Art is Math

Deep into carving pieces of packing foam, to eventually become a bank of snow, I had a light-bulb moment.

Art is Math. That's all it is.... Really.

Hear me out...

Yep, as much as I hated algebra, division, and the like during my school years, I have come to appreciate the mathematical dance I do with all the art I create- Collage, Poetry, Picture Book Writing, and even when cooking a new recipe alongside America's Test Kitchen chefs on Saturday afternoon.

When making a piece of art, I start with a PROBLEM-

I try not to think of the project as a problem, but as an exciting challenge that will lead me to places I never thought I would go.

What do I want to make? How am I going to start?

One hot summer day, as I had my hands in the soil, I felt in my bones how happy the garden made me, and I was sad to think it would end in the fall. I wished that during the coming cold, blustery winter days, I could have a sparkling garden in white that would pop up to lift my spirits.

Here is the poem that became the inspiration for this collage:

Then came the EQUATION.

What is the recipe for this thing I want to make?

Sometimes the equation is simple, i.e., I want to write a rhyming poem about a lemonade stand in dactyl meter. Or, these old paint brushes and seed pods are just the thing I need to make this forest of trees. In this case, I needed to create a garden of recycled materials that would express my words. So, I gathered the elements that might be combined to create my art.

Sometimes the elements didn't work, and I had to modify them or even bring in something brand. new.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/d9550d_081f8757dcd14d4f9137a5102b8e8c51/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Cutting packing foam to create banks of snow.

As I continue to create my new work of art,

ADDITION plays a huge part.

I begin to grab words swirling around in my brain, or ones dictated into my phone for inspiration on weekly walks. Or scour my storage boxes, drawers, files of cut-out magazine images or Kleenex box covers for just the right image, trinket, birch bark, or recycled plastic piece to be formed into flowers or a dock on a lake.

Every step along the way is trying to lead to a SOLUTION.

It is trial and error. Try one combination of words or elements. Sit with it for a while and then try something else.

As Christina Tondevold shares on her podcast:Math Problems With More Than One Answer Episode 121: (Part 1)

The same applies to art. There is more than one way to get to an answer, and it's okay to ASK FOR HELP.

Critique groups are great for this. I have three of them. We share our poetry and stories with each other, and their feedback becomes invaluable. Just like the days when your teacher asked you and Mary Clark to pull your desks together to work on a problem at school. Two heads are often better than one.

Although with this collage, I am enjoying the solitary struggle. I want the challenge of getting that first draft or first arrangement of my collage objects to be mine and only mine. Finding the right word, paint color or object is like working hard on a crossword puzzle. When you finally find the right word, it is so satisfying!

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/d9550d_d1f393890e744d10b0012ff8582fe8f9/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

Filmed during a hot day in August :)

SUBTRACTION is probably the most important action in creation. It is where the magic happens.

Recently I have been spending a lot of time creating flowers for my collage " I Dream of a Garden in White." I must say, I have gone a bit crazy making the flowers, but I realized this morning that no creation is wasted. When I laid it out, I could see the need for white space to allow the viewer to breathe. The goal is to create without limits and pare it down later.

If I try to edit every step of the way, it impedes my creative flow. I become too worried about the final result. I may not use all these fun flowers on my final art piece or the 1000 words for my next picture book, but that's ok. It's part of the process.

When my razor blade skims slices off crisp edges of foam, to soften them like banks of freshly fallen snow, or I take a second, third or fourth look at my poem and see words that are not adding to my story and delete them...

This is revision.

This is subtraction.

This is Magic!

Finally, I am back to ADDITION!

It's time to stop shuffling the elements around the canvas and dig in. I take the vines I made of electrical cord, bathroom freshener tops, and ties, and begin to sew them down.

Am I scared? YES! But VERY excited. I know if this solution does not work out, I can get out my "eraser"(scissors) and try another solution. What have I got to lose?

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/d9550d_e4ba255434a94d0886a8a078277c9c60/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

My garden in white is beginning to grow.

I guess I kind of like math after all :)

Please check out this week's host Margaret, at "Reflections on the Teche" to read her lovely poem about silence as well as many others.

I Did a Thing!

I don't know.... Maybe it was seeing both my son's gardens each time we visited, and going away with hands full of their bounty and a definite big case of "garden envy."

Or maybe it was the recent binge watching of Jeremy Clarkson, the farmer-wanna-be on Clarkson's Farm that made me feel like I could maybe grow... something? Knowing nothing about farming, he took us on a journey of trial and error, discovery, disappointment and the eternal battle with Mother Nature. When he finally was able to accomplish something, he'd comment in joyful voice, "I did a thing!"

Here's the Trailer for Season 1. (Disclaimer: There is some swearing in the dialogue)

So I decided I was going to try. I wanted to "do a thing!"

So this Mother's Day, my sons came over and scoped out the best location for sun, and whipped up a 4'x 8' garden box for me. I was excited to have it right outside my kitchen window. I knew if I could see it each day. It wouldn't get forgotten or over grown with weeds. Soon the box was filled with sticks and leaves etc and a good thick amount of compost and soil. Now what to plant?

