Art Is a Journey

 "What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that is gone forever, impossible to reproduce." Karl Lagerfeld

"Photography is the art of making memories tangible." Destin Sparks

Last month, I spent two weeks with my wife and daughters in Norway, with a day each in Copenhagen, Denmark, and the south coast of Sweden. My acts of art were trying to take well framed photos, appreciating the views and World Heritage Sites, and observing great works of art by Gustav Vigeland and Bertel Thorvaldsen. Half way through the trip, I swore I would not take any more photos of waterfalls in the fjords, but around every bend was another splendid, unique fall of water over glacially carved fjord walls.

These are some of the multitude of waterfalls that I photographed in various fjords.

The Vigeland Sculpture park in Oslo, Norway, is one of my bucket list items that I checked off during this trip.

The magnificent Christus by Thorvaldsen in the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen.

I found a wonderful art gallery in Geiranger, Norway, owned and operated by artist Ola Une Ferstad Liland. The gallery is an old home with three stories filled with paintings, lithographs, ceramics, glass, and sculptures. Liland is the visual artist, and the other objet d'arts are by his artist friends. I could have spent a lot more time browsing than I had time for.

I purchased two lithographs small enough to pack in my luggage.

Commit Acts of Art Every Day: Three Weeks of Various Art Acts

 "The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls." Pablo Picasso

Since the Art in the Park event on the 6th of May, I have been involved in multiple ongoing acts of art. While working many days in my garden, I have also worked in my three collage sketchbooks getting a few bits and pieces glued together.

THE GARDEN: The art of gardening is always at the mercy of the weather. In April, there was an unexpected freeze that nipped even some cool weather plants and set back my planting schedule a few weeks. I spent much of the time mixing soil and compost and other amendments to prepare for the great day of putting flowers and vegetables in the ground. I did a few balanced rock "sculptures" and creatively eradicated weeds, which no amount of cold can kill.

Here are two stone stackings I balanced. A stiff wind knocks them down, and I waste time carefully restacking them. Below is my garden at the back of my yard at dusk where a charm of fairies sings at appointed hours.

COLLAGE SKETCHBOOKS: I spent many evenings gluing torn pieces of paper together to make two large, collage master boards. The larger board I turned over, and from the backside, I cut out six 3 inch squares. These squares I shuffled and then glued them on a page in my largest collage book as I turned each one over. I am planning to cut the smaller master board into one inch squares and make a collage "quilt" on another page.

Here are four finished collages from the other two sketchbooks.

Commit Acts of Art: Art in the Park

 "The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity." —Walt Whitman

On Saturday, 2 May 2026, the Cultural Arts Society of West Jordan sponsored the 4th annual West Jordan Art in the Park event. Last year we had high winds that sent many booth canopies flying. Two years ago, we had cold rain and wind all day.

This year, the day was warm and beautiful with a balmy, spring breeze. Fifty artists displayed their works, chalk artists worked their magic for the crowds, and the performing arts organizations who function under the umbrella of the Cultural Arts Society inaugurated our new permanent stage in the park.

Last year, as a member of the Cultural Arts Society board of directors and a visual arts section member, I organized a free Kids Art area for children and adults to commit acts of art during the event. We repeated the Kids Art area again this year with great success.

The city of West Jordan donated small flowerpots, paint, succulent plants, and soil which were left over from another city sponsored activity. Painting pots and planting succulents was a big hit while the supply lasted.

One young fellow drew a portrait of the solar system with labeling in English and Spanish.

Commit Acts of Art Every Day: A Week of Haiku

"Creativity is intelligence having fun."  Albert Einstein 

After posting my small book of eight haiku ten days ago, I set my mind to conjure up a few more. I have stayed with the three line structure of 5-7-5 morae [sound units], which are commonly misinterpreted as "syllables" in English. How well I remember an English teacher in high school drumming that pattern into our grey matter. Modern English speaking haikuists [I made that up] go in for 10 to 14 sound units in three lines to capture the brevity of the traditional Japanese haiku. Writers/artists can do whatever they want these days.

Is Spring awaking

or just a hint of fragrance

lingering at dawn?

Winter: a bleak time

made bearable by firelight

and Grandma's old quilt.

Circles are magic

creatures of degrees: like squares

or two triangles.

For years, I have been intrigued, and some what enamored, with the curious phenomenon known as the collective noun. Where such curiosities as a garrison of gophers, a twangle of harps, or a court of kangaroos originated gives pause for thought. Years ago, I wrote an article about a Utah educational librarian conference and titled it, "A Shush of Librarians." Hence, the next four haiku feature collective nouns, the fourth being inspired by the Congress of the US of A.

A murder of crows

in bare, black trees commanding

the dusk to depart.

On a wet fence rail

a tittering of magpies

discusses the rain.

A charm of fairies

sings in my garden

at appointed hours.

A pratfall of clowns

is not an invitation

to sanely converse.

Book Arts Mania: A Little Book of Haiku

"Writing is a form of creative expression that is just as important as any other art form." Mary Turner Thomson

In honor of the annual International Haiku Poetry Day, 17 April, which I missed yesterday, I am sharing a little book I made in the early 2000s. It is titled Eight Haiku. My idea was to write two haiku for each of the seasons, but when I bound the book (using Asian stab binding), one of the pages with a fall inspired haiku was left out and later lost. So, the reader must create a haiku of their own.