To remain creative, sometimes an artist needs to step away from the project they are working on and do something completely different. That is what I did in December.
Felt, embroidery floss, needle and thread, trim, beads, ribbon and stuffing. What fun! I’m already wondering what to try next on these cold wintery nights.
Ahhh summer nights. I love night ball games with my grandkids. It’s easy going and fun to watch the kids try their best to win. The kids on each team come from different backgrounds with different stories. Some are sad as the kids have to deal with so many adult issues but at the game, all of that takes a backseat as they cheer each other on. it’s heartwarming to be sure.
It’s good to get out of the studio after a long day of class homework and enjoy summer. It comes with the smell of fresh mowed grass, flowers, fields ready to harvest their hay and more. I think that is why I love summer. Slowly we make our way to late summer and fall. Each season having its own activities to indulge in and also new smells. I love the transition and I savor these days before winter days are upon us.
Early mornings are my favorite. Often I bring my breakfast outside and eat with the birdies! Good morning world! Hello Summer!
Every year I get a word for the New Year. I happily bounce into the next year with wings on my feet. This year is different. I am patiently waiting. I think it’s going to be a very important word so I have to search it out. God does not leave me wordless! I will find it!
Did you get a word?
How many times can a person start over? Every day if you are human. As an artist, I find that every day there is fresh inspiration right in front of me. Color combinations, characters I meet on my walks, weather that surrounds me, friends I visit with, books I read, movies I watch and on and on.
The world is a fascinating place to live in. Even in our seclusion we can find joy. I am not about to stop singing or dancing out in the great outdoors. The fresh air fills my soul and I can go back to the studio and begin again.
In my seclusion I am finding new purpose. I am reaching out to people with encouraging cards I create just for the recipients. My imagination is taking off and heading in new directions.
Just like my little character named, “Peepsqueak” always says when we sign books, “All things are possible!!”
Almost everyone has heard of the phrase “Shiny Objects”. I decided to look it up online. It brought me to a website for entrepreneurs. The article spoke of SOS, Shiny Object Syndrome, and called it the disease of distraction. I have been distracted many times in my life. (Even this morning!)
When you have Jesus in your life and you take time to listen for Him, the distractions fade and Jesus, the true “Shining Object” of our faith becomes front and center.
I have been a Christian going on 45 years and Jesus has been true to me in every season of life. Together we have walked down some pretty rough roads. Daily I learn of why I must be completely devoted to him. The closer in relationship with Him that I am, the more the world and its cares fade into peace. His loves become my loves. His purpose becomes my purpose. He has taken over my house and I have never had such a wonderful house guest. You see, He is completely devoted to me too. Jesus is my shiny object and I am still captured by his love.
“But Christ, as the Son, is in charge of God’s entire house. And we are God’s house, if we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ.” Hebrews 3:6
A few months ago I was listening to someone on the radio talking about alpha-rhythms. There was a study done suggesting that it was a state of mind you are in upon waking each morning. A very creative state. It was suggested that you go straight to work in your creative area during this time as opposed to checking emails, surfing the web or watching tv…which shuts it all down. I had to chuckle when I heard it. I was reminded of an invention I dreamt of right before waking. It’s seemed “oh so real” and possible that I grabbed a pen and paper on my night stand and began jotting down the idea and sketching the prototype. My husband came into the room…I told him my idea…as I spoke it became clear that it was a bit whacky. Hahaha! Still, it could also be possible? All this to say, keep your pencil and paper handy on your night stand! You never know what idea might be hatching during your alpha-rhythm state of mind!
http://www.dictionary.com/browse/alpha-rhythm
Artists live a life of wonder. At times, it’s wondering what to do next. I will not lie, I have been wondering this for the last few months. I am looking for the sweet spot! It’s my favorite place to be in Art. It’s the place where you are working and you don’t want to stop. I think it’s a divine place where God kisses your life with ideas that flow out in a steady stream.
A lot of things can bar you from this place. Looking in the wrong direction, self doubt, self pity, self self self. Ha! Get the point? You have to get rid of the”self” part. If the sweet spot is divine, then you have to seek out the divine.
A few nights ago I had a dream. My dad was in the dream. Someone had driven him to my house. He slowly came up the steps to my house and said to me, ” Bloom“. In a small whisper he said, “bloom where you are planted”.
Then he was gone.
I woke up knowing the “divine” had spoken to me.
No grinding out ideas, just let the divine IN me out… to make the art I was born to make.
A flower does not worry about the bloom. All the coding for that bloom is IN the seed. It simply drinks up moisture from above and the roots go down and the bloom comes.
So… BLOOM today! You were meant to be like none other.
That is the question! The answer is in you. Will you be who you yearn to be in this life? Will you accomplish your dreams? Much of it is up to you.
My neighbor is an example. I met her three years ago. I was so excited to have an artist move in next door! She is a potter and when I visited her she would show me what she was making. She had some really fun pieces.
Last December she agreed to be in a garden show. She was one of two artists that would show their work in a specific garden. She knew she needed to fill the yard so she began in earnest to produce pieces with a garden theme. All winter long the kiln was firing wonderful creations! Colorful pots, bird houses and bird baths began oozing out of her garage. Her work began taking on a personality and a style like no other artist. I saw her grow in her skills.
Last Wednesday was set-up day. We placed her art all over the yard. By the time we finished, the yard look like it was out of a fairy tale! I could see that her pieces told a story. There was color everywhere! We were so excited!
We returned on Saturday for the sale. No sooner did we sit down at our table when the crowd of visitors began forming a line to buy my friends pottery. The line did not stop until the day ended. It was wonderful!!! All of her hard work paid off.
So what is my point? Find what you love and DO it! Find a way! Keep moving in the direction. To be or NOT to be? It’s up to you!
