happy new decade...

I had many witty, profound and interesting things to say... but they disappeared into the New Year's Eve baking! Suffice only to say that the ultimate comfort food is condensed milk eaten from the tin with a teaspoon.

Everything I have tried to write today has come out ponderous and heavy. Delete, delete.

I went to work this morning, able to match paint colours in good daylight with no other lighting. The weather was good, sunny, not cold, and I didn't even turn the electricity on. The site was empty, all other workers on holiday for a week or ten days. I like working alone; I can sing knowing that nobody can hear. There's something pretty special about having such a huge building all to yourself.

Now it is time to transform myself... boots and painting gear must vanish, where is my magic wand? Party clothes required. Happy New Year!

Today I am grateful for distant friends who understand the space I am in.

around the corner

This morning I painted around the corner and up the other side. Work conditions were good today, not too cold, easy to move the scaffolding, and workmen to help shift the heavy furniture. I have adjusted the height of my platform as I managed to hit my head twice on the stone archway yesterday. I am enjoying seeing the progress, but still have the ceiling itself, and other bits and pieces, waiting for me. I have to admit though, I am getting anxious to get back to my other painting. Watercolours seem a long way away when I am up on the scaffolding.

Today I am grateful for Zacchi's obedience.
.

alison stanfield's newsletter

reprinted with permission


THIS WEEK'S ACTION

Decide What Your Year Will Look Like

DECIDE that each day will be a good day and that you’ll be in a good mood. That’s right: You can decide.
DECIDE that you’ll sing, smile, laugh, and dance more often.
DECIDE to make this a rewarding year filled with things and people you love.
DECIDE to set boundaries around your studio time. The discipline of a studio practice is what makes you a professional.
DECIDE to try a different color, experiment with a new media, or open yourself to art that is different from your own.
DECIDE to be supportive of all artists in your community.

DECIDE to set boundaries around your personal time. You can’t be a vibrant artist if you don’t take care of yourself.
DECIDE to understand what is in the food you are eating and how it affects your well-being.
DECIDE to avoid things that upset your well-being.
DECIDE to exercise regularly.

DECIDE to set boundaries around your business time. If you seek to make a living from your art, you must take the planning, marketing, and promotion seriously. You must also pay attention to finances and other “less sexy” business matters like insurance.
DECIDE to use your contact list on a regular basis, whether it means picking up the phone, sending an email, or writing a personal note that needs a stamp to reach the recipient.
DECIDE to explore how social media—like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter—can help you network with potential buyers and collectors. There must be something to social media if everyone is using it!
DECIDE that you will learn more about the business “stuff” you’ve tried to ignore.

DECIDE to make the most of the time you have and to stop whining about the time you don’t have.
DECIDE to say No to those things that are not important to you or that get in the way of what you want to be.

DECIDE to take risks. You know that very few people ever reached their full potential without stepping out of their comfort zones.

FINAL WORD: Decide how you will show up in the New Year. Choose the decisions that resonate with you, write them down, and post them in a highly visible place. “I have decided that I will . . . “ At the same time, understand your motives for the decisions. Why did you make these decisions? There must be reasons for your choices. Decisions, goals, and motives are all part of the New Year Blast Off class. Join us beginning January 6! http://artbizcoach.com/classes/blastoff.html


© 2009 Alyson B. Stanfield. Alyson takes the mystery out of marketing your art and making more money as an artist. Visit http://www.ArtBizCoach.com to get articles just like this one delivered to your inbox.

on-line community

Part of my art practice is to blog... or perhaps I should say, to explore other artist's blogs. I am afraid that my blog doesn't really qualify as an artist's blog, except that it is my blog and I am an artist.

The new year resolutions blogs are inspiring. I am going to link to a few here, and add to this post later. And then, maybe, I'll share my resolutions when I make them.

Katherine Cartwright has painted some fabulous eggshell works that I wish I had painted myself. I am a fan on the strength of those works alone. Those works inspired a tiny video I made but have yet to share. Her post for the New Year has a wonderful collection of links to follow, acknowledging other artists who share their work, teaching and learning, on line.

