Woman

Here's a quote for the day........

"A woman is the full circle, within her is the power to create, nurture, and transform. A woman knows that nothing can come to fruition without light. Let us call upon woman's voice and woman's heart to guide us in this age of planetary transformation."

Diane Mariechild

I have been blessed with so many wonderful women friends in my life. I am still friends with Jennifer from the 5th grade. She is a rock for me. I have a troupe of girlfriends from high school that I still go on trips with. My friend Dorothy is not only my darling friend, but has been a spiritual teacher of the highest order for me. June 3rd was the birthday of my dear Deb who died in July of 2000. I still miss her invaluable advice and amazing spirit and her love. Linda has been a true friend for me these last two years of transformation and change for me. She is my touchstone on a daily basis. My neighbor Mary is always there for me and just to know you can call on someone and they will be right over...she's a lifeline. A woman's voice and a woman's heart is a deep and miraculous song. Keep on singing girls. I love you.

The charming Francoise

Several weeks ago I had the blessing of meeting Francoise von Dwingelo. As you may recall from the previous blog I saw a show of her paintings on Vashon Island at Kronos. They are Paris cityscapes, absolutely charming in every way. They are what she calls naif, with that beautiful folkart quality, colorful and joyful. We spent a wonderful hour together drinking tea and talking. Francoise was born in Paris and lived there until she was 30 years old. She has lived in the U.S. since then, Long Island, Vermont and now Vashon. We talked about Paris and art and her children and our husbands. I felt like I was with an old friend. What a privilege to meet such a wonderful artist. Unfortunately she does not have a website, so you will have to go to Vashon to see her work. Don't miss it if you are there!

On a completely different note the studio is now open Wednesday - Saturday from 11-4. Other times by appointment of course. I have a ton of new work there, new lamps, the wonderful Yes earrings, lots of new ornaments and bobeche too (the candle rings). Please come see me as I can get quite lonely there in the basement all by myself!

A Trip to Vashon

I was invited out to Vashon Island to do a show at Lost and Found, in the village of Burton. Bonnie who owns the store is a fan of my work and has bought quite a few things from me so when she asked me I said sure, that would be fun. Off I go to Vashon on a Friday morning. It's just a short ferry ride from Seattle and boom I'm in a whole other world. I get to Lost and Found and set up the show with Bonnie. Bonnie is a trip. She knows everyone on the island or so it seems. But then again, it seems like everyone on Vashon knows everyone on the island. I met some great people there. Bonnie and her husband, Dan and Corrie and Tom, he's an industrial oven designer. Wow. That's a new one on me. I had a few hours to kill before the show so I wandered into town to go to the bookstore. I bought 3 Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson about his journey to build schools in remote parts of Pakistan. Fabulous book. Then I go into Kronos which is a great shop, artist goods etc. There is a woman in the back of the store hanging pictures and talking to herself. Couldn't resist..I ask her if she is the artist. Turns out she owns the store and is hanging pictures by a 77 year old French woman named Francoise von Dwingelo. I start looking at the paintings and just go crazy over them. Colorful landscapes and cityscapes, sort of naive, outsider looking, but there is something deeply spiritual about them too. I leave a note for Francoise, a fan letter, and leave her a pair of my Yes earrings as a prize. What a treat to see these beautiful paintings. Back to my show, fun evening, lots of good people and wine and we're by the water and it's all groovy. About a week later I find a postcard in my mailbox from Francoise. She painted a picture on the card of a woman riding a colorful bird. My own little Francoise von Dwingelo painting in the mail. She's invited me out to tea on the island next week. More island adventures to follow apparently.

Studio party and show

Hi,

I'm having a party and a show of my new work on Friday, December 7th during art walk in Fremont. The hours are 6-9. I'll have copper ornaments for sale too. All my new paper lamps that I have been doing are my best work to date I think. So stop by for a glass of wine or a beer. Directions to the studio are on the website or call me at 799-1347. The studio will be open on Saturdays in December from 11-4 or call me if you want to come by at another time. Stay with the Love. Diane

Some ideas about lighting

Here's some thoughts about lighting -I think most rooms are underlit. I don't have a particularly large living room, but I have about 18 sources of light in it. On one table I have four lamps, all different sizes. Most the the lighting in the room is ambient. I think the biggest mistake people make when choosing lighting is they want their ambient lighting to also be their task lighting. So by your favorite chair where you love to read get a dedicated reading light. Ambient lighting in a room will make all the difference in how you feel in that room. It will create a warm and friendly feeling. Another thing is to have different levels of lighting. Torchieres are really important to wash light up high on walls and ceilings. You can also create lifts and levels to raise up a table lamp. Just look around the room and see if the lighting is all on one level. If it is start playing around with ways to create different heights.

Also, dimmers, dimmers, dimmers.

Love,

Diane

The river and the sea

My dear friends David and Zane are in Italy. (See the David Farnsworth series on the site). I got a postcard from them yesterday describing being at a spot where the river and the sea meet. David said he had an overwhelming moment of surrender to a larger place. Inside each of us is that spot of surrender where the river and the sea meet I think.

Love,

Diane

Stay with the Love

Hi,

When you are looking at my site you will notice the saying Stay with the Love in several places, I thought I would tell you where that came from. Not too long after 9/11 I had a very intense dream and in the dream there was a beautiful mandala, very ornate and colorful. The mandala was all about if we were going to stay with the love or stay in the fear. Just two very distinct choices. I was so struck with this I actually had buttons made that said Stay with the Love and gave them to all my friends and handed them out at my shows. I thought at the time the dream was all about 9/11 and where we as a country were headed. Now it's 2007 and I've just realized in the last year that that dream had a much more personal message to me. It was all about if I would stay in the love or stay in the fear. I've been working on this for a number of years now. Call it what you will, light vs. dark, ego vs. spirit, love vs. fear. So the dream was a call to me and I think many of you out there can feel the same call. I don't always get there, but every day I try to Stay with the Love.

So love to all who read this.

Diane