Merry Christmas

 When I began this blog in 2011, my goal was to post at least twice a week. Some years I have accomplished that - this year, not even close. It's been a rough year - my head, heart and art have been in a different place. (and I did get a book published!)

With all the distractions from normalcy, I did paint a card for this year. 

Here's a little history. When my first husband died almost 50 years ago, I looked for an appropriate card to send at Christmas. (That was long before I had gotten into art. My focus was raising two small children!) I finally found a card that spoke to me and got up the courage to mail it out. 

The image on the card was of an old tree stump that had been cut off and new growth was happening. 

In the past several years, I have drawn and redrawn that card and shared it with friends - as a symbol of new life. Here are a few...

Thinking about starting over again after the death of my husband this year, I came up with a new version of this old favorite. For me, it says in a simple image, who I am right now. It speaks of lives cut short, new life and hope.

Merry Christmas, everyone. 

Hopefully...I'll find renewed energy in the coming year

and get back to this blog more regularly!

Happy New Year!

Living into Darkness and Finding Light

 The book is in print! 

If you get a copy ...and read it... would you please consider leaving a review on Amazon? I am told that more reviews help others to find the book.  

I am excited to share with you the announcement of the publication of George’s essays in today’s Talbot Spy. https://talbotspy.org/coming-to-the-end-the-journey-of-george-and-jo-merrill/

 

The following is the press release which is going out. 

 

Experience the Journey of Life Before Death with a New Collection of Essays

“Living into Darkness and Finding Light”, by George Merrill available now

 

EASTON, MD (November 27, 2022) – Living into Darkness and Finding Light, a new book of essays by the late George Merrill, well-known author for the Talbot Spy, is now available.

 

Living into Darkness and Finding Light is a collection of essays written by George after he received a terminal cancer diagnosis. Each essay reflects on the last year of his life, and he invites the reader to join him on a reflective, spiritual journey through his last year of ‘living into dying.’ Share the pain, darkness, fear, curiosity, strength, and love, with George and his wife, Jo Merrill, as they navigate this journey together. With them, discover inner resources, and a sense of the divine mystery as they find the light and walk toward what is to come.

“George’s decision to write about his experience of living into his death was his gift to both of us. Our breakfast conversations had always been our ‘special time,’ but they took on a greater significance after his terminal diagnosis. Our discussions of life and death were about us at that moment,” states Jo Merrill, George’s wife. “For several months before his death, he and I talked about compiling his essays into book form and he asked that I provide sketches for each essay, It would be a final 'us’ thing.”

 

George R. Merrill was an Episcopal priest and pastoral counselor. After retiring from his professional life, he moved to Maryland’s Eastern Shore and began his writing career. A life-long searcher, he felt that the essays he wrote in the final year of his life reflected his true calling. An award-winning essayist, his writings were published in regional and national magazines, as well as in The Talbot Spy, a local online newspaper. He also published his first book, The Bay of the Mother of God, a collection of essays about the Chesapeake Bay. 

 

Jo Merrill is an award-winning watercolor and pastel artist. Her sketches have been published in a national journal and can be found in the book Thoughts from my Bench. She currently lives on Broad Creek in St. Michaels, MD. To see more of her work, visit her blog at jomerrillart.blogspot.com.

 

The book is available online at Amazon.com  Living into Darkness and Finding Light

 

Watercolor on Yupo paper

 I got out my watercolor paints for the first time in a long time. Time to get back to painting - playing - experimenting.

I began just dropping color across the top of the wet yupo paper. I sprayed it, held it up, and watched the paint run. More color and more spray. When I turned it upside down, I saw this.

So, what do you see? Maybe the beginning of a forest... If I drop in a little sunshine and 'find' the trees. 

Yupo paper is such fun. To find the trees, I wet a toothpick and trace the trees with it. Then gently blot the paint and it lifts off!

It seemed too RED ! I darkened the sides and defined some more of the trees. I also gently touched some of the wet paint here and there for texture. 

Getting there. Still too much red in the undergrowth so I added some 'background' and more tree definition.

"When the sun shines through the forest the trees begin to dance"

Kind of a long title but I like it!

Living into Darkness and Finding Light

Last month I wrote about the book in process...it is still making its way through the mysteries of the publishing world. (for background on the book, see prior post)

It now has title and a cover - thanks to one of my granddaughters who has art, computer, and public relations skills! The title comes from many conversations that George (my husband) and I had about living into his illness. The photograph is one of his favorites. He loved black and white photography!

This is the "About the Cover" description in the book: 

At this point about half of the essays have been reviewed and edited by the publisher. I do not have a date when I will actually hold the book in my hand. However, I am offering a few more of the images that I sketched along with the phrases from the essay.

Hopefully, in another few weeks I'll have a publish date!

Moving Forward Slowly - Book coming...

I see that my last post was April 2. I need to offer an explanation about my absence on this blog. A year ago in April 2021, my husband was diagnosed with a terminal form of cancer. We spent the following 12 months going to medical appointments  - including two hospitalizations and numerous chemo injections and blood transfusions. He died on Easter Sunday, April 17 of this year. 

It was a challenging time for us and we were so thankful for the support of our family and many friends.

During that year, George wrote about his experience of 'living into death.' (Before his diagnosis, he had been writing a weekly column for a local online newspaper.) These new essays, written following his diagnosis, elicited comments from all over the country.

For several months before his death he and I talked about compiling his essays into book form and he asked that I provide sketches for each essay, It would be a final 'us thing.'

