Bounty

Bounty 
by Susan Whelan

The tossed salad

at our Soup Kitchen starts

with lettuce from the Community

Garden, planted by a Roma family waiting

to hear their refugee status, tended by 70 year old

David, who grew up on a kibbutz, harvested by the Sixth

Grade class from down the street, washed by Mrs. Singh,

recovering from a brain injury, dressed by Kaliyah,

a Med student who comes when she’s got a free

hour, shared by a family of the working poor

who swallowed their pride to come here

for the first time. They offer thanks

and ask about the garden.

And so it grows.

"My Cup Runneth Over"

oil on 24x30" linen panel

For more information about this painting and my other works, 

please visit

KarenMeredithArt.com 

Thanks for viewing! 
I'd love to receive your ideas for future postings.

And please sign up with your email on the right side panel

 of the "Web" version. 

You can always unsubscribe at any time!;)

Meditation

Welcome to my blog. It's been a few years since my last posting...but my love of the written word and my desire to share my own creations have inspired me to start it up again. I hope you will sign up with your email (side panel) to receive more of these occasional postings. You can always opt out later if you wish. 

 .....................................................................................................

Instructions for living a life: 

Pay attention. 

Be astonished. 

Tell about it.

By Mary Oliver. Devotions 

"Meditation" oil on 8x10" linen panel



For more information about this painting and my other works, 

please visit

KarenMeredithArt.com



Thanks for viewing and remember, your poems 

are always welcome as future ideas for this blog!

Blue Bliss

Welcome to my Poetry and Painting Blog. This poem is by Chantelle Anne Cooke

Blue Bliss

Navy night highlights blue moon's royal rising in 

succulent summer where crisp cyan canpanula

cover many a yard side with their twinkling toes.

Cobalt irises sway and swirl, swinging under blue 

moon's magical lapis mist.

As I compose compositions, my soul luxuriously lingers 

in morning glory vines.

As the conjunction of azure night and blue moon 

continue, columbines sing their sapphire song, while both 

hyacinths and hydrangeas amaze all with their 

aquamarine awe.

...........................

My own hydrangeas are nearly past their prime and many are white or pink. But my favorites are the blue ones and I have a pot on my deck that pushes out some deep crazy blues!  Here is a painting I just did of their cuttings:

"Blue Bliss" 20x16" oil on panel





For more information about this painting and my other works, 

please visit

KarenMeredithArt.com



Thanks for viewing and remember, your poems 

are always welcome as future ideas for this blog!

Lodestar

Dining Out

Here's a little humor to end the old and begin the new year:

Browsing the Menu

by Kendra Mack b.1989

Nothing too fishy,
Too soupy, too spicy,
Nothing too fancy,
Too foreign, too pricey,

Nothing with egg yolks, 
No dairy, no wheat,
Nothing with spinach,
No sugar, no meat,

It has to be fresh, and
It has to be bold,
It can't be too steamy,
It can't be too cold,
Nothing that's sour,
Or bitter, or sweet -- 
This restaurant has nothing

That I'd like to eat!

...................................................................

And here is my related painting, based on a photo I took when touring the Baltics last year.

"At Your Service" 

oil 12x12

For more information about this painting and to view more of my work, 

please visit my website at

KarenMeredithArt.com

ALSO...

In January I will be showing my work as a featured guest artist 

at the Cary Gallery of Artists. 

Details below:

I welcome you to sign up, below, for this occasional blog and share it with your friends who might be interested. AND I invite you to (continue) to send  favorite photos you have taken and writings (inspiring, thought provoking, or humorous) 
 to me at kmeredithart@gmail.com.  

Sunflowers

Welcome to My Poetry and Painting Blog!

The current selected poem is by Frank Steele

Sunflowers

You’re expected to see   

only the top, where sky   

scrambles bloom, and not   

the spindly leg, hairy, fending off   

tall, green darkness beneath.   

Like every flower, she has a little   

theory, and what she thinks   

is up.   I imagine the long   

climb out of the dark   

beyond morning glories, day lilies, four o’clocks   

up there to the dream she keeps 

lifting, where it’s noon all day.

..................

One of the members of my book group, Margaret Pender, owns Victoria Park Florist. She hosted the last meeting and I admired the sunflowers she had in a glass vase. In her usual generous spirit she handed them to me as I left for home. I rearranged them a bit, placing them in one of my blue and white vases.

You may see more of my art and to follow other showings and events, visit:

KarenMeredithArt.com

I welcome you to sign up, below, for this occasional blog and share it with your friends who might be interested. AND I invite you to (continue) to send  favorite photos you have taken and writings (inspiring, thought provoking, or humorous) 
 to me at kmeredithart@gmail.com.  

For the Love of Roses

Welcome to my Poetry and Painting Blog!

The current selected poem below is by George Elliot:

You love the roses - so do I. I wish 

The sky would rain down roses, as they rain 

From off the shaken bush. Why will it not? 

Then all the valley would be pink and white 

And soft to tread on. They would fall as light 

As feathers, smelling sweet; and it would be 

Like sleeping and like waking, all at once!

