Ignoring the dream; jazz doodling times 3: Bobby Broom, Clifford Brown, Melissa Aldana

Jazz: Bobby Broom Song and Dance. Jazz Doodle: Wayne Stratz

Saturday: I had a thought that this summer was a prime time to do some random card giving at work.

Saturday night: I had a dream in which my supervisor at work chastised me for handing out cards to unsuspecting souls.

I started drawing cards since the dream made no sense.

Check out the jazz artists:  Bobby Broom, Clifford Brown, Melissa Aldana

Jazz: Clifford Brown Complete Blue Note. Jazz Doodle: Wayne Stratz

Jazz: Melissa Aldana & Crash Trio. Jazz Doodle: Wayne Stratz

Blue Tuesdays: 7 Blue Mosaic Pendants by Margaret Almon

Blue Mosaic Pendant by Margaret Almon with a milleffiori 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

see her pendants on etsy

Blue Mosaic Pendant by Margaret Almon with gold smalti

Pale Blue Mosaic Pendant by Margaret Almon

Blue Mosaic Pendant by Margaret Almon with a Log Cabin quilt design

Blue Mosaic Pendant by Margaret Almon

Dark Blue Mosaic Pendant by Margaret Almon

 

 

Blue Mosaic Pendant by Margaret Almon with a dove designed by Wayne Stratz

Sunday Quilts: Ilana Rapoport of Israel a Quilt in Orange and Blue

Ilana Rapoport of Israel a Quilt in Orange and Blue. Photo by Wayne Stratz

Last Tuesday I began thinking about blue and orange. Complementary. I spent some time today trying design a large mandala. Blue spaces for me. Orange spaces for Margaret. Something will come of it, though I am not sure if either design is right.

So I tool a break and cut out a house number (see finished samples here). I came downstairs to celebrate a quilt and came across a blue and orange gem from Israel. Maybe it will inspire me.

UPDATE: it did inspire me

Notes from the Jesuit Center: Lamps and Becoming Still and Realizing It Was Time to Acknowledege God

lamp at the Jesuit Center in Wernersville by Wayne Stratz

 The first night works like this: arrive before dinner with plenty of time to unpack and set up art studio in my room. When I entered the Jesuit Center, a Jesuit looked at me and said, "The artist is here."

Dinner, you can talk; and in the process I met a female Episcopalian priest from Maryland. 22 meals later I would meet a female Episcopalian priest from New York. Anyway, a meeting with your spiritual director ensues and times for direction are handed out. Most times I take an early in the morning time, but it felt right to take the mid-afternoon time. It proved to be wise as I really liked having my mornings free to be silent.  

lamp at the Jesuit Center in Wernersville by Wayne Stratz

We were given one verse to read, if moved to do so. Psalm 46:10

lamp at the Jesuit Center in Wernersville by Wayne Stratz

But first, all thirty plus of us would gather to begin our retreat together. It is a chance to share a concern with the others. Having read an article on mass extinctions and news reports on the Pope's call for caring for the planet; I put out a prayer for our planet.

lamp at the Jesuit Center in Wernersville by Wayne Stratz

I know Psalm 46:10 ... “Be still, and know that I am God..."

But that night in the silence, as lamps illuminated quiet hallways, my Bible did not read "know."

Instead, the word, acknowledge was there. I thought, "hmmm, that is a bit different from know." My retreat had been set in motion. I sat down and drew Margaret a card.

...

TBT 1985: Talking Heads were a fave

Talking Heads: Little Creatures; photo by Wayne Stratz

I have had a series of favorite bands over the years and the band that topped the list when I entered college at Grove City was not there when I graduated from East Stroudsburg. The Talking Heads were one of the bands I dug the most when I was at ESU. I grabbed this from the LP's that still linger in my possession. Ironically this was not one of my favorite LP's by the Talking Heads and it is hard to pick a tune as apparently it is not filled with songs I loved back in the day.

Maybe Road to Nowhere or And She Was.

"The world was moving and she was right there with it..." 

Sounds like what the Jesuit told me that led to my tagline: "The worst sin is to not be aware of being part of an unfolding universe." 

We are part of time and space. As the universe unfolds into new space and time, we unfold along with it. Apparently in 1985 I was unfolding with The Talking Heads. Oh my...

A jazz doodle in pinks and grays: Anat Cohen, Claroscuro

a jazz doodle in pink, red and grays, created by Wayne Stratz while listening to Anat Cohen

The other night Anat Cohen's Claroscuro caught my eye while browsing through our jazz CD's, and off to the studio I went. As I listened, I thought it would make for some fine commuting music, and it did well today even when stopped by both a northbound and southbound train at the corner of Main and Broad in Lansdale. Truly a test of the quality of a good music commute. The first mile can be a doozy.

Drawing 50 cards or so while on retreat is a pace I can not keep up while at home/work, but hey, can I not send out a card from time to time. So I carried the CD back inside the house and this evening I took it back into the studio.

But who to draw a card for? So many possibilities. I was glancing through my contacts to get a name and address when I thought of a co-worker. She recently lost a cherished pet and she also recently graciously helped me out at work. 

Name chosen. Jazz playing. I needed color. Strangely pinks and grays gravitated to my hand when I reached into the bag of mixed prismacolors. Random choices lead you down paths. I started listening at track 9 and the beautiful closing tune, The Wedding composed by South African jazz master, Abdullah Ibrahim, was playing as I finished. Enjoy.

May this be at least a weekly activity.

being complementary ... Blue Tuesdays

Going Blue: Margaret's Hydrangea Blooms Again in 2015 by Wayne Stratz

Margaret has been posting Orange Tuesday blog posts for quite some time, so going Blue at Stratoz is a complementary new route.

When we moved into our Two Studio Row a decade or so ago, there was a hydrangea in the front yard, but it was under the porch roof and got very little water, so I moved it out into the rain. It didn't bloom. As we walked about Lansdale, Margaret expressed her love of their blooms.

We bought a Hydrangea and I placed it in the backyard, where it can be seen from her studio window. It bloomed. 

From 2008 in the garden of nutmeg designs: A violet Hydrangea (clearly showing the fickle nature of the bloom color......) by Wayne Stratz

The winter of 2013-14 was brutal with some extreme lows and I did wonder if the Hydrangeas had died when spring slowly emerged, but they arrived late and from down below the surface of the Earth and took their shape. But 2014 would feature no blooms for Margaret. This past winter had some cold moments, and though stunned, the Hydrangeas came through in better shape. One of the last things I did before leaving for my silent retreat, was to take out the garbage and bring in a Hydrangea.

Orange Vase. Blue Hydrangea. by Wayne Stratz

Our Hydrangeas do not compete well with many that we see as we walk about. I don't feel like a success when I think of Hydrangeas. But I persevere and they persevere. And that is all we can do on these hot and muggy summer days.