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Learning to slow down, because life's too short ~ ~ ~

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The Reverence of Poise

07.29.2022 by Barbara Grant //

watercolor painting of cup of tea

This morning I played “poise” in a word game. Then I sat with my coffee to ponder this word’s loveliness. I looked it up to make sure I understood it’s true meaning: 

  • graceful and elegant bearing in a person 
  • composure and dignity of manner 
  • balance
  • equilibrium

Yes, as perfect as I’d imagined.

On the way to the groomer Roxy and Ringo peered at the driver behind us as the light turned green. He HONKED immediately, because I’d waited a split second to smile at my pups in the rear view mirror gazing at a man in a hurry. I did not rush. I allowed him to speed around me, feeling no slight but wondering what has changed in me? Why no flood of rage and indignation that would normally ruin my day?  Curious…

This happened another day recently while looking for a parking spot. The shop owner greeted me at the door. Boasting that it was I who had caused the barrage of honking and yelling in the street just prior, she sighed, “Happens all the time; people are angry.” I have to admit I felt a wee bit powerful, and it didn’t wreck my day. I was, in fact, giggling at those silly folks.

What’s the story? I’ve not always been like this. I can be as impatient as the next person if I’m tired, hungry or in pain. I remember one incident specifically when I was riding my bike, a vehicle almost ran me off the road. The driver cursed me for being in his way. I was livid and chased him down where he’d pulled over to refuel and let loose in such a rage I didn’t recognize myself. I’m ashamed now – did I need a protein shake? a nap?  But perhaps he learned a little something about the rules of the road that day.

This new way of being patient with the rudeness of others is new for me. It’s not something I’m trying to do. It’s just happening. I can tell by my heart rate and blood pressure, which are just staying calm ~ ~ ~  I’m not sure where it is coming from. 

Maturity? I do meditate regularly; maybe it really does help. Or am I’m getting accustomed to the anger that seems to be everywhere. But forgiveness and happiness are out there in abundance, too. It’s like going to the zoo; we’re exposed to all kinds when we open ourselves to the world. Some people are sweet and funny, some are impatient and mean. 

My friend sent me a lovely card recently. Inside she wrote this quote by Thich Nhat Hanh: 

“Drink your tea slowly without rushing to the future”

photo of handwritten quote
(her abridged version to get the point across to my hurried mind)

I put it near my place mat as a reminder. Then I researched* the full quote, which is:

“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future.”

sketch of cup revolving around the axis of the earth

This is a hastily sketched diagram to help me visualize the tea in my cup reverently revolving with the axis of the earth. 

I’ve been working on slowing down. In actuality, my aging body has been assisting in that endeavor. I would like to focus more on drinking my tea with reverence but am not sure what that means. My gut tells me I might begin by returning to my first paragraph to concentrate on the meaning of poise.

As a connected effort, I’ve begun seven small watercolors focusing on a ceramic mug made by a dear friend. I cannot look at this cup without imagining how her hands formed it. When these paintings are finished they will be available in my shop as blank greeting cards with envelopes.

photo of 3 watercolor paintings of cup of tea with cup next to them

*The full quote pulled up on online at https://ma.tt/2019/01/thich-nhat-hanh-on-tea/ was posted by Matt Mullenweg on 1/23/19 and links to Thich Nhat Hanh’s book The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation at Amazon.com

Categories // Creative Process, Just felt like sharing :) Tags // art therapy, artist friends, being kind, creative energy, slowing down

Liking Your Own Shape

05.16.2022 by Barbara Grant //

It took the scenic view of a beach in Hawaii to provoke me to action with my artwork. It wasn’t the beauty of the sand, sea and sky. Not this time. It was 30 years ago…

I was sitting on a hillside in the shade to protect my fair skin, a tablet on my knees, sketching families enjoying the open air. I noticed a woman enter the scene like walking skin and bones. She carefully set up her space with her beach towel. I could not avert my eyes, capturing poses quickly as if she was a model in a live drawing session. I was riveted!

Afterward… holiday over, I did my homework. I knew what I’d witnessed did not seem healthy. It had been an intense experience for me. I immersed myself to learn all I could. Back then the research was just beginning to come out regarding eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia. I learned about body image and how difficult it is to escape the social influences that teach us to look in the mirror with critical eyes. I acquired an understanding of how control issues can intertwine with eating disorders and mental illness. And sadly, I became aware of the deadly consequences in many cases.