...................

Yes, I do love roses as well! 
I painted this to go with the above poem...
Large canvas this time: 30x30" in oil..."For the Love of Roses".

COMING EVENT:

By invitation, I will have a solo show "Celebrating Color and Light" at the Page Walker Arts and History Center in downtown Cary, NC. This show is sponsored by the Town of Cary Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources. 

You are invited to join me at the reception there
on Friday, June 26th at 6pm.

Exhibit dates are June 23rd to August 16.

119 Ambassador Loop, Cary, NC 27513 (919) 460-4963

Also...

Victoria Park Florist is featuring a collection of my artwork. 
If you are in the neighborhood, please stop by to see it. 

1129 Weaver Dairy Rd

in Timberlyne Shopping Center

Chapel Hill, NC 27571

phone: 919 967 9394

.......

You may see more of my art and to follow other showings and events, visit

KarenMeredithArt.com

I welcome you to sign up, below, for this occasional blog and share it with your friends who might be interested. AND I invite you to (continue) to send  favorite photos you have taken and writings (inspiring, thought provoking, or humorous) 
 to me at kmeredithart@gmail.com.  

Spring Gardener

Welcome to my Poetry and Painting Blog!

The current selected poem below is by Carolyn Brunelle:

Spring Gardner

Plants, flowers, shrubs, trees

all warmed by the sunshine 

kissed by the bees; 

encouraged to grow so evergreen.

Sweetest blooms we’ve ever seen

arrive in Spring 

with each new breeze; 

and dropp us faithfully 

to our knees. 

...................

 I am smitten with spring, especially this year after what seemed to be an eternal winter! Every year I miss the best of peony season in my garden...But this year I am here to enjoy them. This painting (10x10 in oil) is called "Garden Gift".

COMING EVENT:

By invitation, I will have a solo show "Celebrating Color and Light" at the Page Walker Arts and History Center in downtown Cary, NC. This show is sponsored by the Town of Cary Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources. 

You are invited to join me at the reception there
on Friday, June 26th at 6pm.

Exhibit dates are June 23rd to August 16.

119 Ambassador Loop, Cary, NC 27513 (919) 460-4963

Also...

Victoria Park Florist is featuring a collection of my artwork. 
If you are in the neighborhood, please stop by to see it. 

1129 Weaver Dairy Rd

in Timberlyne Shopping Center

Chapel Hill, NC 27571

phone: 919 967 9394

.......

You may see more of my art and to follow other showings and events, visit

KarenMeredithArt.com

I welcome you to sign up, below, for this occasional blog and share it with your friends who might be interested. AND I invite you to (continue) to send  favorite photos you have taken and writings (inspiring, thought provoking, or humorous) 
 to me at kmeredithart@gmail.com.  

Flower God, God of Spring

Welcome to my Poetry and Painting Blog!

The current selected poem below is by Robert Louis Stevenson. 

FLOWER god, god of the spring, beautiful, bountiful,

Cold-dyed shield in the sky, lover of versicles,

Here I wander in April

Cold, grey-headed; and still to my

Heart, Spring comes with a bound, Spring the deliverer,

Spring, song-leader in woods, chorally resonant;

Spring, flower-planter in meadows,

Child-conductor in willowy

Fields deep dotted with bloom, daisies and crocuses:

Here that child from his heart drinks of eternity:

O child, happy are children!

She still smiles on their innocence,

She, dear mother in God, fostering violets,

Fills earth full of her scents, voices and violins:

Thus one cunning in music

Wakes old chords in the memory:

Thus fair earth in the Spring leads her performances.

One more touch of the bow, smell of the virginal

Green - one more, and my bosom
Feels new life with an ecstasy.

...................

 I thought of these words when recently painting outside (en plein air) in a nearby neighborhood. Although the sky was overcast, the color provided by the redbud tree and neighboring flowers inspired me. "Redbud Reverie" 8x10" oil on panel.

Other notes:

I am honored that my oil painting, "Sonatina" (below 10x8" oil on panel) was given second place award in the Small Treasures Show at the Cary Gallery of Artists. 

COMING EVENT:

By invitation, I will have a solo show "Celebrating Color and Light" at the Page Walker Arts and History Center in downtown Cary, NC. This show is sponsored by the Town of Cary Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources. 

You are invited to join me at the reception there
on Friday, June 26th at 6pm.

Exhibit dates are June 23rd to August 16.

119 Ambassador Loop, Cary, NC 27513 (919) 460-4963

Also...

Victoria Park Florist is featuring a collection of my artwork. 
If you are in the neighborhood, please stop by to see it. 

1129 Weaver Dairy Rd

in Timberlyne Shopping Center

Chapel Hill, NC 27571

phone: 919 967 9394

.......

You may see more of my art and to follow other showings and events, visit

KarenMeredithArt.com

I welcome you to sign up, below, for this occasional blog and share it with your friends who might be interested. AND I invite you to (continue) to send  favorite photos you have taken and writings (inspiring, thought provoking, or humorous) 
 to me at kmeredithart@gmail.com.  

