Community

I'm participating in a 31-day blogging challenge called reverb10, responding to writing prompts that are designed to elicit reflections on 2010, and hopes for 2011. You can find out more about it here.

December 7 – Community. Where have you discovered community, online or otherwise, in 2010? What community would you like to join, create or more deeply connect with in 2011? (Author: Cali Harris)

Most recently I have begun to find elements of community within the African Dance class I have been taking.


Lynn Weaver at Moon Dance has been working hard to build community in several projects she has organized (including the Shawnigan Lake Street Festival) and for that I am grateful.  It has made finding people easier for me here in a new place.


Also, Earth Traditions of which I am a founder is all about building community, reconnecting us to each other, to ourselves, and to the land.  This labor of love as at it's core vision the idea that community is deeply important to all of us and to our planet.

You Are Worth The Time

Some wisdom from Jan Phillips:

Wonder, Letting Go, and Creating

I'm participating in a 31-day blogging challenge called reverb10, responding to writing prompts that are designed to elicit reflections on 2010, and hopes for 2011. You can find out more about it here.

December 4 – Wonder. How did you cultivate a sense of wonder in your life this year? (Author: Jeffrey Davis)

I have always been very good at noticing beauty in nature.  I stop for sun rises, sunsets, color in the clouds, rainbows, etc.  My boys often have their breakfasts interrupted by me encouraging them to come to the window and look at the color of the sky in the early morning sun rise.  I always wonder how I might paint such wondrous colors.  So for me, this year wonder has most recently been found in nature in our new locale.  The trees here are tremendous giants.  Beautiful and moss covered.  A stroll is like walking through an emerald fairy land.  It is so stunning it sometimes doesn't seem real.  The ocean is tremendous and powerful.  The fog settles in to the valley making you feel like you are floating on clouds.  And, will you just look at the paint job on that chicken!  I bet the egg she came from looked just the same.....well, maybe not, but it could have!

December 5 – Let Go. What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why? (Author: Alice Bradley)

Lots this year.  We left behind a house we had designed and built, a life in Airdrie, all our friends there, but with that we also gave up all the chaos of the big city madness too.   We gave up the fast pace, and the jammed-full schedules.  Thanks to technology we can still connect with friends and family.  So....the trade off has been more than worth it.  Why?  Because it was important to slow down for our health and for our connection to our boys and to each other.  And it is also important for our boys to experience something other than the lifestyle we had created up to that point.   Busy, busy, busy, go, go, go isn't life sustaining.  So now we are focusing on experiences rather than stuff and timetables... and free weekends and evenings allow that.

December 6 – Make. What was the last thing you made? What materials did you use? Is there something you want to make, but you need to clear some time for it? (Author: Gretchen Rubin)

The last thing I created was this digital print.  Not my usual mode of creating, but I guess that would qualify as the most recent.  It is a scan of a painted background I did some time ago with a quote from the book "Marry Your Muse" by Jan Phillips.  I sent it to some friends to print and hang in their studios.  It was put together in Illustrator so completely a computer generated project.  I have a few things I want to get to next.  I bought a small piece of felted wool and some colorful merino wool fibers to make a flower hair piece for myself.  I've been saving mandarin orange wrappers and candy containers for a recycled journal project I've got in my head.  That one will most likely become a tutorial I will share later.  And I have several journals that I have lots of ideas for that I want to get to very soon.

The Year in Review

I've never been very consistent with this blog...or anything for that matter.  I guess I'm not the "consistent" type.  Whatever that might mean.  Other words:...diligent, disciplined, stick-to-it-iveness, etc.  I'm more of a "fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants" or "when-the-Spirit-moves-me", or "I'll-do-whatever-the-hell-I-feel-like...Gosh!" kind of girl.  It's handy sometimes, but it can often be a liability.  As an attempt to do a bit of "brain rewiring" as it were, I am participating in #reverb10.  It is an online project designed to reflect on the year 2010 and to manifest going forward.  Since I stumbled upon it three days late I have a bit of catch up to do.

December 1 – One Word. Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you? (Author: Gwen Bell)

Crab with a heavy load

 Overwhelming.  Period.  With our family's move to Vancouver island recently, the year was dominated with all that goes in to making the decision to uproot a family, fixing up and selling a home, purging and packing, finding a new home, moving, setting up in a new place, attempting to make a new community a home, worrying about all that needs to be done, how everyone will be affected, and trying not to forget anything.  We left good friends and old careers behind and looking ahead could only see the unknown.  It was just plain...overwhelming...from March clear to the present day.

