Art the most basic human expression is done with layers of paint and movement of brushstrokes across your substrate or canvas.  While doing this you are laying down your emotions (thoughts and feelings) with each brushstroke , shape, curve and line . This emotion comes straight out of your heart which they say is the seat of the soul.  This can set the artist up for a few things . For example –  suddently being open to criticism both positive or negative and the practice of exposing your self  right out there for the world to see.  Now when you add social media into the mix all bets are off then because your work now is out there  in cyberspace and its a crap shoot of  what kind of remarks you will get.  Or you just might get ignored.

Although on- line exposure can reap numerous positive benefits such as being found in the deep abyss of talented artists on the web and perhaps even a sale ($).  It is easy to get lost in the cyberspace pool of artists out there.  Most of those who actually get seen try to engage with other artists or they pay money.  I try to say something positive about each piece that moves me.  I allow myself just a few minutes in the morning and a few minutes in the evening to post something. All this posting takes away from creating time and can take over your entire life.  Sometimes  I am casually ignored or they actually write back to my big surprise.  My hope is that you are looking at my art also.  But some people just don’t get it. They are way to self-centered to notice anyone elses work but their own.

I really enjoy looking at other art and creativity.  Especially while waiting for an appointment.  I look for light and shadows which often times is missing.  I look for values  – the darkest darks all the way down to the lightest lights .  I look at shapes vs lines and color combinations that perhaps I have forgotten about.  I don’t have time to spend hours on You tube because you can learn how to do anything and everything on there.  Some of the art information is great and some well not so great with bad advice or inattention to safety in the studio. Some are flat out boring and to lenghty! (I’m laughing)

Just recently I heard a popular artist via her video online (actually its a channel)  – indicating that red was a cool color and blue was a warm color?  She obviously got confused which is possible when you are being filmed or perhaps she just does not know that basic piece of art information.  The catch is she is teaching and instructing other students live and in person. So you are going to pay for this information. I wondered did anyone else pick up on this? Red can be blue based and it also can be warm based.   Congrats to her on being so successful even with weird color mixing ideas and wrong information. Traditionally we say red it is a warm color along with yellow, oranges.  Think of sunshine if you get stuck on this.

I saw an interesting post yesterday, indicating  all it takes to be an artist these days on line is “Say or write Abstract Art, ”  Get an IGTV Channel,  and wa laa magic your a successful artist.  You might add advertising into that mix also.  The more poplular artists pay to be so.  Didn’t you notice they troll online more frequently?

My best advice today – is you might state you don’t know everything , also keep learning every single day  but  most of all –  “Teach what you know, not what you don’t know. ”

Staying creative

Keep that creativity going

Cheers, (c)artbytsh.com, artstudio222tsh-etsy.

 

Original Watercolor  (Cactus # 5) (c)artbytsh.com

A. Einstein said ” the only real valuable thing is intuition. “

I just returned from taking a fabulous workshop in beautiful Sedona , Arizona.  The energy in this city is spectacular.  The mountains and sky views are breathtaking. I was learning with someone that I have admired on the web and on you tube for years.  I call him Sir Bob. His art pops with color and I like that very much. My intention of the workshop was to just have fun, loosen up a bit and maybe learn a new technique or two. But I found myself struggling to create on demand.

On Day two he said to me,  ” you are your own worst enemy”, which I smiled and replied ” I know”, and this is why I am here.  We did a two minute warm-up and I just flew through the process and became unstuck.  I can be highly critical of what I produce.  If I don’t feel it is worthy I usually put it away , sometimes throw it away and start on something else.  I don’t beat myself up either about this.  On another day it might just flow out of me quickly or under other circumstances.

