Art, Family, Yoga

Ok, I will openly admit it...I AM A SUCKER FOR MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKERS AND INSPIRING QUOTES....

There, it's out...as if you didn't notice already...,but saying it...um, er... 'writing' it out loud...well, makes it real...right?


So today, this is what hit me right between the eyes...it is from Sandi Krakowski at http://arealchange.com/ and was posted on her FB page earlier this moring...

" Biz idea- What do you do so well you could do it in your sleep? You talk about it so much ppl say shut up! That's it. Do it on a blog! 24/7"

So, i'm also just going to say...this isn't a new concept...i've heard this before...(not downing SK at all, keep reading before you judge me)...my point is...that despite hearing this, several times in my life, in various ways...and despite trying to really tackle it...putting in journals...probably blogging about it...yadda yadda yadda...it always seemed like a mystery to me...

Why?

Because the fact is...i like to do, talk about, see, make, learn...TOO MANY THINGS....it is true...it's a problem i have...as in, i want to learn how to do everything...i want to see everything...i want to breathe in everything...it's true....my bucket list is very long....

Having said that...i, for some reason, realized, just today....that right now, in my life, despite all of this....there are three things that have always been important to me....

ART

Family

Yoga

it's true....and those are the three things i talk about all the time to the point of most likely driving everyone i know completely insane....

and i'm ok with that...(tee hee...)

Art is something i have done since i can remember, before i even knew it was called "art"....the act of creating, drawing, making, things, is something i don't remember ever being gone from my life...

My children and my husband, are on my mind 24/7...it's true...everything i do, revolves around how it affects their lives...everything...maybe to the point of being obsessive...i dunno...we'll let the psyche majors figure that part out...but, seriously...my family is the first thing i think about when i wake up and the last thing i think about when i go to sleep at night...

And, then there is yoga...while my Yoga practice is relatively young, only becoming more serious after a year of dedicated study....the more i study it, the more i realize how much it was already a part of my  life before i even began to understand it...and what is even funnier is that others told me this years ago, but i never saw it....

So, while this blog has sort of been leaning that direction anyway...it kinda feels like a major breakthrough for me to have three things to focus on, without a doubt, now...

so, if you don't like, art, family, or yoga, 

bummer....

because that is how i roll.....

five minutes here, five minutes there

so today's quote of the day was:

"A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art." -- Paul Cezanne

And since i'm working in my sketchbook, doing simply drawings and watercolours paintings of sunflowers, dragonflies, and lotus flowers...i ask myself...are these really art?

In college, i grew to understand that part of the art is the emotion or idea the work conveys, and not the skill behind it...when something just matches your couch, it isn't necessarily "Art" so much as "design"...

i struggled with this idea for a long time...in fact, it really caused me to shut down artisticly for a while...i felt like i couldn't please anyone with my work...if i tried to make it too thought provoking people didn't like it...and if i made it simply something nice to look at, others didn't like it...there was no satisfying anyone...

but i also came to understand, that this is just LIFE....

that no matter what you do, there will always be critics...and what is important, in the end, is you own sense of satisfaction...

Did you do your best? Are you happy with your work? Did you accomplish your goal?

In the last year, these questions are the only thing that have helped me keep going. 

So when i paint flowers, dragonflies...yes, they are simple....but they give me joy...they give me five minutes to breathe...and they are part of my meditation...part of my connection with the universe.

When i look at nature, i am awed...flowers, and insects are incredibly amazing...and i think too many people don't take the time to observe the nature and the world around them...

Thinking about how a sunflower starts from a seed and becomes a towering heavy-headed beauty full of geometric design and intricate petals, is just amazing...absolutely amazing...

So, when i work in my sketchbook, i'm not sure what emotion i want to evoke or base my work on...but amazement is what i have in mind....

quote of the day

"A work of art which did not begin in emotion is not art." -- Paul Cezanne

a peak into my sketchbook

"work is love made visible" Kahlil Gibran

this is what happens when i get a few minutes of quiet time...i get to draw...nothing extensive...nothing complicated...just simple drawing for the sake of drawing...nothing more, nothing less...It is in the simplicity that comes the joy, the sense of satisfaction that i was able to do the work that gives me joy..

we are what we eat...

