Sunwatch Memories

My heart is exploding with joy I found this weekend at the Sunwatch Flute and Art Gathering.  I often find it hard to relate such feelings of utter contentment.  Only because it touches the inside of me with such fierceness.  It is difficult to be so filled with this joy, love and peace and then TRY to return to the fast pace world of living, without loosing those weekend feelings.  I want to hang onto every moment, every conversation, every smile, every warm hug, and every flute note that danced through the village at Sunwatch.

I want to remember the conversations, the sharing of ideas, thoughts and art between the vendors.  Meeting new people, sitting awhile to chat.  Learning about them, hearing their story, their journey with their art, and wanting to know more.  It is a special time when you are gifted with such friendships, I hold these moments close to my heart.  I want to know more and hope our paths will soon cross again.

I want to remember the dragonflies that landed and the flutter of the butterflies.  I want to hear the Canada geese fly over and the gold finches singing in the nearby tree.  I want to remember the heat of the sun and the relief of sitting in the shade of these trees.  I want to remember the the joy of seeing beautiful artistic flutes that artists have created with such love.  I want to remember walking barefooted on the warm earth, where the first peoples walked years and years ago.  I want to remember with gratitude the gentle breezes that would occasionally sweep though the grounds with delight, teasing us with summer warmth and the promise of fall. I want to remember the smell of sage smoke in the air as it drifted throughout the village.  I smell it now as I write this and I have none burning.

I want to remember the people that were kind enough to come in my booth and look at my gourds and say nice things, some even purchased a piece to take home.   Will they know the love and spirit I felt when creating that gourd design?  I'm pretty sure they will or they wouldn't be taking it home with them.  I am so grateful for everyone who stopped by my booth to talk and share.  That is the gift they brought to me.

I want to remember the friends that gathered at the back of my booth, to sit, rest, play their flutes and visit.  The circle of chairs was big at times and then small at other times.  I want to remember the Massie Creek Flute Circle who gathered to listen while Brent Haines talked about "Playing Together at a Flute Circle".  He is a wonderfully kind and friendly soul that smiles easily and  makes incredibly beautiful flutes!

I want to remember my friends that helped me load up my booth at the end of the show.  It was so very hot, they went above and beyond to make it easier for me to pack up to go home.  The life of an artist isn't easy, packing up is never fun.  It is so nice when friends are willing to help, I will remember them with so much gratitude and love.

I want to remember how hard it was to say goodbye.  Tears sting my eyes this moment, the thoughts of how long a time it will be before I'll be able to gather with them again makes me sad.  I miss them already and it was only yesterday that we parted.   What is it about this flute family that my heart longs for?  I think I answered that question in my meandering thoughts above.  Blessings to all who made my weekend special.

Art and More Art

Yesterday I got up early to get ready for the cleaning fairy!  I know you are thinking I am totally spoiled.  Think maybe you are right!  I did to give up my monthly massage to keep my house clean, it was a choice because I don't really have extra money to do both.   It has been so worth it, my house has fewer cobwebs, the floor is swept in every room and the kitchen is mopped.  Oh, I could do these things and I do, just not all in the same day, so it never really looks like it happened at all.   I love that my girls were sweet enough to bring the cleaning fairy into my life for my birthday and Mothers day presents. 

The coolest part of all this.....   I left her cleaning house and went to my first art class of the entire summer!  I didn't know how much I missed my classes.  I have this wonderful artist friend that holds these classes in her home.  The space is well lit and she is full of helpful suggestions.  I must admit I'm not her typical student.  I am a gourd artist, my art is carved and painted on a thee dimensional canvas. 

I have never taken "art" classes beyond elementary school, when everyone created the same paper colored thing to hang on the windows.  I have taken some gourd classes to learn weaving and some carving.  I disliked the idea of using a stencil to apply artwork to a gourd, something in me wanted to free hand my work, I think it's my "I can do it my way" kind of thing!   My drawings in the beginning were very primitive and have been perfected into a style I'm happy with.   My painting leans toward that same style of drawing, less realistic and more primitive.

