Reaching for strength!

It takes strength to reach for wholeness....for your dreams....and for changing direction. I don't often paint figures but this woman of the Bible has always been compelling to me. Fighting the crowds and having the faith of her own longing to be entirely whole, she reached out with expectation. Living with the longing no longer suited her.....she put her hopes to work and reached for it. She took action and came away a new person. It reminds me of the friends that have been such an inspiration in learning new things, reaching for their wholeness and using their faith and hope to create!

Perspective! Endure or enjoy!

Perspective is something every artist learns at the beginning of their art training. It took my spirit longer to learn that perspective determines everything about your journey. The difference between enduring or enjoying.....giving up or letting go.....suffering or choosing happiness. How we view things mentally always find its expression in our physical composition. We cannot change our history, but we can focus on the future with great expectations. We cannot adjust our circumstances or the events in our lives, but we can control our response to them. We can create our perspective....court God's blessings with appreciation, encourage the future by finding the joy in today and trusting that what we cheer on, will appear in our composition.

Aspen Glow

There is definitely an autumn glow that is fleeting as the
winter light dims with Payne's Gray clouds and the ice
begins to make lace patterns on the edges of creeks.
Change is inevitable and the glow often fleeting.What
does not change in the human mind and heart is wonder,
hope and belief in the possibilities as things unfold in
their own season. Do not mistake the unfolding as chaos
or disarray....it is the order of seasons, the evolving of cultures,
the search for destiny and the longing for a better world.

Many, many birthdays and anniversaries to come!

Happy Birthday to my sister and Happy 40th anniversary too! This one's for you!

First snow!

The first snow always reminds us of the miracle
of a fresh new earth covering that makes everything
seem beautiful. That happened yesterday and
when my great niece awoke from her nap she
was ecstatic.....the miracle had happened
while she slept. Now she was busy finding
her mittens and boots to be a part of it. Don't miss
the miracles!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving!
It is the greater part of courage to give
thanks for every precarious piece of
this wonderful messy life. May we
understand and trust our many
blessings and share them
with one another.

It must be summer!

It must be summer......everything I pick from the garden seems like a painting to me. On the easel today are red tomatoes, purple and yellow onion....green bowl and an old blue Ball quart jar. This morning's harvest of green beans, cukes, yellow crook neck squash, herbs and lettuce couldn't be put away in the refrigerator until I did a little sketch. You know your hooked on painting when you plant veggies and flowers for the prospect of painting rather than eating. You can do both! Happy summer!

When the home of our own construction crumbles.....when we walk through the mist of confusion and uncertainty and many times, stumble.....that is when we most get in touch with our real home that catches us and shows us the fertile ground to build again. It is our invincible spirit combined with God's gifts of grace that sustain us in extraordinary times and help us rememer our powerful experiences when we return to ordinary time and space. The mist is as much a gift as the bright sunshine.

Think of yourself as an incandescent power, illuminated perhaps and forever talked to by God and his/her messengers." Brenda Ueland

There are those beautiful moments of illumination. For me those creative
times come unexpectedly with just a tiny glimpse of how immense the
Universe is and how much a part of it we all are.
It happens much more often and with more
expectation at my easel.
And so, I paint.

Summer Solstice!

Summer solstice is such a celebration of blooming lavendar fields, grapes growing in the sun, fruit trees setting their fruit for harvest and clouds billowing up behind the foothills on a late warm afternoon. It is an ancient mark of time when the sun stays longer and the moon lingers white and pale in the daylight. It is the time to venture outside with a camera, paint brush or sketch pad...to discover the perfect composition that waits beyond the bend in the river. It is the time that winter restlessness is forgotten and our creativity sprouts wings.

On The Easel Today

There is a quiet solace in driving through the Blue Mountains in Oregon....snowcapped mountains in the spring and pastures greening up after a harsh winter. It always brings out the artist in me so today is the first sketch that lingers in my memory of last week's trip. Always take the scenic route.

Here in this time are the sacred rivers....the moon and the stars....the sun warmed earth spinning with it's own moon. The design is inconceivable, the workmanship perfection, the creation deligtful. It is in this noticing that the invisible spiritual world and the visible reality comes together. The partnership of creation is the artist's calling.