We Artist’s/Painters are our own worst critics, supporters, and struggle with our own  inner demons.  I’ve yet to meet another true gracious artists that thought they were ” all that and more.” We don’t have to worry about others offending us because we are much harder on ourselves than our friends ever would be.  But we need to be careful  about taking to heart what your friends or others  might say about your art.  I overheard a loved one saying to their spouse at the end of the day , ” this is what you created today, that’s a mess and its not really you.”  I felt for that artist, you could see that they were deflated.  Because maybe today it was who they were.

Once my good friend said to me,  ” you are a messy artists.”  I just laughed. Because her reference was fingernail artwork, which is very, very  tiny and very neat.  I can see why my big canvas might appear this way to her. I don’t take to heart other’s opinion of my work.  If I encounter someone super critical of what I have created I hand them a brush, or palette knife, or stick, or straw and say let me see you do this! Or can you paint for me what you are talking about?  Then our conversation is pretty much over.  (smiling)

That’s the thing, I get questions all the time on insta- gram (artbytsh) , there is no secret or short cut to being an artist.  It has taken me almost 3 decades to fine tune my skill.  I am always learning and wanting to learn another new technique or learn about a new product. I love painting with other artists. However being an artist, can be  grueling at times, takes persistence , can be exhausting and you just must paint about every day of your life or be thinking about what is next on your table .  Did I tell you these daily workshops are about 7 hours long. We  do take a nutrition break.  That’s a lot of painting time.  Especially for me because I stand.

My goal is not always to express a secret message into my art. I want you the viewer to take away or see what every they wish to see.  Not everyone loves every piece of art they see.  We choose favorites for many, many different reasons.

However – My  Intuitive Art comes from my soul and inner deep emotions close to my heart .  These emotions are what sells my art.  Just as Sir Bob said, ” people are not buying your skills, they buy passion, and  fire that is in your belly that shows in your art work. ” (hmmmm – think about that?)

A deep spiritual quest exists in each part of my art that I express on a canvas or paper.  It is lead by my imagination , movement of my hand, the blink of an eye, the immediate chosen color palette and my desire to lay down layers and layers of paint and products  for you to see and view.  I mediate twice a day and always once before I start a new piece.

 

/later sunny

(c)artbytsh.com

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Just recently I went out to lunch at Tortilla Republic on the Islands.  I was really disappointed with the food.  Our seat and dismiss girl/hostess had lovely teal and lime green shadow on and asked us the same question twice. ” How is your day going?” I said with a smile, ” fine , how is yours? ”  then she returned to the table to give us the cold chips and salsa (if you can call it that) more like ketchup based and said “How is your day going?” I said with a smile, fine, how is yours?.  No response.  Jalapenos are not easy to find on the island. I’ve yet to find any unless you grow them yourself because I have yet to find any at the market.  The same goes for Nicaragua, they will bring you salsa if you ask but they will insist it is “ketchup”.

However, Tortilla R. here is suggestion; try some pre-made  salsa seasoning this will help with your tomato/ketchup based salsa. I saw it for sale at your local Safeway.  This you just add fresh tomatoes too. It’s easy -peasy.  Using fresh ingredients will give your salsa fresh flavor such as ; (onion, garlic, cilantro, jalapenos, fresh tomatoes, salt, pepper, chili flakes, fresh squeeze of lime) at home I throw in Habanero seasoning, hatch green chili seasoning(Olde Thompson)  or ancho chili powder(+++hot) (simply organic) or chipotle (The Spice Hunter) . These spices will jazz up your salsa with your organic ingredients.  We eat salsa just about every week in the southwest. (on eggs, soups, chili, baked potatoes, enchiladas, tacos, pinto beans, in salad dressings).

This is a case of being on automatic and not listening to your customers or being so nervous that you have no recall of the information you received 10 minutes ago.  I ordered the fish tacos (they were cold and bland).  Partly , our faults as you should never expect great Mexican food on the Island but great pineapples. Now that would make an interesting salsa with pineapple.  It only exists in the Southwest.  When I got my order, I said, “gracias”  she said,  curtly, “I don’t speak Mexican”? “Oh dear I said, with a huge smile,  how about Spanish?”  She walked away.  She did not think I was funny at all. I did however like her artistic makeup and her up-do.

