Tuesday, June 2, 2015

making space for magic

I had three chairs in my house;
one for solitude,
two for friendship,
three for society.
- Henry David Thoreau
I had coffee with a good friend last night.
I don't have many friends,
but the few that I do have,
I hold near & dear to my heart.
Whenever I meet with her,
I always come home feeling energized,
inspired, good about myself.
That's when you know it's a true friend.
The older I get,
the wiser I am about who I choose
to spend time with,
and the less guilty I feel
about distancing myself from certain people.
So I've been cleaning & sorting things out at home...
or at least trying to.
Between walks and painting and reading,
I'm trying to create order where there is chaos
getting rid of clothes that no longer fit me,
giving away things that no longer serve me
and that may be of use to someone else.
It always feels good to give.
During my sorting out paper stuff day,
I found old sketches and scribblings
that i forgot I even had.
...nose & mouth sketches,
when I was teaching the basics of drawing.
...mini watercolor paintings,
of the sea & sky 
...and more of the sea & sand & trees in the winter.
I used to love these simple little watercolors.
When I started watercolor,
this is how I began. 
Small, simple, limited colours.
If any of you out there are itching
to try watercolors,
try starting small.
You may find it far less intimidating
and if you screw up,
it's only a small piece of paper. 
No big deal, right? 
A great way to get comfortable
with this sometimes difficult medium.
And in between the cleaning & sorting out,
I find time for walks in nature.
Always a priority for me.
There is nothing
like the sound of birds chirping
and even the buzzing of bees
after the long winter.
A quick painting on paper -
getting rid of leftover paint. :)
 I didn't like the gloomy blue background...
So I switched it to orange!
(Sorry, i should have told you to get your sunglasses.) 
giggle....

And this wonderful surprise.
I love the art & words of Tommy Kane
and several months ago,
I joined Sketchbook Skool.

Tommy was one of the 6 teachers during one of those weeks,
and I don't remember how this portrait thing happened,
but at the end of the 6 weeks,
a bunch of the students (myself included)
ended up doing his self portrait.

It was so much fun to see all the different styles
from artists all around the world.

The above image is Tommy Kane's blog banner -
and the 1st painting on the left is mine!
I nearly passed out when a fellow blogger
sent me an email to ask me if I had seen my portrait there.

I hadn't.

My portrait of Tommy Kane.
On his banner.
THE Tommy Kane.
Artist extraordinaire.
Holy shit.
It was painted with acrylics on paper.

When I told my friend about this,
(the one I joined for coffee last night!)
she looked at me and said:
NOW do you believe you are good?
ok.
Sometimes now, I do.
But not always.
I still have my doubts.
Every day.
I've just learned to paint anyway -
despite the little voice in my head.
xx


7 comments:

  1. Silly girl - you and your art isn't good - it is AMAZING!! When I started experimenting a bit with painting your blog was one of the first that I began following and your heartwarming posts have been consistently inspiring and encouraging! I'm loving those watercolor pieces!
    I've also always enjoyed your portrait work - full of movement and feeling. NOT a surprise to me that your image of Tommy Kane would make his banner. In fact, I remember seeing that picture and loving it and didn't realize until today that it was yours!

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  2. Thank you for unfurling yourself and in doing so showing me (and all your readers) that self- doubt walks hand in hand with humility and genius.
    Your Tommy Kane portrait is AWESOME!
    I just LOVE that orange background - zingy and lively.
    Not feeling guilty about distancing yourself from certain people is a lesson I'm learning, too. Your definition of a true friend rings so true and after I read it, I realised that's exactly how I feel:)
    Your simple water colours have the same energy and serenity as your words when you write about how you felt when you met your friend. I don't know how long ago those water colours were painted, but your light and your talent were always there- simple, unincumbered by embellishments and 'fake' friends. I always get so much out of your posts...so much to love and so much to nod my head to.
    Love and hugs.xx

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  3. You, my dear, are indeed good, very good. Sorting then shedding the baggage, and growing, reaching, sharing.
    Big hugs. xx

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  4. Ooh, you are gooooood. :) I don't know who Tommy is, but I know he has a good eye when it comes to art.

    I've been purging, too. It feels so good to let go of things from the past. I even threw out old yearbooks that I've kept around, and carried across the US several times over the years. I'm not in touch with anyone from high school anymore, so I had to question my sanity for holding on to the past like that. lol

    Sorry I haven't been coming around. I KNOW I had your blog in my blog reader (Inoreader), but for some reason, I just realized it's not there anymore. I'm not sure what in the world happened, maybe I accidentally deleted you ::sad face..soooo sorry!!::, but don't worry. I made sure you're back in my feed now. Yay!!! I've been missing your posts.

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  5. Amazing inspirational blog....keep it coming please.....

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  6. I missed your blog, so good to visit it again and so much of your creativity here- images , amazing and inspiring paintings, words. I admire and love your art style!!! Thank you so much for sharing.

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  7. What! That's very cool P, well done! Also, LOVE those watercolours. Been dabbling in them {again} recently; it's a bit of a love hate relationship, but yours make me want to keep trying. xxx

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