courage to continue

“Come to the edge.”
“We can't. We're afraid.”
“Come to the edge.”
“We can't. We will fall!”
“Come to the edge.”
 And they came.
 And he pushed them.
 And they flew.
                                                                  Guillaume Apollinaire,   1880-1918

finding "courage to continue"

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.

as the dance continues to gravitate

towards turquoise

with the above piece in its background
and about 30 smaller pieces
I worked with at the same time

"seek peace"
was a challenge to playing more with paint
even a very inexpensive children's paint set
playing more with body poses
as opposed to just faces
and a remembrance of how much I love to use stamps
and inks

"seek peace" my friend