finding my mojo

what to do when my creative spirit wanders 

and i cannot think of what to do?  my husband 

reminded me that i always love taking a workshop.

great idea!  this week i joined the ever creative well of 

inspiration, jacki long's art gang at the art supply warehouse in a 

mixdd media marathon.  jacki is amazing!  she demonstrated a 

list of projects for us to jump in.  all supplies are supplied.   that did the trick!

between being in a group of creative folks, jacki's encouragement

and  enthusiasm, i was off to collaging faces and thinking of other possibilities.

by the way, jacki has done a daily blog, for years.  her current total is 1793!

i think she's going for a record.  

i also decided that i love creating  faces.  sometimes we are the last 

to be able to identify where our passion leads us when everyone else 

can pinpoint it.   sp, in in an effort to embrace this new information,

and to support myself, 

i took my faces out of the box and put them on 

my studio wall.  i have many more and plan to fill the wall.

my vegetable garden also offered hours of 

reflective  time as my hands cared and tended 

tomatoes, lettuce, zucchini, beans and other wonderful greens. 

all in all, my attempts were successful at getting

me back on track.  i also realize the we cannot have

a consistent stream of creative energy but it is snot often

where i get thrown off my center.   like a garden, the soil is

fertile but needs to lay fallow to replenish its rich nutrients.

i would love to hear about  how you handle fallow art periods.

linking with kristen and eva's paint party friday and 

other creative friends

faces and other summer ramblings

i cut up some of those funny faces from last week 

and put them together in different combinations

to create intriguing faces that you'd never want to encounter

on a dark street when you are alone.  but they were fun to do here 

in rafael studio!

i don't know about you, but, 

sometimes i hear a critical inner voice.  well, if i were

totally honest, i would admit that i hear it more than i like.

one of the things i heard this week is  'you are so narrow

minded.  can't you paint anything other than faces?  you should

be more versatile.'  hmm, that gave me pause.  i began to think

that i should give up creating.  that i've worn out my subject, 

that no one wants to see another face.  you get the picture.

i talked to my friend, evie about this.  she and i met when we

both trained to be therapists decades ago.  she is my pal that i talk to 

daily.  we share everything and anything.  during our conversation,

i  realized that i love creating  faces, love learning and using 

different techniques for the process. the the human face is one of the most 

intricate and fascinating subjects  there is, that there are countless 

emotions and subtitles in a face.   whew!  i can proceed.

elsewhere in my world,  i have returned to gardening.  one

grandfather was a gardener, the other grew his own vegetables

and made green juice ever day before it was a fad.  

i started with 7 tomato plants in pots.  then,  i built a raised  bed

and started to plant herbs and vegetables.    my husband and i look at it 

two to three times a day to look for any changes.  i go to nurseries to find

more plants.  now i have plans to fill pots around my yard with herbs 

and vegetables.  it is a rewarding pastime that i can eat eventually!

on the family front, little owen, my nephew's son 

graduated from pre school.  when i grew up, that was not a day marked 

on the calendar.  but now, aunts, uncles flew in to town, 

grandparents attended.  the whole class gave  an adorable  

singing dancing  performance . of course, i thought 

owen was the star of the show but all of the others were close 

seconds.  it brought back so many fond memories.

and now to the most most exciting part of the family news.

remember the napa trip i talked about last post?  well, it was a 

hush hush trip that my son planned to ask his girlfriend to marry him.

he invited her parents and us to join them to celebrate.  

what a  celebration it was!  

so all in all, as you can see, life is good.

i would love to hear what is happing in your world.  

sharing with other artists at the weekly 

paint party friday community

i have een on a week long 

road trip.  hopefully i will have some photos

to show you.

i took a few art supplies  and journals but 

there was so much to see and do,

i did not bring them out.  while i was gone, 

i saw an online  workshop given by carla sonheim and 

lynn whipple on making faces.  it seemed

like it would be right up my alley.  

i couldn't wait to start.

here are the first drawings

with color added.  

oh boy!  i', having fun!

tonight i will be going to the opening of

ca 101, a showing of california artists

 where i have 4 pieces accepted.  if you

are in southern california, stop by.  i'd love 

to see you. 

it's friday so i am 

posting with paint party friday 

i 

trash

trash is kept in its own area in my community.  since i see the trash

area from the kitchen window i wanted it to be, well, pretty.

i found this old mexican door to use for the trash door. 

it makes for a pretty snazzy trash area!

linking with artful adventures stroll

i am participating in artful adventures

with natalie kalbach.  the idea is that we stroll through

our neighborhood and see with new eyes.  she gives a daily prompt

for us to photograph and post.   i have been posting on 

instagram but will try posting  the photos along with my comments

here as well.   i am posting several prompts here to catch up.

thanks for bearing with me!

home 

i know i'm home when i brush by these Epidendrum orchids 

to enter my front door.  They are from my grandfather's cuttings.  

my mother also had pots of them in various stages and colors.  

fence

a peek through my side fence.

window

i see the garage and sunrise every morning

from my studio window.

ground

today i clear this bit of a space

to make room for a raised bed garden

i grew up with one grandfather who was 

a gardener and another who grew his own 

vegetables in the back yard.  whenever

i touch the soil, i picture them bent over,

nurturing the ground that fed their families.

sky

it's that kind of day.  big clouds, no cars 

on the street, endless dreams.

mailbox

my mailbox is across the street with my neighbors.  

my block is the only block in the city where the mail is not 

delivered in front of the house.  they say it is to save 

the mail person from driving on both sides of the street.  i don't mind.  

i like  chatting with my neighbors at mail time. 

hello!

a few months ago i started a grateful jar.

i picked a empty jar from my cupboard,

a 3 x 5 card, pencil and scissors.  each night

we write a few words on what we are grateful 

for.  then we fold it and put it in the jar.  at first,

there were a few lonely folded pieces of paper.

now it is getting fuller and very satisfying. 

its such a simple gesture but i look forward to it.

i am experimenting with doodles 

and color.  it's new to me.  i won a place 

in a carla sonheim workshop given by diane culhane.

700 people entered the drawing and i won!  

it is pushing me in new and unfamiliar directions.

i like that very much!

wishing you a lovely weekend

posting and playing with friends 

at paint party friday.  if you get a chance,

drop by the party!

without realizing it, 

i have found myself in a holding pattern,

like an airplane circling a landing strip

waiting for the tower to ok the next step.

now, this is not necessarily a bad thing.

but for someone who is as active and productive as i am, 

it is unusual.  at first, i considered it a natural

progression after a big push to  finish work for 

 several art shows.  that's understandable.  but now,

i look at it as equivalent to the fall growing season for 

flowers.  you don't see much above ground but there is 

much going on under the surface.  roots are developing 

a strong network to support the growing plant,  nutrients

feed  and strengthen the stalk and the flower bud absorb

what it needs for the next step.  

if i were to describe this 'holding pattern,' i would 

say that i don't have a particular goal,  i am experimenting

with some new (to me) techniques, i am not working on a project

and i haven't been painting daily.  what i have been doing daily

is sketching, doodling, collaging, watercolor, journaling.   

and loving it all.  even here today, on my blog,  i am meandering.

and i think that's just fine!

i wonder if others have these periods of wandering?

a happy mother's day to mothers and a lovely

weekend.

posting with friends at paint party friday.  

grateful to kristin and eva for generously hosting this group.