Brightening My Day With...

fresh orange juice...

...and Christmas lights.

Been Awhile...

Yep, it's definitely been awhile since I've posted anything.  Here are a few things I've been up to in the past few months:

Ate a Voodoo doughnut in Portland...

And then walked along the Oregon coast.

Moved back to the Twin Cities (hooray! hooray!) just in time to enjoy the autumn colors...

And now Jonathan and I have waded through most of the moving boxes and are trying to establish a daily rhythm. I haven't painted or written since the move. Well, until this morning. I took out the paints and started working on an older canvas. Hopefully, I'll have something to share soon.

Until then, here's the last painting I did before everything got packed away.

Just Keep Working

I saw this quote on Terri Windling's blog, The Drawing Board. I liked it so much and the truth of it, I had to share it here. It's by Ira Glass, host of This American Life.

"Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through." — Ira Glass

Swimming In Ambiguity

Right now many of my paintings are in various states of undress. I feel like I'm swimming in that area between instruction and self-expression. I'm using what I learned in the Bloom True class to uncover my own voice. My work seems ambiguous to me right now, but I also feel an excitement in my belly, like a breakthrough lies within reach. Of course, my belly could also be saying it wants french fries. You never know with bellies.

Here are some glimpses at a few blossoming layers:

Beginnings

The Bloom True e-course ended a few days ago and I'm already missing it. What an amazing experience, filled with so many tremendously creative people. I feel so inspired and awake right now.


There is a great deal to say about this course, and I do plan to share my experience, but right now I'm still absorbing it all.

I can say that even though the class has ended, it feels like the beginning of a greater journey. I also highly recommend the e-course to anyone willing to be brave and stretch their creative wings.

Discovering Dreams

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

--Mark Twain

Blooming True

Starting Monday, I'll be embarking on a creative journey led by artist Flora Bowley. I've been interested in her work since I first saw it through Papaya!. Now, she's teaching an e-course on intuitive creativity and being brave.

I can't wait to start painting and getting messy and uncovering a little more of my creative self!