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Ann's Journal |
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August 2008 August 6, 2007 The summer is going very quickly and soon we will be on the road trip back to Oracle, AZ. We will be traveling through Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming and Utah and I am looking forward to experiencing the landscapes of those states. I am enjoying the peaceful surroundings of the forest and lake. Beautiful full moons reflected in the lake have been very moving and inspirational. One evening the moon was glowing cadmium orange and the reflection in the lake gave you a visual of two orange glowing circles. With the silhouettes of leaves and branches of the trees, this sight gave me inspiration for a new painting I hope to complete before we leave. In between renovation projects at the cottage, I’ve managed to get two paintings done. One I began last year, Saddleback Lake. This is the view from the room I paint in. The other painting is a first in a series I am contemplating, Friendship. In the background of this painting is the Chinese symbol for friends/friendship. I will be writing as I travel to Arizona so look for more postings. May 29, 2007 We slept in a little later than usual. It was still raining when we got up but we began the next phase of the journey to Michigan. Because of the weather we didn’t stop at the areas we wanted to see. I wanted to go to the Robert Henri Museum and see the bridges of Madison County. Jose wanted to go to the birth place of John Wayne. Even though we were disappointed by not stopping, we were happy to be on our way home to the cottage in Comins, MI. We arrived in Michigan on May 25, 2007 and made it to Kalamazoo and found a place to stay. We stayed at the worst place (which will be nameless) we roomed on the whole trip but I guess the universe wanted us to have balance after spending the night before in luxury. When we got up we started for Leslie,s house, Jose’s daughter. After spending some time with her we headed for the cottage arriving there about 3:30. It is good to be here and settled in for a time. We will be heading back to Arizona, on another road trip, at the end of August but taking a different route. May 23, 2007 I was pleasantly surprised at the scenery through Nebraska as we began the journey on May 23, 2007. The melted snow and spring rains had rendered the land an intense green. The green was intense even though the weather was cloudy. I had forgotten about how gloomy overcast days could be. Along the freeway, there were the most beautiful trees. Usually trees grow thick from the trunk and taper to the canopy. These trees had predominant trunks all the way to the canopy. I have never seen trees like these and couldn’t find the name of them. Mostly farm land followed the interstate road we drove. This land was broken up by lines of trees used for wind breakers that protected crops and homes. You could always tell where the farm house was from the clusters of trees around it barely making it visible. Contented cows and horses were grazing in the wide open fields. The weather was cloudy changing to torrential rains through most of Nebraska so we didn’t stop other than for lunch at a truck stop – Country Pride. As we arrived in Iowa the rains were so bad we couldn’t see to drive so we got off the freeway and stopped at the first hotel we saw. It just happened to be a Marriott near Des Moines and although it wasn’t in the budget we took a room at a fair price and enjoyed a luxurious evening with all the plusher surroundings we hadn’t been experiencing. May 22, 2007 We left Taos May 22, 2007 and began driving toward Colorado. We took interstate 25 to Colorado Springs then connected with a state road 24 to state road 71 that took us to interstate 75 to Nebraska. The state road was a very quiet uninterrupted drive after being on the interstate and driving through Colorado Springs with all the road work and traffic. I will always take the state roads whenever possible to avoid the “noise” and congestion that you find on the heavily traveled interstate roads. We stopped for lunch at Del’s Diner in Fort Garland. Fort Garland was established in 1858 to protect settlers in the San Luis Valley, then part of the Territory of New Mexico. Built in a parallelogram around the parade ground, the fort could accommodate two companies of 100 men and a handful of officers. Over 25 years, the fort was home to a number of different companies of infantrymen, mounted riflemen and volunteers. Kit Carson and his volunteer unit were commanded to the fort in 1866 to keep the peace and negotiate with the Utes. Regular troops returned in 1867 and Carson and his volunteers were mustered out. Most of them returned to Taos but Kit moved to Boggsville (near today's Las Animas) and settled down as Colorado's Superintendent of Indian Affairs. He died there in 1868. Fort Garland was abandoned as a military post in 1883, following the confinement of the Utes to reservations. The land changes were apparent as we drove from New Mexico into Colorado. We drove through some magnificent mountain areas then flat plain areas. Once on the state road, the land changed to gentle rolling hills that looked like carpeted grass. The color of green was Sap with some yellow green woven in narrow spaces as the land touched the horizon line. Interspersed on the hills and grass were herds of very happy healthy cows with their young just lying about or grazing and strolling. The color of the cows was primarily black but occasionally there would be a white cow in the herd. I wondered if the white cow was an albino. We may have passed 3 or 4 cars on that road. There were ranches all along the road but widely interspersed. I loved that ride as the energy was very quiet and I got the true feeling of the land and that will never leave