This summer my goals were these:
1. Establish an etsy site to sell my paintings that are piling up (and hopefully make a few extra bucks)
2. Get some artwork in a show or two
3. Learn how to grow and store vegetables
4. Trace the "Woods" side of my family to the original from Europe
Well, I'm still working on the first goal, though I have spent much time painting to create sale-able stock. I went on this sheep kick after seeing the collie and sheep at the highland festival. I've been painting small 4x4 sheep mostly. I hit a wall in my tree project, so that is on hold until I can get past my creative challenge. I am almost done with my logo. My shop will be called Indigo Lion Arts. Don't ask. It was like the gazillionth name I came up with that was finally available at etsy. Anyway, I'll give it a shot.
I was excited to accomplish goal number two in the spring. Two opportunities came along at the same time. One was a juried show at Western Michigan University & the other was a juried competition for a banner in downtown Holland. It was a crazy week when I had to submit to both shows two days apart. I had to create new artwork for the banner competition, as it had a specific theme of bicycles. It's a real no-no to submit wet work, but using oil paint, I'm afraid the canvas had a couple of rather damp spots. The Holland Arts Council took it anyway. I submitted two paintings of goats to WMU that I had already done, so I just had to frame them. I was happy when I got into both shows. Now when we walk downtown, Finn points up to my banner and exclaims "There's mamma's painting!" It's so sweet. I was really happy that the banner was placed smack in the middle of town on a popular intersection!
I was in such a rush, I never took a photo of the original painting! Oh well. Here is the banner. Coming up with a bicycle theme in this vertical format was challenging! It also had to have "local flavor" hence the tulip. I wish I knew how much it brought in from the auction.
Meh. The color did not scan very well. While I usually enjoy painting landscapes, this time I let the background dissolve. There is something delicious about green on a hot pink ground. The disintegrating landscape also became a sort of comment on global warming in a way. In the second painting the goat turns it's back, as we humans sometimes turn our back on the environment. So, sometimes there might be a metaphor hanging out on the edge of culmination, but mostly I just like the form and the color and the shapes that happen. The Icelandic painter Louisa Mattiasdottir has been a big inspiration to me as she makes negative spaces just as important as the figure. Animal legs really lend themselves to interesting negative shapes. I have also been in love with Japanese Woodblock artist Hiroshige & his bold outlines and sometimes satirical subject matter for some time now.
As for my third goal, I will call this an experimentation or learning year! I know next to nothing about growing and preserving vegetables, so there was a harsh learning curve. Throw in the fact that we have very little space in our yard and many many garden rats (squirrels) it's amazing I came away with any eatable food! Though we have very little yard and live on a buys street corner, I was inspired by Urban Farmer magazine to go for it. Tim obliged me with his shovel and strength, and before you knew it I had two small veggie beds. The first housed zucchini, green beans, pickle cucumbers, a blueberry bush, habanero peppers, carrots and a few different herbs. I grew tomatoes in pots and some in the bed. I also ended up potting my rosemary after the zucchini threatened to take it over. May I just say, I LOVE ROSEMARY. Finn & I pick it for our potatoes, or chicken and the like. It's delicious. In my new bed I am attempting a late planting of rutabaga, & cabbage. We'll see how that turns out.
Not much, but it's a start! I was excited with this day's start. Tim thought I was silly for taking a picture of vegetables. The beans are actually some from a plant Finn started at Montessori school!
I have been getting together and learning with my friend, Joy, about growing & preserving veggies. She recently invited me over for a day to learn how to do lactose fermentation. If you have never heard of it, you should look it up. It is actually the original way to pickle veggies, and it is easy-peasy. We did sauerkraut & pickle cucumbers. I have not tasted them yet, as they get better with time. I love that the process did not involve any cooking as it has been a hot summer. I think so many of us have lost the "old ways" of dealing with food. I am eager to learn all that I can. I now have a book on root cellars, on lactose fermentation, on solar dehydration, & medicinal herbs. Speaking of "old ways"...
I have been thinking about my family roots A LOT this year. Finally, I splurged and bought one month at ancestry.com. With the help of my grandfather's nephew's wife, Mary, I have an almost complete Woods family tree. I say almost because there is a little question over the last of my ancestors, Oliver. I'm still digging. Some interesting things I found out:
The Woods are from Ireland, (possibly from Scotland before that but we don't know)
Captain Samuel Woods 1740-1825 fought at the Battle of Kings Mountain in the Revolutionary war
The Maxwell clan were borderlanders in Scotland and the name comes from "Macchus' Well"
As for my Grandma Woods lineage, I have mixed feelings. It seems that since her father's family was comfortable as far as money and society, her mother's family was not. Therefore, her mother has been nearly impossible to trace. Only one photo exists to my knowledge of "Jenny" before she married Hugo. I remember Grandma telling me that her mother's mother was an indentured servant from Ireland, and her father a ships captain on Lake MI. He drowned when his daughter was only six. I don't even know for certain what their last names were. It's so strange to have been able to trace my Grandmother's father well into Germany & France, early 1700s, but nothing for Jenny. It seems there was even some family turmoil over Hugo even wanting to marry Jenny in the first place because she was not born of good society.
Pulling out old photos, and tracing my lineage has been interesting. I see myself in faces of people I never knew. I see the importance of family story telling, and passing down heritage. In my efforts to recover Jenny's family history, I came upon some writing by my Grandmother. She had begun to document stories about her life, but never finished. She only got through a few pages. She mentions Jenny, but never a last name. I will soon be writing letters to the elders in my family to encourage them to write their stories down. The good, the bad & the ugly.
Early photo of my Grandma Woods' mother, Jenny
Grandpa Woods, Robert Vaughn. My goodness! See where I get my mouth!
Grandma Woods, Ruth Marie Landguth, looking much more serious than she was
