Last week at this time I was sipping coffee while looking out across the early morning light glittering off a tributary of the Potomac River. I’d gone east to the land of water and trees to visit again the home of a beloved elder, who offered my spirit sustenance and...
musings from the studio and beyond ~
dawn chandler’s reflections on art and life. . . .
sandhill cranes
the grace of trivial projects
Snow has been falling for hours. And though there doesn't seem to be much accumulation — it's too warm — it's been beautiful to watch. Beyond quenching the earth and sogging the dirt roads, mostly the snow has served to bury my To Do List. There's so much I planned to...
celebrating grace ~ she paused to listen . . . .
As I write this, a gorgeous snow is falling in the soft grey light of dawn. This is the second of two snow storms to move across New Mexico this week: The first arrived mid-morning of the 26th blessing us with four inches of snow. This storm arrived last evening, and...
celebrating grace ~ their voices reach me and I ascend ~ crane painting, viii
This is a painting about joy. About uplift. About climbing out of a chaos, and finding clarity, finding your way. And then — and THEN! listening for your better angels, and spreading your wings. Remember Walking Into the Storm with Arms Open Wide? This is climbing out...
celebrating grace ~ they lift me ~ crane painting, vii
There are several quiet conversations going on in this painting. Between the coral figure and the blue figure; Between the large cranes and the small cranes; Between the people and the cranes; I think they're all taking about flying. Don't those wings just lift you?...
celebrating grace ~ mysterious figure revealed ~ crane painting, vi
Perhaps it’s time now to reveal this mysterious figure who keeps appearing in these, my crane paintings. That figure is my mother. My mother, who grew up in New England, married my father, who grew up in New Jersey. They met in college and were...
celebrating grace: their return brings song ~ crane painting, v
Their return brings song to my heart. Indeed. As you read this I’ll be packing up to return to the Bosque del Apache, to witness sunset tonight with the cranes and geese. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll return there a few hours later for...
walking into the storm with arms open wide ~ crane painting, iv
That thing you've been avoiding? That thing you've been putting off, 'been skirting around? That thing you don't want to do is the thing you have to do. That thing you fear? Time to face it. Do it. Do it now. Go walk into that storm with your arms open wide. ...
celebrating grace: their wings fill my heart with prayer ~ crane painting, iii
There are so many layers beneath this painting…. so many ways it came in and out of being. So many hidden shapes, hidden colors. But that spirit figure… see her? She remained throughout. She wouldn’t be hidden by the layers. Always she was there. Always she is...
saturday grace: secretly, joyfully, clearly ~ crane painting, ii
I was cruising along on I-25 and had just crossed back into New Mexico when somewhere between Raton and Springer something way overhead caught my eye: Wait... what is that? Dozens and dozens of birds, gliding at an impossible altitude. What ARE they?.... I had never...