Category: Painting
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Poetry-Art Collaboration
Red Wing Arts in Red Wing, Minnesota is having its 20th annual Poet-Artist Collaboration. I created “Waiting for Something Unknown to be Made Clear” based on the poem, Downpour by Lisa Higgs.
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Red Wing, MN and Frontenac State Park
In June I ventured out a bit. Just over an hour’s drive from home. I wore a mask when going into gas stations or stores and social distanced on the trails. Frontenac State Park is near the city of Red Wing. I registered for the Red Wing Plein Air “Festival” and chose Frontenac as my location because I wanted a long hike and an uncrowded spot.
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Fort Snelling State Park
After I dropped off my mother at the Minneapolis airport, I decided to find the closest place to go for a long walk. I did not know that this park was closed for most of the summer. Flooding was the issue. It is located at the place where the Mississippi River and the Minnesota River […]
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Rice Creek West Regional Trail: Locke County Park to the Mississippi River
This day was all about connections. In the past I hiked east from Locke County Park. One of my earlier blog posts is about slipping on the ice in the section between Central Ave and Silver Lake Road. East from Locke County Park the trail meanders back and forth across the creek for a couple miles, joins the road for a bit, follows the railroad track, and eventually meets up with Long Lake Park. On this day I wanted to try going west all the way to the Mississippi and see how this trail connects to the Mississippi River Trail.
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Enter the Art Show Already
If you are at the beginning of trying to promote yourself as an artist as I have been for over 20 years now, this is my advice to you: Learn from my mistakes. Enter the art show already. Whatever it is. Do not let fear of how your efforts will appear to others hold you back.
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Make Time for What is Important
Last weekend I could not decide on a topic. I started two drafts: “Make Time for What is Important” and “Why I Go to Church”. I did not finish either of them. Wednesday morning I got the news that the worldwide organization of my church rejected the LGBTQ+ community. I was deeply disappointed.
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Show Up and Do the Work
Both painting and hiking are achieved by many small actions. One more step, one more step. In both it is possible to get lost in the repetition of small actions. That feeling of being in the zone of automatic productive action is amazing.
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Paint a response.
Today I struggled with the demons of doubt and fear. Time was wasted. The negative thoughts told me that I am not good enough. They said I deserve to take a break. The demons did not want me to experience nature or paint anything, they wanted me to waste time. If I go through my one and only life without honing my art skills and without communicating my ideas, they win. I am glad that a different thought occurred to me: “Wait. How is it that I am both not good enough AND deserving of a break? I think I will no longer listen to you”.
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Como Park
This is the largest, most historic park in St. Paul, Minnesota. It is also the location of a lot of my personal history. I remember going to the zoo as a child. I remember my brother getting sick on a carnival ride. In my 20’s and 30’s I lived near this park and often jogged […]
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Rice Creek Trail North
Found a trail that is new to me since I was last here. I was glad to have extra traction on my boots because it was icy. The oak branches are what captured my attention this time.
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Hadrian’s Wall near Hexham, UK
It seems that many of the blogs I am reading lately are from the UK and Ireland. Looking at photos from a 2013 trip to the UK got me thinking about walls. Hadrian (c. 128AD) ordered a wall to be built at the northern boundary of the Roman Empire. If anyone from that area is reading this you know much more about it than I. What struck me was the passage of time.
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Vadnais-Sucker Lake Regional Park
Part of the trail is on a narrow isthmus between two sections of Lake Vadnais.
Paint and Hike 