Ease and trust (plus, personalized artwork!)
“Creativity is the greatest rebellion in existence” – Osho
This week my heart has felt so open and ready to learn, and this is quite the sensation after spending so many years in the fog of the wrong work environment.
I’m becoming more aware that living through my art will mean always feeling slightly un-tethered, walking up and down and across a path where it’s my job to make up the rules. As a rule-abider for all of my working life, I continue to adjust and adjust. I continue to search for the ease in each day and each moment.
This week’s painting is all about ease and trust (I find ease in painting without judgment. I trust that listening to my heart will always lead me where I need to be).
When I finished painting, I wrote out the following message:
Today I painted something quite different. I’ve been feeling the overwhelm recently of trying to build my own business and I needed to simply play. So I did. This is not a polished painting by any means, but there’s a messy, happy quality to this that let me breathe a little easier. It says ‘dare to be you,’ which popped into my head so quickly that it felt like I was being sent the message I needed to hear. I’m going to take this as a reminder that it’s okay to loosen up now and again, as there’s always something to learn when you do.”
Be kind (plus, a new painting)
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted” – Aesop
Recently I decided I needed a new angel card. These little cards, when picked during a moment of stillness and contemplation, are so great at helping to frame my day. You can find them here.
I pulled the Kindness card.
As I thought about the Kindness card, my first reaction was to think why kindness? I think I’m a kind person. What else do I need to learn?
And then came the second, more instinctual reaction: how kind are you to yourself?
Of course, that answer is mixed.
I do kind things: I try to listen to my body. I work hard to keep my schedule from getting too overwhelming. I follow my dreams.
But I also do un-kind things: I consistently stay up late working when I should be sleeping. I criticize myself in the mirror. I hold myself to a ridiculously high standard of success and feel badly when I can’t reach it.
So, I’m writing this today because I want all of us to remember this simple truth:
It’s so critical to be kind. Always to each other, but more importantly to ourselves.
This is an especially important lesson to me this week as I started experimenting with video.
I'd like to read more, please»Dare to love yourself
“Dare to love yourself as if you were a rainbow with gold at both ends.” – Aberjhani
How do you want to love yourself today?
Will love appear through the words you use to describe yourself, through how you treat your body, through your relaxation at the end of the day, or through paring down that impossible to-do list?
Dare to love yourself. I adore this concept, as love becomes something bold and wild and freeing.
How do you need to love yourself today?
I'd like to read more, please»I choose trust as my map
“Wherever you stand, be the soul of that place” – Rumi
As I was working on this week’s painting, I was thinking about how change happens. The process is different for all of us, but the core is the same: we are exposed to new things, learn something new through that exposure, and that newness reflects itself in what we create and do and think.
Eric and I were discussing that my core style as an artist, the method and style of painting that truly lights me up and makes me radiate joy when I reach my studio, is still evolving. And that’s okay. Likely I will end up somewhere in the middle, taking what I love from landscape paintings and what I love from abstract paintings as inspiration.
It really is okay to grow, shift, try new things, and come back to the beginning again. It’s okay to expand our comfort zones and do the project that terrifies us and come out on the other side just a little bit changed.
I told Eric that I was feeling a little anxious that I can’t see the road map of where I’ll end up, and he reminded me that we learn what works for us by trying new things instead of merely thinking about trying.
We can talk and talk and talk about our dreams and plans, but until we actually take action and see how it feels to pursue that dream, we’ll never really know.
My only rule is reflected so perfectly by this Rumi quote: wherever you stand, be the soul of that place. To me, this means that whatever we try, we need to try with our whole hearts. We need to do our best quality work, take the attempt seriously, and we need to not give up.
This week’s painting is called Trust for this very reason. Do you trust that you will find the answers you need, even if you can’t yet see the path? Today I choose trust as my map.
Breaking free from the comfort zone
“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone” – Neals Donald Walsch
I’ve been thinking this week about comfort zones and how tricky they can be.
Comfort zones are of course comfortable for a reason – we feel safe, confident, and there are no real surprises.
My recent interest in exploring abstract art felt like the break from the comfort zone that I needed, and I was feeling pretty excited after I painted two originals in a row that resembled nothing I’d done before.
And then I painted a landscape last week, even though I hadn’t planned on it. I even thought I was painting an abstract until I got to the end, and my husband Eric pointed out to me that I had in fact painted a landscape. Hello, sneaky comfort zone!