me. I’m sure the western half of Colorado, with the vast mountain ranges, is a very different experience and hopes to drive that part some day. By the end of the day, we made it to Ogallala, Nebraska and stayed there for the night. May 20, 2007 We left Santa Fe about 10 a.m. and began the trip to Taos. I asked around and found a back road called The Highroad to Taos and I’m glad I did. As we left Santa Fe the land changed from New Mexico desert to more northern mountain terrain. The scenery began looking more like something you would see in Colorado (our next stop, Denver). We did take the Tesuque exit and had breakfast at this rustic café/bakery/general store. What a beautiful area that was!! After breakfast we got back on the freeway that took us to the Highroad to Taos. The winding road, NM76, through the mountains took us through historic small Hispanic settlements that were settled for mining and farming purposes. In between the settlements were vast vistas of tall pine, ash and pinion trees that framed snow topped mountains. Pictures or words cannot express the awesome views. They truly have to be experienced by the naked eye of the traveler. I did take some pictures that you can view on the side. We stopped in Pinasco at another rustic/eccentric bistro called Sugar Nymphs Bistro and had a great chicken BLT on a homemade bun served with salad or homemade soup. I had the salad, Jose the homemade black bean soup. We then began the final journey to Taos – 19 miles. On entering Taos, I felt the positive energy that I didn’t feel in Santa Fe. We found the Best Western Kachina Lodge de Taos and got a room – deluxe with a refrigerator. The parking space was right in front of our room. Little did we know “how deluxe” as the room was actually a suite with a sitting area with couch, end and coffee tables, king size bed, kitchenette with cupboards, stove with oven, fridge, small table and chairs (for 2). There were also very spacious closets, a desk and separate sink bathroom area. It is actually a little apartment and I could stay here for a long time. This sounds like an advertisement but it was such a shock after staying in a small room with no amenities in Santa Fe for about the same price. The complex also has it’s own bar and restaurant which just adds to the charm. At 8:00 Taos Pueblo Indians will be doing native dancing in the dance circle by the garden. We’ll stay here for a couple of nights before leaving for Denver then on toward Nebraska and Iowa. May 18, 2007 This is the beginning of a journal of a road trip across country to Michigan with Jose Acevedo. The journey on our trip across country to Michigan began yesterday, 5/17/07. We drove from Oracle to Globe. The drive from Globe to Show Low/Pinetop area took us through some of the most beautiful scenery on steep winding mountain roads. Looking down from the top of the mountain to the bottom, where rivers were running, and viewing the layers of mountains off in the distance touching watercolor clouded sky, was more than a person can put into words. From Show Low we drove to Holbrook and the land took a different look and feel. The land was very flat and stark with not much interruption to the horizon line, but with that said, it opened the sky to all the expressive movement of the clouds in thunderhead formations. We stopped in Holbrook at Irene’s for some Mexican food and a respite. The next destination was Gallup, New Mexico. We could tell we were approaching New Mexico by the familiar land formations found in pictures shown in magazines and seen in many western movies. Undulating land that slopes to ancient mountain formations with rain and wind scarred surfaces. Dark green Juniper shrubs looked like dots interrupting the ground as it arrived at some of the most interesting shaped land formations that were near the road and then far in the distance. It was hard to keep my eyes on the road for trying to take in all that was around me. We drove into Gallup and noticed all the motorcycles that were in front the hotels/motels as we looked for a room for the night. We stopped for a bite to eat before trying to get a room and found out that there was a large group of veterans taking a motorcycle ride from California to Washington, DC taking Route 66. We didn’t find a room in Gallup so we drove to Grants, New Mexico and found a room there. After a leisurely early morning, we began our drive to Albuquerque, NM. Driving on the Freeway is so different from taking the backroads. We drove through that town to Highway 14 which is a scenic drive (about 65 miles) to Santa Fe. The highway, known as the Turquoise Trail, is one of the most beautiful rides through some of the most beautiful country I’ve seen. Winding roads take you through scenic little towns where artists have settled and make a living from the quaint restored old houses and buildings once used by minors. One of the towns is Madrid and we stopped to stretch and walk around a bit. We met a charming native (since 1070’s) working for artist Edward Gilliam at his studio. He told us some of the history of the area and we looked at some of the art in the studio. I am posting a couple of those paintings along with a couple pictures of scenery along the way. We then got back on the road and arrived in Santa Fe after driving down the mountain and onto flatter land. We are now in our motel resting after eating at the Plaza Café – great menu and food – if you should get this way. I just found out that the Georgia O’Keefe Museum is closed while they hang another exhibit and I am very disappointed!! I was so looking forward to seeing her work but I will see a few of her paintings tomorrow at the Santa Fe Museum. That was one of the reasons I wanted to come this way but other great things are happening so I am grateful that I can even be doing this. Well – more tomorrow. 