Change is happening all around us right now. Art activities are an immense help in expressing and conversing with new phenomena – autumn that feels like summer, “sheltering in place,” becoming our own masked marvels (with ever expanding selections of masks to choose from), assisting friends and neighbors. Even people who do not take part in arts activities are noticing how the arts help us! All to the good, as we go on to inspire one another.
Changes at Pinole Artisans are many. Our Gallery is closed—though the windows and door display fine banners representing work by many of us. Our budget is extremely difficult. Our online activities are increasing. Many of us are working hard at home.
Two of our members have passed—neither from coronavirus, but from conditions they both lived with courageously. One of them introduced me to Swarovski diamonds. The other introduced me to the idea that a svelte lady oil painter with a biker boyfriend added verve to our daily lives.
And the svelte lady, Barbara George, wrote poetry. Here is a sample.
Tiny point of light
brighter Brighter
Winking Out --
Blacker than earthly night
Dark eyes gazing
Into eternity
Deep and lovely for the time of year when, as old stories tell us, “the veils are thinnest among the worlds.” Tradition says “between the worlds,” but who is to say there are only two of them? Experiment and imagination both suggest multiplicities in both science and art these days.
Storytelling takes on new meaning as days grow shorter. Long nights encourage tall tales. It is, according to some, our “tall tales” that expand consciousness. Twice lately I have come across an anecdote about Albert Einstein and storytelling. When Einstein was at Princeton, he was asked what kind of books were best for reading to children to prepare a child for a career in science. Evidently, Einstein responded, “If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be very intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”
J. R. R. Tolkien agreed. Tolkein talked about fairy tales not being written “for children.”
The artist in us loves that! Fairy tales arose in cultural contexts in which fairy creatures could be immense as well as tiny, beautiful, awesome, magical, difficult —they ran the gamut. And usually, Superman and Superwoman-like, fairies that could leap tall mountains in a single bound, converse with animals, plants, and the stars, and much more. They were, and are, incredible problem solvers, often aided by their grandmothers and “high magic.”
Which brings me to the Swarovski diamonds. Catherine “Cat” Valle Friedman introduced me to them. As a Peer Awards entry at one Pinole Artisans Monthly Meeting, Cat brought a cubic box, about six inches on a side, totally covered in Swarovski diamonds — genuine diamonds, but made in the laboratory, not mined from the earth. All evening the box sparkled. I can see it in my mind right now!
Later on, Cat solved a problem for me. I went to events where everyone wore plastic pouches around our necks to hold name tags. I was not a fan! Cat made some beaded pouches of this kind in which she kept her bus pass, credit card, etc. They were for sale in the Pinole Artisans Gallery and I bought one. I still have it. “Ruby in zoisite” my note says of the larger beads. “Siam (dark wine red) and jonquil (light greenish yellow) Swarovski crystal.” The more informal Swarovski crystals work for the name tag holder. The diamonds are for the box that usually stays at home!
The poet W. H. Auden, in writing about fellow poet William Butler Yeats, said that at some point a person “becomes his — or her — admirers.” And so, in poetry, painting, gems, and jewels, we remember Barbara and Cat.
Changes at Pinole Artisans are many. Our Gallery is closed—though the windows and door display fine banners representing work by many of us. Our budget is extremely difficult. Our online activities are increasing. Many of us are working hard at home.
Two of our members have passed—neither from coronavirus, but from conditions they both lived with courageously. One of them introduced me to Swarovski diamonds. The other introduced me to the idea that a svelte lady oil painter with a biker boyfriend added verve to our daily lives.
And the svelte lady, Barbara George, wrote poetry. Here is a sample.
Tiny point of light
brighter Brighter
Winking Out --
Blacker than earthly night
Dark eyes gazing
Into eternity
Deep and lovely for the time of year when, as old stories tell us, “the veils are thinnest among the worlds.” Tradition says “between the worlds,” but who is to say there are only two of them? Experiment and imagination both suggest multiplicities in both science and art these days.
Storytelling takes on new meaning as days grow shorter. Long nights encourage tall tales. It is, according to some, our “tall tales” that expand consciousness. Twice lately I have come across an anecdote about Albert Einstein and storytelling. When Einstein was at Princeton, he was asked what kind of books were best for reading to children to prepare a child for a career in science. Evidently, Einstein responded, “If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be very intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”
J. R. R. Tolkien agreed. Tolkein talked about fairy tales not being written “for children.”
The artist in us loves that! Fairy tales arose in cultural contexts in which fairy creatures could be immense as well as tiny, beautiful, awesome, magical, difficult —they ran the gamut. And usually, Superman and Superwoman-like, fairies that could leap tall mountains in a single bound, converse with animals, plants, and the stars, and much more. They were, and are, incredible problem solvers, often aided by their grandmothers and “high magic.”
Which brings me to the Swarovski diamonds. Catherine “Cat” Valle Friedman introduced me to them. As a Peer Awards entry at one Pinole Artisans Monthly Meeting, Cat brought a cubic box, about six inches on a side, totally covered in Swarovski diamonds — genuine diamonds, but made in the laboratory, not mined from the earth. All evening the box sparkled. I can see it in my mind right now!
Later on, Cat solved a problem for me. I went to events where everyone wore plastic pouches around our necks to hold name tags. I was not a fan! Cat made some beaded pouches of this kind in which she kept her bus pass, credit card, etc. They were for sale in the Pinole Artisans Gallery and I bought one. I still have it. “Ruby in zoisite” my note says of the larger beads. “Siam (dark wine red) and jonquil (light greenish yellow) Swarovski crystal.” The more informal Swarovski crystals work for the name tag holder. The diamonds are for the box that usually stays at home!
The poet W. H. Auden, in writing about fellow poet William Butler Yeats, said that at some point a person “becomes his — or her — admirers.” And so, in poetry, painting, gems, and jewels, we remember Barbara and Cat.