Beginnings of Extraordinary Change

Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence.

Ovid

I was trying to picture this in my head this morning...this hard stone that is hollowed out by seemingly innocuous little drips of water.  For me it's a powerful metaphor for the way repeated thoughts (positive or negative) shape and mold who we are.  If thoughts are like water, I want to be very careful about the messages I allow to drip into my brain.

I've been considering the intention board I shared with you in Tuesday's post, and have decided to tweak it a bit by dropping the word "will".  For example, instead of saying "I will trust my intuition," my intention will now read "I trust my intuition."  See the subtle shift?  Just by dropping one word I have changed the statement from something I hope will happen in the future to something that already is a reality and I have only to maintain what is already true.  I think it's much easier to choose to continue an action than it is to begin one.

While I was tweaking the wording I decided to make the list a little prettier, too.  (Mostly just because I just had to play with some paint today!)

I also found a few negative words in the original so you may notice some other changes.  Instead of saying, "I will not compare myself or my work to others," my new and improved intention reads, "I celebrate and embrace my unique creative voice and the creative voices of my fellow artists."  See (or rather "feel") the difference?  Instead of fighting against a negative I am embracing a positive!

It may sound like I'm splitting hairs here, but these subtle adjustments in our thinking really can transform the way we approach art and life.  Sometimes seemingly small shifts can be the beginnings of extraordinary change.

Change your thoughts and you change your world.

Norman Vincent Peale

By the way...I painted the first layer on two more canvases yesterday, this time in cool tones.  Tomorrow is a dedicated painting day and I am ready!

Linking up today with:

Paint Party Friday

It's True

Just wanted to share the quote I jotted down in my journal this morning:

It's true...it really, really is, even if it doesn't seem possible from where you stand today.

Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.

Psalm 30:5

Drippy, Blustery, Magical Day

I spent the early hours of of this drippy, blustery day photographing the surface of our pond.  The ripples created by the wind have the most interesting patterns and I never tire of watching them.  I captured some images so I can study them later.

It was so gray out that these almost look like black and white images.

Our world really is lovely, isn't it?

I also noticed that the wind blowing across the water makes the reflection of the trees look like an image of roots, so I got caught up in photographing that for a while.

So, so pretty and constantly changing.

And then, in the midst of all that drippy blusteriness  I went to work in my studio and magic happened.  Nothing brightens up a gray day like orange, red, and yellow paint splashing around!

It was the day I've been waiting for...our first paint day in my Bloom True painting class.  What a great time.  Flora Bowley had us dancing to our favorite songs and painting with our hands as we prepared the first layer of two separate canvases.

First a drippy one,

then a more gestural piece.  I painted this one blindfolded!

Many more layers will be added to these paintings.  I'm really looking forward to seeing how they evolve and how new ideas will be assimilated into my work.  Mostly, though, I'm excited about the clarity that comes with such a focused time as this.  Already I feel more observant... more aware. 

I've put my statement of intentions for the next five weeks on the wall of my studio.  

Notice there is room to add more intentions to the list.  In fact, the whole wall is available if I need the space!    Listing intentions helps me understand where I really am and what I really want to accomplish.  Sometimes I find that I'm a lot closer to reaching my goals than I realized.  Sometimes I already possess the very thing I hope for, I just haven't recognized it...owned it.

Have you made a statement of intent lately?  Have you ever wished or longed for something only to find one day that you've already accomplished your goal without realizing it?  I'd love to hear about it.

Sketching to Live Music

Oh, happy day!  Bloom True, the e-course by Flora Bowley is finally underway!  No painting yet (that starts tomorrow), but lots of prep work in our studios and our journals.

As luck would have it, this evening afforded me the perfect opportunity to do a little intuitive sketching to the beautiful sound of live symphonic music.  My son plays trumpet in the Wind Ensemble at his school and they played a few opening pieces for a visiting ensemble's concert tonight.  It was a very informal gathering, so guess who tucked her sketchbook and pens in her purse and sat on the back row!  It turned out to be a lovely evening and I ended up with some sketches I really love.

