Tag Archives: Black Hills

Preserving Memories

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Photos on phones, in scrapbooks and photo albums, movies, television, art on walls and in galleries and museums are all ways we preserve our memories.

Growing up in the depression and World War II, some of the best memories we have were of canning and preserving — the Mason Jars full of every beautiful example of the harvest and the hunt. The steaming kitchens, wood stoves, perspiring women, and the formica tables laden with row after row of glass jars filled with vegetables and fruit held the promise of plenty on the table during the long, cold, Black Hills winters.

I revisit those times by showing you other precious memories, such as, “Preserve October” and “Preserve Ladybugs” and other things that we need to remember.

Preserve October

Preserve October

Preserve Ladybugs

Preserve Ladybugs

Several other preserved memories, such as “Preserve Spring Flowers” will show up in the ever-growing Mason Jar series which you can see during the Weaverville Art Safari on Sat. & Sun., Oct. 24th and 25th. Check out our Facebook page and the official Weaverville Art Safari website. I am #4 on the map. Stop by, and enjoy something from a Mason Jar (no, not THAT!). I think you’ll like what you see and hear.

Thanks for visiting me …

leo

I Must Leaf You Now

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Dear Reader,

I must leaf you now,
Soaring to mold a new life.
Dragonflies lead me.

Fresh October winds carry the leaf, all decked out in its autumn suit of colors, a real show off, an organic dandy, the full range of M&M candy. Autumn is my favorite season and the subject of many paper sculptures since we moved to the mountains of western NC. I’m a leaf picker, a leaf presser and an interpreter of these flamboyant days

Hands picking leaves.

This color wheel is painted in soft tints of the 12 colors in circular arrangement that connects the two ends of the color spectrum. The leaves are painted with a brush and sponge for hue and texture. There is no plan for them. Whatever happens happily happens.

Dragonfly Bones

We had a cold snap and every leaf in the county shivered, looked at their leaf mates and said, “Well, I guess that’s it, time to put on our warm, butterfly colors, get all toned up and flutter into the wind.” Hopefully, dragonflies guide them to the forest floor where they can mingle with the billions of colorful leaves, butterfly, and dragonfly bones.

Down there, among the layers of leaves, the ladybugs search for a warm abode to spend the winter. They fly, but Florida is too far, so Miami is out of the question. They finally cluster in every crook and nanny of our houses.

Ladybug Bones

Geese come flying down our valley in gaggles, and goose groupies gather to watch them bathe in bunches in the ponds, lakes, and rivers. The trees of autumn that line the banks in Indian summer become my paper feathers, painted in fall hues.

Geese in Indian Summer

Indian summer takes me back to the Black Hills, the Sioux, and my boyhood search for arrowheads and the imaginary cache of feathers in a headdress, left behind for me to find, decades later. Ben Black Elk said they wouldn’t be there, but keep looking anyway.

Sioux Autumn

I’ll write about autumn until the first skittle of snow touches the bare trees.

My show opening went very well and the collage workshops begin soon so I have a lot to look forward to. I’m like the ladybugs; I have a warm house, a sheepskin-lined jacket, a neighbor boy to shovel the little bit of snow that falls, and bourbon hot toddies.

“At my age I don’t care about health food. I need all the preservatives I can get. I live in my own little world. But that’s ok, they know me here.”

Thanks for coming to the show and for visiting me . . .

leo

I’m never satisfied with what I know.
Only, with what I can find out.

“Leaf Hands Color Wheel” is available for $1000.
“Dragonfly Bones II” is available for $2000.  SOLD!
“Geese in Indian Summer” is available for $2800.

Both pieces are at my exhibit at the Grovewood Gallery.

My work can be purchased at the Grovewood Gallery on the grounds of the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC. Click on the following link if you’re interested in one of my collage workshops.