Friday, November 7, 2008

the scent of juniper


and the new peter beard books

but first...



yesterday was an exceptional day... when i stepped outside the usual mix of pine/cedar/juniper/wet earth did not greet my nose. no, it was only the scent of juniper -- a heady scent so strong that it felt like someone'd stuck a sprig of juniper under my nose. i walked around outside -- sniffing and investigating to see whether the phenomenon was all over or in just one spot. it was all over. i went out a little later... still the same juniper saturated air. and two hours after that, still the same. so delicious...


mmmmmm.... can you smell it? finally when i got home from the post office at about 3 p.m., the air had reverted back to it's usual mixture. but what a glorious few hours they were!


this week i've been working on art cards to exchange with our art group. what a challenge to work so small.


they all started out the same -- st. armand paper with a little something glued on, then covered with beige-y shades of acrylic paint.


each one ended up being very different than the others. i'm still working on the fourth one -- gak, it's a good thing i started at the beginning of the week!


taken on the way home from the p.o. yesterday after picking up the peter beard books. yep, that warranted an extra trip to the p.o.


i made sure i took my camera -- with fresh batteries. earlier in the week on our weekly trip to alturas, my camera batteries died before i could capture some of the most brilliant light i've ever seen. fresh camera batteries will accompany me henceforth and herewith!

the peter beard books (preordered in september)... how to describe a set of books that chronicles the life and art of a brilliant diarist and photographer. i've just begun to delve into them.



p.b.'s art with the poetry of stevie smith. carried around in his back pocket for six months - 'the erosion technique'.


a quote by van gogh:

real artists do not depict things as they are after a dry and learned analysis. they portray them as they feel them to be. my great wish is to change and remake reality. I want my works to be inaccurate and anomalous in such a way that they become lies if you like but lies that are more truthful than literal truth.

my mind lights up at all of this...

his photographs make me look even closer... this is amelia drying herself this morning after her morning wander. the camera captured that barely visible pink tongue -- yes!

and looking up from taking pics of the p.b. books on the floor -- my coffee cup, etc.. i think that prior to this morning i would have taken the tissue off the table before i snapped the pic. but my thoughts have shifted after perusing these great, new books. do i want a 'nice' picture or an honest one? an honest one for sure. well, for today anyway... ; )

20 comments:

  1. okay, what to comment on first - well, the juniper air - what an amazing experience - doesn't it make you wonder? - then the art cards - others have talked about art cards, so they must be something, but I don't know what - I do know these are wonderful - how big are they? then the Peter Beard BOOKS! - are you gulping them down or going slow and savoring each page? - I'm a gulper and then I go back and savor - enjoy - well how could you not?

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  2. So much food for thought!
    I must read those books. I love the 2 pictures you showed and would love to see more. Maybe a trip to the Barnes and Nobles is in order today.
    The art cards are beautiful.
    I wish you could send the juniper smells over the web. I do love the pictures you post.
    Leanne

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  3. thank you for sharing all of this gorgeousness mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

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  4. Your "scent of juniper" has lit up my world this morning. I look out over wet leaves on the deck and a foggy river, and I hope you have a safe drive. I'll see you soon for our art group gathering...we might get some snow over the mountains... Roxanne

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  5. I can smell it too..thanks for the spacious photos..and you have me thinking... honest photos...

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  6. Oh my, oh my, oh my......
    Lynne, my heart is racing and I just love that first photo of Peter Beard working on the floor. I've made up my mind I am getting the books as soon as they arrive in South Africa(January). They cost an arm and a leg but what the heck!

    Your artists cards are stunning. The colours are just so delicious!