I sketched with no particular plan...just responding to the music with pen in hand.  I haven't done much of this sort of thing before, but I really did enjoy it.  The theater was dark and not crowded at all so I was able to blend into the background.  I think my son might have been a bit embarrassed if his friends saw his mother sketching away during the music.  It's a bit contrary to what we usually teach kids, which is to sit still and pay attention!

This was drawn to a soft, flowing piece by Bach.

and this page was inspired by Country Band March, a very energetic and fun piece composed by Vincent Persichetti.

This is my favorite...it was drawn while a group of percussionists sat on the floor on stage and made all sorts of amazing, creative rhythms during a piece called Head Talk by Mark Ford.  This selection included some wonderful dialogue as well so it was a very well-rounded evening.

Drawing to live music was such a treat and working intuitively is a great way to let creativity flow without over thinking or getting bogged down with details and expectations.  It was really fun to explore making marks that convey my experience and emotions in a non-literal way.  I am so excited about beginning to paint intuitively tomorrow...no pressure, no worries, just sweet freedom.   I am a bit breathless about it all, but oh, so ready!

Linking up today with: 

Creative Every Day

Noticing

The earth has music for those who listen.

George Santayana

Sharing a journal page today, created from the sketches I shared in my last post.  I used watercolor with a fine brush and white gel pen (marker used for the handwriting)...

East Texas is rich with year-round inspiration .  

The huz, the boy, and I spent some time gazing at the sky last night.  I wish I could capture a video of what we saw...band after band of low-lying clouds moving swiftly in front of an almost-full moon.  The clouds seemed endless and the moon cast the most amazing warm light from behind.  It was magical. Why don't we take time to appreciate the night sky more often?    

One of our family's goals this year is to nurture our awe and wonder of the world around us...to notice more, learn more, and spend more time in nature.  We want to cultivate a fuller life by embracing the beautiful, amazing things that are all around us.  Won't you join us?

Linking up today with:

Paint Party Friday

Beautiful World

Inspired today by...

Lovely berries... sadly, not edible.

The skeleton of an Autumn bloom.

Beautiful, beautiful textures like the peeling bark of a crepe myrtle,

a pile of mossy iron ore rocks,

and the spiky trunk of a Hackberry tree (no fun to bump into).

Filing away images in my brain, adding to an ever-growing visual vocabulary.  

Sketching impressions to help me process and remember.

Trying to say more with less...fewer lines, less color.  

Celebrating the essence, the feeling of each object. 

What a beautiful world this is...so many yummy textures and colors for us to enjoy.  Enjoy your world today, my friends.

Linking up today with:

Creative Every Day

Preparing for an Adventure

Remember the feeling you had the night before the first day of school every year?  You know, that butterflies in the stomach, a little excited, a little bit jittery feeling of anticipation?  At least that's how I felt.  I was one of the kids who absolutely loved the beginning of school each year and I have to say it's kind-of nice to be feeling that same anticipation at this very moment as I prepare my studio space for my next adventure.

Bloom True, an e-course by the amazingly gifted Flora Bowley begins next Monday!  (A big thank you to the huz for enrolling me in this course as a Christmas present.)  I'm not sure why I feel a little nervous.  Okay, well, maybe I do know...Just look at the subtitle on Flora's beautiful book, Brave Intuitive Painting:

Let Go.  Be bold.  Unfold.

Hmmm.  Am I really ready to do that?  Oh, I so want to be brave.  Recent events in my life have left me feeling a bit fragile.  Making art is an emotional process for me and lately I'm hesitant to unleash too much emotion at once.  Hopefully, though, I will just relax and enjoy five weeks of fun, creative exercises with a very inspiring artist!  I also hope this course will give me some new tools and encouragement to express what is in my heart in a very unique, surprising way.

One challenge that I am really looking forward to is working big (well, at least big for me).  Since I naturally tend toward smaller, very detailed pieces I am excited and a little intimidated by the size of the three canvases required for the class.  (Painting surfaces must be at least 24" X 24"!)  If all goes well I may throw caution to the wind and splurge on a really ginormous canvas as the course progresses. That would be such a stretch for me.  Maybe it's time.

I love the new painterly vibe around here.  I've temporarily stored some of my jewelry making tools so that I'll have less distraction and more room to move and I have all my supplies gathered and ready to begin on Monday.  I've never worked with fluid acrylics before.  I'm really looking forward to experimenting with them.

