It's only a paper moon....

Happy Autumnal Equinox...the moon is full and mysterious with its light peeking through the dancing tree branches. I have been working with Priscilla Rink on our Paper Moon Project set for October 23 from 10:00 to 8:00 pm. She has the camera and the paper moon and I am providing the corner of the studio for a day of little people ...big and small for that matter... to play with the coming Harvest rituals. We are making cards for Halloween, information for the Day of the Dead religious significance and set up small altars in the studio. We are making and painting masks that are brightly painted and adorned of the mock sugar skulls. We have plans for treat bags... card making with the children...her son dancing as our own dancing skelly passing out treats to one and all...we are still waiting to see if the restaurant will be open or not but...as you can see we are having a very good time "playing as the child in our hearts dances with real uncontrolled glee".

Tomorrow we have an opening at The Works with the visiting glass artist Erin who has specialized in the Venetian inspirations and her bowls and vases and exquisite goblets and wine glasses. Margarite Schrieber's son Daniel will also exhibit his glassware and until I get to photograph them I am not too sure of what styles and techniques he will be sharing. Ken is bringing down pizza for Priscilla and me and then we plan to walk over to see the exhibit. Hopefully someone will stop by for Hayley's last weekend in my Whispers and Echoes Studio.

ken and i had a small intimate dinner at Ruby Tuesdays ...a chance to catch up with each other and celebrate that tomorrow is Friday! I hope your days have been fruitful...I feel as if the week evaporated in a blink of my eye. Imagine and Live in Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart

The B52's...need I say more?

My mind is racing and my heart is pumping...I have had an experience with this wonderful group that my words fail to express my joy and movement in the aisles. By the end of a strobe light celebration of music and audience interaction I was so overwhelmed with the sharing of a wonderful stage filled and audience participation. Almost every one was up from the green velvet seats and dancing to their own space age rhythms ...it felt like the summer of 1986 all over again with my three daughters singing "Love Shack" in my tiny Toyota Corolla! Living in the moment was the gift of time for my spirit...I am tired but I feel so invigorated from the live performance. Art Saves Lives! I put the pink streaks on the front of my face but the wax color was stiff and the humidity kind of frustrated my style for the night. I knew it was there so I felt like a rocker girl for the evening!

The full moon has enveloped my hillside in a bath of gentle white light...as if to guide me home after our evening storms. We had the humidity and hot hazy afternoon steamy environment which only encourages the formation of tumultuous weather conditions and tornado warnings. Nothing was going to keep me away from my duty as a volunteer for the B52's...I think I am delirious so I will stop for the night. Imagine and Live in Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart

I totally forgot it was Tea for Tuesday...

I began the day running and forgot it was Tuesday and Tea Day ...even though at 90 degrees I drank a 32 large McDonald's unsweetened iced tea. Several old friends stopped by...Jeff Carr thinks I need a couple bonsai trees in my front window...Susan Frankenberry came in with her husband and is now painting large murals... Kathleen Kinney brought down two new clients to see the studio and introduce me to a new student Amber...welcome to you all young and young at heart. I worked on a few small projects but I did not take any photos to really note. I left a little early to attend my board meeting and then headed out to the Circle mounds to participate in the blessing of the new tree sculpture created by Bill Shippen. The circle in the prayer service had about 150 and the burning of the sage ...smudging... and the blessings shared made it a special moment in my heart. Now I am working on schedule for tomorrow and the B52's at the Midland. I want to dye my hair pink...well maybe some pink streaks :O)! I have transferred some photos and am finishing my Grounds for Wellness donation and a special assemblage for a young man who became a father about a week ago but is headed back to Afghanistan on Thursday to complete his duty. Hopefully I will be able to complete it tomorrow so he can see it before he heads back to duty. I hope you enjoy the images from my day! Imagine and Live in Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart












The Bear theme seem to run through my day...Bill Shippen carved this 15 foot maple tree trunk that was leftover from the Hurricane Ike winds that took down over 200 trees...this artist made this tribute to the Adena and Hopewell Indians from a broken tree spirit. The community has been witnessing his sacred carvings for the last couple of weeks and it is easily see from Route 79 here in Licking county.