Blooming planets….hazy fields,

Clouds roll by in lazy reels.

Grass and flowers share the hill,

With birds and bees in noisy thrill.

Fragrance of the tendrilled earth,

Celebrates the splendid birth.

Of pastel pinks and hues of green.

Colors of an artist’s dream.

Blue of sky and clouds of white.

Parade of angels, taking flight.

Seen by those who view the planets,

Writing poems and singing sonnets.

Know the music of each sphere,

Is simply Love becoming clear.

Angel whispers true and real,

Validating what we feel.

If you hear the angels sounding,

Listen to sweet joy abounding.

Wings unfurled and softly flapping,

Sound of heaven’s rhythmic clapping.

They often stomp and shout and cheer.

To hear the magic of the sphere.

Sing and dance with flowers adorn,

Music for the pleasant morn.

Be prepared to laugh and gaze,

Next time you see a springtime haze.

For you have heard an angel’s tune.

Where flowers grow and planet’s bloom.

The promise of seeds.

The promise of tiny seeds that grow into full blooming plants in my garden, is an act of faith and experience. You do the work....prepare the ground, wait patiently and voila', there it is....a garden full of new growth. I think creativity is the same.....you plant a few seeds of ideas that have been dancing in your dreams.....you do the work.....prepare the path with exploring and experimenting and voila'.....a bouquet of flowers on your canvas. The secret is always.....just do it!

A human life is like a single letter of the alphabet!

A human life is like a single letter of the alphabet. It can be meaningless...
or it can be a part of a great meaning. Combined with other lives
and connected to the Universe, we humans cross a threshold of time that is
not present or past, an infinite community. Death cannot be avoided for it is
a part of the cosmic and divine purpose. The better we understand this
journey, the more comfortable we become with our mortal discomfort.

Creativity requires heart!

If we are to find our creativity it requires finding our heart.....not copying someone else's heart but finding our true passion and reminding ourselves that what we love and how we love, is a personal matter. I love the country...the wide open spaces, the peace and comfort of exploring the landscape. I love the sunrise, as it peeks up over the mountains in a brilliant burst and spreads out like butter. I suggest we make a list of things we love today and share it as we please.

"Perhaps loving something is the only starting place there is for making your life your own." Alice Koller

...I love red winged blackbirds sitting on a cattail.
...I love the tinge of pink on the edge of a cloud.
...I love the color of ripened wheat.
...I love the way light filters through tree leaves.
...I love the silky air of a summer's evening.
...I love faded red barns.
...I love the countryside whizzing by on a road trip.
...I love sitting very still on a rocky cliff and watching the waves crash.

Creativity is often collaborative!

Despite the mythology that the artist's life is lived in isolation there is creative collaboration. The artist studies old masters work and encourages creative exchange with many contemporary artists. The technology of today is wonderful in connecting those of similar interests. Art is dramatic....life is dramatic and expressing our shared passions and devloping the camaraderie is inspiring. Thanks for the creative company!

"We do not mind our not arriving anywhere nearly so much as our not having any company on the way."
Frank Moore Colby

The peaceful grazing of cattle on a spring morning under the watchful and protective barrier of mountains gave me my meditation for the day. No fences....no boundaries.....no limits, everything you need for the day.There is abundance!

It's almost time for peonies!

Jerri's (daughter-in-law) peonies line their driveway and are irresistible. Gathering a big bouquet and smelling the fragrance while painting them was an exquisite experience last spring. This year, I'll make a trip that is well timed for peonies and Grandson's high school graduation. I like the word "graduation".....going from one phase to another.....celebrating one level of learning before you journey on to the next. Learning always will be a part of this life....getting down to the bedrock of our truth and learning to express it while respecting another's truth. Every graduation is an exit that prepares us to entertain another truth.

Early Morning Grazing!

The countryside in the spring is so lush, abundant and alive with energy. The rivers are full, the waterfalls rush down the rocky mountain sides and the green pastures are pure poetry. I become passionate about blooming wildflowers. I regain my earthy love of nature as the bleak winter turns to colorful spring. My cranky snappish winter blues turn to delighted giggles and the merriment returns. It's like being in love....there is no effort to cheerfulness and no end to enjoying each days sunrise. The creative grace flows.

