No Pictures: notes from the studio
Category Archives for No Pictures: Writing on Studio Practice
August 2020 began my series Your Hunger Betrays You. The idea occurred spontaneously. Upon encountering someone as I was walking, I felt the sentence Your Hunger Betrays You arrive. I immediately returned to the studio to work with what lingered. Taking a paper bag out of the trash, I began. The pieces expand upon earlier […]
The painter and teacher Enrique Martinez Celaya, has said, understandably, that one does not let everything out of their studio. I believe this, particularly at a time of intense social media engagement by artists. We are moved to engage and that is good. However, there are times to “let work out” of the studio. That […]
December 11. Morning, 6am. Winter dark. The light comes quickly. Cats watch the sunrise, I watch them watching. Tea. Ritual. Home studio is up and running. I plan my travel escape post pandemic. Mentally trekking the distance, locations of summer studios I plan to inhabit. In a constant space of sending out best thoughts for […]
The word transmission defined in Merriam Webster…. A nerve impulse across a synapse. Teachers are always students. A truly profound transmission from teacher to student is rare. When a student receives a transmission from a teacher it pierces their heart. It is felt through their entire body – it is carried for days physically, it […]
The moon is a sliver and the crickets are in the same place they have been for nearly 20 years now. Two rabbits are living in the grass in the front of the house. It is dark, cool and 8:30pm. I’m writing from what was the home (mountain) studio. At the end of this year […]
All my ancient twisted Karma From begnningless greed hate and delusion Born of body speech and mind I now fully atone. Cats. Tea. Birds singing busily outside. I am in my newly “acquired” office that was a studio and before that a bedroom. I share it with the cats, using a gomden at a low […]
The immense, heart-opening nostalgia of Palm Sunday in my mind and body. The Light of Christ Church, Palm Sunday Mass; Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Rose, Uncle Dom, Cousin Tommy, Mom, me – 50 years ago. A large warm, newly, asphalted parking lot, a sign of spring in Clearwater, Florida; my second home of the […]
What if we lived deliberately? Everything that you do not have time for is exactly what you should be paying attention to. The animals that live in your house – that you gave shelter too that you ship off to doggie day care, or pay someone to walk because you do not pay attention to […]
During a long overdue dinner my mind was stopped by a very wise friend who recently read my post. “What if Suzuki never published?” she asked. I felt a shock go through my body. I was in a gap. Then a place of reasoning once my mind started again. Realizing – I had not thought […]
There is a thread here that it is about contentment. It is also about egolessness. It is my favorite part of day. I do not remember the last time I was able to enjoy it. 3:30-4:30ish, home; nowhere else physically or mentally. I note the position of the sun no matter the time of year […]