I've been busy...

Real Busy.

Watching sunsets busy.

Smelling the grapes and red earth and dusty oak leaves busy.

I've been a hunter-gatherer.

Striding out into the fields [of the back yard]

Colander held steady

Nimble fingers (one for the bucket, two for my face)

I've listen for prey.

And had the tables turned

(a camera lens licked to holy demise by a solid cement brick of puppy love)

I've held long clucks with the ladies of the green.

(they think little of my conversational skill, caring only for corn and strawberry handouts as well as the long ties on my leather sandals)

I've felt the heat of a valley's day on my rooftop, the flash and glare light in my windows.

I've been busy being quiet, watching, waiting for that perfect glow to illuminate the sky just before the fields are plunged into darkness.

And in all my spare time, I've managed to whip a little something up. I laid down my paint brushes and unplugged my sewing machine to spend a week with my family, which roughly translates to "let's play art" which roughly translates to "let's play silversmith" (which in reality was the blind leading the blind with torches and molten silver - AS IN SWEET JESUS THAT WAS AMAZINGLY FUN WHEN I WASN'T CURSING MY LACK OF KNOWLEDGE).

Cherrio sweet friendlies, for the todo list is long and I've vino to fetch!

Today Looks Like:

Sleeping late, a crumpled mess of sheets manifesting dreams the night before

Jersey skirt, teal shirt, navy leg warmers pulled high, one leather cuff

A sky in bands of gray, pockets of light spilling through the tease of blue behind

One cappuccino, two bags of beans to go

Dishes in the sink

Furry puffs of little boys, looking for laps to commandeer

The scent of rosemary crushed on my fingertips

And cold pizza, straight from the box

The sounds of city life about another day

Watching the birch sway

Hearing the cherry blossoms rustle

Quietly

Thinking

Planing

Sewing

Drawing

Breathing

Beating

Happy Studio Day to you too!

Double Cappuccino + Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers = A very happy studio day indeed!

Cheerio Dollfaces!

Rain is truly the most cathartic element for me. The scent is soul-balm, the droplets on my skin the purest baptism, the sound more honest than any word I've ever heard. I know no better type of rejuvenation that to set out walking, feel the rhythm of the earth reverberating through my legs, to breath in time with the trees, to leave my heaviness with the ferns, to reawaken my curiosity by laughing with the sparrows.

*****

I wonder

Has there been some small cosmic shift, and the tide is finally receding? This is nothing the naked eye can observe just yet, but requires a thorough observation preformed in utter solitude broken only by my own inhalations.

*****

I watch the drops end their heavenly descent and spread into concentric rings on the earth's crust.

I wonder

Is this the birth-stage in the ever reincarnate life of hydrogen-dioxide? If I stand in it, turn my face up, let that perfect new-formed life roll down my skin, will I absorb that rebirth, that fresh beginning, osmosically?

*****

I hold my arm out, until the muscles along my shoulder twitch and shake. The edges of my sleeve, pushed high, darkens with saturation as I break the first rule of wilderness survival and give into the rain. I watch the droplets gather into generous pools between the hard tendons of my knuckles. I watch the water rush deep rivers along the story-telling lines of my palm. I watch my dry, tired skin drink deep; small wrinkles filling up, taunt lines plumping, a glow spreading from fingertip to fingertip, spilling into the broad heel of my hand, bottlenecking into my wrist, flowing up my arm ever heart-ward.

Home Sweet Home

Leaving on a jet plane...

Sunsets that place a gal in bodily danger of being run over as she crosses streets, gawking wide eyed to the West.

Gluttonous Reading

Almost being run over again due to the shocking bands of heavenly light.

Puddle Jumper

Growing from every crack in the sidewalk, up every chain-link fence, around every white-washed tree trunk, the bougainvillea flashed their paper-thin vibrance.

Cacti nursery at sunset, one thousand glowing deadly orbs radiating in the humid evening light.

When in Rome; open mouths for cerveza...

...open mouths for guacamole.

And just like that, we're back to the shaded streets of my city, sleeping under a fluffy pile of [extraordinarily clingy] kitty boys,

breathing slower,

breathing deeper,

feeling the rhythm in the soles of our shoes

feeling back

feeling here

feeling home.

UmberDove and the Technicolor Technology Break

Way back in February as I looked over my goals for the year and began filling in my calendar with far off dates I had the thought, "Holy Shenanigans, the month of August is going to be absurdly busy." And now, over half way through the month, I feel like a prophet. I've had to really unplug for the last two weeks just to catch up with my own two feet and I'm starting to feel like taffy left in the twister a bit too long.

SERIOUSLY. WHERE IS MY CABANA BOY?

I need:

1. A massage. One of those super oily ones, with hot rocks and cucumber slices.

2. A gin and tonic. Stat.

3. Approximately 700 hours of uninterrupted studio time.

4. A chubby slice of peach cobbler (the scent should be wafting by soon...)

5. Someone to do my dishes (I'm over it)

6. Two plane tickets to Cabo San Lucas (OH WAIT! My flight leaves Saturday morning!! Yippee!)

* Picture snapped by the ever talented Mme. Bookling and "borrowed" by me.*

So with that, I'm signing back off, exhaustedly yours, and will return the world of internet wonders on Septmeber 1st. Hopefully with a quieter head and tanner legs.

- Umber

Heads and Shoulders, Knees and Toes

After the great success of the past photo challenges, 30 Days of Self and A Shot in the Dark: December Evenings, I've been thinking a lot about beginning a new challenge. But while I was hemming and hawing over the subject matter, Mr. Chris Bradley came up with a douzey of an idea and I'm jumping right in AND taking the liberty of saying I'd love to see YOUR pictures!

Here's the dealio:

The photo challenge is titled Heads and Shoulders, Knees and Toes and, yep you guessed it, consists of photos of those body parts (yours or someone else's). The challenge will run from right now (it actually started August 1st but I'm a little late - which means you can be too) all the way until September 1st. All you need is a camera, a head (or shoulders or knees or toes) and a Flickr account and you're golden! So join up, get snapping and try to post around four photos each week (more or less is completely acceptable too)!

I'll see your bee's knees soon!

- Umber