'Inwardly guided' Oracle artist Ann Bedingham creates works that try to capture the world's inner energy by Ty Bowers - published in "The Explorer" on March 21, 2007 Ann Bedingham has made art of one form or another since she was 5 or 6 years old. It’s a gift she believes she’s always had. She moved to Arizona about 18 years ago to take care of her ailing Father, who recently passed away. For years she worked at the University of Arizona’s accounting department all the while creating art that only a few got the chance to see, that is until now. Through March 31, the Oracle artist will display several of her works — sketches, watercolors and acryllics — at The Station’s Back Alley Gallery, 1395 W. American Ave. A member of the Southern Arizona Watercolor Guild, Bedingham keeps an online journal on her art, books and thoughts on life at www.bedinghamstudio.com. Q: Where does your art come from? How do you set about making it? A: My intentions when I begin any kind of work are to convey an inner energy that each individual in the world has. I try to capture that in my art so that anybody that looks at it will recognize something of themselves in it. I chose my colors purposefully as well as intuitively. You never know which comes first. There’s so much energy in each color. There’s cool colors and warm colors. So I pick those according to what my intention is with each work. A certain color will be like a note in music. Each of us, no matter what our art is, it comes from within us. You bring that to your art through your own personal experiences. Q: How long have you been making art? A: I’ve always been inwardly directed. I think I was in first grade when I did a drawing of Mozart. I come from a small town in Northern Michigan. A woman came around looking for children’s art, and she loved this drawing of Mozart. She took my drawing and put it in a children’s museum that was traveling around the world. That was probably my ego, who knows what the motivation was. Q: What’s your process? Are you constantly looking for that next image? Do you sketch things out as soon as you see them? A: I know it when it hits me. It’s an intuitive thing. Like my cloud illusions series. It came from metaphors to life. Clouds are non-political. You can’t have a defense against them. Q: Oracle seems like a community that values the arts. What brought you here? A: The energy here is just conducive to an inner life. It’s a state of mind that you live in that you do not have to be 100 percent into just one layer of life. I worked at the University (of Arizona) for 10 years in the accounting department because I was too right-brained (laughs). They had to learn to put up with me. Q: What led you to show your work in The Station’s Back Alley Gallery? A: I just said, “You know, I’m just going to do it.” I want to share my work and my point of view. And what a better place to do it because of the energy here. I call it my hippy-dippy coffee shop. I come from the sixties. I was a beatnik. In fact, my first drawing teacher was Howard Weingarden. He was the roommate of John Sinclair … one of the figureheads in hippy culture. (Weingarden) introduced to me to Eastern philosophy. He did not live in the world. I can’t even explain his personality. He’s so eccentric (laughs). That’s all he did was art. And when you go to his apartment, that’s all that was there. Just the bare necessities. He had one drawer that was called the “worldly drawer.” And that’s where he kept all bills or anything to do with the world in that drawer. Q: Did you receive formal art training? A: I call (myself) self-taught, but I’ve chosen my teachers, or my gurus. You not only decide to do it, but it’s within you. It’s up to you to see that within you. These are my gifts. I think everyone has gifts. And I think that in our world, they don’t look at the individual and the gifts that that individual has. Be inwardly guided and not outwardly directed, that’s my motto. I’m constantly growing, constantly working and constantly expanding. If you’re bored, then you better get up and have an adventure. April 17, 2006 Carol Carter Workshop (carol-carter.com) I am fresh from the Carol Carter workshop and want to share my thoughts with you. The Southern Arizona Watercolor Guild, an organization I belong to and volunteered as chairman of the Workshop Committee for the past two years, gives five or six workshops a year. I have been moved by Carol Carter’s work in watercolor for many years and feel fortunate that she was able to interrupt her work to teach a workshop for us. The workshop was an inner and outer experience. Carol urged us to go within ourselves to find our own voices to bring to the subjects in the art we create and not just get caught up in the technical skill (outer experience). By painting what we love, the subject will have the energy that comes through us to the painting. I think we get caught up in the technique of what we are doing, the outer experience, without thinking about the inner experience that is transmitted through us to the subject and color as well as the skill of putting it on the paper. This concept is also true of our lives. We get so caught up in the outer experience and skills used to succeed in the world experience; we do not take in consideration the inner life that we bring to our outer experiences. A richer inner life does bring a richer experience to our outer life. In the workshop we did work on technical skill also. We learned color choices and the use of color to water ratio that brings wonderful rich washes that describe the subject. It is wonderful watching how the color flows into the wet paper forming gradated color to crisp edges. We also learned about the use of various brush sizes to achieve effects that describe the subject and create the emphasis of intense color to gradated color. I have enough information from the workshop to work