Through the Eye

Posted on December 5, 2015 by Maggie C

thread

Sometimes,
facing life’s challenges
makes you feel as though
you’re trying to fit
through the eye of a needle.

The way to make it through is
one thread at a time.

Daily Post weekly photo challenge: Eye Spy

Inward Eyes

Posted on December 5, 2015 by Maggie C

“To see the moon that cannot be seen,
turn your eyes inward & look at yourself, in silence…”

~ Rumi

Moon Phases (artist Maggie C)

You might say I’m in the eye business. According to Dictionary.com, one of the definitions of eye is:

the power of seeing; appreciative or discriminating visual perception: [as in] the eye of an artist.

Okay, so this particular definition is sixth in line of the listed meanings, but it is there.

I think for most visual artists, what you see (literally, with your eyes) when you look at their work is inconsequential compared to what you feel. Or how it makes you think. Or what memories it evokes.

Or any number of other responses. But a response that comes from your inner eye.

I always find it interesting to hear how my stained glass pieces affect a viewer. What it says to them, if anything. It’s especially interesting with my abstract designs.

Someone saw one of my panels once and said, “That looks like hope!” Someone else might see it and say it looks like despair. There’s no right or wrong.

I may have my own interpretations of the pieces, and my interpretation is also neither right nor wrong, even though it’s my creation. It can evoke myriad responses from me, too. Different responses at different times.

Different things that my inner eye chooses to perceive. That’s what makes art – and life – interesting.

“Close both eyes to see with the other eye.”
~ Rumi

eyes

Wordless Wednesday 12.02.15

Image

ww48

NaBloPoMo ~ NoMore

Posted on November 30, 2015 by Maggie C

We made it! It’s the last day of November, and the last day of the 2015 National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) challenge. I succeeded in posting to this blog daily for 30 days and — as promised — I didn’t resort to regaling you with endless photos of my cat and dog. Well, maybe I did. But they’re so stinkin’ cute!

Most of the time it was fun, sometimes tedious. It certainly did force me to crank up my creative juices, and to acknowledge that I don’t have to wait around like some mutt underfoot begging for table scraps, hoping my muse tosses a few ideas my way.

Okay, so it’s never been that bad. My usual writing process is that some notion begins buzzing around my head like an annoying insect. I roll up a metaphorical newspaper and swat it. When it falls to the ground, I poke at it to see if there’s any life left in it. If there is, then maybe I write about it. The metaphorical insect, that is.

If it’s a real insect, I try to get the dog to catch it and either escort it outside or ensure its demise. He usually just sniffs at it and walks away. As does the insect.

Outdoors: live and let live.

Outdoors, my bug philosophy is “live and let live.” Indoors, the rule is if it won’t go away or if it creeps me out, it dies. Kind of like a blind date. But I digress.

There aren’t many insects flying around my part of the world at this time of year. Except stink bugs. And who wants to write about a stink bug, metaphorical or otherwise?

Indoors: sic ’em, Chules!

The point of all this is to say that I will write with less frequency from now on, that I’ll try not to write if I have nothing to say, and that you probably shouldn’t go on a blind date with me.

Thanks for seeing me through this month, and for reading each and every one of my posts. You did that, right?

Haiku Nineteen ~ Three Word Haiku

Posted on November 29, 2015 by Maggie C

serendipity:
uncoincidentally
coincidental

coincidence

Mere Fluff to More Fluff

Posted on November 28, 2015 by Maggie C

Daily Post weekly photo challenge: Transition

6/21/2014

11/26/15

Four Diagonals & Two Thankfuls

Posted on November 28, 2015 by Maggie C

This week Cee’s Compose Yourself Photo Challenge focuses on diagonal lines, with extra credit for a couple of photos illustrating things for which we are thankful.

Here are my diagonals:
First up, these clever weeds who had the wherewithal to grow in rows.

A tree splintered in a windstorm.

These branches reaching toward one another remind me of Michelangelo’s “Creation of Adam” frescoe. They also remind me of the rose hip jelly my granny used to make.

A caterpillar makes his escape across a railroad tie.

And my two “thankfuls:”

I am thankful that nature hasn’t given up on us. And thankful that there are numerous people and organizations working to preserve nature and repair the damage we’ve done to this planet.

I am thankful that humanity hasn’t given up on itself, and that there are multitudes of kind, caring people despite what we might see to the contrary in our newsfeeds.