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Reception is postponed a week

Bummer. Tomorrow is supposed to be pretty wild weather-wise. A noreaster with heavy rains and winds 50+ mph. I initally figured we would just go with it but if it really does get as bad as they predict, what's the point of having a party if no one can come.
Better to be safe at home, warm, comfy and dry.
We postponed it until next week. Sunday the 22nd.
See you then :-)
And it can always be viewed during the week.
Now to go clean up my room... just in case of leaks.

An Invitation...

Tomorrow I will hang the show. Next week is the reception. I'm really excited about this show. These kids were so much fun to work with, but while I was getting them materials, taking pictures and being there always in the moment, I didn't really get a chance to LOOK, really see their work and their faces. The pictures I took show how happy they were with their artwork and how happy they were in general. It is one of my greatest joys to work with kids and art. This is my bliss!

HAS library day3

I am finished. I painted for 3 days - it was tight and I did what I could......

It was a nice space to work in. The custodians were great and for the most part, I was left alone to paint. Life is good. I wish I could paint without time restriction, though.

HAS library -day 2

Another full day of painting. I finished the giraffe, the girl reading to him ( still need to add the book though) and some travel items. Tomorrow, I will add some greenery to tie it all together. I only have tomorrow and I need to do another wall. I've had to let go of some "detail" work.
I think it needs binoculars too.
I also need to put in the dog...........

HAS library entrance

I've been having some anxiety about this job. I have 3 days to paint. That's it. I tend to under estimate how long things take sometimes. Today I focused the "welcoming wall". It's the first thing you see when you walk into the library. The snowy owl is their mascot and figured it would be good to put him against a dark background. There is a side half wall that will have a handicap lift, so I can't paint too much there. I'll probably add a butterfly or two to add some more color. The blue is off. It's more of a muted, weathered blue.
mmmmmm. maybe a flower box under the right window...
tomorrow I'll work on the giraffe and children. If I have time, I'll come back to this and add to it.

Stool is completed!

Susan finally gets her stool! and I gain a little more space in my art room.
I'm always so happy when a client or friend is pleased with the work. I was trying to get this idea across of being grounded but also being "out there". From the earth to the sky.
I have been taken by these photos of space lately and that was my inspiration. There's a lot out there!
There is always this funny feeling though when something, a project, has been sitting around, taking up space and then it's gone. Soon enough something comes along to fill it, but until then, it is a strange feeling.... like something is missing.
Well, it was fun. But time to move on.
Next project - Art show and library mural.

Balance

Two more panels that I did. CC got the "Balance" one. I think the whole Key to life is about being in balance. It is amazing how we can go off the deep end sometimes - filling our minds with what we think is real, when in fact it is not.
I hang my humble head on this one today. I could blame it on too much work... too much thinking and not listening or paying attention.
Embarassingly I tell this story...
My bank issued me a credit card. In my broken mailbox, I took out an evelope from my bank which was opened. I kind of freaked out and I saw that there was a missing card. That was my perception. So of course I called and blocked it. Today I get the card in the mail - thinking, wow, that was quick. Same number. Then I noticed the big bold note on the first letter saying that MY CARD WAS ON ITS WAY! oh. oops. now I wait again. At least I have a new mailbox and my mailman is happy about that...
So, about balance. Time to slow down, pay attention, read the fine print, even if it is screaming out at you in big bold letters!
Balance brings us back to center - we swing far left, far right. We may climb higher and higher, but when we stop pumping so hard, we slow down and come back to center. To stillness.
It is in this stillness that we can hear that inner voice whispering to us the message we are supposed to hear. We can only hear it when we are quiet.
These messages sometimes come early in the morning as we are just awakening. A voice. Clear. Listen to it. It may be just the answer you have been waiting for.
Slooooooooooooooow down.

Spring - new projects to begin.

Now my attention turns to the library mural and the children's art show. I will be juggling here but my intention is to put my focus on each one intensely - be in the moment with each one. I should probably make a scheduele because I will be dillusional if I pretended these two things were the only things to focus on.... ah, taxes.
I do not like paperwork. I put it off. This year I started putting my receipts in an accordian file for each month vs. in one box for the year. Then about this time of the month, I start to sort my receipts and then call the accountant. I did ok until about June or July. Then I just stuffed everything in towards the back. I need work in this department.
So actually it is 3 big projects I have.
Each deserves my undivided attention to it.
I had a meeting for the library today and set things up so I can get in during the Spring break. I taught the last class today with the kids and now can focus on putting it together - this I am very excited about. I'm excited about both projects.
not so much with the taxes.
Happy Spring everyone.

