"Art is the Queen of all sciences communicating knowledge to all the generations of the world."

That's where I would like to be on this dreary day... wandering hallways resplendent with art. Basking in an environment which celebrates the art of cultures from around the globe.
Museum moments I have known and loved:

• A day in NYC at the Met: immense; diverse; revered; amazing. 
• Or amidst billowing clouds and elongated landscapes in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Rembrandt's rich, dark backgrounds... did he use mommia* as a pigment to create that warm depth?
  
• Ayutalla, Thailand... Ancient temples, sculpture and wandering elephants.
• Golden Buddhas in Bangkok.
• The endless hallways of the Louvre...  There is NEVER enough time in the Louvre.
• The Gold Museum in Lima with it's wild, adjacent Erotic Ceramic Art museum. Where one can  find thousand year old vessels made to look like corn or bats, and others of 
  

  Ceramic mice on a Mochica vessel
  llamas, mice and/or humans making love?  Mice doing a piggyback rodent dance. All exquisitely painted with engobes, burnished and fired in pit fires with perfect control.
• Robert Irwin's Orb in the Chicago Art Institute, my first encounter was in 1977 on a cross country trip. Still vivid, a round glowing orb on the wall exuding light.
• Boston's MFA, The Guitar Show
• Shuffling through the sycamore leaves from Reading Terminal to the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Marcel Duchamps' room amazed me. The impressionists.
  

As a young teen I used to get on a bus in Towson, Maryland  to ride to the Washington DC mall and wander alone in the National Gallery for the entire day, before catching the bus back.  Such freedom. Such inspiration and validation.
 

Inquiring minds sometimes ask: Why nests? Why eggs? Why twining twigs and grasses?
It began with birds... the chicken was definitely before the egg for me.

Birds have always been magical and fascinating friends. Once while I hid in the sheltering branches of a sizable yew during a childhood game of hide and seek, a flock of cedar waxwings surrounded the tree, feasting on ripe berries. Sleek olive feathers and waxy red tips on the wings... a slightly scary mask over beady eyes as they gobbled juicy red berries... all very memorable for a five year old.

When I lived on a sage brush studded desert mesa near Taos, New Mexico I drew many, soaring ravens in pen and ink, and painted large still lifes with feathers and other treasures. At UNM my drawings often included entangled threads and grasses. So strange to think of now, that I have been nurturing this imagery for so long.

Then while in residency at the Vermont Studio Center I brought along an Audubon Field Guide of Nests, and  simultaneously undertook a study of transparent acrylic, and the architecture of the nest of a Common Yellowthroat, an elusive, tiny, bright yellow bird. They are always thrilling to discover in the underbrush.

That was several years ago. I continue to be fascinated by the texture, intricacy and beauty of nests, and the creatures who create them. The eggs were later.
Time to head in to the studio. It's getting light out already.

Winter solstice: darkness prevails. It would be easy to mope and drone.
Instead, listening to the resonance of Bach's Cello Suite #4 in E flat... rich and energetic cello, soaring and looping like a bird in flight... Perfect for dismal winter day on the darkest day of the year.
Following the advice of Alyson Stanfield who has a fabulous art business consultation website. I went wandering on the web looking for old friends and their blogs. That and a card from Carel Pieter Brest Van Kampen led me to two fabulous sites:
Carel's http://rigorvitae.blogspot.com/ Carel's vibrant work has amazed me and the rest of the world of art and science since long before I met him. He is an amazing piano player too!

and Birdspot, the sketchblog of Catherine Hamilton, with delicate pencil drawings that I would love to see in the real world.Two completely different artists who see deeply.
Meanwhile I am doing my own looping with the new heart nest, twining delicate ribbon into the grasses, over a deep red and gold surface.

 

“There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth...not going all the way, and not starting.

- Buddha

Cleaning the studio, wiping the palette, sweeping up the shreds and shards and debris.
Making a quiet space in the center of my own chaos. Getting ready for the next phase.

So many projects in process. Half started, just started, barely started, nearly finished. To step back in and regain the momentum is challenging, but I've done it so many times. It's not even a leap of faith anymore... re-entering the groove.
Co/So selected Hope Entwined V for the show in January. It will be good to see it on Newbury Street.

And here I am in the studio at 2 am again. It's so hard to leave. Working on color layers, crackled, textured, sanded and over-layed... What shines from within?
My clay is prepared, the sculpture stand clean... the drawing done, the maquette in place.