Tuesday, February 28, 2012

today...

...i would much rather be out in the woods working on my book.

Monday, February 27, 2012

days in the sun.

greenhouse...
covered bridge...
blue sky...
gloves for cold fingers.


i felt inspired today when i woke up...and then i remembered i had to go to work on my day off!
 (i know my boss is only trying to help because he knows i need the money, but after working til lunch, my inspiration had faded and i didn't get much done today.)

the sun was still out, the birds were still singing...it was a beautiful day...but i was in slump mode. not even fm's cheeriness about the greenhouse being almost finished could cure it

here is a little excerpt from my journal...

"sometimes life is hard these days(go away winter!), but there is
beauty everywhere if i only choose to see it there.
there is sadness and beauty mixed together
and sometimes it is hard to sop in the sadness
and choose to see the beauty in the simple things around me.
but with spring coming near, and the chatter of the birds, the twinkling of 
windchimes on the decks and porches throughout my
neighborhood...and the sun that shines on my face...i guess i can learn 
(am trying to learn)
to live an every day life that is messy and
lovely at the same
time."


Monday, February 20, 2012

jen

Jen Gray Blackburn, is someone that has always inspired me! I woke up thinking about her this morning...thinking "i haven't gotten my jengray.com fix all week"!
Her entries are always full of truth and the photographs speak volumes by themselves. I am very lucky to have a far away web-friend like Jen...and someday I hope I can visit her and sip tea, splash in puddles and make art. She is one amazin' lady!

go get your jengray.com fix...and see what i mean....
http://www.jengray.com/



February 17, 2012
making good.
IMG_0648.JPG
Michelle
Michelle is a friend who keeps me in check about making sure I'm getting my dose of daily good. She knows that one way I refuel is by walking the fields by my house. So when Im getting cranky she will often say to me, "jen, have you gone to the field today?" A gentle reminder for me to take care of myself.
It's so simple to give yourself some goodness. And it's so worth it.

But no one can do this for you. You have to make the time, you have to make the plans.
(maybe something like this) :)
You have to know what is good for you.
define it. spell it out.
figure out what fills you up.
know what "does it" for you.
If we don't find ways to refuel ourselves,
we are being irresponsible.
YOU have to be a priority to YOU.
There is nothing selfish about it.
Build regular goodness into your life.
You will be much better for having done so.
(as will the people around you.)
You deserve good.
You deserve a thousand continuous delights...



(...above post by jen gray)


xo

Friday, February 17, 2012

a little late valentines day post

work has been keeping me busy. switched locations. suddenly. no more downtown for me, which means no more visiting with my dear melissa or stopping in to see my mom on lunch breaks at the shop that will be open in 2  short weeks. life changing again....just a small one, but it's making a big impact. i thought i was moving closer to being able to do design work, but it seems now that i am moving stores, not only will i bee alone all day, with no lunch break, but i will be running a bucket store. they are removing the designing aspect from the store all together. and eventhough i'll be manager, i guess....since nobody else will really be working there...no pay raise and a longer drive. later hours at night.

oh, sigh. i should just be happy i have a job...i know! but....it's sapping all of my creativity and happiness. i don't do well all alone all day, unless i can be hiking or doing my art stuff.
sitting in a fake-lit square box with the noise of coolers running and no escape...not my idea of fun.

SO!
Enough of that. The book is now spread ALL over my bedroom in piles....pictures that need to be scanned....collages to make....art to finish...it will all be coming together soon and quickly.
But, another adventure starts! Remember my moms shop that I just mention is going to be open soon? I will not only be selling my art/ craft along with her wonderful things and a few choice friends ( all of which I'll post more about later)...but....new dream coming to life..

TERRARIUMS!

Thats right! I've always wanted to make them, and now it's going to happen. The green house on the porch will be ready soon....bottles and jars will be unearthed from the basement and garage....and local thrift shops...and I have a very talented welder/artist working on some frame work, to make truly unique vessels to plant in. Clay is coming together to form little mushrooms and crazy creaatures...miniature faeirie furniture and collected bones....sea shells i've been saving from St. Lucia and Sanibel Island....

pictures will be posted here first! So keep an eye out!

valentines day quote i stole from my moms blog..

LOVING IS NOT JUST LOOKING AT EACH OTHER, IT'S LOOKING IN THE SAME DIRECTION.
(Antoine de Saint-Exupery)


i love his work.


and a few pics that will be in the book...sneak-peek for those of you following the blog..


all my love!


                                                   ( what else can we do with flowers???)


                      ( "like a shotgun...needs an outcome..." treadmill workout music...xoxo Lykkie Li)

Sunday, February 12, 2012

inspiration post.

(photos are of our last art night meeting at melissa's...inspiration card deck)


http://slugandsquirrel.com/home.html ....check it out!




and of course, in honor of my guilty pleasure...

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

Robert Frost




Tuesday, February 7, 2012

yet to be titled...

i'm feeling blahhhhh this morning.
i'll be honest with you, the routine of a 40 hour work week is getting to me.

i'm thoroughly exhausted, and because it is february 14th next week and i work at a flower shop, i have to work extra days, and longer hours. i didn't think when i was 35 i'd be running the front counter at a flower shop! but who really knows where they are going to be, right?

i guess i'm still finding my place and trying to be okay with that. but moving this morning is like walking through think mud.

i want to work on my book, and walk to dog, and paint the 5 half-finished paintings in my little studio. i want to connect with my art friends and have tea with my mom and finish the greenhouse....

that all i got this morning :)

except the words that keep floating through my head...

"No matter how lost you are, the trick is to keep searching, because you never know what you will find…"

xo
h

Saturday, February 4, 2012

my 'why', my 'where' and my 'what'...

