before there could be an urge to hurry to get the book, The Woman Upstairs,  having just finished reading it…i told you i was a fast reader…i want to say that i would retract my glorious and always hopefull hope about novels.  and i admit, it's been so long since i read a novel.  so who am i to say, but don't rush out because i got all excited.  it's a wonderful novel.  she is a wonderful writer.  

but it's not about making art for me.  Bummer.

So.  O KAY.  that done for another ten or fifteen years give or take, i am going to go stitch.

Love, 

ok.  it's almost 7p.  a lot of thinking.  and i will send the book along, Julie.  anyway.  and some things just floated through the air here, of their own accord: More to "go" on.  info.  floating info.  the person to whom i was married for 10 years has been dead now for 8.   We were an extremely unlikely pair.  all we had going for us that was obvious was that we were beautiful together.  as in, pretty.  nice to look at.  

and somewhere along page 187 of the book in question,  i thought:  Why is what i Make so important to me?  because it is my Story, that has no story, really, but begins/ends/begins/ends day unto day, never complete in any way at all, but somehow it's my story and i need to tell my story to myself.  i need to.  so i Make stuff.  to show myself.

myself.  my very singular interior self.

but then,  by showing "YOU",  by showing this depiction of my interior self to You, i am asking………Can you See me?   and then over time, what i then want to ask is Can you see me enough to know me?  a little?,  some?  

and really, since the book was so much about Love,  i thought about that person i was married to.  How i was so sure that i did not want that connection.  that i'd left what i'd left and done what i'd done with the single urge to "find the basic equation" and to

make art.

but he said something to me, whenever he could see me waver.  he said

"i know you, grace"  and he would look directly at me.  "i know you."  Sometimes he would also say, "i'll be your best dream and your worst nightmare", which in fact he was, but  it was the  I know you that i wanted to see.  

and the Goats were feeling close up this evening

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and here…a single bindweed.  that gets no, as in Zero, water.  kin to morning glories, it goes to sleep at night.  closes it's blooms only to open them in the morning.  i forgot to take its pic this morning.  maybe tomorrow. 

 

 

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34 responses to “79 High Noon then Sun heading toward the Rim”

  1. Mo Crow Avatar

    but the book is about being a woman wanting to make art? it’s the wanting that makes things happen … eventually… all mixed up with
    “Hope and Memory have one daughter and her name is Art….”
    William Butler Yeats
    “I think it is all a matter of love; the more you love a memory the stronger and stranger it becomes.”
    Vladimir Nabokov
    quotes from Terri Windling’s post a few weeks ago about the nature of memory
    http://windling.typepad.com/blog/2013/04/illumination-and-memory.html

    Like

  2. grace Forrest Avatar

    o mo
    it’s a very good novel. a very good story. but the sense of it
    is FOR ME that Messud chose art because of the rich visuals she
    could “word”. the stage. but in fact the story is about Love.
    which is a wonderful story.

    Like

  3. Mo Crow Avatar

    thinking a bit more it’s not so much the wanting or the longing to make art, it’s the need…
    as Leonora Carrington replied to Joanna Moorhead back in 2006-
    When I ask her how a painting comes about, what the impetus is, she fixes me with the Moorhead stare. “You don’t decide to paint. It’s like getting hungry and going to the kitchen to eat. It’s a need, not a choice.”
    http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/may/26/leonora-carrington-obituary

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  4. grace Forrest Avatar

    yes. this is more it. like being too engulfed by other
    things…letting self become so and not taking time to
    eat. becoming “thin of spirit”…
    but when you realize this, feed the body, feed the life
    you live in, for me, the plant people, the Goats, and
    ALSO equally feed the Making, there is a true HEALTH to
    that. a nourishing. a strength. a deep satisfaction. a strong prevailing sense of a day of one’s life well lived.
    there are times in a life when feeding and eating differently and that’s good too. but again, i think of Nance’s word:
    conditioned
    becoming conditioned to that. Why not just uhhhh,
    excuse oneself for a time, if possible, and see what
    happens….
    there’s something in here about feeling irreplacible. as
    if we (I) must. that i am the only one who can. this is
    not true, i don’t think. but i don’t know. because i have bought into that.
    why am i not irreplacable to my own self? again…there’s
    that selfish thing. and to me also how do i understand
    that interms of my buddhist teachings.
    but i’m thinking. it may not be a Real Black/White thing. maybe i only imagine it to be. ?
    i remember reading somewhere…i do not keep details in my head, don’t write notes, but i remember reading it and
    staring at the words…
    it was either May Sarton or Madeline L’Engle…funny that
    i don’t know, but someone, a kind of famous but not really writer moved down the road from her home and was Thrilled to find this out. spent laborious hours writing a small note. telling Sarton/L’Engle who she was and that they had just become neighbors and how she had admired her work for her entire life and then, Inviting her to tea.
    she got a prompt response that said:
    Thank you for your lovely invitation but i am a writer. i write. any time i am not writing, i spend with my family.
    I cannot now or ever have tea.
    period.
    i just stared and stared at these words.
    i had LOOOONG admired Meinrad Craighead’s work. as part
    owner at that bookstore, i had hand written orders to her for reproductions, posters, her books for the store. when she filled the orders she wrote a short note, always addressing me as Forrest…dear Forrest…..
    when i moved to N. Mex i screwed up my courage and wrote her, asking if i could come to her home/studio in Albuquerque to see her. i received a note. yes. that she received one visitor a month for 20 minutes. and gave me a choice of days. i chose and arrived. ushered in and given a short tour through her studio to the beautiful magical open courtyard porch, she brought a glass of water and sat down. that was maybe 5 minutes. we had just said a few words when two of her dogs that are so much a part of her ART created chaos in the next room, a small bird had fallen into the chimney of the fire place and they were slathering to get it. we jumped into action, me ending up holding the dogs by their collars she gathering up the little bird. we went out, leaving the dogs inside and took the bird out in her Garden Bosque Altar Yard and put it in a safe place to recover. we breathed. and she asked if i had the time and i said yes, and looked at the watch in my bag, said the time and she said, well….time to get back to the work. it has been wonderful to meet you. and i was ushered back to the gate.
    she lived alone. had no children. the dogs. the Place. Her Art.
    i left with so many unanswered questions but was again stunned by something i’d never seen before.

