random thoughts:

paintings about death. small beautiful deaths. the beginning stages of rebirth. the
physical body transforming. perhaps the higher self finding another body to inhabit.

i’ve been reading about near death experiences, they sound so wonder-filled i find
myself yearning to die, for just a short while, to experience it myself. It is often
described as a calm black space with amazing flowers and colors, all that have never
been seen before and beautiful music. Your entire life played out before you with new
insights. Often the person who experiences an NDE (near death experience),
becomes a more awakened being with more focus on the present moment and less on
material acquisitions and individual achievements.

Okay, so i am enjoying taking photographs of small dead creatures, but just as much, i am enjoying the interactions with the people that bring these
creatures to me. This little creature, a lizard, was delivered to me  in a shoebox by Dean. I think Dean is about 3 years of age, and seeing him standing
on my front porch with that shoebox just made my day. This little lizard was in perfect condition and i am thinking one of Dean’s most prized possessions,
so i just borrowed the lizard overnight and just now brought him back to his owner.

i know it is sad that things die, but how awesome is it that i got to really take a look at a lizard. They are always scurrying around my yard, but i never
knew they had those beautiful blue markings on their bellies. and look at those “hands and feet”, more human than i ever imagined.

big thank you to dean for sharing!

leon and i came home the other day to find a small box on our porch with a note that
read, “open slowly”.  I let leon do the honors.

i should have known it would be a bird, but for some reason i am still getting used to
this thing where friends drop off dead birds on my doorstep. this one was a very beautiful
cedar waxwing. there are tons of them in town right now so i expected it was just a
matter of time before one came to me.

i photographed him that very day but did not come up with anything i liked, but
yesterday was a new day and i came up with the image below. I love the way the stone
looks next to the bird, how they are both so smooth and rounded, and how the 2 black
seeds are as interesting to me as the bird is.

thanks bernadette and lucy for the delivery.

Leon took this portrait of me today in my studio, I kind of like it. I needed a portrait because I am going to be a part of a new website
called generousart.org. It is the creation of Jennifer Chenoweth. A brilliant idea that brings together artists, collectors and non
profit organizations.