Thank you, Danny Gregory!

I heard Danny Gregory in an interview talking about his new book, "Art Before Breakfast." It seems my needs and his book matched pretty well, so I bought it. I wanted to get back into sketching again, but life kept getting in the way. It sure makes sense to start each day before breakfast doing a sketch for a few minutes. This exercise is called "Ground Hog Day" where you draw the same household object over and over for a week. It's amazing how this poor little tea kettle was taken for granted for so many years until Danny caused me to pay attention to it in detail. Now it's my supermodel.

 I got a little carried away with this exercise and did more than a week's worth of tea kettle sketches just to get back into various art supplies that have been sitting for quite some time. I'm enjoying the short bursts of sketching focus first thing in the day. It's a welcome addiction that makes me want more.

Happy Earth Day to You!

I'm a huge fan of recycling and love to turn old recyclable items into some type of art. I also go to great lengths to take recyclables I won't be using as art materials to the recycling center.

Today, while celebrating Earth Day, I was thrilled to find this wonderful service sponsored by H and M. We need more companies doing their part to help the environment like H and M! Bravo!

Accepting What Is, Birthdaywise

                                          Anyone remember growing up with this brand of potato chips?

NPR had a contest a while back asking people to come up with better names for people of my age group and above and you know what? Nobody could come up with a kind name for this age. They offered “Senior Citizen”, “Golden Years”, “Active Older Adult”, “Aging”…there are no kind words to honor people of this age group. I can’t think of any either.

In centuries gone by, white wigs were worn to honor the wisdom of age…but, in general, if people didn’t live as long back then as they do now, I wonder what age the white wigs were honoring!

So on my milestone birthday coming up, I’m not feeling the number I’m given or the ads I’m getting in the mail. All I can think to do is to incorporate my experience into my career (that I’m lucky to have at this age) and make sure I treat all ages with the respect and understanding they deserve.

Dining Out in this Era

     I like this era because no matter where you go...you can be with who you really want to be with....otherwise, how do you think I was able to take this photo?!

Formula: Creativity+Talent+ Teamwork = Magic

Have a beautiful New Year!  I hope 2015 brings you as much fun, cooperation and creativity as this!

Surviving Life’s Challenges

                                                                       Life sure can have the potential to stink sometimes!

When things in life go sour, one helpful way of getting through it is to listen to someone else’s life issues. Usually that makes our own disappointments seem so small.  If you’ve been honoring your creativity long enough you already know that life’s pain is no stranger on the path to creativity.

I recently found the “Death, Sex and Money Podcast” done by Anna Sale. She is an excellent interviewer who seems wise beyond her years. She asks poignant questions and gets deep truths out of all her interviewees. If you appreciate honesty and learning from others’ experiences you will enjoy this podcast.

I’m posting this episode as an example of the touching depth Anna gets out of her interviewees.  I have to credit the interviewees for being brave enough to share their personal stories too.

I’ve always enjoyed Ellen Burstyn and her work. She seems like such a sweet woman. And how one can stay sweet with all that she survived needs its own award show. When will they have award shows like that?

There are many more interviewees who cross the line into Vulnerabilityland… like Bill Withers, Jane Fonda, etc. and some not so famous, but equally fascinating people who teach you what life is like from their perspective.

So whether you are trying to get through some painful challenges or not…this is a very magnetizing podcast that deserves attention.

Wonderful Artwork to Raise Your Heart Rate and Keep You Warm

With such cold shut-in weather on the way I thought it would be nice to share a colorful, textural gallery visit to keep you inspired....

Last year I visited this bead shop http://www.studiobeads.com/Home_Page.html and hiding between the beads for sale they had detailed, beaded works of art on display. This electric guitar, totally covered in bugle beads was a shiny, colorful work of art. It was no longer there this year and I wonder if someone is using it in a band or display. Can a guitar still sound right when covered in beads? I'm not sure.

So this year they had this very cool exhibit by Samara Kaufman. I love how her passion for beading took on a life of its own and she uses her pieces to support a charity!

I am only going to show a few of her pieces because it must be seen live to get the real effect and there are more pieces in the shop of bead magnificence to see.

     If you're in the vicinity of this shop sometime and need a dash of passion to keep you motivated....please visit Studio Beads. They have a world of beads, classes and cool works on display to keep you in Bead Heaven.