Myrna Wacknov is a dedicated blogger and a generous teacher; her blog is well worth following whether you paint in the same manner or not. The same can be said for Mike Bailey, and his recent post, Breakthrough watercolour, while not specifically for the new year, has a wonderful summary of what goes into a painting.

Now breakfast, and then work calls me, computer time is over.

one of the things i love

...is being independent. Today I mastered moving the scaffolding, so progress was much faster. No waiting for other helpers who either get caught up in other things or completely forget that they are on their way down to help. (Angel Saturday, come back!)

This morning I noticed the lovely shadows on the wall, telling the story of the renovation, perhaps?
I am struggling a little to unite the lines from the wall under the curved vaulted ceiling with the verticals already painted; the original, more ornate design had a lot of leaves along some of the lines, and I suspect that in the junctions of leaves and straight lines there was quite a bit of slack taken up. I don't have that luxury, and I have a boss with a very good eye! Sometimes, however, four into two just doesn't go!
Click here for a "before" photo.

Today I am grateful for rapid progress and the feeling that the work can be completed on time.

making ends meet

or not, as the case may be!

Today was marked by lots of waiting time as the scaffolding had to be moved several times. Tiny holes in the wall needed filling, and the final section near the stairs was a bit tricky as the scaffolding was too wide to get close. The boss built me a bridge from the scaffolding, resting it on the hand rail, and told me to be careful not to step back. I certainly was. I was grateful that he waited to make sure I was working safely before he left. It wasn't far to fall, but landing on marble stairs or iron banisters might not have been fun!

Today I am grateful for pleasant company.

11+ ain't easy

Tomorrow I will have been back in Italy for two weeks. The 11+ is not going well. I am not even blaming Christmas! My routines are in tatters and my "new habits" are not yet established. With going out to eat, and having passing visitors at my house, I have been getting the balance of my proteins, carbs and fruit and veges out of kilter.

Domani... there's always domani... I will try to be more disciplined. Today I will change the location of the nuts (too handy, too good to eat) and the vegetable snacks (too cold straight out of the fridge). The Christmas dried fruits have been tempting too, and I tell myself that they are better than chocolate. Maybe they should be less accessible?

But mostly what has been lacking is real exercise. No excuses, the last two days have been glorious for at least a part of the day.

I faced the scales this morning. No weight loss, but my jeans tell me that there has been a slight change of shape - mine or the jeans? I am not quite sure!

Today I am grateful for yummy fresh vegetables.

another wonderful concert

I still have to pinch myself. I can walk across the road, up to the piazza, and into the local church to a concert with world class performers.

Apologies for the quality of the filming, I still have a slight cough so remained at the back of the church in case I needed to exit quickly. I was concentrating on the singer, not the camera, so it became a little lopsided.

It turns out that the singer, Maristella Mariani, comes from the next village, a ten minute walk away! The flautist is Fabio Angelo Coljanni, and the pianist Andrea Mele.

The video is three minutes long.


Today I am grateful for talented musicians and gifted singers.

boxing day and traditions

...from giving to receiving.

Traditionally Boxing Day was the day when the lower classes and the poor, and later the workers and servants, came to the wealthy higher classes and their employers to receive their boxes of seasonal goods: benevolence, or rewards for a year's work well done.

When I was a child, without the benefit of Google and Wikipedia, I fondly imagined that Boxing Day was when Christmas excesses and trimmings were packaged up and stored away in the attics I read about in story books. Maybe that is why it is my preference to remove all sign of Christmas decorations as soon as possible after Christmas Day.

Now it seems that Boxing Day is one of the best trading days for store keepers, and the best bargain day for shoppers. Somehow I think that is a less benevolent twist to giving and receiving.

Google tells me that St Stephen's Day and Boxing Day were once intertwined. In fact, I do remember that Good King Wenceslas looked out on the feast of Stephen. So where does the Duke of Bohemia, Wenceslas, fit in? Now his is an interesting tale. Wikipedia again... do read on! Feasts take on yet another meaning! How would you like to be named Strachvas, "a dreadful feast"?

Hoping for a more peaceful story, I googled St Stephen. You guessed it, yet another martyr! This time one stoned to death rather than murdered at a feast.

