Exits and Entries

I've been reminded by a few of my blog readers that I haven't posted in some time. I go through periods when I post a lot and then go silent. As I told a friend, I've been known to curl into my Cancerian shell and observe for a while. Lately, the shell feels safe and the view is about all I need. I've been wondering too what my first post of the new year would entail. Usually an idea will pop into my head and once it does, I realize that is the message to share. At 3 am I realized what I would write today.
For me, New Years has come to resonate with a certain degree of retrospection and quiet. I'm not the kind to need to over-indulge to mark the turning of a new year. I feel more like there are lessons I need to take from the stillness that require a level head to hear them.

A new year marks an end and a beginning. An exit and an entry. Last night that thought became underscored by learning of the death of one of our dear art fair friends, Denny Davis.
Denny was battling stage 4 Leukemia for the past two and half years. We last saw him at a show in Pensacola in November. His spirits were good and he told us he was about to undergo a stem cell treatment. He'd be hospitalized for several weeks. Later in November we learned that the treatment was such that it could kill him. I think we all felt he'd beat it. He seemed invincible. Complications arose and an infection ensued. He died yesterday afternoon.
Denny possessed a dark sense of humor that brought groans from some and laughs from others. It was his way of coping. I understood it since my Mom reacted the same way as she was dying. It was a twisted way to keep from going to the dark side, which he knew was at arms distance. Yesterday that arm reached out and took him from this world.

I've been crying on and off and realize this is my loss. The loss of someone I always looked forward to talking to is gone. I will miss him greatly, but this should not be about me. The art world has lost a great artist that painted with abandon and was prolific. He was the most well read individual I'd ever met. He was intelligent and articulate. He could recite and bring into focus concepts and history and politics that I can't begin to wrap my brain around. The last time I saw him he said he was ready to sell everything and move into someone's garage and paint and read. That was his life. That and his friends - and there was no shortage of them.

Denny could assemble and lay out a 100 square foot booth like no one I know! He would, in essence, create a maze of panels and fill them top to bottom with paintings. If you liked abstract work and left his booth without anything, it was amazing. He loved to work a deal and make a sale possible. "I'll tell ya what I'll do...." he'd begin. His paintings had a fire and life to them that always kept me looking into them. They were alive with his energy. He used red with great passion. I only wish I owned one of his canvases.
That I regret.

Denny loved to poke fun of people he felt were fake. TV evangelists and politicians in particular were his fodder! He had a way of justifying his disdain that always left me smiling. I used to call him a 'devout atheist' but reminded him I was praying for his good health. To which he'd reply 'hey, that's okay if you want to'.
His exit marks the entry to a new year.
Again, I sit quietly trying to take from his passing a lesson.
I mourn his loss, but I valiantly cheer his presence in my life. He will be missed greatly.
His doing what he loved, right to the end, is what I take from his passing. All he wanted to do was paint and spend
time with his friends.
I will not let his exit be an ending, but a beginning.
A passage to an entry.
He wouldn't want it any other way, and to honor him, that's how I will remember his life.

RIP dear friend, wherever you are!

Patricia

Arrangements:

An informal gathering of Dennys friends will be held at:
The Miller Bakery Cafe
555 S. Lake St.
Gary, IN

This Saturday, Jan. 9 at 1 PM.
The phone number for Miller's is 219-938-2229
http://www.millerbakerycafe.net/

༺• Womens Art Box •༻

Hi All,
Todays entry, be it a bit late, is the last in my "week of boxes" series. It was fun to focus on one theme and let my boxes speak for me. This is what art does!
It speaks.
I believe that art finds its rightful owner and the right owner finds the right art!
Some of my boxes 'spoke to you', and you answered! For that I send my sincere thanks!

A dear friend of mine, Geri, was talking to me about this body of work the other night and she said this:
"I just know, and knew, in my heart that Tattoo Dreams are artistically and personally addictive. I think in part because at the moment you see a piece the words and images conjure up the personal and then the piece is yours, weather you buy it or not, it is yours. Buying the piece of course makes so much sense since then that feeling, or another after you get it home and begin looking at it every day, those feelings are invoked in your own space." Thanks Geri!
★´¨)
¸,•´¸.•¤´¨} ¸.•*¨)
(¸.*´ (¸.*`¤~ Here is my Womens Art Box! This upcycled cigar box measures 4 1/2" wide and 5 3/4" deep and 5" tall. A great box with magenta feet and purple trim. Emblazoned with images that represent various creative disciplines. On the top is the quote from St. Francis of Assisi. I've always loved this quote and have it on my studio wall.

