Restocking The Pond

Nina Leen, Young Teen, 1944

Lasar Segall, Youngster with Long Hair, 1942

Anita Malfatti, Montartre Song, 1926

Thuva-Lisa Steen, Self Portrait (photo)

Tongue out painting green dress, Rick Beerhorst, 2012

I spent an hour or so trolling through Flickr collecting favorites last night. I have shared a few of them here.  Before I began this post I was clicking through someone's tumbler that I found totally captivating.  I just kept coming to the end of the page and then I would hit next page and begin again.  Oops! a half hour of my life just slipped away. Next page.

Julia Cameron calls it restocking the pond.  As artists we are constantly drawing images and ideas out of our inner workings.  It becomes necessary for us to find the playful ways that we can drop new images and ideas inside of us and then give them time and space to swim around and combine into new and mysterious possibilities.  Wasting time?  I prefer to think of it as restocking the pond.

A Little Door Into A Whole New World

I made a doll house when Rose and Pearl where little girls 15 years ago.  It is still hanging around and lately it has my attention again.  I like to play with it. Sounds weird saying that, but I do.

Snailbooty from our flickr contacts

C.W. Wells is an artist we came to know through Flickr years ago.  I have always been drawn to the dark and Eraser Head like world she creates in miniature.

I remember reading Look Homeward Angel by Thomas Wolf years ago where Alexander Calder makes a cameo appearance with his circus at a late night bohemian party. I love his strange little circus creations made out of wire, wood and scraps of cloth.

This Man's Best Friend

Our home is made more of a home for the two cats that share it with us.  The other day I rested my head on the soft furryness of our feline, Fluffy Chai and listened to her purring.  It felt like being closer to God. It made me wonder how she makes that soft rattle like sound come out from down inside her.  It made me feel like a small child again for a few minutes.

Here is to you Fluffy Chai, Princess, and all the great cats that have graced the Beerhorst home over the years with their regal posture and cozy ways.

Strike A Match

photo by Rob McManus

This single titled Strike A Match by Strawberry Heritage is the creation of John Hanson. John is not only a very gifted musician but also a very capable photographer. You can peruse his flickr here. This song is telling because it reminds me of John's friendly personality and enthusiasm which has a way of touching off fires where every he goes. There are some people that being with them feels like you have just plugged in the device of your soul and it has begun to charge.  John Hanson happens to be one of those people.

Looking For Inspiration

This post gives thanks to Hibiki Miyazaki who is a fellow artist I came upon through Flickr a few years back.  Her image Women With Yarn became the inspiration for my painting shown here of daughters Rose and Pearl. I believe it helps an artist to keep looking at the work of other artists they admire. I think of it as a sort of conversation, a passing back and forth of ideas and inspiration.

In my Noah Webster 1828 dictionary it tells me inspiration is  "the act of breathing into anything... the infusion of ideas into the mind by the Holy Spirit; the conveying into the minds of men, ideas, notices or monitions by extraordinary or supernatural influence".  When I look at work that I love it makes me want to go into the studio and begin working again.  It is as if I have breathed in and I need to exhale.

(The eastlake love seat my girls are sitting on was purchased from a local junk store with a matching rocker for $150 two years ago. The springs are all shot and need to be redone but I have not gotten around to fixing it yet. Rose and Pearl shared a bedroom for the last two years until Rose moved out at the end of last September.)