Every Ending is a New Beginning

Every ending is truly a chance for a new beginning.  Yesterday was the final day of my Carrington Arts Gallery solo exhibition.  I have been extremely grateful for the opportunity to display watercolors in this new and welcoming professional environment.  I am grateful, too, for the outpouring of attendance at the opening reception on January 15 and the daily gallery visitors in January and in February.  Even snow held off so that visitors could attend and view the paintings and poetry these past four weeks.  Now the exhibition comes to an end and the gallery will ready itself for a new show called "BLUE" that promises to be exciting and stimulating, full of surprises, and ever imaginative, an exhibit featuring many fine artists.

I was thinking that Lent is a season of endings and beginnings, new possibilities, exciting, stimulating and ever imaginative, too.  It is for me a time of deep searching, of repentance, but not despair.  It is also a time of hope and great longing, a patient waiting and sacrificing, believing that to feel the love of the Risen One which will come with Easter morning all in this life is worth living.  Because I continue to be unworthy, I can only hope to touch the hem of His cloak, yet through my sifting of his words as he approaches Calvary I am reassured once again of the Father's forgiveness.

Now my studio is waiting for me to begin another project, actually two.  One is in preparation for a new exhibition that will begin in June at the Carrington Gallery,  It is an intriguing concept:  Familiar Strangers.  I am hard at work outside of my usual comfort zone on this one!  It is exciting to be challenging myself in this way.  The second is the creation of my Lenten prayer card.  I have crafted a prayer card every so often during Lent, as shown here.  They are as varied as my Lenten thoughts sometimes are.
We think deeply, don't we, and hope strongly throughout Lent, at least that is how I view it through this side of the Cottage Door.  Peace to you.

I am very grateful for the outpouring of interest shown by folks from Sandusky and well beyond, old friends and new, who made the trip on a rainy Friday, January 15, 2016 to Carrington Arts Gallery to see my work.  It was a wonderful evening, full of happy conversations and warm colors on the walls.  Marsha Carrington really knows how to host an exhibition, and her work alone shone in the "playroom" display, while mine was featured on all other remaining wall space.  What an honor to be a co-artist celebrated in this show.  The gallery remains open for viewing and purchase 12 to 5 Tuesday through Thursday, and 12 to 7 on Fridays and Saturdays through February 20.  If you have not seen the exhibition, please come as I know you will enjoy it!

Meanwhile, Danny continues with golf, playing chess at Veteran's Home, serving daily mass, prison ministry and two newspaper carrier routes.  He is amazing and his battery never runs down.

I have been painting on my studio days 2-3 weekdays on average.  Here is my latest--another illustration for a children's book, Dragonfly Summer.  Susanna is a character in the story whose peculiar interest in the dragonfly is an important element in the story line.

Opening About to Happen...

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The day is getting closer and I am getting more hyper, because this is the biggest professional thing that has ever happened in my art career.  I hope I can "come down" from it afterwards and get back to work in my studio---it will be a show that runs for a month but I need to also devote my time to painting and exploring.  When I look through my cottage door at my many blessings from God, this show shines like a diamond in His light, and I am so grateful.  The are just snapshots inside Carrington Arts Gallery while Marsha Gray Carrington and I are working on the displays.  Much yet to do!

Announcing...

I could not begin the New Year 2016 without announcing to friends and readers the exciting news of my solo exhibition of selected paintings at Carrington Arts Gallery, 210 W. Water Street, Sandusky.  The reception begins at 5:30 on Friday, January 15.  The paintings will be available to view and for purchase at the gallery throughout the month and early February.  This is exciting for me. So many of you have encouraged me throughout the time of my watercolor exploration, in particular Jeanne Carbonetti, of Crow Hill Gallery in Chester Vermont (see her website at www.crowhillgallery.com), many close friends and also family, in particular my hubby, Danny "Coach" Roth.  Marsha Gray Carrington, gallery owner and accomplished author and artist, will display some of her outstanding photographs and paintings, as well. 