By now my Boxing Day morning, reflecting on the greed and brutality of man, was becoming rather grim. Best to return to the present, listen to the neighbour's rooster signalling 7am, and take refuge in breakfast, panettone and all - no, I just can't do it. Cereal and fruit it has to be. Panforte from Siena could be my downfall at Christmas, but the huge range of beautifully boxed Panettone, in every combination of fruit, lemon or chocolate imaginable, can continue on its way on the gift merry-go-round. It is too sweet and insubstantial for me.

Today I am grateful for health-giving food.

God or santa?

I follow the "Chris will walk" blog, and the Christmas entry made me laugh and cry. Human generosity can be amazing and very humbling. But, as always, it is the children who come out with something profound.

Was it God or Santa who asked the person to drop in the bags of gifts? How lovely that the child thought to query this. What drives us all, in the Christmas madness? In this instance, I suspect that it was God, or love of people and of God, that inspired the giving. Having just blogged about Santa leaving me gifts it gave me food for thought.

If it is true that Jesus was most likely to have been born some time between March and October, and we are putting all this emphasis on pagan dates, is it any wonder that "Christ" is slipping out of Christmas?

In my life-changing move to the other side of the world I have had to face unexpected issues. I now place much less emphasis on material things. But still I found it hard to let go of some that I had collected over the years. It is my aim to have a simple, comfortable home that I can happily let others use, not wondering if they will break things I treasure. That is so much easier said than done.

I have become quite anti commercialism, especially when I read about the sweat shop type factories that continue long after Dicken's time. Christmas feeds into the commercial drive, or is perhaps the result of it. We own too much "stuff" already, and "stuff management" after Christmas becomes a priority.

I remember many years ago when my children were small a family member said that they did not want Christmas gifts at all, and would not be sending any but were donating to the poor instead. It seemed a little sad at the time, thinking that the family would not be receiving gifts, and would be having such a simple Christmas day. Now, so many years later, I wish that I had taken more from Deborah's lead.

One of the best bumper stickers in New Zealand is the one that reads "Take only photographs, leave only footprints". It refers to the natural forests and beaches, but could be applied more widely.

Today's Peace quote for the day has just come in.

We cannot live only for ourselves.
A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow-men;
along those fibers, as sympathetic threads,
our actions run as causes,
and they come back to us as effects.
—Herman Melville

The bells are ringing as I type, calling people to prayer. Fireworks are whistling, although it is light outdoors. It is time to go out, to enjoy Christmas day.

I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas, however you choose to celebrate it.

PS added 28-12-09.
Did Christmas originate in Italy? It seems that the also the singing of Christmas carols did.

when socks are the perfect gift

8am, 25-12-09

Santa came! I guess from the North Pole, but certainly via Scotland this year. He left me all sorts of things, tiny packets, interesting packets, soft and squishy packets. He brought me SOCKS!

Sadly lacking in my wardrobe were dark, coloured, socks to match my winter woollies. Santa must have peeked. Somehow the bright socks with frogs and bees and happy faces on them, perfect for the New Zealand junior classroom, and the white sports socks, aren't quite appropriate here - but they just wont wear out!

I guess you could almost say I have a thing about socks. I have socks from Trinity College, Dublin. Socks from Loch Ness with the monster on them. Socks from Verona with Romeo and Juliet on them... and now I have REAL socks too!

While the rest of the family surf, barbequeue and play on beaches, my toes will be well looked after in every colour, matching the jerseys, scarves, hat and gloves that mark Christmas in Europe.

We didn't get a white Christmas, but Santa's email said that she has plenty snow where she is, at -10 degrees!

So now, Christmas morning, I shall listen to gentle pan pipes playing Christmas music and look at a beautiful book of photographs assembled and made with love... and decide which socks are the best colour for today!

Today I am grateful for love and family.

call me a slow learner but

...I simply can't get used to Christmas Eve being the main part of Christmas. I still think of Christmas Day as being the day of celebration.

The lights in the village and town are very simple and beautiful this year, rows of blue stars across the road up in the historic part, and gold stars down in the newer part.

Some of the daily thoughts for world peace that come into my email inbox have been quite thought provoking lately. Often they mention love, and Napolean even mentioned the hard stuff.

