Wassily Kandinsky

 

Not long ago I read the biography of Wassily Kandinsky.  

Born December 16, 1866 in Moscow, Russia and Died December 13, 1944 in Paris, France. He was a law professor and did not paint professionally until he decided at age thirty to leave his law professor job to become and study to be a professional painter.   

His style is considered Expressionism and Abstract. Music and the colors of nature dazzled him his entire life. Some of his compositions have names like Composition VI and On White II and Contrasting Sounds. The painting above is titled Composition VII.  He used a lot of shapes like circles, squares and lines and symbols. During his interesting life he lectured both in Europe and the USA. He is certainly not the first abstract artist but one of the noticeable and influential Abstract artists up to the present.  

Kandinsky has had an important influence my own work as an artist. I have practiced circles over and over for a truly organic experience.  

 As you can see from my painting below, I have been influenced by Kandinsky in a profound way.

I will continue to study from this wonderful master and continue to read about his interesting life.

 

Georgia

May 2022

The Gift

 

 I remember Momma as the least pretentious person I ever knew. She had no fine furs or jewelry and except for her children the American dream did not pass her by. She was a simple woman with simple tastes and never lost her old-world ways. The notion she night be better than anyone else never crossed her mind. She was the epitome of a classless society. She made almost no material requests and was grateful for whatever small, good fortune occasionally came her way. She spent a lifetime doing menial labor, as a housewife and mother and in a factory hand sewing mens’ ties. When she became older and a bit arthritic, she enjoyed spending two weeks each summer in Saratoga Springs, New York, taking mineral baths, always staying in a small rooming house where she did her own cooking and made her own bed.

       One year rather late in the season, Momma found out the rooming house had closed and no accommodations elsewhere were to be had. My sister Katie made some inquiries and located a small hotel in Sharon Springs, New York, a place that was known for mineral baths, and the hotel did have a room available. Momma had never stayed at a hotel and was intimidated by the thought of doing  so, but when she realized it was the only way she could have the baths, she agreed to go.

       When she returned home, my sister helped her unpack and while doing so, she noticed a small gift wrapped package. “What is this? my sister asked. “A present” Momma said. “ For whom? my sister asked. “It is for me” Momma said. “Who gave it to you?” my sister asked. "The Chamber maid at the hotel” Momma said. “Momma” my sister said “ When you go to a hotel you are supposed to give the  chambermaid  a gift. “ Why on earth did the chambermaid give you a gift?”

       “Because” Momma said “ I helped her make the beds.

Ben Haber

MOMMA

 

I should have been more caring. I should have been more understanding. I should have been more appreciative. I should have been more affectionate. My mother deserved more. 

.

Momma was a talented seamstress who made all my clothes while I was growing up. She even made my pajamas. When I needed a costume for a school play, she made me a beautiful green gown and a peach ruffled party dress. She was always available to help any of the neighbors in our apartment building with mending and fixing on her treadle Singer sewing machine. 

She couldn’t read or write in English, so she attended evening classes in Taft High School. She reached a small academic success which gave her great pleasure.

When I married, she loved to visit. Because prices in the East Bronx tended to be lower than in Queens, Momma would visit laden with bags and bags of stuff. She would also arrive with her own baked apple cake, strudel, rugelach and honey cake. Her other specialty was potato knishes which she would often make in my kitchen. It would amaze me to watch her stretch the dough across my long kitchen table, making the dough stretch bigger and bigger and thinner and thinner. Then she filled it with a potato and onion mixture, shaped it, cut it and baked it and the result was a culinary treasure.

My father had an ongoing relationship with a neighbor in my parents” building. My father cast a magic spell that made people honor him. He was always the dapper dressed, and entertaining man on the block. I never realized how hard my mother’s life must have been. Now I see the domestic scene in a new light. She was the victim who never got her “me too moment.”

Ethyl Haber

May 2022

Henry

 

It was a dark and stormy night that rustled up ghosts and demons. I stood by the open window overlooking the raging sea.  

