The road ends, but the journey continues...

Tag: artistic reflection (Page 1 of 8)

RIP Robert Redford


please note: scroll/read to the end to discover who won the giveaway.


Robert Redford – August 18, 1936 – September 16, 2025
movie star, director, producer and film champion, heartthrob, environmentalist, philanthropist, family man, political activist, person of consequence and (he)artistic everyman

Movie star, director, producer and film champion

Most are acquainted with these aspects of Robert Redford’s legacy. I’ve seen most of his commercial movies close to their release dates on the big screen and enjoyed 90% of them. I’ve seen a few Sundance films and love the vibe of the whole festival. Here I’ll just highlight a few of my fav commercial movies from the RollingStone article, Robert Redford: 20 Essential Movies. note: hover over the arrow and click for more

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

released in 1969 – I saw this on the big screen at the Boulder Theater in 1970. Let the adventures & heartthrobs, begin!

Downhill Racer

released in 1969 – I saw this for free at the Chautauqua Theater summer film series in 1970 as a concessions worker! Of course, this attracted a large local following due to its relatable Colorado skiing vibe.

Jeremiah Johnson

released in 1972 – I love this movie because Dad loved this movie. One of Dad’s favorite Mountain Man Adventures that we saw together as a family on the big screen at the Boulder Theater.

All the President’s Men

released in 1976 – Based on the non-fiction book by Bernstein & Woodward, the two journalists investigating the Watergate Scandal for the Washington Post during the Nixon presidency. Of note: in 2010, this film was selected for preservation in the US National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” Let’s hope it stays there.

The Horse Whisperer

released in 1998 – The scenery, subject matter and silence were seminal. In fact, the silence in the movie house ( a large commercial movie theater) was as silent as the movie itself – novel concept these days, eh? I saw this on Date Night with hubby, leaving our 3 kids with a babysitter for the evening.

The Old Man and the Gun

released in 2018 – On my list of films to watch!

Heartthrob

Let me tell you, I didn’t usually go for the blonde & blue. Growing up, I much preferred Dino (blueblack/blackbrown, plus he felt like family) to Frankie (light brown/blue).

Even back in my preteen days of watching The Man From U.N.C.L.E on TV I chose Napoleon Solo over Ilya Kuryakin…even if Ilya was more youthful.

Of even greater significance is that my longstanding Beatle of choice has always been a toss up between George & John. Well, truth be told, I loved all four of them!

During my later college years, Billy Dee Williams as Brian Walker in Mahogany, and as Lando Calrissian in Star Wars was it for me. But in between all of that, when Newman & Redford hit the big screen with Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, I knew Redford was the ‘best’.*

Of course, looks aren’t everything…

So when my middle daughter called to say she saw that RR had passed away, she noted at the end, “I’m sorry, Ma. I know he was your heartthrob”. Geez, was it that obvious?!

Environmentalist, philanthropist, family man, political activist

I can’t speak to the family man aspect of his life, but in reading various articles it becomes clear how much family life informed his career and life focus. That said, below is a good example of thoughtful consideration of current issues with his trademark pointed yet mellow activist attitude.


“Journalism is what keeps politics straight. Is politics telling the truth or not, you know, and very often politics doesn’t tell the truth. It just tells a story that’s being told by one side or the other. But it’s journalism that gets to the bottom line and says, wait a minute, we’re hearing this, we’re hearing that, but what’s the truth? You know I think we’re into that now.”

