Stratoz

Crunch Time: Pebble Hill Show Approaches

2012-01-28T16:40:00.002-05:00

two mosaics, same design,
two different routes
by Wayne Stratz and Margaret Almon

Though a week is left before the opening reception (Sunday, February 5th from 12:15 till 2:00); Mosaic Woman and I have been spending the week gathering the chosen pieces, writing descriptions for them, filling out the official show paperwork (listing every piece), photographing new pieces, gathering hardware to hang everything, packing it up...

because tomorrow afternoon we will go to the gallery and create our largest display ever and what you can see... Details here.

But what a creative month led to this time period of doing stuff outside of our studio. At the Michener Museum we saw a quilt that inspired a thought, "what if I designed a piece, but only glued down the background and allowed Mosaic Woman to take over." So I did with some creamy white glass, but I thought, "Why waste the other pattern pieces," so I cut the design out of orange glass and glued it on a separate piece of slate.

So now all I have to do is name them, price them, write tags, pack them, and hang them at Pebble Hill. Oh yeah, there is the not quite finished Sophia Spiral Mandala in my studio and ...

Not so long ago a man asked me what prayer I had when it came to Nutmeg Designs. My Response: To be surrounded by friends and Family at Pebble Hill.

Wordlessly staring at the center of a fire spiral

2012-01-25T19:19:00.002-05:00

home of the Wordless

Mosaic by Margaret Almon

We are bold to sing

2012-01-24T21:59:00.000-05:00

LP cover to Mary Lou Williams; Mary Lou's Mass
in Black and white

On Sunday mornings Mosaic Woman and I enjoy listening to NPR's Piano Jazz, this past week's episode was an interview with Randy Weston. At one point he speaks of the education he received from Mary Lou Williams. So tonight when I curiously grabbed the LP to the far right, I was glad to find Mary Lou's Mass in my hand.

On Sundays we sing The Lord's Prayer at our church. Our priest has taken to the habit of changing, "we are bold to pray" to "we are bold to sing." How I would love to hear a performance of Mary Lou's Mass. A mass that is bold and sacred...

the bold ending from the original LP...

a faith lives on....

more Rabia on Mystical Mondays

2012-01-23T18:36:00.000-05:00

on facebook this weekend I saw someone rant about how God was harshly greeting Joe Paterno, and it just doesn't match with my version of heaven, a place where we are met with amazing love and forgiveness.

so the question is, how did Joe respond, how will I respond?

I like what Rabia imagined the after life to be...

CHERISH MYSELF

I know how it will be when I die

My beauty will be so extraordinary that God will worship me.

He will not worship me from a distance, for our minds will have wed,

Our souls will have flowed into each other.

How to say this: God and I Will forever cherish myself.

also from this past week, how the moon, which as Wisdom reflects the light of God, can brings us closer to our lovers:

THEY MIGHT HOLD HANDS

Maybe if I brought the moon a little closer

lovers would argue

less.

They might hold hands outside and point to

the heavens and say,

"I think God is up to

something

sweet!"

last week's Mystical Monday

What motivates Stratoz...

2012-01-21T12:35:00.000-05:00

only the first question is required, and please hit submit when you are done. Thanks!

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;Loading...&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>

Here is one of mine...

Wordless, but drumming

2012-01-18T17:49:00.000-05:00

Wordless Wednesday

Jazz on Tuesday: five Piano Trios for my new friend

2012-01-17T19:39:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, my newest friend, asked me about jazz. I said, "Piano Trio." So lets put my blog where my mouth was, will due respect to The Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra and The Miles Davis Quintet...

Benny Green Trio playing Down By The River Side

Bill Evans Trio playing My Foolish Heart

Oscar Peterson Trio playing Satin Doll

Amad Jamal Trio playing Poinciana

Keith Jarrett Trio playing Blame It On My Youth

Welcome to Mystical Mondays

2012-01-16T17:49:00.000-05:00

Translations by Daniel Ladinsky

Mondays have been about science, but I am changing things up a bit.

1. every Monday I am to send a note to my spiritual group members
2. Michelle, the Quantum Theorist, gave us a really cool book when met with her at the end of Decemember. Mosaic Woman and I have been reading one poem a night and I thought I would like to share the journey here.

The first of the twelve sacred voices belongs to Rabia. There have been moments that I have been so amused by her transitions from one verse to another that I have laughed out loud. I think God is OK with us being amused.

Here is some thoughts from God, through Rabia:

THE WAY IT GOES

Why Think God hads not touched everything

that comes to your desk?

True, he may have kept the best

for Himself.

That is just the

way it

goes.

XXX

THE MOMENTS DEPTH

The moment's depth is greater than that of

the future

And from the fields of the past, what can you harvest again?

...

XXX

SLICING POTATOES

...

tried painting,

but it was easier to fly slicing

potatoes.

Days of bread and physics

2012-01-14T10:03:00.000-05:00

photo by Roy Patrick Tan who shares his photos and is a painter

If you know you are low on an ingredient, leave home early, and shop on the way to the school.

Sign in, check e-mail, review the physics lesson: then teach Physics.

2nd period is your prep: go for a walk to get out of the classroom, say hello to someone who is pleasant and smiles, go shopping if you did not leave early-- be glad that a store is just down the street. Move needed materials from your classroom to one that has a kitchen. as prep time comes to an end, place a pot with water over some low heat.

Say, "wash your hands." Say, "did you wash your hands?" as you keep an eye on the water temp, students will prepare three large bowls: 2 cups of whole wheat flour, 1 tsp of salt, 1/4 cup of olive oil.

in a 2 cup measuring cup you place a packet of yeast, if this is the first time experience for a student you will explain about fungi and pockets of air in bread, a pinch or two of sugar, and 2 cups of water which is just over 100 degrees, Fahrenheit. With the right pressure you can exceed 100 degrees Celsius but this would kill the yeast and you will have crackers.

repeat the above paragraph two times, each time showing the students the signs of life before pouring into one of the big bowls.

add 1/2 cup of white flour after 1/2 cup of white flour until the hand-crafted wooden spoon, which is only used for bread, has done as much as it can. Kneed in more flour till it is moist but not sticking onto your hands or the table. Oil the dough, then cover with one of those big bowls. Run off to teach physics while being glad your assistant can wrap things up in the kitchen.

eat lunch, but before that time is over go to the kitchen and get the oven pre-heating 360 or so.

6th period--- take each dough, cut in half, each half in half, each quarter in half, each eighth in half. Quit cutting. form rolls. say, "please don't toss that around," and before that you will be heard saying, "knives are sharp."

start baking the rolls. I put a tray on a low rack for 8 minutes and then place it on a higher rack for 8 minutes as a new tray goes on the lower. keep baking. sample rolls with students.

7th period finish baking and clean up. sample rolls with students. place rolls in bags as they cool.