While Alone at Topanga Thrift

Welcome to my Poetry and Painting Blog!

My last post offered the poem, "Undercurrent", by the talented Janeen Rastell. She told one of her poet friends about this blog. As a result, Val Dering Rojas sent me a chapbook of her poems, called "Ten", with the hope that one of them might inspire one of my paintings. And it did! I thank her for sharing them with me.

While Alone at Topanga Thrift

It occurs to me

that most things are made

to be filled, even now,

these old red dough-bowls

brim with sun;

the worn-soft roughness

of the feedbag, and the hips

of the ginger jar,

created to contain.

The riddle of space

is how insignificance can be ample,

how absence is useful:

the brass candelabra

with its obviousness and arms,

and now

this tiny teacup in my palm.

I wasn't built for this,

but from here,

emptiness appears to be

such a small thing.

..............

In response to this poem, I pulled some bowls from my shelf and created this still life: "Empty Bowls" 8x10 oil on panel

Other notes:

Victoria Park Florist is featuring a collection of my artwork. If you are in the neighborhood, please stop by to see it. 

1129 Weaver Dairy Rd

in Timberlyne Shopping Center

Chapel Hill, NC 27571

phone: 919 967 9394

Also...

I am honored that my oil painting, "Dappled Gate" (below) was accepted into the Fine Arts League of Cary Annual Juried Show. The reception is March 8 from 2-4 and the show will hang until April 18.

You may see more of my art at:

KarenMeredithArt.com

I welcome you to sign up, below, for this occasional blog and share it with your friends who might be interested. AND I invite you to (continue) to send  favorite photos you have taken and writings (inspiring, thought provoking, or humorous) 
 to me at kmeredithart@gmail.com.  

The Undercurrent

Welcome to my Poetry and Painting Blog!

Recently my friend Bernadette Marriott told me about her sister, Janeen Rastell, a well-published poet. I have begun to look over her poems and must say I love the imagery that she evokes. For this blog posting I have selected the following poem...

The Undercurrent …

not the sound of tires rushing through the slush

or steam racing the radiators,

not the song of the broom across porch planks,

the rub of two rocks as you try for a spark,

not the sigh of the late-leafed beech trees,

or the brush of your grandmother’s slippers,

the tips of her robe as she climbs the stairs,

not her “Shush” when she shuts the door,

in the quiet, what croons to you,

what resonates

is water pressing rock,

waves striking sand.

- First published in the chapbook In the Yellowed House (dancing girl press, 2014)

..............

In response to this poem, I created the image below. It's 24x24" on archival, gallery-wrapped canvas and I've named it "Rhythm". 

Other notes:

Victoria Park Florist is featuring a collection of my artwork. If you are in the neighborhood, please stop by to see it. 

1129 Weaver Dairy Rd

in Timberlyne Shopping Center

Chapel Hill, NC 27571

phone: 919 967 9394

And from now through January I am having a solo show at my neighborhood's POA building. If you would like more information, please contact me. 

You may see more of my art at:

KarenMeredithArt.com

I welcome you to sign up, below, for this occasional blog and share it with your friends who might be interested. AND I invite you to (continue) to send  favorite photos you have taken and writings (inspiring, thought provoking, or humorous) 
 to me at kmeredithart@gmail.com.  

The Leaf and the Tree

Welcome to my Poetry and Painting Blog!

The following poem was selected by Susan Meals, a long-time friend and shared admirer of Edna St Vincent Millay. She suggested posting the first part of the following poem.

The Leaf and The Tree …

When will you learn, myself, to be
a dying leaf on a living tree?
Budding, swelling, growing strong,
Wearing green, but not for long,
Drawing sustenance from air,
That other leaves, and you not there,
May bud, and at the autumn's call
Wearing russet, ready to fall? 

..............

To go with this poem, my friend also sent a photo of the large tree in front of her Los Angeles home. She literally has fought city hall to save it from being cut down! Unfortunately, the photos she sent just didn't seem to capture the elegance of that wonderful tree. 

Meanwhile, there is a large olive tree in her backyard just outside her breakfast window. She has debated about removing it, because it takes up so much space. But I have always admired that old olive tree: its gestural growth pattern and the habitat it provides. Thus, the below painting is an inspiration of that particular tree and a nod to all things old an beautiful.

Other notes:

This past month of September I participated in a 30-day challenge of a painting a day.  I didn't quite make it to 30 paintings...but 25. That was quite a feat, as I did some travel during that time and had to double up my efforts. My poor husband turned into a painter's widower...bless him! 

Below is a collage of the works produced:

Also, this coming November through January I will be having a solo show at my neighborhood's POA building. If you would like more information, please contact me. 

You may see more of my art at:

KarenMeredithArt.com

I welcome you to sign up, below, for this occasional blog and share it with your friends who might be interested. AND I invite you to (continue) to send  favorite photos you have taken and writings (inspiring, thought provoking, or humorous) 
 to me at kmeredithart@gmail.com.