inspired

Here's a fun ditty for an (almost) spring morning. I love the Bowerbirds.



Little exerpt from NPR Music's interview of Bowerbirds and singer Beth Tacular

Beth Tacular: "In The Yard" is a celebratory song; it's one of those pure joy feelings, like when you're laying in the sun and feeling the sun on your body. The lyrics are about back when we bought some land. It's not land that's on some mountain range or a river or in the Alps or these amazing places we see when we're on tour.

The song was inspired in part by this story I read a few years ago by a man who took his son into his backyard because he felt bad that he lived in the suburbs and never had time to take his kids out into nature. And when they went into the backyard he realized there were all these tiny insects that they could look at and there was nature to be seen.

I loved this statement about nature and a sense of place. Don't we all get some sort of euphoric feeling standing on a special land, looking all around and just want to shout out joy?

inspiration songs

In the midst of trials, I thought that I'd share with you some of the music that has uplifted and encouraged my spirit in these recent days. Some have been shared with me by a dear friend, some I have loved in the past and take on a much richer and new meaning. Others I just recently discovered.

In no particular order:
Amazed...... Desperation Band (Kendall, this might be an awesome one to lead worship)
Highest Place.....Desperation Band
In Feast or Fallow..... Sandra McCracken
If You Want Me To..... Ginny Owens*
Be Thou My Vision..... Ginny Owens
Run In the Night..... Jars of Clay
Call My Name..... Jars of Clay (feat. Thad Cockrell & Audrey Assad)
In Christ Alone..... Bethany Dillon & Matt Hammitt
Hope Now..... Addison Road
Shadow of Your Wings..... Jason Upton & Goodland Band
Between the Graveyard & the Garden..... Jason Upton & Goodland Band
My Beloved.... Kari Jobe
Dancing In the Minefields..... Andrew Peterson
Psalm 13..... Shane & Shane
(Actually the whole album of Psalms by Shane & Shane- the psalms have been my words when my heart aches and I have not the strength to articulate pain or joy)

Bless you and may the Lord use these to bring you closer to Him.

i am a bunny and i live in a hollow tree...

 there is a season for everything and that especially means all things in the art and creative realm. my wonderful husband helped me realize this inclination that i had, and now it removes the "creative guilt" that sometimes overtakes me when i have left one endeavor for another. it also reminds me of my favorite book growing up as a kid, where the bunny basks in each picturesque setting of the seasons and describes each activity. i mirrored that style in regards to my creating seasons...

• in the summer i spend time sketching plans for the garden, getting my fingers in the soil and letting them be stained by the green of the grass and letting them dance over the grill or skillet as i saute fresh green beans or swiss chard. this season i let my inside passions go and walk barefoot.

• in the fall my mood changes to an energetic melancholy- what this looks like i can't explain. only that suddenly i want to read milan kundera, wear a skirt with a tweed blazer and walk the 'quad'. my canvas starts to look more like a real canvas with acrylic paint and charcoal on it. there is also a bounty of harvest and that leads me to milk all i can with the season's highlights. (i also learned to crochet and began to write more.)                        

• in the winter, for some odd reason becomes my deepest longing and need to experience a serious rendering of art. less in this time to i reach out for inspiration, but instead i dig deep and pour out. if i chronicle the past 5 years i see a history of this. standing out in my garage/studio with fingerless gloves huddling over the heat lamp, watching my breath as i sing at the top of my lungs a Bon Iver song (aptly named, too as it means 'Good Winter') and step back and sigh. it is in this season i received my first easel, showed my first pieces at a gallery and a festival, i sought out an amazingly talented encaustic mentor, and framed one of my biggest pieces to date. in this season, i come alive, i am ready- the cold brings out something in me. it affirms my hunch that cold cities produce true art and artists. (think Russia and Dostoevsky, Pushkin, Nabokov, think Seattle and all the amazing musicians, think Paris and A Movable Feast, painters and musicians alike, etc, etc, etc) this also becomes a cozy and perfect time to sew and create functional pieces for myself and loved ones.

