rattled

 

Rigid fury.

Held against my will.

Computer hostage.

My wife told me to disengage. Walk away. 

Sitting on the wooden bench. Brain buzzing stuck. So upset.

I ended up standing beside the pond, staring down at my bare feet in the grass.

It was just then ----- my cell phone came alive ---- and a voice reached out to help untangle my emotions.

A friend who was led to call me. A little bird told me, he said. 

Like an angel. Like divine providence. Like a glass of cold beverage. Like a companion. Familiar and patient.

In due course we were telling each other corny jokes and laffing. It was salvation. The rigid clamp gave way to freedom. I ended up in our front yard, seated on the sun bench, birds chirping, clover between my toes, a grin on my silly face. So sweet.         

restoration comes when I hold my cat Pookie. Fur against my finger tips.        

Laying still on deck cushions, sun light 

Recall the rescue.

When I was carried

being low

being weak

still loved

exhausted 

anytime rest comes

sleep

recovery

lingering

drifting 

mindful

yes

song medley

Song Medley by Karl Marxhausen    

18 minute video.

The energy is present today. All five songs put down in one take. The order: (1) Alli nall  (2) Following  (3) Infinite Mercy  (4) Beloved  (5) Recall   All songs under copyright with Karl Marxhausen, Carrollton, Missouri.

The Lord leads my wife and I every day. Each day an adventure. We work out in the Chillicothe YMCA pool two or three times each week. We meet with friends over lunch at small cafes in Carroll and Ray County, in north central Missouri. North America. 

-------------------------------

From day to day, each day takes us somewhere.

In it all Jesus is real. The moments surprise. He lifts, he speaks, eagles glide, the yard grows green. I am grateful for Jan my wife. We are a team in our retirement. Fluid. Mindful. Kind hearted. You will hear the surprises of joy in these songs.

Thank you for being a part of my life. Today the courage returned to post music on the Moss Creek Journal. To stay up on making a video or typing at the keyboard takes energy and effort. Much time is far away from this activity. But today work was given here.

Stay in touch dear reader. Leave your comments and encouragement down below in the comment box. 

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gushing out

in the day of assistance i recall these moments:

my friend was diligently searching  

i was there when he finally found the needed document.

he drove us back to the agency. the process for his assistance was set in motion.

it was beside his car that i noticed this scene. there were noisy motors pumping dirty water from a trench cut through a main street in the center of downtown Carrollton. men bent over engaged in this work. 

it dawned on me i was seeing the physical action of assistance for my friend. a visual scene of hope, of engagement, of a deep problem being solved. 

"LOOK. this is a picture of what work God is doing for you right now," i told my friend.

lots of light uncovering dark dealings.

a problem is being UNCOVERED in BROAD DAYLIGHT.

across the courthouse lawn, on the far side, a tall yellow ladder ran up from the sidewalk to the roof of a brick building. i told my friend "people are working on the roof. what might that mean?"

"jacob's ladder. angels going up and down," i added.

"IN THE MYSTIC REALM," he mused.

"i think God is working above in the heavenlies. On earth as it is in heaven. things we cannot see. being done for you!!!" the metal sculpture on the courthouse lawn was whirling round. its spinning parts added to these moments. 

just off the downtown square fire hydrants were gushing onto the street.

i teared up. what a visual!!! 

the recurring picture that comes to me.  Jesus is a fountain springing up, over flowing, ready and eager to give.

this hydrant was at first and main streets. it was a yelo hydrant.

one more memory: my friend and i had gone out to lunch. from the mix of people present to eat, an unexpected believer came up to me and began to talk. And what he spoke tied directly into this day of assistance.