"You are what you eat." We have all heard this all of our lives. But, do we really take it to heart? And if so, what are you? Are you a box of processed crackers and stale cheese spread, or are you fresh fruits and vegetables? What would you like to be? Do you want to be chemical additives and food dyes that simply "look" good but are really bad for you...or do you want to be as natural and healthy as possible?

I think it is easy to slip into the processed food trap. We have busy lives. Sometimes we just need something to help us keep moving. So we stuff ourselves with whatever is handy or convenient. I am certainly guilty of this.

But, there comes a point when we have to realize that we are important...we are important enough to take care of ourselves...so that, we can take care of others...or simply to be healthy...

In the last year, our family has made it a priority to try to be as healthy as possible. It started with my husband's change in diet to paleo and new-found love of exercise and then my own study of yoga. We have always attempted to eat healthy. But now, we are in full gear. This is today's lunch for me and the kidlets. Nothing exciting...just a simple home made chicken and rice soup...Okra from my garden, onions from my father's garden... the kids ate two bowls each...no, there aren't any store bought crackers, or glutenous side breads...just real soup...and to be honest, if I could raise the chickens in my back yard, I would have...

RECIPE:

two chicken breasts chopped (cooked, i boiled mine)
1 TBS minced garlic 
1 onion chopped
1 carrot chopped
2 stalks of celery chopped
 1 cup of chopped okra
8 cups of water

I just put all ingredients in my largest pot and bring it to a boil for 5 minutes and them lower the heat to let it simmer until the onions are translucent, and the carrots are soft.

Nothing fancy...you won't see it featured on any reality cooking show...or in some home and living magazine...it just is what it is...a simple basic soup, that we enjoyed today...and i hope it inspires you to do more for yourself...consider getting rid of those processed food you think are necessary or pantry staples...or, maybe think about how you can make the foods you buy...only make them healthier...

You are important enough to do this for yourself...

ENJOY!

good food doesn't have to be difficult...

Time and Lotuses

    The last few weeks have been full of weirdness and change. Kids are growing up too quickly. Jobs are changing oddly.  Old things are fading, New things are blooming. I suppose, it is just called Life, isn't it? 

For me, finding time to work on my artwork means, it has to be convenient, and inaccessible to sticky,curious, little fingers...I find that I have to break the process up into steps or phases...bits and bites that i can come and go from as time allows..

This morning I worked on these lotuses, applying the flowers with water soluble graphite and watercolors. The backgrounds were made a few weeks ago. I had no idea what I would do to finish these. I'm not sure these are quite finished yet.  Sometimes I just have to work and see what happens.

The Lotus image is something i have been working with for about 5 years now. Though I admit, it was only used on work for myself. Only in the last two years have i felt safe (?)....no that's not quite right... confident (?)....not that either...but something along those lines that allows me to put these out into the world...I think it is the fact that i enjoy making them that had me a bit confused about whether or not to put them into the world...I know...that sounds weird...but, when you understand my artistic history...you might understand my confusion...

In the past..i associated my artwork with feelings oh sadness, depression, and unhappiness...Many artists understand how much easier it is to create work from a dark place than from a place of light...the idea that one's work will seem hokey or silly when it comes from a place of light often stops people from creating such. 

But, in recent  years the idea "do that which comes easiest to you and gives you joy" has been playing in a loop in my head... and here we have the Lotus.  

I suppose some artists have "their thing" that they do that identifies them...i can honestly say i have never known what mine was...or is...Is the Lotus mine? I have no idea. But for now, I am allowing myself to enjoy them. 

quote of the day

“It is very important to generate a good attitude, a good heart, as much as possible. From this, happiness in both the short term and the long term for both yourself and others will come.” HH the Dalai Lama

quote of the day

Your life is right now! It's not later! It's not in that time of retirement. It's not when the lover gets here. It's not when you've moved into the new house. It's not when you get the better job. Your life is right now. It will always be right now. You might as well decide to start enjoying your life right now, because it's not ever going to get better than right now—until it gets better right now!

--- Abraham (Hicks:)

quote of the day

‎"People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within."~Elisabeth KÃbler-Ross