8th period sell rolls around campus, but sample rolls with students before venturing out because it is likely they will be gone by the time you get back.

changing Kirk's moment in time into glass

2012-01-12T21:38:00.000-05:00

Africa, boat on river, photo by Kirk Barbner

It was back in the days of 1984 or so when I became friends with Kirk in college. I don't think either of us were studying for what our future jobs would be. Kirk would venture south and possibly the last time I saw him was in West Virginia. His heart and soul were being pulled toward helping people with a critical need for housing. He drove me around those mountains and to this day, I will not forget what he taught me and though I have not made it my life's commitment, the need to feed the hungry and house the poor were ingrained in me. Although I may have been leaning that way already. Who knows, but Kirk surely opened my eyes.

I moved on to MA, and OR, and IL and then back to PA. At some point Kirk landed in Georgia where he does amazing things at The Fuller Center for Housing.

This past year we found each other on facebook and became reunited. I read about his journey to Africa. One day I got a message from Kirk's wife who wanted me to create a gift. She sent me photos and I resonated with the one above. It was all those bright clothes. Then the color of the river. The streak of violet across the horizon came much later. She was well pleased with my choice because it was her favorite.

So I said, "If you want realism, go elsewhere, but if you want me to spend time with this photo and create a design. I am your man." She said go for it. And then the glass was there. Purple water glass! Mystic purple glass for the boat's reflection! Youghiogheny glass that had never been called into a piece said, "Now is my Time!"

It was a blessing to create this for my friend. May we look into each others eyes, shake each others hands, and have a conversation this year which does not involve technology.

Peace and Hope

Stained glass by Wayne Stratz, Kirk's River Side View

another wordless Annunciation

2012-01-11T19:41:00.001-05:00

The Annunciation, 1650, Francisco de Zorbaran Philadelphia Museum of Art

Wordless Wednesday

7 for the weekend: Philadelphia Museum of Art

2012-01-08T21:10:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Mosaic Woman and I had a date at the Philly art museum, which means we went our separate ways and my first stop was an exhibit that featured this...

Red Hills and Bones (hills) 1941 Georgia O'Keefe Philadelphia Art Museum photo by Wayne Stratz

I decided to explore some stairs and see where they led, they led to some windows with cool views highlighting the stones which make the museum and later a window gave view to the terracotta that adorn it.

Stairwell View at the Philadelphia Art Museum, photo by Wayne Stratz

Under the Pines, Evening 1888 Claude Monet Philadelphia Art Museum photo by Wayne Stratz

Stairwell View at the Philadelphia Art Museum, photo by Wayne Stratz

Le Bon Bock Edouard Manet 1873 Philadelphia Art Museum photo by Wayne Stratz


People digging the view of the Philadelphia skyline at the Philadelphia Art Museum,		photo by Wayne Stratz

Pablo Picasso Man With a Guitar 1912 Philadelphia Art Museum photo by Wayne Stratz

Shopping Local: Buying Perlite and Vermiculite at Rhoads

2012-01-07T21:27:00.000-05:00

Wayne Stratz in 2007 at Rhoads Gardens

It was in 2007 when I last gave Rhoads Garden a shout out, and what is a bit scary is that most of that time they have been preparing for and witnessing road construction on route 202 where they are located just south of the intersection with Route 63.

This week in a moment of frustration with myself (Yo fool, you had off for over a week and did you get to Rhoads) I posted something like this on facebook: "I really really really need to buy perlite."

So today I supported my favorite local nursery and got myself some perlite. Why, well at work the aloes clearly desire to be re-potted, the marjoram seedlings need to move on, and seeds will need to be planted. So I walked through the gift shop and went back into the deserted garden center and re-emerged with 10 paperwhite bulbs, and big bags of vermiculte and perlite.

If you want a variety of plants, friendly staff who love their workplace, and quality gardening supplies: check out Rhoads.

My to do list, Examen the next Day

2012-01-06T21:25:00.000-05:00

Back in August, in the midst of silence at Wernersville, well, in the midst of the one conversation I had that particular day, my spiritual director gave me a book to read.

I may have said something like this..."even the thought of how it may be good to get ready for my 8 days of silence, did not bring me back to praying the Examen."

My spiritual director handed me a book by Jim Manney while telling me about how it had rejuvenated her passion for the Examen.So I read it. And what struck me was how I had always resisted/ignored/avoided the part of the prayer about examening the next day. So I placed it into practice, and now four and a half months since I left that hill top, almost every night I sit down and look at my expected day. I check off what I did, but also examen what did not happen.The goal for me is to list what I fully expect to do the next day: teach about momentum, plant marjoram seeds, consult with a colleague, listen to jazz, hope, continue on with the big mandala project, pierogies for dinner, e-mail this friend, lift weights, ..... As I examen my future, I ponder: which are bringing me the gladness of anticipation for the next day and which bring me reluctance to face the day...

and which have I been avoiding but keep placing on the list.

So I came home and ordered the book. I loaned it to a friend, and now I can imagine taking it out to the Jesuit Center when I spend a night there in February, a fine time to get recharged with a second read

.

wordless Hens and Chicks

2012-01-04T19:20:00.000-05:00

wordless Wednesday

Vlog: 2011 really did begin with 2012

2012-01-01T19:22:00.000-05:00

yes, we made these (and more) in 2011

music is from Andrea Wolper Parallel Lives

A Fruits of The Spirit Blessing

2011-12-31T12:35:00.000-05:00

Inspired by one amazing commission and one beautiful Bible passage...

A Fruits of the Spirit Blessing

May love flow into and out of you as if there is no other reason to be
May your days be filled with people who bring you joy
May there be moments of peace that soothe your soul
May you have the patience to travel without rage
May your heart open to the kindness of others

May our hopes for you settle into your soul with a gentleness that warms your day
May a sense of goodness guide your decisions that unfold you into your destiny
May the wisdom of self-control guide what goes into and out of your mouth
May you experience the faithfulness of one who truly loves you

The Lyrical Chef Surprises Red and Creates Hope

2011-12-29T21:10:00.002-05:00

you will create this, because of this...

You come home and on the porch is a book. There is no note. Feel free to wonder why "Sean Scully: Works on Paper" is now in your house.

Go ahead, assume a phone call or e-mail will explain. But you are left living a mystery.

Then one day, The Lyrical Chef shows up, unexpected as you expect.

He has something to say to you.

"I want a gift for Red. This is all I ask. I left a book here. I want you to be inspired by Sean Scully. I want something between x$ and y$. I want it by Christmas. I want to give it to Red."

You are one who believes that your brain works while you sleep, so you take the book to your bed and you look though it... night after night. You are trusted to create something. You are blessed.

Eventually images like this begin to become part of your daily thoughts

But your favorite number is 21, so you imagine this:

7 columns times 3 horizontal boxes

and

3 horizontal boxes times 7 pieces in each box.

You love Youghiogheny glass and you love your friends... the columns.

For diversity you turn to amber... the boxes.

Now it is Christmas Eve. You have gotten all other commissions into the hands of the givers, but where is the Lyrical Chef?

The daughter e-mails. A time is set. And 20 minutes after the exchange of cash and unexpected sticky buns, you head off to worship with Red, who knows much, but not about this...

and thus there were 14 shades of amber glass sitting on my drafting table which cried out to be something special...

