I saw the video - Dirt, The Movie. It broadened my understanding of the earth.  I have a clearer vision of what healthy soil looks like and it is beginning to inform my art. The new paintings are not ready to photograph or even know where they are leading, but they are coming along.

I am so glad to live in a beautiful area of the Northwest.  As I embark on my next creative project, I am considering what is the most compelling thing I would like to do.  My feeling is that I will continue to concentrate on connecting with the calming energy of the trees and forest.  There is too much stress in the world.  We need calming to keep us sane.  The cedar trees in particular, have very calming energy.

Just getting my studio back in order to work now that the big Open Studio exhibition is a memory.  We had over 600 visitors during the five day event. Many of our visitors went home with a piece of my art.  What a honor it is to have my work in so many homes across Washington.  Thank you to all!

One of the great things about having an open studio happens during the preparing.  It creates an opportunity to organize the art I have been working on over the past year, giving me a significant overview of my own work.  This is a wonderful personal by product of exhibiting.  Camano Island Open Studios opens May 7th. Camano Island Studio Tour

I am always so serious!  Every painting and every word must have purpose and meaning. I was reading ODE magazine yesterday - "Ode to Laughter" edition - and I am struck that being serious is a cultural attitude. I have long been thinking that if one has but a moment to communicate, it should be filled with importance.

I think it is important to look forward into the future of our trees.  When I look out at the forest in view from my studio windows, I imagine the trees as older and larger than they appear now.  I think if we take care of our forests, then, in several hundred years from now, the trees will be a grand dimension like their ancestors were in the old growth forests.

This is a photo I took of letters I made from grape vines tied together with blackberry bramble vine. Honoring Earth is always on my mind.  It shows up in my art a great deal of the time as a theme. It is my spiritual practice and the attitude I aspire towards, sometimes more difficult to practice than other times.  I believe it is imperative.

I am working on creating an art exhibition on Camano Island at Matzke Fine Art Gallery.  We have titled the show Camano Honors Earth.  This is a work in process. The question to you is... What does it mean to you to honor earth?