"13.  At a job interview at a university, three men sitting across from me at a table.  On my cv it says that I am currently working on a book about the color blue.  I have been saying this for years without writing a word.  It is, perhaps, my way of making my life feel "in progress" rather than a sleeve of ash falling off a lit cigarette.  One of the men asks, Why blue? People ask me this question often.  I never know how to respond.  We don't get to choose what or whom we love, I want to say.  We just don't get to choose."

                                                                              --Maggie Nelson, Bluets

I've been trying to figure out the floor component of my thesis since the hooked/crocheted concept has failed miserably (at least, in context with the wall piece).  I just came across Polly Apfelbaum's "Cartoon Garden" and "Pink Crush" and they are blowing my mind.  The cut-outs, the layering, the controlled awkwardness.  And the stunning aura of color on the walls and use of moving light from the window in "Pink Crush".

I listened to a talk she gave last year about Evergreen Blueshoes and was amazed to hear that thinking of her floor pieces as rugs was a new development. 

"The bird, which is almost completely spherical, is certainly the sublime and divine summit of living concentration." --Michelet

"Life is probably round."-- Van Gogh

"Of course I’ll hurt you. Of course you’ll hurt me. Of course we will hurt each other. But this is the very condition of existence. To become spring, means accepting the risk of winter. To become presence, means accepting the risk of absence.”
                                                                                   ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Manon, Ballerina


"Emptiness is the pregnant void out of which all creation springs.  But many of us fear emptiness.  We prefer to remain surrounded by things we imagine are subject to our control."
                                                                                   ― Wayne Muller

My Stop and StART traffic signal box in Bloomington is done!  I did most of the work on Thursday when it was veeerrrry cold (on the verge of paint-won't-dry cold).  I didn't realize how cold it was until the sun started to go down, taking away what little warmth I had. 

On Thursday I painted the dark blue, light blue, pink, and yellow.  Today I painted the white and then varnished it.  I may go back in some day and paint the base to cover up those water stains, but not before spring.

I really like how the brushstrokes look in the afternoon raking light.  The soft body Liquitex gives a surprising amount of texture.  It was so easy to work with, I definitely recommend it for working outside.