Making the Best of It

Practices/ April 21

(Continuing the Daily Drawing During Quarantine)

Michael and I grow stronger. We take daily walks, laugh and share more of ourselves with the other.

We dance, we sing karaoke, we bake, we read to each other. 

Performance/ March 17

Connecting/ April 19

My friend Leesah hosts one of the first online virtual performances for St Patty’s Day. We join Wassaic community in online Bingo. We swap gifts with neighbors and find offerings at our door.

Gifts/ April 10

And every meal we eat together. And we trust when it comes time for the quarantine haircut, we will be there for each other.

The farewell tour

Dear Blog-
So much has happened in the last month.
There wasn't time to write. My job at Palmer Trinity came to an end, and there were reports to write, rooms to clean up, students to console, friends to party with, a studio to empty and plans to make.
Here are some pictures of the farewell tour...

The hardest part was saying goodbye to the kids.

My advisees gave me a mounted group photo and filled the classroom with balloons.

I even got an orchid- yikes!!!

I gave my last painting to my art department colleague, Mr. Robert Moorhouse who has taught me so much and made me, over the last 8 years, into a better teacher. I am so indebted.

Ms. Massa, Ms. Fernandez and Ms. Beske

In fact I was so lucky to work with colleagues who valued what they were doing and collaborated gracefully. The intellect and passion of these three would fill an ocean.

The bible study ladies all gathered for a happy hour meal and I was showered with more love than I ever expected. These women will be missed. They will forever stay in my prayers.

And I will miss the giant Bismark. Everyday, as I traversed the campus, we checked each other out, and witnessed growth and weather. Such a lovely place! And though my home in New York is calling and has been a deep longing, it is a bittersweet ending. This has been a fantastic time and place.

Number Crunching to Gain Traction (on 2018)

As the year skids to a close I find my inbox full of friends generously sharing their lists. Even Obama has shared his list of favorite movies and books of 2018. Lists of books, (now I wish I had kept track), lists of trips, lists of deaths (4 small shatterings for me), lists of births, how many candles did we burn on the cake? How many cakes did we eat?

A time for reflection and gathering receipts, I jog my memory by flipping back through date books, logbooks, calendars and am happy to find that I am closing out my 3rd sketchbook for the year, so I feel pretty much on track as far as filling in Spring, Summer and Fall. (I live in Florida so there is no WINTER).

Hibernation Mode at Max's place

In January I make a ritual of checking my inventory- how many paintings did I accomplish last year? How many studio hours did I track? How many art sales was I blessed with? Where did I show my works? And then, it's always good to keep learning... so what new skills can I say I did develop? (letterpress, spray painting, drawing on the road), what new life lens did I assume (hello institutional racisim!).

Then to be financially mature, I have add up those tax deductions and count how many ways i donated to charities. How did my raises balance out between the job and the rent? How many political donations did I accumulate? (yikes!) Might as well make a list of the monthly automatic deductions I have signed up for.
And to be immature: how many followers did I attract? How many blog postings... I had hoped to do better with both.
I count my good health as my top blessing but shouldn't I weigh in my body's loss or gain, my blood pressure, my new cosmetic addictions, and my weekly attempts to exercise? Should I add up the grocery bills, the times we ate out for dinner, my travel expenses and medical procedures?
May I suggest we add to the lists the countless hours I talked to God, the times I smiled and faked it, my handful of new friends and the, not enough, times I sat still?

road trip sketch

The end of this sums up whether I feel like a winner or a loser. But before I go too deep I must be grateful to be alive. Not everybody made it this far, and I am a 2018 lucky winner. I count my lover, my kids, my parents and siblings, and my next few days off and call this a good year after all!

Holiday blessings

 I took a break from work and shopping to just hang out with my boys in the Florida panhandle. We had lots to catch up on. All of us stayed off the internet and relished the darkness of short days.

 A little rest and a lot of food has gone a good way to making me feel merry and bright again! Best of all is that we turned off the alarm clock. Spending quality time with my loved ones is what I wish everyone could, and would, do. It would make a much better planet. Its time to reflect on that together.

That is my wish, from my family to yours! Thanks for the follows, emails and sales. You are a blessing to me!

sweet tooth

"It was the sweet life she had always craved"

 

Seaside Ice Cream Shoppe, acrylic on paper 10 x 12

Just recently I spent an evening baking up batches, bowls and trays of cookies. And every day, as an end of term art teacher, I face the sweet dilemma of students bringing me boxes of chocolates, delectable pastries, and sugar cakes as gifts. My dining table looks as though I live in a sweet shoppe!
Found a sweet solution! I now put hand-fulls of my cookies in sealed plastic bags. Store them in the fridge. Every day I grab one and put it in my car console box. When I stop at a light and see a homeless person begging I hand them the bag. I have done this twice this weekend and the immense  gratitude is visible. Both times the person smiled wide, dug into the bag and had a mouth-full before making it the full length of the car away.    Spread the joy!

Mango Season

Right now it is the prime season for mangoes in Florida.

During the rest of the year we are lucky enough to be able to get one or two varieties in the stores, but NOW, there are 50 to 60 varieties dangling from trees in the neighborhoods, and 500 different strains at Fairchild Tropical Garden! This July 14th and 15th the annual Mango festival at Fairchild Tropical Botanical Gardens will feature the mangoes from Haiti!
A google search of "mangoes from Haiti" turns up this:
The Haitian variety, is called the Francis or Francique. It has a bold flavor, which is both sweet and slightly spicy. Haiti grows mangoes year round. However, peak harvesting season for the Francis, which features yellow-green skin and a bright orange flesh, is typically from March to June.
Right NOW.
My personal favorite mango is the Kent variety, dark green with a little red bluch, it is sweet and rich with hardly any fibers. I can't get enough of them.
All the varieties, with the range of textures and sweetness, can be very inspiring.

I'm cooking a heavenly Mango and chicken stove top dish tonight...

Table Blessings

It's time for us to gather and break bread together, reaching across distances, perhaps, that are greater than the width of the table. This was a set of blessings and instructions I made years ago in an attempt to educate and inspire my own children.
I hope everyone's Thanksgiving week is filled with awareness of our blessings.
Love you- Tilly