Love is the answer, and you know that for sure. —John Lennon

The more I study the world, the more I am convinced of
the inability of brute force to create anything durable. —Napoleon Bonaparte

But this one, on the surface not so serious but which I think is quite profound, I really enjoyed!

Intellectuals try not to drown, while the whole purpose of love is drowning. —Rumi

Wouldn't it be great if we could all just let go of our insecurities, trust everyone we meet, and experience life fully?

Today I am grateful for sunshine.

olive oil and coffee

This morning we bagged the olives. (Note to self: attempting to lug 230kgs of olives up the stairs in ten sacks was stupid, stupid, stupid!) I didn't expect to be going too, and was ready to paint. The harvester, who shares my crop with me, looked shocked. Of course I was coming too. Quick change from painting trou and into some slightly more presentable shoes. As we waited outside for the truck to collect the olives the neighbours gathered. How many olives? Advice for this, advice for that. Sitting in the bus shelter surrounded by well-wishers my excitement of last year and processing my first real crop returned. By the time I got to the press I was as keen as anyone to see the official weight, to taste the oil. Despite the problems of getting the harvest done, I remembered why I love living here.

Ok, so I lasted only one week back here without taking a coffee - here one "takes" rather than "drinks" a coffee. I was offered one at the olive pressers and it seemed churlish to decline. And now the oil is home... yeehaa!!!! 41 litres of oil shared between me and the picker-pruner. This year it is sweet and smooth, the olives being more mature and the press being a modern one.
The olive press, 2009: Last year I really enjoyed the thick peppery oil (picked early and pressed the old-fashioned way).

Olive pressing, 2008:

Back at work the new system I have devised for the curved lines is working quite well. It wasn't so cold today, rain and no breeze off the snow. Now we are having storm warnings, so it is likely that my internet will disappear again. Don't worry, we'll still be here, Zacchi in front of the heater and Pickle licking up any drop of oil I might spill when putting a few litres into bottles.

Today I am grateful for secure scaffolding.

another two

One for an aussie child with kiwi links and a great-aunt who loves genealogy, and another for a kiwi who lives on a farm. I made a few alterations/improvements to "Ryan" and put a hat on the upright snake after this photograph, but forgot to photograph it again. Drat.

The second one, for Jacob, was framed with raised beading (painted white by the framer) next to the picture and a blue mat. It looked great. The colours are brighter than they appear here. It is my choice to leave the selecting of frames to the framers. They are the experts, and up-to-date with the trends. Sometimes I reserve the right to choose the mat.

I am looking forward to my two next works, although they will be in oil, not my beloved watercolour. But work is work, and to be passionate about it is a bonus!

:-)

i was sure i had mentioned

this occasion in a much earlier blog, but I can't find the reference to link back to. So here is the evidence, the crime and the self-imposed exile. Above: Drat! Caught again!
Below: If I can't see mum, she can't see me, right? Pickle has yet to learn that hiding under the table is not the right option when guilty of the same crime. (And no, the couch is not really that bright. It was the camera flash that changed it).

Today I am grateful for the olive harvest.

november photos

My work place in AutumnPalazzo garden from a window above
The messengers who drop good luck tokens on my car...
The main street

An early start to the NZ journey

and here they are...

The walls aren't really leaning... it must have been a hard day!



The process for the straight bits...

foties

coming. back at work, happily so.
more later

and a pukeko in a ponga tree

Merry Christmas, everyone. Tanti auguri a tutti.

Here is the Kiwi version of a well known Christmas song.

It could almost be a white Christmas... the snow is lower on the hills behind us than I have seen it before, and this morning the valley below was lost in a dense layer of white fluffy fog. Tonight will be colder. I am glad that it is weekend and I am not working in the open building. I'll pretend that it is Dunedin... it is still not as cold as it was the night we were racing at Forbury Park way back in the two children days.

Today I am grateful for cous cous and polenta, candles and warm fires.

the battle for the couch

Yes, I will write about art one day soon.

Zacchi knows well that he is not to sleep on the couch, and if caught he slinks outside without a word from me, looking as guilty as a muffin can look. Pickle, on the other hand, still pushes her luck. You would think that with snow on the hills not too far away the message would sink in faster... caught on the couch and out you go!

