Some lessons learned

 How to make lemonade out of lemons.  How does one see with new eyes? To turn things around and create something new out of being broken.  I was so devastated when I received Jessi's pottery.  Most of it was ok, but so much was broken and it was the "straw"... It seemed as though one thing after another had been so negative and it was having a terrible effect on me and I KNEW I had to turn it around.
The following morning I remembered.  I had heard that in some cultures, Native Americans in particular, always placed some "flaw" in their work, a place where spirit can enter.
Leonard Cohen's famous lyric and one of my favorite's: "There is a crack in everything. That's where the light gets in."
So my aha moment, my lemonade, gave me the idea to create spirit bowls.  I glued them, but instead of trying to hide the flaw, I enhanced it.  The above one sold.. there are more.

As a reminder of our life and the changes we continuously move through, this mandala was created for the trees initially.  Hurricane Sandy brought so many trees down!  Every where I drove, I saw how fragile our lives can be... in a second, things can dramatically change.  Can we bend, can we flow, can we move with it?
We can only try.
Namaste'

The Healer

One of the assemblages in the shop. The doors are open, but I'm still bringing stuff in and setting things up.  Life threw a curve ball at me and brought to my attention the true meaning of life.. it is about love and time and giving and being.  It is about focusing on the stuff that truly matters and not get caught up in the small stuff.
It is about putting 100% into that which you love to do, and trusting the process.  It works out - maybe not on our own schedule, but in it's own time. The Universe knows. We just need to show up.
Namaste'

Room to Create

When life presents you with opportunity, it is best to welcome it and jump in!  Angel, who had a gallery here before me, decided she didn't want it and offered me the opportunity to take the space.  After learning I could afford the space, I took the risk.. it is one of my dreams that has now been realized!
Now, Room to Create has it's very own space outside of my home, which I have run since 1995.  I've gone to people's home to paint, taught children art in various locations, exhibited around the area with my husband.. and now, it all comes together in this spot.
Not only have I been blessed with this opportunity, but all that has followed.. all falling into place with such ease, that I know this is the right decision.
I'm awaiting the "formal paperwork" in order to open.  In the meantime, I am having such a joyful time putting it all together inside.. from repainting it to displaying the art.
Artwork of mine.. mandalas and paintings, assemblages and jewelry, art dolls, painted furniture, handbags and scarves, altered spice bottles and books, greeting cards.... my husbands prints, framed and matted.. my son's jewelry and art, his fiance's pottery, my brother's art... all in a space that calls to the spirit.
A space behind the gallery space offers room for workshops, classes and for me to work on projects.
I am feeling blessed and open and so very grateful!
Namaste'

On the easle

With most of the art still hanging at Masterpiece Framing, 

I pulled paintings from "storage" to fill in the empty spaces.  

One space still available and unable to resist a canvas sale, I bought the 36x36 and it's on the easel.

Easel as my alter. 

I was feeling a bit sorry regarding not going to the summer solstice events.. yoga, fire ceremony.. 

until I realized I was participating.. here at home.. painting!  

It's my Summer Solstice painting, honoring Solar power, 

our own sacred power, 

solar plexus.. third chakra.. 

Fire. Passion.

That passion we hold, the fire in the belly, 

that which we MUST do

and send out into the world..

with love.

May your passions be spilled out and flow into the world to fill only those spots that you can fill.

Namaste'

back to painting...

Healing Hearts

I began from the center with a zentangle type image.. I looked at it as chaos or rather just a tangle of energy, but from it there is a sliver of white, not unlike a new moon's beginning.  Begin again.
And begin again is what I have done.  The show is up and now I have some time to do art again.
I usually have an intention of healing when I create a mandala.. sometimes it is just for myself for a centering, but this is for a good friend.   It is a mandala for healing of the heart.
Out of inner turmoil, we can move outwards to focus on the beauty that surrounds us and the love that we receive from others.  Grief, sorrow, pain.. all that comes and goes in this life, all that is taken from us unexpectedly.. suddenly.. we experience such deep loss and wonder how we will ever recover.
Love heals the  heart.
In time, the pain hopefully lessens and we can turn towards the beginning of healing.  We pray.  We listen.  We do something, anything to distract ourselves, but it is always there hiding in the corners, so call it out.  Feel what needs to be felt and turn it over to the Higher Powers, The Creative One, and co-create something together.
Make something BIG!
I made this for you, for healing your heart.

cycles of life

One can find beauty in all the cycles of life, not just the full blooms we all admire.
There are surprises to be found, unexpected beauty within all these challenging times..
we just need to be open to it.

Feathers in the Wind

June 2, 2012

2-4

Masterpiece Framing

243 Halstead Ave.

Harrison, NY

Preparing.

New show with new work... Mandalas, Assemblages and Illustrations by John.  I love doing these shows, but there is so much that needs to be done and time is s p e e d i n g  up towards the opening.

Art reception for the children's work is tomorrow evening and my focus is finishing that up..

one more board!

And then...

it 

is

me 

time!

Life is so full sometimes.. ok, most of the time.  