on for a long time. I have to put all of this to work for me by finding my own water to paint ratio and use of the various brush sizes to achieve visually the voice I want to be heard. I believe I will work in series to develop an understanding and learn to know my chosen subject matter more intimately. March 12, 2006 I have been going through a dry spell lately. I haven’t been painting much. I have been reading a lot about painting and the painting process, however. I also have been reading a lot of books that have brought me back to the 1950’s, 1960’s and 1970’s. I’ve read Bob Dylan’s book Chronicles I and currently reading Jane Fonda’s book. Both of these books have caused me to revisit my own experiences of this time. I’ve revisited the 50’s when everyone’s movie was aspiring to the perfection of male and female roles created in our society after the depression and World War II. It seemed as if we behaved in a “perfect” manner, playing by all of societies rules, that the “over the rainbow” scenario would become our lives. Then came Marlon Brando, James Dean, Elvis Presley and several others that showed us that inner feelings were there and the rules didn’t necessarily have to be followed. There was a choice! The reality within the human psyche couldn’t hold on to the falsehood of living constructed lives very long so along came the 1960’s with the passion and rebellion that erupted like a pressure cooker after real emotions had been stifled for so long. We had been “going along to get along” and now the realities of man’s inhumanity to man came rushing in and hitting us right in the face. The varied nuances of the civil rights movement with the slaying of John and Bobbie Kennedy and Martin Luther King woke us all up to the fact that dark forces were at play in our country. The Vietnam War and all it wrought added to the soup. Then the music scene became the sound track for the time, along with various underground movements and behaviors that created social change. I don’t think anyone believed this change was as big as it was until Woodstock. When you saw all those people in that space, behaving peacefully, that was a wakeup call for everyone but after a couple of negative experiences with the same format everything began to change as we entered the 1970’s. Well... it’s been quite a head trip going back to revisit that time nearly 50 years ago. Do you ever think of what you were doing during that time and how it affected your life? December 31, 2005 HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! What a year this has been for the world as well as individually. The planet has been fraught with catalysts for change within governments of the world. Mother Nature moved in her mysterious ways with climate changes wreaking havoc in all areas of the globe. It seems as no one was untouched by chaos. *Personally, my life was filled with art and taking care of my father (93 years old) as he has lived with me for 16 years. I took a series of design classes that expanded my vision of shapes and placement of them within a space. This opened up a whole new approach to my paintings. Knowledge is ever expanding! I served on the board of the Southern Arizona Watercolor Guild for the second year in the workshop chairman capacity. We have/had a very exciting lineup of artists this year and next. Dad took a turn for the worse beginning at the end of September, just before I left for Michigan. On my return he had fallen again and my sister Jane and I took him to emergency thinking he was having mini-strokes. His tests were ok but he is definitely failing and had all the signs of crossing over at any moment. I've had many visitors as all my brothers and sisters visited him again and that has seemed to bring him back for a time. I have been busy with signing up with hospice and taking care of all that encompasses. So......as we leave 2005, I am taking care of Dad for the time he is still with us. As we enter 2006 let us all think of creating a world of compassion, love and kindness. LOVE AND LIGHT, ANN December 31, 2005 One of the major creative projects for me this past year took place in a landscape project on my property this past spring through fall. I moved to Oracle six years ago and creating the living space has taken time to feel the right creative energy I wanted to live with in this new space. After much thought and meditation, the design I wanted for my landscape came to me and I immediately began to take action on it. I am including pictures for you to see what developed from the hard work of spreading 60 tons of stone with my friend Edward. The project was completed with an additional 10 tons of stone with my friend Daryll and his crew finishing the project after an accident on the property. The design is created with white crushed marble and desert mauve stone. The white marble stone is larger than the mauve and that keeps the white stone in place. The desert mauve stone is the background with winding rivers in white stone. The concept is a metaphor with winding rivers of life (in white stone) winding through desert mauve stone all meeting in a circle of life with the Yin/Yang symbol incased in the circle which is balance that we are all striving for. I am very pleased with the outcome and if you ever get to Oracle stop by and see it - I’ll put on a pot of tea. October 15, 2005 While at the cottage I have been thinking about the state of the global situations we are experiencing. The basic energies that are alive and well seem to be fear and greed. The state of fear is created so greed can be filled. As greed is an empty hole that is never filled, negative energy hangs in the air like a plague. In order to begin to change this energy I think more focus needs to be placed on the arts in schools and in homes so that children, as well as their parents, can find the way to the inner journey