Art Pebbles In The City

 

So, here's a bit of spontaneous and random moments from my weekend in Northfield and Stillwater, some other city snaps, and from my own yard.  I hope you enjoy a walk about town and some artsy creations I found along the way.  I'm posting to City Daily Photo.

"A spirit of fun should pervade every meeting because it helps people participate and learn." Gene Perret 

Alway good artwork.

A quick visit to see what's showing at the Northfield Art Guild and these piece welcomes you as you enter. One of my favorite things is that this artwork is created by students, and I always look first to imagine what the artist was saying before I read their explanation. 

"My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style."

Maya Angelou

(and try not to spill the wine!) me

"Walkers are 'practitioners of the city.' for the city is made to be walked. A city is a language, a repository of possibilities, and walking is the act of speaking that language, of selecting from those possibilities. Just as language limits what can be said, architecture limits where one can walk. but the walker invents other ways to go. "Rebecca Solnit

"It is not the strength of the body that counts, but the strength of the spirit."

J.R.R. Tolkien

"You may not be able to control all the events that happen to you,

but you can decide not to be reduced by them."

Maya Angelou

and she adds,

"Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it."

"The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise." Maya Angelou

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."

Albert Einstein

"Life is pure adventure and the sooner we realize that the quicker we will be able to treat life as art."

Maya Angelou

"The bend in the road is not the end of the road unless you fail to make the turn."

Helen Keller 

Remember this always.

"You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have."

Maya Angelou

"Words mean more than what is set down on paper.

 It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning."

Maya Angelou

The Front

"Happiness does not come from without, it comes from within."

Helen Keller

and the rear version.

Terribly good!

"Serious people have few ideas. People with ideas are never serious."

Paul Valery 

Meet Herman the Hermit Crab isn't he just sweet as can be?

"He deserves Paradise who makes his companions laugh."

The Koran

"We come spinning out of nothingness,

 scattering stars like dust." Rumi

"Happiness makes up in height what it lacks in length."

Robert Frost

Thanks for stopping in your visits are gifts to me.

Take good care of you.

 

Critters on Saturday and Gallery Stuff

Welcome to another

 SATURDAY'S CRITTERS

 Photos Bugsey and Emme from their recent stay at my house.

 

"No one will understand you. It is not, ultimately that important. What is important is that you understand you." Matt Haig

"You can't find happiness looking for the meaning of life.

Meaning is only the third most important thing. It comes after loving and being."

Matt Haig

Some live, some ceramic, one made of metal but all in good humor, please enjoy.

 I'm posting to City Daily Photo too.

 

"Don't aim for perfection evolution and life only happen through mistakes."

Matt Haig

"The wise bunny knows the carrot will not hop to him."

Bunny Buddhism 

 

"You are lucky to be alive. Inhale and take in life's wonders. Never take so much as a single petal of a flower for granted." Matt Haig

Rusty didn't seem to mind that his boy

 put this hot, woolly sweater on him.

"Come, sit with me now. We'll gaze at the falling sun as it grazes this horizon for, I want to talk about simple nothings and silent stirrings, and wild things with someone who means everything." Victoria Erickson from Edge of Wonder: Notes from the Wildness of Being.

 

"Sometimes the one thing you need for growth is the one thing you are afraid to do."

Shannon L. Alder

My Misty and Dash, just hanging out.

"People are their most beautiful when they are laughing, crying, dancing, playing, telling the truth and being chased in a fun way."

Amy Poehler

 

Sometimes the only way to learn is to live.

"To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest."

Pema Chodron

The most difficult times for many of us are the ones we give ourselves.

Pema Chodron

Lighten up, don't-over-think-things.

"Half of me is filled with bursting words and half of me is painfully shy. I crave solitude yet also crave people. 

I want to pour life and love into everything yet also nurture my self-care and go gently. I want to live within the rush of primal, intuitive decision, yet also wish to sit and contemplate.

I see no evil.

This is the messiness of life - that we all carry multitudes, so must sit with the shifts. We are complicated creatures, and ultimately, the balance comes from this understanding.

Be water. Flowing, flexible and soft. Subtly powerful and open. Wild and serene. Able to accept all changes, yet still led by the pull of steady tides. It is enough.

Victoria Erickson

 Four things come not back:

the spoken word, the sped arrow

the past life and the neglected opportunity.

Aiki Flinthart 

"Those who hear not the music think the dancers mad."

Aiki Flinthart

"But why be normal when you're better being you?"