Anorexic Sunbather

What resulted from my immersion in this fact-finding exercise was a small body of artwork from my studio – an installation* displayed in an exhibit, which included an Altar piece, drawings of The Anorexic Sunbather and my 20-page illustrated booklet entitled Liking Your Own Shape.

It was a long time ago, but I still remember that at the opening reception various women approached me about the subject of eating disorders. Several quietly wrote notes in my comment book sharing their feelings. I specifically remember one woman, a friend of a mother who’s daughter suffered from anorexia; her sad eyes met mine after reading through my booklet, which was displayed on a music stand. Those are the kind of connections you don’t forget.

My Altar piece, was destroyed by water damage in storage some years ago, but the drawings survived. I came across a yellowed copy of the booklet in my files recently. Paging through I mused at the illustrations that flowed out of my psyche with such force. And I realized this subject is still relevant. I decided to have copies printed to bring it back to the present and into the future. It is available in my shop in three sizes.

Liking Your Own Shape
Liking Your Own Shape
Liking Your Own Shape
Liking Your Own Shape

* I’ve learned the Gallery is no longer exists at 1633 N. Damen Avenue in Chicago. But during the summer of 1991 it was Gallery 1633 Show 8: Artists: Aimee Chappell, Barbara Grant, Joseph Rodeder, Robin Bresemann, Micheal Hopkins, Charley Whittle, Wendle Yudis, Paul Lorenx Gallery Artists: Bill Boyce, Montana, Leslie Lenz, Kirk Smith

Categories // Art for worthy causes, Creative Process Tags // art community, art therapy, beach scenes, body image, eating disorders, view of self

Looking back and moving forward…

12.31.2021 by Barbara Grant //

I hope you’re enjoying this festive time of year, which is also a time here in the midwest to stay cozy like Ringo & Roxy. 

I hope you’re enjoying this festive time of year. Here in Wisconsin it’s time to stay cozy and soak up sun rays wherever you can find them. Roxy & Ringo are experts at this.

As we say farewell to 2021, I’d like to share a brief wrap-up of my little sphere of the art world: 

Art gallery showings are still quite limited since Covid restrictions began, but Side Street Studio opened its doors for a fun exhibit in November.

Cabinet of Curious Characters Show
Side Street Studio Arts in Downtown Elgin

Wikipedia defines a Cabinet Card as a style of photograph which was widely used for photographic portraiture after 1870. It consisted of a thin photograph mounted on a card. You may have a box of these in your attic. My Oddball Artist friends in the Chicago area invited me to participate in this project. We call it Vintage inspiration!

Great Aunt Enna & Her Flock
Great Aunt Enna & Her Flock
Great Aunt Enna & Her Flock (backside)
Great Aunt Enna & Her Flock (backside)

I completed the cover for Dreaming Gaia, the third book in the “Series of Dreams” by Paul Turelli, and it was published in November. I will begin work on the cover for the fourth book in this series as we go into the new year! Paul has framed my original artwork for each of these covers so far; he says he’s running out of room in his office!

Book Cover (back - spine - front)
Book Cover (back – spine – front)
Paul Turelli's study
Paul Turelli’s study

At the beginning of this year I chose a spot along a path where I go for daily walks. Maybe it’s the lack of exhibit opportunities during the pandemic that moved me, but I started a project. I began designing my own “Collection Post” of trash found as I hike with my pups. This “art installation” was looking pretty good till a recent storm came though with 70 mph wind gusts! But parts are still standing, so I will begin again…

Roxy, Ringo & Collection Post
Roxy, Ringo & Collection Post

I learned this idea of adorning nature from my friend Dorothy who lived on wooded property in Kettle Moraine State Forest. She cleared hidden spaces and decorated them, creating lovely sitting areas, sections for prayer and meditation, and a fairy garden for her granddaughter. She posted signage to keep visitors from getting lost and leading to forest exits, entrances and toboggan hills. She designed (and had constructed by a canvas company) a tent that was a replica of a red barn, and she lived in it during the warm months. And once she ordered ice block forms and built an igloo at the base of the woods – big enough for several of us to crawl into for a small gathering!

