One year at Ya Po Ah

Spring Morning
from my window on the 14th floor

One year ago I moved into my studio apartment on the14 floor of  Ya Po AH  Terrace. I was pleasantly surprised to meet many interesting people and I participate in some of the activities, Tai Chi, the philosophy group, and the many scheduled events at YaPoAH and trips to the coast and around Eugene. The park and river is on the back side of Ya Po Ah and down town on the front side. I have one of the many garden plots where the residents grow vegetables and flowers.This area is beautiful with many older homes, of the victorian style. I couldn’t be living in a better place in Eugene for my artistic satisfaction.

Last year spring was warm and sunny, this spring is cooler and rainy. Because of the milder climate there are many more kinds of plants, trees and flowers. Spring here is magnificent. I get so much pleasure from walking around and looking at everything. Everything grows profusely , the bushes and hedges are trimmed into round and rectangular shapes, so different from the wild way plants are left to grow in Maine. I have put images on my blogspot so you can see what I am trying to explain. Every day I take a walk at least a half hour. I read, paint, and look at other artists art on the internet. There is so much great art out there I am humbled. I listen to Democracy Now and research stuff, like ancient civilizations ,archeology and spiritual information. The time goes by quickly. I am free as I alway have been to do what I want when I want. I go to Chris’s farm when the weather is better about once a week and I hang out there and paint for a couple of hours. Chris is a wonderful cook and I get to have a great meal at his house, which is 10 minutes drive from Ya Po Ah, may be once or twice a month. There are no financial worries, which was always a problem in my entire life up to now although Charlie and I alway had what we needed, and we did make our living doing what we loved to do. 

The one problem that I have is what to do with all my paintings that are in storage. I may donate them to a non profit organization where they can be sold or auctioned off an I will get  a percentage. I have to do something.I plan to talk to a gallery owner where Chris has had his work and see what help I can get.

My health is OK but my energy is nothing like it was before I had congestive heart failure and of course the pace maker saved my life. Now it is slow and easy.  I love life and I love living, and I am thankful for every day, for the beauty of my suroundings and for the interaction of the people around me. So that is it in a nut shell. 

I am looking forward to a trip to ME in the summer. Doug and Christina are living in my house in Waldoboro so it will be good to go back to my old home.

hazel nut trees

maple tree blossoms ,  edible

wild flowers

Path on Skinner Butte

Ya Po Ah

Douglas's birthday

 April 24 1962 Dougs birthday, a wonderful, caring, loving, talented person. Some paintings I made of Douglas.

Doug carving

I made painting of Dougs boat models

Sue Little's barbecue, Doug roasting marshmallows

Keeping warm

Doug did hunt for a short  time

Charlie and Doug fixing the boat

Easter

Easter Sunday. I don’t celebrate Easter any more. When I was a child my mother made or bought new cloths for me and that was special. We went to church and I liked the ceremony and seeing everyone dressed up. In those days ladies wore hats and gloves and I loved to see them decked out in their finery. We had Greek friends and on their Easter they roasted a lamb and cooked wonderful food.They gave us red eggs and sweets to take home. These are my memories and I love that I can recall those times. I never thought about the meaning of Easter back then.

 All churches have sculptures of Christ on the cross as part of their interior design. The birth of Christ nativity is only on display  at Christmas but his death is always on display. I never believed man was born sinful or that Christ died to forgive our sins. What are sins, a word I do not like. Humans learn through experience and being mortal beings mankind has made many mistakes. To correct those mistakes we change and learn by trying different methods of looking for better results. It is an on going process, challenging, frustrating and rewarding. It is the way of life. As Leonard Cohen wrote,the bells that still can ring, forget your perfect offering-there is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in

The resurrection also means rebirth and this is evident in spring when plants and trees come back to life after a winter of rest. The cycles move in a circle never ending. Spring is a time we all look forward to, more light, warmth, color, flowers, being outside in nature. Lets yell Hallelujah for spring

I have painted the lily a few times and as an Easter symbol I have included some images of my paintings

I traded a painting for this bunny years ago. It is here with me in Eugene

This is what it looks like here now

I was looking at Edouard Vuillard paintings images and these colors are spring.  For me yellow is a differcult color to work with

Vuillard   I love these soft colors

the old passes away, and life renews itself

I just found out the Reed Mansion in Waldoboro burned to the ground. I feel sad that beautiful , elegant structure is gone. I looked up at it and walked by so many times. Charlie and I knew Bill Reser, who owned it when we moved to Waldoboro, went to parties there, and I saw it when it was restored. It had a great history, built when Waldoboro was a thriving town. It is interesting to me how places come into existence, peak, and deteriorate. how civilizations  rise and fall, leaving behind great art and structures. great advancement in art and science are birthed, and like life itself expire. The energy that made them vibrant disappears and the humans that follow loose appreciation and knowledge.I cried when in the middle east the arts and records were destroyed. I like to learn about ancient history, knowledge lost from civilizations that were greater then the one we live in, or civilizations  advancing in different ways then we have. There is no going back, and in a world of chaos, that we are living through now, will come a new way. Somewhere in the future someone will dig up an I phone and wonder what it is.

I  thought I would give you assurance of spring for it is in progress here.I love that it comes slowly and the trees and plants stay in blossom longer. There is more rain than sun and the temperature  is in the fifties.

Reed Mansion

fallen petals

fallen petals

there are many rainbows

wildflower

wildflower in woods

lenten rose,  helleborus,  very common here