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  5. Mo Crow Avatar

    ah yes, the art of carving out time for the making… my friend Glenda Jones is a painter she has been a teacher and a mother but she is now a full time painter here’s what she said when I asked her to come along to a gig awhile back (when she was still teaching)
    “I will not get to see Crow man pluck his stuff.
    In another life I would, but in this one I’m an anti-social bitch who
    uses every waking moment (when not teaching) to paint or think
    about what I’m going to paint next.
    That’s my idea of a good time.
    Pathetic though it may sound.”
    I love that and have been accused of being more than a little anti-social myself but do try to make it to the Old Man Crow’s gigs!

    Like

  6. grace Forrest Avatar

    google her…Meinrad watch the vimeo

    Like

  7. Dee Avatar

    I listened to most of the interview (and agreed that Gross was off her game, somehow)… I wonder if the whole art/negotiation conversation would even have much punch for me in a story about a single, childless woman… because that’s where the rub is for me — the business of caretaking dependent children(and an impaired sister who is overly dependent me).
    I love that quote about writing/family (about not coming to tea ever) … that kind of crystallized the level of dedication we’re talking about here, doesn’t it?
    But, I also think people write books by going at it more sporadically.
    I know quilting became a thing for me when the boys were young because I could do it in short increments of time -(and because I can tolerate a high degree of mess!)

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  8. Mo Crow Avatar

    Feeding the Crow Mother 1994 !!! oh aaaaaaarrrrrkkkkk! it’s that painting of the Crow Mother with all the crow women giving her their eggs! Thank you! I needed to see that today… you live in the magical land of the faraway nearby indeed! that wonderful real time space of rescuing the bird & holding her dogs would have been better than anything either of you could have ever said in words, magic days my friend these are the golden times!

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  9. grace Forrest Avatar

    i guess that is part of what is perplexing me. to use a
    nice word. for all practical purposes, i am a single childless woman now. For the moment, none of my kids/grand kids are “asking” me. but it seems that somehow the die is set and i am responding to others in a similar vein of
    Responsibility. it doesn’t apply evenly all around. not
    to you and your family or your sister, in the same way.
    it doesn’t apply in the same way to Jude and her mother.
    but some bottom line with
    women
    does apply, i think.
    maybe not. maybe i’m wrong. but these are the questions
    i’m asking my SELF. no you. or Jude. or Susan C.
    but myself. because i a woman and i think relatively
    similar to other women. maybe not

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  10. grace Forrest Avatar

    her work is stunning, yes?
    and her work, Jude’s,
    Kin
    and yes. better than anything either of could have said
    i can SEE those moments like they are still happening,
    repeating in Time Lapse, over and over and over

    Like

  11. Laura R Avatar
    Laura R

    She had nothing. Where did her words come from? She was thin of spirit.

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  12. grace Forrest Avatar

    thin of spirit. close to the bone

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  13. grace Forrest Avatar

    and Which
    She
    do we speak of?

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  14. grace Forrest Avatar

    and see…this is to Laura, but also Dee
    this is when i can write. when i am defenseless. when
    i am most me.
    and everyone else is sleeping.
    thank you Laura

    Like

  15. Laura R Avatar
    Laura R

    To be in the moment with your lovely goats, tricksters…

    Like

  16. grace Forrest Avatar

    tricksters…yes. i suppose. they would like that thought.
    and they Are. but they are also so incredibly Transparent.
    and maybe that’s exactly What
    Trickster is
    Transparent.
    they have beautiful breath, full of cud, fermenting

    Like

  17. Laura R Avatar
    Laura R

    Sorry. Craighead, the painter, and also the self-absorbed writer.