Robert Redford, circa 2017

Person of consequence and (he)artistic everyman

Okay, here’s where there’s a bit of a stretch of these attributes as applied to my personal story…

Once upon a time, during my freshman year at CU Boulder, I learned the Legend of Robert Redford - a former student who got wrapped up in the party scene and got himself expelled from the University. Of course, the fact that he went on to 'find himself' backpacking through Europe and emerged a creatively contributing member of society only served to reinforce the pull to do the 'drop out' thing for countless others of my generation. Of which I thankfully didn't succumb. Though I still yearn for my personal Camino Adventure!
The Sink Robert Redford Mural
Over the years, “The Sink” added this mural to honor their Star Janitor
Somewhere along the line I ventured deep into the nooks and crannies of "The Sink" on the Hill intent on searching out his autograph/comment on its graffiti laden walls. Meh. Not much to look at, but I can say I saw it in its original form.  Nay, I can say I touched the space he wrote upon! 😍
As a rite of passage, I even took my middle daughter to view the graffiti wall her senior year in High School.
The Legend lives on.
SundanceSignBoulderTheaterDonKohlbauer2

PS: The Sundance Institute is coming home to Boulder in 2027.

RIP Robert Redford.

*at the time, the question was routinely posed: who’s the most handsome/best actor – Newman or Redford?


As promised, the winner of the “When Things Go Missing” giveaway is hereby officially announced: Tierney! Congrats – your book is in the snail mail. Thanks to everyone who showed such enthusiastic interest in Deborah’s debut novel.


Remember My “Ankara Reward” Tactic?

Well, it’s come in handy as a transitional tool to ease into taking a break for most of August.

After weeks of teaching summer session lessons, following through with essential tasks, the editing/layout of my current Giving Voice series (part three is still in the works), and dealing with heat, heavy air and asthma, I’m ready to hit the pause button.

To refresh your memory, a little less than a year ago, I expounded on the virtues of a method I devised to help stay focused, motivated and balanced while working on specific music project goals. I set up a way to accrue points on time spent doing various aspects of specific items (ToDos) related to my primary music project Goals and translated them into ‘reward time’.

I called it the Ankara Reward because I’d been itching to play around with the Ankara fabric/Moda Grunge fabric combo I designated & set aside for a specific quilting project*.

Generically speaking the formula works like this: for x amount of time I spend on my priority/primary focus, I can then accrue y amount of minutes towards dedicated time for a certain other desirable activity focus.

Using this as a controlled ‘reward time’ helped when I was in a slump and needed motivation to keep going with my primary focus – music. It also served as a creative break that enabled me to return to my music with fresh eyes and an eager spirit.

Within weeks, I dropped the literal formula and flowed seamlessly from task to task. Making progress on ToDos, Goals, Tasks and plenty of Etc.s!

That said, musical goals are not as easily shared while in progress, so attached are some photos for you to see the Ankara Reward in progress.

left to right: 3 Ankara fabric finalists, chosen Ankara fabric, early piecing, first block with layout info, first block.

stopping off point for now
Stopping off point for now – July 31st, 2025

*my friend Mary and I took an on-line lecture class together on Ankara Fabrics awhile back. She, true to her ‘Zippy’ moniker, whipped up her version in no time. Me? Like I’ve said before, I am a slow stitcher.

Priorities Over Chaos

Like many of you, I’m finding it difficult to post regularly. For whatever reason, and there are many significant factors involved, it’s just how things are for me right now. An easing back into the blogging rhythm just hasn’t presented itself before now.

I’ve noticed several bloggers I follow have courageously forged forth with timely posts echoing thoughts, hopes, struggles, fears and outrage similar to my own on the ceaseless chaos & cruelty that is bombarding the local & world stage.

One such blogger, Deborah Brasket, gave me a way to segue from my last post in February to today’s post.

In her post, Tending Beauty in an Uncertain World, she eloquently speaks of the tenuous balance she is trying to maintain in her (he)art, everyday life, and social responsibility.

“Like many of you, I struggle to balance myself in this uncertain world where the rule of law and so many institutions of democracy are crumbling around us. Where we are falling into fascism, failing to support human decency, our friends and allies, and the values that made America the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Like many, I falter between hope and despair. I struggle to know how to live this life I love as it is being destroyed from within.

Can I go on writing my novels, tending my garden, blogging about beauty, living a life of peace and tranquility? Do I abandon my piano, my artwork, my joy in living?