I did enjoy the house cat that rubbed every leg of the table.  This cat looked well fed. And those awesome Hawaiian trade wind breezes blowing through our hair . Once the order was taken the food came really quickly but it had zero flavor.  The ice tea/lemon was awesome.  I did like the Freda Kahlo pillow that was used in decorating and the christmas lights on the backbar.  This place is not an example of Great Mexican Food. Just saying, with a smile. Its really hard to have a bad day on the island. But I expect great, tasty food.  This might be a happy hour spot with chips and real salsa instead of a lunch/dinner joint. The search continues.  What I learned, if you want really great Mexican Food on the Islands, make it yourself.  Adios.  Till next time, Sunny!

 

(c)artbytsh2019 all rights reserved.

 

 

 

I am reading a great book by Yung Pueblo called “Inward”.  I highly recommend this book to give you some insight into your thinking.  What I  like about this book is that it is so easy to take with you on your appointments.   More importantly , it gives you great information within  small eloquent, simple, quotes.  I am sure I will revisit this book several times in my life. I always grab it quick inspiration or car rides.

For  example he states on page 74 ” a hero is one who heals their own wounds and then shows others how to do the same.” In fact, are we not all hero’s in this complicated world of ours?   Perhaps if more people thought that we would have more peace and less violence in our world. Because peace begins with you in your own home and at your own dinner table with your loved ones. Then the peace will trickle out and spreads into society.  Do one kind thing for a strainger today. This is the only way to make society kinder is with expressing kindness, peace and love. My favorite quote now that I am official orphan is ” never forget the ones who found greatness in you even in your darkest moments.”  We can long for the past, but we can also enjoy the wonderful, full, rich memories.  It’s when those negative memories become a burden to you , you finally realize you will not be free until you completely let them go of them. You don’t need them anymore. Lets all your inner burdens go.

My second review is a must read for any aspiring artist. “How to sell your Art online”,  by Cory Huff.  We all struggle with the time consuming business of the day art- challenge. I have to check my art business, daily.  Especially in today’s world where new Artist’s pop up just about every minute of the day.   There is a lot of competition on-line. Everyone, everywhere wants to sell art.  Including me;  it’s who I am, creating is as much a part of my daily life as breathing and eating are.

I choose not to compete with others after close to 30 years of creating.  The knowledge I have gained has been amazing. This is a great reference book to refer to and they also have a wonderful online presence. They have so many great ideas that you might not have thought of. I will refer to this constantly to see if I have met my goals.

I can tell you my artistic journey  went by in a blink of an eye (c)artbytsh . I enjoyed every single moment, even the tough days. However for me to  continue to grow , and evolve as an artist; I still need to keep at my craft, learn new techniques, switch mediums from time to time, take new classes or read new books to continue to become proficient in your art process and stay  up to date with social media and the computer information technology.  If not the world will change around you and will pass you buy.  Hard work with lots of daily practice = big rewards. I look at my older work  and say ” wow” its just amazing that I sold that piece of art, because today I see all of its flaws.

/Best creative wishes in your artistic journey,  Sunny

The above piece “Midnight Eclipse I ” – was created for a woman’s show in Feb., 2018 at the gallery.  It is a mixed media, resin on panel. All rights reserved online and worldwide, (c)artbytsh 2019

Being an Artist means you are running a business and you always have something to complete and do.  A little time for this and a little time for that. This blog was originally written in 2014.  I thought it would be nice to re-visit this topic again with some new information.

The BLOCK

We as artists may or may not experience artist’s block from time to time.  I don’t like to generalize because some people may not.  But during certain periods in my own life I have taken time off from Art. One time was for 22 days (series 22 days of sorrow(c)artbytsh) when I was adjusting to another loss in my family. Seriously I leaked or cried for 22 days straight.  It’s a miracle that I didn’t become dehydrated. I can honestly say  I had little interest in anything.  Each day was a struggle.  Without the help of my loved ones I would have had a much more difficult time.   It can be very easy to get lost in grief. Whether you anticipated the loss or not. It still takes time to adjust.