Yesterday I was the only student in art class.  I requested some help in changing up my heavy handed way with color and moved into the more acrylic watercolor style.   Oh, it was so much fun to see things in the thin watered paint.  Rubbing out, adding color, blending and basically allowing the water to carry the color into the background.  All of these terms are mine, probably not art terms, so forgive me.  I know there are many of you that have studied art and are so talented, I'm still learning and experimenting.  My teacher is very good for me, guiding me and suggesting this or that and I try to listen, there is some part of me that she just allows to be me and happily lets me keep my style.  It is her aim not to change me but teach me how to apply techniques to my own style. 

She is such a gift to me.  I have used many of her teachings when I do my artwork on a gourd now.  If you could see my first attempts at gourd art and compare it to work I do now.  I wonder why people every encouraged me by purchasing some of my early gourds!  If they had not, would I still be doing gourd work today?   Would I ever have taken an art class?  Was all of this part of the Divine plan for me?  I think so.

While I was art class, my house was being cleaned and my printer was finishing the printing of some new Art greeting cards.  I am excited to add these cards to my line of other cards and will be taking them with me to a show this weekend at Sunwatch Indian Village in Dayton, Ohio.  This event is the Sunwatch Flute and Art Gathering.  I hope you'll stop by and see my new cards and just say "Hello".  It's going to be a wonderful weekend of Native American Flute music, art and wonderful people!

Getting Another Flute Fix

We are gearing up for the next big "flute fix".  I'm excited because it is in my area, I only have to travel to Dayton, a good half hour drive from my house.  This will be my fourth flute gathering for this year.  Each have been different and interesting.  It would be difficult to pick a favorite.

I have found there are certain things that make these events interesting and worth attending.  It helps if all the vendors and performers are willing to leave their egos at the door, creating a place of balance and peace, giving the opportunity for all to be a shining star in their own right, supporting one another and encouraging all of us who are less talented on our journey with the flute.

Then it is the flutes, the beautiful hand crafted Native American style flutes are amazingly different from booth to booth.  Now who would think, they are all made in the same basic way, but each has their own sound and their own song.  The more vendors the better!  I love looking at the drums, the bead work and other amazing art.  You just have to touch and play them all to discover their own special gift! 

The next important factor is the vendors, they have become friends.  They are people that are as close as a call on my phone or a quick email,  just to keep in touch between events.   They are like dear family, brother and sisters, each sharing a part of themselves as well as their creative gifts.  I have new friends from across the United States because of these flute gatherings!  It has been a real blessing!

I love the music, most events have a variety of amazing talent that perform before a crowd of grateful listeners.

I have enjoyed hearing performers from all around our country, learning their sound, talking with them, buying their Cd's and listening to them in workshops.  I marvel at the talent featured at these events.  It is wonderful to go to these flute gatherings knowing that I'm going to be treated to new and amazing performers.  The Potomac Flute Festival doesn't have the same performers two years in a row, giving us a chance to be exposed to different performers and their music style.  I love the variety of artists brought in to make this happen, it opens the doors for us to learn about many other wonderfully talented people.

Then there are the workshops I have participated in.  So many have been awesome.  Everything from drumming with Sterling Green, a masterclass with Cornell Kinderknecht, and playing with other instruments, with Ann Licater. Other favorite classes were taught by Randy Granger, Mark Holland, Hawk Henry's, Kevin Locke, Brent Haines and many others.  All of these workshops were in intricate part of the flute events at Potomac, Musical Echoes and INAFA, keeping me involved and active during the entire event. 

I am already planning next years "road trips" to other flute festivals.  My good friend and I are hoping to go to Zion Flute Festival (Utah) in May.   We are looking forward to hearing our dear friend, John Two-Hawks perform at the Zion Flute Festival 2011.  We are looking forward to hearing other musical artists that we haven't heard before.  Of course, we are marking our calendars for Potomac and Musical Echoes too.  I don't expect to grow tired of these festivals, they are so much fun!  

This weekend at the Sunwatch Flute Festival will be fun because I am a vendor at this event.  I enjoy not only talking flutes but also gourds.   I meet so many nice people that come into the Wild Gourd Studio Booth!   Many are now Facebook friends, it has been fun getting to know them and keeping connected.  I am pretty amazed at the flute community on Facebook!  The world of the Native American style flute is very big and I love being connected to them all!  Stop by my gourd booth and say hello on August 28 and 29, 2010.

Photos of friends, performers, teachers and vendors from various flute events.

