art – Page 4 – Dear Liza

Sketching with the Dead People

Dear Liza,

You know how much I love visiting the dead folks at Lone Fir Cemetery!

Well, yesterday Auntie Bridgett and I joined a sketching group there. It was led by a lady named Jen whose full time job is elementary school teacher (just what I used to do!)

Jen is also a fan of Lone Fir, and wanted to find a way to earn some money to help maintain this fragile old space. She put a notice on The Friends of Lone Fir website, and people pay $10 a head to join the group. The money goes to Friends of Lone Fir, the same non-profit organization that runs the Twilight Tombstone tours I will be helping with later this month.

Being a ‘real’ teacher, Jen has a ‘real’ curriculum, this book by John Laws. It lays out a lot of steps and philosophy about nature jour along, and I’m sure it is a fine book.

But I was interested in a quick guide to start with. Once our group of thirty (!) people were gathered, Jen gave us just that.

She suggested quick info about day and weather and then prompts of “I notice” “I wonder” and “It reminds me of”, and really close looking at whatever you choose to draw. It could be a tree or a leaf, a patch of ground, or anything in the area.

“If you think it’s boring,” she said, “keep looking and you’ll be amazed how much you see.” We all went off to our own areas and had one hour to draw.

I chose this wonderful old chestnut tree by the rose garden. If I got far enough away to see the whole tree I’d miss the detail, so I could only draw part way up the trunk. I was fascinated by the dappled light and how the patches kept shifting as the sun went down behind me.

When our hour was up, we assembled back at the Soldier’s Memorial and did a “gallery walk” of everyone’s journals. I was impressed by the variety of drawings and the close observations.

We shared our experiences and said what we liked about other folks’ sketches. I liked that we were complimenting the sketch, not the artist… it was less personal, less embarrassing, and more meaningful.

We all enjoyed our time at the cemetery, and being able to share it with other folks made it even better. And next month, Auntie Bridgett and I get to join Jen and the sketchers again!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Re-opening a Favorite

Dear Liza,

When we first moved to this neighborhood, we fell in love with the J. C. Havely House, just katty corner across Belmont Street. It is rumored to be haunted and certainly looks the part. At that time it was being run as The Pied Cow.

The Pied Cow served delicious ginger cake, ice cold sangria, baked Brie on fresh bread, and lots of other goodies. It was amazing. But when the pandemic hit, the strain on both the business and the owner was just too much. The Pied Cow closed and the building was sold.

But good news! The house is soon to be opened as The Foxtrot Lounge, and on Saturday we got to see the inside of the house, the garden, and have a short chat with the new owner, Britain Stephens.

Britain (who is extremely camera shy) and his crew have cleaned up the large garden space and installed beautiful structures. Some of these feel like classy cabanas and will be good for shelter from the sun and moderate rain. Others are just for fun.

Lots of folks were looking around and enjoying the space.

The inside of the Havely House has gotten a facelift as well, and now feels like a friendly, high-end Haunted Mansion. Since the Havely House is home to a ghost called Aunt Lydia, this seems fitting.

We didn’t try any of the food on offer, but there was wine, beer, sangria, and a variety of bruschettas. Britain told us he plans on a proper opening come October… Just in time for Halloween!

And you know we will be there.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Rivers and Cities

Dear Liza,

I was feeling pretty good about the shape of my highlands, mountains and shorelines on my French map quilt. Auntie Bridgett admired the lay out, then asked, “Are you going to put anything else on it? Like cities?”

Oh. Yeah. Knowing that most cities in Europe are on rivers, I decided to put in the rivers first.

So, using Googlemaps and blue yarn, I began to lay out my rivers. I’m only putting in the main rivers for now, so you can see (from upper right, going clockwise) the Meuse, the Rhine, the Rhône, the Garonne, the Dordogne, the Charante, the Loire, and the Seine.

Once the rivers were laid down, I felt more confident about the placement of the cities. Paris, Vernon, Rouen and Honfleur along the Seine,

Orléans, Tours, Angers and Nantes along the Loire,

and Lyon, Avignon, Aix and Marseilles along the Rhône.

So now, everything is laid down. But NOTHING is attached yet. If I lift the green hexagon, it all falls off. That’s the next step, and it may take a few days. Be patient with me.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Progress on the Map of France

Dear Liza,

In search of fabric for my France map quilt, I took the # 75 bus to the #72 to Bolt Fabric the other day. It’s a quick trip, and nice to see new neighborhoods.

Bolt didn’t disappoint! I found the palette I had chosen in solid cottons, which will be good for appliqué-ing and embroidering as the project moves along. I got the fabric home and washed it.

And now I need to decide on the style of the map. The main body will be green, the lower mountains purple, and the peaks of the Alps and Pyrenees will be red. Coastlines will be a soft peach. Am I sure? Maybe.

With my five colors, it will not be a ‘realistic’ map. It will be modern, abstract, more …. stylized. But what style?