 

words of assurance calm the listener over the cell phone.

in the hands of god. 

as a foot note: 

the following day the work downtown was complete. no road blocks. no one working. no hydrants flushing. i rubbed my eyes. i just happened to be there when all the commotion was going on. and my friend had seen it too. 

wow. just for us to see. thanks.

ink drawings -- vermont trip

     My current artwork is pen and ink drawings from our Vermont road trip. Colored pencil on notebook paper preserved personal episodes along the way. 
    To start off our retirement my wife chose Burlington, Vermont as our destination. We drove 300 miles each day. Staying in motels. Both of us took turns driving. We swam in Lake Champlain and indoor motel pools. The couple we met at the Carrollton city pool who were from Chappaqua, New York --- the ones who were returning from Colorado and decided to view the Total Eclipse  last August from our village ---  we caught up with them at a cafe in Mount Kisco. We drove from Missouri through Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, New York state to Burlington, Vermont. 
   Jan wanted to experience the "Nourish Vermont" conference held at the Shelburne Farms. We did. She loved every minute of it. My thoughts went into my journal. The trip was a success. We returned from the seventeen day excursion. The 3,600 mile experience together. She thanked me for planning the trip. She noted we did not fight. 

    We left the Interstate to look for a lake. She held the map. I followed her directions. As we drove here and there the anxiety rose in me. I wondered how long it would take to find this lake. Traffic passed by in the opposite lane. I saw a bright yellow CAR go by. Then regular traffic. Soon a bright yellow PICKUP TRUCK went by. Driving on. When the bright yellow SEMI TRUCK passed by I began to count yellow vehicles. Soon I had counted nine. I had a suspicion someone try to tell me something. Yellow is the colored pencil I use to highlight passages in my prayer journal that I want to remember MOST. We had driven out of a village into the countryside. This did not look like where we needed to be. Where was this lake? Then I saw the barn off the road. Most barns had some kind of embellishment painted on its side. On this barn was a circle with a large letter "K." My first name starts with the letter K. I recognized that the Lord was using the bright yellow cars and this large K to reassure me, that He was with me, present, and that this wild goose chase was going to be Okay. He was here right now to lead my wife and I to our destination. The way He does His thing to help me out, to calm my heart, in the middle of THIS. We found the lake. We enjoyed moving through warm and cold pockets of water.

      Back on the Interstate I was reading from Luhrmann's book. Jan was driving. Luhrmann was discussing when the Lord speaks to our minds, it is both our thoughts in our mind but it is also something that we weren't thinking about. It comes suddenly, easily, and gently. And His words encourage and give me support. I like to think of it as an ambush. Or, that He redirects what I am thinking about, so that I become aware of His presence, and He brings me peace of mind. And with these incoming thoughts I feel loved and cared for, and I know I belong to Him. It is an amazing thing. 
     So as I am meditating on this, my wife reads the words off the license plate that just passed by. She says, "NEW LIFE."  I look up from the book, I look at her, and ask: "What did you say?" She repeats the words NEW LIFE. It dawns on me  the Lord is in this moment, breaking in to my reading just the way Luhrmann sez He does. I'm astonished and my body tingles. It is so cool.  This episode will later be written in my prayer journal. Sunday May 27, 2018. Richmond, Indiana.

       
      Still later, I am driving and ahead is an overpass. Underneath the metal girding is not a dull grey or a lifeless green, no, it is bright yellow. I pass under 1 - 2 - 3 yellow overpasses. One of my favorite numbers is 3. Three yellow overpasses. I laugh. I tell Jan about it. We chuckle. The Lord has gone out of His way -  to line this all up for me -- to know that I am His. That He thinks about me. And that this trip is going to work out.

[Tanya Luhrmann book, 2012, When God Talks Back]

yes

One minute. Subject. Site. Painting on easel, bungee cord. Friday noon. 
Double click images to enlarge details.

 Yes by Karl Marxhausen

Acrylic on 70 lb acid free paper

Plein air

November 17, 2017

gray smudges on knuckles

The country drive last Sunday began "the stir........"  
Monday after running errands, I stopped by Lincoln Lakes "to stand ...... and be. listen. feel the sharp air on my face. silent, hoping for a response."
I began a checklist. Dug out my padded overalls. Would my body still fit in them?? Pulled the heavy backpack with paints and supplies out of storage.
Tuesday I checked off the overalls. It was a squeeze with my tummy, but I fit. Went out with the hand saw and for my new past time, hand sawing tree trunks that lie out in the yard. Each in various stages of being cut. It is more of an exercise for me to do, rather than a task to accomplish. An exertion to keep my mind sharp.
Wednesday the paint kit was moved into the cab. The easel in the back. For a time to come.
Friday the sun remained out long enough for me to "go look. pull out the backpack, set up the easel, hunt and locate the bungee cords. telescope the legs out. stand and observe. locate the graphite.. and sketch."