Methotrexate blues...a day of forced retreat

I realized I may have been pushing my physical limits ...I have worked 6 days a week for the last 6 weeks...not a very wise work pattern to begin my studio schedule. Today I attempted to move slowly in a quiet environment and actually enjoyed the quiet and solitude and performed the mundane household chores like laundry. The dinner is already ready and I just want to carry down a couple more plastic boxes down and have them in the car for tomorrow. ken and I are sharing one computer and he has top priority because he is taking an on-line graduate class and writing his lesson plans for his classes and catching up on his required work for the this gifted position. It does amaze me that how complicated the whole education process continues to become...and yet as a nation we seem to fall further behind in our national progress.

I am working in my sewing studio on some small fiber assemblages ...possibly to be framed. I find my self mesmerized and the time just drifts away from me. I gaze outside the studio windows and realized the hillside is painted with a speckle of changing colors. The squirrels are scampering up and down playing and gathering the acorns for the upcoming chill in the evenings foreshadowing the coming of Lady Winter. I felt inspired to just sit and relish the present moment ... the change is inevitable and a gift to the balance of my spiritual passage. Imagine and Live in Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart

Sunday night and here we go again....

When we last met I was giving you all a quick report on my new art group and hours of marbling glee! We had music and good will and just hours of true playing fun with inks and floating them on papers. Friday I worked in the studio until 5:30 and then attended a gathering at the Works to honor the new names on the fund raiser "Bricks in the Courtyard" I had bought one to contribute to the ongoing dream of Howard LeFever's Dream for Technology, Art and History. Ken met me and we walked over to discover that someone else had purchased one for me! Whop pee! We could only stay for a short time because I had promised to volunteer at the Midland Theater for Toad the Wet Sprocket and an opening act by a tiny but very mighty young 23 lady Megan McCormick. It was a wonderfully loud night and I ended up manning the main phone and enjoying the wide variety of audience members from near and far. Saturday morning I attended an artist talk with Columbian print maker and listened to her stories of her journey as an artist and a woman adjusting to a new way of life. Eliana Calle-Saari was a quiet force with deep emotional responses to her country and family that she expresses exquisitely with her carvings into her wood blocks. In one hour I felt privileged to have been invited into the heart of her family. I am hoping I can visit their artist cooperative sometime soon over in Columbus. Around one o'clock my gran daughter Maya Rose came to assist me in the studio...cleaning and sweeping, reorganizing, and in between painting my paper mache (spelling) skulls and faces in preparation for the upcoming Day of the Dead workshop in October. We then visited the visiting glass artist named Erin in the studio and witnessed her designing and creating a hand blown bowl...from start to finish. Erin had graduated from Columbus College of Art and Design and she barely looked older than my Maya Rose. We decided to leave around three to go and have a special lunch to discuss our plans for opening a college fund for the her very near future...she is very excited about having her own money...we will set up the account next Saturday and we agreed to keep track of her hours....just like her first real job. We went to Ruby Tuesdays for a late lunch and then headed over to Hobby Lobby to pick up my baskets they had ordered for me. I then persuaded her that it was really time to go home but we both were not ready to end our adventure. I spent some time with her mother and the other two sisters while they had their evening snack. When I came home we had a light supper and settled in to watch the last chapter of Dexter from Showtime. It was a very sad ending to a somewhat bizarre series and left me feeling sad.

Today was a slow morning and yes I did stay in bed and rested until the afternoon with the best cup of coffee and CBS Morning Show! I then headed out to Kohl's and then off to the grocery to prepare for a week's meals as we both are taking our lunches to save money and eat more healthily. Honestly I sort of enjoy making and eating my own selections of tasty meals and snacks. Tonight I put a huge roast in the crock pot to plan on having supper ready to go when we meet up at home. I hope you enjoy the photos and have had a wonderful weekend! Imagine and Live in Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart

please forgive my absence...

Today I am just getting home from a marbling workshop...mordants for securing the colors onto to papers... mixing acrylic colors...having the seaweed mixture aged for at least 24 hours and then throw in a tornado and torrential horizontal rainfall. The things we do to make our art. The circle of ladies were all recognized artists and curators and faculty of Denison University. I will write more tomorrow when I get home, For two days I have been at the studio for long hours and tonight I went from the studio to the workshop. It was exhilarating but now I am ready for a hot hot shower and my bed. Enjoy a few photos and I promise to fill you in with more details. I have a concert tomorrow with Toad the Wet Sprocket and a the brick dedication ...a fund raiser for The Works... and an artist talk at 11:00 am on Saturday. Whew ... one step at a time! Imagine and Live in Peace, Mary Helen Fernandez Stewart