    Like

  18. Laura R Avatar
    Laura R

    Used to spend time with Heidi and Butterball, my great-aunt’s goats, when I was elementary school-aged. One was fun, the other aloof. Your description of breath…lovely;)

    Like

  19. Laura R Avatar
    Laura R

    I respond only when I am me, too. Please let me know if I ever offend you or your friends. Sometimes I get lost in abstract conversations online- no facial expressions, inflections, poster’s backgrounds…

    Like

  20. patricia Avatar

    was unfamiliar with Meinread before this very moment. watched her on youtube. moved by her work beyond words. the animals. the recurring wolves i think? after my first deep YYESSSSSSSSSSS i felt a strange sense of freedom. and i loved her last statement–“if i didn’t paint i wouldn’t know where i was in the universe.” this has been so instructive and clarifying for me. i spend days wondering why do i put needle to cloth hour after hour? all of what you say here, have shared, all of what everyone here has shared seems to be removing dark lens away from my eyes. so for that and everything–to everyone–thank you.

    Like

  21. jude Avatar

    the old quest…it seems i might be able to communicate something through cloth making. i hope so.

    Like

  22. grace Forrest Avatar

    sigh and Hey Ho….

    Like

  23. beth Avatar

    Oh this is good. So good. Thanks to all who contributed to the conversation. And Jude’s blog post about people wanting more. And just look at those goats wanting Grace’s attention. And the no tea–not ever–period. So good for me to listen to all this. Yes, I think men are not conflicted in this same way as women are.
    When my mother was nearing the end of her life, I was contemplating leaving my job. I was driving 7 hours each way to spend a little time with my mom and brother whenever I could, trying to hold things together at home, and I was just utterly pulled until there was very little left over… I came across this quote that said something like: when you die, the things that you do will either be done by someone else or they will not be done. Period. And I came to find so much comfort in that. The detachment of it let me understand my mother’s going. It let me leave my job. In a way it defined “just going” before I had those words.

    Like

  24. lindamorris Avatar
    lindamorris

    Thank you so much, Thank you Grace for the Meinrad vimeo link…made my day ! so entirely interesting, thought provoking feeling provoking, LOVED IT and what a wonderful tale of you holding back the dogs too .

    Like

  25. grace Forrest Avatar

    am going to find out if she is still teaching…
    maybe…..

    Like

  26. grace Forrest Avatar

    oh…a great-aunts Goats…this is good. good to hear.
    Butterball and Heidi. yes. what is your Great Aunt’s
    name?

    Like

  27. grace Forrest Avatar

    wolves/coyotes/dogs
    we are Becoming
    What We are, aren’t We…………

    Like

  28. grace Forrest Avatar

    yes. just those words of Jude’s…Just Going…those
    are so invaluable. even if there nothing more, that
    way of thinking would carry Us.
    and yes, we DO know the very biological make up of
    feminine v.s. masculine…that by our very Nature, we
    are what we are. but still…i am so interested in
    what i consider valid DEVELOPMENTAL stages of human beings.
    that there is or can be so much More beyond the “nurturing”
    years…that there is this long space where what we have
    seen, what we have learned can be formed into things of
    great Value. these are things that would arise from that
    Interior Self.
    i love being born a woman. so Much. so Fine.
    LOTS to work with.
    xoxo

    Like

  29. Laura R Avatar
    Laura R

    She was Swiss, and we called her Auntie Liseli. Introduced me to goat’s milk, carrot juice, and a real treat for me still: Gravenstein applesauce.

    Like

  30. grace Forrest Avatar

    show me that…phoenetically
    li seeli?
    will look for Gravenstein applesauce
    there will be babies to be named.

    Like

  31. linda Avatar

    i had never heard of meinread before although i think i have seen her work. it looks familiar. maybe i’m just dreaming it.
    i understand her need to be alone to paint but don’t understand her ability to do it.
    i think i need stimulation from others to inspire me. this blog, jude’s and judith’s. so many others.. the classes. they are where i get my focus.
    i think she missed out on meeting a wonderful woman that might have had a lot more to share. maybe she has so much inside she doesn’t need that, but i certainly do.. rambling..sorry.

    Like

  32. linda Avatar

    i agree with this one so much.
    i feel like i have been learning for so long and now i want my space to use that learning.
    i get afraid of not having the time. probably because my mother died quickly at 65. i am 64 and will retire in january. there there is a 6 month sabbatical far away from family and home. i long to be there to just realize what that learning can produce of Great Value.
    maybe nothing but thoughts.. of my own.

    Like

  33. grace Forrest Avatar

    she does give 4 day workshops each year. i think only a
    couple a year…
    and then…as she says…there are many spirits in her
    life, world.

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  34. grace Forrest Avatar

    thoughts of one’s own. love that, Linda.
    well…i really am wanting to know more about
    solitary creative space.
    i DO know that when i have say 4 days with no interruption,
    everything is different. i can wake with some unknown and
    vague sense of something and then just BE with that and
    what i do then is very different than when everything is
    fragmented.

    Like

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