I loved Henry. I had no idea he would leave me with no explanation. He packed his bags and is just gone. I had the feeling he was unhappy but didn’t expect this.  

I tried to track him down and there is no track to follow. No note, no phone call, no anything. It is so quiet now. No conversations, no energy of the only person I have known for the past 20 years.  

I know he is conflicted in his own life with midlife questions and a reassessment of his life. It is my theory that he has just fallen out of love with me and became bored.  

Men are commodities to women so he will easily find another companion.  

I plan to remove every last article of his to remove any triggering memory. The ghosts will keep me company and the demons will entertain, and I will recover and recreate my own life.  

Goodbye Henry

Georgia

  May 2022 

Jupiter

 

Jupiter in astrology is the planet of expansion, open minds, self-awareness, our viewpoints, luck and opportunity. He is the king of the gods in Roman mythology, the planet of benefits and abundance.  

Jupiter in astronomy is the planet that keeps us and all other planets in our place in our solar system because of its gravitational power. Even the sun is in the grips of Jupiter.  

Astronomer Galileo was the first to spot Jupiter’s moons. Jupiter is our solar system’s largest planet. 

While listening to Gustav Holst – Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity I am swept up to the sky into the atmosphere of Jupiter. Happy, energetic, floating, open to the infinite possibilities of this small life and of the universe. How lucky we are to be on this planet with the help of Jupiter.  

Mr. Holst’s musical description of Jupiter is cheerful, boisterous, enjoyable and merry and high spirited.  

Jupiter and his moons agree with Mr. Holst’s rendition and in his jolly merriment is happy to keep our planet and wonderful solar system in its place way out there in outer space. 

Georgia
May 2022 

Oh, Heavens

 

"Obey"

Venus visible through the pipes,

That billow smoke on cold nights,

5:10 AM she shines bright,

as daybreak dissolves the night.

Oh, Venus thy eternal sway,

You smile at me on this day. 

(All the race of men obey). 

RM, circa 2001.  RM, 2022.

A Frosty Conversation

 

The Emperor’s New Clothes

 

On my most recent expedition to the forgotten seventh continent Antarctica I made a serious effort to study the language of and understand the Emperor Penguins. During one of these extended observations while I was concentrating on the penguins, I let my guard down. Momentarily, I felt that I was being watched and looked up to see an enormous bull elephant seal staring intently at me. The leviathan was not threatening or aggressive but merely observing me as I had observed the penguins. How the enormous creature had gotten so close to me I did not know and he could have easily overpowered and killed me if he so desired. Suddenly he lifted one of his brownish grey flippers over his head and bringing it down he pointed it directly at me. Almost immediately the conversation between the two male penguins before me became intelligible as if they were speaking English! As quickly as he had arrived the massively corpulent beast slipped away disappearing into the blinding white landscape as the two oblivious Emperors continued their discussion unaffected by this occurrence. What follows are my memories of the conversation that occurred….

 

PENGUIN – ENGLISH

 

@&#%!/   -   “ Hey Herbie how is it going?” asked Jack.

@&#%!/.  -   “I’m just really getting cold sitting on this egg for a month now, freezing my tail off, I wish Julie would come back!” said Herbie.

 

@&#%!/.  -   “Oh come now it’s not that bad.” said Jack.

 

@&#%!/   -   “ With a name like Emperor Penguins you would expect less rustic living arrangements, something regal and aristocratic, with a certain  air of pomp and circumstance. Mother Nature has certainly given us a raw deal,” said Herbie.

 

@&#%!/.   -   “You need to toughen up old boy,” reiterated Jack.

 

@&#%!/.  -    “It is like spending rush hour stuffed in a refrigerated box car with icy cold  wind whipping snow around, stranded in the middle of nowhere, with nothing to eat.I wish I were a FLAMINGO! With their long stick legs, they are always warm and comfortable, with no need for heavy coats, walking around in a virtual Sushi buffet all day long! What a life! They even look stylish with their fluorescent pink feathers; tall and statuesque I can’t even get a suit that fits properly with my short stubby legs,” said Herbie.