My Outlaw Husband

Do you ever think that you are living in the wrong time period?  For instance, my husband is very attracted to the old west.  He has watched all the old westerns on TV, not just once, he watches them over and over.  He knows the actors, the kind of guns they carry in the movie and his favorite movies have John Wayne in them.  It matters not if the movie is black and white or color.  If you ask him if he has seen this movie or that movie, he'll ask you if it has John Wayne in it!  It has been difficult over the years to get him go to take me to the movie theater or watch other types of TV movies.  This explains why we both have our own TVs.

My wonderful husband has over the years acquired the perfect black hat, long coat,  vest, shirt and scarf and on a trip to Santa Fe found  the best boots ever.   They come almost to his knees.  Richard started growing a beard in 1976 and has kept it since that time.  We have watched his beard and hair go grey at an early age.  It now is snow white.  He was mistaken for Kenny Rogers, back when people knew that Kenny Rogers as a country/western singer, something I'd forgotten until the other day.   It was always interesting to go somewhere for dinner and have people stare, only to have them ask later if he was Kenny Rogers.

                                                

Well, my wonderful husband has become a You-Tube video star!  He has always been a star to me and others who know him, maybe not  to the rest of the world.  He did a photo shoot a couple  weeks ago in our own back yard.  He was dressed in his black clothes,  guns on his hips and a rifle in  his hand.   Our friend John Two-Hawks took the photos and put them to one of his new  songs under the band name "Badlanders".  The song is titled "Legend of the Outlaw".

We played the video for our two grandsons and they were sooooo impressed!  Their Grandpa was a gun slinging outlaw in a video!  They watched with their own play guns and holsters on their hips, eyes open wide in amazement.  Our three year old grand daughter looked at her Grandpa and said, "Will you make a movie of me too?"  Grandpa is their hero!

Self Discovery

This morning I am sitting with coffee and thinking about conversations and encounters I have had in recent weeks.  I have tried to write down my dreams, ponder their meaning and I often wonder if there is a message in them.  I always have more questions than answers and often ask for help from the angels, guides and our Creator.  I think many of my answers come instantly and instinctively and very often, in talking with my friends.  I believe that  people come into my life for a reason, helping me along the way to grow, discover and learn another perspective perhaps.  I also believe that things are shown to me, if I don't get it the first time, it could mean I just wasn't ready.  By the second or third time it is shown to me, I will have this "Ahaaa" moment!  I love when that happens!

I have discovered many teachers on my journey through this life.  I'm not talking about classroom teachers.  Self-discovery has come throughout the life experiences with everyday friends as my teachers.   I often wonder why certain people are immediate friends and others just don't seem to click.   I marvel at how our paths crossed at that one moment to make a forever impact.  It is times like this that I feel I've known someone forever and maybe we've only just met.  I love finding those people in my life, I find it most interesting that they come to me just when I am ready for them.  Or maybe they came once before and I wasn't ready, only to have them return, at that perfect moment.   Just when I am ready for what they bring to my life and hopefully I bring into theirs.  Weaving this web, it is always connecting with people who help make the web bigger and stronger.  Recently, at a retreat, it was discussed how we are all in our own circle, our circle touches several other circles and those circles touch other circles.  What we do in our circle effects all those other circles as it ripples outward.  Fascinating to think about, don't you think?

I like thinking about the people in my life, I wonder if they know how important they are to me?  I wonder if I am making an impact on someones journey.  Do I make a difference to someone else in this world?  Isn't that what it's all about........... making a difference?  We can all make that difference to someone, your spouse, your family, a child, an elder, someone you pass on the sidewalk.  My self discovery is being open to the possibilities.

Open Windows

We are having a reprieve from the August heat.  It is heavenly to open the windows at night and hear all the night sounds.  It is heavenly to feel the cool fresh air coming into the house.  I could just lay awake and enjoy those sensations of being outside in the late darkness of night time.  I would enjoy being in the tipi on such a night, should have been out there last night. 

I listen hard to hear the owl above the chorus of crickets and other night insects.  It is down right noisy at night right now.  I wonder when all this noise began, I have always called it the Sounds of August.  Did it happen on August first or did it start quietly in July and then build to this crescendo?  As I listen for the owl again, I think I may have been mistaken, it could have been my wonderful husband breathing, as he is in deep slumber.  Or maybe it is one of the two dogs snoring as they sleep nearby.  My ears hurt from trying to distinguish the sounds from inside and outside the open window.  Then I hear the owl again, yes I knew he was out there, somewhere.

