Sylvia Plath is watching me

Perhaps when we find ourselves wanting everything, it is because we are dangerously close to wanting nothing.

- Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath.

Writer.

Poet.

Mother.
Lover.

I'll never understand how a woman with such promise

could barricade her own young children in a room

with cookies & milk,

open the window,

place a towel on the bottom of the door,

go to the kitchen,

put her own head in the gas oven,

and turn on the gas...

I guess i'll never understand depression...

She died at the age of 30,

in 1963... 

the year i was born.

I had a hard time with this portrait.

Something in the eyes made me uncomfortable...

I know, it's nuts, right?

it's a black & white photocopy of a photo -

but still...

i felt as though she watched me.

a few pages from this book.

Food for thought,

for all the artists out there.

i love what he says here...

and if I can relate, i KNOW many of you will relate also.

A song for Sylvia...

and for Eva...

am i the only crazy one out here?

Greetings Munchkins!

It's been a struggle for me lately to make art.
To make time...
to feel inspired...
to be in the right heart space...
(heart space is always more important than head space)

For those of you out there
who blog and share your art with the world...
do you ever wonder why you do?
I do.
i've been thinking on this a lot lately.
Initially, i did it for me.
I began blogging and sharing because i wanted to get
more comfortable with having my work out there.

Then it slowly transitioned into
less about me
and more about others...
Without wanting to sound religious,
I felt like i could be of service somehow.
Like this was my way
of giving back to the world.
If i could inspire or encourage ONE person out there to make art
(and thus to feel happier, because making art = feeling happier),
then my job was done.
The more people i could inspire
to make that connection with their own hearts - 
and shut the rest of the world off,
the happier this planet would be. 
Did i really believe this?
(yes, i secretly did - and still do)

The world may be happier just one tiny person at a time,
one tiny heart at a time,
but it'll be happier, because that's what art does.
That's what music does.
That's what nature does.
That's what poetry does.
It makes us forget about the yucky stuff that surrounds us -
the things that  suffocate us during the day...
like crappy jobs
and toxic relationships
& burdened responsibilities -

and it somehow connects us

to what really matters to us.

Not to others.

Not to the company, or the husband,

or the bank, or the market, or the wife,

or the boss, or the neighbours, or society...

to us.

It's easy to feel intimidated into
shutting up, isn't it?
When everyone around us seems to be
a success - and we're not.
When everyone seems to know the secret -
and we don't.
With the internet at our fingertips,
it's easier than ever to compare ourselves to others...
so it's that much more important
to keep connected to
our own hearts
and to be grateful that we have this connection
when so many others
seem to have lost their way.

And speaking of hearts and connections...
i watched a documentary called BLACKFISH,
about the killer whales in captivity in theme parks
around the world.
I felt such sadness for these beautiful creatures
that i was inspired to paint again
after days (weeks?) of a dry spell...

i love that art is able to do this.
I think about music sometimes
and i wonder how many hearts
would have drowned in sorrow,
if musicians or composers hadn't sat themselves down
to write/play what they had been feeling in their hearts?
How many hearts HAVE drowned in sorrow
because someone chose not to write?

Art allows me to take sadness
from the pit of my stomach
and put it on paper so it doesn't eat up
my insides.
It may sound stupid to some,
(and totally useless for the whales)
but it makes sense to me.
It's important to me.
So I do it.

I've always been overly sensitive

about the suffering of animals

(hence, the suffering of man...) 

and somehow, putting it on paper

gives my feelings a voice

and eases my own suffering.

Only after i give my feelings a voice through art

can i actually think straight enough

to ACT and do something (if i choose so)

Now i'm inspired to write,
but it's getting late and i must say goodnight!
I'll be back soon.

Wishing you all a week filled with inspiration
and courageous hearts!
xox

For those interested, here's the trailer for the film...

inspired by the moon & stars... and by these people.

hello everyone!

No art of my own to share,

so i thought i'd share a few

of my inspirations.

Andy J. Miller

His work always makes me smile.

You can find him here.

Carla Sonheim

Her Silly Drawing class was my first on-line class

and it was so much fun.

Her class was a wonderful reminder

that we all take ourselves (and drawing!) far too seriously sometimes.

Check out these fun drawings from her book,

Drawing Lab

Have you ever seen a cuter elephant?

Create a little clay animal and draw him.

love how she focuses on the fun of drawing
and not on drawing a perfect anything.

look at all these fun little pen portraits
and below, the colorful portraits!
Our personalities are all so different,
why would our ART all be the same?
Don't you love this variety?

Her book has great drawing techniques 
that are anything but boring.
These little creatures were made from sidewalk cracks.
Yup, tracing sidewalk cracks
and then finding little animals in them somewhere...

imagination at its best. 
Drawing should never be boring
so i loved Carla's class.
You can find her here.


Need i say anything else about this man?
Danny Gregory.
The fucking king of sketchbooks.

Well, i will say that he's hosting
the Sketchbook Skool this spring
and i'm in!
(are you?!)
You can find out all about it here.
Check it out.
Watch the video.
Join in the fun.

Another favorite of mine:
Lynne Hoppe.
Love this girl's art & imagination.
You can find her and her lovely creations here.
i love how fragile, soft and strong
her paintings are - all at the same time.

Judy Wise

Aaahhh... so much inspiration here.

Beautiful artwork, journal pages, photos, you name it.

Feel the love.

Find her and her work here.

Lisa Congdon
These simple little illustrations and words
say so much, don't they?
Things like this always find their way
to my heart
more than a high priced piece of framed art.
You can find Lisa's work here.

and if you need more inspiration,

here's a list of questions by the UBER talented & happy soul

Alexandra Franzen

that could help kick you and your life into high gear.

Find the list here

and let yourself fly.

No pressure.

There's pressure enough in the world

without imposing it on ourselves, right?

Have fun with this.

It's not a fucking exam, it's inspiration.

i hope you find the time

to visit some of these

and that you like what you see.

i'll share more later.

But for now, dreamland is calling me...

zzzzzzzz....

oh, almost forgot.

For those who are interested in figure drawing

but can't make it to a live class,

check out this website.

You can pick what you want to draw

and set your own time limit.

Remember, you're not looking for perfection

(especially if you're doing a standard 30 sec drawing!)

you're practicing your skills!

Besides, you are ALL artists already.

Some of you just don't know it yet.  ;-)

nighty night, Munchkins.

xox

winter beach and Ray Charles genius

hello to all!

Not much to say today,

but a few pics to share

and a little bit of art.

My kind of selfie... ;-)

A beautiful day at the beach...

 Two crows on a big "C"...

how cool is this?
frozen footprints on the sand...

 beauty...

 beauty 2...

 the line in the sand... ;-)

a teeny tiny crab...
no bigger tan the tip of my finger

 and a bit of art from last night

 good ol' Ray Charles...

 pen on paper

love the quote...
I believe we're all born with something in us.
The secret of life is figuring out
what that something is.

Happy Sunday everyone...
Until the next time.
xox

such soul, this man had...