14 May 2025 (Llano Quemado, New Mexico –
You could say that I’m a Dreamer – but I’m not the only one! My forevertime favorite poem “Dreamkeeper” by Langston Hughes….
Bring me all of your dreams
You dreamer.
Bring me all of your
Heart melodies
That I may wrap them
In a blue-cloud cloth
Away from the rough fingers
Of the world.
Went crazy ordering art supplies this week – this is only a small part of my panic attack purchases! Of course the White House eliminated a good portion of their nutso tariffs on China after I went berserk!!! Will try to paint faster from now on – too bad I can’t take them with me when I go to that Big Easel in the Sky!
Dreaming Big! Had to remove some parts from my large studio easel raising up the 60″x36″ canvas so I can paint the lower third…this piece has challenged me in more ways than one – am a little shorter than I used to be! A tornado of activity in the studio and my living area – many underpaintings, gessoing several new canvases, reorganizing my workspace and the house at the same time is daunting! Confusion reigns. Busy changing spaces, seasons of clothes – purging whatever is no longer used or needed! Bags and bags of stuff I probably didn’t need in the first place. My granddaughter ready to give birth any minute – pins and needles. Little Flora will have a new playmate. Wondering what kind of world they are being born to experience. So far they will grow up with two loving parents who believe in self-sustainability – a working ranch in Northern New Mexico a herd of cows, apple trees, chickens and a milking cow named Delores!- and great-grammanana making certain they have plenty of wonderful books and art supplies to keep them happy! Ain’t Life amazing?
SAGEBRUSH DREAMING – 60″x36″ Work in Progress – top half of the painting is now complete. Below:Two Works in Progress – Storm & Shadow & La Senda de Taos
Still feeling numbed out by the world we live in now, and thinking perhaps many of my fellow countrymen feel the same. Reading headlines only of the new book that describes Biden’s decline during the last of his Presidency. This was no surprise – that second term was a mistake! It is obvious that our current leader has much the same problems in his second term in office. Accepting that well-used jumbo jet from Qatar will cost tax payers over a billion dollars to upgrade with latest security equipment. All the changes to life saving science programs especially cancer research are scary; the deportations, cuts to child welfare – without any demonstrable sign of greater efficiency or tax savings. Our government needs reform, not utter chaos and purposeful destruction. Waiting for the new Budget – bet its a doozy.
Am unable to fathom the blindness toward the obvious genocide in Gaza. Does anyone in their right mind think this is prime real estate on top of total devastation? Gaza/Ukraine – man’s inhumanity to man on steroids. And, in the dark recesses of my old mind, I do believe Putin has his little beady eyes set on Poland next. Rest easy we all have a perfect right to feel numb, but it is time to recover our will to Resist. (Making Art is an act of Resistance!)
Those Cardinals with the tall white mitres, however, got everything right by electing a Pope from my Home Country – the South side of Chicago! A brilliant ray of Hope, he sounds practical and tough (witness his clear rebuttal of Vance’s world vision). Pope Leo just might be the answer to some of our prayers for a more peaceful world. We all need to remember the teachings of St. Francis now more than ever!
“The images of peace are ephemeral. The language of peace is subtle. The reasons for peace, the definitions of peace, the very idea of peace have to be invented, and invented again.
Children, everybody, here’s what to do during war: In a time of destruction, create something. A poem. A parade. A community. A school. A vow. A moral principle. One peaceful moment.”
—From THE FIFTH BOOK OF PEACE, Maxine Hong Kingston
| Hug someone today – Donna |
| In the Studio -Small Underpaintings – New Works in Progress |
