Drunken Robin

I was home in Woolwich yesterday morning walking around my yard when I heard a faint bird song. I looked up in the old apple tree and there was a fat robin, pecking away at the frozen apples. There have been robins around for over a month now, which amazes me - we are still quite snowbound. They will live on fermented fruit and berries until the snow opens up and they can find worms, I guess. This robin's song was so weak, I think that it was drunk!

(Drunken Robin, Tweet! TweediddldeeDeet! Drunken Robin, Tweet! TweediddldeeDeet!)

Self-Portraits from a Cold Barn

I've recently posted pictures of flowers and hummingbirds to bring about thoughts of Spring, but the fact is it's still damn cold and winter here in Maine. (My old friend Carlo Pittore used to sing, There are only two seasons in Maine - WINTER! and the Fourth of July!)
The barn that housed my studio burned down in 2002, but before that event I spent many a cold winter day working out there. The fire in my small woodstove helped, but I had to wear lots of layers to stay warm while I worked. Here are a few self-portraits that were created during the cold months. Hence, the hats and heavy coats...

Cold Snap Self, 2002
pastel and charcoal on Rives BFK, 22" x 30". For Sale.

Birthday Self, 1994
pastel and colored pencil on Rives BFK, 22" x 30". For Sale.

Late Winter Self, 1990
pastel and charcoal on Rives BFK, 22" x 30". Lost in barn fire.

Self/Early March, 1989
pastel and charcoal on Rives BFK, 22" x 30". Lost in barn fire.

Hummingbirds

I have been feeding hummingbirds at my home in Woolwich for almost 20 years. They are the most delightful little beings. I adore them. After my daughter Lisbeth became ill in 1988, I started having dreams about them. Before then, I'd never given them much thought. The dreams became so insistant that I decided to buy some feeders and hang them on the front of my house. Ever since, the hummingbirds have been returning each May. I researched hummingbirds and began to make art about them: their hinged wings beat out a figure eight, which represents eternity, and in Native American lore, they symbolize Joy. I realized that hummingbirds showing up in my dreams at the onset of Lisbeth's illness was God's way of telling me that there would still be joy in my life even in the midst of great hardship. I still dream of them often. Just last week I dreamt that one landed on the back of my neck (probably to tell me to relax - I hold alot of tension there!). This image may be the start of a new art piece. I have been invited by a Portland gallery to make work to show in one of their windows for the month of May, and as this is the time when the hummingbirds return, I've been thinking I'd like to make a piece about that.

Last May, I was thrilled to see hummingbirds in the apple tree at our apartment in Portland! So I hung a feeder there as well. Country hummers and city hummers! Sweet.

Lisbeth Miller

Hummingbird, 2007
colored pencil on paper, 12" x 18"

More Collaborative Paintings

I started these three pieces and will mail them out to my sister Sue in CA this afternoon. Hey, Sue! I'm still waiting for you to send me some starters to work on!

I call these (from top to bottom...)

Primary Gum Ball Exchange (colored inks, pencil, silver metallic pen, ballpoint pen, felt tip pen, watercolor and crayon)

Rainbow Rose (felt tip pen, colored inks, pencil, gold and silver metallic pens, crayon, watercolor and collage)

Almost Bare Bear Lady (coffee stains and pencil)
each are 7" x 7" and will be for sale upon completion by Said Sue.

Stay tuned!

Dreaming of Flowers in Frozen February

The days are getting longer and lighter - this is one of the gifts of February. It's quite grey today here in Maine and we are expecting more snow. I needed to get some flower pictures out to share with you and to lift my spirits! These are all flowers from my garden last spring, summer and fall. When I go home to Woolwich two of my favorite activities (that border on obsessive/sacred ritual) are hanging out the wash and making bouquets of my flowers.
The first picture shows an altar I made for my monthly Women's Meditation group.

Exquisite Corpses - The Doll Project

Last year at this time I was in the thick of this collaborative doll project. There were three teams of 6 artists, and each artist started a doll, then mailed it to the next person on the list. Over a period of 6 months, each team worked on six dolls, one a month, until all 18 dolls returned transformed, to their originators (see the Sister Collaborations post). Here are six of the completed dolls - these are the dolls that were created by my "team" of artists.

The Dolls:

Aglee

Hephziba

Kiki Jung

Sister Winker

Camille

Perl

I plan to share some of my process with each doll that I worked on in future posts.

Andy's Chair

Last Memorial Day my son Andy made this chair out of some cedar that he had cut down and gathered. He made the chair in a morning's time, then put it on his back and carried it over to the patio, plunked it down, and sat in it to play his guitar. (Andy and his wife and two sons are living with us while building a house on our land). The wonderful rough quality of the chair and the speed with which Andy made it brought to mind Papa Bear from the Berenstein Bears books: Papa Bear goes into the woods one morning and comes back in the afternoon with a bed all made for Brother Bear...)

Andy has amazing can do energy!

I planted nasturtiums in the garden behind the chair and they took over by the end of summer. They make the chair look like a throne for a Woodland King. Later in the fall, Andy moved the chair up in the back yard to sit by the campfire ring. It provided a great perch for friends at our Solstice Bonfire! Now it sits waiting for spring to arrive...