ocean waves of sorrow and joy

hello everyone!

I have so much to share,

i'm not sure where to begin...

Let's start with the fact that 

it's still summer here!

We broke a 100 year record yesterday for temperature.

I was 30C (86F).

Hot for us in September.

Normally, by this time of the year,

we're pulling out the thick sweaters

and looking for our socks.

But this year, we seem to be

about a month+ behind in the seasons.

It's a strange thing,

the reaction we have to weather.

September here usually brings with it

a burst of energy for me

and a cozy feeling of cocooning.

Kids are going back to school,

some to university,

moms are getting the house to themselves... ;)

new beginnings.

But this year feels different.

There's this churning of creativity inside me

but when I notice it's still summer out there,

I wanna be out walking or swimming or kayaking.

(and on a good day, I usually am)

Because I know what's coming.

W.I.N.T.E.R.

So I hate to admit it,

but I would welcome a rainy day.

And if the forecast is right,

we're getting one tomorrow. (Sunday)

There's a little story to this sunflower.

Earlier this year,

we decided to plant a few things.

(I don't have a green thumb).

So we planted a few flowers along the walkway...

but we didn't plant this sunflower!

Honest, we didn't.

When we noticed something growing,

we were curious to see what would pop up there.

At first, I thought it was just weed...

no, not the kind you smoke! ;)

but lo and behold - 

this beautiful sunflower pops up! 

The birds & the bees carried the seeds

exactly at the right spot. :)

So next year, I'm planting sunflowers.

This is Fluffy, my dad's dog,

and she loves to hide her treats in the carpet,

just in case someone is thinking

of taking them from her.

Cracks me up.

I did a quick little sketch of her

while she slept by my side on the grass.

This is part of my blue room...
I used to have my mac upstairs,
but finally brought it down here.
This room just feels right for writing.

I am sitting in the chair you see here right now...

I love this space...
You don't need a big, fancy shmancy studio
to make art.
It just has to feel right in your heart.
Some people use a shed,
the basement, the back porch,
a kitchen table,
Whatever works for you.

A few weeks ago,
we were awakened at 2am 
by the sound of helicopters just above our house.
By morning, we found out
they were looking for a missing man in the water.
A boating accident.
He and a friend were boating
when the boat capsized.
His friend searched for him in the water
for a half hour before making it to shore
to call 911.
They found the missing man days later - drowned,
only about 50 feet from the shore here.
42 years old.

Whenever something like this happens,
you always have the nitwits who want to give
their two cents worth about what happened.

"well, they had to be drinking!"

"who goes out boating after dark?"

"well, why weren't they wearing lifejackets?"

That's why it's called an ACCIDENT, you morons.
Cause it's not supposed to happen.
No one ever goes out on a boat thinking:

"I know! We'll put ourselves in danger
and then we'll drown!! It'll be fun!"

It angers me how quickly we are to judge
when something like this happens.
We all know what should have happened
to prevent this tragedy, 
but it didn't, and the man is dead.
Why bring any more suffering
to his poor family
and the friend who searched
for 30 minutes in the water for him?
They lost someone they loved
and this beautiful place
will forever haunt them.
Is that not enough?

I went for a walk there the other day
and saw this one lone flower...
and I thought of him.

 Then I picked up this book again...

and read this...

Funny how the same questions
have different meaning now...

I had ordered new cards from MOO
and they came in as the helicopters
searched overhead...
it made me sad
when i noticed my ocean paintings.
I can be overly sensitive about my surroundings,
so I usually try to paint or sketch something
as soon as i can,
to put the pain on paper
rather than keep it in my heart.

I started this painting thinking of water,
and ocean, and waves, and nighttime... 
(it's acrylic on paper)

Not sure where I was going with the pink,
but I just let it go where it wanted to go.

Added a bit of white...
still not sure if it's anything 
other than abstract.

Then I flipped it over
and saw a dragon and someone flying
and a moon and water and a heart...

These are closer to the real colours..

taken in daylight.

Looking at it this way just feels 

less scary to me.

Why a dragon would feel less scary,

I'm not sure.  ;)

I'm not sure if i mentioned anything in my last post,

but I'm working on a little something

with a few other artists

that we'll be sharing with you all soon.

I am thrilled to be contributing

to such a fun project

and I know that many of you

will be happy to

color along with me very soon!

(Yes, that's a little hint for you.)

As soon as I get the ok to share,

I will.

Hang tight.

In the meantime,

you might wanna

sharpen your color pencils!

xx

This is how excited I am:

the beach, good books and a WW2 painting...

The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea.

- Isak Dinesen

I made my way to the beach today...

is there anything better than a quiet day at the beach with a good book?

And with these little treasures i got last week from Amazon,

let's just say it was a good day. 

