Hollyhocks

I had so many more photos of my week in Vail, but when I got home and saw my hollyhocks in glorious full bloom, I knew I had to share them with you. I picked up a little baggy of seeds at the Winterset Historical Center the first fall I lived here at Red Bell Farm. The woman behind the desk had collected them from her hollyhocks and was giving them away. I scattered them along the front of my house without even digging holes to plant them in. And they flourished!Although many people think hollyhocks are too old-fashioned to plant, I love them! They are big and bold and powerful flowers. Their deep red color looks beautiful against the cream siding on my house. The plants are so loaded with the heavy flowers that they are bending over the walkway to my front door. To me, hollyhocks shout "Summer!"

Would You Trust These People With Your Life??

Would you trust these people with your life? Believe it or not these are all healthcare professionals...managers and directors of air medical programs across the country. They and their staff take care of and transport the sickest of the sick and most critically injured patients. Last night, tho, they were just havin' fun...Western style! Our host, 4Eagle Ranch, graciously provided an instructor who did a great job getting everyone out there and learning the slides, the kicks and the booty-shakin' moves of line dancing. The band was awesome! It was a most memorable evening...even for those of us who only took pictures and video!

Here's Looking at You From Vail~~

The conference speakers and business networking have been great this week. It all culminated in a really fun social event last night held at the 4Eagle Ranch outside Wolcott, CO. We were bussed in style to the ranch and spent the next 4 hours having a ball! This little beauty was part of the farmyard...a goat family, a couple of pigs, some chickens, and a large corral full of horses. A lone bison greeted visitors brave enough to hand feed him corncobs. 4Eagle is a 1000-acre working cattle ranch; some day-ride outfitters also base there. The couple who run it host private parties, weddings, and groups like ours as well as being open to the public. The ranch contains the original 1850's homestead cabins, a newer ranch house, several big covered porches on barns set up for eating, drinking and dancing. There was a horseshoe pit, a quick draw shooting gallery, and buckboard rides around the homestead. We played, we ate and drank, and as evening fell, we danced and partied!

And what's a Western party without a camp fire complete with pointy stick and marshmallows to roast?

Lionshead/Goatshead

As I strolled through Lionshead, I came upon a lovely water fountain display. Nestled among the shops, beautiful hanging baskets filled with every blooming flower you can imagine, and some wonderful sculpture, this little retreat of dancing, splashing water offered a cool respite from the mountain heat. I sat on a convenient bench and just enjoyed the sounds and sparkle of the water. While there was a lions head that spouted water, I was most intrigued by his companion, this silly looking goat. Maybe because I'm a Capricorn?

Waving at you from Vail~~

I'm on day 2 of a 3 day conference in Vail, Colorado. Our aircraft vendor, Air Methods, puts on this Customer Conference every year...at their expense. Well, I'm sure the customers pay for it someplace in their contract agreements, but it doesn't cost me a thing. It's always a fun time networking with other air medical program managers and executives and getting to know the Air Methods folks better. Plus, I learn a lot about what's going on in the industry. This year they chose to hold the conference in Vail. The Marriott is wonderful, the food is good and day 1 was gorgeous! I took this photo on a stroll through the Lionshead part of Vail Village. If you've skied Vail, this is right by the Eagle Bahn gondola that takes you up the mountain to Eagle's Nest Restaurant and some of the best skiing in the world. Here's the best part for me: my very special friend, Anne, works right here in Vail and lives a brief drive away in Summit County. She'll pick me up at noon on Thursday, and we'll play the rest of the weekend until I fly home on Sunday. How thoughtful of the Air Methods folks to hold their conference here within spittin' distance of my best friend!!

Save the Date

Save the date...September 12, 2009! That's the date of Laury's 'gala galerie' event. What? You won't be in France then and you have no idea where Cadrieu is?? Well, I'll be in France and staying in Cadrieu, so I'll be there. And even more exciting is that I'll also be 'showing' my photography at Laury's vernissage. These are the photos that I've chosen to enlarge, mat and frame. I'll pick one or two of them to take/send to France for the 'galerie' You've seen all of them in other blog posts; in fact one of them is the banner for this blog. When I picked up the enlargements, the shop owner suggested that I mat/frame them in simple off-white with plain black frames. She and her husband judge juried art shows, so I probably should have taken her advice. Instead when I got to the frame shop, I decided to go with very pale colored mats that complement each photo and plain, brushed metal subtly colored frames. We'll see how they turn out. Yes, it was very pricey, but I wanted them to look nice. I'm leaning toward the shoes. Much as I love my Eiffel Tower photo, I probably will leave that one at home. Somehow it seems a bit cliche for a French art show. What do you think? Do you have a favorite?