Do I take up arms and march in the streets? Can I do both? Will one taint the other? Will my joy be lessened, my rage take control?”

Deborah Brasket

I relate.

She found some insight in a poem by Gloria Horton-Young, The Quiet Art of Resistance.

I found some insight in a snippet from May Sarton’s journal entitled, At Seventy.

“It is order in all things that rests the mind…So what is the inward order that makes it possible to shut out the chaos around me as I sit here? Perhaps a strong sense of what my priorities are – first friends, then work, then the garden. If I died suddenly, how bitterly I should regret work undone, friends unanswered. As for the garden, that is my secret extravagance and one has to have one…The garden is where my madness lies, and that is a more useful madness than drunkenness or a tantrum…”

May Sarton

My priorities as per Sarton’s template?

First – family, friends and relationships (including my faith in a loving, caring God), then work- my music and all manner of my (he)art, then the garden – literally and all manner of other outlets.

There are other priorities, certainly…which makes for a good solid team in countering chaos & cruelty!

I am not going to give up on the beautiful and the good – I will not allow the ethos of the times to blur my vision or stifle my heart. Choosing priorities over chaos – sharing, caring, kindness, love, knowledge, truth – is exercising freedom in its purest sense.


“Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” Philippians 4:8


A ‘White Album’: Pete Townshend – Who Came First

Here’s a little something that’s totally unrelated to the holidays or all the stuff currently going on in my daily life – a draft post conveniently available for pubbing!


Note: my longstanding and growing personal list of ‘White Albums’ are albums inspired by the literal color-aspect of the Beatles’ White Album. Here’s one for you to enjoy.


October 1972

Okay, it’s December, 2024 – not October 1972. But the earworms I allowed into my brain following the last post are unrelenting. Nicely so. 😊

As I wrote my last post, I uncovered an entire musical soundscape I forgot was birthed in real time. Part of that setlist includes Pete Townshend’s first solo album, Who Came First.

Turns out, Who Came First was released in October of 1972.  

I was introduced to the actual album by my boyfriend at the time. A college Senior to my Freshman innocence, he was more attuned to the happenings of the world. 😊

I had heard a few of the singles on the at-the-time underground FM station KLZ but didn’t know there was a full album forthcoming.

One day while on the hill in Boulder, browsing the music album bins at Albums on the Hill my boyfriend pulled out a white album and exclaimed, “It’s here!”

Yes, even then it struck me as a ‘White Album’ with Pete suspended upon a field of eggs.

Clever.

Not knowing I was living in a world of historic importance – musically and otherwise – this and other albums released that year and beyond were my companions as I walked those first years of young adulthood.

Two of my favorite tracks were and still are Pure and Easy and Let’s See Action.


Pure and Easy

These days I hear the echo of the phrase from the lyrics, ‘there once was a note‘, as literal as well as altruistic.

The path my music has taken is reflective of the literal aspect of inference. I have taken control of my life path in that I am not subject to the public’s perception of success. Instead, I have made my dent and continue to do so in the niches upon which I chose to focus. Touching (he)arts and getting to do what I love most…play, teach, collaborate, create, compose, record, perform – in ensemble as well as solo…

“I listened and I heard music in a word
And words when you played your guitar
The noise that I was hearing was a million people cheering
And a child flew past me riding in a star…

…We all know success when we all find our own dream
And our love is enough to knock down any wall
And the future’s been seen as men try to realize
The simple secret of the note in us all
In us all”

excerpts, Pure and Easy, Pete Townshend

Let’s See Action

As a basic call to action for change within and without – with a carefree attitude – the attraction of the message lies in how it plays out in life.

I’ve been on both sides of this.

  • The not knowing of where I’m going or where it leads.
  • The confidence in knowing ‘I’ll get to where I’m gonna end up’.

Relevant reminders then and now!