I am somewhat of a loner, so i much prefer a quiet beach
than one filled with noise and barking dogs
and shiny, sparkly, tanned bodies. :-)

We have several beaches around here we can escape to
when we don't feel like being surrounded by a gazillion people.

I still think that if everyone regularly took time to unwind like this, 
the world would be a better place.

I realize that not everyone has such freedom...
and almost always, whenever i am surrounded by this beauty,
i can't help but think of those less fortunate
and it's an effort for me not to feel guilty for what i have.

...a little blue ocean between the rocks...

The wharf, with fishing boats coming in and going out...

multi-colored fishing rope...

A fishing boat...

Who wouldn't love a turquoise boat?

lovely reflection in the water...

A few more people showed up, but still very quiet.

I had a wonderful few hours to myself...

I'm squeezing out every last bit of summer we have left,

although i welcome the fall with open arms.

It's my favorite season.

This was last night's work....

I have a soft spot for WW2 soldiers and stories.

Many of these men went into battle without much of a choice.
It's one thing to choose to become a soldier,
but quite another to be forced into it.

My father in law was a WW2 veteran and used to tell me stories of local men
who spent months hiding in the woods near here,
so they wouldn't be forced to join the army.

Once in a while, the military police would go from house to house,
gathering all the men to join in the battle overseas (in Europe).

When they suspected there was a man of the house in hiding,
they searched the thick woods in the surrounding areas
and often found what they were looking for.

My father in law told me of one such man who had the kindest heart,
and who had been hiding in the woods for months,
fearful of being forced into the army,
with his wife and children bringing him food.

Some may see these men as cowards, but i don't.

I think of my own father, who doesn't have the heart to discipline his dog, 
let alone kill a man,
and i understand what these men were hiding from.

They were filled with fear at the thought of war,
and the idea that they may be killed,
but more than anything,
they were paralyzed in fear at having to kill someone else.

When i saw this photo last night in one of my books, it tugged at my heart.

This police constable is consoling a man who had gone for a walk with his dog while his wife cooked Sunday dinner. His town (in South London) was bombed and he came back to find everything demolished and his wife buried beneath the rubble.  

a quick watercolor sketch with colors a bit too dark for my liking,
but i guess that was the mood...

As much as the world is filled with crap,
it's also filled with very hopeful, caring,
compassionate moments like these.

My world makes sense when i acknowledge both, the good with the bad.

Sometimes, i let myself get carried away too much with the bad
(hence, the asshole post prior to this one!)
but then i treat my soul to good books and a day at the beach
and all is well with the world again. :-)

Thank you all for visiting here.
I hope you all know how grateful i am
that we share this space together...

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.
xox

girl in water, woman and wavy hair, the beginning...

She's scary, isn't she?

She scares me and i'm the one who drew her. :-)

I'm posting her anyway because i believe

flawed art is still better than no art. 

This little wavy haired woman was done right after the girl in the water,

and it's a work in progress.

In BIC marker and acrylic paints.

These kinds of doodles are always so meditative for me.

The quote you see on the left is one that i love

by J.R.R. Tolkien...

Not all who wander are lost

I'm reading the FIRE STARTER SESSIONS

and working on some of the worksheets.

I'll tell you a little secret about myself.

i am not a goal oriented person. 

At all.

So whenever i see someone with calendars

or a strategic 5 year plan on their wall

my heart starts to palpitate.

It just all seems far too mechanical for me.

I'm just saying.

It's just not who i am.

For those of you who can fly with 5 year plans on their walls,

more power to you!

I've never been good at setting goals for myself

and yet,

i've accomplished most of what i set out to do,

through passion

and determination

and perseverance

and courage

and work.

Oh, and love is important too.

If you don't love what you're doing

chances are good you may meet the deadline

but you'll still feel empty inside

and almost always drained at the end of the day.

I know. I've been there. It's not a good feeling.

Danielle Laporte gently asks this question in her book:

how do you want to feel?

An important question, wouldn't you say?

Once i thought about this for a while,

i realized that one of the most important values for me

is freedom.

Maybe i really am a hippie at heart. :-)

I want to feel free more than anything,

which probably explains why i've always struggled 

with the 9 to 5 job.

I've done it, for years, but i never strived there.

I was trading my freedom for financial reward,

and that just wasn't cutting it for me.

There had to be another way.

There was another way.

i just had to claim it as my own. 

:-)

When i walked on the beach last weekend,

in this one spot on the sand,

there had been a bonfire there the night before.

Out of the ashes, i saw this one piece of paper...

and these 2 words made me smile.

Wishing you all a happy Wednesday.

xoxo

Peter Riedel

stream

I have done very little painting lately, so I'm posting something from a while ago. Things have simply been too busy. Life gets that way sometimes. So I'm feeling the need to regroup - to quiet myself and find my happy place again. One of my happy places is being around a body of water - an ocean, a stream, a river, a waterfall. I can almost hear the water gushing here. :o)