we are ONE world

Where to begin...

I wanted to write something last week

but the heaviness enveloped me 

and none of the words in my head

made any sense.

Like many around the world,

my heart felt like lead in my chest.

I am only now beginning to breathe again.

The election results.

The death of Leonard Cohen.

Remembrance Day.

My heart shattered for so many people.

Those in the US who now fear

that their lives will change

drastically.

That families will be torn apart.

Millions of people now know that

millions of other people don’t want them there.

And as if that isn't heavy enough on its own,
they also know 
that the president of their own country
feels the same way
so that makes it ok
in the eyes of many. 

All I could think of the next morning

as I heard the results,

were the Jews in Nazi Germany in 1939

and how they were also made to feel

unwanted,

different,

less than.

How it all began

with the separation of "us" vs "them".

I think if we all knew more about history,

we would understand the gravity of the words:

let us not repeat the past.

I don’t fear Trump

but i do fear the monster he awoke.

He threw gasoline in the fire

and gave racism and sexism and bigotry

and the KKK

front row seats to the shit show.

(why the KKK is still a thing in the USA is beyond me.)

And now, both sides will clash

with venom and judgement and death

and the physical walls will mean less in time

than the walls being built 

in the hearts of a nation.

Nothing good ever comes from division.
We are ONE world.

Clearly, there is still so much racism and sexism

and fear of those who are different,

lingering in the shadows of the world.

Only now, they’re not so much in the shadows.

There are people 

who were born and raised in the USA

who no longer feel safe there -

who no longer feel like it’s home.

Those who voted for Trump

may not consider themselves racists or homophobes

but they consciously chose a man who is

and who built his entire platform

on fear and hatred

and dividing a nation

rather than unifying it.

But this was still ok.

A protest vote,

to stick it to the government,

even if it meant

putting other lives in the crossfire.

On Remembrance Day,

there were comments on social media

expressing gratitude to all veterans,

for what they sacrificed for our freedom,

and I wondered...

are we really grateful?

Can we really say "thanks for the freedom"

and then go on disliking those
who are different than we are?

Would we not be better to express thanks

by trying to understand one another

and treat each other as equals for a change,

regardless of race, gender or religious views?

I wonder why it’s still so difficult

for so many people

to work together

and see our similarities

instead of our differences.

Thanks for being here.

Wherever you are in the world,

know that YOU MATTER

and that love matters.

Now let the healing begin.

xox

someone loves me and lhasa de sela

the little bit of painting that happened today...

acrylic on paper...

i was gonna call it
Someone loves me on a windy day.
:-)

...and a beautiful song by Lhasa de Sela,

who left this world far too soon.

Wishing you all a peaceful easy Sunday night.

xox

mother and child, and the fabulous Rodriguez...

mother and child...

a photo i found in a magazine that i thought was adorable.

i'm trying to paint a little more loosely...

I kept the same colors for mother and child.
2 browns and a blue. 
i love the warmth of this...
both dresses blowing in the wind.

As well as trying to paint more loosely,

i'm also trying to experiment with using different tools.

Like the palette knife.

 No goal in mind here except spreading paint
and adding pencil marks.

Whatever feels right.

And where art can NEVER be wrong,

anything goes!

That's the best part. :-)

Leaves.

Fish.

Circles.

What could be flowers.

A noose.

The sun.

Ladders.

more fish... (giggle)

And this lovely quote
forced me to add a star.

Yes, it's dancing. :-)

I watched a great movie (documentary) over the weekend.
Forgot to mention it in yesterday's post.

Called Searching for Sugar Man.

Loved it.
i love happy endings.
So much of life doesn't end happily.
This story does.

Check out the trailer. You might like it.

Thanks for being here.

I've had little time to comment on your blogs,

or respond to the wonderful comments you leave on mine,

but i'm visiting you and i'm so happy to see

so many of us making art

and sharing it with the world.

xox

art, good music and kind people make me happy

hi peeps.

it's time for faces! :-)

a tiny acrylic and marker on paper (12 x 12 cm)

There's a video at the end of this post.

It's what i was listening to while i painted last night...

the whole CD, not just the one song. :-)

and then there's this woman... 

i love Jane Goodall, and what she's done with her life.

My first ever blog post was a little watercolor of Jane and a friend...

you can see it here.