I listen for the coyotes too.  Sometimes they will howl in the night.  This sets off the neighborhood of dogs barking.  I want the dogs to stop, so I can really hear the coyotes.  Oh, it isn't that I am fond of the coyotes howling, there is something very frightening about that late night call they have.  And it isn't that I'm really afraid, it is something else.  Something I can't quite describe, maybe it is the wildness and seems somehow out of place in our daily life.  Have we lost touch with that wildness in our world today?  We have forgotten that wild things still live and they have adapted to our houses and fences and roads. 

I know certain places I can always expect to see deer in the early mornings or evenings.  They graze openly in fields and even yards.  I once saw three deer at the side of someones house, eating the new growth leaves on a bush.  I wondered if the people inside that house had a clue that the wild critters were so close. 

I always watch for the animals and especially the birds.  Yesterday, as I sat outside, enjoying the wonderful day.  Dark shadows crossed my yard, causing me to look up to see what was flying over.  I was hoping to see my friend the red-tailed hawk.  It happened to be bigger than a hawk, it was the buzzard searching for something as it glided in the sky above me.  I wish I could fly like they do, being able to see things from so high up.  Who would I love to visit as I flew over their yard?  (I am smiling at the thought!)

Soon my mind is comforted by all of the night sounds, the insects, the owl, my husband and dogs and those wild sounding coyotes have created a lullaby that allows me to sleep ever so peacefully.  Dreams find me in nature with the wild ones, I can talk to the animals and birds and they can talk to me.  All this because I opened my window to the world last night.


Photos:   a deer near homes in Yellow Springs, Ohio
               a red-tailed hawk

Darn Hot in Ohio

I can't believe how hot and humid it is here in Ohio!  It has been so hot here that walking into our house is like opening the refrigerator door and stepping inside.  At night the windows develop condensation on the outside and you can't see through the window.  When the windows are like this, we know it is very hot and humid outside.  Readings of 92 degrees and 96% humidity is HOT!

On top of this heat the chance of a thunderstorm is bound to cause the sky to explode, bringing fast hard rain, thunder and lightening.  The coolness that follows such a storm is brief.  Often times it creates another steam bath of humidity dripping weather, only to bring another summer thunderstorm.

Yesterday was such a day.  One more equation was added to this heat, we were outside under an Easy-up tent doing a fine art show!  It was so darn hot that within ten minutes of setting up my booth, I was sweating enough to look like I'd taken a shower in my clothes.  This show was within five miles of home, so I was able to sneak away.  I went home for a quick shower.  Within ten minutes of returning I was damp with sweat. 

The show was filled with amazing artists!  Most people enjoyed the tree shaded lawn, I felt so sorry for those who were not under the shade of trees.  The temperature difference was so much cooler in the shaded spots.  Our tree always had friends lingering nearby to be cool.  We were all like wilted flowers on a sunny day.

Then it happened, little bursts of cool breezes would shoot through the grounds, as we looked toward the sky we saw the dark clouds moving our way.  People that have cell phones were able to view the weather map and saw the storms moving our direction.  Nothing serious, but rains were coming, sides were let down and anchored to the booths, people who sprawled outside their space condensed themselves into the 10x10 tent.  People would crowd into the booths to stay out of the sudden downpour.  We found out later that an inch of rain came in that thirty minute shower. 

Many vendors decided to pack it up early, even though there was another couple hours left to the show.  The shower only cooled us off briefly.  It got steamy hot and another storm was moving into the area.  Most managed to get packed up before the second storm.  It was an abrupt end to the show and yet I think all the vendors were happy to call it a day. 

I was lucky enough to have the most amazing friends and a wonderful husband helping me pack up my gourds and carry all my booth stuff to the van!  We all got good and wet.   The tents and table coverings are still trying to air dry.  Humidity is still heavy and storms are still a possibility today.  I am looking forward to cooler days in the near future, it is already mid August, how long can this heat possibly last?

We got home to signs that the power had been off, the phones have no dial tone and I think my little DSL modem is blown again!  I am getting tired of these little annoyances!  Darn it is hot............