I'm sitting here tonight on the sofa (bundled in snuggly blankets, mismatched socks & drinking tea), piles of journals, sketchbooks, favorite magazines all around me like like paper guardians.
the house is so quiet.
And i'm trying to relax....but as usual my head is spinny!

I read an old article in 'Artful Blogging' magazine that made me start questioning myself. My voice. I've never been a good writer ( and here I am ready to start assembling and organizing a book that will hopefully be self-published & distributed sooner than I care to believe!), which is why i stick to only writing for myself in my journals and leave the rest to my paintbrushes and 2B drawing pencils. I write like I talk...run on sentences, tangents, sometimes making no sense. And to be honest I am nervous about putting those words out there. Like I used to get nervous about hanging a show, or sitting at a critique in art school with my work/soul bared for everyone in class to see.

Why would anyone be interested in what I have to say, or get anything out of my experiences...both faulty and triumphant?

And then I think about the people who have inspired me, Family, friends, artists, crafters, bloggers, musician, writers, scientists....I wonder how many of them felt the way I do right now?

SARK and Sabrina Ward Harrison...to of my favorite artists/writers. They write about their doubts and wobbles. And I love that. It makes them human, and real!

I've talked thru e-mails and facebook and blogs to so many artists...some I have even had the pleasure of meeting... about their inspiration and their goals and how they got where they were.

So what is my 'where?'...
my 'why?'...
my 'what?'...

That is what I'm starting to wonder. I want to plow through, pry open the bones....scoop out all the goop and learn about it!

So thats what I'm about to do for the next few hours.

Oh, I don't expect to get a real hold on anything in those hours....but I'll let you know how it goes...

xox
h

Friday, February 3, 2012

Blown away...

I had to share this! Thank you, Carmen!!!!! Like I said...it's going in the book...
http://blog.walshwriting.com/2012/01/finally-inspired-to-write-by-a-shoe/comment-page-1/#comment-115

"

Finally inspired to write … by a shoe?

I am a writer and an editor. It’s what I do for a living, and I’m good at what I do, according to my clients. But I have never been a creative writer. Quite honestly, I’ve never desired to be a creative writer.  Writing the next great American novel? It never entered my mind. Long days at the computer? Yeah, I do that now. No guarantee of getting paid for them? Um, no. Not my kind of gig.
So I didn’t take poetry or short-story writing in college; instead, I focused on what I thought were practical pursuits (as far as writing was concerned, anyway). I enjoyed analyzing other people’s creative writing and writing about that, but I was never inspired to create something original of my own. I can count on one hand, one finger actually, the number of times I’ve been truly inspired to write: as in completely overtaken by the creative impulse, without my mind trying to take over, as it almost always does.
It finally happened this fall. The inspiration? A high-heeled shoe. Well, more accurately, a painting of one. Hollie Chantiles’ Carnivore: Foot Fetish No. 3 was on display at YorkArts as part of the Biological Aesthetics: Investigating the Art in Science exhibit that ran September through November 2011. I stood there and studied the floral shoe on its wine-colored wood backdrop, intrigued for several minutes, and then I went on about my gallivanting around town.
I had no intention of writing anything that night, certainly not a poem, and yet, around midnight, it began. The concept happened on the paper in front of me, and I ran with it. When my brain took a look the next day, only a couple of words needed to be changed. I didn’t write this poem: this poem happened. I was merely the transcriber. I’m just glad I was open to the moment with a pen handy.
Jimmy Choo vs. Downward Dog
Piercing stilettos wobble on unsteady ground.
Calf muscles threaten to shorten permanently,
arches aching, lumbar crunching.
Toes are squeezed into submission.
Life shifts on us, throwing us off balance.
Fear contracts us into inertia,
self-confidence faltering, willpower failing.
We are enslaved by invisible walls of the past.
Bare feet solidly connect to the floor, heels (almost) down.
Calves and hamstrings stretch with every breath,
hips rising, spine elongating.
Toes luxuriate in unlimited space.
Circumstances change, but the soul is constant.
Love expands us into courage,
heart opening, spirit soaring.
We are freed by each moment’s infinite possibility."

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

a lot of february gratitude!

almost february... wait! it's february 1st!
this project is almost over.
20 some days left.
winter blahhhhhs are starting to kick in as of....yesterday. 
my second day home sick with bronchitis. 

I have to give PROPS to Melissa, my good friend, who started a creative womans art night at her house.  It is making wednesday my new favorite day for the week ( it used to always be Thursday).  But, more seriously, I want to say thank you to her! For opening up her cozy basement and trying to do something that we all need right now...connection. A space to connect as artists/crafters and ladies.
I have to thank my friends & family though, for getting me though a kind of rough winter...it's one of those times when it's no BIG thing, but about a million little things, that are tugging on me. And they are always there to listen. I am stuck in a different way...I want to move forward....but haven't quite figure out how to do so! If you have any idea of how one gets their work SEEN by someone from some cool company ( plug in...Anthropologie, Urban Outfitters, Free People, classy, hip and fun magazines and publications...col galleries looking for new artists....)....let me rephrase. I'm ready to publish! This book of course, but also, a line of cards, some fabric designs, a line of plates and dinnerware....I have so many things I'd like to "get out there" but I am running into barriers. 
I even found a great on-line workshop from an artist I look up to for all that she has done with her work to get it out into the public, but by still staying true to her beliefs and her work...but the workshop is over $600!  If I had that extra money laying around I would spend it making prints, buying supplies and starting to publish this book myself...
vent. vent. vent.
a HUGE thank YOU to ALLLLL of the friends and family, and friends of family, for supporting me through this kickstarted project! I hope in the next 20-some days I can raise the funds so that you will all get wonderful gifts in the mail, and I can finish that last page with all of the names of those of you who have donated!
xoxo
h