My Studio

My studio is housed in a backyard building separate from my house.  In the winter it is heated by a wood stove, lending a deliciously inviting peacefulness.  Its my space - the place where I go to paint, to write, to dance, to sing, to pray.  Full of everything available to create, its my big playroom that keeps me balanced.

Here is a glimpse into this wonderful space.

Scroll down for an older, slightly related poem.

 

                 
 

Pastel Pictures

Can’t you see that life is too precious

for bland, pastel pictures

faded and dulled to complacency?

Do they really capture your spirit

make it laugh or cry or sing?

I could not declare my life to be truth

if I gazed on a sweep of mountains

splashed with morning light

and did not feel the ache to share their beauty;

witness the gifts of life

without the urge to gift them again.

If I walked, as many would have it, through my days containing

all the melodies of my love

the drumbeats of my anger

the sharps and flats of my grief

I could not speak with those deep reds of passion

Shimmering blues of insight

excited oranges of curiosity

ballooning yellows of joy

or the erratic splashes of glee

If I lived with grey walls and moats and armoured heart

I would live a picture with no spirit

to be glimpsed at, then forgotten.

Copyright Kathie Bird, 1984