• i like to lump spring in with winter somewhat in that we have a very non-distinct break from the storms and wet gray. but this is okay as the symbol of spring matters more to me and my art in that the birth and renewal of foliage reminds me of this life and how i am most alive when i have put to death the things of this world. ("for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live." romans 8:13)

as always, here's some music that is inspiring me at the moment: the National

put the lights on the tree

as i mentioned in a previous post, i promised homemade ornaments. i (sparingly) delivered. we will be vacuuming glitter from the carpets, walls and kids' hair for years to come, but the tree is sparkly and that is all that matters.

from some old book pages, clip art stencils, silver glitter and oyster shells, we fashioned the objects to hang on our homegrown tree from the backyard by the ckn coop. what a unique christmas tree year this has been.

i have included a video of Sufjan Steven's "Put the Lights on the Tree"- a funny little whimsical video.

a cup of coffee, book & a song

since i can't have coffee with you on this foggy autum Monday morning, i'd love to share something with you. i got up at 5am to read, crochet, and drink coffee under a cashmere throw- all while the rest of the house's occupants were dead asleep. it was heaven. in Christianity Today's "Bits & Pieces" sections, i came across a book that jumped to me just from the title. the whole concept- seasonality is something i have blogged about before.. seasonality within our spiritual lives, homes, and food intake is of great interest in our family. so, without further ado, check out this book: Spiritual Rhythm: Being With Jesus Every Season of Your Soul by Mark Buchanan.

here is a new singer/songwriter that both my iTunes "genius" reccommended along with CT's music section: Doug Burr.

"Burr is the son of a Southern Baptist pastor, and his previous albums have explored the intersection of faith and doubt, sometimes obliquely, as in his original songs, and sometimes more directly, as in the straightforward folk settings of the Psalms on his 2008 album The Shawl. Throughout his career he has been obsessed with mysteries human and divine; the savagery that lies just beneath the surface of civilized men and women, the conundrum of an all-loving God who is simultaneously ever-present and hidden."

more on Doug from Christianity Today here.

Record Store Day

Record Day 2010:

This is the one day that all of the independently owned record stores come together with artists to celebrate the art of music. Special vinyl and CD releases and various promotional products are made exclusively for the day and hundreds of artists in the United States and in various countries across the globe make special appearances and performances.

...an excuse to drag my darling husband to West Seattle's Easy Street records and browse through new

and old vinyls- as long as our kids will allow... (Sip on a Verite Coffee)

Maybe there will be a gem of a find- an old Cash album, Elliot Smith or Wilco priced just

right???

...Hopefully Aaron Martha and Sunday will be up for the outing, too.

Can I twist Dirk's arm to get me my much coveted and sought after Joanna Newsom?

Her lengthy ballads and soft metaphors blending with harps and trumpets...

Just makes me want to pick up a paintbrush and go to another world.

here's her Jimmy Falon performance that left me speechless with her talent- mouth twisting twitches and all:

****Update: I took my two little 'uns to W. Seattle on a "record adventure" and oh the fun we had. Reed was my little buddy eating grub food at Easy Street's greasy spoon (Hash Browns and French Toast) and rocking out to RunDMC. I love 'em! Here's a few of the pics. I know you won't love 'em as much as me, but i'll show them anyway. ;)<-upstairs in easy street

it started to pour the moment i got both kids in the car. 'whew!'

Music Monday

last week on our rendezvous in Seattle, Dirk and i spent forever lingering over Verite coffee, Cupcake Royal delights and feasts for our ears in Easy Street Records.

much coveted vinyls?
-the new Rocky Votolato
-"     "      Joanna Newsom- the albumwork is gorgeous itself.
-the Crazy Heart soundtrack

but a Carla Bruni song has been floating through my head all day today. i have loved it for years and should somehow memorize it so i don't just slur through the french and make it sound ugly. i heard it in a movie the other day. (was it 500 Days of Summer?)