Feeling optimistic!

At the local library I came across a seed lending library, where kind gardeners had shared some of their seeds in small manilla envelopes. I could "check out" up to 5 varieties. So, I took home green bean, green pepper, carrot, and summer squash and snuggled them into the dirt. I watered, watched and prayed that I might see some buds. To my delight, a few carrots bravely pushed up and then a couple of peppers and squash. Success!

When the time was right to plant, I visited Lowes to "fill in" my box. I must say, I was a bit ambitious. I mean, who wouldn't be? After all they look so small. Walking through the vegetable plants, they each seemed to be calling to me, "Take ME home!" and "I'll give you a good harvest!" So, I took home a zucchini plant, an eggplant, two tomatoes, rosemary and some sweet potato plants. On the way home, I had a mixture of buyers regret and excitement, like a kid who walks into a candy shop and her tummy soon tells her she bought way to much.

It's SO hard to say no!

Getting my hands in the soil, making a hole and welcoming the plant to it's new home was a special experience— somehow, connecting me to Mother Earth and the cycle of life in an intimate way.

Over the weeks, with lots of sun and a little,(or maybe a lot) of Miracle Grow, the plants have exploded! I seriously am being taken over by seeds gone rogue! I swear I can see those leaves double in size each day.

Here are the 1st year gardening lessons I learned:

• You can start small. You don't have to grow everything the first year.

• Don't over plant. Give you plants space to grow and they WILL!

• It is fun to talk to your plants and encourage them.

• The harvest is not the only success. Just trying to do a thing is a success.

• The seeds that didn't sprout despite my tender care, weren't meant to be, but they did have a purpose in teaching me to be a better gardener.

• Little seeds, no bigger than your pinky nail, can blossom into gigantic plants with the right care.

• Deer will love your fresh daily salad of sweet potato leaves that they nibble at night while you are fast asleep...dreaming of how good those sweet potatoes will taste.

• I am glad that I covered the bottom of the box with chicken wire before I put in the soil, so that animals could not come up from below to grab a snack.

• A raised garden helps with ground hogs and rabbits & a fence IS NECESSARY!

• Chipmunks and squirrels can still run right through the fence at lightning speed.

• Mourning doves and sparrows will LOVE to take a dirt bath in your garden. So cute.

• There is nothing quite as peaceful as going out to your garden, quietly weeding then giving the plants a drink each day. It will fill your soul.

• And finally, I am already thinking about how to expand this garden next year. A second bed? With a chicken wire arch between them for cucumbers?

  
  

  Pinterest... Here I come.

  
  

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/d9550d_023c1c27e57347f2a59e5ec84c2f8c7e/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

So today. I harvested my first two zucchini, with PLENTY of more squash on the way.

I highly recommend getting your hands in the soil. It literally is grounding.

And to be able to eat something that was just a seed a few short weeks ago,

grown with no pesticides, out in the fresh air, is AMAZING!

Hmmmm.... now what should I make with my bounty?

You Can Lead a Horse to Water...

Shock, Denial, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance. We went through them all and then some... sometimes more than once. First when my daughter survived Thyroid cancer and now with my husband.

After my loved ones cancer diagnosis, I was very eager for him to have the support he needed. But as anyone knows, it is hard for someone else to tell you what you need to do, even if it would be good for you. So when I heard about LIVE STRONG, I looked into it and emailed him the link, letting him know he would find it in his inbox and just to take a look when he was ready.

Time went by, and even though I was eager, I tried not to nag, but asked gently now and again if he had taken a look at the email. He simply replied that he had not deleted it. That was a win in my book.

Then one day, he surprised me and told me he had read about the group and decided to sign up. I tried to suppress my joy, but I was beyond excited. On this difficult journey, I knew he needed to find his people. The ones who could understand in a way that I could not.

So, at the local YMCA, he began going twice a week. The sessions, from what he told me, were filled with community, sharing and LOTS of exercise to strengthen them to live strong. I began noticing a difference. Tired legs and body, of course, but lots of smiles, increase in stamina and interest in doing things. It was a gift for him and a gift for me.

The LIVESTRONG 12-week program sessions are over now and he will move onto their next program in the fall, called "Strong." I am thrilled that many of his new friends will be coming back.

If you know anyone, who is dealing with cancer diagnosis, treatment and recovery and is need of strengthening of body and spirit,

I cannot recommend this group highly enough.

You can get more info here or at your local YMCA.

For today's poetry Friday, I thought I would share the beautiful poetic lyrics my daughter wrote for her song, "Calling All Survivors." It is an amazing video, when you think that this was recorded not long after her two surgeries and treatment.

She could have lost her voice.

Thank God and thanks to the amazing medical care she received,

she was able to make this beautiful rallying cry against cancer and for survivors.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr8slJGHNzc

For more lovely poetry go to our host: Carol Labuzetta at Apples in My Orchard.

Thanks for hosting, Carol! And thanks Erica Leigh for the inspiration!