Each week I take an oil painting class. I have gone for over a year now and completed four paintings, which I think is a pretty good number. So far I have worked mostly from …
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LAST THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
“Only those who have felt the knife Can understand the wound; Only the jeweler Knows the nature of the jewel.” – Mirabai
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THROUGH MY LENS
This was the view in my old and overgrown apple orchard a few years ago. Yesterday it rained here, then snowed, and lastly hailed. Maybe it was more like May when the photo above was taken, but …
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FRESH OFF THE PAGE
This poem was inspired by this past weekend’s annual ritual of cleaning up after the small army of maple and locust trees in my yard. I like to believe that if I can find beauty in even a small …
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LAST THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
“A person’s life purpose is nothing more than to rediscover, through the detours of art, or love, or passionate work, those one or two images in the presence of which his heart first opened.” – …
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The Madonna and me
Many years ago my father took a trip to northern Italy, his mother’s birthplace. My tiny Italian grandmother had arrived in America on a boat, accompanying her new husband after World War I. They settled …
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LAST THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” – Mark Twain This day is done. But tomorrow offers a whole new chance to get started again. A clean slate, blank page, or fresh canvas waiting to …
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Healing through creativity
Creation can mean salvation. Whether it’s visual or verbal, having an outlet to process thoughts, emotions, and personal struggles is a life-giving force. Translating those experiences into words, pictures, or some other tangible form heals …
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THROUGH MY LENS:
I miss the ocean: The pounding, hypnotic rhythm of the waves; the tangy smell of the salt air; and the feeling of being so very, very small. Between the rain and snow, I can look out …
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FRESH OFF THE PAGE
Few people in my life ever knew that I wrote poetry. I would just quietly fill notebooks up with my little verbal snapshots, hiding them away. So putting my poems online for other people to read is a bit …