A door to restoration: Demali Lavender Farm

Is it any wonder then that my hope for 2011 is something at the far end of the scale from that experience.  Peace, Health, Balance, Settled, Connected, Focused, Stable, Content, Stillness.  Any of these would surely apply.  I think in all of the "noise" of life, (and this year for me was VERY "noisy"),  one can very easily become disconnected from oneself, from one's own intuitive guidance, from the Wisdom within that tells us what to focus on, and what might be the best move in the moment, and how to feed ourselves, and where to go, and how to simply BE.  So, for me I want to find that stillness within me again that makes me feel grounded, free of anxiety, and more sure of where I'm going, what I'm contributing to, and who I am.  To do that requires a daily conscious choice and an awareness.  It is an action...to plug back in to Self.  In one word?  Restore.  It's time to restore my soul..the HOW of it is a long laundry list, but all of it sustaining and nourishing.  From THAT place one can make an authentic and meaningful  contribution in the world.  From THAT place one can support and love a family deeply.

December 2 – Writing. What do you do each day that doesn’t contribute to your writing — and can you eliminate it? (Author: Leo Babauta)

What don't I do?  My distractions are numerous.  Far too many to list here.  Some can be eliminated and others can't.  The trick for me is to be mindful enough to catch myself when the thing I am engaged in is not a valuable exercise.  Mindless email, web-surfing, TV, even house cleaning, when not the most important thing to focus on in the moment, is a barrier to writing or creating.  There are obviously times when all of the above is necessary, but there are limits.  Observing the limit and moving on to more meaningful activities is the precious choice to be made.

December 3 – Moment. Pick one moment during which you felt most alive this year. Describe it in vivid detail (texture, smells, voices, noises, colors). (Author: Ali Edwards)

The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough.  ~Rabindranath Tagore

I distinctly remember a day this past July.  Our house had finally sold.  A HUGE stress lifted.  I had arrived in Victoria to house hunt with Dan and had actually taken the time one sunny day to stroll down to the ocean and sit on the rocks at Songhees.  The spot has long been considered a sacred space by the indigenous people who had many gatherings here in years long past.  No wonder I was enjoying the energy there.  I spent a long time just watching boats and float planes come and go out of the harbor.  The smell of the sea was fresh and cleansing, the sun warm on my skin, seagulls flying overhead and calling out to one another.  I spent a good deal of time sketching the buildings on the opposite side of the harbor in my journal and as I did I remembered a trip taken 2 years prior.  We had brought the boys to this very spot when coming to visit friends.  The boys loved the ocean and we talked then about how wonderful it would be to live here.  Realizing that here we were, 2 years later,  having manifested a dream without really recognizing that we had, I was filled with gratitude in the moment.  I felt blessed and completely content both by the stillness in that time of solitude and by the opportunity to live in this new beautiful place.

Painting with Friends

There really is nothing like sharing a creative adventure with good friends.  This past weekend I got to do just that at the tail end of my friend, Carolyn's two week visit to the island.  We thankfully stumbled upon local artist, Alison Watt's weekend class in Surfacing.  So we bundled ourselves up and headed to Nanaimo where we boarded a very small ferry to take us over to Protection Island, home of Alison's studio.  Truly a wonderful experience.  It reminded me of being at my folks' cabin in northern Saskatchewan.  It's quiet and isolated.  Cars are few while golf carts and bikes abound.  Alison met us at the ferry dock the first day to guide us on our walk across the small island to her place.  Six of us met on the ferry ride over and another from the island joined us and we cozied-up together in the studio for 2 days of painting fun and exploration.  After a few warm up exercises we all tackled our personal version of poppies over a textured background.

It was fascinating to see how everyone's painting turned out. They were all absolutely fantastic, (a testament to Alison's instructional style), and all had very different "personalities", even though the subject and reference photo was the same.  Great way to spend the weekend.  Thanks ladies!

Art

Spectacular Advice

If you hear a voice within you say 'you cannot paint' then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.

~Vincent Van Gogh

Celebrate The Divine Feminine Today

Today, November 3, 2010, is a significant day according to the Mayan Calendar.  I watched a video today of Dr. Carl Calleman speaking on the topic.  He said that specifically it signaled an end to domination, and in particular "male" domination.  So, we truly step into a time of growing feminine energy and a re-balancing of the masculine and feminine energies.....in all it's forms.  Moving away from destruction and consumption and toward creation and nurturing.  Moving away from left-brain dominated thinking, and toward a balanced right-brain / left-brain process.  That can only be good for all on our planet.   Time to embrace all that is Divinely feminine with-in us....the Goddess calls!

