believe

WOW! It has  been WAY too long since my last posting!

We were off in Albuquerque this last week visiting family, and we had a wonderful visit. Warren had a blast running through the sprinkler in his grandparents' backyard and we had a hard time getting him to come inside....all he wanted to do was explore the garden, look for turtles and drag around a watering tool. Brandon started some of his longer runs while we were out in New Mexico (in his preparation for the NYC Marathon this fall) and I've been training with him so far. We did a beautiful 8 mile run one morning along Tramway, a long walk/bike path that they have up near the base of the Sandia Mountians. We encountered lots of walkers, runners, bikers, and even a couple prairie dogs. I had doubts about whether or not I was actually going to be able to make it. But Brandon helped me push through, and it was a really nice to do it together as a couple (sans bebe- thanks Mema and Papa!) 

The beauty of the southwest was evident on our trip, even though it's been rather dry this year. The desert vegetation can be quite breathtaking and I loved being reminded of all the interesting shrubs and cacti that bloom in the desert heat. The I think I already see influences from the trip in a couple of my current paintings. 

I've also been caught up in the midst of my e-course with Flora Bowley....which has been amazing but challenging. I've learned some new techniques and I've been inspired to try some new things. But growing and pushing yourself isn't always easy. I've been working on four different paintings for awhile now, and this last couple of days I was feeling REALLY stuck. I couldn't really get into rhythm and I just felt like none of the moves I was making were really moving me in any direction at all. 

So today, in reaction to all that heaviness I was feeling, decided to paint and write some motivation to myself directly on the canvas. I started with the 'believe'

.... a reminder to believe in myself as an artist,    

to believe in the artistic process   

to believe in my intuition and let it guide me

to believe that one step truly leads to the next                              

(yes, that really is a bike- that can be seen at this stage in this painting)

And then I even decided to write an entire quote right there on the canvas. It reads-

"Whether or not you know it, you are already there.

You are the beauty...the power...the passion...the knowledge...the fire...the calm

...the heart and soul. You are the star of your own being.

All you have to do is let yourself shine."

-Stark

Now it will be interesting to see if any of this quote will even be seen in the final layers of this particular painting, but it felt really good to put it there. And most important of all, it helped move me in a positive direction, and isn't that what its ALL about? 

color!!!!!

One of the things I've realized looking back at some of my first experiments with painting is that they really lack a strong sense of color. In fact some of them are quite bland. It almost appears as if I was afraid of color. And maybe I was. It takes a lot more guts to throw down a  pool of bright orange with confidence, than to trepidly apply a bit of khaki here and there.

As I've immersed myself more and more in the painting process I think that my confidence with color and application is beginning to show.  What a great feeling that is! Color can evoke such strong emotions and I'm loving the direction that I'm heading...

Here's some close-ups of a painting I just finished 

text from an old book is hidden in a corner: dreams, visions, and intuition

Only Time Will Tell

16 x 20 mixed media on wood panel

acrylic, oil pastel, and pencil