 As always, I thank the good Lord for all graces and blessings in this my passion, painting, and hope that you might join me in celebration at the gallery Friday, January 15.  As I peek Through the Cottage Door at the windy waves of a very cold Lake Erie, I pray that all of you will have a glorious 2016 and that our country and the world will continue to ask God for peace.

...A little child shall lead them (Isaiah 11:6)

The Little Child in this painting is, of course, Jesus Christ, destined to overcome the world and banish the darkness of the Evil One.  We are watching for him, especially now in Advent.

The prophet Isaiah tells us: "then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them..." Catholic New American Bible, Revised Edition, Isaiah 11: 6.

On this side of The Cottage Door, I have been discerning the evil that exists daily in my own heart.  I remember that if I am repentant, I can go to Jesus and ask the Father to purge my soul of everything that might offend or hurt him. What a blessing and a grace, undeserved, but all the more beautiful because it is given so freely, so completely.

In The Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis, the wicked witch feels she has conquered the powerful and good Aslan, the lion in:  The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  She, her demons and her ogres accomplish Aslan's tortuous murder, yet Aslan is far from dead. He rises from the altar to pursue and conquer her for good.  If you haven't read this "children's" book for a while, do review it and savor its masterfully penned allegory. When I re-read it the other morning, I was brought to tears once again. The depth of love displayed by the children toward their friend is astounding.  His loyalty to the good, what a sacrifice.  How brave, how valiant he is, just the sort of friend we all need.

 Jesus is our best friend, born so long ago as a babe.  It is comforting to think of Mary holding him, caressing him, cuddling and protecting him.  This Advent, rather than focusing on what Jesus can do for me, I am resolved to wonder what I can do for him.  I would like to hold him, stroke his wounded head, comfort his aching heart, and tell him that I am loyal to him and willing to sacrifice my own little needs for his sake and the sake of others less fortunate.  This Advent, I want to open the door wide for him, hoping he will come right Through the Cottage Door so I can greet him!

Have a wonderful Advent, and keep your heart's door wide open for the Little Child, become Man.

Thoughts about God, Through the Cottage Door, for Thanksgiving

I shot this pic of clouds out the window of a jet. I grabbed my phone and delighted in the view, and it got me to thinking. I wonder what God thinks when he looks down at his creation from Heaven,  Does he feel sad at what he sees, or does he find good things happening in some way, in some places, by some who love him?  And when he views my everyday life, is he glad or sad about the things I think, say or do?  He has given me so many joys, so very many blessing and very crosses to bear, though I hope I am prepared for the privilege of coping with more.  I just can hardly believe the blessings abundant each day in my life.  This Thanksgiving I truly wish to thank all my readers of this blog and I promise to more frequently add new images and thoughts, that we might share moments that are special and joy-filled.  That is my pledge to you, through the Cottage Door.  

Summer Wanes with a Warm Smile, Nods to Autumn

September sun lights up a sapphire blue sky, day after day.  Grass is still green, even greener in places as if each blade wants to show off its best color before it succumbs to dormancy later in the fall.  Children have given up vacation and are back in school, their buses rumbling down the streets of our city in morning and afternoon.  Things have settled into a new routine that comes with the close of one season and the premier of another.

Painting is somewhat seasonal for me also, and this month I am fortunate to have my River People series of verse and watercolors displayed here in my city, all 20-some pieces exhibited in the Grace Episcopal Church at 315 Wayne Street, Sandusky.  It is a privilege and a joy to have others view them.

The image to the left is called "Magician".  The verse tells of a native Yup'ik lad who was busy with the July dust, inches deep, in his village.  He was literally covered in it, and happy as could be to throw it everywhere.  He was making a golden moment out of playing in the dirt, a magical bit of childhood for me to paint.  If only we adults could, rather than mourn the little time we seem to have because we have so busied ourselves with the truly unimportant tasks we undertake to prove our worth, just fling dirt, or sing songs aloud, or even have a good belly laugh more often, maybe we could make magic, too.
At least that is what I think tonight, as I peek out at the moon through my cottage door.  Go play in the dirt and see how it frees you.