This video is a celebration of 500 portraits of women in art over the years.  Created by Philip Scott Johnson.  The music is Bach's Sarabande from Suite for Solo Cello No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007 performed by Yo-Yo Ma.
Enjoy!
Women In Art from Philip Scott Johnson on Vimeo.

Yes....I'm finally giving those dreams a whirl...

dream whirling... from goose42 on Vimeo.

How about you?  Ready to give your dreams a whirl too?

Studio Video made with Animoto

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Stumbled upon this great little online program that creates video using your uploaded pics, video clips and sound or you can use their stuff as well (sound is particularly handy).  30 second clips are free.  Comes as an App for Itunes as well.  Such cool stuff available now...it's crazy; this techie world we live in.  Go on, try it out.  If you do, please comment with a link to what you've done.....I'm curious.

Manifesto from a Wise Elder

This is Bishop John Shelby Spong. 

Before tonight I would have told you I didn't have a clue who he was.  Thanks to Patti Digh, he has been brought to my attention and I feel his sentiments are worth sharing and long overdue.

Despite being raised in a Christian church which I attended on and off throughout my younger years, I have long since abandoned any institution who historically spent far more time engaged in condemnation, hatred and murder than in love and compassion.  Thus I have made my spiritual journey my own daily, moment-to-moment practice, and I am typically completely ignorant of any debate going on in any religious group for that matter.  Quite frankly, I find it asinine that there even IS a debate on this topic anywhere on this planet.....about as unfathomably ridiculous as refusing a woman to vote or a seat on a bus to someone with dark skin.  Huh??!!  I still have a hard time wrapping my head around how it is possible for such ignorance to ever have existed at all.  Really.  What the hell is the matter with our brains?....Oh yes, they only function when open.

From my perspective, (and I'm sure this will ruffle a few feathers), if Jesus were alive today, I pretty sure he'd stand and cheer, "Amen, Brother!" after reading this.  He was after all a "shit-disturber" in his own right way back in the day....and above all he recognized and lived with uncompromising love and compassion. 

In the words of Forrest Gump, "That's all I got to say about that."

A Manifesto! The Time Has Come!
-Bishop John Shelby Spong


I have made a decision. I will no longer debate the issue of homosexuality in the church with anyone. I will no longer engage the biblical ignorance that emanates from so many right-wing Christians about how the Bible condemns homosexuality, as if that point of view still has any credibility. I will no longer discuss with them or listen to them tell me how homosexuality is "an abomination to God," about how homosexuality is a "chosen lifestyle," or about how through prayer and "spiritual counseling" homosexual persons can be "cured." Those arguments are no longer worthy of my time or energy. I will no longer dignify by listening to the thoughts of those who advocate "reparative therapy," as if homosexual persons are somehow broken and need to be repaired. I will no longer talk to those who believe that the unity of the church can or should be achieved by rejecting the presence of, or at least at the expense of, gay and lesbian people. I will no longer take the time to refute the unlearned and undocumentable claims of certain world religious leaders who call homosexuality "deviant." I will no longer listen to that pious sentimentality that certain Christian leaders continue to employ, which suggests some version of that strange and overtly dishonest phrase that "we love the sinner but hate the sin." That statement is, I have concluded, nothing more than a self-serving lie designed to cover the fact that these people hate homosexual persons and fear homosexuality itself, but somehow know that hatred is incompatible with the Christ they claim to profess, so they adopt this face-saving and absolutely false statement. I will no longer temper my understanding of truth in order to pretend that I have even a tiny smidgen of respect for the appalling negativity that continues to emanate from religious circles where the church has for centuries conveniently perfumed its ongoing prejudices against blacks, Jews, women and homosexual persons with what it assumes is "high-sounding, pious rhetoric." The day for that mentality has quite simply come to an end for me. I will personally neither tolerate it nor listen to it any longer. The world has moved on, leaving these elements of the Christian Church that cannot adjust to new knowledge or a new consciousness lost in a sea of their own irrelevance. They no longer talk to anyone but themselves. I will no longer seek to slow down the witness to inclusiveness by pretending that there is some middle ground between prejudice and oppression. There isn't. Justice postponed is justice denied. That can be a resting place no longer for anyone...