The Dream Garden via Tiffany via Parrish; Wordlessly

2011-12-28T06:33:00.003-05:00

Wordless Wednesday

A Pug named Jazz and some Salty players

2011-12-27T15:53:00.000-05:00

It was a Friday night and my friend and I stood in the deserted parking lot outside the Friend's Meeting House, where we had participated in group spirituality, though not in each others group this time around. She mentioned a blog her pug had started, so the next day I checked out the blog, became a follower and set up the sale of one jazzy mosaic:

How I came to find out that my friend desired the mosaic was through the voice of her pug, Jazz , which may be my favorite shout out of Nutmeg Designs to date.

So yesterday I used some of my time off from work to visit my friend (and her pugs) and just wonder about all those shows where we displayed the mosaic in hopes that a jazz lover would be enticed. By the way, my friend digs jazz, the music too! So here is some jazz about how things are just unknown from some Salty Dogs.

Propioception in the studio: Science Mondays

2011-12-26T19:45:00.000-05:00

We try to be mindful humans, but there are some things we should just let the mind take care of by itself. Like our sense of where our body is in space. I can close my eyes, and move my arms about and know clearly where they are, just as if I was staring at it with open eyes. I can fling them about and prevent collisions by way of propioception. I know I am walking, whether or not my eyes are open and if I try to control exactly where my feet will land, my gait will lose its fluidity. Welcome to your 6th sense.

Not that I should cut glass with my eyes closed, but I should trust my body to find a natural and comfortable position while doing it.

Until we can do that our backs will ache. So for now we are trusting a multitude of timers to remind us that time is passing. The timer goes off and I stretch as I reset it. We float between studio and computer glad to know where we are in space and time.

Those who lack propioception will likely fall down if they close their eyes. The sensors in their muscles will not tell the brain that they are standing and they will topple. Taking large doses of vitamin B6 will let a person know this feeling, a clear example of too much of a good thing is not a good thing.

So sit back and close your eyes and be glad to know where your body is in space. It is a blessing we rarely give thanks for, eyes to see, ears to hear, ... muscles to locate ourselves.

Wordless Wednesday: Late fall in the garden

2011-12-21T20:04:00.000-05:00

wordless wednesday

A Future Wordle: Nutmeg Designs

2011-12-17T10:33:00.001-05:00

in our recent newsletter we had a link to this simple question and got several answers, but we are hoping to get a few more responses: Thanks for taking the time during this busy season. What is Nutmeg Designs, well this is Nutmeg Designs?

What is a Wordle? Here is one I made with my students:

<p>&amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Loading...&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;gt;</p>

resonating on a need for rest

2011-12-13T20:30:00.000-05:00

the Christmas song that has caught my ear and soul this year has been God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. After 5 shows in 7 weeks, I was met with jury duty yesterday and now a week of immense paperwork at school. My apologies for not visiting blogs or blogging. Things are about to slow down, I think...

still lacking words for Corning Museum of Glass

2011-12-07T06:23:00.001-05:00

wordless Wednesday

Kickstarting The Grandson of Charles Mingus

2011-11-29T20:00:00.001-05:00

Photo by Jason Hickey

A grandson who never knew his grandfather searched for the story. You can help support this project and become part of the story. What I know is that the story is complicated, so I am hoping the grandson gets to tell it in full. He needs our support. Common people supporting amazing projects. It feels good.

Shopping Local for a Scientist at Rocket Hub

2011-11-28T21:38:00.000-05:00

photo by Sheba Also

Yes, Saturday has come and pass, but I hope all of you are still shopping locally. I just did a bit myself by visiting a website that provides scientists a new way of obtaining funds, from the public. Mosaic woman and I figured if we can support jazz artists at Kickstarter (more on that tomorrow), we can support a scientist. Well, as local as I could find was Susan Tsang in New York. She digs bats in peril and her passion has led to a research project: Watch the video below and feel free to Support her here.

#SciFund Challenge - Flying foxes: where are they from and where are they going? from Susan Tsang on Vimeo.

Support Local: Centennial Blueprint and my mandalas

2011-11-26T18:42:00.001-05:00

I grew up with blueprints. You see my dad work was one of a draftsmen...

and so many of the tools I use in my studio are those very tools which he used in his work. The clear plastic angles that give you immediate right angles as well as the often used 30, 60, 90, and 120 degrees. The tape which peels off so nicely. The erasure that really work. The templates that have tiny circles.

So I feel right at home with a local business with Blueprint as their last name. And what Snowcatcher does not know about her lizard stepping stone is how important Centennial was to its existence.

It starts with my need for a big circle, and for that I needed the Staedtler kit I had bought at Centennial years ago ...

... but then I had a large design that could not be copied at home, so off I went to Centennial and got the copies I needed.

so this afternoon I celebrated what these tools have led to in a video, it starts showing me in action drawing a card, then flashes to the design colored in, and then moves on to past designs with circles. All the way Thelonius Monk plays Round Midnight... check it out here

also: out Joy postcard and amazing new business card were created at Centennial!

some thoughts of thankfulness

2011-11-25T13:13:00.001-05:00

that for the first time in a few years we are not doing a craft show on "Buy Nothing Day."

that I am willing to buy something on buy nothing day.... I will be passing by Warner Stained Glass

that my mom makes pumpkin pies from scratch, which means she buys an actual pumpkin

that I have amazing clients, who show amazing trust in me, and so Di's red-tailed hawk needs some blue sky glass

that because I got the gumption to go to my 30th HS reunion I will be driving by Warner Glass

that very likely someone told Miles Davis that he had talent and inspired him to play a trumpet

that facebook has brought so many friends back into my life, including many of whom I will see at the reunion

that Mosaic Woman makes my lettering looks so good, as I prepare to take the above piece to the reunion

that there is a light that shines through our art

Wordlessly filled with Hope

2011-11-23T17:28:00.001-05:00

wordless wednesday

A Few (well 7) of My Favorite Things, jazzed up a bit

2011-11-20T06:46:00.001-05:00

People who celebrate what they love.

Composers who are people who...

Musicians who celebrate composers who...

Piano players who are musicians who...

Improvisers who are piano players who...

Jazz for providing a medium of improvisers...

Friends, who ask me what I am listening to, ... and so by saying these words I ended up saying so many of my favorite things: "Brad Mehldau playing My Favorite Things"

introducing my students to Julius Sumner Miller

2011-11-14T22:34:00.001-05:00

OK, Ted talks are inspiring and PBS's Nova has amazing production, but I had to let my students know how it was done back in the day...

the math of amber hope

2011-11-12T15:19:00.001-05:00

The pieces came together at the same time. Two pieces cut and ground from each type of amber glass. So which is for my friend from our time in Illinois (who was part of the best prank ever played upon myself) or the friend, who lives here in Lansdale, not too many blocks from home.

I imagined a project and threw the idea out there on facebook. For a certain price I would design a mandala of hope while keeping your concerns in my thoughts. You see, I had 14 types of amber glass out from a previous project. The glass kept suggesting possible projects. The glass clearly did not want to be thrown back into the bin of amber. The mandala idea stuck. All I needed was a friend to have faith in the project, in me, in hope.

When I saw two friends had responded, how could I say no to one of them. So I said, "yes."