Metal

Metal is in the mail.
A group of us made 6 panels. Primary ingredient was metal with fiber as a side dish.
I always became mesmerized as I heated up the copper to watch it change color. I learned that I had to be quick to pull away from the flame or it would lose the color variation. This detail of one, shows some variations.
Hard to photograph shiny stuff and without a flash, it gets blurry.
I'll keep playing with this stuff for sure. I bought a roll of it a couple of years ago - now I know why :-)

Focus on the NOW

I received this email from The Daily Guru today:
YOU CAN OPEN ANY DOOR WITH CONCENTRATION
The first law of success is concentration. Bend all of your energies to one point, and go directly to that point, looking neither to the right nor the left. Concentration is the magic key that opens the door to accomplishment. Success is the result of well directed energy. You can, in time, become what you earnestly desire to be, if you set your face in the direction of the things you want and bring all your powers to bear towards its attainment. When your physical and mental resources are focused, your power to solve problems multiplies tremendously. To do two things at once is to do neither. Nothing can add more power to your life as much as concentrating all your energies on a limited set of targets. The sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus.

This is something I need to bring myself back to. Focusing on the task at hand.
It is so easy for me to get overwhelmed because I have chosen to take on multiple tasks.
Yes.
I want to do it all.
I enjoy doing what I do, so I want to do more of it.
And I usually plod along, until I get paniced and realize a deadline is creeping up - sometimes a few at the same time. uh-oh.
This is when the universe intercedes and gives me a blessing. A snow day. I had the day to myself yesterday to work on my metal project. I gave it my undivided attention. That is what makes the difference.
Today I am going to look at some walls in a children's day care center. Adding one more thing to give my attention to. It gets added to the list.
I'm thankful there IS a list.
I just have to keep it from distracting me. Stop looking at it all at once. See what it directly in front of me. Focus on the task at hand.
Move up the ladder one step at a time.
Be here now.

Eclipse

Although this looks like a cresent moon, it is a full moon. A lunar eclipse.
We went to the beach to watch the moon rise and see this eclipse. There were quite a few people there waiting. I kept my eye on the horizon expecting to see it rise from the water, when a child came over talking about it, Seeing it. All of a sudden I spotted it, a dim reddish disc already above the horizon.
The girl's mom, now standing besides us, John initiating conversation. One conversation leading to the next when she mentioned the Marshlands. I love the Marshlands. She proceedes to tell the story of the time they were there and saw a baby deer, telling how the kids were getting close to the baby, until the buck came. As she was talking about it, I realized....
I was there! I told her it was me, who came over to them and how we all ran when the girls screamed the buck was coming. And here we were sharing another unusual site. Life is funny how we cross paths with one another.
They left and we took up conversation with a couple on the other side of us. They had a dog that looked like Rauchen. More connections.....
We watched most of it ~ seeing the moon become unveiled behind the shadow.
What wonders are we capable of unveiling? What remains hidden in our subconscious or in our soul that is ready to be unveiled?

Desk delivered

Here is the desk ~ finally delivered. I'll take better pictures later. The seat cushion may change. I added dark brown with the idea of the seat cushion having the dark brown zebra print and now I am not sure. Also I did not get the sides which have animal print to go in with the rest of the room. Too much glare too. But it is what it is for now.

Doorway to transformation

Playing around with the printshop program I have. Wandering around it to see what is available. The sunflower is a photo I took, and altered it by adding these "stamps" and brushmarks, which I'm not crazy about... Little by little I discover something new.

sitting in space - Susan's stool

Yesterday, we had sleet, so everything was cancelled. I got to stay in with my sweetie, a wonderful valentine gift, and paint.

This is the top of the stool I'm painting for Susan's boyfriend. I was inspired by some photos of space. It is so amazing to me that this beauty is out there in space. So humbling to know we are a part of it... so much is out there, so vast and unlimited, and we get so caught up in the craziest, pettiest stuff. Helps me to put things into perspective.

Feeling blessed and grateful.

Altered Lily

From my birthday flowers that my sweetie got. I took a picture of the lily. I was playing around with a close up in printshop and thought I was saving it one way but ended up completely different. So I went back in and played around using the same photo and imposed one upon the other.... pretty sensual these flowers.....

web design

My friend Lynn asked me to paint a web for her spiders. I did 2 different webs. This one was a bit of a reach, but looks good from a distance...
I love to do this kind of stuff - unusual little accents in one's home.
Fun stuff.
My own art has been on the back burner for a bit. Lynn asked me to do this for her not months ago, but rather years....
I've been doing art for others. Work art. Art for $$$. It's a good thing.
Painted a desk and bench, still painting a stool and just finished doing a faux finish in a restaurant.
I am overcommited and behind. Overcommitment and procrastination should not hang out together.
I still have some "work" waiting in the wings - but I really need to get back to MY art.

Mandala

Good for when you don't know what to do. Or just to help me focus.
Pigma pen and H2O's.

Winter finally arrived

Part of doing "Finding Water" is doing the walks. This is good as I need to walk in preparation for Machu Picchu. On my walk, after our scant snowfall, I found it amusing to see the snow on top on flowers that had confusingly started to emerge, thinking it was spring, the weeks before. Strange weather for sure. Do you think the Earth has tilted a bit????
Aside from pictures, I'm almost finished with the desk. Just a little touch up here and there.

I'll post the desk when it's done.

New restaurant job too. Going to look at the walls today.

bumps in the road

I altered a photo that I took at the beach. Getting to know the new printshop program I have... oh, what fun stuff.