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Friday, September 6, 2013

Cynthia Reid - In Her Own Words

My friend Cindy paints.  She gardens and exercises and comforts friends just home from the hospital, but when she's not doing any of that, she paints. Starting her professional life as a pathologist, she graduated from looking at slides to creating beauty.  You can find her work here.

Every once in a while she sends a love note to her mailing list.  Today, amidst traffic jams and undercooked burgers and noisy hips and disappointing yard workers and Comcast voice mail hell, I spent first a few minutes, then some more, then a very long time looking at the images and feeling peace descend over my shoulders like a warm blanket. 

She said that I could share her words and pictures with you, and so I have. I hope it brings you the same joy that it brought to me. 

 Happy Weekend!
*****

Enhanced by Art
September 2013

I believe that engagement with art can change your life, sometimes profoundly. While I hope that my art in some small way enhances the lives of those who purchase one of my paintings, my own life has been greatly enhanced by the art of others.

"Berthe Morisot," after Edouard Manet, by Paul Burke
My grandfather painted this four decades ago. It represents for me the influence that his painting had on me at an early age, in addition to the importance of the subject, who was the first female French impressionist painter.

"Dance," by John Waddell
John Waddell is a 92-year-old Arizona sculptor and painter. Many of John’s models have been dancers, and his figures express the fluid freedom unique to dance. His image, for me, is a daily reminder to "dance."

"Canoes at Tanglewood," by John Reid

This photograph hung in my medical office for many years. It evokes a sense of calm and serenity that often was needed. I will never forget the day a surgeon came into my office and asked if he could sit for a minute to relax in that serenity.

"Antelope," by Molly Heizer
Molly Heizer’s ceramic work is joyful and soulful. This antelope sculpture displays a sense of whimsy and playfulness.


“Art teaches nothing, except the significance of life.” Henry Miller
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6 comments:

  1. Rain TrueaxSeptember 6, 2013 at 7:04 AM

    Love your encouragement to the arts. Coincidentally I wrote a blog for Thoughts tomorrow that goes at the way art is being pushed out of our culture through how it's being ignored in many schools.

    I was at John Waddell's studio in the Verde Valley some years back. I was sculpting at that time and very into it. He gave us a tour and we had a lovely discussion-- this with just dropping in without ever expecting to meet him or do more than see his wonderful sculptures that were placed beautifully in the desert

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    1. Ashleigh BurroughsSeptember 6, 2013 at 7:31 AM

      Thanks, Rain. It's not my usual bailiwick, but, even this morning, rereading for typos, I found myself hypnotized by those bodies. I'm sitting up straighter and feeling my separate muscle groups, and smiling back at the antelope.

      I'd love to see your sculptures sometime.
      a/b

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    2. Rain TrueaxSeptember 6, 2013 at 7:36 AM

      turns out i have an old site that I used to promote them back when i was doing this-- http://rain4.tripod.com/ I am not sure they're all there but most

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    3. Ashleigh BurroughsSeptember 6, 2013 at 7:50 AM

      Just spent ten minutes with your beautiful work... the humans were right here in my office with me. You are a true Renaissance Woman, Rain :)
      a/b

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  2. Rain TrueaxSeptember 6, 2013 at 12:05 PM

    thanks. I probably will do more sculptures sometime but it takes space and worked better when I was in Tucson more as that house had the room. This one it interferes with the rest of life and clay sculptures are messy to say the least.

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  3. MSSeptember 6, 2013 at 6:11 PM

    Love the paintings--especially the one with the canoes. It is very calming.

    I'm a big advocate for art.

    Thanks for sharing with us.


    Megan xxx

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