We had a little tussle the other day. I was on the couch, snuggled under a blanket, and Pickle was on her perch, the plastic box which doubles as pantry and sometime coffee table now padded with a mat. She seemed to think that my blanket was the better spot to be... how many times can you push a dog off before she gets the message?

Tonight I got up to make a milo; I couldn't sleep, and thought that the day's intake could extend to some winter comfort. Milo is a luxury to be used sparingly. I found Pickle asleep on the mat which was folded beside the couch, up on the pantry perch. This was all OK with me, she often sleeps there when I am in the kitchen. She opened one eye, tried to make herself invisible, and waited to be put outside.

Really Pickle, I know that you intended moving over onto the couch once I was properly asleep, but I don't usually punish BEFORE the crime!

Zacchi, on the other hand, has become the most obedient dog around, quite the educated, gentlemany role model. While Pickle and I tussled he sat upright on the mat near me, saying "Look mum, I'm being sooo good!" I am sure that despite being so well looked after when I am away a little bit of separation anxiety goes a long way in the discipline stakes!

Today I am grateful that Pickle is learning...

11 a day is not easy

Today is the first day of "accountability". I have been home for two full days, and have slept enough to say that any jet-lag is over. That I woke at 5am does make me doubt that a little, but I feel fine! Maybe it was just the neighbour's over-enthusiastic rooster that helped get me up and about so early - it is still dark, and he has been crowing since 3am! Christmas dinner, maybe?

Feeling confident I stepped on the scales. Shock, horror! Dad's cooking was too good. I put on 2 kilos in New Zealand. AFTER the doctor had told me that my knees would appreciate it if I lost some weight.

The new regime is 11 a day (click for Harvard report) ... servings of fruit and veges that is. Maybe it should be 11 kilometres a day! It is not yet 7am and I have eaten three servings already. Luckily the trees are loaded with mandarines and oranges, but I think a better balance is called for. Maybe I should start with prunes...

I was enjoying my vegetarian meals and lots of fruit and veges with my vegetarian and health conscious crew, and was beginning to feel more energetic and alive. A change of diet eating with guests (while still eating healthily) brought a noticeable drop in energy levels. Now I eat to improve my health, not to indulge in treats just because I can. How hard can it be, staying off coffee and wine in Italy?

Today I am grateful for two little doggies who take me walking.

need over want

As I unpacked my odd assortment of "treasures" that made it safely from NZ to Italy I thought about how generous people are. In NZ I sorted things I wont need in the foreseeable future and wondered who to give them to, whether or not I should sell them, where they would be most useful. Some it was hard to let go, and others survived for another round of selection. Some, in fact, that I expected to be easy to give away, proved to be difficult to find homes for. Sometimes I found it difficult balancing my in-built caution (I might need that one day) with my wish to give things a new home.

I am not as generous as I would like to be. I found that my attitude to parting with things was much helped when daughter number one said "Think of how much pleasure that will give someone". I was thinking only of myself, keeping what I might need, and giving out of a wish to be charitable rather than in a true spirit of giving.

Today (my time) it is 21 years since my brother died. One of our last conversations was centred around his view that "no one person should have too much money". He was right. Increasingly I think no one person should have too many possessions either. Research now shows that where there is a more equitable distribution of material wealth then both the wealthy and the poorer benefit in many unexpected ways.

I had two wonderful grandmothers, a minimalist and a hoarder. I take after the hoarder. After two world wars and the great depression I imagine that she had an excuse to save everything for the future. I have no excuse. It is time to pass things on, even gifts that have been given to me but are no longer things I need. The other grandmother, who left her few possessions neatly ordered and ready to be gifted when she left this world, apparently asked her children "Do you need this?" and if they hesitated before replying it was gone.

I have received generous and unexpected kindnesses and gifts. One friend said "I love giving gifts, it's paying goodwill forward and it's as simple as that". How wonderful are her words, "it's as simple as that"! The next time I think "Can I afford to give this away?" I will try to remember the joy of giving and put my instincts to store for the future well away from me. When I do have regrets about things I haven't kept the regrets don't last too long.