Now you know why I was finally inspired to make my business cards. I may just have a business after all!

The Creative Process

Musings on the Creative Process....

Instead of planning, organizing, worrying or trying to figure out how to re-create my life,
What if I could simply sit & think of words, colors, shpaes, glass, fabric, patterns, clay, sounds,
Letting those elements arrange themselves into something beautiful I could create,
Helping them re-arrange, collaborate, coordinate, fluffing them up a bit, inviting them to free-wheel through my consciousness and osmose into my subconsciousness until...

a brilliant idea
a pretty poem
a rainbow-colored image
chapter one

appears! and I create.
Is this how it happens?

Maybe not--maybe creative people can be creative in the midst of spread sheets, reports, briefings, meetings, stats, and data? If so, there's no hope for me
Maybe it's not enough to want to create or to surround myself with beautiful images & inspiring words?
Maybe dabbling isn't the right way to start?
Maybe trying to think like Leonardo isn't the answer either..how much can I relate to a 15th century gay Italian guy, after all?

I've always said if I believed in re-incarnation, I'd choose to come back as an artist...
or a priest, or a cloistered medieval woman or a mountain man or Pharoah's daughter or a
musician or Sacajawea or...
Hmm..maybe that's part of the problem? Besides no talent, I have no focus--so many interesting things, so little time.

How does the creative process work?

Your thoughts???

Happy Father's Day!

It's Father's Day and every daughter should be blogging about her dad today! Here's my Daddy and me. I'm the one in the jeans, in case you wondered. I believe this picture was taken along the Sacramento River in northern Calif. I was about 3 years old. Look at that fish, will ya? No wonder I grew up to be a fisherman....I had a great role model. My dad loves the outdoors. In his younger years, you could find him fishing, working in the yard and camping during his 'down' time from his work as a banker. We camped in the mountains, at the beach, and in the back of our station wagon on road trips. And speaking of road trips...that's another thing my dad loves. We always tease him that he should have been a truck driver, he likes driving so much! At 87, he's still healthy and vigorous and fun to spend time with. I'm so glad we had time together earlier this month. Every moment is precious! I love you, Daddy!

Evelyn Jackson, Proprietress

I've been thinking about this project for a long time. Today I made it happen....I designed and ordered a personal profile card. I hesitate to call it a business card, because I really don't have a business...yet! Maybe some day, huh? I feel like I've identified myself through my email and blog as "Red Bell Farm" so that's the image I chose for my card. I took several shots of my bell this morning; this is the one I picked. I thought about giving the old bell a fresh coat of red spray paint, but I actually kind of like it chipped and dusted with the mold or fungus or whatever that stuff is. I used the Zazzle website to design the card and also made postage stamps with this image for my 'business correspondence.' I feel like a 'proprietress' so I put that on the card as well. It reads:

Red Bell Farm

Words & Images

Evelyn Jackson

Proprietress

and then my contact information. I'll share with you in another blog post what upcoming event finally pushed me to get this project completed!

Tous les Matins du Monde

Don't let the cover fool you...this movie, Tous les Matins du Monde, is not a movie filled with steamy sex. Rather it's a film filled with divine Baroque music. The title translates as "All the mornings of the world," and in the novel by Pascal Quignard, the entire quote is "All the mornings of the world leave without ever returning." Or more simply "Each day dawns but once." It's the fictional story of composer Sainte Colombe and his student, Marin Marais. While both men are real, little is known for certain about their relationship as teacher/student. However, the author has created a plausible story that entwines the lives of the men with Sainte Colombe's daughters. There are some brief R-rated moments, but overall the film is about music...beautiful music...and the creative process. I first learned of the composer in an e-newsletter I receive daily called "Composer's Datebook." I heard some snippets of Sainte Colombe's music and was intrigued. Clicking onto the accompanying links brought me to more music, his instrument, the viola de gamba, and this movie. I blogged last year about the viola de gamba, an instrument I'd never heard of, and knew I had to see this film. I wasn't disappointed by its slow, meditative, music-filled story. I recommend ift for anyone who enjoys foreign films with English subtitles, movies that can tell a story without gratuitous sex and violence, and movies filled with gorgeous music.

