Sunday, December 1, 2013

Grateful in the Forest


Yesterday found me in the studio organizing my work for an open studio & 
holiday sale next weekend. The pinboard with my larger work is like a window 
out to a mostly autumnal forest.  


There were piles and piles of small work to sort and arrange. Next I need to figure 
out a way to present them.. maybe just piles! I will have a stack of large work on
the table as well. I might have had a nice print rack for display, however, a recent 
crisis has slowed my preparations, more on that later. 


And though many of you are far, far away, here is the 
invitation to the open studio next weekend!



Seeing the work together on the board has me thinking about a tryptich... so played 
with some cropping to explore that idea. A tryptich will be visually connected by 
branches and similarities in the washes, but here I wanted to doodle with what 
I already have. The camera is a great tool for seeing possibilities. (be sure to click 
to make it larger to see the details)


My students are working on final projects, and so I become more like an 
on site consultant. I often do a bit of drawing while they work. Enjoyed doing 
some drawings with walnut ink - the backround light brown - and a brown ink, 
which turned out to be quite red-brown. Some wonderfully strange bleeding patterns 
in the background washes.  







Though the golden glow in the forest has fallen to the ground with the leaves, the 
afternoon sun has been spectacular on my walks in the fading light. 








Its been cold... really cold, and this morning's dusting of snow 
transformed my frozen pumpkin into a sugarpumkin.... 


I loved how the snow filled the spaces between stones.



And just after writing the last post, little Pasha had a crisis... and we went to the 
veternary emergency room for many hours one Sunday. They did an exam and 
bloodtests and an x-ray and determined that he was quite constipated, slightly 
anemic and dehydrated. Nothing more sinister was found, for which we were relieved. 
However, they gave him some fluid and cleaned him out with an enema 
and recommended some human medicine to keep him regular. We went home, and he 
was better, but then the human medicine really got things going TOO MUCH. Oh my, 
how I wish I'd followed my intuition and NOT given him that!! He ended up totally 
knocked out after a few days of too much going. 


The good news is that we found an alternative vet, one who does acupuncture 
and treats with Chinese herbs and supplements and who is a very gentle, loving 
and wise soul. We got a last minute appointment and ran over there. Pasha had acupuncture and was given a homeopathic remedy and Chinese herb powder to put 
in his food. He is also getting cod liver oil in his food which he is addicted to now! 
He responded really well to the acupuncture and by the time we got home he was eating like a horse, relaxed and more content and happy than he'd been in months. He's 
been eating and sleeping a lot, pooping easily and day by day seems better and better. 

I feel very grateful for having the opportunity to support him with the same kind of 
alternative care that I receive. I KNOW how well it works and am relieved that he 
will have such wonderful support for the rest of his time here. 




32 comments:

illustration poetry said...

absolutely wonderful, i'm wishing you good luck with everything ~from far, far away ♥♥♥

littlemancat said...

Love your trees - they are poems on paper! And very happy to hear that Pasha is responding well to this acupuncture and herbs. Wish we had an alternate vet around here. My Max loathes going to the vet even though they are very kind.
Mary

Sandra Dunn said...

There's Pasha! I'm glad he responded to the "alternative" treatment - better treatment. The cod liver should be very good for him and it's good that he likes it. So sorry that both of you had to go through all this. Healing prayers for your household, V.

I love the invitation and wish you a successful open studio sale.

Wyld Oak said...

The westering sun on those trees is like spectral fire running up the trunks--spectacular! And I love the photos of Pasha Cat...I am glad he is feeling much better and that your forest work continues to bring you inspiration. I hope you get a great turnout at your open house, wish I could be there. Carmine

ArtPropelled said...

Poems on paper.... I agree with Mary. The enlarged images of your paintings look even more beautiful. I like the idea of a tryptic. So glad Pasha's health has stabilized.

Charlotte said...

Best wishes to your Pasha, we all need that little bit of care and focus from time to time. So glad he responded well. The layers of trees look wonderful, balm for the soul.

Unknown said...

Dear V - Oh WHEW! I am so relieved that Pasha has recovered and that you have found an alternative to the first vet!
Good luck with your open studio sales - I love the drawings you made during class. Hugs and prayers, sus

stregata said...

Glad to hear that Pasha is feeling better - it is always so agonizing to see them suffer and not know how to help. Much love to both of you.
Wishing you every success for your open studio - I would love to be able to visit, but...