Now, what can I give away to make room for my assorted bits and pieces? Zacchi, Pickle... (just kidding Sally!)

Today I am grateful for having enough.

Christmas thoughts

From an email: A very special Christmas message


T'WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS,

HE LIVED ALL ALONE,

IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE,

MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE.


I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY,

WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE,

AND TO SEE JUST WHO,

IN THIS HOME, DID LIVE.


I LOOKED ALL ABOUT,

A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE,

NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS,

NOT EVEN A TREE.


NO STOCKING BY MANTLE,

JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND,

ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES,

OF FAR DISTANT LANDS.


WITH MEDALS AND BADGES,

AWARDS OF ALL KINDS,

A SOBER THOUGHT,

CAME THROUGH MY MIND.


FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT,

IT WAS DARK AND DREARY,

I FOUND THE HOME OF A SOLDIER,

ONCE I COULD SEE CLEARLY.


THE SOLDIER LAY SLEEPING,

SILENT, ALONE,

CURLED UP ON THE FLOOR,

IN THIS ONE BEDROOM HOME.


THE FACE WAS SO GENTLE,

THE ROOM IN DISORDER,

NOT HOW I PICTURED,

AN AUSTRALIAN SOLDIER.


WAS THIS THE HERO,

OF WHOM I'D JUST READ?

CURLED UP ON A PONCHO,

THE FLOOR FOR A BED?


I REALISED THE FAMILIES,

THAT I SAW THIS NIGHT,

OWED THEIR LIVES TO THESE SOLDIERS,

WHO WERE WILLING TO FIGHT.


SOON ROUND THE WORLD,

THE CHILDREN WOULD PLAY,

AND GROWNUPS WOULD CELEBRATE,

A BRIGHT CHRISTMAS DAY.


THEY ALL ENJOYED FREEDOM,

EACH MONTH OF THE YEAR,

BECAUSE OF THE SOLDIERS,

LIKE THE ONE LYING HERE.


I COULDN'T HELP WONDER,

HOW MANY LAY ALONE,

ON A COLD CHRISTMAS EVE,

IN A LAND FAR FROM HOME.


THE VERY THOUGHT BROUGHT,

A TEAR TO MY EYE,

I DROPPED TO MY KNEES,

AND STARTED TO CRY.


THE SOLDIER AWAKENED,

AND I HEARD A ROUGH VOICE,

"SANTA DON'T CRY,

THIS LIFE IS MY CHOICE;


I FIGHT FOR FREEDOM,

I DON'T ASK FOR MORE,

MY LIFE IS MY GOD,

MY COUNTRY, MY CORPS."


THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,

AND DRIFTED TO SLEEP,

I COULDN'T CONTROL IT,

I CONTINUED TO WEEP.


I KEPT WATCH FOR HOURS,

SO SILENT AND STILL,

AND WE BOTH SHIVERED,

FROM THE COLD NIGHT'S CHILL.


I DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE,

ON THAT COLD, DARK, NIGHT,

THIS GUARDIAN OF HONOR,

SO WILLING TO FIGHT.


THEN THE SOLDIER ROLLED OVER,

WITH A VOICE SOFT AND PURE,

WHISPERED, "CARRY ON SANTA,

IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY, ALL IS SECURE."


ONE LOOK AT MY WATCH,

AND I KNEW HE WAS RIGHT.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS MY FRIEND,

AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT."

This poem was written by an Australian Peacekeeping soldier stationed overseas. The following is his request: PLEASE. Would you do me the kind favour of sending this to as many people as you can? Christmas will be coming soon and some credit is due to all of the service men and women for our being able to celebrate these festivities. Lets try in this small way to pay a tiny bit of what we owe. Make people stop and think of our heroes, living and dead, who sacrificed themselves for us.
Please, do your small part to plant this small seed.

Thanks to Krista in Australia for sending this to me.

coming back soon

Thanks for the emails saying you have missed me! This "no computer" time has been interesting!

My goal for public scrutiny is... lose ten kgs by 1 April 2010. OK gang, keep me honest! I will need all the encouragement, fruit and vegetables that I can get!

Today I am grateful for inspiring television programmes.