So, as part of my personal grief work, I have finished 22 images, edited the essays, worked on a title and cover page...and the book is 'in the works.' 

Each essay will be headed by an image and a phrase that was picked out of the text. I want to share a preview of a few of the sketches before they are published.

I do not have a time frame or a publishing date, but will probably have time to post a few more images before the book is actually in print. 

I will post notice of the book!

Puzzle candle holders

In 'another life', before I began painting, I was a woodworker. I had always wanted to work with wood, but grew up at a time when girls were not allowed to take shop. Boys took shop. Girls took 'home economics.' Looking back, I have probably used the skills I learned in home ec more than most of the courses I took anywhere, but I always regretted not having the opportunity to take shop.

So, several yeas ago, when I received a flyer from a local community college offering 'Basic Woodworking - Hand and and Power Tools', I signed up! I ended up taking four semesters of night classes and loved it. I learned how to use all sorts of power tools. I made a workbench, tables, bookshelves, cabinets with panel doors, toys and puzzles for grandchildren.

I got involved with Habitat for Humanity and built lots of houses...until I was diagnosed with Lyme Disease and could no longer hold the lumber without my hands cramping. The disease crippled me for several years and I had to give up sawing, hammering...and the intoxicating smell of freshly sawn wood. 

Then I discovered watercolor painting... and found a new creative outlet which has led me to drawing, pastels, acrylics...  and the abstract painting and pouring that I have been doing recently. 

So, on to today's project...I woke up this morning with a new idea. 

I have loved the colors and shapes of the acrylic pours and was trying to think of ways to make some kind of base for the votive candles. Maybe I could combine that with some wood. I had been reluctant to get rid of my woodworking 'toys/tools'...and still had a lot of milled lumber from a cherry tree that we had to cut down years ago. 

I picked up a piece of the cherry wood, found the right size bit for my drill press, and began. I drilled holes for the glass votives and then began to randomly cut the pieces apart. One thing led to another and I had begun to make a puzzle! 

All these pieces could be used individually as candle holders, or they could be fit together in different groupings.! 

Here are some photos of the puzzle pieces with the candles. There are two sets of three...

Second set of three...

And here is a set of seven! Imagine having the candles all 

over the dining room table 

and asking our guests to put the puzzle together!

=

Since all these pictures were taken, I have put a finish on the wood and added felt to the bottom.  It's now a non-scratch surface so they can be put anywhere. 

It was a fun project!

Acrylic pouring....

 Tomorrow is the first day of spring! Where did February go...and half of March???

It seems I have been pouring a lot of acrylic over glass, but not so excited about it that I had to rush to my computer to post any of it. Taking refuge in my art space has been wonderful during the winter months. Some of the pourings have been interesting, but 'nothing to 'write home about.'

I'll start this post by showing some square glass that had been hanging around for some time. I had used these as candle holders in clear glass... what if, I poured them?

Interestingly, these are poured with the same colors, (wanted to use them together) but came out quite differently. They do sparkle when lit.

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine gave me several vases that someone had wanted to get rid of. I had put off using this one because I thought it's shape would be challenging. First of all, how would I get it to balance upside down? I needed it to be stable enough to paint. I found some long nails that I hammered into a base and wedged a paper towel cardboard over a dowel. At least I felt confident that it wouldn't tip and shatter on the concrete floor.

The second challenge was how to get the paint to drip toward the top. (that would be the bottom in the photo) As the paint runs down the vase, it tend to drip straight down and onto the paper without flowing under the rounded part.

What I discovered is that once there is paint on the glass, the rest of the paint will follow. So, I used a paint brush to coax the paint to cover the rest of the vase.

Here are three views of the finished vase. I'm also posting some close-ups. I love what happens to this paint... and I never know how it will turn out!     

The color on the close-up is not too good, but I love what happens with the white paint!

Letting the paint do the work is amazing...

                        
I love that squiggle on the third view! Wish I knew how to make that happen again somewhere.

I have a few more odd shaped vases. Hope to get some paint on them in the next couple of weeks.

 Yikes - It's almost the end of January and I just realized that I haven't posted since Christmas! It is perhaps a little late for be wishing everyone a Happy New Year, but here is a photo of an acrylic pour with a candle and two champagne glasses....welcoming 2022.

This new year is bringing some medical challenges in our family and I have been tied up with various appointments. However, whenever I can, I get into my shop for a little 'art therapy.' I put on some music, get out my paints and I am transported into another world. Here is a vase that I completed recently. It began with red, blue, beige, white and green. It's freshly poured in this photo and continued to drip and change for quite a while.

I was very surprised when I returned to it the next day. Most of the darker blue and deep red had disappeared and green and orange took over! Before putting resin on it, it looked like this.

 Here is the finished vase.

The larger pieces obviously take a longer time and sometimes my time is limited so I have been doing more smaller pours. These two square candle holders were fun to do and look wonderful when lit.

Friends of mine are 'supporting my habit' and have given me a box of 72 small glass votives. I learn something new with each one and have enjoyed experimenting with color and different ways of pouring. Here are just a few in various stages  - the ones in the back have a first coat of resin. The ones in the front awaiting their first coat.

One of my discoveries was using my heat gun to add additional sparkle/crackle to the paint. When the candles are lit, they are quite dramatic. 

It's been a lot of fun...and as long as that continues, I'll keep experimenting...and then keep posting!