ELFI said...

mon commentaire n'a pas passé..
bonne exposition avec ces superbes aquarelles...!
les arbres en feu sont aussi splendides!

Lynn said...

Beautiful paintings. I love seeing the path your work is taking.
Glad that Pasha is feeling better. Poor fellow.
Such a lovely portrait of the two of you. And his expression in that last shot! Has he ever got personality to spare!

Valerianna said...

Thank you for your wishes from far, far away... :)

Valerianna said...

Love that thought, Mary, poems on paper... Looking forward to Pasha's next acupuncture appointment!

Valerianna said...

Yes Sandra, here is he!! I am wondering at what point there is TOO much cod liver oil! Gotta ask the new vet, cause Pasha is really obsessed with it. I'm assuming it just has something he is very depleted in.

Valerianna said...

Isn't that amazing, that "spectral fire", Carmine? It was really something!! I hope some folks come to the open studio, too, who knows, really.

Valerianna said...

Thanks, Robyn, and yes, I quite like the idea of poems on paper, too!!

Valerianna said...

We all need care and focus especially when we are elder!! Glad the work is balm for the soul, that feels nice :)

Valerianna said...

Well, Susan, he has recovered, but he is not back to full speed yet. I'm hoping this wasn't a boundary between health and vitality and energy and a slowed down elder fade. We'll see, he is definitely getting better, but still so exhausted. I guess it was a lot for him :(

Valerianna said...

Thanks, Stregata... definitely agonizing. Sooo very relieved to know that I am helping in the best way possible now. And thanks about the open studio, hope it is actually attended by a few!

Valerianna said...

Thank you, Elfi!!

Valerianna said...

I liked that photo of us, even if it is a tad blurry... he does have a lot to say in his face, doesn't he?

Virginia said...

Oh, there's a deer face emerging from the first sunlit tree and a beaver from the second!

Cheers on your feeling better, Mr. Pasha.

Karen said...

Hi V~the way you celebrate trees in paint is simply extraordinary!!! They are luscious!
and the photos...the trees looked as though they were painted in gold leaf...what a beautiful walk!
Lots of healing love to Mr. Pasha and yourself. Best of luck with the studio sale- your work should fly from those piles!!Just beautiful!

Starr White said...

Oh that last photo of Pasha makes my heart sing! He looks like he feels so much better. I'm so glad. And those red trees are AMAZING! I love how they remind me of our own circulatory system and how that all ties in - how we are so very dependent on the forests. there is more there. I hope to see more! And I would absolutely love to have an entire wall devoted to one of your triptychs.

Valerianna said...

I saw a few faces in those trees, Virginia... I need to go look for the beaver, though!

Valerianna said...

Thanks, Karen - I hope I was not too behind in my advertising of the open studio because of the Pasha crisis. I'm hoping at least a few people show up! And that would be wonderful if the work flew out the door from those piles ( it would surely help with the enormous ER vet bill!!)

Valerianna said...

I love that about looking deeply at the natural world - we then see our own reflection. I thought Pasha looked slightly annoyed at me for taking his photo. Don't seem to be able to catch a happy cat photo these days! Maybe this week as it will be warmer, I might catch him all Zen in the moss garden :)

Unknown said...

It's wonderful to hear that you were able to get alternative care for Pasha, as well as the vet. I studied Acupuncture and I find the concept of animal acupuncture and holistic medicine absolutely fascinating.

Mo Crow said...

Oh this is such good news about Pasha! and that wild golden tree light and the red tone in the ink and the triptych and everything, thank you for sharing the beautiful magic of your Raven Wood Forest!

Valerianna said...

It feels good to me to find such a vet for Pasha, Lottie Juliet, considering alternative care is really the only thing I use. Pasha hardly ever had any pharmecuticals, I surely didn't want to get him started down that track in his elder years!!

Valerianna said...

Thanks for appreciating it here, Mo! That was amazing light, wasn't it?

Caterina Giglio said...

Hi Val, so thrilled for your show and sale, I know it will be a great success and so glad Pasha is better... I hope you don't get the storm... looks like we will be getting rain and cold... stay warm and cozy! xx

Lunar Hine said...

Great work - really striking, although you have a headstart with such stunning land and light around you. Very best wishes for your sale (sadly, I can't afford the flights to be there) and love to poor Pasha.