Handkerchief

Travel I
16 X 20
acrylic collage
on paper
Travel II
16 x 20
acrylic collage
on paper

She was quick on the draw with even the slightest sniffle.
There was no where to run when that sharp, hollowed clank echoed through the room.
Her handbag, now opened, set free that suffocating aroma of lipstick, Juicy Fruit Gum, and occasional peppermints. There I was with a moist handkerchief thrust beneath my nose.
This is a dreadful memory.
One that will stay with me the rest of my life.
I know she meant well, but why she never offered it to me unused, I will never know.
Last night I got to thinking about handkerchiefs and how absurd they seem.
Their delicate nature defies their very use.
The word handkerchief is even confusing.
It sounds like a sneeze.
When I saw a box of them at the thrift store the other day, I wondered how many fugitive nose drops each one may have caught.
I pictured all the different grandmothers thrusting them below the noses of unsuspected children.
Then I found it ironic how something so dainty could hold such a dreadful memory.

Map I and II

Map

16 x 20

acrylic collage

on paper

Map II

16 x 20

acrylic collage on paper

Fox II

Red Fox II
16 x 20
acrylic collage
on paper

Revisted and Revised

If you don't recognize the past, are you prone to repeat it ?

How would you ever know?

You could be stuck in a unrecognized pattern and I'm not talking about plaid.

Plaid is very recognizable, especially if you attended Catholic school.

Change is not a constant, but it is constant.

It can be drastic and subtle

at the same time.

It cannot go unrecognized,

nor can it occur.

Red Fox

Red Fox
16 x 20
acrylic collage
on paper

Hawk II

Hawk II
16 x 20
acrylic collage
on paper

Hawk

Hawk
16 x 20
acrylic collage on paper

Today I realized what a relief it is to paint on a textured surface..........
Schatzi came home on Saturday and she is doing fine.
We are so relieved......

Deer

Deer
16 x 20
acrylic collage
on paper

Thank you for keeping Schatzi in your thoughts and prayers.
We are looking forward to her coming home tomorrow morning.
Please continue to pray for her healing.
Thank you,
Have a great weekend,
MB

Schatzi

Friends,
I need everyone to pray for our little girl, Schatzi.
She had emergency surgery last night, because something was obstructing her bowels.
It turned out to be a sponge that a military doctor in Germany left from surgery a year ago when we had her fixed. The sponge was pressing on her small intestine which caused her colon to twist. She made it through the surgery, but is not out of the woods yet. We will have a better idea on Saturday the doctor says.
Please pray for her recovery, we love her so.
Thank you

Antelope

Antelope
16 x 20
acrylic collage
on paper

A Tale of Trees and Teeth

Deer
16 x 20
acrylic collage
on paper

It was difficult to ignore what had happened around me, but the truth was I had a dentist's appointment. While the rest of the neighborhood was busy gathering broken branches and chainsawing fallen trees I was fretting in a serious way. The tentacles of Hurricane Ike stung the Miami Valley on Sunday. There were record winds the likes of which Dayton had never seen.
Luckily, our tress were still standing, minus a few branches and about a half dozen bags of leaves.
This gave me permission to concentrate on the matter at hand, the dreaded dentist. Over the years I've grown accustomed to chewing my food on the left side. I just assigned it to getting old, like the odd way I have to go downstairs. It's a sideways gait one stair at a time. It's painful, but more so for the person behind me.
Yesterday was just a meet and greet with my new dentist. Why they do this is beyond me. I have to go back in 3 weeks for him to tell me the "findings".
In the meantime I'll endure the pain. I've put up with it for this long.
On the drive home I was able to access all the wind damage to the tune of, " lions, tigers, and bears, oh my!" with the words, "trees broken, branches strewn, and leaves amass, oh my!"
Once home I saw the fallen Linden tree that barely missed the house across the street with it's broken, exposed roots, I was back to fretting about my teeth.
I winced when I heard the buzz of a chainsaw, because it reminded me of the dentist's drill.
Then I put my work gloves on and began gathering branches.

