Tag: imagination

Artists Amaze

annebower

Mid-April 2026. When the world is too much, art is a lifeline. We are lucky to have the Hood Art Museum nearby, with a large permanent collection and brilliantly curated changing exhibits. And it’s free! Yesterday a friend and I spent two hours there and once again I was overcome by the combination of deep skill and powerful imagination that goes into a piece of art. This is what we are capable of as human beings–this dedication to a practice, be it painting or sculpture, beadwork, quilting, basketry, ceramics, photography or some other form. To become good at whichever art, years of learning and practice, right? To have the imagination to foresee what you want or can make and then give yourself to it, let it take you into the making, trusting the process. Wow, right? And the patience–oh my god–the patience to put all that effort into one piece and trust yourself that it will add up to something.

Wherever you live, please do give yourself the pleasure of visual arts–at a gallery or museum. Even at Farmers’ Markets you find craftspeople displaying and selling their wares, and some of them are magnificently skillful.

Well, you say, no art can compare to nature. So don’t compare them! Nature’s wonders are multiple, magnificent, awesome, even overwhelming sometimes. Love it.

It’s too darn cold

annebower

There was a pop song ages ago about it being “too darn hot,” and of course, the double entendre was clear. I guess we could apply different meanings to cold, but mostly, at least as I intend it, my reference is to the outdoor temperature exclusively. We laugh and say, it’s Vermont, what do you expect? And for those of you sporty types, skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, the cold is welcome, preserving the snow.

When I’ve been outside–shoveling paths, bringing in wood from our double stack, I come inside, get something hot to drink, kick back and dream of warm places, imagining myself transported to southern California, Puerto Rico, Key West. That imaginary respite works wonders. Do I want to live in any of those places? Noooooo. Even traveling to one of them for a vacation holds but slight appeal–airports, airplanes, the nonluxury hotel that would “make sense.”

Isn’t the imagination a wonderful thing? It allows travel, it allows fantasies of writing the Great American Novel, of magically becoming a ballerina or an accomplished watercolorist. And once an imaginative excursion has been enjoyed, we return to our normal pursuits, indoors or out, and can feel a bit renewed.