In my personal life, I will no longer listen to televised debates conducted by "fair-minded" channels that seek to give "both sides" of this issue "equal time." I am aware that these stations no longer give equal time to the advocates of treating women as if they are the property of men or to the advocates of reinstating either segregation or slavery, despite the fact that when these evil institutions were coming to an end the Bible was still being quoted frequently on each of these subjects. It is time for the media to announce that there are no longer two sides to the issue of full humanity for gay and lesbian people. There is no way that justice for homosexual people can be compromised any longer.


I make these statements because it is time to move on. The battle is over. The victory has been won. There is no reasonable doubt as to what the final outcome of this struggle will be. Homosexual people will be accepted as equal, full human beings, who have a legitimate claim on every right that both church and society have to offer any of us. Homosexual marriages will become legal, recognized by the state and pronounced holy by the church. "Don't ask, don't tell" will be dismantled as the policy of our armed forces. We will and we must learn that equality of citizenship is not something that should ever be submitted to a referendum. Equality under and before the law is a solemn promise conveyed to all our citizens in the Constitution itself. Can any of us imagine having a public referendum on whether slavery should continue, whether segregation should be dismantled, whether voting privileges should be offered to women? The time has come for politicians to stop hiding behind unjust laws that they themselves helped to enact, and to abandon that convenient shield of demanding a vote on the rights of full citizenship because they do not understand the difference between a constitutional democracy, which this nation has, and a "mobocracy," which this nation rejected when it adopted its constitution. We do not put the civil rights of a minority to the vote of a plebiscite.


The battle in both our culture and our church to rid our souls of this dying prejudice is finished. A new consciousness has arisen. A decision has quite clearly been made. Inequality for gay and lesbian people is no longer a debatable issue in either church or state. Therefore, I will from this moment on refuse to dignify the continued public expression of ignorant prejudice by engaging it. I do not tolerate racism or sexism any longer. From this moment on, I will no longer tolerate our culture's various forms of homophobia. I do not care who it is who articulates these attitudes or who tries to make them sound holy with religious jargon.
I have been part of this debate for years, but things do get settled and this issue is now settled for me. I do not debate any longer with members of the "Flat Earth Society" either. I do not debate with people who think we should treat epilepsy by casting demons out of the epileptic person; I do not waste time engaging those medical opinions that suggest that bleeding the patient might release the infection. I do not converse with people who think that Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans as punishment for the sin of being the birthplace of Ellen DeGeneres or that the terrorists hit the United Sates on 9/11 because we tolerated homosexual people, abortions, feminism or the American Civil Liberties Union.  I am tired of being embarrassed by so much of my church's participation in causes that are quite unworthy of the Christ I serve or the God whose mystery and wonder I appreciate more each day. Indeed I feel the Christian Church should not only apologize, but do public penance for the way we have treated people of color, women, adherents of other religions and those we designated heretics, as well as gay and lesbian people.  I am ready now to claim the victory. I will from now on assume it and live into it. I am unwilling to argue about it or to discuss it as if there are two equally valid, competing positions any longer. The day for that mentality has simply gone forever.

This is my manifesto and my creed. I proclaim it today. I invite others to join me in this public declaration. I believe that such a public outpouring will help cleanse both the church and this nation of its own distorting past. It will restore integrity and honor to both church and state. It will signal that a new day has dawned and we are ready not just to embrace it, but also to rejoice in it and to celebrate it.

Flower...Bed

OK....please excuse the terribly blurry photo taken in haste with my phone.  But, it's just suck a kick I had to share anyway.  Sometimes a literal interpretation is the best!

Flowerbed

Wisdom Is Sometimes Found In Strange Places

This past July, while house hunting, I came across this little piece of wisdom framed and hanging on the wall of a lovely log home in the woods.  While some might be offended by the sentiment, it made me chuckle, and I had to snap a pic.

You Know You're In The Right Place When...

 

I recently attended the Shawnigan Lake SLAM Street Festival, wanting to perhaps meet a few people and connect with my new community.  This festival was, after all, about bringing the community together. I thought I would just jump in and get involved so I offered to help.  While setting up, a chalk drawing broke out on the street in front of me.  I had to laugh - my instant thought was, you know you are in the right place when...there are grown adults laying in the middle of the street playing with chalk.  Not exactly the sentiment for all adults maybe, but for me it's a perfect fit.  I was delighted even before the event got started.  We've most definitely picked the right place to call our home.