I’m wrestling with that, in one of my favorite stages of creation, the “creative problem”.

My goal at this point is to let each stage sit long enough, and look at it often enough, so I don’t get ahead of myself.

So far the only cutting I’ve done is to make the basic green hexagon shape. The rest will come, I’m sure.

Love,

Grandma Judy

To Aarhus

Dear Jasper and Kestrel,

Except for Copenhagen, cities in Denmark are pretty small compared to those in the United Sates. Aarhus, just north of Horsens, (the little heart on this map) has a population of 295,000 and is the second biggest city in the country. But since it is also on the other side of the country from the capital, Aarhus also functions as a sort of regional federal office.

We saw this clearly at Dokk1, a combination civic building and library on the old harbor in Aarhus.

It has dozens of offices where folks go for citizenship, immigration, and other business with the government, which saves folks a several-hour long trip across to Copenhagen. And, since this sort of procedure can take a long time, there was a delightful cafe with lunches, fruit, drinks, and sweet treats.

Out on the wide, sunny terraces, creative play areas kept young ones from getting restless and provided me with one of my favorite soundtracks: the laughter of happy children.

The Library was not a silence-shrouded collection of books, but a lively, light-filled collection that shares space with Lego trays, art supply bins, and broad areas for playing “Book Ping Pong” and “Book Dominos”. All this works because of the Danish sensibility of group responsibility and looking out for others.

Nothing was being broken just to break it. No one was yelling just to be loud. This place belongs to everyone, so no one wants to spoil it. It was civilized and delightful.

We walked and looked until we were worn out, and then headed home.

Tomorrow is another day with more adventures!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Through Egeskov and Beyond!

Dear Jasper and Kestrel,

Besides the historic delights of Egeskov Castle there were more modern day things to see. The owners, over the years, have massed quite a collection of cars, trucks, motorcycles, and even planes!

These are housed in a wonderfully trussed barn just across the moat from the castle.

There were de-lousing trucks from World War I and shiny modern Jaguars. It was dazzling!

When we had seen all we had the stamina to see, we drove through some rainy, then sunny, then rainy again countryside. All this summer rain sure makes for green fields! We got to the coast ( I know, most of Denmark is COAST) and found the busy shipping and transport hub of Svendborg. David had booked Grandpa Nelson and I into The Best Room in Town at the Aero Hotel.

See that high turret? That’s us!!

We had a bedroom, and then this delightful breakfast room in the turret, with a chandelier and great view of the ferry landing below. Grandpa could have watched for hours.

After we got moved in, we walked down the way and had dinner at Jette’s, a family favorite, and then walked around the harbor area.

It was a funky combination of working, slightly rusty harbor and newer, painted tourist area.

We had a great time just being silly!

The next day had enough adventure that it should get its own post. So, see you tomorrow!!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Walking on the Beach, Walking in The Woods

Dear Jasper and Kestrel,

Cousin Liza took me for a long walk down the beach by her house the other day. I had been there before, but it’s always fun to hear her take on things.

It was a sunny, chilly morning, and the light was sparkling on the water. The fjord doesn’t have waves, just little laps on the beach it is perfect for boating. Liza has started taking sailing lessons, and she posed by the boat she uses. All the boats are stored upside down in the boat yard. There is no fence around anything. “Stealing isn’t as big a thing here,” she said. I realized how much of our energy is the U.S. is spent keeping our stuff safe from thieves.

Further down the beach, we sat in huge wooden chairs that can be rotated into or out of the wind or sun. A very nice spot to perch!

We found two of Thomas Dambo’s trolls, called Laura and Julian, playing tug of war with a slack-line that you can walk on. We decided against it.

There were hammocks, which we rested in and watched the trees dance over our heads. We took pictures and messed around with color editing as we cuddled in the hammock. It was so nice to have quiet time with my youngest grandchild.

We got tired and hungry and headed to her place, where your Uncle David made everyone quesadillas. Then it was time for a short drive and a delightful walk through the Bollerskovene Klokkedal Skov, which is a national park just across the fjord from Horsens.

Broad, flat paths and burbling creeks made for a pleasant walk. We found a small bridge and I taught Liza how to play Pooh Sticks.

That lead to some engineering under the bridge to release the sticks. Engineers play differently than other folks, for sure. It was wonderful to see David and Liza having fun together!

And, as we walked back to the car, I got all three of my Danish family to pose. Aren’t they adorable? David drove us back to town and we all had naps and then a snack-ish dinner together.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Wild Flowers, Rune Stones, and Deer

Dear Jasper and Kestrel,

For our second day in Horsens, we headed out of town to Jelling. Of course, there is always a snag, and David’s Tesla needed charging, so we had a layover.

Liza and I enjoyed the massive wild flower field by the service station, and had a fine time identifying and photographing them. With the rain and long summer days, flowers grow really well here, even when no one takes care of them.