“Let’s see action
Let’s see people
Let’s see freedom
Let’s see who cares…

…I don’t know where I’m going
I don’t know what I need
But I’ll get to where I’m gonna end up
And that’s alright by me”


The Meaning We Make with Our Hands (Poem)

In reading about the stories we as creatives tell through our (he)art, I came across this phrase from a Quiltfolk blog article.

It resonated. I ruminated. I wrote a poem.



Weekend Notes 3/2-3/2024

“Mounted over canvas”

As per recent quilt-blogger discussions about how to mount certain fiber art pieces: Mary over at Zippy Quilts posted a callout for suggestions on how best to display a ‘map’ quilt she recently completed. The overriding consensus suggested mounting it over canvas.

About two years ago, I experimented with this technique.

During the Pandemic, while noodling around with the idea of floating a design utilizing negative space as part of the composition, my Homage à Ma’s Uncle Tran Mawicke came into being. Pleased with the result, I wanted an equally unique way of displaying it.

Ma’s Uncle Tran* was a prolific commercial & fine artist, illustrating numerous magazine articles, sci-fi books, fashion magazines & catalogues, calendars, advertisements, creating art by commission, for both private/personal and public purposes, etc.

My Homage features a common color palette used in many of his works, but does not reflect his style of art.

As a true ‘working artist’, I’ve no doubt he experimented with different modern techniques and emerging schools of art-thought during his lifelong career. I’d like to think he might have explored a sort of “abstract expressionism meets graphic art” approach to his own work. In that way, my Homage title makes sense.

That’s the cerebral narrative. Truth be told, at some point during my immersion in Homage, something about it ‘felt’ like the Great Uncle I never knew – connecting me to both him and my (he)artist Ma.

*Mini bio: Tran Mawicke was born in Chicago on September 20, 1911 and died November 28, 1988. He’s best known for his commercial illustration, landscapes, and portraits. A graduate of the American Academy of Fine Arts and Art Institute of Chicago, his work spanned from 1935-1988. A prolific storybook illustrator, he also has credits such as film posters, covers of magazines such as Collier’s, Reader’s Digest, Good Housekeeping, and BusinessWeek. Tran served as president of the Society of Illustrators from 1959-1961. He traveled extensively and  called Bronxville, NY home-base for most of his life.


“Bonus Day”

Last Thursday was February 29th. A whole day inserted into 2024’s leap year to correct time discrepancies in our calendar related to Earth’s orbit around the sun. Think of it as an expanded version of the ‘extra’ hour received when we in most states of the US set clocks back in the Fall thus ending Daylight Saving Time.  

This added date – an extra day tacked onto February – felt like a Bonus Day to me, hence the name.  In fact, I planned for this Bonus Day in advance in order to take full advantage of my perceived ‘extra’ time!

Right before lunchtime, after a morning of unabashed glee pursuing indulgent (he)artistic endeavors, I got a text notice that my shingles shot was available & waiting for me at the CVS. Since this prescription had been ‘out of stock’ since December** I decided the unscheduled task took priority, so I got jabbed ASAP.

I am thinking you know what comes next…Yes, you’re correct in thinking my extra hours were then consumed by an overpowering fatigue – which for myself is a normal reaction to any vaccine.

And yes, you’d think I’d remember that – but no.

Overall I felt okay about that interruption, and I did indeed make up for that ‘lost extra’ time in the days that followed – gaining traction (and new insights) on a few music projects and progressing on a surprise gift I’m making for that new Papa cousin’s baby girl I mentioned in an earlier post. All of which I hope to reveal in the near future!

**What can I say? We live in an underserved area and that’s part of how life is for us. Case in point: a regular rhythmic cycle of empty shelves at stores has been a fact of life since moving here in 2012 – way before the Pandemic put that Reality front and center for many formerly unaccustomed to those sorts of issues. 


How did you spend your Bonus Day this Leap Year?


MMXXiii – part two

I finally finished my Cookie Mats the other day.

Please allow me to use them as a simple means to illustrate a handful of the many personal revelations/reminders I gleaned during this past year. 

