Across the Sky
As a freelance decorative painter Frank's work schedule is quite variable, sometimes he is around a lot and we can share child care equally, while each having time to do our art. Other times he works long hours leaving the house before the kids or I wake. For the past few weeks he has been working on an outdoor mural job in New Jersey, one of those jobs where he leaves early, which leaves me practically no time to myself, let alone time to work in the studio.
But.
I am always amazed at how even during these times when I am most busy and constantly caring for my children if I allow myself to stay open to it...inspiration finds me. I always have my pen and paper near so that I can harness the ideas when they come and these days have been full of them. So full in fact that when Frank took the kids out this weekend so that I could have a solid few hours to paint, I dove in quickly and was so satisfied. I painted with a fire that left me feeling deeply refreshed!
I've got 5 paintings in progress right now, and I finished this one in one day.
The birds are soaring and they are taking me with them,
Across the Sky. I worked on it quickly and deliberately, then took the painting out to our front stoop where I sat and watched the kids have a water fight with the neighbor children.
I'm looking forward to sharing the other pieces that I have in progress with a few other sneak peeks as I'll be wrap things up in my studio at the end of this week, in preparation for a couple of trips that we'll be taking. We'll be traveling for most of August, first visiting family in Asheville, North Carolina and then our big trip to England to visit my brother and his family (and meet his new baby!!). I'm always excited for the change of perspective that travel brings!
Soul Dancer
Waking up early and having some quiet studio time before 7AM, the light coming in at that time of day is so soft and open, delicate even.
Smelling flowers on the air, with all of the Magnolias in bloom in our neighborhood and Prospect Park, it is so uplifting.
Loving this heavenly lotion by Indu called Nectar of the Moon, can you believe that name! It is hand made with the essential oils of bergamot, lavender and geranium, and the woman who makes the lotion mixes it with one essential mantra "om namah shivaya" which means "the thought that liberates and protects".
I am feeling so inspired by this photo shoot in the sands of Morocco, completely transporting and energizing my fashion ideas for the coming summer.
Loving that light!
"What if you slept, and what if in your sleep you dreamed. What if in your dreams you plucked a strange and beautiful flower and what if when you awoke you had the flower in your hand. And what then, what then, what then..."
We enjoyed the hours surrounded by stunning art, taking advantage of all the things to build, make and eat at the fair, having face painting and otherwise indoctrinating our young ones.
Art is Life.
I feel so lucky. Santa (read my *amazing* family) brought me just what I was longing for this Christmas.
Amongst it all, here is a portrait of me at age 5...
...in which I see a remarkable resemblance to my son.
A few weeks ago I participated in an art exchange. I was excited to see what would come of it, as the idea of passing art out into the world to someone that I didn't know felt like a serendipitous act to me.
Both of these pieces are going right into my studio, for inspiration and reflection, I know that they are pieces that will help me when I am in stuck places, I just know it!
This new painting was inspired by a collage that I made at the Children's Museum, yes I do find inspiration even (maybe especially) on the art table at the Children's Museum. We were there at craft time and they brought out this box over flowing with stamps and ink. How could I resist that?
I liked my stamp collage so much that as I gazed at it back in the studio I just knew that I had to make a painting from it.
This painting is getting wrapped up and placed under the Christmas tree for Jasper this year (shhh, its a surprise!)
