Enjoying nature!

Back to reality...

I had forgotten how much I loved the mountains. We went to the Boone area last week and it was like my soul opened up. Everything there was so green and beautiful. We stayed in a beautiful house in the woods and so enjoyed the quiet.

We took a hike on Grandfather Mountain and enjoyed seeing all the wildflowers, ferns and majestic trees. I was also blown away by the massive rock formations with their beautiful abstract shapes. Food for the artist's soul. Yes, it was a real "get back in touch with nature" kind of trip. I am so ready to create something wonderful now. I'll get some pictures up soon. I promise!

Healing through creativity at Whole Foods

I'm really looking forward to teaching a class at the Whole Foods Store in Raleigh. Now for some, the idea of teaching an art class at a grocery store may seem like a stretch. If you think about it though, art is one more way to relax and relieve daily stresses. It follows that doing art is good for your state of mind.

It has been a vision of mine to help others using art as a way to help them have fun and let go. I know arr has been a great healer in my life. I look forward to fulfilling my vision as I teach others about the joys of creating art!

What do I do with my time?

My humblest apologies to those who have watched my creative journey and wondered about my art and why I never post on here. You would think that I have all the time in the world. My children are all grown up and I've pretty well "trained" my husband to take care of himself. He cooks, he cleans, he even does laundry. So what am I doing and why do I avoid doing the very things I love. I definitely need to work on that.

I think it goes back to some old training from childhood which tells my brain "if it feels good, it must be wrong." I grew up with the mentality that work for women is cooking and cleaning and taking care of everyone else. I have also been told that art is play and play is for children. So how do I get out of this pattern of putting off my art, unless every other thing in my life is in perfect balance. I will NEVER have the house clean enough  and all the errands done. The other BIG issue is that unless I'm making money, it is not valid for me to do art. In recent times art has not been a big seller. Just one more reason not to do what I love.

Intellectually I know that the creating is important, but that inner voice keeps yelling at me to do other things. I think it may be time to tell that inner voice to "SHUT UP"! I'm definitely goint to work on that. That little voice in my head can be pretty mean sometimes. I need to dig deeper to another voice that cares about me and my dreams and all that I seek. I have been working very hard recently on two words: "Healing and Love." I am trying to learn to love myself in a healthy way and I believe through love, I can heal many old wounds and any new ones as well.
So for now that's where I am. I haven't stopped making art, but I have been through a bit of a dark period. I did create what I'll call a breakthrough piece that was accepted into the VAE's Unfettered show. So I am moving forward and getting excited to see what's next.

 

Come check out my new classes in conjunction with Jerry's Artarama.  Click on the picture for more information