Orange road cones are stationed around me as I draw from the creek bridge on South Ely Street. Sunshine. Nip in the air. Clear sky. November. And the promise of an overcast afternoon. ... An hour passes. I regard the creek on the west side of the bridge. Another day for that, another time.

Today it goes well. How will my body respond tomorrow? ...to this stretching and lifting, bending and moving, climbing up and down out of the cab. Another check off the list, taking down the easel, carrying supplies back into the cab, lifting, placing. Gathering the cones. Off down the street.

  
Ely street meets West Lincoln Street and I stop by a green field with trees aflutter and a house nestled beneath its boughs. At last I find a fallen branch and mark the place I want to come back to. No sketch. Jotted thoughts on a paper squatch in my pocket to remember by.

On the shore the easel and drawing pad secured with bungee cord around back. All set.
A sullen monument of bleached tree ascends to my right. A far tree bank across the lake. Two houses peeking out from behind way up there. The breeze cold, the sunshine bright, the sky still clear blue. Bright yellow green algae. This place I hope to return to and paint.
Less than an hour I am satisfied.

Piling all into the cab. Easel hoisted. Graphite retired. The smudges removed with a clean moist baby wipe towel. I return home. My eyes roam through the passing tree trunks to backyards and houses tucked away in the wood. The spark bursts. Houses tucked away in the wood. A concept to come back to.

Here, I have finished posting the photos and typing the text, and the weather report proves to be true. The clouds have rolled in and the sunshine has left.

Thanks for reading it. It's time for lunch.

North central Missouri, central United States, North America, planet earth.


 

crumbling plastic torn down - studio

On November 2016 while I was assembling collage materials in my studio, I noticed much of the clear plastic dangling from the ceiling, all ratty-looking. I would look into tearing it down at some future point.

History:  The shed was built by me after the closing of the Christian coffeehouse late in 1999. Some will remember the weekend rock bands and the 16 month run at That Phat Phish. Board member Curtis Fisher had built the stage. The stage was released into my care when the non-profit closed its doors. It was put on blocks and became the floor of my studio.

Hard rock Empire band members on Phat Phish flatbed, courthouse lawn, during summer of 1999, Carrollton, Missouri. Double click to enlarge.

Above, student Danielle Sullivan gets autograph from keyboardist of reggae band Temple Yard on Phat Phish stage, 1998.

Fatal Subconscious, punk band members from Kansas City, pose for photo, 1998
The stage came apart in two sections. These were rearranged, put on blocks and became the floor of my studio.

Plywood walls went up. Southern light plexiglas windows. A slanted corrugated tin roof with skylight.

I built-in overlapping flanges around the door that helped shut out the cold.

The entire inside walls and floor were covered with clear plastic.

A heated oil space heater hooked up from the house provided enough heat in the winter months.

Later on I experimented with large pieces of the solid pink insulation up against the corrugated tin roof. Cut to fit around the edges and rafters.

In 2000 when I began doing landscapes in acrylic I used the shed as a studio plenty. As I gained confidence over the years, I have painted and created outdoors as well.

The shed came in handy in January of 2016 when I needed an enclosed space to vanish my paintings. (Double click to enlarge images)

Three minutes.

In 2007 there was a period when I did art inside the house which had its own heat. First in the blue room (above) and another time the kitchenette area (below). The woodcut and printmaking was in the house.

You know, an art space is where ever you can find one. Push stuff aside and make a spot to do it.

That said, the shed space has also been used to store the lawn mower and pool equipment.

In December 2016 I took action and took down shelves and metal brackets. The dust mask was a must as I pulled off all the clear plastic. It crumbled in my hands. The way it disintegrates after a time. See before and after.

The solid insulation panels above were not staying up. Coming loose, falling down. I put down some ideas on paper. There would be more to do.