IMG_5564_2
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.
The gallant and talented Thoroughbred I had the care of died in his pasture yesterday afternoon. It was quick – we suspect a heart attack or aneurysm. I am distressed, and extremely sad. Things will be better in a while, but right now everything feels pretty grim.
what we did this week in family circus
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.
long evening, very brave kids, dong amazing things
morning moon
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.
Taking Alice to school this morning – she’s better, but still sniffly – and this moon spoke to me, so I dashed back and grabbed the camera. Mornings have been clear, and the moon keeps talking to me.
I have to write a paragraph or two about my art, and pick two pictures to send to the gallery manager so she can get publicity started for us. I like the forethought, but I have no clue what to say. I figure I’ll start blabbing about tools and passion, and what I am attempting to show people and then pare it down to the point where it makes sense. And is grammatical.
cocoa in the morning
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.
Still noodling with the new cute netbook.
If (when) Aerin misses the bus, Alice and I take her to school, and then we have enough time for cocoa at the Cup and Top. It is a nice way to ease into the morning.
Well – this post is coming to you from the cutest machine ever, courtesy of Al who thought Someone in the family needed one, and since Aerin fell hard for a Macbook, he towed me past a handful of them until he found one I didn't hate. To be completely truthful I am almost smitten. I don't generally cope well with new technology. I stared at the Kitchen Aid Mixer balefully for nearly a year, and didn't touch it until the handheld mixer emitted a high thin and a whisp of smoke and died. But here I am addressing you from a machine that looks a lot like this, pretty keyboard and elegant screen and all. I insisted on one that is pretty and this completely fills the bill. It is adorable. Of course, Al had a minor fit when he tried to pronounce Toord Boontje (you can hardly blame him) but it is pretty much all good, at the moment.
The theory is that a tiny portable machine will allow me to do some computing in Brattleboro while waiting for circus things to finish, and you might get more reliable posting to the blog. As we all know the giant gap between theory and practice, we'll see how that actually plays out.
I have to go play more. This is fun!
Today marks the end of three years of blogging. Or the beginning of my fourth year of blogging. Or something like that.
I am working on a heavily stitched piece for Bob and Leonor, of their mares eating hay in the pasture. I like the shapes of the horses, and the bright red splash of the hay holder. I'm working from a photo (this one, in fact) that I have two versions of – apparently this is an image I like, and the mares hang out like that a lot, and I photograph them there repeatedly.
Once I finish that, I have a picture of Ruby to adapt into fabric for Rachel.
And I really, really, reeeealy have to start framing things, because I have a show to hang at the beginning of February.
Mt Toby and Hadley Farm
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.
This is where the words hit me, looking off to the north across Hadley Farm and all the UMass horses.
They still breed some Morgans, even though they are starting to breed warmbloods as well. I remember the Morgan School horses with such affection. Most of them were as old as, and much more sensible than, the freshmen riding them.
And this is the UMass Sunwheel, which we also call Babyhenge (because it is small, not because it is made of babies [eeew?])
UMass Sunwheel
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.
tree shadow
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.
The sun was at the perfect angle to center the shadow on the side of the building… AND I had my camera, and the batteries weren’t dead.
There seems to be a poetry field, or something, between me and the Canadian horses in Pelham.
As I come over a particular hill, and look north towards Mount Toby, some set of words will come to me, from nearly nowhere it seems, and I'll have to pull over at the UMass Sunwheel and write them down. If I don't, they're lost. If I do write them down, I can find them again. I think – I haven't actually tried to find something yet. I am still too astonished at words appearing like this.
I'll take a picture next time I go that way.
fuzzy ears
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.
The warmest piece of my horse has to be his ears – they are fuzzy in a way that the rest of him just isn't, really.
This is a more characteristic expression for him:
Bully
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.
Lee Thomson 