Courage to fly...

“And the day came

when the risk

to remain tight

in a bud

was more painful

than the risk it took

to blossom”

Anais Nin

Becoming a Grandmother...

I truly believe art is life and becoming a Grandmother is a definitive artform.
In her book "Becoming Grandma" Lesley Stahl writes about growing a whole new chamber in her heart, to being swooned and elated while holding her new granddaughter in her arms. It truly resonated with me, it explained the bond I feel when I hold my grandson in my arms. I do not want to let go. I feel his heart, watch him wrap his little fingers over mine and it is like the Buddha says, achieving a state of contentment, love and gratitude. (Photo courtesy of Juli Gonzalez)

A new day...

6am
Light filtering through the window
Pat pat up the stairs
Big black nose approaching
Then it comes...
Big lick across the face
Announcing it's a new day

Equality

...the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities.
I recently saw the incredibly powerful movie "Maiden" relating the story of "Tracy Edwards" a young woman that pulled an all women crew to sail the Whitbred Round the World Race in 1990 (33,000 miles). Until that year women were not allowed to participate in this race. She fought against all odds, found funding for her venture and completed the race. Even though they did not win the race, they did win two sections and they brought thousands of people out of their homes to greet them at the end of the race. She and her crew made a difference, from that year on, women were allowed to participate in the Race.

Baby steps, when you think about the fact that we are still fighting for equality in 2019.

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Gracious grasses.

Bright light between
The vertical lines
Of the most beautiful
Creamy maize grasses
Moved softly aside
As we walked down the path
With Rey and Bambina
The backlit vision of them
Was breathtaking
The nature of their softness
The grace of their movement
All in perfect synchrony

Surface Matters

I remember one of my Design teachers giving us an assignment which had to do with creating a textural board that would give information on shape, form and feel to a blind person. After we all turned in our projects, he proceeded to critique the work by blindfolding himself and going on a sensory trip through our work. Back to one of our first learned languages being the touch of our Mother's skin we learn to develop this sense. Nature helps by guiding us, through a world of textures starting with the bark of a tree, or the smoothness or roughness of a rock. In my heart I feel that texture marks the layers of time, like the layers of the earth marking the impact of weather patterns through time. It shapes the surface into something rich with history.

What is Love?

Love can be represented in many ways. With a simple gift or a kind gesture, by listening, making love, taking care of someone, making a loving call, cooking a meal, sharing a moment and the list goes on. A good thing that there are so many ways to show love. But when it comes to being the one on the receiving end... selfishly all we want is to be number one in the eyes of the one we love.

My favorite time of day...

For many years the blue hour has been my favorite time of day, for several reasons. First, its blue color is rich and intensifies by the second. Second, this time of day, al least for me, represents that work has been done and its time to relax. Makes me feel that I am looking into a bottle of a rich elixir which pours beauty into my eyes.

Observation of a landscape...

Nature is one of our teachers. I spent some time focused in using my macro lens to look into the detail of a leaf, observing its delicate veins running through it. Also marveled at looking for the negative space, the space between the leaves of a tree, not the leaves themselves. This gave way to the abstraction of shape. All this, has certainly been something that artist Jan Hendrix has done for many years. Dutch-born artist who has lived and worked in Mexico since 1978. Hendrix received the Order of the Aztec Eagle from the Mexican government for his work in art and architecture. He has spent many years observing the landscape. He moves between representation, figuration and abstraction. Then he renders a literary representation of the landscape. I share with you a video of his work and inspiration. https://vimeo.com/318236081 To see the video, please copy this link into your browser window.

Fiber...

I was observing this beautiful yarn, spun and died by a local artisan. It was beautiful and raw. It is amazing how all these flecks of hair come together and find their strength by bonding together with other fibers and become a form. Not unlike the way our experiences, environment and emotions get woven together as individual strands into the fiber of our lives. It becomes part of the blood that runs through our veins. It becomes the representation of who we are.

A labyrinth.

Recently during one of my walks I found a labyrinth marked with stones. The Labyrinth is an ancient symbol that relates de wholeness. It combines the imagery of the circle and the spiral into a meandering but purposeful path. It represents the journey to our center and back again out into the world. Finding it was a gift. I have been using it as a meditative tool. Walking it has helped me find time, and in that time find thought, grounding, direction and flow. Our lives get busy and the container gets full. We barely ever make it to the center, before something distracts our attention. Finding time this summer has given me space.

First language...

Recently I heard artist Judy Tuwaletstiwa quote "Our first language is the beating of our Mother's heart and the second is the touch of our Mother's skin". Having become a grandmother recently this quote touched me deeply. I used to pray everyday to the Virgin of Guadalupe for the safe birth of my little grandson. During this meditative prayer I used to try to sink the beating of my own heart to that of my daughter's as her heart was connected to his. I witnessed these languages while observing the magic of Motherhood right beneath my eyes.

Patina

Wikipedia says pa-ti-na is a green and brown film on the surface of bronze or similar metals, produced by oxidation over a long period. And wabi sabi is a world view centered on the acceptance of transience and imperfection. While walking down the street today I honed in on this chair by the side of the road and found all those elements together. Even though inviting you to sit down, you couldn't help but stop and observe the rusted paint, the peeling of one layer of color over the other. It reminded me of the peeling walls in Antigua, Guatemala, and what is below the surface... the marks left behind.

Judy Tuwaletstiwa

It is always a joy when you find a similar mindset in the work of another artist. I would like to share with you this video of the artist Judy Tuwaletstiwa. I love the way she moves through different media: fabric, glass, ink, paint and natural found materials. She listens to them, learns from them... in some way she gives them a voice through her artwork. During one of her recent lectures, she quoted painter Philip Guston " I go to my studio every day because one day the angel might come, and what if I don't show up and the angel comes". “Judy Tuwaletstiwa_3.5min” from Melinda Frame / FRAME+WORK on Vimeo. The video is available for your viewing pleasure at https://vimeo.com/335994167

Transition

After several years of hiatus from writing in this blog, change is compelling me to start again. Wikipedia tells us that transition is the process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another. If we apply this to us, we did change from one state to another, in reality from one country to another and many conditions with that. It is a space in time that I have experienced many times. I remember my Dad telling me when I married George, "Mi hijita te estás casando con un nómada, esos gringos se mueven de lugar a lugar". And although this turned out to be true and we have crossed borders and moved from one property to another several times it has opened the opportunity for us to learn about transition. I love this space, in which we are forced to go through all our shit, get rid of the stuff no longer serves us, to untangle ourselves from the day to day responsibilities and the set schedule. There is an anonymity that comes with it which is refreshing.