Library Turns into Garden – at Alicia Ashman Library

Hanging an Art Exhibit - "Garden Party - A Celebration of Botanical Photography" at Alicia Ashman Branch, Madison Public Library

Hanging an Art Exhibit © 2013 Bo Mackison

With a lot of help from family, I hung my art exhibit, Garden Party – A Celebration of Botanical Photography, at the Alicia Ashman Branch of the Madison Public Library today. There were 32 framed photographs and canvases to hang and we had four hours to get the job done.

All of my practice packing for and setting up my photography booth at dozens of different art fairs and festivals came in handy. I chose the 30+ pieces weeks ago, framed a couple of new prints and finished one last canvas, and then packed them in sturdy bins.

Hanging an Art Exhibit - "Garden Party - A Celebration of Botanical Photography" at Alicia Ashman Branch, Madison Public Library

Framed Prints All in a Row © 2013 Bo Mackison

Last week I completed a few smaller projects – creating title cards and revised price lists, and re-writing my artist statement and bio. I decided at the last-minute to include a quote with each photograph, much like I do when I post a photograph on this blog paired with a quotation.

Once I had all the photos in the library, I lined them along an entire wall. The patrons, occupied with their newspapers, magazines, and computers, took a break to admire the bright botanical photos and comment on the hard work of hanging a show. I assured them it was an easier job to hang thirty photographs in a well-lit, air-conditioned building compared to hanging a similar number in a 10′ by 10′ tent at an art festival.

Though admittedly, I spent most of the time figuring out where to hang the art and working out details with the hard-working library staff. My assistants did the hard part!

Hanging an Art Exhibit - "Garden Party - A Celebration of Botanical Photography" at Alicia Ashman Branch, Madison Public Library

Bright Flowers in the Children’s Library © 2013 Bo Mackison

We hung bright, bold flowers in the children’s library. One toddler, a curious two-year old, noticed the bee in the coneflower photo and showed his mother. Several eight year old girls watched me level the purple anemone photograph, Charlotte’s Anemone, and declared that purple was their favorite color. “That would go in my bedroom!” one of them declared.

I love that the children are already looking at and connecting with art on their level. What joy that is, what inspiration for those who create art.

Hanging an Art Exhibit - "Garden Party - A Celebration of Botanical Photography" at Alicia Ashman Branch, Madison Public Library

“Zen Garden” with the Garden Books © 2013 Bo Mackison

Zen Garden, one of my all time favorite photos on canvas, had to go in the gardening section. It seemed only right.

Hanging an Art Exhibit - "Garden Party - A Celebration of Botanical Photography" at Alicia Ashman Branch, Madison Public Library

Almost Ready for the Opening © 2013 Bo Mackison

By the time we had all of the art on the walls, the lights were flashing, signaling the close of the library. There was still a bit of leveling to do, and a few title cards to re-arrange, but the show is hung and ready for the official opening of the exhibit on July 1st.

Photo Exhibit Poster - Alicia Ashman Library

Garden Party Exhibit Information

Here are the details for visitors in the Madison, Wisconsin area: The art exhibit, Garden Party – A Celebration of Botanical Photography runs from July 1 through September 5 at the Alicia Ashman Branch Library Gallery, 733 North High Point Road on the far west side of Madison.

Enjoy the show!

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC. Today she also spent several hours converting the local library into a flower garden.

 

Garden Peony

Peony Polaroid

Peony Polaroid © 2013 Bo Mackison

Flowers have spoken to me more than I can tell in written words.  They are the hieroglyphics of angels, loved by all men for the beauty of their character, though few can decipher even fragments of their meaning.  ~Lydia M. Child

Back to My Roots – Prairie Grasses

Little Bluestem

Little Bluestem © 2013 Bo Mackison

I like to think of landscape not as a fixed placed but as a path that is unwinding before my eyes, under my feet.  ~ Gretel Ehrlich, in introduction to Legacy of Light (1987)

Redtop - Wisconsin Prairie

Redtop in Wisconsin Prairie © 2013 Bo Mackison

I must confess that I have a weakness of empty places. ~ Tony Hillerman in Travelers’ Tales American Southwest (2001)

I don’t think of prairies (or deserts, for that matter) as empty places.

