21 June

The Windowsill Gallery. The Pencils Strike A Chord

by Jon Katz
Power Of The Pencils
Power Of The Pencils

How curious art is, we go to the dump, see these pencils in a coffee can – Maria saw them, I didn’t see them at first – and she said the same thing George Forss said, “this is art,” and I felt the same way, I brought them home, started figuring out how to photograph them, and it seems the pencils touched a deep chord in people, they are already famous, half of the people who came to the Open House pointed at them, exclaimed about them, as soon as George had a free minute, he took them too the stone wall and started taking photos of them.

They strike a chord in me too, their color, the time and era they seem to suggest, the number of them. All I know is an elderly man brought them to the dump on Saturday and Mike the town manager sensed something special about them and put them up on a table for people to take rather than chuck them down the garbage chute. He saw the art in them too. I love photographing them.

21 June

Poem: George Forss And Donna Wynbrandt At The Open House

by Jon Katz
George And Donna
George And Donna

Once someone asked me,

“sir, what is creativity?,”

and I answered,

“It is a simple matter of passion and courage;

creativity is George and Donna,

creating every day of their lives,

reminding us that genius will triumph,

over even the most daunting odds,

they make something every day,

in every space, in every way,

taking off their shoes in the mosque

of encouragement.

George says life is too short,

and too sweet, to waste in

fear and hesitation, to hide behind

a small life or a small mind,

to speak poorly of his work.

Donna says she loves him for that,

every lover of the creative spark in this world,

would gladly testify,

on their behalf.

 

21 June

Hay Meadow, Dusk. Mirror Of Emotion.

by Jon Katz
Emotion
Emotion

I felt so much emotion today, for Maria, for the members of the Open Group who came to the farm, for my friends who helped us, for George Forss and Donna Wynbrandt, for all of the people who traveled so far to see the farm and meet us. I took the emotion across the road to the beautiful hay meadow and waded inside of it, I’m not sure it makes sense, but it is what I feel. For so many years, I bottled up all of the emotion inside of me, and now it comes out when it wishes and pulls me along with it.

21 June

Sunshine And Light At The Open House

by Jon Katz
Mary Kellogg
Mary Kellogg

Mary Kellogg is a prophet of courage, inspiration and encouragement. She is 84 now, and working on her third volume of poetry, as yet untitled. She lives by herself on a 30 acre farm not to far from us and she spends much of her time driving her friends to grocery stories and doctor’s appointments. She has been writing poetry since she was eleven years old and I was the first person she ever showed it to six or seven years ago. She was one of the many wonderful things that happened at our Open House today, and there is yet another day to go.

Mary read from her poetry (she will read again tomorrow at 2 p.m.). George Forss was commissioned to do eight portraits – he said that was his limit for one day, he will return Sunday to do more. Members of the Open Group At Bedlam Farm came to Cambridge from all over the country to meet, talk to one another, share their powerful sense of creativity and community. I joined them for breakfast at the Round House Cafe, they came early to the farm, stayed late to talk, they shined the brightest light on the day.

I did about five herding demos with Red, he and I can barely move tonight, Maria sold a lot of scarves, potholders, the artists sold photographs, paintings, we sold more than 40 packs of notecards. All of these things will be on sale Sunday, and then, online on Maria’s website. Kim Macmillan handled the money in the studio barn, Jack Macmillan kept everyone safe in parking and getting onto the farm.

I would say between two and three hundred people came to the farm today, a perfect size on a perfect day. Deb Foster conducted guided donkey tours all day, she also helped us raise money for the Hubbard Hall Scholarship Fund (I am raffling off a framed photo to raise money for the fund.)

Tomorrow, we do it again from noon to 4 p.m. We are proud to share our love, I am always astonished, humbled and gratified by people who travel far to see me. Kimberly from Canada said she was nearly overwhelmed at seeing people and animals she had read so much about, me too. Cathy Stewart, a photographer and blogger and neighbor of the Central Park Carriage Horses came up from New York City, her beautiful pictures and words gave so much strength to the people in the carriage trade, I was so glad to meet her and talk with her, she inspired me to keep writing about the horses.

I gave a talk about the Open Group, about my lifelong dream for a truly creative community online, and how it came about, and I talked about the carriage horse issue and the future of animals in our world. What a wonderful day Maria and I had, it was simply a perfect experience, rare in any life, a precious gift.  I was awash in good feeling, I loved seeing George Forss get the recognition he deserves, he is a great and wonderful man. The Open Houses are a celebration of many things, but I suspect for me, the core is a celebration of my life with Maria, of her wonderful evolution as an artist, at the unimaginable gift of finding love in my life and learning how to give it and receive it. I felt it all day, from the Open Group, to my exhausted donkeys, sheep and dogs, to the wonderful visitors and friends who helped make this day shine so brightly.

21 June

The Portrait Artist: George Forss

by Jon Katz
George Forss
George Forss

George Forss, the brilliant and famous landscape photographer, arrived this morning with five or six cameras – this one a Zeiss from 1935, he is doing portraits for people who come to the Open House. George is finishing up his book “The Way We Were,“, to be published this October. The book is a collection of his photographs before 911. George will be on hand today and tomorrow at the first Bedlam Farm Open House, and then again in October, for the second.  It’s a privilege to watch him work, and I am so grateful that he is here. George and I have become fast friends, I am lucky to know him.

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