I started them the day after reading Laura’s post on making her own “Cookie Plate Crumb Catcher”.

Like her, I needed a fun diversion tucked between my holiday prep and regularly scheduled life commitments.

That was November 19, 2022.

This is December 31, 2023.

Personal revelation #1- I can and do finish projects!

Also, around that time, the overarching theme (for me) of the coming New Year 2023 began to emerge:

Mindfulness – doing things with intention, not just as a default ‘go-to’ action.

Interestingly, each time I journaled about working on my 3 CPCCs in my Morning Pages, the word ‘fun’ is mentioned.

  • “Yesterday, I started work on another CPCC. I’m finding it fun.”
  • “As fun, I’d like to work on sewing the first few squares for one of the CPCCs sometime today.”
  • “I’m re-learning traditional piecing with those CPCCs. I ‘winged it’ on certain parts of the first one – a normal process for me – and it came out fantastically well. The second, I decided to be more follow-the-rules with squaring up each block to a certain size before sewing them together and it came out awful. So, the third one I’m trying a combo of both methods and so far so good! HA! This has been a fun ‘hobby’ reliever thing to do during my spare moments. Plus, I just might get a CPCC out of it with two to gift to others!”
Cookie Mats #1 & #2 on design wall
CPCC #1 on top perfect, CPCC #2 on bottom, prior to ‘squaring up each block’. It didn’t sew up well at all so I deconstructed it and threw the fabric in the scrap bag.

While that final quote is a good example of mindfulness in the making of those 3 CPCCs, the consistent use of the word ‘fun’ caused me to realize I needed more of it in my life.

Personal revelation #2- I realized that having fun was more satisfying than seeking happiness. Something I used to know, but somehow forgot. (For the record, joy* is an entirely different gift and one I actively nurture deep within my soul.)

Fun is in the moment and feeds the need in the now before it withers. Happiness is a quest that requires vigilance and can become myopic – in some respects it is frustratingly elusive and not easily sustained.

Shortly before the end of 2022, CPCCs #1 & #3 were completely pieced and ready to be layered with the usual quilt sandwich fixins (batting & backing). I packed them away as I was poised with a mindfulness focus of ‘living life outloud’ in the coming New Year.

Fast forward to November 2023.

In need of my annual holiday prep diversion, I pulled out the 2 CPCC pieced tops and began the process of taking them to the finish line. Again, a fun thing to do, especially as I pieced scraps and leftover small half triangle scraps into blocks to further turn into mug rugs and/or table trivets. Truthfully, I was avoiding doing what really needed to be done in order to finish those 2 CPCCs.

About this time, Wendy posted about taking a fabric therapy break from her own holiday preps. The Tote she produced – and oh so quickly – called out to me. I emailed her about purchasing it and before I could step away from the computer, she responded.

Scrap triangles as future mug rugs & table trivet

“Could I just gift it to you? I’d love to do that. It’s the season of giving, and nothing would make me happier! So no need to pay anything. I’ve been smiling to myself all day, just knowing I can share this with you! I had no plans for this tote, but I just knew it would have a place to go. I’m just delighted! Send me your address, and I’ll get it on its way!”

(here it sits atop my folded cutting table underneath a few pieced scraps & leftover half square triangle scraps on my design wall – quickly put to use as my new project bag)

Personal revelation #3- I forget that while it’s fun & rewarding to give to others, it’s sometimes fun & rewarding for others to give to me!

As I dutifully cut the backing fabrics and lightweight batting, I had and AHA moment. Why not turn these into more versatile mats that offer both hot and cold protection to table surfaces? That’s when I grabbed the InsulBright used for hot pads and added it to the quilt sandwich fixins. As an unexpected bonus this addition offered a firm bottom layer which enhanced my modest walking foot outline quilting.

Personal revelation #4- I can function in a ‘color within the lines’ type of world, but I really am an outside the box type of gal.

I finally finished my Cookie Mats the other day.