The woman who
works with
her hands only
is a laborer.

The woman who
works with her
hands and her head
is a craftswoman.

The woman who
works with
her hands, her
head and her
heart is a
ARTIST.

On etsy.....40.00

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Thank you all who made purchases this past week!
I am blessed by your kindness and support!
༺♥༻
Patricia

♱ Glenn Donovan Remembered ♱

We have a spider web over our kitchen counter. It's presence reminds us of a dear friend now gone. Glenn Donovan made that spider web in his whimsical style of welding metal and creating life out of this humble material. Glenn was so much more than a gifted sculptor. He was a bigger than life character who, when he hugged you, you knew you'd been hugged!
When he laughed, it was as if a thundering bellow from deep inside was resonating and his whole being erupted in muse.
I still hear his voice. It was loud and clear, a cacophony of exuberance! A brilliantly deviant mind who was fast on the uptake with lightening wit. His mind was fluid and resembled his pivoting sculptures that would move with the slightest breeze.
I can still hear his laughter and wry sense of humor and sadly missed his being at Boston Mills Art Fest this past July. That was the show we'd usually see he and his love Edie showing their work, sweating with the rest of us. His pager would go off and off he went to help Edie wrap up a sale or chat with a collector. He was brilliantly funny and a lover of life!
He died way too young.
Not to say life comes with any guarantees, but his life ended abruptly on January 21st of this year. He died suddenly of a blood clot in his lungs. His passing leaves Jon and I at a loss. We have lost too many friends in the last many years.

A tribute display and sale of Glenn's final work will be held on Saturday, August 2nd at the Brewery Pottery Studio of Diana and Tom Johnston in Mineral Point, WI. This opens at 3:00. Stop by if you can and share the love.

Below is a photo of one of Glenns more popular pieces, the Tree of Life.

In this work, he clearly connects man to nature. His art mirrored his life in such a profound way. He loved working with the nature sanctuary and being outdoors. His travels and adventures with Edie will live on as will he, both in our hearts and through his twirling, animated sculptures.

•Memorial contributions can be made to the Community Conservation project: http://www.communityconservation.org
or or the Crawford Stewardship Project at P.O. Box 284 Gays Mills, WI 54631.
Please, make a note on either donation that it is being made in memory of Glenn Donovan.

Godspeed Glenn!
You are flying high!

Patricia & Jon
༺♥♥༻

www.welderboy.com

★ Spirit of '76 Farm ★

´¨)
¸,•´¸.•´¨) ¸.•*¨)
{¸.*´ (¸.*` ⁂≈༺Good friends, good food and laughter! Jon and I are blessed with a variety of friends! After having a truely wonderful weekend at Boston MIlls ArtFest we delivered a piece to a customer in Ohio. Her purchase was made in Arizona in spring and the placement and home it now enjoys makes my heart smile.

After this delivery we took a slow drive out to Oak Harbor Ohio to spend time with friends Barbara and Allan. A painter and photographer who have given love and color to an old farmhouse. This colorful hideaway is their summer home while doing shows and provides ample respite to create and renew. The name 'Spirit of '76' comes from the house number and previous owners who named the property and the name seems fitting. Inside the colors are fun and the bright walls are graced with Allans photos, Barbara's paintings and fellow artists work. We were among friends in every way!
Barbara and Allan greeted us and took us on tour of their well manicured country gardens. They were beautiful and reminded me of the paintings Barbara use to paint. Their shared studio is an old white barn on the porperty with wide open spaces and room to create and spread out. I think of them a lot like I see Jon and I. The simple joy of being together at work and play. This barn yields the talents of this creative pair as they too take their work to shows across the country.
http://www.barbarakrupp.com
http://www.bodyscapes.com

After the outdoor tour we were treated to the most amazing gluten free vegetarian meal anyone could hope for! Barbara is not only a talented painter and gardener, but a gifted cook. We had 3 appetizers and a 4 part main course complete with edible flowers. Her spinach roulade was a thing of beauty and she gladly shared recipes with me before we left! Wow! Every dish and every taste was carefully crafted and all tasted amazing! To take on the diverse food issues of guests being vegetarian, gluten free and diabetic and to make this all so special was an honor and a gift. We give it 5 forks!!!

There is a passion to gardening, to art and to preparing a beautiful feast. All were done so well and intertwined with conversation and laughter reflective of friends who have known one another a long time and still have much to learn.

Life would be empty without our dear friends. To have them adds color and texture to our world!

Namastè,
Patricia & Jon