Change of Plans?

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know that I'm beginning to make my plans for what I'll do during my month in France. I've said all along that I probably won't go to Paris. It's expensive, and I'm trying to be prudent with my money. Well...that good intention flew out the window yesterday when I received an email from Programmation du Musee du Luxembourg! When I visited Paris in 2007, Marie and I went to an exhibit of Lalique jewelry at the Musee. I bought our tickets online and have been on their email list ever since. This week's email informed me that beginning Sept. 15th, there will be a Louis Comfort Tiffany exhibit at the Musee and I can purchase tickets for this spectacular event online. Paris is calling my name once again! I'm going to try to make a quick visit happen ,so I can see the works of this magnificent stained glass artist. Maybe I'll be inspired to drag out the glass, the solder and flux, the grinder and do a little stained glass myself...again.

Getting Closer...

Last evening, I walked thru the freshly-mown grass to the mailbox to retrieve the day's mail. As I quickly scanned the envelopes, I shouted a happy "Yippee!" This was my reward for three hours of exhausting mowing...my International Driving Permit had arrived! It's not necessary to have this permit to drive in France, but everything I've read says that if you're in an accident or have some sort of trouble on the road, the more identification and official 'papers' you have, the better. It's easy to get thru AAA and only costs $15 plus the price of the two passport photos it requires. Can you read the date? August 31, 2009 is getting closer...and I'm getting more excited about my trip to the Lot. My permit and my passport are now safely tucked away in my money belt that I use when I travel. And guess what? I found a 50 euro bill in it when I added the driving permit. France, here I come!

Graduation 2009

One reason for my trip to Reno was to see my nephew, John, graduate from high school. This is us after the ceremony. Yes, he is really that tall! 6 foot 4 inches tall. And yes, the rest of us aren't tall. It was always my fantasy to be a skinny, long-legged blonde...that never happened! Typical 18 year old that he is, John refused to give us any more of a smile than what you see here. Oh well! He graduated from an alternative high school called the Academy of Arts, Careers, and Technology. It was the perfect school for him. He took all the necessary academic subjects...English, advanced math, history, but also took electives that made sense to him. His area of interest was computer aided design. Other elective courses were in technical fields like welding and electronics, videography, culinary arts, health sciences, etc. The graduates who spoke for the class were kids whom the public school system had failed and their speeches reflected how grateful they were to have elected to finish their education at the Academy. John will attend the University of Nevada-Reno in the fall. 'Way to go, big guy!

Late Night Song Fest

I took this video of Jim on my first night in Reno. We had exhausted both the repetoire of songs we knew the lyrics to and a bottle of wine when Jim began to play a song he composed, hauntingly Spanish and very beautiful. I wish I could have published the entire song but it was too big a file for Blogger to handle. Damn, I wish I could make music like this! Jim is self-taught which makes his talent even more amazing. We had a wonderful visit which was over all too soon. I flew home last night arriving between storms around 11:30pm. It's early to bed for me tonight!

"Broken"

I'm off to Reno this afternoon. I'm very excited to see my brother Jim, my nephew John , and my Dad. And I'm excited to start this new book that just arrived in yesterday's mail! Here's the connection (you know, there's always some kind of connection for me!). Lisa Jones, the author of "Broken" is a friend of my dear friend, Edith. They were neighbors for awhile in Boulder. And Edith....in her younger days...spent some time on the Wind River Reservation at Ethete working with Native American kids. She's met Stanford who is the subject of this book. Now is that a cool connection, or what? I'm looking forward to enjoying the book; I'll give it a review when I finish it, but in the meantime, enjoy this YouTube video that features Lisa reading while photos of the Rez entertain you. If you have further interest, Lisa has a website and blog.

The Big Easy

Anyone out there have a friend or know someone who knows somebody who's looking for a house to rent in New Orleans?? If so, do I have a deal for you! My friend, Laury, has her house in the Big Easy available to rent...it's a mile from the French Quarter! Pass the word around, shout it from the rooftops! Click here to see a photo and read the details: Laury's House.

I have to give credit to the website that I took this illustration from: Santa Barbara Music Publishing. This is the title of a song written especially for New Orleans post-Katrina. All proceeds from its sale go to Katrina relief.