As I was in the midst of foiling I realized I did not know who would get which mandala. The answer that emerged made me smile. It did not matter. For in the math of hope, the hope did not get split into two pieces; the hope did not double in size, but instead their hopes mingled and then emerged after growing exponentially. Each piece is filled with my hope for them. My friends have been brought together in the midst of amber glass.

They are done. My friends will see them before you do. Oh, and those dark pieces near the center. Just imagine what light can do to something that appears dark. and that my friends, is my definition of hope.

POST 700: wordless and blue

2011-11-09T18:31:00.000-05:00

wordless Wednesday

imagining Hope, again

2011-11-03T21:34:00.000-04:00

The bad news floats between my friend and I.

I sit in her office, then she asks me to create a gift of hope. In the past I have done stained glass pieces to bring her hope for healing, but mosaic comes to mind as I take in the news of our mutual friend's health concerns. As the day goes on, a design comes to mind, and when this happens it is always a rough draft. I imagine a rectangular piece of slate. Hope fills the bottom left. Below it I swoop a base out of glass. At the top right is a swirl that flows across the top. I imagine Mosaic Woman filling that swirl with warm colors.

Then we make it happen.

The Wernersville Wave: The landscape

2011-10-28T20:05:00.000-04:00

Last Friday people gathered in the library of the Friends Meeting House to enter into silence before we split into our spiritual groups. The leader asked us to think a moment about the landscape of our spirituality, I thought of riding a wave that emerged while I was in silence at the Jesuit Center.

I made a list of blog posts when I returned, but made no rush to get through them. One by one they have merged into being here. My return to the nightly examen has remained strong, and then there is the designs I came up with while in silence.

The one transformed into glass then travelled to Japan.

And then there is this one:

I wanted to come home from the retreat with mandala designs. I am not sure how many I will get to, but am so glad that I was in the midst of making this when I was asked about my landscape. The Wernersville Wave is here. I am upon it.

wordless Wednesday: looking up, looking down digging the Sycamore

2011-10-26T21:48:00.002-04:00

wordless Wednesday

and in the end...

2011-10-23T21:28:00.001-04:00

after gluing down 67 pieces of glass
... after meeting friends for breakfast, who desired a glass penguin
... after buying apples and cabbage from local farmers
... after getting the kitchen prepared
... after making 8 doughs (which didn't bother my bum wrist at all)
... after grating potatoes and cabbage
... after greeting mom, dad, and aunt
... after turning the oven on
... after stretching and topping and rolling 8 strudels (2 of each, those mentioned plus grape)
... after greeting sister here and saying hi to sister out west
... after eating with family as the last strudels baked
... after greeting friends
... after seeing my family to the door with hugs and thanks for carrying on the tradition
... after greeting more friends
... after finally turning the oven off
... after serving plates of food and glasses of beverages
... after sitting back and enjoying the presence of friends
... after maybe one or two snarky comments
... after saying good bye and your welcome
... after a few moments alone with Mosaic Woman in the living room

I stretched out on the couch, awake enough to hear jazz. And I realized that I almost never stop and just listen. So I did. I closed my eyes and listened.

red and wordless this Wednesday

2011-10-19T18:49:00.000-04:00

wordless Wednesday

What happens at Wernersville... goes to Japan

2011-10-18T19:10:00.001-04:00

This all happened because I take a mug to the Jesuit center in Wernersville...

A friend, who is a friend because I blogged about that mug, told me she had a commission in mind. As my retreat neared it seemed to be the perfect time and place to draw the design. Digital photos were sent my way. I was taken by the wood, the iron tea pot, the fire. I took those images in my mind and went to Wernersville. And picked up a pencil and erasure.

I didn't want the tea pot to be shaped like a pot. I didn't want it to be black. I thought of Youghiogheny and drew flames. I imagined the earthtones of the lizard as wood. I thought of a piece of unused glass and imagined steam.

and when I came home I cut the wood, the steam, the flames. Then I searched for the iron. Apparently I found it.

My friend traveled to Japan with the finished piece and handed it to the owner of the tea pot, Nakamura-san. I am told that he held it and gazed into it. Quickly he recognized it as stained glass. Then he smiled when he saw his tea pot and took the group into his kitchen. There are days I feel so blessed that I spend time in a place where what happens does not stay there, but travels with you when you leave.

Best Seat in the House

2011-10-15T15:38:00.001-04:00

The phrase was just shared by a friend as she read her memories of going to baseball games with her dad. We were asked to reflect and write a memory.

I went back to two nights ago as I sat with my eyes closed listening to Brad Mehldau and Joshua Redman. It didn't matter where I was in the concert hall. What mattered was that I could stretch out my right arm and hold Mosaic Woman's hand.

tennis, tropical storms and the ground hog as the prodigal son

2011-10-13T17:38:00.000-04:00

I was sitting on the steps by the well (see yesterday's post for cool well photos) because as Tropical Storm Irene approached, I wanted to see a tennis player. I met her a year ago while on retreat and had thought she was rather graceful with a tennis racket. I hoped that I would get to see her play. So I marveled at the speed of the clouds and the tennis when up popped a ground hog.

Ground hogs are near the top of my critters which need to be called varmints list because of the feasting they have done at the school's garden. The varmint may have sensed my distaste and popped back down out of my evil eye zone.

Then it popped back up. The tennis player and the clouds were doing their things but my eyes were on the varmint as it approached me. It passed the well and neared the bottom of the steps, at which point I decided that it was plenty close. I made my presence known. Now really it should have fled from one whose heart has been filled with much hatred in the past, but it didn't. Maybe it sensed I was not in a killing mood. It eventually turned right and walked away.

and it made me think of the prodigal son walking home and I was the father. The son and groundhog were brave to approach what could have been a very ugly scene.

as I sit here I think how brave it is for my students, who have less than stellar days, to come back into my classroom. But they march in like a foolish ground hog, knowing that even though I have no reason to forgive them, I really have no other option if I want to be their teacher.

I guess that is what the Kingdom of Heaven is like.

and it is not like the days I hold a grudge against imperfect students or despise hungry groundhogs.

Wordless at the Well

2011-10-12T12:19:00.000-04:00

wordless wednesday

My desire is my hope

2011-10-10T20:29:00.000-04:00

what I desire:

To remember what I wrote in silence: the gifts of the spirit are present in my life.

I want the gifts to flow into my art.

When eyes come across my art, I want brains to be lit on electrical fires of joy.

And I want to be grateful for having the hope to think this is possible.

Nick Hornby and two of the fruits

2011-10-04T19:37:00.000-04:00

I don't take novels on retreat. In fact I tend to read very little on retreat. In fact I rarely pick up a novel at anytime. Apparently I have decided that novels are a distraction while art supplies are a path to God.

However, this summer a new assistant popped up in my classroom, who was just a bit enthusiastic about reading novels. So when I was at the library a week before retreat, I checked out a Nick Hornby novel and then made the mistake of opening it before packing. But with the exact number of short chapters left as days of the retreat, I figured I could treat myself to one chapter a day. Then prayed for self-control.

How To Be Good, gave this man of silence some things to think about while on retreat. The family centered in the novel needed some of my hope and while the last paragraph begins with a promise of that hope, the last line sends one into despair.