I hope for lots of beautiful days like today during the course as I love to work with windows and doors wide open or, better yet, outside!   I love it when these guys hang out at my studio door.  That's Deisel in the sweater.  He's only three years old but he's a bit of a curmudgeon.  (I really only said that so I could use the word "curmudgeon".  It's one of my favorite words.)

Of course it is only January and Texas weather is highly unpredictable this time of year.  February will probably bring some very cold days, but a girl can dream, can't she?

I'll keep you posted on how things are going and I'll try very hard to swallow my pride and post my progress even if it's a little bit not-so-great!  I hope you have something new and exciting planned in the near future.  Learning new things is a great way to build confidence and nurture hope...something I think we all could use more of every day.

From Brain to Paper

After publishing yesterday's post I headed straight for my studio.  I've had some elements for a painting floating through my brain for a few weeks now and wanted to do something solid with them.  The first element was a bird form...not a sweet static image, but one portraying power, motion and freedom.  This is what came to me.  I think it looks a little like a super hero bird.

I also wanted to incorporate some of the lyrics of a song that's been running through my head quite a bit for the last few weeks. 

You will probably recognize this color palette.  I have used it a lot lately as these colors have great symbolic meaning to me:

yellow = joy, light, wisdom

orange = healing, balance

red = love, life 

purple = royalty, power

blue = faith, peace, rest

In the final image, the bird flies past a veiled area, into a much more open space.  It is a place of understanding and perfect peace.

  If you read yesterday's post you might have guessed this is how I envision my sister as she recently entered eternity...free, unfettered, completely healed and whole.  I've been wanting to put this image on paper for days now and I'm grateful you stopped by to see it.  I hope it gives you the same sense of joy and freedom that it gives me.

I'm linking up today with Paint Party Friday.  Follow the link to see what some very talented artists have been up to this week.  If it's inspiration you're after you will definitely find it there!

An Amazing Woman

I'm still thinking a lot about birds...watching them through my window, remembering quotes about them, sketching them...perhaps because little birds remind me of my younger sister, Jill.

Jill loved birds and daisies and simple, lovely things.  I say "loved" because my beloved little sister went to heaven the day after Christmas.  It's hard to believe she's really gone.

I don't remember this world without my little sister in it.

Some of you will remember reading about her in recent posts.  I alluded to her health struggles although I didn't go into a lot of detail.  Jill was a very private person.  She was also a very brave girl and she fought hard to hold on to life.  Her last battle was too much for her body but her spirit remained strong to the end.

The journal page I shared  in  this post last October.

I think a lot of us question how much personal information we should share on our blogs or on other social media.  I wondered if and when I should share the news of Jill's passing.  This is a time of deep personal sadness for my family and with all my heart I want to honor Jill's memory and everyone's privacy.

Finally I decided that I simply had to share this with you.  My relationship with Jill was and always will be a big part of my story and a huge influence on my art.  In recent months many of you sent well wishes and promised to pray for my sister.  I want you to know this blessed her (and our family) immensely.  Prayer was Jill's life preserver.  It sustained her and kept her afloat through many storms.

Jill, on the playground of the day school where she taught for many years.  She was a phenomenal teacher.

My sister had a scripture that helped her keep calm and carry on.  The last night I spent with her in the hospital I wrote it in my journal.

Philippians 4:8

Jill knew that joy depends not on our circumstances but on our focus and our attitude.  She had an amazing wit.  She loved art and inspiring quotes.  She was grateful for little things.  She enjoyed bright colors and dreamy spaces.  Lovely, excellent and praiseworthy things brought her joy and peace, even in difficult times. She didn't allow room in her life for self pity, bitterness, or ill will.  The joy of the Lord was her strength.

My little sister was a force to be reckoned with.  Loving her during her illness taught me many things and my life and my art will never, ever be the same.  She was an amazing woman.

Thank you for checking in with me today and helping me pay tribute to someone I love and miss very much.  Jill's life was shorter than we all wanted but her light was bright and her heart was filled with much love and joy while she was with us.  I pray today that you would experience such love and joy in your own heart.

Until next time...