Fostering a new renaissance through creativity, authenticity, spirituality, and art
Polly Castor 
Yearning I’m too deep for friendship too raw and ready open and creative and capable difficult to understand while revealing myself at face value as accessible as salt or sugar. I’m too intense, intimidating; I feel too much uninhibited and unafraid, undemanding always screeching on the reins so not to overwhelm incessantly giving and doggedly … Read more
I had read and enjoyed the book The Secret Life of Bees. Since I was dubious how to get the incredible richness of the written language as well as the complexity of the bee metaphor into the movie, I did not go and see the film in the theater. After several friends and blog readers … Read more
This is one of our favorite recipes. (Thank you Mollie Katzen!) It has the potential to revolutionize your meals. Dare I say they are sensuous? They require very little work; you just need to be home for several hours anyway, doing other things. These slow roasted tomatoes make anything better. We use them mostly … Read more
We’ve enjoyed being part of what New Pond Farm here calls their “shared harvest” program. Other places call the same idea CSA’s (Community Supported Agriculture.) We pay a yearly fee based on how much labor we are willing to contribute. Our twelve year old daughter enjoys working in these fields so much that she has … Read more
This page represents September 12, 2009 to September 23, 2009 See close-up entries below. Enjoy!
I went to Holbrook Farm for the last of the corn and what confronted me was dahlias. Oh my gosh! Enormous ones and variegated ones, they have them, with the tubers carefully dug up and stored from year to year. Mostly in this post you’ll see dahlias (the huge ones are called “dinner plate dahlias”) … Read more
Last year one of the evening activities at Creative Arts Camp was led by Heather Vogel Frederick an author of outstanding books for young adults and a wonderful writing teacher (see here). She gave us only a few minutes to write a poem with the prompt “I am From.” Below is my result from that … Read more
Last year when I got home from Creative Arts Camp I was frazzled, exhausted and had serious difficulty transitioning back to what felt like a grind. Maybe it was because I was returning to face the college application process? Anyway, thankfully this year is delightfully different. I’m glad to be home at last from my … Read more
After a nice church service (this crowd sings so well!) complete with one of my favorite solos (On Eagle’s Wings), we had individual presentations of work completed over these past four days. We saw a slide show by the photographers, and work by mobile makers; we hiked to view environmental installations, and listened to screen … Read more
“Nothing in the world takes the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not: unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination are omnipotent. The slogan ‘press on’ has solved and always will solve … Read more
“Every good composition is above all a work of abstraction.” Diego Rivera 1886-1957 “If you could say it in words, there’d be no reason to paint.” Edward Hopper “The most significant thing an artist can do is change our way of seeing.” Milton Glaser, Time Magazine 5/16/90 “I paint objects as I think them, not … Read more
Our day started with “a prayer for class” with the following quote by Dr. Robert Foote (a San Francisco Theological Seminary professor): “Bless this day, each and every one, with the virtues of learning – openness to what is challenging or unfamiliar, courage to leave the security of already knowing, honesty to know ourselves and … Read more
Long Lake is lovely, and the brisk, misty morning starts early. (See my photos at dawn near the bottom of this post.) The food and the fellowship is great. My class meets in the art studio which is so close to the lake, the water almost laps against the porch supports. We face late afternoon … Read more
I go back to Maine today for my fourth time at Creative Arts Camp. I will be without internet until late next Sunday or early Monday, so if you receive my blog posts by email, you’ll receive them bunched up again then, and after that I’ll revert to my daily routine! The first time at … Read more
This page represents August 31, 2009 to September 11, 2009. See close-up entries below. Enjoy!
My 12 year old daughter had read this book last spring and loved it so much that she bought the CD with her own money so she could hear it frequently. She and I listened to it while driving during our trip to Maine. Five stars seems like a paltry offering for this remarkably wonderful … Read more
This oil painting I finished just before we left Maine to drive home. It is 18” x 24” and was inspired by our bike ride the day before on the carriage roads of Acadia National Park. I feel like I captured well what it is like to be there and ride those trails. We drove … Read more