Bruce Weber's VMAN L.A. Diary May 2012

When folks come by and take pictures and talk about writing about the experience of being in Big Sur and the cabin where we live, you never know if this will come to pass or not. There is so much going on - the world is a big place - and the experience of being here can seem, later, like a dream. But a few months ago Bruce Weber and his wife Nan Bush came for a visit and we had a wonderful talk around tea and cookies by the fire, it was one of those wintry rainy perfect Big Sur days, and now there is a beautiful story with gorgeous pictures out on the magazine racks about our day together, and about Big Sur. You can't miss this magazine - what a cover! Go inside to Bruce Weber's V Man L.A. Diary and go almost to the end of the 14 page spread. There you will find our page - with images from the cabin, paintings, even our tea and cookies on the table. Don't be thrown by the many photos of gorgeous young men partially clad or not clad at all. Somehow amid all this gorgeous nubile youth Bruce found room for our story, and I'm so grateful he did.

robin purcell , watercolors in the plein air tradition: 19th Carmel Art Festival 2012 Paintings

robin purcell , watercolors in the plein air tradition: 19th Carmel Art Festival 2012 Paintings I have long admired Robin's paintings. I love her color, her really personal and unique style, and am impressed by the consistency of her approach to painting the landscape, in watercolor, en plein aire. I share this link here because she writes about her experience at the Carmel Art Festival 2012, as I do at www.eringafill.com/blog, and it is nice to hear someone else's experience with these kind of things. See you next year Robin!

Valentines Art on Winslow Art TV Channel 19 (Monterey Bay, CA.)

Right before the Valentine's Weekend, JW Winslow had me on her show, Winslow Art, a celebration of art, music, dance, and literature and happenings on California's Central Coast. It was a lively hour of live television, talking about "hot picks" of the weekend, and showing new artworks.
Go to http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/winslowart-tv-podcast-feed/id480249391 and hover over the date (February 9, 2012)to watch the whole thing.
My favorite part of working with JW is her enthusiasm for the creative process. We get into that every time I'm on one of her t.v. or radio shows.

C Magazine Coming to Big Sur!

Just had a wonderful visit with Cat Doran and Lisa Eisner of C Magazine. We had a delicious lunch in the old log house at Nepenthe, talked about art, books, people, and life in Big Sur. Cat and Lisa are working on a series of stories about Big Sur that will be featured in C Magazine in an upcoming issue - keep your eyes peeled!

Song of a Flower Child

Here is a beautiful review of "Drinking From a Cold Spring." Go to http://www.songofaflowerchild.com/2009/07/written-in-plein-air-tribute-to-erin.html
to see more of Mary's writings.

Mary writes: "I have just finished reading and pondering Erin Lee Gafill's Little Book of Hope entitled "Drinking from a Cold Spring".

It is a treasure because it has been unearthed from deep places, in real time, and priceless because it is real and true. Erin is an authentic voice that draws its resonance from artesian wells of Big Sur. She writes in an amazingly pure naked style that I like to call "Plein Air Prose". The 19th century Impressionists liked to carry the tools of their trade outdoors: easel, paint, white parasol and chair to catch the subtle light and vision of a certain scene. Erin, a successful Big Sur painter has done that countless times, and enjoyed the challenge and discipline of "plein air" painting. She demystifies the mystique as "the idea that what we paint is what we are-that we are processing visually the same things we are struggling with in our real lives". (p. 67)

When she returned from a retreat in Mexico Erin learned that "colors make me happy", and she changed the decor of her home and made sure to include flowers in every room. Erin is a philosopher in the purest sense of the word, a lover of wisdom. She tells her life in exquisite vignettes, in which the borders are blurred and softened, but punctuated with shafts of priceless wisdom. She has learned that the art of storytelling is the way we transmit wisdom, exalt beauty, proclaim truth, and generate virtue for the next generation. Humanity has been gathering stories since the dawn of civilization. Our inner ear has been shaped to yearn for the story to be told, your story, our story, to know its meaning and purpose, and to make sense of life's mysteries.

Erin has scraped away unnecessary layers of words to capture the true shape of things.

"Writing the truth means traveling back in time, unearthing buried secrets, holding up to the light things I am still afraid to talk about, things I still don't understand". (p. 119)

Nothing is too small or humble for her eye not to notice. She is not afraid of nakedness, and lets us watch the inner workings of her soul. That takes enormous courage and confidence. Her painter's eye is the lens through which she has transcribed her experiences. There are abrupt, sharp strokes for pain, soft shadows for sadness, and brilliant swathes of light that wash over us and fill her narratives with peace. There's plenty of fresh air to breathe here, and plenty of fresh water to assuage the thirsting soul.

Erin has communicated her vision with the consummate trained eye of an artist and has truly blessed us with heartfelt scenes of hope..."the words become candles lit one by one in darkness until the darkness is no more. Replacing fear with peace. Replacing darkness with light. Building a bridge for someone to cross over. That's what I want my work to do. I want to light a candle for you so that together we can make our way through the dark places." (p. 120)

Erin is offering her book online through her website : phoenixshopbigsur.com
Check out her blog: the Big Sur Fix

It's a gift for giving, and a gift for keeping."

Mary Stewart Anthony

Monterey County Convention & Visitor's Bureau Interview

Here's a recent interview with Celeste at MCCVB . . . . talking about Drinking From a Cold Spring, growing up in Big Sur, weaving a life in the arts through rearing children, carpooling, and laundry.

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=319743275

andon the "See Monterey" website at http://www.seemonterey.com/media_gallery/

Enjoy!

Erin

Rick Kleffel's Review of Drinking From a Cold Spring

Something of an insomniac, Rick Kleffel reads books, loves books, and asks great questions of those who write books.I thoroughly enjoyed meeting him and his interview questions were illuminating for me as well.

Click here to see what Rick has to say about Drinking From a Cold Spring in the "Agony Column."

http://www.bookotron.com/agony/news/2009/09-21-09-news.htm