Sweep The Blues Away

It was during the Great Depression when two young boys came to her door selling vacuum cleaners. Her husband was away on a business trip. In these tough times they were still quite fortunate to have the means, but she was so lonesome without him. This would be her first chance for human contact all week and it was already Friday.
She invited the boys in and offered them a Coca-Cola.

As they began to assemble the brushes on the newfangled model Hoover she returned with the cokes and a plate of cookies. She couldn't help but notice the distraught look upon their faces.

As ostentatious as the house appeared from the the outside, it was sparsely furnished and there wasn't a rug in sight. She quickly excused herself and came back carrying a small floor mat that they kept on the back stoop. It was quite muddy because of the recent rain. The boys caught a glimpse of her pocketbook peeking out from her apron pocket and knew they had made the sale.
Her husband returned that evening. She never mentioned the vacuum cleaner. Just as she never mentioned the other two she bought earlier that year. She was just so desperate for attention while he was gone. The closet underneath the stairs hid all her attempts of interaction. Among the vacuum cleaners was an array of Fuller brushes in every shape and size. Her husband was never privy.

Monday he would leave again and her lonesomeness would return.

Her only comfort was knowing the doorbell would ring again.

Maybe there would be a special broom that could sweep her blues away.

This she could only hope.

Pause

Dove
16 x 20
acrylic collage
on paper

Seven years ago today what I was doing that morning seemed terribly insignificant.
Suddenly, my usual tasks became unusual and I was overcome with the feeling of uselessness.
I know we will never forget what we were doing and where we were on that particular day.
I saw it unfold on a small black and white television in my studio when I lived in Corpus Christi, Texas.
I remember thinking how it looked like a scene from an old movie, like King Kong. It just didn't seem real.
Every year since then the weather has been nice on this day. There has always been a crispness in the air that makes it easier to pause, even when I lived in Germany.
Take time today wherever you are to breathe in the crisp air, pause, and remember those who were loved and those who have lost the most.

Elk II

Elk II
16 x 20
acrylic collage
on paper

Elk

Rocky Mountain Elk
16 x 20
acrylic collage
on paper

Three

Three
16 x 20
acrylic collage
on paper


As I stood behind him in the checkout line, I noticed he was purchasing two bras. I thought maybe he was buying them for his girlfriend. Upon closer observation, I could tell he wasn't all together there. He smiled at me with a toothless grin.
Given my past experiences I've adapted a certain smile that keeps the nuts at bay. It's still pleasant, just not as encouraging.
For some reason they always single me out. Maybe they see me as a kindred soul. Hey she's a nut too! Yet, I always seem to walk away with a good story.
When he whizzed by me in the parking lot on his big red bicycle, I saw 2 bra straps through his t-shirt. Then it all made sense.
Perhaps, this gave him an extra sense of support. In a world that can be so cruel to those that are seemingly so different. It may make him feel more secure.
I know we all need to feel supported at times and who am I to question.
Maybe,
just another nut.

Dream II

Dream II
16 x 20
acrylic collage
on paper

Dream

Dream
16 x 20
acrylic collage
on paper

Who knew that winter her heart would become as hard as the frozen ground.
The day he left her she needed to loose herself in a pint of rocky road, maybe more.
When she opened the freezer she noticed a zip locked bag she'd never seen before.
Inside held a frozen dead bird, one of Mister Man's bestowed gifts awaiting burial.
Once on a good day you'd find him with a bird in his mouth at the back step, twice on even a better one, and always beaming with pride.
In her haste she bent the spoon. She just couldn't wait for the ice cream to soften.
She knew the Spring time would yield a softer ground and for her a softer heart.
Then she could bury the little bird beneath the big oak tree in the backyard.
She placed the bag back into the freezer and wondered how he could have been so compassionate to save the little bird and not their marriage.
Either way they both were dead
and another pint of rocky road would not bring them back.