Chasing the light is a journey all artist's take....we don't paint shapes, we paint the values of light and shadow.  Similarly, part of the journey is shining the light on our true selves.....being and saying and thinking who we truly are and what we truly want to express.  When we chase our authticity, we become aligned with our true higher power, and creative grace flows freely.   A sustained creative career requires true authenticity separate from what others think and do.  Although we may be inspired and influenced by others we must remain true to the fire within.

Art Is A Calling!

There is a reason we say art is a calling....it whispers humbly and silently to explore our creativity.  Subtle gray river stones, a single bunch of winter grass, bare branches reaching to kiss the sky, a gorgeous sunset, calls us to collect our images.  We pocket our ideas and perceptions waiting to play with them on canvas or on a clean page in our journal. Playing with our intuition and our collection of treasured ideas, we begin to explore, not repress, but explore their creative unfolding.  Opening our intuition is like a new love....exciting, adventurous, promising....a budding passion.  January is a great month to heighten our awareness, be open to a new year of exploring and unfolding.  Happy New Year.

Creativity is the re-structuring of magic!

In our creative life we make room for magic.  Every stick and stone and flower petal become a means of wonder.  Translated into art, wonder is brushed on the canvas, blended colors of magic.  So we put other people's agendas aside to make room for our own magic....we hold this sacred space with respect.  Our energy is channeled into the magical story that we are meant to express.  Giving form to wonder is related to a sensitive awareness of our surroundings.  Pay attention....pay attention....pay attention.  Discern who or what is blocking the magic and who is encouraging it.  What chaos drowns out the sacred place of creativity?  The respect for magic begins with ourselves and giving birth to a life of intimate noticing of uninterrupted expression of our creativity.

There are great moments in a girl's life when she isn't afraid of snakes.....my great nieces are having a great moment!  Sometimes our creativity is scared out of us and we have to color in the lines, afraid to break the rules.  It is a good thing to just to let all the teaching and education go....all the techniques and tips put aside and just paint.  Letting loose is where the break through moments come....and we lose our fear that keeps us inside the lines.  Enjoy!

The summer comes.....long awaited after winter's drab colors.  The palette changes and we get outside to let it soak into our bones.  Color is magic.  The range of possibilities is endless....rich and diverse.  In the 500 hundred years since oil paint was developed in the fifteenth century, artists have discovered a fascinating variety of way to render the colors of nature into expressions of art.  We mix, we blend, we layer and glaze until the harmony is just right.  We brush and wipe away, scrape and apply with knives and fingers.  Color doesn't exist without light....so we become light chasers, finding the shadows and patterns in different kinds of weather.   Not only do we learn the primary, secondary and tertiary colors, we talk about hue, intensity, temperature and value.  But, in all the techniques there is a common denominator......we paint, we draw, we sculpt because we have to.....it is who we are.....co-creators with the Creator who ignites the spark.

Creativity requires renewal!

Many time my creative energy requires a little renewal.....a resurrection. Art is never quite knowing what inspires us or when....and then, not quite knowing how to express it as we face a blank canvas. Renewal for me is to begin....maybe after a walk or a prayer of gratitude. Beginning is often a leap in the dark. In the dark leaps of putting strokes on the canvas, my eye begins to see the light and I am refreshed. Taking the first step to come back from the dead lethargy of self-doubt, or comparing our skill level to another artist....is resurrection. We are alive again and ready to create. Happy Easter!

Creative inspiration has a reason.

Assume that creative inspiration comes to you for a reason......your spirit is speaking to you when a painting, poem, play, carving, sculpture is drawn out of that well. With each piece I am grateful for what my soul is trying to express, understand, overcome or celebrate. We may be producing goods that we will sell for a living, but the creative process is personal. Interacting with the materials and the content is allowing te process of creation to whisper the secrets we need for our own life. Perhaps it does not stop there. The secrets whispered to us in the creative-spiritual process are offered to the world as we share with one another. The brushes, pen, tools, words in your hand and the open heart within are willing to co-create for the greater good of the Universe.

There is nothing quite as inspiring for me as when thoughts crash against my spirit and urge me to pick up my brushes and express the joy of being a part of nature. Ocean, mountains, rivers, desert canyons draw me back from the distractions and interruptions into a reverence for life. Touching the generous creative part of self-expression is connective as we begin to co-create with the divine design. "When you are upon earth, enjoy the good things that are here." John Selden

Crosshairs in Space!

Exploring an empty canvas is a space exploration. Painting explores our creative spaces, reaching into the dark corners and allowing the light to give contrast to the shapes we find. Our inner world is a complex, exquisite site with a powerful play of colors, lights and shadows......a cathedral of consciousness with altars where we lay events and experiences that rival the outer world. This inner wealth is the artist's expression of outer space.

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.