Laura Gaffke’s writing about her artwork and process.
Hand Painted Feathers Dear Tina, The lovely video you made of our work is what inspired this painting of the hand painted feathers. It’s always so fun to see the work together and how our ideas flow. In your last letter you asked two questions: Can realism be abstract? Can abstraction be realism? You then went… Read More
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Dear Tina, I loved reading your last letter. Yes, I agree, drawing is a really good way to slow down and “see”. Creating little flower posies and viewing them through the lens of my camera is one of the ways I “see”. It’s become a large part of my creative process and a meditative… Read More
“The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct”. ~Carl Jung Dear Tina, How are you my friend? I have to say that the last package you sent me lit me up! I love how you included my collage and painting from all those years back. It was… Read More
Dear Tina & sweet friends, First of all I want to thank you for continuing to follow our creative journey. It feels unbelievably special and we appreciate you SO much! As Tina mentioned in her last letter one of the things we do really well for each other is listening deeply to each others thoughts, dreams… Read More
Dear Tina, How are you? I too am enjoying the handwritten letters we are writing to each other in our journal. Seeing your handwriting makes me feel closer to you when I read it, like you are keeping me company in my studio. The wild turkey feather you drew for your last piece in The… Read More
Dear Tina, It was a bit of a bummer to see our work damaged from the postal service. I wonder what happened there! WOW! You did a really nice job flattening everything and packing it up for me. Thank you. I am happy to say it arrived safe and sound. Summer sure is slipping by… Read More
Dear Tina, How are you my friend? My garden is starting to come to life and I am the happiest girl, flooded with inspiration from all the lush color. Winter is WAY too long here in CT! I have been going to a lot of going to plant sales and gardens centers, filling my pots with fresh new… Read More
Dear Tina, I SO loved that gold shimmer you added to your last drawing for The Collective! It reminded me of the sun sparkling on the water here in CT. I also appreciated what you shared about the Great Blue Heron. What a graceful bird! Their long legs made me think of flamingos, a bird I have been intrigued by… Read More
Dear Tina, I now see why the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is your favorite Museum! I finally went for a visit and was enthralled with Isabella’s intimate and thoughtfully curated collection of art from her travels around the world. There was so much to appreciate! I swooned over her garden of course and was inspired by her book… Read More
Dear Tina, Thank you so much for the little brass Ganesh you put in The Collective box. I put him on my desk as a reminder to remove obstacles in my life. I continue to recognize that my obstacles are mainly thoughts that do not serve me. When I let them go and focus on… Read More
Dear Tina, How are you my friend? I have been craving some “soulful” listening while I am painting and came across this interview Krista Tippett shared from On Being with Joanna Macy, a philosopher of Ecology. I have never known or heard of this as a profession and I loved the idea of it. I was reminded… Read More
Hello Sweet T, How are you? Thank you for sharing Mary Oliver’s poem with me. The graphic you made is so sweet! The poetry reminded me of the first collaborative piece of art we ever exhibited. It was inspired by Rumi’s poem, The Waterwheel, remember? I love how we were discovering our sense of place and connection to the landscape in that… Read More
Dear Tina, Thank you for reminding me of Mary Oliver’s poetry in your last letter! I perused my bookshelves for her book, “House of Light” and found a quiet spot to immerse myself into her beautiful world. This poem, The Gift jumped out at me. The Gift I wanted to thank the mockingbird for the vigor of… Read More
“The most spiritual and powerful aspect of human nature is our faculty of attention, Consciousness. Attention is what allows us to see ourselves, and so within others, in order to learn how we can elegantly approach anything, everything.” ~Elena Brower & Erica Jango Dear Tina, Yes, to Ali Edwards for our “One Little Word” tradition!… Read More
Tina Hirsig, Vision 120 Laura Gaffke, ReVision 120 Dear Tina, I could tell you about the wild adventure I have been on in… Read More
Hellooooo Sweet T! How are you? What an awesome summer don’t you think? I have so much to write about that I can barely keep my thoughts straight. This summer has been filled with connecting with family and friends, sun soaked days at the beach as well as incubating ideas. One of my many summer excursions was… Read More
Dear Tina, I appreciated the video on creativity you shared in your last letter. It reminded me to “trust the process” and allow the uncertainty that comes with the creative process. I was feeling overwhelmed with all the wonderful things we had seen and done on our recent trip to D.C. (much like our NYC trips). Ideas have been pouring in but… Read More
Dear Tina, The photo of your sago palm releasing it’s new layer of fronds in your Vision 120 was gorgeous! I watched each of the videos you posted and have to say I was drawn to the symbolism of the spirals in the videos more than the math aspect of them. As you know I… Read More
Hello Sweet T, How are you? I am doing well. This week at my Art Salon I got a well needed pep talk/reminder about that evil little word called resistance. I realized once again that my perfectionism (another form of resistance) has been slowing me down and keeping me from moving forward in many areas of my life. I… Read More
Dear Tina, How are you? My garden is in full bloom right now and I am in heaven. It is a far cry from when I posted my snowy Vision for you. When I first wrote you about ReVision 119 I was invested in another 21 day meditation challenge. This is the fourth one I have done… Read More
Hello Sweet T, How are you? It was such a pleasure visiting you in Charleston. We got so much done in such a short time didn’t we? I love our new website more and more each day. Thank you for sharing all the different website headers we have had throughout our time on the internet~so… Read More
Hello Sweet Friends, How are you? I have been in a magical stage of nurturing and transcendence since joining Marie Forleo’s B-School. My mind is overflowing with ideas like a river after a long winter. The course work in B-School is both innovative and creative. It is making me pause, take stock of where I am and helping me build a… Read More
Dear Tina, How are you? I have missed you! I find myself hunkered down at home, catching up, reflecting and finding my rhythm. I just returned from my awesome island adventure to St. Martin with my good friend Brigitte. It was Ooooh la la laid back and the perfect little slice of heaven I was looking… Read More
Hello Sweet T & friends, How are you? I am doing okay. I spent yesterday afternoon in the studio working on a series of cards. I painted old book pages to loosen up and experiment with the new neon pink & magenta paints I am currently obsessed with right now, I then used it to create the… Read More
Dear Tina, Everything is covered in sparkly white up here. We had a big snowstorm which made everything magical. I am learning to welcome winter’s rhythm although I would take a beach day over the snow anytime. Things slow down around here and people don’t seem to go out as much. Do you remember those… Read More
Dear Tina, I was glad you wanted to continue the one little word project and appreciate your honesty with last years word (you totally cracked me up in your last letter by the way). I really love your new word breathe and I am glad it is resonating with you. I may look into getting one of Liz Lamoreux’s bracelets with my word on it. It… Read More
“Blessed is the Season which engages the Whole World in a conspiracy of LOVE” ~ Hamilton Wright Mabie Dear Tina, I feel like I have been in a bit of a fog the past few months, not really myself but striving to be “the best version of myself”. The holidays were different this year without… Read More
Hello Sweet T, How are you? I started to write you a whole slew of times but when I finally sat down to finish my thoughts, they were a jumble, sending me off in too many directions (hard to believe I know! ha!). Too much going on in this head of mine so I will… Read More
Hello Sweet T, The past few months have been some of the most challenging of my life. It seems just when I am able to pick myself up and find my optimism some other unbearably sad thing happens to me or someone I care about. I hold true to the belief that things will get better and that… Read More
Dear Tina, I wrote in my last letter my belief that life is better when shared. This is something I wholeheartedly believe in and have been thinking about a lot lately. I know for sure my life wouldn’t be as rich if I didn’t have you opening my eyes to new ideas, books, artists and ways of seeing the… Read More
