A new self-portrait,
the first I've taken in well over a year.

It feels fitting
to be reflected in the window
overlooking the backyard garden
that I have spent so much time in
and have so come to love.

This is me, now.

Home at the ocean,
again.

This time last year,
we got engaged.

Now, we are married.





.

This is my final day
at the place I have worked
for the last 2.5 years.

Hope and fear,
anxiety and excitement,
contentment and longing--
The duality of emotions
has been on my mind lately,
as I have not been able to feel one
without it's counterpart also being present
for several weeks.

I start a new job on Monday.


I offer it up
to how I felt
when I took this photograph--
centered,
exultant & ecstatic--
and trust
in that.


.

I haven’t had enough concentrated time or focus
to work on any sustained projects in the studio lately.
But I’ve been doing
quick,
single-session
self-portraits
which always make me think
of college
(does every professor,
in every studio class
have a self-portrait assignment?).
They are such good practice, though;
that direct observation
and attempt to see past
what I “know”
about my face
can be so refreshing.

I took a walk yesterday
with my favorite walking companion
and we reminded each other
and agreed
that the smell of blackberries
just past their peak of fullness,
hanging so heavy on the vine
that they fall to juice in your hand
when you try to pick them
and baking slowly
in a sun that is already setting,
earlier than it was setting just last week
is the most beautiful,
heartbreaking,
and utterly golden smell
of the time that is
Late Summer,
Early Fall.

We walked,
taking deep, gasping breaths,
cherishing this scent
of mourning and thankfulness and memory,
and then we waded through the brambles
and gathered enough of these late berries
to bake one more blackberry cobbler.

.

Final(ly)
blossoming.


.

A new plant for my kitchen window,
and a new self-portrait.

I thought it was time (for both)
as my late violets
had succumbed to an over-watery demise
and I had not shot a satisfactory self-portrait
since this one from last August
which looks so foreign to me now,
as my hair has been cropped quite short
and has faded to it's natural paler brown
since February.

Do you ever look at photos of yourself
and not recognize yourself?

The extra light
in the evening
is so very much appreciated--
thank you, Daylight Savings.

(And this is my first
self-portrait since
I cropped most of my hair off!
It's so short now
and I love
how easeful it is).

Heading off on a last-minute vacation with the boy.
It's been quite the whirlwind around here the past few weeks!
So many changes,
so many decisions to be made,
but as the new year fast approaches
it is just a reminder
to pause.
I enjoy making intentions
(I never call them "resolutions")
for each new year in January,
and my mindset in this recent busyness
has made me aware
of things I'd like to work on
in 2011.

I'll be back in this space on the 20th.
Until then, I wish you a warm and happy week.

----

Bloom Magazine
Selvidge Magazine

Shades of rose in December.

----

Preparing for a short winter's night sleep:
I will be closing up the shop for the holidays tomorrow evening.