What Delights You?

A couple of days ago, Jamie Ridler at  jamieridlerstudios.ca  suggested that one way we might reconnect with the things that give us pleasure would be to examine delight from the vantage point of our senses. So here goes, 5 for each sense…

I love the taste of…

My brother’s pasta, avocados, freshly blended green smoothies, Chicago Diner BBQ vegan “cheeze” burgers, and café con leche.

I love the sight of…

The Black Hills of South Dakota, the sun rising, my husband sleeping, spring flowers blooming, my sister's smile

I love the feel of…

My husband’s hand holding mine, the softness of Haley’s fur, my yoga mat, the warmth of the sun, paint on my fingertips

I love the smell of…

Bookstores, the air following a rain, baking bread, beeswax melting,  incense in a yoga studio

I love the sound of…

Silence broken only by the chirps of birds, the belly laughs of children, the squeak Chloe makes after she yawns, leaves moving in the wind, the crunch of leaves underfoot

Here comes Flora!

I am very excited to report that my online workshop with Flora Bowley begins on Monday!  Yippee!  Can you hear the crowd roar?  Our first e-mail arrived today describing the ins and outs of the course and the supplies we will need.  Oh my, I’m in heaven!  I have been practicing what I know of Flora’s technique—well, I’ve been pretending that I have an idea of what’s going on, but my information is limited and only consists of what I could gather from her book, “Brave Intuitive Painting.”



An early phase



I'm still working on this painting   In fact, I'm just waiting for the class at this point!  The process is a lot of fun though and very freeing.  I loved pulling out images from my splashes of color.  I have two other paintings in the works as well, and I keep finding figures on the canvas.  It's very interesting and I can't wait to be a part of the real deal come Monday! 

Work continues

I'm calling this painting, "A Hole In My Heart Missing You."  My sister-in-law passed away last year and I miss her terribly.  It still feels as though my heart has a hole in it and this painting just presented itself with all the splotches of color in just the right places as a representation of that pain.  I'll post it again as I move forward with it and finish it up and I'll also try to find a picture of where the painting actually started. 

Looking back

I apparently wrote this 3 years ago—nearly to the day and I just ran across it, written on loose-leaf paper and stuck in the back of a random blank journal. Nothing has changed—I wonder if that’s good or bad?



What do you want? What are you going to do TODAY to make THIS day special, meaningful, a step toward enlightenment/Yoga? What will you experience/go after or seek out that will inspire a sense of awe? Deliciousness? And what of gaiety, levity, laughter? What will you do that will help someone else?

Who are you? Who are you when you are alone/ when you are at work, at home, making dinner, teaching yoga? Are all of those “people” you or are they just projections, protections so that you can’t see the real you hiding under all the layers, the covers, and the misperceptions?

I want a moment to breathe. I want a moment of peace where I can create…I want to make art. How is that possible? I am 48 years old and have never been an artist…not even close…but I have a longing inside me—an ache really. There is the voice that says it will never be good enough, but maybe no one ever has to see it anyway. Maybe it’s just for me? I want it to be more…an offering of sorts, which is difficult to explain, but I wish from my depths that it could be my gift to the world. I wish it would have meaning, be worthwhile, support me financially, emotionally and spiritually. There! I’ve put it out there! The energy has been set in motion. Now I have to act on it.

When you consciously strive to make each day in itself meaningful, then you will have lived a life of meaningful days. You wouldn’t be wanting …you would have santosha or contentment!

Art Every Day? Not Even Close

I began this month with excitement in my heart and a paint brush in my hand, and while the desire still lives in my heart, my hand is empty of the brush. There are reasons. There are excuses. What makes me sad is that time is passing and I'm letting it slip away from me. I am watching it pass, bound by some unknown part of my personality that will not let me make my mark--both literally and figuratively.

Mad For Modigliani in November

It's November--woo-hoo--and aside from the fact that this is my favorite month of the year it is also art every day month and I have promised to give myself the gift of art every single day!

I adore Modigliani, and his "Pierrot" was my first experience exploring pastels. Yes, it has issues, yes, it was a struggle, but that's OK. Most of my work has issues right now. It's all about learning for me--practice, practice, practice. Perhaps I'll try "Pierrot" in paint tonight.

lessons...

I'm trying to teach myself to draw and paint and let me tell you, it's not easy! I love it though, and want so much to get better at it. The "model" for this sketch came from a picture of a demonstration of cobra pose in a yoga magazine. I obviously altered that and, yes, that alteration makes her look a bit wonky, but hey, like yoga, art is a practice!

A work in progress...

That's me...a work in progress! I love playing with abstracts, and love, love, love faces. My "girl in a black hat" is also a work in progress--I'll post her again when she is complete.