It's been about five years since my Dad left this earth. His departure shocked me and shook me to the core of my being. Of kindred spirits, he was one of the closest. The current of mutual adoration running between us was so abruptly cut off, I was left disoriented and blind, suddenly lost…Read more Always (Love Never Ends)
mixed media
The Other Side
"The light that is hard won offers the greatest illumination. A gift wrestled from bleakness will often confer a sense of sureness and grounding of the self, a strengthening proportionate to the travail of its birth." Beauty by John O'Donohue, page 79.
The Bird Must Fly
It's the heart splayed, soul displayed feeling. Vulnerable, that's how it feels to walk into a new gallery with art in hand, even if you already know your piece is accepted into the show. And even more so in a new city. A new city, and yet an old city. I graduated from the University…Read more The Bird Must Fly
Arise (2)
Song of Solomon 2:10-13 “My beloved responded and said to me, ‘Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, And come along. For behold, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone. The flowers have already appeared in the land; The time has arrived for pruning the vines, And the voice of the turtledove…Read more Arise (2)
Arise
There you are, backed into a corner, walls closing in, ceiling compressing and floor heaving to meet it. Suffering has a way of whittling the world down into compact space with infinite feeling. Like a tiny dandelion in a vast open field, exposed. Like the deafening silence of lonely cries withheld in a crowded room, because no one will…Read more Arise
Text_Message – Upcoming Exhibit
Three of my paintings will soon be exhibited in a show at Cottonwood Center for the Arts called "Text_Message." The "call for entries" stated: "Pieces created can feature text as the main element or can include text in a way that contributes to the overall aesthetic or statement." Text_Message Cottonwood Center for the Arts 427 E Colorado…Read more Text_Message – Upcoming Exhibit
Spring Surely Comes
Winter and spring scuffle for dominance this year in Colorado. Spirea yellow and crab apple pink persevere against steel gray sky. A few days ago, on May 2, snow-bound foothills yielded to patches of white clinging to city shadows. Frozen and formidable, Pikes Peak still anchors winter's battlefront. I will never forget the latest snowfall of…Read more Spring Surely Comes
Four Chairs, Part 4
I believe what we can see is only a dim reflection of true reality. I think of the work of an artist as one who reaches into the invisible; tugs out little threads of color, pattern, texture; and weaves them into a language visible to others. Artist Paul Klee put it this way, “Art does…Read more Four Chairs, Part 4
Four Chairs, Part 3
This chair, I killed. Once I reached the version pictured in the last photo below, it seemed finished but it just didn't "feel right." I could not stop poking and prodding (process not pictured) until it simply sputtered and died: Knowing that sometimes my best work emerges from ashes (surely a living parable for circumstances in life), I refused to give…Read more Four Chairs, Part 3
Four Chairs, Part 2 (Magic)
I've always believed in magic. I suppose it isn't surprising when I think about my Irish grandmother, Margaret (O'Laughlin) Ferguson, known to many as “Mickey.” Whenever I visited her home, brightly colored kitsch-art gnomes peered out from shelves scattered around her living room. Who knows but that they came to life at night and followed her…Read more Four Chairs, Part 2 (Magic)
Colleen Briggs Images & Writing 