But that is life, isn't it. You hope and hope and sometimes you are given a gift that lifts that hope; than an e-mail, a blog post, a news story, or a random thought can send you in the opposite direction. Somehow those moments are generally not as strong as my desire to live in hope. And that is a blessing I don't care to forget.

And I only read one chapter a day.

Psalm 139 revisited by a goof-ass

2011-10-01T20:57:00.000-04:00

Psalm 139: Verse 13: You created my inmost self, knit me together in my mother's womb.

Several years ago, maybe 8 or so, I entered the Jesuit Center in Wernersville for my first 8 day retreat and was met with a note suggesting I read Psalm 139. Verse 13 would bring out tears waiting over 30 years to emerge and I ranted at God for dropping a stitch when he created my urethra.

As this year's retreat neared an end, I told the director who I love, that I wanted to revisit the psalm. and she said, "Yes, why not thank God for creating you as a goof-ass."

and thus I knew she had been listening to me earlier in the week.

so I did.

(the wall in the photo is where I break away from silence in the evening to say howdy to Mosaic Woman)

Wordless at The Corning Museum of Glass

2011-09-28T20:39:00.000-04:00

wordless wednesdayers

Autumn Leaves: some Jazz for this Tuesday

2011-09-27T18:50:00.002-04:00

photo by exquisitor

OK, so I saw the list of musicians and said, why exactly do I not own this CD. Cannonball Adderley...Sax, Miles Davis...Trumpet, Sam Jones...Double Bass, Hank Jones...Piano...Art Blakey...Drums. From the 1958 album Somethin' Else.

ending this post here because I have some money left from an iTunes gift card...

Science Mondays: The Garden Cart Disaster

2011-09-26T19:05:00.000-04:00

photo by Victor Yelevich

So, I have a garden cart at work (like the one imaged) and a student was using it to deliver some plants donated by a staff member. Another student volunteered to return the empty and started in that direction pulling the cart behind him as I followed him. A student called my name and I kept walking as I turned my head. The student pulling the cart stopped and without looking pushed on the cart to take a different route to the tool shed. I fell to the ground and later filled out an injury report.

The next day I used this in two lessons. As I reviewed the gardening safety rules, I came upon the one about how awareness leads to less injuries. And with much joy and volunteers playing the part of the student with cart, I told the story.

Earlier in the day I used it to teach Newton's Laws.

A human in motion will remain in motion unless an outside garden cart (force) is applied to it.

Wrist bones in motion will want to keep moving even after one's hand hits the pavement.

A wallet inside one's pant's front pockets will accelerate when a forced is applied, even for the very short distance between wallet and thigh. It will hit that thigh with a force dependent upon its mass and its acceleration.

That when the cart hit me, I also hit the cart. This clearly showed the cart was well made since it remained standing and showed no signs of bruising the next day. Maybe I was not accelerating fast enough and though this is an interesting hypothesis... it will not be tested.

that evening I chatted with the parents of the young man who took out this unaware dude and we joked about them returning home with stories of how I had a cast on my wrist and an IV in my arm as I stumbled about on crutches. No cast, IV, or crutches were needed, but I did apply some ice to where one nasty bruise formed on my thigh. And it hurts bad if I am foolish enough to put my wallet in that pocket. But I am aware of the pain and move it to another pocket.

The Fortune Cookie Was Correct

2011-09-25T13:31:00.000-04:00

A month or two before I headed out to the Jesuit Center in Wernersville, I got a fortune that read something like this:

An old love will return to your life.

Mosaic Woman was a bit concerned, however, as the days went by and no old love showed up here or there or anywhere as far as I could tell.. I forgot about the fortune.

It was well into my week of silence before I realized the fortune had been true. For the first time in several years I had been meeting with a spiritual director, who I loved dearly but because of scheduling issues had not been available to work with me. But as the years went by, things change. Our conversations were still amazing but I left the room feeling that I was clearly more a part of where I was being guided to go for the next 24 hours. Had her style changed? Had I matured a bit spritually? No matter, it was good. It felt right.

And yes, I told her about the fortune cookie, and I told Mosaic Woman about the fortune being true.

...

Jazz for a Silent Dude: Coltrane's Psalm by the Asa Trio

2011-09-21T06:25:00.000-04:00

Is there anyway to predict what tune will emerge as the one that will draw you in on any particular day?

Can a search on an iPod take you to a Psalm just as a spiritual director can guide you to a Psalm the first evening of a week long retreat?

Can joining Twitter introduce you to a drummer from the US, who lives in Iceland, and then to the Asa Trio's free download (as of this date it is still free) of Coltrane's Love Supreme.

I guess life can happen this way.

Jesuit Center

47 bookmarks, prayers for transitions, and the Jesuit part in the Big Bang Theoryconnection

2011-09-18T07:15:00.001-04:00

roots at the base of a Sycamore

Before the silence enters your life at Wernersville, there is a last supper of conversation:

1. I am recognized as the dude who drew cards for retreatants in the past. I clearly say it won't be happening. There are designs I want to work on and I didn't enjoy trying to distribute the cards. But a seed is planted and that evening grows into an idea and experiments, which will lead to 47 bookmarks. The idea: Use a network. If I gave the bookmarks to my spritual director and she gave them to the other directors and they gave them to their directees....

And so I timed it out and with date in hand I figured that I clearly could make 47 bookmarks without affecting my retreat and the art I had planned to do.

2. A woman at the table is about to leave a job with no clear path forward. I pray for her and as the retreat goes on I will stumble into her at the billiards table and a yoga class... and I wonder if I will ever have a conversation with her again. Since I am leaving early, I will not be at the last breakfast when we can "legally" converse again. But when I pass by her on my last evening, I break silence long enough to wish her well.

3. I mention that I teach science and the conversation turns towards the creation of the world and the Big Bang Theory. That night I remember that the Big Bang Theory emerged from the mind of a Catholic Priest. The only time I get on a computer for a week is to look up his name. I write the name on a piece of paper and silently hand it to a dude during a quite supper. The scientist, while not a Jesuit, did have some Jesuit teachers early in his life. and the recipient of the piece of paper has silently reentered my life at facebook.

...

Wordless Wednesday: center of a violet heart, 2008

2011-09-14T06:43:00.000-04:00

wordless Wednesday

The Man of Hope remembers 10 years ago

2011-09-11T20:08:00.000-04:00

I know I watched no news that day. Mosaic Woman and I did not watch TV and we had a dial-up connection. So here is want I remember:
I remember walking into a building as a class period ended and hearing TV's playing in every classroom. This was so out of the oridinary, so I asked what was going on: planes, towers, burning, pentagon...

I took my horticulture students to my room. Told them to wash up. Sent them on their way. Did they watch TV and fill their souls with horrific images? How many Americans watched and watched...

My next class came inside my classroom. Buzzing. I grabbed a packet of Swiss Chard seeds. And every year on this day when I am told that I must not forget, I remember that packet of seeds and the students wondering why we would go outside and me saying, "I can't imagine a better place to be."

...

