Time is just vanishing like a mist over the morning hills....

I had a wonderful evening last night with two dear friends. The evening was filled with laughter , family stories, a white pizza and a fresh green salad with a ginger shitake mushroom dressing. I slept in until after nine this morning and rushed around to get to work on my schedule. I met with a couple of artists who are showing their works at the gallery on first street at The Works. I met with Lynn the art director and she explained the call for artists for the central gallery. Lynn was meeting with a photographer this afternoon for the first upcoming exhibit and finally there will be Art in the central gallery once again. It will be just another chapter of the visual language that conveys another layer of the History and sacred marks artists make. I am very excited about the prospect of having more stimulation and conversation outside my studio ...so the more Art the better.

I worked on carving a small 4 by 6 soft block ...to use in several small projects to offer for sale in the studio. I do have to pay the rent. Then as I worked in the solitude and quiet with a little music in the back ground a young mother came in for assistance. She has a child in need of direction in her life and had heard of my works and really needed information about my individual art classes. I listened and even if we do not meet as a class I was able to listen and share my experiences with an unruly teen. I gave her others she might want to meet with in coordination with the courts and counseling team. There are moments in life when I am in the right place at the right time. Now I will wait until I hear more information about the possibilities to come.

I was rushing out the door to go over to my daughter's house...her father in law had had a heart attack and had emergency surgery over in Columbus. By the time I arrived we had more information and he was resting quietly after having a stent placed to open a blockage. My friend stopped me ...he had been by to visit while I was out with pneumonia...and stopped to share his photos of his two recent paintings after returning from a three week stay in Thailand. We made promises to have lunch real soon and I am so glad to have him in my life safe and sound from his global adventures.

I made a quick trip to pick up 50% off the materials for my puppet workshop with the mother's play group visiting me in a couple of weeks. I found chenille puffs, bright pipe cleaners and wonderful squiggly eyes on sale to add to the simple design elements we will use in our workshop. I came home and hit the bed for a quick rest and came down to complete this post of the day. I realize each day is an adventure and sometimes...often I guess...just showing up for living a life as an artist is the greatest gift I can experience. i hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Embrace the moment. Create. Imagine and Live in Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart

an eve of reflection on the goodbye to 2010....

I have the TV on with Times Square happenings in my background. Ken has gone to sleep and will greet 2011 in the morning. I went down to work in solitude in my studio ...it was 62 degrees here today...I am not sure what to think about this weather pattern. We were in sub-zero temperatures for most of the month and today we finish the year out with glorious sunshine and almost tropical temperatures. I gathered up my Christmas collection of design elements and carefully sorted and put them into the best organizational system I have ever had. I was totally proud of my "stuff all in a proper place"...this is so freeing to my spirit and I began rediscovering what supplies I had for the next couple of months. I am going to be working on my quilts but I still need to make some items to tempt my visitors to buy and support my rent of the month fund! :O)

I took some natural photos tonight on my way home ...my sky seemed to fill with mystical openings in the dark foreboding clouds...the sunlight found its way to escape and shimmer down on the precious undeveloped earth. I began to recognize holes in my reality and tried to begin to connect some of the details and search for personal solutions to my shortcomings. I need to pay attention to small clues and show my affection when I feel the need to express sides or versions of myself that I normally keep quiet and hidden away. I hope to daily show appreciation for my talents and strengths and recognize I can not and could not be everything for "others". This acceptance alone is a new awareness of attributes and weaknesses I have known about myself but rarely expressed. If I see or feel a personal sadness I will make an effort to reach out and help someone else. I am finding solace in my retreat to work daily on my own works...in my own place...that I happen to share with others when they come in. There are days when I do not accomplish everything I set out to do but being out in the open and sharing my art process is one way of communicating with one another. I do think I will work more after hours in 2011 because I do enjoy the quiet alone moments but my focus has become more visible in my heart's desire. Once again recognize...connect... and solve what come what may in the next year. I will seek renewal in quiet moments ....trust the hope found in a child's eyes ... and listen with my heart. I wrote "Hope like a tree reaches for the sky" back when I was 16 and in high school at Angela Merici in Louisville, KY. I am amused that I can remember this process thought after so many years and with the brain surgery I have gaps in my memory...maybe that is for the better.

I watched the Devine Bette Midler's special on HBO earlier tonight and realize for 40 years I have had her music in my subconscious. She is one brave bodacious broad and I am proud to say she is a woman who has made her own "Herstory" history. If you get a chance are in my age group check her out...her dance troupe is spectacular and the costumes will make you smile. The bawdy jokes in a vaudeville style ...I sure wish I could remember her one liner jokes... I am not a joke teller.

Hold
Heal
Listen
Survive a crisis
Tears
Let go
Freedom
Fulfillment
Simple living a simplified life
Transcendence
Renewal
In Inner Peace.

May we all be blessed to be safe, healthy and content to create daily. Dare to risk the unfamiliar or new and seek quiet calm moments daily. Happy New Year! Imagine and Live in Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart


Larry Nawadney is a wood carver from Granville, OH...searching for his answers.
Look out for the curves in the road...this is a journey we all must make on our own.

A friendship for 50 years...

I have had a quiet weekend which is what I needed. I received a phone call today from a friend I grew up with in Pleasure Ridge Park sine June 10, 1960...the day we moved into our new home on Terry Road. Russell is a gift to my heart's circle...we have been through marriages, births, deaths, grown children and grand children...and now as we move into our 60's we are both exploring our artistic lives. He is a writer now and has just written his first children's book dedicated to his love for his grandchildren. I ordered his book today from Amazon "Letters from a Captive Heart"... letters to and from POWS and their families trying to survive this turmoil and crisis. I will give you all feedback later after I read this book...I just am so fortunate to have kept him in my heart for all these years. No we never dated...I would have loved to have dated but time works strangely and wonderfully...now we both have loving spouses who support our dreams and share our years of exploration as we walk into our Golden years. Did I just say that???

Tomorrow I am heading down to the Midland to do some volunteer work in the morning and then down to the Studio for the afternoon. I have been reading a publication for the last year and half..."Where Women Create"...and this newest issue has Amy Butler on the front cover. Many of you who sew probably recognize her fabric designs and line of colorful fabrics. The article shares her design space, her home and she explains some of her processes and inspirations. She is headed over to the large quilt exhibit in Birmingham, England,,,the same one I had considered attending with my friend Susie Shie this month. Money is very limited right now and I could take the adventure of a foreign journey or use the funds to open my own studio space. I do love to travel but for the first time I am living my dream. "From a woman's soul through a woman's eyes by a woman's hands" is the mission statement for this publication and there is always a wonderful selection of motivating women living in their moment of time and exploring the business of the studio. Ken has worked out a tri-fold photographic handout to share some of my ideas and proposals for the numerous possibilities I am wanting to explore.

I also am enjoying the latest issue of Quilting Arts Magazine for August/September 2010. There is an article about using metal for embellishments...my rusty bits and pieces are coming along quite nicely. Thread painting and sketching exercises with some easy advice for adding dimension with your machine stitches...machine work is not my strong point right now because I still love the slow cloth approach with the meditative pace to soothe my crazy soul. There is an article about weaving a cloth base that employs small remnants and pieces that can be assorted and placed to express a poetic composition...wonderful stitches ans embellishments...something I am totally addicted to. I highly recommend both of these publications for your reading enjoyment on a lazy summer's afternoon. I hope you all have found a moment or two to relax and enjoy the break in the storms that have plagued us over the last two hot, muggy weeks. Imagine and Live in Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart

I am also diving into Jane Dunnewold's two best books ever!!!