The bodies, people, statues, exhibits, what does one call them, were in various dramatic poses in plexi display boxes. Artists were sitting, standing and kneeling with their drawing pads and pencils, all around each of the displays. It was dark. There was a glowing yellow light on each figure, and mystical music in the air. Words are not working for me right now, explaining this, and I can tell you that I went purely because I did not want to, and I knew that meant there was a growth opportunity there. I am glad I went.

Here are my sketches.

While I was sketching I was thinking how beautiful they were, how so many parts of their bodies reminded me of feathers and flowing water. It scared me a little too.

In Rome there is a chapel made of the bones of the Capuchin monks who died there. It is called the Capuchin Church of the Immaculate Conception. The first time I went there, somewhere around 1980, I remember walking through those skeletally decorated rooms with the hair straight up on the back of my neck. At the end, there is a sign that said something like “Where you are now, we once were. Where we are now, you will be.” I really don’t like that idea. The same with Body World. Maybe I am just too immature to discuss death, perhaps.

Today is gray and wet, my dog is here at my feet and I am drinking a really good cup of coffee, very glad to be alive.

©2010 Jill Berry Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Now I head to teach at Artfest for the first time. No small amount of twitchiness involved with that idea. The time here at that cabin-by-the-sea finished off my readiness.

Meanwhile, outside of this fantasy world, other things are happening. My dog went for a walk with Steve and came home with boots.

And my sister’s grand baby is beautiful. Okay, I am a step great auntie. There, it is said, and here is the little wonder.

Arlo Kai, born and living in Hawaii, where I used to live and can still smell when I close my eyes.

I won’t be writing from Artfest, every minute is planned and I doubt there is an internet connection. The days will be spent teaching, learning from Jesse Reno, and taking on the new Iron Chef teacher challenge that Teesha came up with a few weeks ago, just in case we weren’t on our toes. Back here on Sunday for two more nights. Life is grand.

©2010 Jill Berry Blog. All Rights Reserved.

This morning is it three letter words, a concept that I have worked with for about six years. Mighty little words. Today my words are “ART” and “SKY”, and I am looking up imagery for each of those words. Here are my canvases so far.

Only the "A" is finished.

Close up you can see my bird's eye map.

In searching for imagery for the word “SKY” both in my head and in all the books strewn around my studio, I suddenly remember a poem I found a few years ago when I was working with the same word. It is written by a Japanese poet, Shuntaro Tanikawa, (translated by Harold Wright, date unknown but probably 1960s). Coincidentally, Paul Klee has a painting he made in 1923 with the same name, Landscape with Yellow Birds. I present them to you here.

LANDSCAPE WITH YELLOW BIRDS
Shuntaro Tanikawa (1931-    )

there are birds
so there is sky
there is sky
so there are balloons
there are balloons
so children are running
children are running
so there is laughter
there is laughter
so there is sadness
so there is prayer
and ground for kneeling
there is ground
so water is flowing
and there’s today and tomorrow
there is a yellow bird
so with all colors forms and movements
there is the world

I am working on acceptance right now, and this poem speaks to me. There it is, just as it is, and we have to find the dreamy, beautiful parts as we sometimes wade through sadness. Here I am, painting in my own studio, and tomorrow I have to go and say goodbye to an 18 year old friend who died in a car. For now, I will find the beauty and gift of art here in my studio, while it is dark outside.

©2010 Jill Berry Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Yesterday’s Super Bowl game was just what I needed. It was a clean, impressive, exciting and immensely gratifying to watch New Orleans win.

You may have noticed the fleur-de-lis on the side of their helmets. This is a heraldic representation of an Iris, which is also the symbol of one of my other favorite cities, Firenze, Italia. The flower ultimately represents the Goddess Iris, who is the messenger between the gods and humanity, manifesting herself in the rainbow. The iris flower is one of the most resilient plants on earth: it sends up its rainbow flowers in hundreds of climates and countries in many styles and hues. Yesterday there was no rainbow at that game that we could see, but surely you can feel it now.

©2010 Jill Berry Blog. All Rights Reserved.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EELEjeYzfjM[/youtube]

My husband saw Kristin at a house concert last year. She is amazing.

My girl has eyes that I call “Storm in the Forest”. Blue, green, shades of inbetween.

My boy has “Cinnamon and Chocolate”.

They take many more than one color of crayon.

Yum.

©2010 Jill Berry Blog. All Rights Reserved.

