Day 182 ~ Work with your hands.

The idea for this is from Antony Gormley's Body and Soul VI, an etching he did in 1990. He used oil on paper. I dipped my finger tips in ink and dabbed them on another paper a few times, otherwise they would be solid ovals, and I wanted my fingerprints to show. His do, and that is what I love about his work, the intricate intimacy. I wet the right half of the paper before I put on the prints from my right hand, because this is my half-way day. We are half-way into the year 2012, and I have completed half of my 365 projects. So I wanted the symmetrical hand prints to be representative of those two halves. The left one represents the 182 projects that exist and can be defined. The right hand, which is fuzzier, represents the projects to come. We don't know them yet.

Day 181 ~ Use bones as your inspiration.

A photograph this day

As I take it I am dressed in a wide-brimmed hat

a long-sleeved blouse

long pants

It is very hot

Nothing is moving

The groundhog is not munching clover in the paddock

Nor is the small rabbit, with her pink ears,

nibbling the grass at the edge of the path

The horses, the brown one and the red one, stand

in their dark stalls, noses to the fans

Large leaves of the mystery plant

hang like skin on old bones

The only natural sound is

the delirious repertoire

of the mocking bird

speaking for everyone

I return to the house and move into

air that has passed over cool, serpentine coils

and traveled through a maze of ductwork

so that I may send you this post

in comfort

Day 180 ~ Put something in the environment that belongs to another season.

I didn't make this silver snowflake. It belonged to my partner Judy's mom Muriel. I wore it to the Phillips Collection in Washington DC today where no one seemed to notice or care that I was wearing a snowflake in late June in 90 degree weather.

At the Phillips I saw an exhibit of Antony Gormley's work. Beautiful, deep, fresh, soulful, intricate. Blew me away.

Day 179 ~ Grow it! Use seeds to make something.

The best laid plans of (in this case rabbits and women)... In anticipation of this day's project, about 10 days ago I planted some lettuce seeds in the shape of a heart. (What!? Not a horse?) Silly me, I didn't cover them in any way, so just as they were making their entrance into the world the baby bunny who hangs around here helped herself. Must have been yummy.

So we will make this count, a plant grown from seeds I planted about a month ago, I guess. I got three packs of seeds, one of zucchini, one of yellow squash and one packet of pumpkin seeds. I dug shallow holes in various places around our property, like, in some of the flower beds, beside the manure pile, in the asparagus garden which had been rendered non-producing, thanks to a relative of aforementioned lettuce seedling eater, distinctly pro-producing...Anyway, I planted all three seed varieties together just to see what would happen ~ what would sprout, what would survive to bear fruit. So far there are many beautiful plants coming up all around and I don't know for sure which of the three they are. If they do make it past the rabbits and deer to fruition, then we will know!

Incidentally, if anyone knows what the plant is in this photo, don't tell me. I want it to be a surprise. And, I'd like to give a shout out to the extraordinary photographer, Aundrea Humphreys, for the idea of taking a photo from a perspective other than what might be obvious.

Day 178 ~ Use the world of birds as your inspiration.

The origami birds are about 2" beak to tail tip. I've decided that making mobiles is not for sissies. You're trying to knot these tiny little threads onto this hanging thing that is bouncing all over the place. It feels quite alive! If you try to lay the whole works down on a table to fasten things everything gets tangled and then the cat comes over and wants to lie on it...Then once it's done and it's spinning around ever so gently, it's so relaxing to watch, and it's all worth it.

Day 177 ~ Make a robot out of everyday objects.

A robotic horse, of course. The objects used include a Kleenex box, a paint tube, a light bulb, thread spools, wooden dowels and balls, yogurt cups, masking tape, a scrub brush, toilet paper tubes, plastic lids, screws, washers, and various other bits of hardware.

Day 176 ~ Make somewhere indoors seem like it is outdoors.

A little made-up cartoon. CJ often sits in this chair by the window watching the birds at the feeder, so I guess he was my inspiration for the idea.