Personal revelation #5- Take the time to sit back, relax and enjoy the fruits of my labor!


*    “I have told you these things so that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy may be made full and complete and overflowing.” John 15:11 amplified

Weekend Notes 2.11/12.23

As per my last post, I figure it’s time to make an appearance on my own blog. 

As per my personality, I find it hard to just dive back in and post something after having not posted for a good long time.

As per the trajectory of my growth as an individual, here goes!


In the Arts Community, there is this ongoing debate as to whether or not a qualifier adjective is required before the term artist/musician/author/fill-in-the-blank. This overlaps into many adjectives – ethnic, gender, religious, political, educational status, age and other identities. Somehow the adjectives male or white are rarely if ever used.

Implications on this are loudly obvious. As in: the assumed standard is indeed male & white.

However, that is not the point nor within the scope of this set of Weekend Notes. Except in the context of should those qualifiers be used or would it be construed as offensive?

Worth pondering.

(If you want to comment on this germ of a prompt then have at it!)

More to the point of this post, currently a large proportion of the (he)artists on my online ‘playlist’ of cultural personas are also black women.

It’s Also February.

In honor of Black History Month, I’d like to draw your attention to one such (he)artist.

Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson

1940-2015

“I began drawing at the age of three. My father would give me wood to paint on and paint in little enamel tins. My studio was under my bed…I never had any doubt in my mind about being an artist.”

Aminah Robinson

Aminah created an immensely diverse body of work ranging from fiber art, scrolls, textile & accordion books, paintings & drawings in various mediums, sculpture, tapestries and huge pieces of quilted mixed media which she was constantly adding to called, Button Beaded Music Box RagGonNon Pop-up Books or “RagGonNons” for short.

Her art was grounded in her belief in the African concept of Sankofa, learning from the past in order to move forward.

Interesting inspirational factiod: she worked on her art from 4:30 in the morning through 12 midnight each day whenever she was in her studio home.

Phenomenal!

for further reading: source 1, source 2 and just google her name for a plethora of articles, images, videos.

Listen for the music connection in her works of art
Watch her stitch buttons onto her huge pieces of fiber art (around 1:11)
A more in depth overview of the scope of Aminah’s life’s work

Announcing an unexpected Re-Release!

unexpected cover image
Cover artwork by Michelle Marie Bruno Lilly (+ Solorio – she’s since married!) on the John Lennon Peace Wall, Prague. c2007

My 2007 cd, unexpected, is now available for purchase on Bandcamp as a limited quantity item.

Long available via the now defunct cdbaby store (back in the Derek Sivers days!) and downloadable/streamable via iTunes, YouTube, Spotify, etc. I have re-released both the physical cds & digital downloads of unexpected for additional distribution on my Bandcamp site.

***Please take a listen***

Hop over to my Bandcamp page for details on how to order digital tracks and/or physical cds.

Due in large part to the fact of its prior release taking place during the early days of digital distribution (think: My Space Music, yes I had an account!) – my mixed and mastered wav files were on a special type of cd that I then sent directly to the cd replication studio. I essentially gave them up not knowing I’d need them somewhere down the line.

I won’t get too technical but having to reverse-engineer one of my own cds on hand in order to obtain wav files to upload was a huge obstacle for me.

Oh, not the actual doing of it, but wondering if the quality of said files would be the same as if they’d come directly from the recording studio files. Lordy, I am such a sound snob an audiophile.

Add to that the amount of time required for uploading & entering each track individually, complete with a myriad of other digital data paraphernalia. No wonder I put it off for so long. (BTW: the digital files sound just fine!)

But then DIY ain’t nothin’ new.

However, as I’ve been working on current projects – improving skills on my less dominate instruments, recording ideas, composing like crazy, collaborating with Banjo Guy and laying out pdf scores for future publishing & distribution – I could no longer drag my feet in getting this pesky task completed.

And now it is.

Done.

Ready for a new set of ears to hear and hopefully enjoy for hours of listening pleasure.


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