If you are in the area please come by to see our art :-) 

just beneath the surface

Just beneath anything...
just below the water, emotions, lies something that wants to be revealed.
Like the seed just beneath the surface of the soil, waiting to be born into it's full potential.
Just beneath the skin, a wonderment of what we are made of, in awe of the Mystery.
I quiet the mind, hoping it will be revealed.. waiting ... I know you are there.
I keep removing the clutter, removing the dust, peeking through this film of superficial things, in hopes of speeding up the process.

I sow those seeds of ideas in creative soil, tend to them with grace and honor and truth... and wait to see what will blossom.  Only time will reveal what is just beneath the surface.

My most beautiful thing

I spent most of the day working on the art show.  When I'm not creating myself, I am working with kids and encouraging them to create.. they don't really need much of that though.  What they need is the space and the materials.  This is the most beautiful thing.. their faces!  Watching them create with total abandon and joy and that is what we as artists aspire to.. to create as a child again, unfiltered, without doubt or judgement, spontaneously and filled with joy!!!

My Most Beautiful Thing

Today begins a blogsplash on My Most Beautiful Thing and today for me it is about
Self-Expression
You can go here to learn more:

http://www.writingourwayhome.com/2012/04/my-most-beautiful-thing-blogsplash.html
You might want to join in or read other blogs.
Fiona is also giving away her book on kindle...

Today as I woke to the sun streaming in through the sky light, playing with the crystals hanging and creating rainbows on the ceiling, I thought how delicious it is to awaken here in our bed.. our wonderful comfy bed.  I savored it for a while and picked up a book beside me.  I am surrounded by books. I love books.  I love that there are people out there that can help me put into words what I am feeling or allow my mind to ponder some new thoughts.  Deep gratitude goes out to those who write professionally.
Self-expression.. our gift to the world.  What wonderful glorious gifts we each have: writing, singing, painting, creating in so many forms that fill our world with beauty.
For me, creating is the time I can listen to my inner voice.  Silence surrounding me, I listen.  I create.  I bring into the world something that did not exist before, but it is in the process of this creating that brings me such bliss.  It is my beautiful thing.. most beautiful thing to do.. to create from my heart.. from my soul.

Ch ch ch Changes...

I was no longer able to use blogger.. because I just wasn't keeping up. One is always required to "upgrade" with everything... no longer able to get comfortable with the status quo.. And if you don't decide to play along, you get cut off.
I tried upgrading with IE but without luck.. always seemed to be a problem with something, so I went to google chrome... so far, so good.  Getting used to changes sometimes is so tiresome!
But I went roaming around and realized I was definitely missing out on some of the bells and whistles on some sights..
Anyway, I'm going to blog about beauty in the coming days. More info later.. still checking out the "newness".

Art of the Young Child Reception

The show is up and the reception was fun. Parents brought dishes from their country of origin. From Italian cookies to Mexican flan to Chinese dumplings... and lots in between to try and fill the belly..

The kids came and played.. twirling around and filled with excitement

Sampling those colorful goodies..

Chocolate covered strawberries being a big hit!
The exhibit is filling the halls of the Harrison Municipal Building and will be hanging until middle of May. It includes the artwork of close to 40 children.. 38? 39?

and captures in photos.. by me.. their process of creating

along with some inspiring quotes.

This is the 6th year.

It was originally inspired by Ginny Carpenter, then a director of the Harrison Children's Center. I had been doing the Youth Art Month show in March and Lola Geiger the president of the Center wanted the kids to be included.. but I could not do it.. instead, the next best thing was to have a show of their own!

Ginny and I discussed it and agreed to do it.

Unfortunately Ginny became ill and passed and I did this show in memory of her.

It was such a success that I was asked to continue.

It grew so big, we had to divided the two centers into two different shows.

So now I get back on the horse.. and put together the West Harrison exhibit that will be in May.

It is a joy and

I thank Ginny for getting it going...

Allowing

There are many things I get back from working with children. For one, it is about the process, and allowing the process to reveal what needs to be revealed.. allowing the story to unfold.
The process unfolds in the doing.
Sometimes I feel things need to evolve and it doesn't come fast enough. What I mistakenly do at times is wait for the idea to come. Instead, what life and art teaches, is that it comes while we are doing.. when we do the work. Here is where it begins to unfold, little by little. Here is where the joy in the journey, the process of creating, has it's magic.
It is in allowing the work to come forward, to speak of what and where it wants to go, rather than in us pushing. We push too hard and that's when things break.
If I do not pick up the brush, or the marker, or the unassembled pieces... there will be no unfolding, no moving forward. We move and change as we do the work.
We cannot stay in our heads.. thinking it through.. we can only work through it and discover what needs to be said.
Let your art speak to you.
Allow the voice to be heard.. your own true voice.