Matt Haig

Thank you for your visit.

and your comments and take good care of you.

Being Artsy

During the month of April, I joined the #artfulmemorieschallenge on Instagram after my friend Marilyn (and longtime Blogging pal as well) asked a few of us that used to post to Sepia Saturday if we'd like to play along and #sepiasaturdayalumni was created. We were given a daily prompt in April from either Jane Chipp or Jack Ravi authors of Artful Memories - How to create unique art with old photographs. I have to admit it was more than engaging, and I'm still enjoying being artsy.

I'm posting to City Daily Photo.

Creativity is Everything. 

Unleash yourself. 

In truth art in some form is all around us. Just open your eyes and see!

For Day 22 our prompt was, "Martin the blacksmith was born in 1929. They called him the master of fire." I created my image and added, "Even though he was a blacksmith by trade his heart belonged to being a firefighter."

 "Conform, go crazy, or become an artist."

Nancy Springer

"Just because you are soft doesn't mean you are not a force. Honey and wildfire are both the color gold."

Victoria Erickson

If you ask me why I desire to

 be (my own kind) of artist

 it's so I may be free 

to live out loud.

Take the risk or lose the chance.

For Day 19 our prompt was, "Pranjal loved waking at dawn and filling the farm with melodious chanting and warm prayers." I created my photo and added, May the beauty of nature fill your heart with peace and joy throughout the year.

Sometimes,

_Alone all by myself, my imagination becomes my universe

and all that I feel flows throughout my thoughts

and that is my reward." K. Sather

You sculpt your future with your thoughts.

"Not all things that fall down break. Some develop wings. 

N. S. Chandra

Embrace You.

The practice of art isn't just about making a living

 it's to expand your soul.

Also, one of my Instagram posts.

"Leave people brighter, softer, freer, and lighter than when you found them."

Thank you for your visit and your comments.

Take good care of you and

if you so desire spread some art about your day.

You Are the Goal and Red Wing

I spent Saturday wandering about several of towns not too far from me. I'm sharing some of the photos I took in Red Wing, Minnesota. 

My wandering is always about "comfort for the soul" renewing oneself, as we all know our day-to-day world is full of pressures, commitments, responsibilities and whatnot but we can't let those things squeeze our self-compassion. We must be kind to ourselves. I'm posting to City Daily Photo.

If you feel like dancing, do it.

The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things. Henry Ward Beecher

Her globe is soaking up the sunshine for an evening glow.

Lately I've been stacking these stones by the sidewalk as well.

Have you ever stacked stones and left them for someone else to discover?

They are called Cairn.

This spot overlooks the city of Red Wing, it's something extraordinary to view.

Adrift in chasms of my thoughts. 

But

Stop overthinking.

Without leaps of imagination or dreaming we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming after all is a form of planning. Gloria Steinem

and being silly.

"More smiling, less worrying.

More compassion, less judgement.

More blessed, less stressed.

More love, less hate."

Roy T. Bennett

Count ripples.

"You don't have to spend a lot of money to feel like a million. A good night's sleep, a quiet walk by the river or a hug from a favorite person will do the trick." Gina Greenlee

Make more wishes.

The purpose of life is a life of purpose.

"One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested."

E. M. Forster

Worry is the secret weapon perpetrated upon us by the dark forces of the world that lurk in the shape of fear, uncertainty, confusion, and loss. We on the other hand, have our own secret weapon against these incorporeal fiends. It is laughter. Vera Nazarian

The past is a place of reference

not a place of residence.

The past is a place of learning

not a place of living.

Roy T. Bennett

It's so much fun coming upon random happenings like this in my photo below.

Use this day to do something daring, extraordinary and unlike yourself. Take a chance and shape a different pattern in your personal cloud of probability. Vera Nazarian

How's this for daring or being, different?

Never underestimate the lingering effects of a dash of spontaneous comfort. Gina Greenlee

I can't tell you how many folks, not just statues that I stumble upon here and there just reading.

They say live like your dog, although living like your kitty cats has  advantages too.

"What makes us the most normal," said Reiko, is knowing that we're not normal.

Haruki Murakami

So, lighten your thoughts, live in the moment. Breathe.

On days like this you gain.

Time

and this.

Take good care of you. Be hopeful and curious.

As you move about your day 

there is much to be thankful for

everything has purpose.

so enjoy this glorious day

I hope you always find a reason to smile.

Thanks for stopping in. Your comments brighten my day.

Enjoy your day.