It is important to just take how ever much time you need to feel the sorrow. No time limit. We are far more resilient than we ever think we are. Tears in fact can be very healing.  Even animals cry.  I got back to living and painting. Life does and will go on whether you are sad or not.  My friend said to me one-day ” your……… really wants you to be happy .”  I realized that I had just got so swallowed up in grief that I had totally forgotten this very simple thought.  Of course my loved one would want me to be happy they always did!

Maintaining artistic focus 

• Keep that dream book, jot ideas down, do it on a daily basis, or a quick sketch of something you want to explore more fully .  Or perhaps you record color combinations or new techniques that you wish to try.
• Try a new medium. Perhaps you want to know more about “cold wax” techniques .  Or you are struggling with your oils then switch to acrylics or watercolors. Switching things up really helps with any block.
• Take some time off if you need it and don’t feel bad about it.
• Be around positive people, stay away from the negative energy.
• Go ahead , investigate, research, explore and strive to seek to learn more.
• Take a new Art Class.  They are even on-line these days. Make sure they are worth your money.  They range in prices, experience and quality.
• I love to go to the library and just check out Art Books. Nothing is worse than buying a book and feeling like “well” that was a huge waste of money! Often I go to 2nd hand bookstores and look at their art books. Spending 2 or 3 dollars is much better than spending 36.00 to see if you like a book or not.
• Re-donate your old books . Donate some Art to a needy cause.
• Set aside specific time to paint and create – keep that appointment with yourself.

Self-care 

• Stop comparing yourself to others
• Turn off the self criticism – speak more kindly to yourself – we are what we think and hear.  Positive affirmations do work.  I scribble affirmations on the brown table paper where I am going to sit and paint.
• Try  new products and/or techniques
• Practice daily warm-ups , always when I travel.
• I jot down new ideas  or words or a sentence or a quote.
• I look for quiet time and take as much as I need
• I may increase my workouts or revisit my nutrition
• Cook more on the weekend so you have leftovers during the week so you are not a slave to the kitchen when tired.
• Drink water and eat on a regular basis – I can stand for 4-5 hours painting and completely forget to drink some water. I think I am probably not the only one.
• Change of scenery is good –  get outside, change your location(s).
• I may go for a walk, yoga, read poetry, listen to music, watch a movie, step out of the studio, go swimming, meditate, read a novel , take a power nap, or read a magazine, type a blog, or call a friend.  Put your feet up on a pillow.
• Stretch a little in the afternoon, stretch a little before bed
• Learn new techniques, new styles of painting – try abstract if you are a realist.

I charge my cell phone and IPAD daily , why don’t we re-charge ourselves more? If you take better care of yourself then you can take care of everything else in your own life. Every time I meet an Artist with rings under their eyes I can relate. My friends used to think I played with crayons and ate bon-bons. We do have that daily internal voice to be creative.  We have the calling to paint.  We have been tagged. Someone asked me why I paint?  I said, well because I work at it very hard, it makes me happy and my life is not complete without painting. But I always wish that my art made someone else happy too!

Figure out what re-charges you and make a plan to regularly practice it.  It is probably different for everybody.  For me daily meditation is a must, more than once usually.

There are so many talented, competitive  artists on social media  it can make you wonder if you should even post. Especially if you did not get those immediate self -gratifying  “likes” that you wished for.  (@artbytsh ) Those likes are almost like being accepted into a club.  I mean you can get eye and neck  strain just by following the live stream of Art on social media and You Tube!  Just think Picasso or Monet did not have social media at all.

