Even clumsy birds fly free....

I was thinking the other day that "freedom" means a lot to me.  Besides "love" it's up there on the scale of importance.  My business partner bought my part in the furniture store so I'm free to ponder at the crossroads, breathe free for a while.  I love spending the day without schedule or obligations.  Get up in my jammies and sit down at the computer or in my studio and do all the things I love to do.  Creativity of all kinds flow freely in an relaxed body and mind.  That's how we're meant to live--Free!

I'm the queen of my own domain so to speak, not some CEO or other boss, or a friend telling me what they think I should be doing.  When I don't have to be some place at a certain time, I can listen to my intuition and go with the flow.  People's intuition has been clouded for centuries due to schedules and obligations.  I'm not against those per se, but they only work if we love what we do.  I have given way too many years to jobs and careers that I didn't love, but I've also worked for years with things I do love, and I intend to stay that way now. Let my God-given gifts rule!  Be my own boss, create income where I can be my own boss, and continue with my two greatest passions, art and writing!

We have made it so difficult for ourselves as we struggle in this world of unceasing toil.  Do you think that was the purpose for coming here when we were given that first breath at birth?  I think we were meant to be free and follow that guidance inside.  That part was never acknowledged though.  Sadly, it gets completely covered up as we go through school.

I have been writing a lot, but I snuck in some art last week.  I made a mini book for the Cloth Paper Scissors' challenge.  The front and back covers are cardboard with lots of collage and paint. The inside covers are hand-painted fabric.  I sewed some brown paper bag pages inside, and it became an artistic goal setting journal for 2011.  I have a friend who is a fantastic artist, but she always shortchanges herself with her art.  Making money is more important than her creative expression.  I can understand the necessity of a regular paycheck, but the choice to always put that first comes from fear.  It may be an excuse not to create.  There's no real security in a regular paycheck, just as the job could be gone tomorrow.  I have friends who work regular jobs and still manage to create every day, but they are the exception.  She's getting the book for Christmas!  :)
 
What's your most cherished word?

Blogger problems....

When I try to leave comments on some blogs in Blogger the link is gone!   I went on Blogger help and there were some suggestions about enabling third party cookies and also to enable URL in security settings in firewall program.  I've tried everything, and still I can't get anywhere.  If anyone has ideas, please let me know.  I run Firefox.  Thanks!

Art journaling...

When all else fails, do some art journaling.  I have one that I've been working on for a couple of years, and it's mostly a spiritual reminder of what is important in my life.  It's a way to do whimsical things and try out new techniques, write silly or profound stuff, and basically laugh at the artful fun that comes out!  Well, when it all boils down to it we are cosmic if lovable jokes, but we might as well have fun while being . . .  Artists grab the cosmic by the throat and wrangle some unique art out of it, if we are lucky.
On those "unlucky" days, we can get by with some doodles with jelly pens, or a regular ballpoint pen if things are really bad.  I like to jot down goals and visualizations that invariably get turned into the ditches of the road of life, but one can try . . . A lot of Gulf of Mexico sadness went into those pages, but I did mark the day the well cap went on.  I'm into doodling trees now, those stately wise beings that we share our lives with.  I touched one in reverence the other day and came away with squirrel poop on my hand.  Cosmic joke or what?!  At least someone is having fun. :)
My neighbors are feeding hummingbirds this season, so I get one coming over my way.  He is a ruby throated and he checks out my tiny yellow flowers and the trumpet vine that grows high in the live oaks.  He also checks out a red teapot/birdhouse that hangs on my porch, never quite figuring out why such a large red flower has no juice.  I like to think he's looking in my window sometimes, but he's probably getting those tiny insects that abound on the walls.  No pictures of this magical creature alas, only a musing.
I'm so grateful Bailey, the cat, doesn't go after anything.  He just lies there and looks at things, kindly, and lazily.

These are some of my fallow brushes with pretty paint stains, and one brand new, looking regal among the worker bees . . .

Another POP event!

We had a great time last Saturday during our Day of Discovery at POP.  It rained part of the day, just like today.  Huge downpours and thunder.  It's painfully green outside if you can use that word!?  And pretty dark for 4 pm, but the sun will be back tomorrow as always...  Check out the pictures.  I didn't get pictures of everythnig that was made, but what a talented group!  I had them do mini collage on playing cards, and they turned out fantastic!! 

 Pastels with Lynne Simone.

Me before the classes started.

Kathleen, she dyes textiles and does watercolors that are very fluid.  The picture of her art here didn't turn out very nice.

One of Kathleen's textiles.  Hard to see the glorious detail.

Kathleen Wilson and Karen Heidler

Mini collages in the making!

Collages and oil painting bookmarks

Love this!

My plate of the catered lunch.  It was soooo good that I had seconds.  Didn't have to eat more that day...

Jana Withers oil painter extraordinaire, and plein air as well.

I'm envious of her brush bag!

Rose from Evie Harper's polymer clay class.  This was a first time effort!

Karen's watercolor class.  People went into the "zone" here. :)

I can't believe I didn't get a picture of Evie, but I took bunches of pictures with her camera and probably thought I'd gotten some with mine.

CREATE!!

What am I doing?

Maybe you thought I fell of the face of the earth, but I've been busy WRITING, not making art.  I can't take pictures of my computer screen; it would be very boring.  I am gearing up for the art show at the City Hall in Brooksville though.  All art has to be in by August 10, so I have to make labels and make sure all of the pieces have wire on the back.  Details, details...

I have posted before that I had a career as a writer.  I got burned out big time after 18 years, but I'm at it again.  I guess you can't remove the writer within.  It's so much more difficult than making visual arts because you can see your art take shape. Writing is a wholly mental adventure, but when it's inspired you wonder where the good stuff comes from.  

I'm working on a possible trilogy, a set of sci-fi fantasy novels, more fantasy than sci-fi.  The first one is titled Trials of Hallion and I've got some spunky characters venturing into a new world where there's lots of weird stuff going on.  I'm hitting the story from two viewpoints, two women who will meet at some point, Kate and Keitrah.  Don't know where.  This morning I had to write a scene that I only had the vaguest of ideas for, but it came together as I wrote one word after the other.  Funny how that works...   The ideas and pictures appear in my head as I write, and the story goes from one sentence to the next.  I have a general synopsis of the story, but it tends to change a lot as I go along.  I feel a lot of trust in the process, and the craft of writing is ingrained in my DNA. :)  I wrote a couple of how-to fiction writing articles for Fortitude if you're interested in reading more about the writing process itself: http://fo.rtitu.de/how-to-write-bestselling-fiction-49 and http://fo.rtitu.de/how-to-write-fictional-characters-successfully-30
Having fun in the summer heat, indoors with the A/C going...  We're in the mid to high 90s every day, a very hot summer for us in FL.
Stay cool!