Abstract Art/Food Art

(Photo credit Michael)

At the end of January, I decided to brainstorm a list of simple things that I could do every day for a month.  Doing something every day for a year is too long, but a month is doable.  The one I selected for Feb was to notice the sky at sunset.  All it required was a glance at the sky and an observation - is it a cloudy sunset, clear sunset, colorful sunset?  Since sunset is around dinnertime this time of year, I figured it would be easy enough to do.  

I ended up noting the sunrises too.  And the month is over, but I don't want to stop.

This morning Michael got up and said, "This would be a good morning to take a sunrise walk," and then went back to bed.  I followed his beckoning.  I didn't take the walk, but I sat by the window with at least a partial sunrise view and observed.  I'm not sure how long I sat there, but enough to watch it slowly change.  Then there was a moment with a burst of what looked like fire on the roof of a building.  It had arrived.

Speaking of this, I highly recommend Mary Oliver's poem "The Sun" which I fortuitously came across last month.

Later in the day I took a short walk along Lake Superior and heard a unique sound.  The lake was open water but just at the edge there were shards/small sheets of ice being pushed to shore.  I stopped to listen and then sit for a bit watching them bob and then arrive on land to create little sculptures.

As my final gratitude for today - my father was an engineer and super talented in many ways, but art was not one of them.  Neither of my parents enjoyed or expressed an artistic ability and I grew up thinking I had none as well.  It was with great trepidation that I tried drawing and painting a bit as an adult.  

My niece however continues to astoud me with her artwork.  I always found it so sweet how my dad would support this in her, sometimes I think grandparents are able to give things to their grandkids that they couldn't to their own children.

Anyway, my sister-in-law emailed me today an abstract piece of artwork my niece did.  I was impressed.  And then the photo after that was of the food art that my sister-in-law made to match it!