Birthdays Aren't For the Age Conscious

Another year, another milestone. 

The zoo, a few hours with the animals in the heat.

Home, a few hours clipping the dog so he can stay cool in the heat.

Out, party with friends -- great evening.

Gifts that were thoughtful, wonderful, perfectly suited and incomparable.

A lovely day, quite a lovely day.

Peace, B

Just that kind of night...

 ¹ LORD, our Lord, 

   how majestic is your name in all the earth!

 You have set your glory 

   in the heavens. 

² Through the praise of children and infants 

   you have established a stronghold against your enemies, 

   to silence the foe and the avenger.
³ When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, 

the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 

⁴ what is mankind that you are mindful of them,

 human beings that you care for them?

 ⁵ You have made them a little lower than the angels

 and crowned them with glory and honor.

⁶ You made them rulers over the works of your hands; 

   you put everything under their feet: 

⁷ all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild,

⁸ the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea,

 all that swim the paths of the seas.

⁹ LORD, our Lord, 

   how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Psalm 8

Just that kind of night.

Peace,

B

This is the wing of a Roseate Spoonbill.  

I do believe that God was having a grand time on the day HE created this bird.  It is the strangest looking bird, but, oh, it has the most beautiful feathers! Pink, and what a glorious pink it is.  Shades of pink, enough to make any girl's heart flutter!

Feathers fascinate me, and pink ones?  They are the ultimate in feather wonder. Why do I mention pink feathers on a very funny looking bird tonight?  Perhaps because sometimes that is how I feel, beautifully bedecked and yet somehow ackwardly misfit. Isn't self-consciousness a hard thing to juggle?

Ah, I take comfort in the fact that the Spoonbill is completely unaware of his or her misfitedness in the world of avians. We could learn some lessons from this humble and strange bird.  

• Use your strangeness to the best of your ability, make the world a better place.  
• Sift your opportunities with wild abandon, as he sifts the water for fish. 
• Raise that wing, who cares if a feather or two are broken, the wing still flaps and will lift you high. 

Ah, Spoonbill, or Rosie, as the case may be, thank you for your simple lessons, you never let vanity get in your way. 

                                       

Peace, B

By A Slender Thread, ©2011
Encaustic collage with digital and iPad montage on rice paper
BL Desrosiers




It appears I'm committed to making a go of this encaustic media. I have to confess, it is like coming  home from a journey far away. The return to molten wax is something I have fantasized about for years and now that I have taken the plunge, I can say that I won't be straying too far from it again. (So, dear unknown soul who stole my wax delivery off my front porch, your efforts will not impede my determination to create.)


I began my love affair with wax in the 1970s in Taiwan where I took batik lessons from an artist, Sammy, in our village for two years. We created paintings in batik, not fabrics such as is commonly practiced, or was at the time. I then continued to batik for another 5 years once we returned to the states and loved it. I gave it up due to the toxicity of the dyes at the time and my daughter's asthma. I have always missed the aroma of the melted bees' wax and the challenge of getting the molten wax to the surface and laid as I wish before it hardens. Now I can cheat and use a heat gun, oh joy! 


I owe a great deal of gratitude to my friend, Judy, who has been gracious enough to share techniques with me and be my mentor in encaustic art. Thank you, Judy.


Encaustic is so much more fulfilling also, I can play with the surface and leave texture. No more boiling it all off! My initial efforts are, well, a beginning. I hope to improve with time and continual practice.


The above piece is entered in the show, Elements, at the Art Gallery of Viera.  It is 16x20" and is a marriage of my digital work and wax - a perfect match if there ever was one, at least in my heart!


Peace, 
Barb

Revelations

Guardians, ipad drawing, ©2011

B.L. Desrosiers

revelation comes in tiny flashes,

unless it comes in a bolt

time will aid assimilation,

patience will yield its fruit

the spiral walk will continue,

my step a bit more soft

conscious of the world around and in me,

awareness of my part

and so I will continue to adorn this life I live,

gently wrap in filigree, touch with gilded prayer

small offerings of love,

in this ritual dance of mystery

BLD

Prayers for Japan, and all of us by connection

Please send your prayers of love and gratitude to water at the nuclear plants in Fukushima, Japan.


