about place - black and white in another hue

Leaving my blog unattended felt like it was the right thing to do; several classes this past fall semester put me into a whirl of non stop activity.  I successfully taught four classes, all of them being different, creating a full pendulum of strengths and weaknesses from each one made me enjoy the trip of teaching immersion. Every semester, I learn from my classes and add these times to my repertoire as a communicator of insights and information.

Totem Sculpture, Tujunga Canyon, 1995

I took a short visit to Los Angeles early January where I visited the art scene, friends and experienced strikingly brilliant weather.  Coming back to Alaska's grim gray, I realized how spoiled I had become on my visit.  The colors in Southern California were hyper real to me; examining the lush plant life and being struck by the massive Pacific stirred a profound sense of nostalgia.  I had greatly missed the sea.  The weather in Los Angeles wasn't past 55 degrees, rising to 65 degrees in the full afternoon sun but Californians were taking advantage of their winter garb by wearing coats and boots. 

Blum and Poe Gallery, Culver City, CA,  January 2013

My trip to Los Angeles had become more of an adventure in seeing color as was my driving experience with my nifty rental car through the grand boulevards of the inner city with the spectacular southwestern views and waving palm trees.  It was easy driving to me, it was fast going with a constant stimulant to my senses, ongoing ruckus of movement and noise.  I realized why people lived here.  The weather is all welcoming and people seem less uptight, more casual, freer and open. I left Los Angeles for a reason and I wanted to leave, find another adventure, see another landscape and take a risk.

Blue and I out walking

Yesterday in Anchorage, as I was walking the dog I peered by the inlet and looked at the arrangement of the landscape.  Subtle colors of golden grasses became distinct as dark brown stick trees casted another shade adding to the white and grays. The looming mountains peaked through some the cloud layers with snippets of a possible and hopeful blue sky.  Colors in Alaska are muted but it has become my responsibility to find the soft colors beautiful in their own way.  Each time I look at the horizon, outside my window, down a ski trail or outside my car window while driving there are various and constant changes.  This is space in another grand way.  I sometimes question why I don't embrace this landscape so easily and find myself pushing it away.  Other times, I think it is like contemporary art, while I appreciate the grandiose of Alaska perhaps it is too new for me to love it.  Perhaps it is too overwhelming.  I also recognized that by seeing the Pacific, I had taken it for granted, and maybe that is how I react to Alaska's wilderness, it is at a distance but too close to me right now.  It seems like I need to leave a place to fully want it back and maybe that is okay too.  It is okay, and I repeat this mantra quietly quietly for today.