I'm curious - how would you finish that statement: "You know you are in the right place when..."?

A Gem Found

I was clearing off a memory card today so my son could use our small digital camera that we rarely use and thus had been stored away untouched for some time.  Hidden inside forgotten were several pictures I had not seen in some time.  I was very happy to find them - just like finding money in an old coat pocket... only better.  One was of this collage painting I had done some time ago for my friend and painting mentor, Mary-Leigh Doyle.  The words are not mine.  I found them somewhere and felt they deserved to be shared.  I hope any artist, (especially those who don't think they are one), who might visit here and read this will find it inspiring and encouraging.  Now, I'm off the computer and into the studio....pronto!

My Dear Emily....I FINALLY understand.

Our recent move to the west coast found me in the company of my sister who helped enormously with the whole packing, driving and unpacking ordeal.  She had never been on Vancouver Island before and the one thing she wanted to do before she left for home and to her final year of her Master's degree was to go on a hike.  So we headed in to Goldstream park with my boys and our dogs to discover the forest.  Really, no words can describe the feeling of being in there.  The canopy soars hundreds of feet above and there is a sense of being in a protective cocoon; a secret and magical world completely sheltered from the hubbub of city life.  The trees are enormous!!!! Hundreds of years old.  The sound of nothing but stillness, water trickling in the creek and birds - so many birds I have never heard before!!  I stood in awe of it all, thinking "no wonder the fairies live in here...it's extraordinary...and SO peaceful."

Stone at Emily's grave honored by many who have left their drawing tools

As I walked I thought of Emily Carr and her trees - my favorite of her paintings.  And, for the first time, I GOT it.  I felt and I understood the love she had for these trees, and knew why (from the heart not the mind) she would choose to paint them.  I think it may be impossible to live here and NOT paint trees.

Stone near Emily's grave site in Ross Cemetery (Victoria, BC)

Ch-ch-ch-Changes....(OR, Never Look Back)

Ahhh.....it's been a LONG time, hasn't it?
Well, you know what "they" say about life...."it happens while you are busy making other plans."
To say my life has changed since my last post is a gross understatement! Had you said to me then that in a matter of months I would travel to Jamaica with family, complete renovations that have dragged on for years in order to sell our house, travel to Vancouver Island and purchase a new home in less than a week, manage to get to my folks' cabin for a week and a bit with family, have as many farewell parties and visits with friends as possible, sell and donate many belongings we no longer need, pack the entire remains with the help of angel friends and family, drive the lot of our possessions in 2 Uhaul trucks through Alberta and BC on to a ferry to arrive on the island, and then unpack and attempt to make sense of all of it in our new home...phew....I would have said you were absolutely nuts!! Oh, and did I mention this all happened with only 1 overnight stay in the hospital to monitor heart symptoms. Perhaps that was due to the stress.....ya' think?! So here we are now, living in a little bit of heaven on the West Coast of Canada in a place completely strange and new to us. A new adventure for our family has begun!
The (new) view from here:

Riding the Magic Carpet to One World One Heart

UPDATE - At long last I have returned from the abyss, and breaking all rules, I have completed my draw a month late.  But, it is done, and these two little hearts are on their way to Tina and Maria.  Congratulations Ladies!  And many thanks of all of you who dropped by my blog.  Once my life settles down again, I'll be able to post more frequently than once in a blue moon.....(more on that later.)  And I hope to see you all again soon!


OK...so "Last Minute Martha" strikes again - I'm joining in on the fun of One World One Heart just in the nick of time....again!  Nothing like a deadline stretched to the very last moment.  Here's the deal in the creator, Lisa Swifka's own words:

I created this event in 2007. The original idea behind this giveaway event was to bring bloggers together from around the world who may never ordinarily meet. It closes the gap of the blog community and enables us to interact, discover new and wonderful people, and in the process possibly win a prize or many prizes along the way. 2007 had roughly 85-90 participants and many connections were made because of it......friendships that are still going strong.
We had a strong showing the first year for sure, and then in 2008 we had just about tripled that number. In 2009 there were 911 participants, to say I was amazed is an understatement. 28 countries were represented in the 2009 event as well.
This is more than wanting to win something.......that is only the means.......in the end it's about finding kindred spirits. Someone who may be fairly new to blogging, not sure how to navigate, find others and have others find them....Some are long time bloggers and in some cases well known in the blogging community. Whatever the case it brings all of them together. This is an INTERNATIONAL event that has and had participants from the US, Canada, France, Sweden, Germany, Finland, Malaysia, Brazil, The Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Scotland, Ireland, England,Wales, Slovenia and more. It transcends geographical location, socio economics, political affiliation, religious beliefs......it's a coming together like the giant community we are on this planet. If only it took a simple giveaway to create PEACE everywhere, in the mean time here we give from our hearts. We are not solving the worlds problems nor are we curing anything nor are we changing the world. We are merely generating a closer community between humans through blogging. What more could I ask for, my little idea has surpassed my wildest dreams of what it could become.

