Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘pat bean’

Bright and Bold and Brassy

Posted in Art, Birds, Journeys, tagged , , on April 26, 2013| 7 Comments »

” Live Life as an exclamation, not an explanation!” — Unknown

Life as an exclamation is how I saw this northern cardinal.

Life as an exclamation is how I saw this northern cardinal.

Today’s Illustrated Journal Page

I came across the above quote early this morning and immediately jotted it down in my newly started art journal. Ideas for illustrating it flowed through my head all morning, and then I thought of the beautiful, cheery northern cardinal.

The two just seemed to fit.

It was a quick draw and watercolor job — 15 minutes — in which I went for boldness and not perfection. I think the fellow is a little humpbacked.

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Red Rock Hike  http://tinyurl.com/a63twt2  My broken ankle is still not up to trails, so for now I’ll just have to do them from an armchair. But then this also brought back memories because I’ve taken a few hikes in the Sedona area. Catch one if you can.

Read Full Post »

An Illustrated Journal

Posted in Art, Books, Journeys, tagged , , , , on April 24, 2013| 9 Comments »

“If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” – Vincent Van Gogh

It was supposed to be 30 cats. -- Pat Bean

It was supposed to be 30 cats. — Pat Bean

“The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.” Pablo Picasso

The Goal to Not Take Art so Seriously

Before I became a writer — which I accept that I I was at the age of 25 forward, but didn’t acknowledge until I thought I was skilled enough at the age of 50  — I also wanted to be an artist.

A voice inside me said you can’t do both – silly voice. Occasionally over the years I ignored the voice and did a few paintings, most of which I threw away or which ended hanging up in the homes of children, whom I assumed only said they liked them because they loved me.

002          And that’s probably true. Although I have to admit, I do know viewing art is like reading. What one person loves another can just as easily hate. Neither writing nor art is like math, in which two and two always add up to four.

Recently I’ve had the urge to keep an illustrated journal just as I do a daily written one. To that end I was reading Carla Sonheim’s “Drawing Lab,” which is about making art fun. The first exercise was to get in bed and draw 30 cats.

I got bored after six, which is how my journal page “Six Cats” evolved. I do so love color and I had to fill the page with something.

The next page in my daily art journal is a collage. My three youngest grandchildren made me large homemade cards for my birthday. I adored them, but really didn’t want to begin cluttering up my small apartment with this kind of thing.

I didn’t have the heart, however, to throw them away. So I snipped bits and pieces from all three of the cards and created the collage you see here. I added the photo of J.J. because he gave it to me on my birthday.

Since it took me 25 years of writing before I could call myself a writer, I’m certainly not ready to call myself an artist – and might never be.

But I am having fun.        

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

    Bean’s Pat: An old tale  http://tinyurl.com/ajhdxkw More is not always best.

Read Full Post »

Every Day Should Be Earth Day

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Favorite Places, Journeys, Nature, tagged , , on April 22, 2013| 5 Comments »

        “Ask yourself whether the dream of heaven and greatness should be waiting for us in our graves – or whether it should be ours here and now and on this Earth.” —Ayn Rand

            “I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don’t let anybody tell you different. – Kurt Vonnegut

I've never seen a picture of me taken in Mother Nature's playground where I'm not smiling. -- Photo by Kim Perrin.

I’ve never seen a picture of me taken in Mother Nature’s playground where I’m not smiling. — Photo by Kim Perrin.

            “Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the Earth are never alone or weary of life.” – Rachel Carson

            “The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and … our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it and to foster its renewal is our only hope.” Wendell Berry

I’m a Tree Hugger

I don’t get on my soap box every day to tell you this, but today is Earth Day and I decided it was a day to let it all out. I really am a tree hugger.

Sometimes, as I was driving in Gypsy Lee, Mother Nature demanded I stop and look at her. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Sometimes, as I was driving in Gypsy Lee, Mother Nature demanded I stop and look at her. — Photo by Pat Bean

I want to scream curses at people who dirty this planet with war and hate, people who take from the land without giving back, and nasty litterers who offend the senses of all who appreciate beauty.

As one who has traveled this country from coast to coast and border to border, I can truly tell you that nary a day on the road did I not see the beauty all around me. Perhaps it was the way a small stream flowed downhill laughing all the way, or the sudden appearance of a white-tailed deer as it stepped out of the woods.

No artist can capture the majesty of a purple and pink sunrise or a fiery desert sunset like Mother Nature gifts us with so very often. No architect can build a structure that matches the majestic grandeur of mountains.

Being born in Texas’ flatlands I didn’t see my first mountain until I was 14, but from that day forward the sight of these uplifted landscapes have never failed to touch my soul.

Wouldn't you stop and look, too? == Photo by Pat Bean

Wouldn’t you stop and look, too? — Photo by Pat Bean

I’ve used the beauty of this Earth often to let go of stress and tension, which when I was a working journalist, helping put out a daily newspaper on deadline, were daily annoyances.

I’ve walked in nature when I was sad, and when I was happy, and when I just needed to be renewed.