Pottery by Juanita Estepa
All I really wanted to do today was draw. Sometimes you have to do things you don’t want to do. Some of those things you are not good at, so they take you ALL DAY! Sometimes things go wrong. Then you are sad. … and sometimes you mess up. … and sometimes you do all of that in ONE DAY! Ha!
Goodbye Wednesday. I’m going to bed!
Have you ever started a new chapter in your life? Have you ever dared to do something you never did before? Did you feel launched into it and found yourself in free fall? You are not alone. It happens all the time! Anyone who wants to do something worthwhile in life has to take risks and sometimes those risks lead to even more risks!
When my art career began, I was imagining all the possibilities. I dreamed of success. I created many fun little cartoons and talked about what I wanted to do with them. Then one day, I ran into a friend who was DOING what I wanted to do. She shook me! She said, “Les, you have to go to the N.Y. Stationary Show and you have to go NOW!
I had heard of this show. I had many of my friends online talking about going. This was back in the late 90’s. There was something in her voice. It was more like a command from heaven than a gentle nudging from a friend. I made up my mind to go!
This was huge for me. I had only been on an airplane once for a 45 minute flight. I practically sat on the lap of the man sitting next to me… asking him what this bump was and what THAT bump was! I decided I better pray about this trip. I told the Lord that if HE wanted me to do this then he would have to make the way for me. A few days later someone had put an envelope in my mailbox. It was $300.00. Enough for my flight! It was not long until I was flying across America to New York City. I met up with my girlfriend and stayed with her uncle and aunt. We took buses, rode trains and cabs. Once at the show we had to pedal our portfolios. I am NOT a sales person. … but there I was asking people where their art director was and if I might have a minute with them. Over and over. Hmmm…. it became a little easier each time.
One last company sat down with me. They looked through my whole portfolio and asked if I had anything more? I pulled out one last picture of a little baby. That was it! That was the one the art director liked. She asked me if I had any more and I told her I would email them to her when I got home. You better believe I was sketching babies on the airplane!
This was one of my first “be brave” moments. Over and over the good Lord has taken my by the hand and shown me what to do next. Some would say, “you are weak if you need help for everything.” But I say, I am smart for asking.
I have a few more adventures I am yearning for. There will come that day, when the dreaming is over, and the bags all packed and ready to GO!
What are you waiting for? Be Brave!!!!!
Come February, without fail, I begin to feel the effects of Spring Fever. My tulips are peeking out, our trees are budding, and my heart begins pining away for warm weather. THEN it SNOWS 8 inches! haha!
There is no complaining on my part. Colorado needs the moisture! Like Peepsqueak, (above) I put on my coat and scarf and set off in our winter wonderland. Spring will arrive as it alway does, but there are sidewalks to shovel and a wood stove to load and lots of indoor activities to keep me busy until snow gives way to rain and flowers.
Oh little Peepsqueak. This picture of you reminds me of something that happened to me when I was little. We were visiting an aunt in Washington. She had a rope that dangled from a tree in her backyard. She also had a big DOG that came running into the yard barking at ME! I jumped on that rope and UP, UP, UP I went! I did not even know I could climb a rope! I just did it! ha ha!
Most of my art comes from my imagination, but it is also from my memories and from my life experiences. All that being said, I think I can still climb a rope!
This morning I drove up the mountain to Estes Park, Colorado. It was a sad journey as I began. The night before we found out our brother in-law was told he had two months to live due to cancer. We love him so much. A good deal of the drive up was spent thinking about him and my sister in-law and praying for some answers. I knew I needed to pull myself together. I was meeting with a friend and then a shop keeper who is selling my books. My day was going to move from sad to putting on a happy face…. life is that way you know. .. and sometimes those emotions are within minutes of each other.
This picture seems to say it best. As I approached the scenic overlook leading down to the valley in Estes Park a thick cloud covered the road. I was hoping it would not get so thick that I would not be able to see. Thankfully, the skies opened, letting in the sun before I got into town.
The rest of the day was filled with warm conversations and beautiful views. I cannot describe it any better than peace being poured out into my heart.
My meeting in Estes Park was with a wonderful woman named Cynthia. She is the owner of Life’s Bear Necessities. It is a beautiful little gift shop in town that specializes in gifts made in America. A portion of the items made are by people in Colorado. She must be my biggest supporter of Peepsqueak books. Her last order was for 50 books which I gladly signed today. We had such a nice visit and found we had much in common. The people coming into the store were just as kind. A woman came into the shop and told a story of whispering to a freaked out elk just yesterday. Evidently, the giant buck was trapped in an area of town where he could not escape. She was only a few feet from him and began whispering to calm him down! It worked! She was so excited to tell me her story. Another woman that came in was a retired singer. One more couple had ties to a small town In Iowa where my grandparents lived. The whole day was peaceful, sprinkled with friendly faces.
Leslie Ann Clark – Signing 50 copies of Peepsqueak for “Life’s Bear Necessities”
Cynthia at Life’s Bear Necessities – Estes Park, CO
Another delight in my day was the last-minute coffee date with my artist friend Teresa Maria! We met before the shop opened at the “Be Kind Coffee Shop”. It is always good for the soul to meet someone for coffee. I don’t exactly know why, but I have had some “laugh till you cry” moments in coffee shops, serious” heart-felt” meetings in coffee shops and amazing and inspiring meetings in coffee shops. I guess it is the laid back atmosphere. The Be Kind Coffee Shop has the most beautiful view. What a treat. I am sad I did not get a picture of Teresa Maria!
The Be Kind Coffee Shop
I hope all of you had a peace filled day. Thank you for sharing mine. And if you think about it, say a prayer for our loved ones.
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