A Foreshadowing……

The Desiderata of Happiness

I came across this book for the first time in many years. “Lost” on a bookshelf, unopened for decades, it is a book I made by hand in high school; from the linocut print illustrations and the hand written text, the hand sewn pages, to the hard cover binding. The poem I used is called “The Desiderata of Happiness.” Some of you may remember it. It begins, “Walk placidly amid the noise and haste and remember what peace can be found in silence.”  High school was a very happy period of my life.

Funny, 10 years from the year I made this book, I began practicing meditation. I find learning to silence the constant chatter of the mind through the daily practice of silent meditation brings me peace. I knew nothing of yoga and meditation before that year. It has become a large part of my life.

Over 30 years later, I have created another book of similar size entitled “Visions.” It is a collection of my paintings and my own poetry and it also is meant to inspire. I was interviewed about the book earlier this month by EC Magazine (EC as in Emerald Coast) which is primarily distributed throughout The Panhandle of Florida from Panama City to the 30A area, Destin, and further west to Pensacola. The article will be in the June issue and will be available to purchase soon through my web site.

It has been said that all of fine art (defined by me as a heartfelt-inspired depiction of an inner reality) is autobiographical to some degree, whether conscious or not. I think back to the works of 10 years ago during a very painful period of my life and I realize at the time, I was only painting broken egg shells, broken seashells and dead birds.

I still paint broken seashells. To me they are beautiful analogies of youth, middle age and old age. I have many photos of dead birds which may be used for paintings one day. Death is a part of the natural cycle of life here on earth. To me it is not the end but rather a beginning.

These days, I also paint landscapes and seascapes, the sky and magic. My seascapes have moved from water surface paintings with the myriad of colors and designs found there, to the expanse of the sea, the distant horizon and the sky above. I have begun a piece of seagulls in flight.

My gaze has lifted.

Light

Detail "Sunlight on the Dunes"

I have come to the realization that the ability I have to see certain shapes and colors, is not necessarily visible to another. It is amazing the myriad of colors that can be found in “white.” The sand on the North Gulf Coast of Florida and Alabama is as white and fine as sugar. This bright white will reflect all the colors in the sky. The shadows are a beautiful blue, even deeper when the sun sits closer to the horizon in the winter months. When a storm has passed and the wind has reshaped the dunes leaving contours and curves, pale colors in the sunlight and deep blues in the shadows, another world of beauty is created… only to shift and change in a matter of hours by the time of day, the wind, the rain and the footprints left behind.

A New Year.

Blessings to you all as we begin a New Year. I am filled with hope and optimism for our world and all who inhabit this beautiful place. Yet, according to the ancient Egyptians, Sumerians, Mayans, Nostradamus, the Book of Revelations and other sources, 2012 will be the end of time either altogether or at the very least, as we now know it. A polar shift causing numerous catastrophic events including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and frequent category 5 hurricanes will occur.

There are people building underground bunkers and others planning to move north away from the Gulf Coast and what will soon be a second Atlantis, lost forever under the sea.

I think I’ll stay right here, above ground, enjoying the Florida sun for as long as I am allowed.

And as I wait for what will one day be the end of my time on Mother Earth, I’ll just keep trying to be a little kinder, a bit more patient, full of faith and in the Here and Now.

Below is a poem I wrote a few years ago.

“Resolutions”

A Christmas come and gone once more…

Another year of one’s own lore,

To contemplate and create anew…

The coming year’s resolves, a few.

To write upon the weary pages,

Of one’s own heart, alive yet faded.

Resolutions made and lost,

Triumphs yes, disappointments, cost.

To look at one’s own life and see

The need to change, to grow to be

A kinder, patient, more loving soul,

Rekindle hope in one’s own role,

As giver to the one’s we love,

A calming presence, a peaceful dove.

So far from this I clearly see,

The many flaws that make up me.

Yet hope I choose to hold on to,

The belief in Change Within, Renew.

For in one’s change within, alone,

Lies the key to the difference shown…

In every smile and happy face,

The difference from despair, to grace.