I’ve often wondered how people handled daily life without the help of Mother Nature to walk beside them. I suspect the psychopaths who kill, murder and rape must be among them because I can’t imagine people who truly love this Earth and Mother Nature would ever be so cruel

My heart fully celebrates this special day. But then I think every day should be Earth Day.

          

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

  Bean’s Pat: Look on the bright side of life http://tinyurl.com/c4587du If this doesn’t make you smile you’re a real grump.  

Read Full Post »

Posted in Journeys, tagged , , , on April 17, 2013| 7 Comments »

A Song for the World

“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality … I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word. — Martin Luther King Jr.

The Recipe for No More Bombs

This “Song for Today” blog  http://tinyurl.com/dym9q9v touched my heart. I hope it touches yours as well.

Flowers for all the souls in agony today because of some hate-filled mind. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Flowers for all the souls in agony today because of some hate-filled mind. — Photo by Pat Bean

Imagine

By John Lennon

Imagine there is no heaven, It’s easy if you try. No hell below us, Above us only sky. Imagine all the people living for today.

            Imagine there’s no countries. Is isn’t hard to do. Nothing to kill or die for. And no religion too. Imagine all the people living life in peace.

            Imagine no possessions. I wonder if you can. No need for greed or hunger. A brotherhood of man. Imagine all the people sharing all the world.

            You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope some day you’ll join us, And the world will live as one.

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Grief, Growth and Grace http://abqsuz48.wordpress.com/ A brand new blog by my friend Susan. Check it out.

Read Full Post »

The Desert Around Me

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Favorite Places, Journeys, tagged , , on April 16, 2013| 11 Comments »

            “Balance, that’s the secret. Moderate extremism. The best of both worlds.” – Edward Abby, “Desert Solitaire”

I love the way the yellow tree tops contrast with the mountain off in the distance just a ways. -- Photo by Pat Bean

I love the way the yellow tree tops contrast with the mountain off in the distance just a ways. — Photo by Pat Bean

Morning Walk with Pepper

I can’t tell you how many times in my travels, I’ve come back from visiting an awesome  landmark, like a waterfall that required an easy half-mile hike to access, and have a local who’s lived within five miles of it all his life tell me he had never seen it.

What a waste, I always thought.

The path behind my apartment's parking lot. - Photo by Pat Bean

The path behind my apartment’s parking lot. – Photo by Pat Bean

I thought about this facet of life this morning as Pepper and I strolled around the outskirts of our Tucson apartment, which sits in balance between city development and Mother Nature’s desert creation.

I can walk across the street and have a Starbuck’s latte, and then come back and watch a gila woodpecker sit on top of armed saguaro cactus or admire how the season has turned the desert to gold.

I’ve found the balance I wanted in a rooted life. I don’t have to travel – although I still plan to do so – to enjoy the wonders of the world. It’s all around me. I just have to take the time to look.

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Boston Rainbow http://tinyurl.com/d72e3v9 Something to remember as we mourn the senseless tragedy that marred the Boston Marathon. May the hearts of all those who lost life and limb find comfort in knowing this. My heart aches for you all.

Read Full Post »

Vermillion Cliffs

Posted in Adventures With Pepper, Favorite Places, Journeys, Travel, tagged , , , on April 10, 2013| 12 Comments »

The late afternoon sun bathed the Vermillion Cliffs in a glow that set off their redness. -- Photo by Pat Bean

The late afternoon sun bathed the Vermillion Cliffs in a glow that set off their redness. — Photo by Pat Bean

            “Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming: Wow! What a ride.” — Hunter Thompson

Colorful Detour

            My canine traveling companion, Pepper, and I took off in my RV, Gypsy Lee, this past week for a 1,700-mile roundtrip from Tucson to Ogden, Utah. It’s the first road trip we’ve taken since I kind of put roots down in the Arizona desert city in January– and then promptly broke my ankle.

Navajo Bridge with the mighty Colorado below -- but not looking so mighty at the moment. But having been eaten by Granite Rapid downstream, I do know it is mighty. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Navajo Bridge with the mighty Colorado below — but not looking so mighty at the moment. But having been eaten by Granite Rapid downstream, I do know it is mighty. — Photo by Pat Bean

Being on the road again feels wonderful. Even Gypsy Lee, who has over 135,000 miles on her, seemed happy to be traveling again.

The plan for one day of travel was to spend the night in Page, Arizona. That plan went awry when I came upon a road block at Highway 89’s junction with Highway 89A. I had driven Highway 89 into Page many times and I suspected a landslide had occurred somewhere along the scenic route.

Later research showed my suspicions exactly right. It had happened in February, but I hadn’t heard the news.

The detour didn’t really add miles to my drive, but did mean that I would spend the night in Kanab, Utah, instead of Page. What made me a little grumpy is that it meant I was traveling Highway 89A, which goes over the high Navajo Bridge, beneath which flows the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, near Lee’s Ferry.