So with that said, I am excited to participate along with nearly 1100 others this year in something with such a great intent - to bring people together.  This year I am giving away two items to two winners.

They are handmade glass hearts on steel bales with matching ribbon to use if the recipients choose to.  They can be worn as a necklace strung on the ribbon, or hung as a small ornament in a window or rear-view mirror.  Or they could be used as a zipper pull or a component on a bracelet....really anthing one might imagine.  My intent - to share love through this event.  To enter - here are the rules as outlined by the event:
1. Each person must leave a comment to be eligible to win. - One comment per person.
2. In your comment, please leave a link back to your blog so I can contact you and so I can visit your blog too. An email address would be good to to contact you about shipping should you be one of the lucky winners.
3.  Draw will be made using a random number generator on February 15th.

Good luck and I look forward to meeting you on this magic carpet ride!

Pushing Outside the Comfort Zone

I recently enjoyed an evening of oil painting with a teacher friend of mine - Mary-Leigh Doyle.  She is a wonderful painter and in particular I love her oils and her style of approaching them.  So this evening was for me an adventure in something fairly new and a relaxing evening of wine and paint - my favorite combination.  I have long wished that I could loosen up in my style as even when I start a painting out that way, I invariably end up with my nose less than a foot from the canvas working on tiny details.  So this evening the exercise was to copy a painting which gave me the "guide" to approach it in a loose and very painterly fashion.  I hated it.  Don't get me wrong, I love trees and feel compelled to paint them these days, but in this case the colors were not my favorites, and as I sat in my familiar 12 inches away from the tiny canvas it looked a mess.  I couldn't discern tree trunks from leaves, from background.  Only when someone insisted that I get the heck away from the thing - to step back and review - did I see what was going on in the painting.  OK....so it's not so bad.  What I do know is that to paint like this is completely foreign to me and it explains why I have such a difficult time getting there.

What you see here is unfinished - it's as far as I could go that evening without smudging it all into a muddy mess.  Once it dries I will add a few last minute touches...and try desperately not to add too much (any) detail.  Perhaps if there were an electric trigger rigged to the canvas that gave my ol' nose a little jolt when I get too close to it...

A Dedication

A friend asked me to add to her new mandala journal - to share a wish or some thoughts on her fledgling creative journey. So, it was a dedication of sorts. I was a little surprised at the request, and very honored to be asked to share. After a short meditation, this is the drawing that showed up...before I entered the words I shared with her. I hope she found it inspiring and supportive.

Collaboration

I really do love working on projects with other artists. I had a wonderful opportunity to work with my dad again on a comission for a friend of mine. Her partner loves to fish and she wanted to give him a damascus fileting knife for Christmas. So, my dad created a beautiful blade with a handle of blue dyed maple. He sent that to me and I followed the color and design of the knife to fashion a sheath and black suede bag complete with glass fish button. It's a real blessing to be able to share these projects with people whose work you admire, let alone that being family. I feel pretty lucky that way.

Ain't it the Truth...

Love is all we need.....

Indeed! Love to you all...

The Uncertainty Hump

I'm not exactly prolific when it comes to art projects....or at least it seems that way to me. I consistently feel that I rarely ever get anything accomplished or finished. I currently have at least 9 paintings alone that are started, but not done. I recently (just before the holidays) finished this one and I wondered to myself why it took me so long to get to finishing it.

The task of finishing really only took me an hour at best, yet I left it for ages. So, why?... I think for this one in particular it was about fear. I was worried that I would wreck the face. That's all that was left - just to finish the face. I'm not terribly good with faces, and so my uncertainty kept me frozen. Silly in hindsight.
I know I let this kind of thing stall me all the time. Seems too big, or I'm not sure how to do something and I run away and hide from it. And the un-doneness of it nags at me. I really dislike things to be unfinished, but not enough to get me to do something about it all the time.
One day, I'd like to figure that little hang-up out. At least for now, this fairy is done and off to sail on her bubble.