Copyright 2010 Margaret Biggs

A Trip to Port St. Joe

Last month, I participated in 4 shows in as many weeks. It was a busy    October. There were shows in Fairhope, Pensacola, Destin and Pensacola,    again. I ended the fall shows with The Great Gulf Coast Art Fest in  my  hometown. How welcome I was by old friends and new.

There were many art enthusiasts who, on seeing my work for the first time,  appreciated it on many levels, particularly my unique depiction of our Gulf  Coast.

On a national level this art festival is rated very well and draws hundreds of  thousands of people from several states.

I am so very grateful for the sales I made and extremely fulfilled by the many compliments I received and the people whose hearts I so clearly touched. Thank you to all who came by my booth and shared in my vision.

I took off for Port St. Joe to recharge last weekend. A 3 hour drive east of Pensacola, it is an easy get-away destination. I have been there several times before. The last three times I have rented a small cottage at the base of St. Joe Bay. Tucked away in the Pines, Oaks and Palmettos, there is little in the way of modern comforts.

But there is a screened in porch, a fabulous view and the prettiest sunsets. There is the sound of the Gulf and the stillness of the Bay. There are pelicans and seagulls, osprey and egrets, seashells, horseshoe crabs and the smell of salt in the air. There are no sounds of man. Quiet. Mother nature. The sea. And me.

There is Cape San Blas nearby which affords the naturalist a walk of incredible beauty. Miles and miles of Cape and there is nothing to see but beach, bay, pines, scrub oaks and palmettos, wild deer, sea life and seashells. Dunes of sugar white welcomed me as I crossed the Cape to the Gulf Side. There the view changes and the sound of the waves fill my ears, the wind cools my skin, and seashells fill my pockets.  I am at one with my surroundings.

There is the Lighthouse and the beach of fallen trees. There is the charming town of Apalachicola, with it’s slow pace, southern comforts, fisherman, boats, porches and oysters. There is Mexico Beach, St. Vincent Island and St. George. No coffee shops or movie theaters. No fancy restaurants, few clothing stores and only a hand full of low-key bars.

There is however, a Piggly Wiggly with bacon sold in 10 pound packages, fried pork rinds, pork neck bones, a fishing rod display and collard greens by the cart full. There are racks of dollar toys I remember seeing as a girl. I bought a Port St. Joe Piggly Wiggly coffee mug to bring home as a souvenir, along with my large bag of shells, my 5 prize specimens and the nicest piece of driftwood I have collected to date!

One day  I will return.

A Bliss

11/11/11

There is laughter now

In this modest home.

Simple pleasures abound

As they always have

Yet now they are cherished.

There is a hope for the future.

A confidence.

When before the future did not exist

In my mind

There was today and yesterday

Nothing more.

A paralysis. A void.

No concept of tomorrow.

I dared not venture there.

The days I awake with joy

Are multiplied

In this modest home

With no one beside me.

There is contentment

An acceptance.

There is peace

And love.

A longing I did not know I had

Has materialized before me.

My home is now a haven.

Beyond all reasoning of the mind

I have been lifted

Far above earthly pleasures

To an eternal bliss.

Now to sustain.

copyright 2011 Margaret Elizabeth Biggs

Tuesday Morning in the Fall

Tuesday Morning, Nov. 8, 2011

It is cool out, about 65 degrees. I can hear the wind in the trees, the bird’s chirping, the cars rushing by on 98.

My father would be able to tell me the names of the bird’s whose sweet sound I focus on.

The sound of the traffic is minimal in my mind.

It is fall here in the Deep South.

Though the change of seasons is much less apparent here, it is there just the same.

There is less humidity in the air and so the sky is much clearer.

When the midday sun hits the bay, it “sparkles like diamonds,” as my father would say.

The seaweed and algae are gone and so the Gulf is crystal clear too.

The Bull Rays migrate this time of year and are a joy to see “flying” through the green waters in schools.

The Sea Oats have scattered their seeds and are now just tall stems swaying

in the grass in the wind.

The beaches are less crowded and the wildflowers are in bloom.