A spring storm chases this cowgirl....but she wasn't picked for my first juried exhibition, In The Company of Cowgirls. Next year! It isn't likely that everything we do is going to be viewed and judged to be acceptable. However, if we let anything separate us from our passion for painting and stop to nurture our disappointment for very long, we are letting competition or another's expectations get in our way. The awards evening has a ticket waiting for me to go see some of my favorite women artists and I can hardly wait to see their work in person. JaNeil Anderson and K Henderson are really wonderful. So we keep painting and sharing our gifts.....remembering there is always a faster gun and a quicker brush!

The pilgrimage to Haystack Rock happens at least once a year. The quaint seacoast town of Cannon Beach Oregon, full of kite shops, art galleries and seafood restaurants beckons tourists. But the real joy is the salty air with seagulls screeching and the tidepools brimming with life when the ocean tide recedes. I have been on this beach with my little kids in hand....and later those same kids with their own kids in tow. I have eaten crab, drunk wonderful Oregon wine, picked blackberries, held hands, beachcombed and flown kites here. And now, this weekend, a painting workshop that promises to thrill my artist's heart. Life is good and Haystack Rock is waiting.

The beautiful mystery of nature.

Spring comes with melting snow and rushing rivers,
tender leaves budding into new life and blossoms that
will turn into apples and apricots and juicy plums.
We awaken as the sun warms the new season and whispers
sweet nothings to the bare branches.
Happy first day of spring.

"Any profound view of the world is mysticism." Albert Schweitzer

Beneath the surface.

Science sophisticates and faithful mystics can agree that our connection with nature teaches us many things. It doesn't really matter whether you believe there are natural or supernatural forces at work....we arrive at the same place...sharing a common sense of reverence, an appreciation of beauty, communion with our environment and a common bond and moral code that we must care for and balance the relationship between man and the plants and animals he lives with. Beneath the surface of the argument of evolution and creationism...is a common bond of honoring nature. Art blends both.
"We touch this strength, our power, who we are in the world, when we are most fully in touch with one another, and with the world." Carter Heyward

It would seem from years of observation that whenever I perceive the world is in chaos, or I am in chaos I begin to paint "Still Life". Standing knee deep in the flood of human conditions and accepting that life is turbulent, powerful and unpredictable, often evokes the artists sensitivity. Life isn't still and we cannot "fix" it or make it stand still at our invitation. So while Japan and the Northern African countries are in turmoil, my heart is longing for a moment of quiet beauty captured for a fleeting moment and expressed on today's easel. It is here that I can sort, shape and transform the chaos into art and distinguish the jewels from the junkyard, the shadows from the light, the drama from creative expression. Art transforms the world....and in the process....the artist.

Creativity takes us to places we did not plan to go.....places inside ourselves, places where we get lost and where we do not have control. Places where we take risks and find out we can do things we didn't know we could do are waiting there. We discover places that explore our deeper self, a higher and better self. Most of all, when we take the scenic route, we meet each other and find companions of this adventurous creative journey. Many times this creative journey has warned me against adapting to a situation or circumstance that numbs the pain of life and comfortably shields me from the pain of others. I do not wish to adapt....but to explore and adventure. I wish to create, even when fear takes me to the edge of being fully alive. In a novel, The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields she identifies what happens when we adapt too well and get too comfortable. "The larger loneliness of our lives evolves from our unwillingness to spend ourselves, stir ourselves. We are always damping down our inner weather, permitting ourselves the comforts of postponement, or rehearsals." What are we waiting for?

"All are needed by each one: Nothing is fair or good alone." Ralph Waldo Emerson

No sacred story is told without ears to hear, no masterpiece is exhibited without eyes to see. The daffodils bring the fragrance of spring to those that notice and the birds chirp their song to our senses. Tsunamis bring fragmented lives within our vision to stir our empathy and loosen our hearts to include our fellow human beings. In the crevices of chaos we find Oneness. I stop the blur of images that rush past me to pause and honor this journey we take together in this time and space on our beautiful blue planet. Our earthly reality is we really do need one another.

"Be it life or death, we crave only reality." Henry David Thoreau