We went to the Downtown Farmer’s Market last night and purchased some yummy peaches and nectarines. It was fun walking through the market admiring all the artwork, jewelry, plants and fresh produce for sale.
There was a sea of people that stretched as far as the eyes could see. We listened to musicians playing on the sidewalk, children laughing, and saw a belly dancer balance a sword on her head as she danced. . . Quite a feast for the eyes & ears!
thought for the day;
“Many organic practices simply make sense, regardless of what overall agricultural system is used. Far from being a quaint throwback to an earlier time, organic agriculture is proving to be a serious contender in modern farming and a more environmentally sustainable system over the long term.” - David Suzuki
Summer is always a very busy time of the year for me, and there seems to be no end to the various projects that need to be done.
So far I’ve managed to slowly whittle down a rather large to do list, but when it is so beautiful outside, it’s hard not to be distracted by Mother Nature.
Of course, I also have a stack of books next to my bedside table, patiently waiting to be read. I plan to start one real soon (like tonight) . . . Mainly because I just can’t stand them staring at me any longer. lol
This video is an introduction to Ashville abstract artist, Jonas Gerald. Wow! I love his energy.
thought for the day;
“No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.” - Confucius
Yesterday as I was cleaning the studio, I came across a couple of watercolor and acrylic paintings, which were works in progress. They were my first attempt to break out of the cyclic creative block that I seemed unable to shake this past week.
One of them represented the different emotional and psychological imprints that can happen when one has a chronic illness. The woman figure symbolizes a medical practitioner, the flower in the vintage lab beaker is representative of our creative adaptability and innate biological ability to heal. The bird symbolizes tapping into our own creative and healing energies.
I had covered the other canvas with sections of one of my favorite articles about a grandmother who used plant medicine to heal her granddaughter, and her ability to blend her will with the energies of the earth to nourish and sustain her family.
As I looked at these two separate paintings, I suddenly felt inspired to scan both images and thought why not combine both of them together, so I did.
I had to cut, rearrange and then merge all the different images to make them fit together. The whole process took me a couple of hours and it really helped me to break out of my creative slump. I used Photoshop & Painter IX to create the image above from my original paintings.
So heres a very heartfelt thank you to all the women, mothers and grandmothers who inspire, nurture and sustain us throughout our lives.
I love this video on how to make altered art tins . . . So cute!
thought for the day:
“My artwork is never bad,
There’s no right or wrong way,
My effort makes me feel glad,
I would draw anything,
an ocean or a bay.
Bright colors, lines are bold;
artwork is like gold.”
From a student - Cedar Creek Elementary
The studio is dark, silent . . . the easel sits empty.
However, in the kitchen, all is well!
Cooking relaxes me and engages me in a creative way . . . like blending the right spices or ingredients together.
I have homemade chicken curry simmering on the stove, and mangoes, papaya, and peaches in ceramic bowls on the counter waiting to be made into salsa. Yum!
My creativity for right now is focused on preparing wholesome, nutritious food for my family.
Peach & Papaya Salsa . . .
“Good painting is like good cooking, it can be tasted, but not explained.” - Maurice de Vlaminck
Over the weekend I discovered some Yupo Paper hidden away on one of my shelves, and I was hoping to play around with it today, but I came down with a nasty flu yesterday.
So here I lie in bed surrounded by Kleenex, a big pot of hot tea and various medications which are suppose to help me get through the worst of it. C’est la vie!
thought for the day:
“Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.”
- Joshua J. Marine
I’ve been working on quite a few projects lately, and this painting is one of them. At this point, it’s still a work in progress.
The preliminary sketch of the mermaid has been floating around in my studio for some time. Every time I came across it I meant to do something with it, but never did.
I finally started working on it yesterday and this is as far as I got. . . .
I still have a long way to go on this one and a lot of changes are likely going to happen.
“The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.” - C. G. Jung