Vlog: The jamican (and I do mean jamican) Lizard

2011-09-09T19:25:00.000-04:00

wordless wednesday: places in mosaic

2011-09-07T18:57:00.001-04:00

wordless wednesday

Jazz for a silent hurricane party

2011-09-06T18:39:00.000-04:00

It was a small bit of the damage caused by Hurricane Irene, but the least I could do was lift this flower back up.

As the hurricane came up the coast, I was on a hill top in a large sturdy retreat center, so I decided what everyone east of me needed was a silent Hurricane party.

At 8:00pm I headed outside with a beverage ( I do take a few while retreating) and sat alone, getting wet from the spray.

What it turned into was a bit of a rant asking Irene to move away, little did I know what would happen in Vermont later.

I knew my parents had been told to leave their home because of flooding (now living where the creek I loved as a child flows into the Lehigh River). I knew Mosaic Woman was home alone and surely faced a wet basement. I prayed for friends whose love of flowing water had drawn them into homes, but now they were living in fear of rising water. I ranted and prayed and listened to jazz singer Norma Winstone's version of Here Comes The Flood by Peter Gabriel.

"Stranded starfish had no place to hide..." caught my ear and heart.

...

The Silent Welcomer

2011-09-04T16:26:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a God send. After seven days of silence with God at the Jesuit Center, and leaving early to sit through two days of staff meetings.... Friday was a funk.

Saturday morning Mosaic Woman and I headed off (7 blocks) with a Fit-full of crafts and our booth to the Lansdale Farmer's Market. In four hours we would welcome 23 or so friends to our booth (I made the list while praying last night). The percentage of those friends who purchased a mosaic yesterday is not huge, however, if you look at over the last four years, most have at least one of our pieces. But what matters most is how many of those friends would have helped Mosaic Woman, who was home alone when Hurricane Irene hit SE PA. And knowing that she was cared for, helped me get some peace in the silence of a wet and stormy night.

Yesterday, one of the friends bought a welcome sign. This excites me. We have made two welcome signs and both are with friends.

On the day before the hurricane, I sat waiting for worship. I watched as a flow of retreatants and those who guide them to God entered the space. I thought, "I should be standing by that cart of hymnals greeting people." That's what we call it at Holy Trinity. Being a Greeter.

The hurricane came and went north to cause more havoc. My idea of greeting seemed less and less appealing.

But I threw it out there during my final meeeting with my guide. She seemed to think that it was a fine idea. So I entered the space early, fought of all the social anxiety and took my place. People were surprised as I handed them a hymnal and most smiled. But in my final hours of the retreat, I made eye contact with all of those folk, who got a bookmark, but that is another story. As for this morning, I welcomed people at church and looked into their eyes.

...

WW--- preparing dinner for Gold Finches

2011-08-31T19:04:00.000-04:00

wordless wednesday

WW: from the land of silence

2011-08-24T06:53:00.009-04:00

wordless Wednesday

Look What The Lizard Dragged In

2011-08-23T07:19:00.004-04:00

A huge fan of mine, who happens to be Mosaic Woman's mom, saw the lizard and thought...

"cat" "sister" "violet" "Siamese" "birthday" "suncatcher" ... see how six simple thoughts can lead to a commission.

I have considered doing a cat in glass, but always imagined a Stratozpheric take on an Egyptian cat. But the eyes were important to the client and to keep it simple and highlight the eyes I went with the face. The eyes are the blue glass of the sky surrounding the lizard. But the lizard was not done dragging cats from my studio. The scraps left over from the land the lizard lives upon cried out to become a cat itself and so I expanded the suncatcher into a mosaic mandala...

It currently is looking for a new home but seems happy enough hanging out with the rest of our mandalas .

If one can trust tracking info, the Lizard is showing up in Denver today (photos of the finished stepping stone will be shown once Snowcatcher get it). By the way she is on etsy herself!

My Blogging Mind

2011-08-21T08:44:00.004-04:00

My blogging mind is a bit like the leaves of this Coleus plant. Coleus leaves tend to rule the day and so it was with my mind and blogging. I would come up with blog thoughts as my life unfolded. Then came Facebook and Twitter and my mind started to think in short thoughts.

The above photo comes by way of my garden and originally the red leaves were still dominant, but then I lowered the exposure as I tweaked it on iPhoto and the blooms popped out. Not what I expected, but did I expect other social media to affect blogging.

Has one social media changed another? Has this happened to you?

Every August I do a computer vacation to cleanse my soul and that will arrive after this coming wordless Wednesday. In September, I am thinking of returning to an a-z theme to get this blogging mind of mine flowing again as it did in April.

We will see. Maybe it will become like this Zinnia jungle...

placing a capital P inside a small o

2011-08-17T20:47:00.001-04:00

wordless Wednesday

After "American Gothic" by Devorah Sperber; having fun in Rochester

2011-08-13T20:25:00.006-04:00

Take some spoils of thread...

create an upside down master piece...

give Mosaic Woman a tool made of glass...

and have fun at the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, NY ...

Stained Glass Memorial: a special commission

2011-08-11T18:14:00.003-04:00

One of my best friends at work was thrown for a loop not so long ago. It was clear it had been thrown as he spoke to me about the death of a man that had been there many a time when someone needed to be there for his family.

So he asked me to make a gift, a memorial to this man. We talked some colors, but they didn't seem to be well matched for the project. That evening in my studio I remembered a piece of glass that was not needed for a specific project when Mosiac Woman and I gone shopping for commissions, but it spoke loudly to me and came home with us.

I carried that piece of glass to work the next day.

Light will flow through this tonight when I solder these pieces into a whole. Soon people, who loved this man, will experience light shining upon them.

It is not the piece that brings healing. It is the light that shines through it.

May your peace be anchor in stormy tide,
May your hope run like a river that'll never run dry,
May your burdens grow light, may your worries subside,
This is my prayer for you.
May your soul grow deep, may your joy run wild,
May your heart know the face of mercy has smiled,
May your faith come to let you believe like a child,
This is my prayer for you.
This is my prayer for you.

Julie Miller

This is my prayer for you, my friend.

Wordless Wednesday: Roycroft Wisdom

2011-08-10T06:07:00.001-04:00

Go wordlessly, or at least only words in your image ;')

Mosaic: Terri Lyne Carrington and the great women of jazz

2011-08-09T20:40:00.005-04:00

Just like Mosaic Woman's ability to bring a multitude of glass into one mosaic, Terri Lyne Carrington has created a mosaic by inviting an amazing collection of women to play along with her on her latest CD. Including these women who we are blessed to have seen in concert: Geri Allen, Anat Cohen, Ingrid Jensen, Dianne Reeves, and Helen Sung. Thanks for making this wonderful mosaic.

Take some time out and learn about what will make many a best of 2011 lists...

I'd rather be...

2011-08-07T07:23:00.002-04:00

feel free to fill in the blank. For artists it is often "I'd rather be in the studio", which happens to be the title of a great book by Alyson B Stanfield .

The thing is that in most cases if you don't leave the studio, you don't make sales. So you have to venture out to craft shows and twitter. To networking events and facebook. To conversations with friends and flickr. To family events and blogs. To spiritual retreats and there and here.

