fall colors and edith piaf

hello peeps.

Sunday night already... 

where did the weekend go?

 a few pics from my morning walk at the beach

Sometimes i think i live in the most beautiful part of the world
and other times, i'd do anything to leave, just for a bit.

I suspect most everyone feels like this now & then,
when things just feel heavy.

Whenever i start to feel the weight of the world
on my shoulders, i come to the ocean.
This is Parlee Beach.
It's about a 10 minute drive from where i live
and at this time of the year,
there's hardly ever anybody there.

 the sand finds its way to the grass...

...a calm and cloudy morning

so nice & quiet here

the tide coming up 

 tiny waves... ;-)

 another tiny wave...

i love this one... 
it looked like it was gonna rain.
I was walking in the opposite direction
when i turned around to look at the view
and saw this blue piece of sky...

seaweed, sand, ocean, tire tracks...
(one of these things is not like the other) ;-)
This is a provincial park,
so they drive around the beach to keep it clean
and to keep the sand level
at the beginning and the end of the summer.

A little watercolor i did this morning,
as the rest of the house slept
and i enjoyed a good cup of coffee.

 this is the view i see from the window in my blue room.

i love these calm mornings
when the bay looks like a mirror
and each cottage/house is reflected in the water.

it was very windy this weekend,
so the fall colors are slowly disappearing.

still pretty though...
i love the fall.
Still my favorite season.
Something about the cool, crisp air
and changing colors
makes me feel more creative.
Wishing you all a good week ahead!
xox

and for all Edith Piaf fans out there...
la vie en rose :-)

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

The well has dried up. Go figure.

hi everyone.

My, how time flies...

Can't believe it's been a week since i last posted!

(watercolor and micron pen on paper)
There's been very little creativity in my world lately.
I've hit a wall.
A dry spell.

I could always push myself and post something anyway,
but it would most likely bore the hell out of everyone,
and i don't want to do that.

I don't want to be boring.

Plus, I'm not in the practice of pushing - 
myself or others.

Things always get done eventually.

There's enough pressure in the world already.

Living a creative life is an ebb and flow.

Like the tides.

As much as art is an obsession for me,
there is still a need to shut down now and then
and pull away from the paints and pens.

Recharge.

Refill myself.

Breathe in the good,
breathe out the bad. 

Walk on the frozen beach.

Read poetry instead of twitter.

Look at the moon and stars in the night sky.

 (art junk table, piling up)

I've intentionally pulled myself away lately
from social media - something that feels
more right to me with each passing day.

I've got very little art for you,
but i've gathered a few little inspiring videos.
At least i thought they were inspiring.

I hope you like them.

Chuck Close - an american artist who sees through different eyes.

And this - monks making sand mandalas...

So beautiful -

a wonderful lesson in patience

and the impermanence of everything.

including us.

And this. 

How could one not be inspired by this?

A reminder that art is everywhere

and one vision can change lives.

And this one always makes me smile...

so cool.

Thanks for visiting here.

Wishing you a green light kinda day. 

xox

(Linking this to Paint Party Friday, Create Every Day,

Artists in Blogland and Mandarin Orange Monday!)

danger: too much positiveness can cause blindness...

It's not what you look at that matters,

it's what you see. 

Henry David Thoreau

hello people!

A quick little watercolor from this morning.
Sometimes i feel like being precise, sometimes not.

Can you guess what this morning was?! 
hint: NOT. 
;-)

It's a rainy day here today.

I love the rain.

It may seem like this little watercolor was inspired by the rain, but it wasn't.

It was inspired by this:
I've discovered lately that i can only take so much positiveness.

Especially the fake, overdone, super fantabulous, shiny sparkly kind.
The kind that makes you feel yucky.
I'm sure you all know what i mean.

I believe it's important to see the whole of life,
not just the good parts.
I also believe life is unfair and that sometimes,
what's possible for one person is absolutely impossible for another.

Denying this reality is denying what life really is.

I've read too many blog posts lately from people
who are living the good life,
raking in the cash, living on some tropical island somewhere,
illness free, debt free, barefoot in the sand,
trying to inspire me to do the same.

Well duh... happiness in such conditions
is not a huge surprise!

For most of us, this is not reality,

and i believe it can be as harmful as helpful if we get too wrapped up 

in someone else's story... someone else's fairy tale.

Anyone can be positive when everything is rainbows and sparkles.
The real character of a person is seen
when the world around them crumbles.
When they lose their house,
or their child,
or their health...

That's when you see the real character of a person.

Most of us have mortgages,
and debt,
and illness,
and dependant children,
and daily challenges that would render many dysfunctional.

What impresses me is the young mother
who is in her 3rd round of chemotherapy
and still faces the day with a smile on her face and courage in her heart.

What impresses me is the man who has lost the love of his life
and is on the verge of losing his house
and still finds it in his heart to volunteer and help others in need.