At Jelling, we met Auntie Olga’s friend Dennis. He is from Russia and getting used to life in Denmark, too.

The rune stones are rough, stout stones about seven feet high, carved all over with symbols. They were placed here, between two burial mounds, by the Danish King in the year 965 A.D.

This one, which shows a very stylized Jesus on the cross, was carved to show that King Harold Bluetooth (yes, really) had converted to Christianity. It is called Denmark’s Baptism certificate.

In case you were wondering, Harold’s initials, written in Danish runes (ancient letters) is the symbol we now use for Bluetooth wireless technology. Bluetooth was invented by a Dutch engineer while working in Sweden, so I guess it makes some sort of sense? Cool, anyway.

Scientists have discovered that the stone were originally painted!! Over a thousand years the paint has worn away, but tiny traces remain, and a replica of one of the stones has been created with what they think the original colors were. I was stunned. With the color, they look almost Mayan.

After some delicious ice cream, we said good-bye to Dennis and headed to our last stop of the day, the Deer Park outside of Vejle, south of Horsens. The deer were very gentle, of course, but not always cooperative.

One little girl followed the small group around with a handful of grass and kept offering it. She may have a long term strategy, but while we were there, the deer weren’t having it.

By this time, we were all pooped and drove ‘home’ for a well-deserved lay down.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Danish Travel Journal

Dear Liza,

Yep, there is a new travel journal, and it’s heading your way! I will be bringing it this week when Grandpa Nelson and I visit you in Denmark.

As usual, I started with a nice thick mixed media spiral bound sketchbook. Their paper is good for writing, collage, and even watercolors, if you don’t get too wet.

My front cover is frenetic and busy, like I am feeling about the trip. I used a weird polar map projection and a compass rose to show travel, a flag and color scheme for Denmark, and words to tell about the excitement of anticipation.

Since most of our travel once we get to Denmark will be by car, my inside cover shows a road trip. The background started as a celestial map, and you can still see some of wording under the grey acrylic. I wanted a grey and red color scheme, and found all those little figures in a magazine ad for Target. Posca marker let me write in WHITE.

Since the back cover represents the end of the journey, it has words like ‘exhausted’ and ‘I had an enormous breakfast’ as well as things I hope to see. And just because I had them, I included the Danish national anthem in Danish and English.

Since every trip is different, every travel journal is different, and I can’t promise anything special. But I’ll show you what I come up with. Heck, you’ll probably see some of what I’m drawing while I’m drawing it.

And I will like that very much.

Love,

Grandma Judy

SOAK Day 4

Dear Liza,

Saturday is a big day at SOAK, the day of the Major Structure burn. I have showed you this structure, that thing that looks like a wooden light house. There are stairs inside, and I actually went up!

The views were wide and high, but the gusting winds encouraged me to head on down.

By the evening, I had figured out that a million pictures weren’t going to capture my experience of SOAK, and I took fewer and fewer. But that evening, with everyone in costume and sitting in The High Meadow waiting for the Burn, I asked Jasper, Kestrel, and their Troupe to sit for a portrait.

Some pictures are worth posing for!

The Burn was delayed several times, as the wind kept gusting, creating a danger of the fire spreading. Firefighters soaked the ground between the structure and the fire line, and people were stationed on the hill to look for sparks.

I was waved down to a seat in the front by a ranger named Leeway, who (like lots of other folks here) is a friend of Katie’s. The fire dancers came out and put on a thrilling, if slightly scary, show.

And then, at 11:28 p.m., the thermite was set off and the Burn began.

You could tell which job people had by which way they were looking. The firefighters never took their eyes off the tower, to make sure the fire didn’t get loose into the area. The Rangers never took their eyes off the crowd, to make sure no one acted in ways that were unsafe around fire.

The tower burned for about a half hour, letting the chilly crowd get warm. We were all warming ourselves in the same fire, becoming, in a way, members of the same tribe.

This felt like all of the Principles coming into play at the same time.

*Radical Self-Reliance, because everything had been brought up by the burners.

*Gifting and Communal Effort from the folks who built and monitored the fire for the rest of us.

*Immediacy, in our total absorption in the moments of the Burn.

*Decommodification, because it was offered to all of us for free. Also, no one was advertising anything with it.

*Consent, because there were those who chose not to be at the Burn, and everyone was free to experience it at their own comfort level.

*Radical Inclusion and Participation, because there was plenty of room for the almost 3,000 people to see. Also, all of our presence made up the experience.

*Radical Self-Expression, in the creation and then destruction of one’s creation.

*Civic Responsibility, in the action as of fire fighters, Rangers, and the whole crowd, keeping everyone safe. Also, the correct local fire permits and such were given, so the Burn is also good citizens to the “outside”.

I will tell you about the last Principle tomorrow, as we move toward out last day at SOAK 2024.

Love,

Grandma Judy