I see them as open spaces, places where the eye can travel without abrupt barriers, where the land offers opportunity for connection, not a dis-connect.

Little Bluestem - Wisconsin Prairie

Little Bluestem in Wisconsin Prairie © 2013 Bo Mackison

. . . Fitting floor / For this magnificent temple of the sky. . .  ~ William Cullen Bryant (1866, “The Prairies”)

I like to walk in the prairie landscape, in the desert landscape, and be able to see in the distance.

Not distance from a mountain top – there is no easy access to walk the landscape spread before me from a mountain peak – though the view from mountain top is exhilarating, awe-provoking.

No, my preference is to see the distant landscape, and know it is under my feet as well as beyond my gaze.

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.  She is getting re-acquainted with the prairie and grasslands in preparation for the next set of Wisdom Cards.

Walking in Mystery

Epcot in Bloom

In Bloom © 2013 Bo Mackison

We all walk in mysteries. We do not know what is stirring in the atmosphere that surrounds us. ~ Goethe

There is a great deal of change stirring in the atmosphere that surrounds me today. Somedays it is easier to live in the present moment, and fully experience the present day than at other times. A close relative, one who has been a mother figure in my life for over three decades, is experiencing a rapid decline in her health. Her husband died earlier this year, and she is grieving and frail.

There is always the possibility that she will regain her strength, but this is a difficult time for her and for those of us who love her.

Today, though I am physically far away, I am practicing tonglen. It is not a practice she would be familiar with, but I know she will experience its benefits. Tonglen, in this specific case, is the practice of breathing in and accepting another person’s suffering, then breathing out while sending peace and calm.

That is what I hope for her – peace in the present moment, surrounded by the knowledge that she is loved.

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Bo Mackison wears many hats including those of photographer, writer, and daughter-in-law.

Simplicity – A Desert Wisdom Card

Simplicity - A Desert Wisdom Card

Simplicity in the Desert © 2013 Bo Mackison

Voluntary simplicity means going fewer places in one day rather than more, seeing less so I can see more, doing less so I can do more, acquiring less so I can have more. ~ Jon Kabat-Zin

An intimate portrait of the desert floor reveals a microcosm.

Rocks, sand, dried bits of plants, shallow roots which disappear into the earth and then reappear a few rocks over, and delicate flowers sprouting the tiniest of blossoms. Simple, yes, but in this square foot of the earth there is a sense of grounding, of balance, and the cycle of life.

“As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

Simplicity is not only about making space in your living space for living.

It is about making space in your life for your important work. It is about letting go of thoughts which rob you of valuable brain space and time. Simplicity means re-thinking your commitments so that you have the time and energy to focus on your priorities.

It means cleaning up loose ends – old promises, unfinished business, a recycled to-do list – things that seem important but remain in a circular file in your brain, stealing time and cluttering valuable space.

. . . choosing simplicity whenever possible adds to life an element of deepest freedom which so easily eludes us, and many opportunities to discover that less may actually be more. ~ Jon Kabat-Zin

SIMPLICITY offers questions/reflections for journal writing, art activities, calls for action:

  • Journal reflection: What time robbers or brain drains make it difficult to nurture the activities which support you, feed your soul and spirit, allow you to focus on the projects which serve you and others?
  • Begin a simplicity practice. Schedule open spaces into your day, times blocked off for pauses, daydreaming, or creative thinking spurts. These moments of quiet dwelling fill the well, charge your energy, give your brain a boost. If necessary, pen them on your calendar and respect them as you would any important appointment.
  • One more commitment often leads to another commitment, and another. Counter this chain reaction with chain art. Create a paper chain as a simple reminder of simplicity practices. Cut strips of paper approximately 1″ by 5″. In bold letters, write a message on each strip to remind you of the importance of simplifying your days. “See less, see more.”  “Simplicity = Freedom.” Add several phrases of your own. Then staple or glue the strips into a chain and hang where it is easily seen. A chain art reminder!

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Bo Mackison is a photographer and owner of Seeded Earth Studio LLC.  Bo is creating a deck  of Wisdom Cards. The first set, the Desert Wisdom Cards, feature a Sonoran Desert theme – its myths and stories, cultures and heritage, and the desert’s remarkable natural beauty and resources.