By the massive earthquakes of Magnitude 9 and surreal massive tsunamis, more than 10,000 people are still missing, even now. It has been 16 days already since the disaster happened. What makes it worse is that water at the reactors of Fukushima Nuclear Plants started to leak, and it’s contaminating the ocean, air and water molecule of surrounding areas.


Human wisdom has not been able to do much to solve the problem, but we are only trying to cool down the anger of radioactive materials in the reactors by discharging water to them.
Is there really nothing else to do?


I think there is. During over twenty year research of hado measuring and water crystal photographic technology, I have been witnessing that water can turn positive when it receives pure vibration of human prayer no matter how far away it is.


Energy formula of Albert Einstein, E=MC2 really means that Energy = number of people and the square of people’s consciousness.


Now is the time to understand the true meaning. Let us all join the prayer ceremony as fellow citizens of the planet earth. I would like to ask all people, not just in Japan, but all around the world to please help us to find a way out the crisis of this planet!!


The Prayer procedure is as follows.


Name of ceremony:
"Let’s send our thoughts of love and gratitude to all water in the nuclear plants in Fukushima"
Day and Time:

March 31st, 2011 (Thursday)
12:00 noon in each time zone


Please say the following phrase:

“The water of Fukushima Nuclear Plant, we are sorry to make you suffer. Please forgive us. We thank you, and we love you.”
Please say it aloud or in your mind. Repeat it three times as you put your hands together in a prayer position. Please offer your sincere prayer.


Thank you very much from my heart.


With love and gratitude,
Masaru Emoto
http://www.masaru-emoto.net/english/e_ome_urgentmessage0316.html

Not for the gentle of heart

Please, exercise caution with the accompanying photos this evening.  They are quite graphic. If you are a delicate vegetarian, don't go any further.

Duck Soup

It was a day of adrenaline rushes like I haven't experienced in quite a while and I surprised myself.  R and I spent the day in the Florida wilderness, a place she has spent many a day and a place I am rapidly growing an addiction to myself.  Each time we go we stumble upon something fiercely beautiful, but today we encountered an experience the likes of which I hadn't imagined ever being witness to.  

The day began quietly, water like glass, sky blue as, well, sky, a beautiful morning.  The white pelicans were gorgeous, but elusive today.  So, we went in search of other subjects.  In our pursuit we pulled over to try to capture some shoots of a raccoon who was patrolling the water's edges, but he hid himself in the reeds and refused to pose.  His distraction though brought us to the ideal spot to photograph this creature.  

Please meet Stumpy, as we came to name him.

Stumpy had apparently just found lunch, a ring-necked duck, and was just beginning his repast when we encountered him. He was most cooperative with us and our cameras until the other tourists began to show up. 

        

He then decided to move to a quieter spot. So, we trailed him.  This happened three times.  Again, as long as it was just the two of us he was quite content to allow us to shot his dining experience.  He didn't have good manners though and played with his food for a couple of hours.  I shot over 800 shots of him and I'm sure R did so, or more.  

     

The images, now that I look at them, send shutters down my spine.  I find gators to be quite fear-inducing and don't normally go seeking them out.  At the time I wasn't the least bit scared, he did seem quite content with his mouth full and not interested in the two-leggeds some 10 feet away.  He appeared to be about 6 feet long himself, not huge at all, but then, not a baby either.  We didn't spend a great deal of time on the ground, after his first move, we chose to stay in the car and shoot.  It's a much more secure way to experience gators.

Life and death were right there, raw and uncensored. The coots swam around him and quacked happily ignoring the fate of their cousin. A water snake four times approached him and then thought better of it and turned away. The drama was quiet, brilliant and completely natural. 

My apologies if these photos offend anyone, but I did give you fair warning.  Please know that this was an experience that I will treasure and hold dear. It was near the end of our shoot that we finally noticed that Stumpy has a leg missing, hence his lovely name.  


A 3-legged gator, testament to the ferocity of life, and the persistence of the same.  What a gift from God today.


Peace,
B