Remember who your followers are.  Are they other Artists?  Childhood friends? Are they new followers that like your work?  You never know who will buy your art or even when.  Are they potential collectors?  Social media  is a kaleidoscope of people with ideas, various gifts and talents .  That is just how our world is today. With that said, get to work on your own creativity.  Remember to

recharge your own batteries.  Take care and see you next time.

 

(c)artbytsh 2019 – all rights reserved online and worldwide. Painting above;  (“No Ordinary World”  – mixed med., acrylic (c)2018)

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/later, sunny

We Artist’s are already gearing up for our next new,  outstanding piece of art which will be our next masterpiece. Many things motivate me but one is not negative politics or the news. That gets very old pretty quickly.

I  have a daily warm up sketch book that I just doodle in while I am drinking my first cup of coffee.  Most Artist’s I know are very disciplined when it comes to making Art. We all have our routines and rituals. I always have coffee first , then water and then I put rose or lavender hand cream on my hands to massage them before slapping them into gloves.  Yes, some arthritis has begun to seep into my hands I have noticed on the cold mornings. This cream saves my skin, cuticles and nails. I already have 3 fans running in the studio.  I may review what I did yesterday or the day before , that is– before I start something new. I always have more than one piece going on in the studio. I have already chosen my color pallets to use.  I can adjust as I go along. I often keep charts and I keep an ongoing diary of what was made, with what, and how long it took me to make it.  I also note what I like and would like to change next time . Or even how it dried.  After painting 100’s of paintings you must have some sort of organizational skills by now.  I rarely paint straight from the tube unless its “gold” which I use a lot of. I always have for decades.

In my downtime, I answer questions, run a blog,  emails, phone calls, texts or likes on my instagram  @artbytsh or social network feed. Always keeping the wheels rolling you might say.  Promoting and selling your art is a full-time job.  At Christmas I send thankyou’s and a gift to those who have supported my art during the year . I have not made a You Tube Channel yet as you can learn anything on there .   I really want to have time to paint.

I check into my etsy account daily @artstudio222tsh to see if anything is shaking there. Which I have been testing now for over 2 months. I try not to spend more than 30 minutes total a day (social media)  because this time can get out of hand, easily. So I have a tracker on my Iphone for this.   In between appointments or teaching classes or in airports  I may troll the instagram feed to look at what other artists are up too.  I am seeing a lot more resin and numerous dirty pours,  than I want too lately, sorry the feed is saturated with it.  And I love resin (see above) that’s  from my last art show “No ordinary world” a series that I completed in six months this show was held in Feb. of 2018.  I love how resin has a glassy look and feel . But way to many ocean scenes today I counted over 50 rolling through a social feed (art, cutting boards, coasters, cups) .

However, If I see another resin pour ocean scene on a cutting board with crystals I may quince. I don’t want to put  meat or fish or anything else  near any pretty crystals are you kidding me?  I actually cook and use a chopping board for its intended purpose. I guess the frilly ones are just for decorations or kitchen decor? BTW not all resin is food safe and that clearly should be checked out before you purchase.

We who dabble in experimental art need to always check out our products. Inks are really in now. Not all of them are safe. And yes I wear a mask , and I don’t blow on them either, I use an empty squeeze bottle that pushes out air or a hairdryer or low setting – heatgun always far away from my masked face.

I am not sure if any art product is really good for the environment and I preach about not eating while painting all the time. One needs to stay safe while creating.  Bravos to the artist’s who have gimmicks and they use them well.  But you will notice that can’t paint anything else or any other style. What will they do when this type of art goes out of style? Bravo to the crafter’s who have made themselves experts on giving Artistic advice . Some have even created online classes and are personal motivators.  They sell prints so cheaply you can’t compete unless you give your soul away. Perhaps that is the future all learning on line and no more in person classes. Don’t get me wrong , I own a glue gun and have some modge podge.  I love crafter’s and their creativity,  but we can’t all be experts on everything.   I still to this day prefer sitting in a classroom/workshop with a live teacher and not on a phone or computer.