Bright yellow and deep red dot the end of the Island and in the woods there

are accents of a pale purple too.

My mother would know all the names of the wildflowers.

I will learn them with time.

“Shell Ascending”

“Shell Ascending”

40×30”

Oil on Canvas

Tropical Storm Lee left this faded beauty on the beach for me.

Days of rain, strong winds and violent surf were followed by another several days of just the wind and high seas.

Left was a beach cleansed. No footprints or any other evidence of man. Just perfectly smooth white sand, a few treasures such as this broken shell I found, the Gulf and space.

I am partial to large, broken and faded shells. To me they often become analogies of women as I paint them.  The painting ”Shell Dancing” is one such piece.  “Shell Ascending” became another.

Walking around the beach at midday with this shell, I searched for the painting I would create. I placed it here and there on the sand. Next to the tracks left by birds and sand crabs, turning it this way and that and observing the shadow, all the while photographing her.

Then I lifted the shell to the sky and recognized Georgia O’Keefe’s series on dry, white bones against the deep blue of the sky. I took some more shots.

Then I lowered her to a point where the Gulf, the sand and the sky became her backdrop and my painting was found. I turned her, played with the shadow, studied the play of light and took many more shots in the process. I came home with over 50 photos.

As I painted this piece I began to see the influence of Magritte as well. On an early Facebook post a few people also mentioned Dali.

I do not mind the reference to the Masters. All creative people are influenced by the artists that have come before them. I would argue that in some of her paintings, O’Keefe shows the influence of Magritte.

Nevertheless, this piece is all mine. It is not only the beauty of the Coasts that I seek to express through the images, I want to express an inner life. Sometimes this inner life may be my own, sometimes it may be that of a collective consciousness.

Always I speak of an inner beauty and a peace that is accessible to all.

“The Persistence of Light”

The Persistence of Light

The Light if the Heavens

Break through the storm clouds

Shining through the dense darkness

A white light.

The reflections, an analogue of the seekers

Wishing, manifesting, willing.

The Light of the Heavens

Shining down through the darkness of thought

To the body which, so like our seas

Are many droplets, which make up One.

One ocean, one Body.

The penetration of Light

Through to the depths of thought.

The reflection of Light

Reaching back up to the Heavens.

A dissolution of darkness

The saving grace of our world.

Copyright Margaret Elizabeth Biggs 2011

Light Reflects

Often a poem will come to me while I am painting. The poem a direct result of the deeper thoughts that I am striving to express through the painting. Other times a poem of mine will be inspired by a painting or a series of paintings, after they are complete.

Such was the case with the poem below, which was inspired by “Reflections and Refractions” (to the left) as well as “Swim with Me” and “Light Refracts” which can be found in the “originals” section of my site.

Light Reflects

On the surface of the sea

Light reflects

The blue of the sky

The clouds just below

drifting and dancing

radiating

and blessing.

Upwards and outwards

Sharing with the Universe

The Light that is reflected

On the Surface of the Sea.

Yet on the Sea floor

Light refracts.

Through the body of water

To the sand below

The brilliance of the Heavens

Is minimized to lines.

Distorted, bending

Intersecting

And reaching

In one dimension.

Light meant for Infinity

Is limited and oppressed

Far below, on the Sea floor.

Copyright: July 2011 by Margaret Elizabeth Biggs

“The Goddess”

When I found the broken Florida Fighting Conch from which this painting is derived, I envisioned the famous Greek Statue of the Goddess Nike which is named  ”The Winged Victory of Samothrace”.

This Faded Beauty is broken yet beautiful, jagged and smooth. She stands tall when hung vertically and lies gracefully on her side.

There is an inner light within all people. Very often it is clouded over by anger and fear, jealousy or sorrow. This light is within everyone just the same. To have the desire and willingness to get in touch with this inner light, brings peace and joy.

The broken, inner edges of the Fighting Conch are white. Emphasizing this in “The Goddess”, I am guiding the viewer’s eye around her edges and inside to her core. In so doing I hope to raise awareness of each individual’s own inner light and to encourage the viewer to look for this light in every person they meet.