And this is why I had to detour. -- Arizona Highway Photo

And this is why I had to detour. — Arizona Highway Photo

It was not an unfamiliar route, and even one that I had planned to take on my return trip home so I could double my landscape viewing. Twice, in my younger more fit days, I had floated beneath this bridge at the start of a 225-mile, wild, white-water raft ride through the Grand Canyon.

What I was grumpy about was that I was hitting this stretch of road late in the afternoon and wouldn’t have much time to linger long along the way to gaze in awe at the awesome landscape. I don’t drive after dark.

I did, however, stop briefly at the bridge’s overlook for a view of the magnificent Vermillion Cliffs that lay to my north on the Arizona-Utah border. They were brilliantly bathed in the evening light showing why they had been named.

 

Read Full Post »

Weekly Photo Challenge: Color

Posted in African Safari, Weekly Photo Challenge, tagged , , , , on April 7, 2013| 3 Comments »

 

A field of pansies. -- Photo by Pat Bean

A field of pansies. — Photo by Pat Bean

 

 

“I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don’t notice it.” — Alice Walker

Pleasing colors -- Photo by Pat Bean

Pleasing colors — Photo by Pat Bean

Our flag is red, white and blue, but our nation is a rainbow.  – red, yellow, brown, black and white.

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

Bean’s Pat: Sometimes We Fly http://tinyurl.com/bts2nus This applies to humans as well. I loved the spirit behind this post.

Read Full Post »

Morning Walk With Birds and Words

Posted in Birds, Journeys, Writing, tagged , , , , , on April 3, 2013| 7 Comments »

065

Mourning dove — Photo by Pat Bean

 

If I had things my way, all birds would fly free.

Gambel's quail -- Photo by Pat Bean

Gambel’s quail — Photo by Pat Bean

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

By Maya Angelou

“A free bird leaps on the back of the wind
and floats downstream till the current ends
and dips his wing in the orange suns rays and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage
can seldom see through his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
of things unknown but longed for still
and his tune is heard on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn and he names the sky his own.

071

Gila woodpecker — Photo by Pat Bean

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
of things unknown but longed for still
and his tune is heard on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom.”

Read Full Post »

What Makes You Happy?

Posted in Journeys, Lakes, Nature, Travel, tagged , , , , on March 19, 2013| 12 Comments »

            “When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy.’ They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand life.” – John Lennon

IMG_3481

I Discovered it was Everything and Nothing

            In the midst of one of the most unhappy periods of my life, I realized I was a happy person. Not the delightful, delirious, delicious tickling of the inner self when all is right with the world, but the knowledge that a kind of happiness lived within me that no amount of outside sorrow could touch.

cranes 2

This pair of sandhill cranes made my birding passion happy. — Photo by Pat Bean

            Although I struggled for weeks to get through the day, I still awoke each morning with a hope, verging on knowledge, that my days would get better. I also realized I still had a zest for life that made me glad to see and appreciate the sunrise and the little details of the day that so often go unnoticed, like the smile of a child or the tiny drop of dew on a yellow rose.

            While lingering effects from that difficult period over 30 years ago still occasionally touch my life, and those of people I love, the happiness within, along with my zest for life, have not dulled. In fact, they have only grown.

            I wonder sometimes if I’m singularly blessed, or if others also have an inner happiness that cannot be destroyed? As a writer, I’m always observing people, and I have come to a conclusion that while I’m not alone in having this trait, I might be among the minority.

            I awake each day with gratefulness in my heart for being so blessed.

            Bean’s Pat: I gotta pee http://tinyurl.com/coobdul As a person who tent-camped until she was 65 and bought her RV, Gypsy Lee, this was a blog that brought back many memories and had me laughing out loud.

Read Full Post »

Mother Nature Lives in Tucson

Posted in Birds, Favorite Places, Journeys, Nature, tagged , , , , on March 17, 2013| 12 Comments »

            “We are born again each morning. What matters most is this day.” Buddha

Gambel quail skitter about in this landscape. -- Photo by Pat Bean

Gambel quail skitter about in this landscape. — Photo by Pat Bean

And Makes Me Feel at Home

            My apartment has all the conveniences of a city just two blocks away, yet it’s sheltered from traffic noise by trees and a landscaped courtyard, and is bordered on two sides by a natural desert landscape filled with wildlife.

Seed pods against the desert sky.

Seed pods against the desert sky.

            I see Gambel’s quail skittering between the saguaro and ocotillo cacti and am serenaded by mourning doves, song birds and a great horned owl on a daily basis. A pair of Cooper’s hawks are nesting in a nearby near tree and yesterday morning I spied a bobcat on the edge of the apartment’s parking lot.

            Tucson, I’ve discovered, is a place where civilization and Mother Nature coexist better than any other place I’ve ever lived. And here in the city’s Catalina Foothills that I now call home, most buildings have been designed to look like they belong to the landscape.

            I truly am falling in love with Tucson.

The Wondering Wanderer's blog pick of the day.

The Wondering Wanderer’s blog pick of the day.

            Bean’s Pat: Life in the Bogs http://tinyurl.com/bwlykyh And speaking of Mother Nature, she lives in Robin’s bog, too.

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »