I really, really need to schedule one day a month to write in my blog and catch my followers up on what I’ve been up to art wise and otherwise. As you all know, I started the Wanderlust year-long class with Jamie and Kasia Avery. I have learned so much from them and the artists they have gathered together for 2018. It’s been a blast. Here is a small sampling of the work I have done over the last 5 months. Every month has a theme – Paths & Road, Castles, People, Sunrise, Sea, and, this month is Trees. One of my favorite things about this year-long class is the variety of artists you get to meet and learn more about what inspires them. Cat Kerr, who taught the Joy Seeker Soldered Spool class, gets inspiration from the poet, Mary Oliver, whose poems resonated with me so much that I ordered two of her books before I even finished the project.
The Colour Me Positive Art Journal Challenge has evolved over the last year with fewer participants. Those that do participate are loyal and true and create the most incredible art journal pages. I continue to participate and have used some of the techniques learned from Wanderlust to further my art journal weekly practice. You may see some likenesses to the pieces above in these art journal entries from the last few months of Colour Me Positive.
I also took a watercolor class online from Laura Horn Art, called The Melting Pot, which I loved. She resides in Australia and is an excellent teacher. I have enjoyed playing around with her techniques over the past month.
Other than art, my life has been busy with granddaughters, friends and taking care of my goldendoodle who had to have ACL and meniscus surgery. She was so pathetic. She couldn’t jump on the couch or chase lizards which are two of her favorite things to do. Eight weeks of limited activity for a very active “doodle” is nearly impossible to achieve so in order to keep her quiet, I had to be quiet. It was the perfect opportunity to spend time in my studio.
A trip to Catalina Island for my youngest granddaughter’s 16th birthday provided me an opportunity to practice my photography skills. This is a part of my art journey that I have basically ignored for the past year and I really want to pursue it again.
My oldest granddaughter is getting ready to graduate from high school and has been accepted to The New School in New York. I am so proud of both of them.
May Gray has taken over here with cloudy, drizzly mornings and cool evenings. I am hoping June Gloom does not follow. But, if it does, I will not be tempted by the outdoors, but will spend more time in my studio CREATING!
I am going to leave you with one of Mary Oliver’s poems…
When I am Among the Trees by Mary Oliver
When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.
Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.
And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”
MyMixedUpART 