Him." --Rumi

We do get our wishes sometimes!

If you have read this a bit, or visited my website, you will know I have a thing for owls.
One fantastic thing I got to do in Cumbria was visit Muncaster Castle, which just happens to have one of the best owl preserves in the world.
I got to take many photos of these magnificent birds, and now these will be showing up in many of my journal pages and collages.
I didn't plan this, it just happened for me, which seems to be how it goes a lot these days.
When you ask Spirit "What can I give?" rather than "What can I get?" it feels like the blessings start to just come on their own, sometimes things you never would have figured out if left to your own research and brain power.
Awesome, no?

“He respects Owl, because you can't help respecting anybody who can spell TUESDAY, even if he doesn't spell it right.” --A.A. Milne

London

I do have to post some photos, don't I?
It will take me weeks, months to process all my photos and make collaged journal pages, so in the meantime, some tidbits from the week in London:

The Voice of the Stones

I am very drawn to stone circles. I was thrilled to find out my brother's house in Cumbria is only ten minutes from the Ennerdale Bridge Stone circle called Blakley Raise, so we visited when there. The cab driver I called to take us there had many stories of the circle, including that his grandfather said if you run around it three times saying your wish, it would come true.
While there, a bunch of local horses were herded across the plain, and we got to watch their beautiful procession across the mooreland, and we hiked through the peat bog above to get a view, soaking our feet.
I am building theories about these circles, and that cab driver's story of local ritual supports the idea that the stones were put on power spots, not that the ancients themselves thought they were making power by adding the stones to the site.
I also was lucky to have a lovely short lecture by a passing bike rider who knew his art history, and made clear for me the difference between a henge (a rock monument surrounded by a ditch) and a stone circle like Blakely Raise, (no ditch.)
I did a shamanic journey to the spirit of the stones, and received very important information and encouragement for my path.
AND lo and behold, I now have a scholarship to attend Spiralheart camp again this year, and to be in the one of the only stone circles currently on our North American continent - last year it was half complete so I am so happy to spend time there again and see how far along the circle has come.
I thank the Stones, both in the UK and here in the US for all I received - and I think they will be a part of my work for some time.


"Stonehenge, where the demons dwell, Where the banshees live, and they do live well, Stonehenge." --Spinal Tap

David Hockney in homage to Van Gogh

I saw this gem at the van Gogh Institute in Arles, where various artists painted or photographed visions inspired by Vincent.
We are all working in a matrix of information, we borrow and "copy" and share our creative ideas in our work. . . . I am so excited to be teaching again this Fall at the Evergreen Art Center, and I know I will learn so much from my students.
Especially in our journals, we can try each others techniques, make some messes, explore the boundaries of what we think is safe and looks good, just see where it takes us. Art can be an adventure!

"We live in an age where the artist is forgotten. He is a researcher. I see myself that way." --David Hockney

Update

Hello dearest Blog readers, I have not forgotten you!
Turns out backpacking through Europe at age 48 is not the same as at age 20. That trip really took a bit of a toll on me and I am still recuperating.
But in the meantime, I want to share a blog reader with you!
Her name is Lynda and we met in London when she read that I would be visiting there on my blog. It was so much fun to connect with such a beautiful, creative soul - she has lived in Papua, New Guinea, The Middle East, the tropics, and the UK, and is such a force for creativity.
It was fun to hear of her photographic and art and blog adventures, and to find out she is seeing clients as an art therapist - something I would like to do one day, as well.
We laughed and shared and had great coffee and it was awesome.

Thanks for seeing us, Lynda - I hope you come see me in the States one day!

Here are her lovely blogs:
http://chocolatelifeandjazz.blogspot.com
http://tryingtocreatearteveryday.blogspot.com

and us at Shepherd's Bush in London - don't you love her bright orange jacket? As soon as I saw that, I knew I would love Lynda:

"Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls." --Mother Teresa

m i a

My computer power box seems to have broken so I have been missing in action.
Soon, very soon, I will be back in the states and have tons of photos and blog updating to share about our trip, and journaling.
teaser - visited two Cumbrian neolithic stone circles yesterday! It was awesome.
Happy Art!

