week 37 in my “this is where i am from” year long project:

In the winter of 1976 I had occasion to have dinner with a large group of fully outfitted revolutionary war enthusiasts and re-enactors. I had on plaid russet colored polyester and acrylic elastic waist pants and a slightly shimmery blue polyester shirt with a giant collar that I bought with my own money. It all felt pretty awkward. There was a particularly excruciatingly long moment where I had to stand on the little town hall stage and have my picture taken. I remember wondering “how much worse is this going to get?” and wishing the little stage would swallow me up, and being super into the dudes in costumes. Being 11 is no joke.

week 36 in my “this is where i am from” year long project:

The far northern edge of my map – the high tension lines. There were wild blueberries around the lines and  a rocky stream that ran down a long hill.  I dug clay out of the stream bed and made useless little things.  The stream had a little haphazard bridge over it where it intersected a well used path through the woods and on the other side of that became a little swamp with lilly pads and white lotus flowers.

week 35 in my “this is where i am from” year long project:

The house next door with it’s neat row of forsythias and and my mothers magnificent pink rose bush.

week 34 in my “this is where i am from” year long project:

sketchbook 8/21, everyday things.

week 33 in my “this is where i am from” year long project:

Small progress on my rosebush painting – just begun really.

week 32 in my “this is where i am from” year long project:

A sketch for a painting I’m going to begin tonight – my mother’s marvelous pink rose bush and the house next door.

week 31 in my “this is where i am from” year long project:

There was a strange little pond, deep in the woods behind Hennessey’s Grove, good for ice skating and tadpoles and salamanders.   It sat at the bottom of a steep hill covered with mountain laurel and purple trillium.  I remember the long walk home, up that hill, towards the sinking  sun.

week 30 in my “this is where i am from” year long project:

Another little section of  map – the substantial blackberry patch of the people across the street, and the burned shell of a house – set back from the road, black and charred, the lawn overgrown with grass and sumac, next to the far swamp, perfect gloom. And here it is in the context of my growing map.

(click the image for a larger version)

week 29 in my “this is where i am from” year long project:

Milkweeds grew behind the house, by the bulkhead – a perfect spot for finding monarch caterpillars and observing the wondrous transformation in a mayonnaise jar. This time of year always makes me think of it.

Regarding my tardiness this week: I missed my Wednesday post deadline and I’ll tell you a little bit about why.  I’ve been super busy all spring and summer, no breathing room at all, dancing as fast as I can.   A few weeks ago a new project came up that I so wanted to work  on – couldn’t not work on- so I did.  I finished this week  and it was really, really fun and worth the extra effort. I’ll tell you a bit more about it next week.

week 28 in my “this is where i am from” year long project:

(click the image for a larger version)

This is another little section of what will eventually be one big map.  The end result is going to be much, much larger – even though I’m working as small as I possibly can-  and more detailed  than what I pictured when I first started. I can’t bear to leave anything out, not the dirt pile or the aluminum lawn chairs, or the raspberries  or the poison ivy or the big rock or the little gate on the corner with a fancy latch or the  tree near the asparagus patch where my mother so famously saw a great grey owl.