As for us, Mosaic Woman and I have made an effort to venture out and it appears to be paying off. We have a list of commissions to work on from a college friend, a close relative, a craft show attendee, a flickr friend, a Dave, a blogging friend, a friend made at a retreat.

So now we need to be in our studios, because we told the world that We Are Nutmeg Designs.

But that means I have less time to blog and tweet and .... so, am I saying I would rather be out of the studio. Not really. We love what is happening here.

Thanks for all the support

Wordless Wednesday: Anoint Me

2011-08-03T18:31:00.002-04:00

wordless Wednesday

The Collared Lizard and Me

2011-08-01T19:42:00.005-04:00

photo by Jimmy Thomas

Can't say I knew much of the collared lizard when my friend sent me some photos and said she wanted a stepping stone. I wanted to say, "No you don't. You want a suncatcher or maybe a mosaic on something light." But she had her reasons why she wanted a stepping stone and clearly it needed to be one to help replace something that did not bring her joy.

I wanted to say, "Surely you could have a local artist do the project and not have to pay the shipping to mail it from PA to CO." But I didn't, so now what was a blank piece of concrete in our video is still a blank piece of concrete.

But on was once my grandma's dresser (which is taking a brief break from the fruits of the spirit) next to that stepping stone is all the glass that is needed for what has become a collared lizard mandala. By Friday bed time the blue border was done and thus the square had an inner circle. Saturday after breakfast, Mosaic Woman and I sat for 45 minutes choosing glass, then she stepped away, and by Saturday bed time the lizard was complete. Sunday morning I posed for my birthday portrait with a sunflower and the glass that would complete the mosaic:

By the time we left to go out to eat, 12 of the 18 pieces had been removed. When we returned I decided to leave those six pieces for Monday evening. It's Monday evening.

Now, all we have to do is adhere it to the stepping stone, grout it, clean it up, and pack it up. Soon my friend, soon.

...

update on all those projects

2011-07-28T19:36:00.005-04:00

here are updates on four of the projects featured in our video which I posted on Monday.

after ordering a new part for my glass grinder, a very frustrating Sunday evening (which ended with a bandage and no progress), and a dead glue stick on Tuesday... a blue border is taking shape around a future lizard

Mosaic Woman took self-control for a ride in our back seat to our client/friend, who will add a border and then grout it.

and for the unexpected phone call, Mosaic Woman is off delivering it to the client so it can be gifted tomorrow. We did it!

When Mosaic Woman gets home we plan on gluing down the last name and house number for the mosaic with the askew #7.

Wordless Wednesday: Chinatown?

2011-07-27T18:02:00.001-04:00

wordless Wednesday

Vlog: a return to the spiritual

2011-07-25T19:34:00.002-04:00

I used to be a spiritual blogging fool, but not so much these days, but a sermon on Sunday by my friend Deborah Darlington, my grandma's quilt, a favored hymn, and several in process mosaics...

if I could have predicted...

2011-07-21T21:37:00.002-04:00

if I had known that our life would be filled with commissions...
if I had known heat would sideline my horticulture classes: 11/12 afternoons and several mornings so far this summer.

Maybe I would have taken the summer off. I had contemplated it, but was drawn in by a desire to be in the garden with the students, after all had we not created it together this past spring.

Self-Control is the 6th of the fruits of the spirit we have taken on this summer. Tonight Mosaic Woman and I glued it down and now she will have the pleasure of creating a 36 inch mosaic as she swirls about the letters.

We will take a short break to take on a house number sign which will include a last name (first time!) which will celebrate a man, who comes from Scottish and Irish ancestors by using the colors of those flags.

Then I will take on making my first stained glass stepping stone. I got my pattern photo copied today and this weekend we will take a drive to get some needed glass for this project and the house number project.

And it appears another commission has come our way, which I will start once we finish off the fruits of the spirit. We are left with Goodness, Love, and Joy.

Wordless Wednesday: Celebrating Brian Jungen

2011-07-20T06:22:00.004-04:00

wordless Wednesday

Precious: Ellla's Dress, Ella's Duke

2011-07-15T05:59:00.005-04:00

A year ago I took this photo of a dress worn by Ella Fitzgerald in 1977. I knew that just like the trumpet of Miles Davis, one day it would introduce a blog featuring her music. A few weeks ago I came across Ella's The Duke Ellington Songbook at a local library. Here are a few of the tunes...

enjoy!

Satin Doll

Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin'

Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me

Raven Steals the Moon and Sun

2011-07-13T06:00:00.002-04:00

wordless Wednesday

on my summer vacation...

2011-07-08T21:05:00.004-04:00

On Wednesday I went back to teaching for our six week summer program. My summer vacation was fruitful to say the least.

as I blogged about, we saw 13 jazz sets in four nights in Rochester, then stopped in Corning on the way home.

then in 15 days:

I completed 15 sun catchers including two peace mandalas and finishing this project:

This batch will be for sale this weekend at Tinicum while a nearly identical batch is going across the street to the five families in the row homes that were displaced by a fire. The last family came back after 14 months away. Their restored houses will become a rainbow!

I gave a talk about how my life inspires my stained glass.

I cut out 43 pieces of glass to spell out gentleness. The g took 9 pieces...

I designed what will become my first stepping stone. It just may make you wish you had commissioned me.

I cut out half of patience.

I made pizza. and then I made it again.

I ate Ethiopian Food in Philly where I had this view

I gardened.

I took my mom and dad to a diner where they enjoyed strawberry rhubarb pie.

I had lunch with three different Daves, the first lunch being with a Dave I had never met before.

I chose 15 essays which my English class may just read this summer.

I cut out the pieces to spell JOY for a future mosaic.

I ordered eight jazz CD's with amazon gift money we got from Christmas past.

I enjoyed the fact that Mosaic Woman was home and not working so we had lots of time together.

I dug my life.

A Verdant Vlog

2011-07-07T20:01:00.001-04:00

expect to be calmed:

7 for the weekend: Watching, Praying, and sitting still at Longwood Gardens

2011-07-03T13:02:00.006-04:00

As Holy Week unfolded, the sign up sheet for Holy Trinity's 24 hour prayer watch slowly filled in as I waited. When one time slot was left I filled in my name and then realized I would be at Longwood Gardens with a friend, Paul Grecian. Well, Paul had no problems filling an hour with his camera as I headed off to pray with succulents. For an hour I sat on a boulder. Here are seven images that came from the one spot:

Commission: a Butterfly

2011-07-01T07:03:00.006-04:00

So I had this thought, "Stratoz, why did you create something that will remind people of so much pain?" and I try to shake it off.

A friend at work told me a story of her friends, who had desired life for their baby. Their story is heart breaking to imagine. My friend said, "There is this poem that has brought them some comfort. I want to give them a butterfly."

The original design was not a mandala, but eventually it became one. This is not a reminder of pain, but a reminder of love and comfort, of friendship, of a God who desires us to be loved and to experience healing. This is what I want to emerge from my studio.

Peace and Hope

Wordless Wednesday: Celebrating Bee Balm

2011-06-29T08:26:00.004-04:00

Wordless Wednesday

Jazz on Tuesdays--- Irving Berlin

2011-06-28T10:08:00.003-04:00

One of the last portraits from our DC trip, which we took a year ago which has not made it on to my flickr site, will get there later today.