Dorothy with Buddy on her shoulder
Dorothy with Buddy on her shoulder

Every one of my grandkids has hiked “Dorothy’s Woods” with me, which inspired a series of paintings I named after her. She passed away very recently, but I will never forget her strength, courage and inventiveness.

Dorothy's Woods
Dorothy’s Woods

Dorothy is not the only one who has left my earthly sphere. I’ve said goodbye to a number of people who’ve  influenced my life in this last year. Please indulge me as I pay tribute to some of them:

Dave's funeral

Via zoom, I witnessed the funeral of Dave Lammert, the father of my three children and one who bravely served in Viet Nam. Cancer was another battle he fought with all that he had, and losing him was too soon for my kids. He left us on Thanksgiving Day around dinner time. I am thankful that Tobi held him as he breathed his last. She told me it was lovely; it was soft…and this gives us comfort 🙏

Shortly after Dave’s passing, I lost my precious friend Char, who encouraged my work and allowed me to exhibit in her space, Charlene’s Gallery Ten in Door County. Our relationship was about so much more than business. She had a collection of funny stories about her own faux pas, but it was her way of telling them that always had me in stitches. We seemed to revert back to our childhoods when we were together. Allow me to share just one of many examples: During a day of working hard in her gallery, we took a much needed break and went for a walk along a country road. We came upon an open field of lovely soft grass. We couldn’t resist and ran to flop on our backs and gaze up at the blue sky of floating clouds. It was simply heaven, and we agreed we could stay there forever…until Char admitted in a wee tentative voice, “Barb, I have to pee.” Agh…CHAR!!!” We love that one! Loved, and I will carry it with me always.

Char & Barb
Char & Barb
Charlene Berg
Charlene Berg
Bill Hibbard

One of Char’s gallery visitors was Bill Hibbard. Some in this neck of the woods will remember him as the travel editor of the Milwaukee Journal for many years. I copied this quote from his obituary: “I try to capture the mood of the place I’m visiting and to present the facts about it without puffery and in as fresh and entertaining a manner as I can.” Bill was retired when we moved next door to his family; we just knew him and his wife Edie as really good neighbors. She and I have plans to walk and talk near the shores of Lake Michigan, and she will tell me stories I never knew about their travels… 

Marliss & Bob

Bob’s former secretary, Marliss, lost her battle with cancer shortly after her closest friend Mary died. We all knew each other as employees of P.A. Bergner in Peoria, but our friendship continued long after we moved north. This is some of what Bob wrote to her family: “…an outstanding worker…more importantly, she became a dear friend. It saddens me that Covid prevented us from visiting in person these past few years. But it was always a delight to speak with her on the phone. I will miss her dearly.”

Karen Gaudes

My sweet friend Karen Gaudes, passed away without my knowing until I stopped into the gallery in our neighborhood where she worked. The news stunned me. Karen was the best sales person I ever knew; her genuine love for humankind and her passion for art is what drew me to her. I bought my fare share of items at Atypic Gallery because of her enthusiasm and kindness. Some years ago I walked in the shop, saw her smile and asked if I could capture it with my phone camera. She was shy about my request but relented when I said, “Just wait till you see how awesome you look!” And do you know, she used this photo as her profile pic thereafter! 😌

Finally, we visited our granddog Beamer at Thanksgiving time and said our last goodbyes knowing he would not be with us much longer. But he lived a good long life. Here are Roxy & Ringo dressed up to pay their respects, a moment of silence for their buddy ❤️ And there is “Beamie” on the lookout at Whitewater Lake.

Ringo & Roxy looking fancy
Ringo & Roxy looking fancy
Charley's beloved Beamer
Charley’s beloved Beamer

It’s been an emotional 365 days. As we move forward into the New Year, I plan to process it all by working in my studio; this has always been my best therapy.

Bob says, “Smile in 2022!”🎈

Sending peace ~ ~ ~

🙏

Categories // Newsletters Tags // art community, art therapy, artist friends, plans for the new year, recent art projects, saying goodbye to those who passed on

I’m adding to my zine collection!

Zine next to a cup of coffee
"Straddle the Turtle" folder for collecting my ideas
My turtle story

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