GOOD BONFIRE: Writing on creativity and contemplative practice by artist Hannah Burr

BUBBLES: The Backstory

11/2/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
In August, I was sitting in a beautiful spot on the coast of Northern Maine with my partner Guy. It was a very foggy day. I had a tea and had brought down the bubble wand.

I blew some bubbles as one does. They floated left, some were very small. It was a pink, long bubble wand, the kind you can get at the dollar store. We kept talking, and noticed now and then that two bubbles were still there, having landed in a tuft of grass near my feet. I continued to drink tea, swatting at the occasional mosquito, and then noticed that lo - the two at my feet were still there. Next to me was a wild bay bush, and there I found a third, smaller bubble, about an inch and a half in diameter, that had also persisted from one of the two bubble puffs I had blown.

This was now at least five minutes since they’d appeared, and all three of them were still, swirling, reflecting the world upside-down and so crisply, iridescent, and rainbowy. Guy finished his coffee and went inside and got himself some breakfast. I decided to wait until the bubbles had burst before heading in. I heard the clinking of the spoon against the bowl, and still these three bubbles, now after about fifteen minutes, were there before me, continuing to swirl.

They began to change color. They started out rainbowy, but mostly bluish- a deep royal almost purple kind of blue. Slowly they became yellow, and after a few minutes, turned orange, and then pale. By this time my Guy had assembled his tackle to go fishing, which included affixing a jig to his rod, gathering a bucket etc. He walked down to the dock, about 25 minutes from when these three bubbles were still just where they'd landed. The largest one, after about 20 minutes I'm estimating, burst.

Just like that, it was not there anymore.

The smaller of the two in the grass, and the one next to me in the bay, stuck into a short and curved leaf, persisted. And then things got wild.

The colors faded to a very pale light blue, almost a white, and then they began to fade altogether. What remained very easy to see was the base of the bubble, where the extra soap pools. This became paler as well, while the upper part of each bubble began to completely disappear, to such a degree that all I could see was the swirling pool of stuff at the base of each one, about the form of a contact lense, confirming that there was still a bubble there at all.

There I was, no way of recording an image or the time, but sitting long enough that my husband was full on fishing, and the world was waking up. I was seeing just the base, which went from a kind of gasolinelike rainbow swirl to a monochrome pale whitish silver swirl, to just a few dots and trails of silver, moving, spinning, with no other visible evidence of the bubble above it, except for occasionally a tiny granule of that silver riding over the leaves, suggesting the dome.

The second bubble popped after about 25 minutes to 30 minutes. I have no way of knowing. It was the smaller one in the grass. Suddenly also gone!

The one in the bay, just to my left, continued. I noticed that I had so much excitement, that I wanted Guy to come back, and though I called for my nephew staying next door to come see, if he had, he would not have been able to see the bubble there at all, he may have even thought I was crazy. Also, as they were leaving that morning and in cleaning and packing mode, may have just wanted to know if I'd seen one of his sneakers or something. In other words, it appears, this bubble miracle was all for me, just my own. After about FORTY MINUTES the last of these three strange bubbles, did pop. There was a visible break of tension, tiny droplets in a corona and then just the bay bush as it was.

So, that's the story of the bubble miracle. ​
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Never miss a post!

    ALIVE 

    Solo Exhibition of new work by Hannah Burr
    Barickuda Gallery
    Ann Arbor MI
    ​ Sept 17-Oct 22 2022 
    Learn more here

    END PAPERS

    This is a service and will soon be a course - in person and online. Let me know if you'd like to be notified when it's ready!
    SIGN UP TO BE NOTIFIED

    FREE SESSION WITH HANNAH!

    If you feel overwhelmed, confused or just plain excited by what's afoot in your life, and would like some excellent clarifying space and tools, try a session with Hannah! She's been a coach for 15 years. First 30 minutes is just to see what it's like...
    SNAG A FREE SESSION

    ​

    + Get one of HB's books
    +  See Hannah's Artwork
    + Shop Hannah Burr Studio

    Author

    Hannah Burr is a contemporary artist and author. Originally from Boston, she lives in Ann Arbor MI.

    Archives

    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    June 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    October 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    January 2016
    August 2015
    March 2014
    August 2013

    Categories

    All
    Art + Books
    Art For Sale
    Art In Print
    Artists Books
    Coaching
    Contemplative Practice
    Contemporary Art
    Creative Process
    Creative Process And Practice
    Deals + Events
    Embodied
    Meditation
    Messes
    Messiness
    Objects
    Prayer
    Reflection And Writing
    Relationship
    Spirituality
    Studio Stories

    RSS Feed

hannahburr.com

SHOP
CONTACT

BLOG ROll

ABOUT HANNAH


© COPYRIGHT 2015. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.