I was a woman of few words when i first began blogging.

Now i won't shut up. 

(giggle...)

I had a hard time with this one...

i seem to have made her look much older

- something i'm not so sure she would like.

but it is what it is. 
Sometimes there's a likeness,
and sometimes less.

 I certainly tried to give her compassionate eyes.
Whenever i see her on tv, that's always what i notice about her first.
Those peaceful, loving, compassionate eyes.

You can see a lot in a person's eyes.

I then took time to finish this one too -

just added the word and a few magical dots. 

I kinda like it.

I hope you all know how much i appreciate

your kind comments.

The thing that makes me the happiest

is knowing that sometimes,

I may actually inspire someone out there

to make art

or write poetry

or take a walk outside

or listen to music

or bake a cake

or notice the moon

or write a song...

or just be more appreciative of something.

Anything.

That makes me happy.

Because i believe these are the things

that give life meaning -

and there are too many of us out there

waiting until we retire to find meaning in our lives.

hugs to all of you...

xox

hope you like the song

blowing bubbles with Gerhard Richter and Dar Willliams

hi everyone!

There is no better way for me to spend an evening

than by painting.

Even when things don't go so well...

(acrylic on small canvas, 6" x 6")

The colors in these pics are way too yellow,

but i'm posting anyway.

I wanted to show how sometimes,

the process doesn't always go so smoothly.

When i was at this stage (above),

i thought the arm was too extended,

and i didn't like the face

so i painted over it.

Then i thought she was leaning forward too much,
and i hated the neck.

fixing or changing things in a painting
is really not that difficult.

You can see where i painted over the face

and the arm again...

At first, it may look messy

but in time, it's all "fix-able"!

If you're not comfortable with something, change it.

It's a painting - not brain surgery. ;-)

Finally coming together for me here...

this is closer to the actual color 
(taken by the window this morning)
although in reality, it's more turquoise than blue.

i love blowing bubbles...

In the springtime, i sit on the front porch
and blow bubbles. I do.

Who said blowing bubbles was uncool after a certain age?

After i painted this, i watched this film
on Gerhard Richter.

I wasn't sure i would like it at first -
to watch a man put paint to a canvas
and then use a squeegee to go over it.

But it's about far more than that...
He is about far more than that.

He can paint things like this:

and like this...

but he chooses to paint this...(below)

because this has more meaning to him

at this time in his life.

It's not about what sells

or what the public expects from him.

it's about what he feels.

This is what fascinates me.

Now that he has the choice

to paint what he wants

he chooses this.

And speaking of feeling,

I'll end with a little video of a song

that i love as much today as i did 10 years ago...

Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead.

Thanks for being here...

xox

art in paint, in sand, in words, and in music

Melancholy were the sounds on a winter's night.

- Virginia Woolf

i've been away from the sketchbooks for a few days,

thanks to a migraine. I get them now and then.

Whenever i get them,

the world stands still for a few days -

but i'm happily back to the drawing table again. :-)

I just finished this a few minutes ago -

this is acrylic on paper...

there may have been a left brain/right brain thing

happening here...

I only noticed after i got the basic blue paint on there

that it was rather symmetrical.

and then of course, you just KNOW i'm gonna find a face. ;-)

These shapes just looked like eyes to me,

and a nose, and mouth.

a few added white dots, and it's done.

The hardest thing for me (as an artist)

is knowing when to stop.

Then, time for a little collage/painting

 a few leaf shapes...

added circles and acrylic paint...

 a few details...

Painting abstracts always helps me let go

of the need to know the meaning of the painting.

It's very freeing to paint something

that doesn't NEED to look like anything.

At least for me it is.

And while i was recuperating on the couch,

i read this book again.

I absolutely love the soft illustrations in this book

and the story is such a fragile one...

about a young boy (Hervé) who loses his father...

Such a gentle way to share an overwhelming loss...

I leave you with this 8 minute video on sand art.

Some of you may have seen it already,

but i'm sharing it anyway,

because i not only find the art beautiful,

but i love music as well

and it's a wonderful reminder

that art extends much further

than the pencil or the paint brush.

Art is about communicating.

Across the oceans,

across different cultures,

across generations.

I don't know what that song is at 5:05,

nor what he is saying,

but it's one of the saddest songs

i've ever heard...

xox