I am approaching forty, and as many do for this particular leg of the journey, I find myself in an uncomfortably dense thicket of self investigation. I am constantly stumbling into the how-can-I-live-a-richer-life? shrub, or disentangling myself from the thorns of am-I-a-decent-human-being? The unclear answers I come up with often just leave my map an incomprehensible jumble of squiggles. So, there is delicious irony in the fact that my recent trip to Sunriver OR (I mean, is there a town with a more confusing layout, or a more ridiculously unreadable free tourist map?) served to clarify my journey.
Myself and 18 other wonderful women spent 3 days laughing with each other, complimenting and encouraging each other, hugging, braiding hair, laughing some more. My friend Iris had the idea and the will to organize this rainbow photo, (we persuaded a passing golfer to put down his club and take the shot). The picture is beautiful, gorgeous color, happy faces... but what strikes me is that in order for this photo to come about we all had to believe in Iris’s idea. We had to pack our assigned color, put it on, all get outdoors together (trust me that was no small feat), mill around in the cold, line up in order, and smile despite our freezing feet.
I am hard pressed to think of a better path toward a rich and decent life. When I practice believing in other people’s ideas I am part of the emotional food that feeds them, I am part of the human web that holds us, and inevitably I am swept into something bigger, more exciting, and unpredictably joyful than I could have generated alone. Here’s to believing in other people’s ideas!
If you are out at Lane...
“Farm to Table 2013-14 / Farm”
The David Joyce Gallery presents the first of three exhibits in the series of “Farm to Table.” The current and first exhibit is “FARM.” Each exhibit features a step in a process - growing food, how products get to us and the preparation and the joy of consuming food. We are honored with a delightful spectrum of artwork and art mediums. The exhibit shows art created by artists from Oregon and Europe; adults, teachers, students, children and staff. We are also thrilled to have “Crop” the “Farm” show within a show.
David Joyce Gallery carries on the tradition of David Joyce, artist and teacher. The gallery supports art in its many forms and sources, teaching, inspiring and providing visual pleasure. The gallery creates a fresh thematic series of three exhibits each year. We specialize in work exhibiting the glory and wonder of food, growing plants, culinary arts, hospitality, food markets, travel and the people who learn, work and live in these worlds.
Artists featured in “Farm” are Roka Walsh, Janice LaVerne Baker, Rich Bergeman, Stefani Thompson, Jason Rydquist, Bonnie Powell, Tamara Pinkas, Tylar Merrill, Merideth Ferrell, Margaret Plumb, Lynn Ihsen Peterson, Jo Warren Jill Ledet. Robin Bachtler Cushman, Rosie Huntley, Jim Bailey, Terry Maddox, Gladys Bacon, Andrei Engelman, Mari Livie, Susie Morrill, LCC Children’s Center Artists, “Crop Show” Bruce Bittle, Keith Munson, Tom Elder.
This exhibit also provides a tribute wall, showcasing a collection of eclectic, photographic cutout fragments by artist David Joyce (1946-2003) for whom the gallery is named. David was an art instructor at Lane for 25 years and recongnizably known for his monumental flying people mural “Flight Patterns” at the Eugene Airport.
Join our Facebook page and our event on Eugene AGoGo!
https://www.facebook.com/TheDavidJoyceGallery
http://www.eugeneagogo.com/Opening-Farm-Exhibit/e/UQBUJ6T/
For directions to the Center for Meeting and Learning: http://www2.lanecc.edu/center/main-campus
Please join us at our reception Monday, October 14, 4:30-6:00pm with hors d’oeuvres and prepared and served by Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management program students and the Center for Meeting and Learning banquet staff.
A special addition will be music by Infamous.
“Farm” will open with the Reception on October 14 and run through December 15, 2013.
The David Joyce Gallery is open M-F, 8-5 and during special events at the Center for Meeting and Learning in Building #19.
If you wish to know more about the artists, purchase work or have questions,
contact Susan Detroy, Gallery Director : detroys@lanecc.edu .
Art Chics Sale
an old man singing
I just finished a phone conversation with my grandma Betty. She and my grandpa live in eastern montana, next door to my mother. (Here’s a photo of them dancing at my cousin’s wedding.)
My grandma was telling me about the conflicts arising around my grandpa’s relentless singing. He sings through long car trips, at family get togethers, at work in his yard. He sings loud gospel numbers, with lots of feeling. Now he is singing in restaurants, standing and singing to the people munching fries and spooning pie into their mouths. It drives my mother crazy. I have no idea what it is like to care for your aging parents. My mom gives a lot of herself and has her patience tried in ways I can’t possibly see from this great distance. What I do see, however, is that there is something profoundly brave and joyful, something delightfully inappropriate and unexpected about a 95 year old man rising slowly from his diner chair to serenade a restaurant full of strangers. I love it that my grandpa just can’t stop himself from singing!
jarring possibilities
I’m working on a small quilts series of things in jars. I was initially thinking canned goods: pickles, beets, pears..., but I’ve quickly run out of typical can-ables (no relation to cannibals) and am tapping my thought box for more. I’ve got sprouting avocado seed, bathing beauty, bolts and screws, and lightening bugs thus far. Any other ideas for jarring possibilities?
1 thing I love about camping...
If you look closely at the ground you can see the thousands of tiny wood shavings my daughter produced over our 4 day camping trip. There were no phone calls to make to friends, no planned activities, no texts to send or receive, no shows to watch. The girl had a knife and an endless supply of wood. She whittled a sword, a serving spoon, 2 paddles for floating on the river, 20 some pairs of chopsticks, and a spatula. She also infected the rest of us with whittling fever.
We are not so different, you and I
My husband jokingly called this a potato bird. Interestingly, that name quite appropriately embodies the idea that tickled my cortex into making this quilt. I recently read a short National Geographic article on gene mapping. We humans share a whopping 24% of our genes with the wine grape. The chicken shares 65% of our human genetic make up. I can only imagine that this little Goldfinch and the Yukon Gold potatoes nestled beneath it, have quite a lot in common.