This is a map of Julian, California, and specifically Camp Stevens. I spent a lot of time there growing up, as a camper and a staff member, so when it came to getting married, the outdoor chapel in the woods at Camp Stevens was our choice.

This summer I contracted Emily Fischer of Soft-Maps to make a pillow. Her work is stunning. It is elegant, and delightful. She did this soft-map for my husband as a birthday gift. After many summers in Julian, and at Camp Stevens, I know my way around, so these roads are familiar to me.

Now I want a map that says YOU ARE HERE with a big red X, and then an arrow of where I need to go. Normally I am good at finding my way out of a bog, but this time, well, I’ve lost my feet. It is hard to motivate to get in my studio. The house is a mess from kids and a flood, I am sick with worry about our future and so very tired of this story. Half of my time is spent fixing other people’s messes (a faulty hose on the new washer took over my life) and my feet hurt. Whine, whine whine.

So, I get out the bucket of things to be grateful about, and pretend to be the person who counts them up every morning. My kids and husband are healthy. Most of our house is nice. We have good schools to attend, and enough money not to end up on the street anytime soon. I am an ARTIST and I have tools to help me through this. Tools like pencils, paint and imagination. Tools like friends, my family and a new puppy. After I finish up crying, I am going to get all these tools out, and make my own new map. Today.

©2010 Jill Berry Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Yesterday was our day to pick up our produce at Cure Organic Farm in Boulder. We belong to a CSA there, or Community Supported Agriculture. Here is what they say on their website:

CSA’s strive to develop an available local food supply, encourage land stewardship, and build a sense of community. CSA’s began over 30 years ago in Japan when a group of women became concerned about the increasing food imports and the decreasing farm population. As a result they became committed to the local growers in their area and supported these farms directly. This group of women knew where and how their food was being grown and the farmers had a direct market for their goods. This idea came to the United States around 1985 and is being adopted slowly. Now in the U.S. there are over 1500 CSA programs.

Every Wednesday we pick up our stuff, a mix of herbs and veggies and fruit. It is a headfirst dive into summer, driving home with fresh fragrant basil and cherries and beets. YUM!

Last night is was raining and I was alone. Heavenly. I unloaded my bounty on the table and felt instantly moved to paint it.

This is my journal. What I like to journal about is right NOW. It helps me to stay appreciative, and current. Here are my pages, not quite finished.

Barbara Kingsolver wrote a book called Animal, Vegetable, Miracle that made a huge impression on me a couple of years back. Until I read it, I had not thought a lot about the inefficiency of our food. I did however, notice that when I lived in Italy, you could actually smell the produce. The markets were heavy with fragrances of all kinds, it was at times overwhelming. For the first time I realized how what I had eaten most of my life had traveled or been packaged so much so far it lost its smell. When was the last time you walked into Safeway and thought “Ah, the peaches have arrived!” Even in the middle of the produce section, you could close your eyes and have no idea what was around you. Barbara has some other ideas I won’t be sharing, like butchering my own meat. Though I do come from a ranching family, have to draw the line there, right at the hypocrite mark. Ah well, we do our best.

Tonight Steve and I will make pesto, and roasted beets and some exotic thing with squash. We will enjoy the rain and the quiet and fresh cherries. And we will be grateful. Then maybe we will have a food fight.

©2010 Jill Berry Blog. All Rights Reserved.

First Snow

I woke up early this morning and as Sydney says, was the “only one in the Waked Up part of the house”. After making coffee, one of life’s simple pleasures, I sat down with my journal next to this window. Last night we had our first snow, the fat flakey ending to Black Friday (which was named for the bad traffic in Philadelphia on that day, no drama there) which did not find this family shopping it up. We spent our morning in orthopedics picking out the coolest color for the new cast, which is currently not a popular piece of attire here—the bloom is definitely off the rose . Anyway, the sky was pink this morning over orange and purple mountains, and the snow was blue. I was glad to be there to see it. I wrote on a black page in my journal that Sam had doodled on, and had a lovely arty time there in the Waked-Up part of our house. 

©2010 Jill Berry Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Happy is as happy does. I have spent too much time lately not acting like Matt. Matt is a guy who dances a lot and not very well, but he sure does dance! I am so loving this. Thanks to Don Madden who also had this on his blog (just in case you missed it, I had to post here). This reminded me of “Baby Dancing” which we did a lot when my kids were smaller. I think we need to do that again!

©2010 Jill Berry Blog. All Rights Reserved.

©2010 Jill Berry Blog. All Rights Reserved.