So here is the dilemma. Do you join in or do you share everything and anything to anyone on social media or do you let other artists find their own way? Some experts say tell it all, the more you share your work the more followers you will get.

Personally, I always can find one thing to compliment a person on about their art. But, don’t you miss those class critiques after you have taken a workshop or class or that nervous feeling when the teacher walks around the room to admire or critique your art?  I mean I have learned more from my mistakes and rejections that I did from any other artist around. I have had plenty of my own fails.  Its part of the process. I have kindly, asked a question or two thru the years and usually get an answer. When I first began, I was snubbed constantly. But we are great friends now.  Does their solution always work, sometimes and not always. I can’t tell you how many times I went home after a class to begin a brand new painting as I didn’t like the teacher’s do-over on my piece. I always liked mine better.

With that said, the Art World is every changing.  If only I had taken an mechanical engineering class in college I might have been able to make a shredder like Banksy did (Girl with Balloon) attached to one of my frames for auction  . Then we all would be famous in a moments notice.  Sometimes that Is how I feel about social media and art —we all want to be famous in a moments notice.  We as Artist’s need to be able to compete with it all so that we  can sell Art. And yet we are not all the same and it is so easy to be sucked into that.  That’s called instant gratification. Perhaps that is the lure of social media these days.

I do enjoy positive artist’s , I love looking at new, fresh work and I always try to be kind when responding. Finally, keep up the good work and those fresh ideas.

/sunny

(c)artbytammi.com. (c)artbytsh, (c)artstudio222tsh

all rights reserved online, worldwide web.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I spent part of the summer of 2008 – 2009 in Europe looking for my Monet. I did tour Giverny which sits on the right bank of the River Seine. We enjoyed the Museum of Impressionism Giverny, the famous Water lilies, the wisterias and azaleas.  I  loved the garden, gallery, gift shop and walking the famous Japanese bridge. I’ve been dreaming of that since I have seen in it movies. Later I walked through his old house, the beds were so small, the vivid yellow kitchen which would shake my nerves, and the collection of Japanese Wood Blocked Prints on the wall.  I even used the restroom at the top of the stairs which was so small inside you could barely move or breathe.  I thought to myself, this house smell of Monet.  This entire place smells of Monet. Would I have loved to be sitting on his shoulder when he created. When I went into the kitchen I thought Monet sat here, perhaps at the head of the table, this is where he drank his coffee. Then I stood and looked out the window and I saw his beautiful flower garden with varieties of flowers I had never seen before. The smell was so aromatic and wonderful. That image imprints still in my mind. Butterflies, bees, birds, lady bugs were buzzing all over the garden on that day.  I did see 3 feisty chickens in a pen to the right of the house.  I walked the famous bridge again and looked at all the beautiful trees, vines and water lilies. Monet is and some of his family are interred in the village cemetery.  Make sure you go to town and just walk around. Take your time.

I went onto London by train to tour the London National Gallery and British Museum. You need to ride the double decker bus just to take in the view of the entire city. Again I saw Monet’s work sprawled around the room in its grand way. It was a continuous canvas on entire wall of one room. I love galleries and that anyone can view and appreciate art. I could stay all day long.  This is a must see when in London. I also enjoyed visiting the tourist sites such as; Tower of London, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Abbey Road, walking over on the famous bridge to the train station. Checking out the Thames River even on a chilly day sipping a cappuccino . This day went very fast. I left by train about midnight back to Paris.  We had duck with champagne and met lovely friends from Spain. I was so excited I never fell asleep.

Then my travels took me to Paris in search of the Louvre Museum in Paris and I stayed down the street nearby the starbucks that btw got robbed after I just bought a coffee and walked out. That experience was a little unnerving.  But the coffee was delicious. After dinner we would always walk together and purchase little beautiful pastries at the bakery down the street.  Besides Italy this was the best pasta I have had in my entire life. Paris chefs do like butter.