The real kicker was this week, when I picked up the 16×20 wood panel Eric brought home for me a few weeks ago, curious to see if I’d like painting at a much larger scale.
I was both intimidated and curious about the size, but when I started painting I found myself creating another landscape. Eric called me out on it again, and then gave me a challenge to truly play.
Thank goodness for the people in our lives who inspire us to grow.
So, here is where the painting began on Monday, a horizontal landscape with the beginnings of a sunset over water:
When mistakes happen (a new painting from start to finish)
“At any given moment you have the power to say: this is not how the story is going to end” – Christine Mason Miller
When I first started painting again in 2013, I was terrified to make any mistakes.
Each new painting was a little test. Did I have the talent? Would I keep coming up with new ideas? Would I be happy with the final result?
I would always get to a certain point in a painting and be afraid to add anything further – what if I made the wrong color choice or added a tree where there shouldn’t be one and then the whole painting felt ruined?
It’s so easy to get stuck right in this fear-moment and yet when mistakes happen, what to do? Mistakes are an inevitable part of any creative process.
These days when a painting takes a turn that I don’t like, I actually feel much freer to play. The mistake has already happened, so I no longer worry about keeping everything perfect.
And the result: I am pushed to add more color, more layers, and take more chances to get the painting to a good place. The finished piece is always so much better than it would have been had I stopped painting when I felt afraid to mess anything up.
This is not how the story is going to end.
I'd like to read more, please»Gratitude and vulnerability (a new painting from start to finish)
“I’m just so grateful, because to feel this vulnerable means I’m alive.” – Brene Brown
This is a line from Brené Brown’s TED talk on the power of vulnerability. The talk is powerful in itself – listen if you haven’t yet.
I think about her work on vulnerability every now and then when I’m considering how to move forward with my art and my business.
One of her last points in the talk is that while letting ourselves be seen can be so incredibly difficult, remaining grateful through the fear can lead us to a kinder, more gentle place.
So today I’m putting her words into action as I lean into gratitude.
I listened to her talk again recently because I was feeling a bit insecure about my exploration into abstract painting. The fear-based thoughts were there (why bother? you don’t know how, who will like what you paint, etc), and I needed the reminder to just ride that wave of vulnerability through to the end to keep moving.
I’m so thankful! The response I’ve received so far to my first two abstract paintings has been heart-warming and so encouraging. It was the reminder that I needed that we should always take the chance to be truly seen, even when it feels scary. Let this be my gentle push for you as well. The world needs you! Get out there and share your heart.
And now, here’s the latest. I haven’t named this one yet, actually. Suggestions welcome!
I'd like to read more, please»When we need release (a new painting from start to finish)
“Wisdom is merely the movement from fighting life to embracing it.” – Rasheed Ogunlaru
I’ve been learning and relearning a valuable lesson over the past several weeks.
Do you fight what your body wants or needs, because you want to tough it out and reach your latest goal?
Recently I’ve been receiving the message everywhere I turn that I don’t leave enough room for enjoyment in my life. In dreams and conversations. In a recent crystal ball reading I had. From the acupuncturist. Inside my own muscles, especially in my jaw.
The core of the message I’ve received: slow down and enjoy the present moment.
At the same time, I’ve also recently felt the pull to experiment with new styles of painting. The message that I need more play in my life coincides perfectly with this wish to grow artistically, and so I’ve done some experimentation this week.
I’ve started a new series of little abstract paintings, painted on 6×6 wood panels. As I’m sure you know by now, color is my absolute favorite part of painting. To create movement and mood and energy through color alone, with no identifying landscape to orient us in space, has felt like both a challenge and an opportunity to truly play.
I'd like to read more, please»We are enough (plus, a new painting!)
“If you light a lamp for someone else, it will also brighten your path” – Buddha
Here’s my latest painting, which I made last week as part of my hour-long creative sessions. I feel super excited about this one, like something in my style has shifted ever so slightly and made room for growth. Do you ever feel this way about something you create?
Finding hope (plus, a new painting!)
“I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe” Dalai Lama
I’ve recently finished a new painting, and took pictures along the way so I could share the process with you. The painting was such an experiment and proved to be quite challenging for me. I think the challenging pieces are the most interesting to look back on, however, so here we go!
This particular painting began with a background of blues and reds.
I'd like to read more, please»
