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!