Without a Doubt....a painting and a poem....

“Still, what I want in my life

is to be willing
to be dazzled—
to cast aside the weight of facts

and maybe even
to float a little
above this difficult world.
I want to believe I am looking

into the white fire of a great mystery.
I want to believe that the imperfections are nothing—
that the light is everything—that it is more than the sum
of each flawed blossom rising and falling. And I do.”

― Mary Oliver, House of Light

This painting, "Without a Doubt" is painted from life in oil on an 11x14" linen panel.

Wishing you well and moments of beauty during this unusual time.

I would love to receive your ideas for future poems to be posted with my art. You can include them in the comment section below or by contacting me through my Website, which is a good way to see my other paintings! ;)

KarenMeredithArt.com

Winter Song

Winter - Poem by Walter de la Mare

Clouded with snow 

The cold winds blow, 

And shrill on leafless bough 

The robin with its burning breast 

Alone sings now. 

The rayless sun, 

Day's journey done, 

Sheds its last ebbing light 

On fields in leagues of beauty spread 

Unearthly white. 

Thick draws the dark, 

And spark by spark, 

The frost-fires kindle, and soon 

Over that sea of frozen foam 

Floats the white moon. 

"Winter Song" 

Oil on 10x8" on linen panel

KarenMeredithArt.com

Baubles

Till ringing, singing on its way, 

The world revolved from night to day, 

A voice, a chime, 

A chant sublime 

Of peace on earth, good-will to men

(Excerpt from Christmas Bells byHenry Wadsworth Longfellow)

Wishing you a joyful holiday season 

and a healthy, happy New Year!

Karen

KarenMeredithArt.com

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.