OK, lets get to the music:

How Deep Is The Ocean by the Bill Evan Trio

The Say It's Wonderful By John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman

Blue Skies by Maxine Sullivan

VLOG: Mosaic Crosses as Jon Hendricks Shouts to the Lord

2011-06-26T16:27:00.002-04:00

7 for the weekend--- RIJF Day 3 + 4 = 7 full sets

2011-06-25T19:28:00.003-04:00

It was time to bring my amazing analytical skills out of the closet, I mean was I not the man who scored better than 99% of those taking the GRE back in the late 80's. Day one we got to town a bit late so that explained the 2.3 hours/sets. Day two was more like 2.67 hours/sets. So there I was with Friday's schedule as we wound down in bed after Thursday's jazz.

And I nailed it! Four full sets on Friday (consider this: we saw four hours of jazz within a five hour time frame!!!!!) and Saturday we saw three full sets, the three we most wanted to see.

Disappointing: The sax player was grounded in NYC because of monster thunderstorms, but the Italian bass player we saw on Wednesday grabbed hold of a young trumpet dude and created a great show, though we had hoped to see Mirko Guerrini...

Then it was the band that had me highly excited, the bass player, Dan Berglund, from the Esbjörn Svensson Trio (or E.S.T.) had his new band in the US for the first time and we were there. Tonbruket where we first heard steel guitar played in a jazz band.

Then to see a pianist, who the program said had been compared to Keith Jarrett and Bill Evans, Andrew McCormack and Jason Yarde (sax) played beautiful duets (and inspired a CD purchase). I loved their originals, and their take on Gershwin's Embraceable You was a highlight of the festival.

Watch them talk about being a duo and listen to them play ...

And why not have a second batch of Nordic Jazz for the evening, though it would be our last for the festival. In The Country, a trio of dudes (the vibes player in the video was not with them) who took up running to be in shape to go on tours...

Day 4, the final night:

A leisurely and tasty dinner led to us missing the earliest of shows. The night started with solo guitar work by Martin Taylor, who was hoot between tunes and showed why his students flock to see him play standards and his originals, like this one: True, which became the theme to a Japanese TV show about poets boxing each other:

When we saw that jazz composer/conductor Dave Rivello had been taught by Bob Brookmeyer and that Maria Schneider liked his music, well we were there to see him conduct his 11 piece band and left with a CD in hand:

We left the amazing jazz orchestra to hear 38 Special blaring one of their big hits at a free concert (no rant about them playing at a jazz festival, since we had plenty of jazz to see and lots of folk were having fun in the street) and quickly ducked into the closest jazz venue, which is where we wanted to go any which way. And in the same setting where we ended the festival two years ago, we saw the full set of Ben Allison, yet another bass player, as he led his trio which included a trumpet and guitar. Here he is with a larger band:

and that is that!

Rochester Jazz Day 2: a duet, a trio, a quintet

2011-06-23T14:32:00.006-04:00

well, first I stood inside a really big stump.

But eventually we made it downtown again. We started with UK jazz with the Episcopalians (the photo is from a past year when a backdrop did not cover the Tiffany Mosaic.) and with light fading through stained glass...

... we listened to a duet: Fraser Fyfield and Graeme Stephen play tunes like this...

The Trio for the evening was Nordic: Ounaskari-Mikkonen-Jorgenson with the Lutherans.

and for the quintet, that was in the home of xerox, where Dave Young paid tribute to Oscar Peterson. Here he is playing bass with Oscar in 2007:

Wordless Wednesday: standing inside a tree

2011-06-22T06:23:00.001-04:00

wordless Wednesday

Rochester Jazz Day 1

2011-06-21T17:26:00.003-04:00

Plan: leave work, drive, buy pie, drive, say hello with pie, listen to jazz.

So we headed to that fortress of God and Nordic Jazz known as Reformation Lutheran Church and found a long line of people hoping to see Sinne Eeg. A quick check saw that the church was packed and the line was filled with people with more hope than I could muster after 7 hours on the road.

So we walked about a bit aimlessly but ended up singing Down By The Riverside with the three trombonists of Bonerama. And so with a disappointment came great joy.

The next 10 acts would be from various countries outside of the US, and not just Canada like the second act for the evening.

While most of the bands would be doing original music, Brienn Perry was celebrating the great American songbook with his voice and alto-trombone (yes there is such a thing, and yes it was a grand night for the tronmbone)

It was at this point in the evening I realized I had lost our Wednesday evening cheat sheet or maybe we would have ended up seeing Emilie Claire Barlow but instead we headed to see some Italian jazz: LaBarbera-Occhipinti Quartet. What I remember most is an Ellington tune that I had never heard of, but that is what it is all about for us, why stand in line for hours to see the person/band we have heard of playing in Kilbourne Hall when all kinds of new jazz awaits us.. So we would pass up seeing Grace Kelly, Bill Frissel, Kenny Barron, and Regina Carter. Maybe it helped that we had seen all but Grace Kelly, and she is so young there is a good chance that day will come. Here is Roberto Occhipinti and his nonet.

thoughts on the scraps of faithfulness

2011-06-20T18:52:00.004-04:00

This morning I had breakfast under this Blue Dolphin with a flickr friend, who I had never seen or talked to before, but two people who watch each others lives unfold in photos, do get to know each other. Check out her photos.

I had featured some of the projects I had made from left-overs of spelling out Faithfulness on flickr. My friend asked about my use of "scraps" of faithfulness. I agreed with her that scraps is a strange word that brings up positive and negative images. What exactly are the scraps of faithfulness? So I was thinking about it and a Bible passage came to mind.

Matthew 15 from The Message:

^21-22From there Jesus took a trip to Tyre and Sidon. They had hardly arrived when a Canaanite woman came down from the hills and pleaded, "Mercy, Master, Son of David! My daughter is cruelly afflicted by an evil spirit."
²³Jesus ignored her. The disciples came and complained, "Now she's bothering us. Would you please take care of her? She's driving us crazy."
²⁴Jesus refused, telling them, "I've got my hands full dealing with the lost sheep of Israel."
²⁵Then the woman came back to Jesus, went to her knees, and begged. "Master, help me."
²⁶He said, "It's not right to take bread out of children's mouths and throw it to dogs."
²⁷She was quick: "You're right, Master, but beggar dogs do get scraps from the master's table."
²⁸Jesus gave in. "Oh, woman, your faith is something else. What you want is what you get!" Right then her daughter became well.

So maybe my scrap projects are for those of us who will put God to the test. To stretch the limits of God's love to even us, who don't really deserve it, but if we ask and id we refuse to accept anything but love, we can see the healing power of God.

welcome sign

mandala

and doodle

...

7 from the back garden

2011-06-15T05:32:00.002-04:00

Buddha hanging out with the pink roses

The very dark buterfly bush is about to bloom (basketball hoop is neighbors)

the big addition is this lilac

edible leaves

Astilbe!

my woven trellis for the tomatoes, which will be added to in due time. also of note are the beans, eggplants, peppers and also the irises given to me by a friend this spring.

Yarrow!