Arles, Avignon, Gordes, et les Malahieudes

Twenty eight years ago I lived with a French family for a semester of school. We managed to track them down, and they insisted we come visit them for a few days - here I am with Mr. et Mme. Malahieude in 1982, and again now in 2010 - amazing how they did not change one wink, I wish I could say the same for me, I look a bit exhausted from having to speak in French for two whole days:


and that amazing photo at the top is the town of Gordes - they drove us all around Provence for two days. We went to Avignon and danced on the bridge (sur le pont, D'Avingnon . . . ) we saw the Palace of the Pope, we went to Arles and saw gladiators in the arena, the Roman theater, and Van Gogh's institute. We went to Gordes and saw the Bollies, neolithic stone huts dating from 2000 B.C. that I had not learned about in architecture history. They thought I would enjoy that and I really did!
and the lavender was just about to bloom.
Stunning sights and beautiful scenery. Monsieur Malahieude also cooked some beautiful meals for us, each lunch and dinner was a feast. When we first arrived, they uncorked a bottle of very good champagne. How is it the French know so well how to live with pleasure?
I loved my time getting to know them again, even with spotty French, they were wonderful.








"It is not the language of painters but the language of nature which one should listen to, the feeling for the things themselves, for reality, is more important than the feeling for pictures." --Vincent Van Gogh in Arles

Aix in photos

Quelle une belle ville - I had just forgotten how very beautiful this town is. Renaissance doors and pediments and sculptures, perfectly designed shops along the narrow pedestrian streets, beautiful people in beautiful clothes.
and the family I lived with 28 years ago are coming today to pick us up and drive us all around, I think we will end up staying with them until the airport Saturday morning, I have some very old photos of them and me to share with them. I will post the before and after, once we get done with our little tour - 28 years ago and today - now off to see the South of France!








"Right now a moment of time is fleeting by! Capture its reality in paint... We must become that moment, make ourselves a sensitive recording plate... give the image of what we actually see, forgetting everything that has been seen before our time." --Paul Cezanne

day two - Aix en Provence

Yesterday was not the easiest day - my daughter got quite sick -- she has Celiac disease, like me, and it is so easy to eat one bit of the wrong thing. Our condition requires constant bathroom use, so sadly we had to skip our couchsurf stay - the family was so kind (if you are reading this Jean et Laurence, merci beaucoups!) but I needed to let her be comfortable, so we are staying in the hotel instead.
We did manage a lovely walk - the fountains, the amazing ancient doors and buildings, all so charming just as I remember them.
We listened to this African guitar player in the Hotel de Ville plaza, and enjoyed a very leisurely cafe.
We also visited a little tea shop in the basement of a fantasy bookstore, and enjoyed the very funny menu items, all hobbits and elves and unicorns - photos to follow:









"Beauty is truth; truth beauty." --John Keats

first day in France

It was a long journey (when you use free tickets with miles, the routing can be quite crazy) so we are totally jetlagged and exhausted, but we are HERE in Aix!
I went to art school here 28 years ago so it is magnifique to be wandering the small streets and seeing the beautiful Renaissance architecture again.
and last night we did have the best cheese salad and pommes frites I have had in a long long time. oh la la.
We are staying one night in this charming hotel, then off for a four day couch surf with une Famille Axois.
Vive la France!



"Leave the substance for the shadow. Leave your easy life, leave what you are given for the future. Set off on the roads." --Andre Breton

and off we go!

While on the road, I will post photos - lots of journal pages will eventually come from all this inspiration, but for now, just photos: here I am with my daughter as we start our journey in our driveway in Colorado - to follow will be Aix, London, Edinburgh, and the Lake District. . . .

"Through travel I first became aware of the outside world; it was through travel that I found my own introspective way into becoming a part of it." --Eudora Welty

3 june twenty ten

"In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins; not through strength, but through persistence." --Anonymous

Journaling for ideas

Yesterday at the gallery I used some quiet time to use my journal to, like usual, figure things out. Georgetown is so picturesque, I can't wait for a sunny day to go take lots of photos of the historic houses. Really, I love that visual journaling uses images and words to help me find things out, I just don't process as well when I just use my mind, I need to add my visual thinking. I think this is why artists sketch so much - we need to find things out by making them, coloring them, imagining them, sketching and playing with the images, and luckily, it is so fun:

"Discoveries are often made by not following instructions, by going off the main road, by trying the untried." --Frank Tyger

June!

and today is my first day working in the gallery in Georgetown. I will bring my journal and hopefully be able to do some visual journaling work, sort of as a demo, as I tend shop.
I will post here what I can get done while working. . . .
and it is June - a month of new vistas and travel - one week count down 'til our trip!

"Some men go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish that they are after." --Henry David Thoreau