It’s a mighty fine tunnel we’ve just got through. A storm on Saturn in 2011. This already happened, and now we see it. Why do I find that comforting? I am later in the day after the day of find my head get to town rehearse find-a-piano rehearse perform rehearse perform perform so-grateful-for-good-friends enriched pleased […]
Our covenant with Winter: that there will be space and time to contemplate, to examine and re-examine, to be still. In the rich pianissimo of deep snow, quiet things sing their subtlety, small things hold great significance, and you can see the wind. I cannot imagine a life without this. I awake with the phone […]
While Barak Obama was aging rapidly in the effort to deflect the great toxic nastiness of the 2012 US election and (hopefully!) emerge as President with some vestiges of grace, I was building, making, taking apart and putting together, writing and re-writing new art equations in my studio. Through Hurricane Sandy and my dad’s 80th […]
The wind is powerful today, even here. Sudden southeasterlies are brutal and mean, knifing through whatever pitiful layers of outerwear I have: Go in – NOW. Find warmth. Survive. My God. If it’s like this here, it must be utter chaos over the northeastern United States. The sky’s heavy with blue-gray clouds pushed relentlessly backwards […]
I began Friday at noon to take inventory: every corner, every space, every collection of things in this studio. I’m almost done – there’ve been things thrown in the trash, things given away, things modified and put safe for later – things rediscovered and hung on the wall where they belong. Everything here has been […]
In my mind I see heavy ropes as thick as my leg, one end of each securely tied to My Ship, the other attached to an immense anchor, to a wharf – strong ropes for whatever the need – this is my father, to me. As captain, it’s up to me to make good use […]
I’m home from playing the first concert of GBS’ 2012-2013 season, appropriately titled ‘A Sense of Place’ by our Maestro Mister Barnum. Thanks, JB, for sitting me first desk celli, where the intensity & pressure is highest. Lucky me – & I mean no sarcasm of any kind – it was stressful, exhausting, but there’s […]
There is an ‘absence of me-ness’ in this morning. What a relief. Maybe thanks to A.A. Milne: “What day is it?”, asked Pooh. “It’s today”, squeaked Piglet. “My favourite day”, said Pooh. I’ve just cleared off and wiped the table where I sit, so the soft light coming through the south windows in front of […]
I find it’s most difficult these days to be truly still and resoundingly empty like a huge stone bowl on a plinth. I’m getting better at it, but it’s taking a considerable amount of focus. I seek to do this now because it occurred to me many months ago (years, even) that I need more […]
The clouds are pale indigo-violet, then a blustery bruised grey shot through with long warm lines of golden sunlight and rich blue – this sets the red reds and the yellow yellows and the living greens in brilliant, stop-in-your-tracks collaboration. I feel as though I’m watching the gods at play in a game where they […]
Music music all day yesterday – Jacqueline duPre while I traveled south in the morning, then a discussion about building an effective system for music education in Owen Sound with someone who, with certainty, knows how it’s done. Then some information about Dr. Suzuki, who has changed the world with music pedagogy (like sistema in […]
I woke this morning at 5am with the thought that I was carrying around way more stuff than was actually mine to carry. At this point the image of a lake trout with three sea lamprey attached to it appeared in my mind at this point – I’ve looked for an image like it to […]