Welcome to my blog Upstate Girl, (a.k.a Follow Your Bliss Part II), I am an independently published author. This blog is all about writing and the stuff that inspires me to write, the joys and obstacles that come along with the writer's life, and my fascination with the psychology of people and what makes them tick...the human condition, as is...and my love for words, playing with them and making sense of them...and I throw in a few photos from my acre of the world just to make things pretty...sometimes there are things I have no words for, only pictures will do.

*Copyright notice* All photos, writing, and artwork are mine (
© Laura J. Wellner), unless otherwise noted, please be a peach, if you'd like to use my work for a project or you just love it and must have it, message me and we'll work out the details...it's simple...JUST ASK, please.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Washed Glass a novel...someday...



Water meets sky in a symmetrical composition of blue. The intense cerulean aloft fades as it descends toward the sharp-edged horizon — below is an impressionist study comprised of reflected golden sunlight and shimmering continuous motion. The undulating surface mirrors the brilliant sky above and meshes with what lies below the surface, the color shifts from gray to blue to green. The polished cobblestones of muted hues clatter with a joyous laughter within the white-capped ridges that rush forward, as a final stroke onto a windy shore of light-capturing sand. The soft fringe of beach is strewn with prehistoric driftwood bones, and other peculiar artifacts that are brought forth, or reclaimed by the waves. Patience and a practiced eye will catch sight of colored gems hidden amongst the sand, stones, and waves. Broken shards, reshaped by the elements and time, once considered refuse, are now seen as precious and rare to find. Beach glass, sea glass, washed glass, betrayed by its transparent nature, revealed in sunlight among common pebbles, they become treasure found or forever lost, crushed by stones and smoothed by water — they regress into grains of sand, they evolve and return to whence they came.
 
This piece is from page 1 of my unpublished novel, Washed Glass - eventually, I will get back to this...it is my very first novel from the group of novels that I started in the 1999-2002 period of...creative madness, I suppose you could call it...or obsession. Thinking back, I feel like there are holes in my memory from this time period, like I had been on a bender and had more than one "lost weekend" - at times it was a wonderful existence, other times it was... well, it was unlike anything I ever experienced in my life, so it was a little scary sometimes - disruptive, frustrating, unsettling. It was a process that I was learning - and at times relearning.

Washed Glass is Katharine and Jonathan's story, they've been seen in the background of my other books, as I have created a full community of people who are connected through various relationships...it is a classic boy-meets-girl/boy-loses-girl/ boy-finds-girl...only they keep finding one another in different lifetimes, not just this one...and unfortunately for them, they carry these memories, some are very unpleasant, and as they've become adults they suffer from reoccurring nightmares, are nigh insane from the lack of sleep, and have various personal struggles they are dealing with when they meet again (at last).

The book itself is done. Has been "done" since 2003, which means it has a beginning, an end and a bunch of shit happening in between, but I have yet to return to it for the editorial bloody massacre that it really needs. It's next in line once I finish editing and proofreading Drinking from the Fishbowl...  and THAT has been an ongoing marathon that seems to have no end, but now that it seems that I've gotten my head back into it, this one should move along at a steadier pace, reading, editing, revisions, proofreading, and refining one more time...don't get me wrong, I love the process (I'm not complaining) I'm just tellin' you that's all...the writing and the final polish is such a beautiful process to me, I can only say, look at the picture of this beach glass, the stones, the sand...this is it, visually. This is what I'm doing when I'm spending my time...








Saturday, August 11, 2012

Pictures from the gallery...


Opening night, the first people have arrived...
 When I'm not writing novels, I'm making pictures...so I thought I'd share what I've been up to painting-wise (if you don't follow my art blog Follow Your Bliss, if you do, I apologize for the double posting.) Along with my Fred, I was invited to be part of Summer Medley a group exhibition at Szozda Gallery in Syracuse NY, and dropped off my recent paintings there on Tuesday evening...Friday night was the opening reception...It's always a treat to see one's paintings on a pristine white wall with the right lighting to show them off!

My latest painting, Eclipse has been a work in progress for months, it's so nice to see it finished at last!
 
Every artist should have at least a corner of their own...
 I don't like having my picture taken so I'm likely to be a bit foolish...or make faces...
The Blue Square Window on one side and Solar on the other...
Yup, that's me...and my hair...frizzy, frizzy hair...I'm behaving myself in this photo...not making faces or something...but it didn't last long, the next photo...well...good grief...
This bitty painting SOLD!
I knew this one little painting would sell...that color turquoise seems to grab everyone's attention these days. I'm very happy that my painting is going to a good home...and I'm very glad to be exhibiting at Caroline's lovely gallery with a unique group of local talent, photographer Ray Trudell, mixed media by Linda Esterley and paintings by Phil Parsons, and Emily Elizabeth...I don't think the local artists get enough credit for what we do, many of us work day jobs and squeeze in time alone in some corner of our homes to make art...(and for goodness sakes, write books), some of us are fortunate to make a little pocket money now and then...we are "the other New York."We are the reality of a lot of dreams. Someone long ago, back in the '80's said that "Painting is dead." And every now an then, I hear this so-called death-knell still being batted about in conversation...seriously? For something that's supposedly dead or dying for 30 years or more, it looks mighty alive to me on the walls of Caroline's gallery...and other galleries too...and online, there's tons of artists out there making art, beautiful art. We make art because we love it...it's our joy in life...and I know I appreciate it everyday. I also appreciate Caroline Szozda for inviting me to drop off my little paintings and being part of this exhibition.




Friday, August 3, 2012

One year.


Janie 1931-2011
She's been gone for a year already...it still feels fresh at times...but there are times I look up and see a photo of her and then I pause and wonder...when was the last time I thought about you? I am dwelling on her death and not being there less and less, but the sharp feeling of loss has not dulled when I remember her. It does get easier...

My mother's bed, 8/2/2011, she got up that day and made her bed like every other day, hours later she suffered a stroke and died the next day...in motion right to the end.