It would take days to get through this Louvre museum. We had elected for a private tour and an entrance away from all the tourist buses.  I love it so much my neck actually ached from looking up so much. To my disappointment the Mona Lisa was just so small. I don’t know what I expected but she was tiny and I had to stretch onto my toes to see over the crowd to view her because they had just unloaded a huge tour bus of tourists.  So my visit to her was brief. But I saw winged Victory up close and personal. Even though her replica sits in my home.  So I enjoyed all the great work, Sargent, Monet, Rembrandt, Vincent Van Gogh, Vermeer, Raphael, Picasso, Michelangelo,  etc… etc… I dreamed of that museum that night. The religious art is fabulous. The use of all the gold foil gave me brilliant ideas. One has to take in all the sights of Paris when you visit. The Architecture and Opera Garnier, Pantheon, Sacre’ Coeur, Notre-Dame, Arc de Tromphe, shopping on Champs-Elysees, Luxembourg Palace,  and St. Sulpice Church are just a few to add to your list of  awesome things to see. Wear comfortable shoes. Antique shopping or grocery shopping is great fun and entertainment.  Your hotel concierge will help guide you stay out of the areas you should not be in.

And on the weekends families are admitted into Museums for free. So on Sunday we went onto see the Auguste Rodin Museum to look at all the sculptures.  I finally saw “The Thinker” after seeing it in a book in the 4th grade. It was amazing and the grounds/gardens were beautiful to just sit and think or to have a picnic lunch.  You could easily spent 2 – 3+  hours there. I have never really been that good with clay. So I thoroughly enjoyed this visit. My Art teacher gave me my first C in clay work. What a semester I had that year to bring it up to an A. I told him he was wrecking my gpa for college.

I think that is what I liked about Paris so much, the beauty, the architecture, the people, all the museums, galleries, the delicious food, the pastries, the Eiffel Tower at night, the Seine River waterway. The bridge of lovers- locks. The Artists painting on the streets , the bookstores, and really we had a wonderful time. We did a lot of walking. You need very comfortable shoes, layer your clothing for the season.  You can’t go wrong with a nice scarf here. But the greatest memory is seeing all the families young  and old with children or not, seniors trolling, young lovers everywhere, having coffee, sweets, wine, cheese, baguettes,  picnics, popcorn or peanuts sitting on park benches on Sundays afternoon having family time.  We need that more in  America. Much more.

Travel as much as you can and eat the local food, it will change how you feel about the world you live in. And perhaps you will live in your world instead of just on it.

later/sunny

 

 

 

 

What a week it has been . Angry bombers in the public and that terrible deadly crime at the synagogue with their worshipers . Let’s not forget we have an election coming up and those nasty t.v. adds and those  dinner time constant telephone calls urging you to vote. Finally, the migrant crossing challenge. How can you do self care with so much turmoil in the world? How in the world can you paint?

This is probably when you need it the most. Schedule that ten minutes for yourself today.

• How about a quick 10 minute walk
• 10 minutes of yoga.
• 10 minutes of stretching exercises.
• 10 minutes of breathing exercises
• 10 minutes of  having a nice cup of tea
• 10 minutes of reading poetry or your favorite read
• 10 minutes of meditating
• 10 minutes sketching
• 10 minutes of using markers
• 10 minutes of coloring outside of the lines
• 10 minutes of painting
• 10 minutes of your favorite music
• Next time order your absentee ballot to be sent to home, so that you can vote whenever you feel like it!
• Just do something. More importantly turn off that t.v. or social media account that is so negative. You will hear the same bad news over and over again. Until we are filled up with sadness .

Before you know it, 10 minutes turned into 15 and even maybe 20. This is when I enjoy painting the most. Put my favorite music on and just go for it. It all started with just ten minutes.

Peace in the even hour.

 

“We live in a rainbow of chaos”. P. Cezanne

/sunny