Mandala dreams

Children's art show is up.. finished it all yesterday and it allowed me some time to do - finish- a mandala. I needed it. So much focus and attention on one thing to the exclusion of everything else gets pretty intense for me. There was a time factor this year that brought me to a state of panic and I had to cut back in some areas.. not something I really enjoy.. skimping.
It's one of those times when I come to the realization that I need to "let - it - go"... which is so hard when aiming for perfection. oh well.
But it's time to move on.
The other half of the show on the other side of town... that needs to be focused on as well as some side jobs and my own art for our upcoming show in June.
But with this big show and taxes out of the way.. I feel I can breathe a bit deeper.
When the opening, a gap comes... my mind begins to question... Now what?
Where to focus.. mandalas? Painted? Bigger?.. or assemblages.
There is no great call in either direction and that is sort of a dilemma... so I just did the norm for now.. the small mandala.. the meditation practice of "doing". See what comes up.. I need to be quiet and listen. What wants to emerge from within...

A detour in creativity

In dire need of some escapist reading, a friend recommended Debbie Macomber's books... and off I went to the library. I'm usually reading books on yoga or art or some type of spirituality self-help book, but I needed to sink my teeth into a story.. lose myself in some other character.

Debbie Macomber's books did not fail me.

I started out with the Blossom Street books and fell in love with Seattle and took up knitting!

They inspired me to learn or relearn to knit and went to my mom for a refresher course. I revisited both knitting and crocheting and started out with some squares for a blanket, then started a scarf.

Halfway throught the scarf, it changed. Not a scarf anymore, but instead, I created a bag. I crocheted the strap and then embellished it with other stuff. How could I not?

Every once in awhile I need to go off on a tangent - create something other than a mandala or painting. Usually when I do this, my mind goes back to mandala or painting with a fresh start.

Ideas build, images form. A new idea for a painting is formed.

Reading Macomber's books is like a mini vacation. Just what I need and she's got plenty to keep me there for a while.

Art Reception

Yesterday, I had an opening reception at Heaven Colors Art Gallery in Harrison. It's a new gallery that opened in November on Harrison Ave. I noticed it when I took a different route to work and while stopped at the light, I noticed it.
John and I began our search for the next place to show within the area, so I looked at this as an answer from the Universe :-)
I went to work very excited, eager to tell John about my new discovery. I went in that Saturday, brought my samples to show Angel, the owner, on Sunday and we took it from there.
It was a quick.. very quick.. decision.
No mailing went out, but luckily info went to face book, the Patch and the Daily Harrison with the help of a good friend.
What I have been extremely grateful for is the support I get from friends. It humbles me to see how open and giving many people are and I feel very blessed.
The weather report tried it's best to stress me out, but even that too work out for the best.. no snow on the ground at all. What little that fell early in the day disappeared.
We had such a great turn out - sold cards - and had a great time.
If you are in the area, stop by to see Angel. She may be sitting near the window painting. She is warm and friendly and as a new business owner, it would be great to give her a warm welcome.
I am thrilled to have an art gallery back in town. Ironically, there was a gallery years ago in the very same place where I bought a Ralph Bernabei print.
Life is good :-)

Saturday's Stones

A day for the senses.

First you called me by smell.

Taste.

Such sweet bliss.

I moved through the afternoon with touch.

Cold. soft. smooth.

playing. shaping. molding you into form.

Soon you will be filled with love

and nourishment.

Sweet touch.

An offering.

Today's small stone

Capping the paint cups from class, back and forth from table to table.

Cleaning up, wizzing around the room, when the most spectacular sunset

captured my eye and took my breath away.

I Stop... Get the Camera.

I took pictures until the brilliance faded.

2 Stones in a Row

Yesterday I went into the art room, thinking it would be nice to have a small book to write these "stones" in.

Three small black moleskin books

and one with purple glitter.

Small enough to fit in one's pocket

and Big enough to carry

project ideas, sketches, quotes

and dreams.

Awareness of my mind,

sorting, unsure,

gathering together

these ideas flying through my mind.

Unclear... Uncomfortable.

I jumped from one idea to another.

my mind was just not settled..

I did not have my mandala time.

I will just have to "wing it"....

January 2nd's small stone

Morning light draws my attention to the wall in front of me.

Vision board, boxes of art supplies are highlighted

Chimes outside tell me there is much more than a gentle breeze.

The distant sound of a train mixes with the wind, they meld together and then it is only the chimes..and then silence.

Then it is mandala time.

Another small stone - intense present moment awareness in yoga class.. closing my eyes in bridge pose, I felt so present... no longer the teacher, but the student.

I felt so very blessed.

River of Stones

One of my intentions this year is to take some time for myself... balance the work with the time to stop, relax, become more aware and be in the present moment. Actually, I intend to be present to all of it... and like anything else, that takes practice.

One way to stay on track it to make a commitment.. to be accountable, so I joined the group (see side bar) River of Stones.. click on the link to learn more and maybe you will want to join in.

What better way to be present than through the lens of a camera. For me, it draws me in and makes me look deeper and appreciate all that this world has to offer. It helps me to find the extraordinary in the ordinary. It helps me to see it ALL as a miracle.

My stone:

Today I woke at 7:55

Greeted by my husband, delicious coffee and crow.

The Sun rose over the house and I let it's light warm my face

until it hid between the trees.

Then I knew it was mandala time.

Walking at the beach and surprised by large groups of people

swimming on the first day of a new year.

I like warmth and comfort

and looking at things with a fresh new eye.