June rushing by

Seems as though June has been rushing by. I can hardly believe that today is June 24 already. It is kind of a special day. Today would have been my parents 65th wedding anniversary. Makes me think about having lost my Dad in February and also about the wonderful love my Dad and Mom had for each other. That love remained until the end.
Through the month of June I have been reminded of my own love for my parents and the importance of family. Ten of us were able to gather on June 16 for a short time to celebrate my Mom's 88th birthday. Father's day followed the next day. The day came with its challenges because of the memories and other reasons. However, I have sensed my Dad's presence in numerous ways. Sometime earlier in June I was blessed with the visit of a baby dove which seemed to feel little concern of my coming near. The baby stayed close for a time and I was able to gain what strength and contentment I was able.

Butterflies have also been in close proximity quite often and while they seem not interested in having their pictures taken, I am reminded of the transformations happening so much over the past months.
 I pause to realize that these wonderful large butterflies would not be so visible if we did not have the multitude of perennial flowers and trees in our yard which my own husband and I spent years on planting, loving and nurturing. Love.
Also if I did not spend so much time outdoors as I do, those butterflies would not be so apparent to me. I LOVE the outdoors and nature. But you already probably know that. As the days go rushing by, this month I find whatever opportunity I am able to be with nature, with the sun shining down or the clouds biding their time. The wind sometimes speaks to me. Sometimes I have no patience to listen, other times I try to sing along.
Trips to Saskatoon can sometimes be stressful. We try to make them as relaxed as we are able. Last Friday allowed for a visit to the Mendel Art Gallery in which we only spent a little bit of time, but we purchased some fancy sandwiches and went to the park area close to the river. Relaxing. Mindful. Sunshine glorifying.

Art has been sporadic though I have found some time to paint with total abandon on our front sidewalk.

And these two journal pages have also been a part of my recent creativity.

I now have nearly everything packed after numerous decisions and much thought, for my retreat at Manitou Beach. I will be mainly away from the computer so will be back to you after my return. 

Angel blessings dear friends.

flowers

more than I can tell in written words. They are the hieroglyphics of angels, loved by all ... for the beauty of ... character, though few can decipher even fragments of their meaning."
                                              Lydia M. Child

Monday mingle

week 7
To me interior design is just another expression of beauty. Through it, I recognize once again my attraction to that which is beautiful. Each of these websites have a focus on interior design.

• pimplewit interior styling
• decor8
• apartment therapy
• design sponge
• junk garden girl                                                                                                                     

a little bit of art and some exciting plans

I am beginning to get very excited about my annual art retreat when I get to spend time by myself with an opportunity to be away from the typical demands of everyday life. I was very concerned, until a very few days ago, about the retreat. The cottage this normally occurred in had been sold last fall. We went in search of a light housekeeping unit in the same beach area. At first the prospects did not seem promising. Then we did find a place. It is tiny with very little table and counter space. But still it is a space. Still I can have my retreat. Still I can plan to do art, but only when I truly feel like doing art. Maybe for that week my art will be in my dreams and mindfulness. 

In the meantime I continue to sometimes straggle on and sometimes burst forth with energy and creativity beyond imagining. I have remembered how much I love my outdoor times and gardening. I have learned that when I am extremely frustrated, the choice to go cut down numerous small trees growing in our back garden, and pull up unwanted grass, can be a very good choice. Yes, my shoulders get a little sore and my blood sugars tend to do their usual bouncing but still a good choice.

Below are some very small marker portraits in a water colour paper journal from the past days, with water used to spread the colours.

 The following work in progress continues to offer a beginning with which to work. The very obvious misconstruance of the placement of the girl's head gives me pause to wonder, when I even realize how wrong it is. I think I have decided to not change it. I have come to realize I have placed it where it is probably for a reason. I had no perception for the longest time of what I had drawn. Even now, when I come back to it, I have forgotten about the placement of that smaller head. No longer will I forget. I will explain to you next time I post the picture, hopefully in final stages. I will try to describe my thoughts about it. I suspect the picture will raise its own meaning for you.

And finally to reassure* that I am still sometimes in that bright and cheery warm colours mode, here is part of a background I have been working on together with a book from a few years ago which has numerous quotations as well as my happiness for the day recordings. The background is on a map that came with the ledger book I have been altering for an art journal book. It is a phone exchange map for a part of our province. The map is perfect for providing background lines and words.
*my friends like Jeanne

Angel blessings my friends.

Monday mingle

week 6

Here are more of my favourite amazing artists. A bit of emphasis today on fabric and sewing ~ but does not nearly touch on all this fabulosity.

• Rebecca Sower
• Carla Sonheim
• Tara Ross
• Ruth Rae
• Danita Art

self portrait practice

a painting exercise for class

I have decided to finally, I think, call this good enough and move on to more painting. I believe the paper was giving me the main problems making colour blending extremely difficult. Part of what this class was about ~ being loose. I was not. I was becoming extremely tense with each time I tried to work on it. I finally have this at a place where I feel I can share, but please do not linger with studying it. There are far too many things wrong.

"Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes."

                                                                       Oscar Wilde 
 
I will choose to move onto something else and to work with more wonderful advice from our teacher                                                     
                                                  practice, practice, practice.

going home

 

 As I was thinking last night about what to say with this journal page post, I began to realize there is much more to it than what I first realized. I had done most of the page a few weeks ago when my Mom was ready to be discharged from hospital. The doctors were trying for two weeks to sort things with her condition and dissolve the clots in her lungs. We were all so happy to hear of Mom's return to a more comfortable place with her health. Words of a nurse I spoke with one day saying Mom was "cute", encouraged me to know she would be going back to the nursing home soon, a place where she has been very comfortable and seems quite happy from what we can tell.

After my Dad had gone to his final beloved home in February, the news of my Mom's major difficulty with breathing only a couple of months later, was extremely tough to take in. My own sense of home has been shaken, at times much more than I would even like to think about.
 Knowing that I have art supplies, a talent and love for creating, as well as a love of life, has helped a great deal for me to remember that I am comfortable and my home is in my heart.

My family, friends and so many angels surround me to bring comfort, to keep me in "my home". 

Angel blessings to each and every one of you.

Monday mingle

Week 5

I have a friend with a dream. She is a mixed media painter that I met through Misty Mawn's Open Studio class. Because of Jenny I have decided to do this week's links around mixed media artists that I have met through Misty.

1. Jenny is my friend who has the dream to continue to study with Misty. If you have any understanding of a dream and achieving that dream, you will certainly want to view Jenny's blog, learn about her dream, and choose to assist.
2. Angela DiGiovanni is another friend through the Open Studio class. Angela is a wonderful soul who blogs at Living Out Loud.
3. Betty Wilkins can be found at flickr with her marvellous creations.
4. Sasha has also studied with Misty and has a fabulous blog at Sasha Hynds.
5. Kate Thompson blogs at Fractured Angelics where she shares her mixed media creations.

the storm

birds sing after a storm;

 

why shouldn't people feel as free

 

 

to delight in whatever remains to them?

Rose Kennedy