the difference between dreams that come true, and dreams that don't

A lie can travel half way around the world

while the truth is putting on its shoes.

Charles Spurgeon

It's always so much fun for me to go into my little blue room,
light a candle, put on some music, and paint.

love the name of this one - Tutti Fruitti... yeah.

I'm not the greatest at making marks when i begin a painting.

Mine are usually shapes rather than marks. :-)

a few added red squares and lines of text from a magazine.
I liked the dark blue color...

a bit of black Sharpie marker...

and a bit of white pen and paint.

So much fun to do...

and just for you. :-)

And then something simple and quick in my lovely little yellow book...

with colored pencils.

A gentle little reminder for all of us...

Thank you ALL for your kind words concerning my book.

(and Jez... thank you in particular for all those wonderfully detailed steps!!)

I've often wondered what makes one person's dreams become reality,
while the next person seems stuck in the mud and fails to realize them.

Wanna know what i believe the difference is?

Hard work.

That's it. 

We may think it has to do with money,
or time
or opportunity
or talent
or circumstance
or education...

all of these things may help,
but I believe it has most to do
with a willingness to do the work involved.

J.K. Rowling became a supposed overnight success with the Harry Potter books,
but in reality, it was anything but overnight.

She sat for years in a small café near her home
where she could hardly afford a tea...
and she wrote, and wrote, and wrote.

And we all know what happens when you continue doing something,
day in and day out.... 
you get better at it.

I don't want to say practice makes perfect,
because i don't believe in perfection.

But practice definitely makes "humongous-ly better". ;-)

So yeah, here I am with my little idea for a book,
and i am finally beginning to understand that this is so possible.

They say that if you put things out to the universe,
it gets the ball rolling.

Things start to happen.

I have a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson in my face that i read every day -

Once you make a decision,
the universe conspires to make it happen.

True, yes?

The quote should perhaps be this:

Once you make a decision,

the universe conspires to make it happen -

and then you have to show up for the actual work to be done.

Wishing you all the kind of Saturday you love...

I'm off to do some sketching and take notes for the book... :-)

let's get inspired by art, shall we?

hello folks!

First things first. This is NOT my art.

But since i had no time for art last night, i thought i'd share

a bit of artwork with you from other artists...

I always find it fascinating to see what other people draw or paint,

and in this case, they are mostly celebrities

...or wanna be celebrities. ;-)

Some of you may not be familiar with some of these artists.

I think it's so interesting that there's so much creativity in the world,

and art is art - regardless of who paints what.

I hope you like some of these...

This is the art of Bob Dylan

John Lennon

Frank Sinatra

Hitler
i debated whether or not to include this one.
Even his flowers look dead inside

Joni Mitchell
(a portrait of Graham Nash, done in the lat 1960's... in felt marker)

Joni Mitchell (self portrait)

Paul McCartney

Ronnie Wood (guitarist and bassist with the Rolling Stones)
This is a portrait of Mick Jagger, lips and all... ;-)

Ronnie Wood with more of his artwork...

Tony Bennett

and last but not least...one of my favorites,

Leonard Cohen

and his fabulously depressing illustrations... ;-)

Leonard Cohen

I believe the need to express ourselves creatively is universal.

Many of us choose not to honor this need,
but i am deeply grateful for those of us who do.

Can you imagine a world without art

and poetry

and songs

and books

and music?

What a crappy world it would be... ;-)

Here's to making the world a more beautiful place -
one little expression at a time...
in our own little way.
xox

why words matter...

hello peeps!

I'm back from a few days away 
and looking forward to getting my work done so i can get back
to some serious painting and journaling and blogging again. :-)

My weekend was not as relaxing as i was planning it would be, but still...
family time, book shopping, an outdoor concert, swimming... 
So all in all, it was good for the soul.

A few years back, a good friend of mine gave me this journal book.
Actually, I feel like a teeny bopper when i say this,
but she's my best friend... * hallo Lucille!!*

I wrote in a few of the pages, and then put the book aside.
As weeks passed (and months)... and i forgot about it!

I actually forgot that i had it. 

So now I have this beautiful, almost empty little journal
with quotes on every page to prompt me to CREATE every day. :-)

Feels like Christmas to me. 

The pages are thicker than regular paper, so it holds paint quite well.
So i'll be playing in this little journal for a while...

I've been thinking about this idea for a while now...

We all have that big ass dream in life, right?

We all have that ONE thing we wish we could do,
but somehow never find the time,

the energy,

the money,

the guts,

the *fill in the blank*

For me, it's writing a book.

I know, everyone and their dog has written a book these days it seems,
but still - it's one of my dreams.

ONE of my dreams. ;-)

I've met some pretty damn interesting people in my life,

and they've all taught me something, one way or another.

The girl above and her story are true.

The kind of book i'd love to write

is an illustrated book, with little tidbits of writing and painting

on each page.

Kinda like this one, only more well thought out. :-)

I did this last night as a sample on a small postcard size,

just to get a feel for what it could look like.

Whenever i write anything,

I always wonder whether others will find it interesting or not,

because it's about my life and those i've crossed paths with...

But then i remind myself of the books i've read,

and how i've loved so many that had nothing to do with me.

Shared stories.

That's what it's about, isn't it?

They remind me of how connected we all are,

regardless of where we live in the world.

How universal so many things are...

like love.

xox