I hesitate to take the advice of many of these so called

spiritual/financial/life coach gurus...

Real spiritually is free.

I am weary of those who charge a fee for enlightenment -

of those who claim that they will show you the way,

and it'll only cost you five thousand dollars for a 3 day retreat.

I am weary of those who tell others

that anyone can manifest anything at anytime in their lives.

I have a friend who is a quadriplegic.

If he could manifest anything

don't you think he'd be walking?

And if he believed in this crap,

how would he feel about the fact that he is not walking?

I'll tell you how he would feel.

He would feel like a failure.

He would feel like he is doing something wrong...

he is manifesting the wrong thing.

He is not concentrating hard enough,

or trusting or praying hard enough.

We should be careful about what we tell others

they can DO in their lives.

I was skeptical when the book THE SECRET was published.

I realize it may have helped a lot of people,

but my first thought at seeing the book was:

Sugar and spice (and bullshit) in a fancy package.

I want to cry every time i see a televangelist in his shiny suit

and puppy dog eyes,

raking in millions from people who barely have enough to eat.

And yet - these people choose to send in their money...

believing it'll somehow give them a ticket to heaven.

So my little watercolor here is really about being bombarded with 
too much positiveness
and only needing a little bit for myself.

The one little heart is really all i need.

I don't need to be loved by everyone, 
nor do i need (or want) to love everyone.

Some people are assholes.
I don't love those. 
;-)

I believe we all do what we can to make our lives better

or easier

or more meaningful

or healthier

or happier...

i just think we all have our own ways of doing this,

and what works for one may not work for the other.

Find you OWN way to make your life meaningful.

You know what your life needs.

Don't let others tell you what you need to "do" to be ok.

Be the boss of you. :-)

You'll be glad you did.

xox

abstracts, strawberries and Virginia Woolf

I was all over the place yesterday.

You know those days when you're not sure

what kind of a mood you're in,

or rather, what kind of painting

you feel like doing, if any?

Yeah, that kind of a day.

So i have these little 4" x 6" cardboards that i use...

this is acrylic on the little card.

Looks like winter.

Yuck.

Then i jumped to this little watercolor on cardboard.

Not sure what it is, but it's titled REACH.

That much i know. 

Then i took a lovely little break with these...

and with Virginia Woolf.

(strawberries always make it a brighter day!)

Then i jumped to this collage.

See? I told you i was all over the place.

Maybe i have multiple personality disorder?

giggle.

All of this only accounts for about 1.5 hours in my day.

90 minutes in a day.

They're no masterpieces,

but the important thing is

i played.

At least it's important to me.

So today is a day of catching up

and running errands

and finishing projects,

but before i do this

i'm going for a nice walk

in the morning sun.

Priorities.

;-)

oncology center...

I can be changed by what happens to me

but I refuse to be reduced by it.

Maya Angelou

I went to the Oncology center again today.

Mom begins chemotherapy again...

after a break that was much too brief.

Every time I go there,

I'm reminded of what I have,

what others have lost,

and how fragile life is.

True wealth has nothing to do with money.

The only true wealth is health.

We all walk around like we have

all the time in the world

to do what we want,

to go where we want,

to be who we want.

We neglect,

we procrastinate,

we find every excuse in the book

to do it later.

Tomorrow.

Next year.

When the mortgage is paid off.

When the kids are gone.

When i have more money.

But when i see the faces

in that sitting room at the Oncology Center,

i know that many no longer have the energy

nor the will

to follow their hearts. 

They have become too busy with survival

to be concerned with dreams

and passions.

All they want is to feel good again.

That has become their dream.

What

are

we

waiting

for

?

Do one small thing today

that makes you feel one step closer

to your dream.

Even if it's just

writing it on paper,

and claiming it as yours. 

xoxo

europe painting, mini watercolor and picasso

Good morning fellow bloggers of the world! :-)

I'm still working on my Europe painting

but i thought i'd post anyway.

There's way too much blue in this as it is...

I plan on finishing it this week

so i'll post the final pic soon.

You'd think i'd be so tired of blue... :-)

I did this mini watercolor of the ocean and sky (about 3" x 4").

The ocean here is still covered

with frozen ice and snow,

but i'm dreaming of the days

where I walk barefoot in the sand again. 

I love doing small formats.

They take very little time,

and small doesn't mean it's any less art.

********

It used to bother me

that i didn't have a particular style 

when it came to art.

Then I remembered Picasso.

We know Picasso from paintings like this...

or this...

but he also did this...

and this...

and this...

and this incredible drawing...

study of a torso. 

So if any of you feel like i do sometimes,

like you're jumping from one thing to another

from one style to another -

Remember Pablo Picasso

and keep painting and drawing your little heart out.

:-)

Wishing you all a wonderful week! 

xoxo