Pacific Northwest light

Lummi Island from Fairhaven WA
Lummi Island from Fairhaven WA
Whatcom Museum's Lightcatcher building
Whatcom Museum's Lightcatcher building
A Vermont scene — print by Norma Bassett Hall
A Vermont scene — print by Norma Bassett Hall
Mt. Hood —print by Norma Bassett Hall
Mt. Hood —print by Norma Bassett Hall

How appropriate to name a building the Lightcatcher in the Pacific Northwest. The building has a translucent wall that is 37 feet high and 180 feet long.

While visiting the Lightcatcher building, part of the Whatcom Museum complex in Bellingham WA, I was introduced to the work of Norma Bassett Hall, a printmaker born in 1888 in Portland OR. She was a founding member of the Prairie printmakers and built and independent career as an artist alongside her husband. But what impressed me the most was that she had these words about her work:

My ambition is to make my prints speak of peace and tranquility in the troubled world, of joy in simple things, of harmony and beauty.” —Norma Bassett Hall, 1934

Hard to believe this was written in 1934, it could have been written today.

Here’s to harmony, beauty and of course light!

Namaste


Gaiter Portrait

Gaiter in the studio.
Gaiter in the studio.

Just because.


8mm

I have a new toy and have been going through some old family footage. I am particularly liking the messy bits that are out of focus, they have a dreamlike quality to them.


Balance

I was reminded in yoga class the other night (because that’s what a practice is all about - the reminders) that there is a sweet spot of alignment between the reach and the counter pull, a stasis of perfect alignment, a place of physical balance. That holds true for so many endeavors. Reaching and striving need a counter balance of pulling into the moment, of meditation on what is present. Thanks RD for this moment in NH. (balancing rocks courtesy of engineer and friend Reynold Dodson)


Fall and Painting

Now that it’s cooling down outside I look forward to getting back to painting, to seeing with new eyes after stepping away for a breather. It’s hard to explain but there is a visceral connection, this practice helps me to cultivate a space where I can trust my ‘embodied knowledge’. A term I first heard in this interview with Ann Hamilton on On Being.

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Inspiration: Beauty

I created this area to share some of my travels, art, photography & craft. The play that inspires me. For more of my paintings and crafts, you can visit me at what flow looks like today WFLLT.space