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  7. jeane, the art cards are 2 1/2" x 3 1/2"... and thank you!

    the peter beard books -- is it possible to alternate gulping and savoring?! just little gulps though. okay, so i guess that's really the same thing as savoring, huh? ; )

    leanne, yes, you must check out these books! the cheapest place to get them is on amazon for $63... the original collector's edition sold for $2,000, i think. then taschen decided to publish this 'budget' version for $100. they are jam PACKED with brilliance. 794 pages...

    thank you for your kind words about my pics!

    kate, you are so welcome... can ya smell that juniper across the pond?

    hey roxanne! well here i am home from our outing! i'm so happy that you liked 'the scent of juniper'!

    grrl, i'm so happy you can smell it... yes, this honest photos thing... i am thinking too...

    robyn, my fellow heart racer, you must get these books. i'll post a few more pics from them soon -- honestly i'm quite as taken with the words as i am the images. but the images, oh my...

    and thank you about the cards!

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  8. I like the photos you took on the way home, and the starbucks mug. They always have good mugs.

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  9. lol, arnold, once again you've hit the nail on the head! i'm not a fan of starbucks coffee by any stretch of the imagination, but they do have excellent mugs!

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  10. I think I can,. .yes, I'm sure I can smell it from here. Juniper , how foresty and delicious.
    Great book, can we see more?..please..

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  11. I smell juniper too :) all the way down under...
    Lynne, what a beautiful thing, both your images and your want to share the experience.
    Those art cards are wonderful...I like the idea of them being a gift/swap concept. I did the same with my art group except we did an A5 size book page.
    Those Peter Beard books look amazing, thanks for the link....

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  12. hi annette, i will post more pics soon... and be sure to click on the link in the post to see the pics there... so happy you can smell the juniper. ; )

    hi jo, oh, i bet your pages were exquisite! i love your art... you're welcome for the link -- the books *are* amazing.

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  13. I love to just look at your blog:) It's so rich and inviting. I passed on a butterfly award to you for all that cool beauty!

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  14. Thank you so much for keeping this wonderfull blog! I have spent the last hour reading and really enjoying your beautiful art and photographs! Your art is amazing and i love the treeflags! I even thought about finally taking a second look at the long dead bird i found in my backyard ( yes,i kept it laying there since the kreepy crawlers hadnt cleaned it thorougly yet;))

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  15. thank you so much, beadedlily! your blog is full of rich and inviting images also!

    hi moniqui... thank you! that means so much! yes, i think you should go have another look at that dead bird in the backyard. ; )

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  16. its so much--the scent of juniper (i always love those berries that grow along) and your landscapes are so surreal! I am stunned at that man's journaling, he must have done nothing else, and i wonder if we aren't all full of so much so much in just this way, only it can't be burned from our insides so easily--

    like those rats nest worlds that went on and on.

    I saw your card at Roxanne's and love it, you have that slight hole in the spirit shape; i did this once in some clay things, and didn't understand it... does it mean anything?

    did you really eat those blue buildings? What fortitude! :)

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  17. hello mansuetude, yes, that's a lot of journaling... well, he was a photographer -- he did a lot of photo shoots for various magazines, and many of the photos are from those shoots. but yeah, it IS a lot of journaling. he says that in africa (where he lived for long stretches of time) he spent his time doing 'game control' (it was called something like that anyway) -- helping the african people manage game populations by killing some of the animals. not something that i could do, but it's what he did... so he took a lot of pics in that process too...

    yes, i wonder if we aren't all as full of stuff as he is/was... i think we must be.

    that buddha is from thailand and belongs to a friend, and i too wonder about the hole. i will ask her the next time i see her... maybe she knows if there is a particular symbolism associated with it. i can think of possibilities... (i wondered if anyone would notice it)

    i just had a little nibble of the blue buildings... i was stuffed after that big mound. : )

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  18. i'd like to know, about the hole, i made that and some people loved it, were attracted to it, while others found it compelling. Openess? For some, but a violence for others... now that i know it is on a Buddha figure, i am rather happy it appeared ! Thank you again.

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  19. Beautiful post. So much to absorb and take in. Can almost smell the juniper!

    Your art cards are incredible and the colors are stunning (I just want to dive into your art and swim).

    Delicious!

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  20. mansuetude, i have written you... i will keep you posted!

    dot, i think that that may be the most luscious compliment possible! so happy to see you here!

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