that will take them to wholeness, fulfillment and happiness. The spiritual energy that this will create will heal the negativity that is present. Here are paragraphs from The Art Spirit by Robert Henri that I would like to share with you as we ponder the state of the country and world. “In America, or in any country, greatness in art will not be attained by the possession of canvases in palatial museums, by the purchase and bodily owning of art. The greatness can only come by the art spirit entering into the very life of the people, not as a thing apart, but as the greatest essential of life to each one. It is to make every life productive of light – a spiritual influence. It is to enter government and the whole material existence as the essential influence, and it alone will keep government straight, end wars and strife; do away with material greed. When America is an art country, there will not be three or five or seven arts, but there will be the thousands of arts-or the one art, the art of life manifesting itself in every work of man, be it painting or whatever. We will then have to give in kind for what we get. And every man will be a true enrichment to the other. Any step toward such an end is a step toward human happiness, a sane and wholesome existence. Much will come of the effort. There will be failures as well as successes, but if the strong desire exists both conditions will serve as experience in progress.” Robert Henri (1865-1929) By changing ourselves, we change the world. October 5, 2005 We took a trip from the deep woods by the lake to Alpena the closest “bigger” city where we are. The ride is around 70 miles back and forth. The views seen from the car were fantastic and I had to ask Jose to stop several times while I took pictures of the glorious colored foliage along the way. I took some wonderful pictures of the trees that are changing into their fall glory before lying dormant until spring. I am including some of them so you may enjoy them also. We are refurbishing the cottage and are in the midst of redoing each room and that is an artistic challenge in itself. We just ordered a new sectional with a sleeper area and are anxious for it to arrive. The color is camel which will go with the natural wood walls and cathedral beamed ceilings. There is also a lot of wonderful colorful art on the walls that was collected over the years. While shopping at Home Depot I came across a wool rug on sale for $100 that is a work of art in itself and will go perfectly in the L shaped space that the sectional will frame. I am including a picture as the composition and colors can’t be explained. I am getting a real high creating the Fung Shui energy for the cottage. The energy will flow through the cottage and give a pleasant feeling of balance and peace that we need. We chose a sand textured paint that will go in the kitchen and hall in a “Riverbed” color which is a creamy light color. I chose a tempered red violet color for the guest bedroom. After purchasing the paint and other items we went to WalMart (the only time I ever shop there is when I am here as I am against their employee and purchasing policies). We did some necessary food and odds and ends shopping there then went and had dinner at Applebee’s – probably one of the best eating establishments in the area. We did have a great time there over a couple of Marguerita’s and dinner. After that we made one stop then went home and put away all of our purchases and relaxed for the rest of the evening. October 2, 2005 This is the beginning of my journal and I can’t think of a better way to begin than to write from the cottage in Comins, Michigan. The cottage is situated on 10 acres of dense forest with Saddleback Lake a stones throw away. I arrived in Michigan on the 27th of September and I’ll return to Oracle, Arizona on October 20. It is so nice to be in a very different visual place for a while. All the colors have such a different hue because the light is so different. The trees are so tall that they filter the light that comes through them leaving all the greens of the trees with a bluish undertone. The filtered sunlight that finds its way through the trees leaves interesting designs of shadows in the forest. In the desert, the colors are different as the trees are smaller and lower to the ground leaving the wide expanse of a big wide sky and bright glaring sun washed color. I have arrived in autumn when the trees are turning their bright colors before shedding leaves for the winter months. I saw some really brilliant reds, scarlets and various shades of yellow to gold already and the season has just begun. I was born and raised in northern Michigan and always took nature for granted, not fully appreciating the beauty of nature. I will be showing you some pictures as soon as I can get them posted. We are renovating the cottage so that is taking a lot of my time but I’m taking time to write and paint. My sister sent my easel and I received it yesterday and set it up in the room that overlooks the lake. I traveled with the book “The Art Spirit” by Robert Henri and I highly recommend this book for guidance and inspiration; not just if you’re an artist but for the creation of your life. Robert Henri (1865 – 1929) was a painter and art instructor. The book is a collection of essays and thoughts on “picture making”. His insights are just as relevant today as they were then. In fact, I wonder if not more so as I think we’ve lost elements of sensitivity in our personalities due to social conditioning. Mr. Henri awakens the simple and honest energy within that comes through in the art we create and in everything we do. |
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520-896-3964 ann@bedinghamstudio.com
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thinking in color |
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