 

@&#%!/.  -   “Yes, that is true but there are no alligators, crocodiles or Florida panthers here to eat you, do not forget that!” said Jack.

 

@&#%!/ .  -   “Ok ok ,good point the swamp is always greener I get it, I get it!” said Herbie.

 

@&#%!/    -   “That is my point “said Jack.

 

@&#%!/.  -    “Could you watch both of our eggs for a little while? I want to go over to the research station and steal an old sweater or something to stay warm, “said Herbie.

 

Jack was agreeable and straddled both eggs in his friend’s absence. Herbie did find an old sweater in the trash, which after his return the two birds shared to help stay warm. When Julie and Doris got back with fish to regurgitate the hungry chicks had just cracked out of their shells. The boys gave their mates the sweater as an early anniversary present, then went off to take their turn, hunting for food. Some of these less believable findings were left out of my research notes.

 

Jim

May 2022

 

 

Birds

 

In early morning I hear the bird's tweet, twitter, cheep and warble, chirping away waiting for me to open the window and throw out their daily bread.  

It’s raining this morning so the sparrows and starlings I feed were not around. They stay in the trees to keep dry and come by when the rain lightens up a little.  

There are usually twenty or so birds that gather as I throw the bread out the window. Not eating for a day is a death sentence.  

As the Spring marches on the little worms growing in cocoons that collect on the trees are eaten by the birds. The little worms in cocoons that do survive turn into pesky web moths. Probably quite tasty for the birds. This is natural and normal in nature.  

As the bird's chirp and announce their territory, dawn becomes a chorus of the unmistakable sound of bird life at its finest. Tweet – Tweet.  

 Georgia

A Blessed Event

 

Two robins were perched on my backyard lawn deep in tweeting conversation. Clearly, from their colors, I could determine they were male and female. Their songs and behavior did not come across as a mating meeting. I judged it to be more about real estate. “Hey honey, where do you think we should build that nest? Will that bush do?  Should we build in that tree?” It appeared, to my joy and appreciation that they settled on the pyracantha bush outside my large kitchen window. Good choice! The thorns would keep squirrels and cats away from the nest. The branches are sturdy enough to anchor it. They’ve picked a spot that’s safe, cool and comfortable. Shortly, they got busy gathering twigs, grass, leaves and mud. Wisely, they pulled straw from a neighboring hanging planter. They both do the gathering, but only the female does the nest construction. She needed a few days to complete the architecture which includes weaving and sculpting. We females know how to get things done. This nest is not a bed for the parents; they sleep elsewhere. It is an incubator for the eggs. The perfect nest must serve as a baby cradle to keep the eggs and babies warm, dry and safe.

I really think these robins chose this pyracantha bush because they knew what joy and pleasure it would give my family to be able to watch the entire drama. Every morning, we would start the day with a visit to the blessed event; one egg a day for four days and the incubation period starts. The mom spent most of the day sitting on the eggs, taking occasional time off to grab a bite of insects, worms and caterpillars. During this period, she actually moves the eggs around. In about 2 weeks, hatching begins, one a day. The chick, using its beak, poked a hole in the shell, struggling sometimes the whole day to free itself from the shell. 

What a joy to watch both parents appearing with food for those four hungry little open beaks. Such traffic, parents flying in; parents flying out. Mom still sat on the chicks to keep them warm and dry. The parents have full time jobs. They protect the nest, find food and feed the hungry open mouths. In two weeks, the chicks were the size of their parents. When they were about 2 weeks old, they are fledglings and ready to leave home. Sadly, my family did not witness their departure. In the morning, they were in their cozy crowded nest, and when we looked, later that day, they were gone, without saying goodbye to us. In subsequent seasons, we have never had the joy of watching nature play this familiar role since sadly, the gardener pruned the pyracantha bush.

Tweet! Tweet! Are they mating or discussing the real estate?

Ethyl Haber

May 2022