JUICY REMINDERS

Not sure at all where these two are going yet, but they remind me of fresh-picked blackberries and the juice running down my sunburned arms as a child. It will be fun to see where I take these and their memories today.

Dark and juicy #1

Dark and juicy #2

BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE

Section of a One a Day piece

The sun is shining. The wind is blustering. I'm in the studio creating. All's right with the world in this moment.
Newsletters, blogs, trustee activities--these are all just the busy stuff of a day.  
Hands busily creating? Well, you know! I'm smiling.

HOW MANY NOW?

Number ????

The One A Days continue. Between these and the Round Robin journals and the making of birds and "Whimsies" I seem in a total creative vortex.  I love it!!! One of the things I find about creating a finished piece every day is that I can see patterns emerging.  The art takes on its own themes and energies.  At times, there is even the urge to push on and do even more!  This has resulted, of course, in an abundance of completed pieces for the summer's Sawdust Art Festival.  Who's complaining, right?

BALANCE?

Tools of the trade

Another great Sunday Studio Workshop this past weekend. The creative energy was practically bouncing off the walls in spite of the heat.  There was good food and even a bottle of wine to share as we played through the afternoon.  "Let the joy rise to the surface" was never more apparent. Sometimes I wish that my studio could just stay open all the time for these events.  Balance always comes with a price, eh?

RISING

"Let your joy rise to the surface."  This quote was sent to me recently by good friend Michelle. The timing of it was interesting as I had been thinking about how practicing art daily has done that for me.  
I will admit here that the past few months have not all been fun and games. It was often a struggle to maintain my usual sunny disposition and at times I could even feel myself depressing. Stuck, I had no idea where to go with art or life or much of anything else.  There were bright moments, but merely that...moments.
Along came the challenge to do a Round Robin art journal.  Against my own poor advice, I jumped in.  Somehow, this led to the One a Day challenge I set myself. And the joy just started bubbling up.
We all get down sometimes, but I think artists are fortunate to have the time and materials to leave the bleak and let the joy head for the surface.

Journal page for Round Robin

RAINY DAY FUN

Section of Day 8 work

Here it is Day 9 already of the One a Day challenge I set myself.  I think I am having way too much fun with this to find it even challenging at this point.  Hoping the attitude sticks around for a while.

In my latest newsletter I asked, "Can't art be fun?"  Darned right it can.  I've said it before and I'll just keep saying it.  Serious fun, but fun nevertheless.

Today, the rain has finally begun here and I look forward to a day filled with creativity--birds, "totems", One a Days, journal work. 

Let the fun begin!!

ONE A DAY

Not sure why, but I have never done much work on paper.  I tend to like to work on stiffer surfaces, like mat, wood, masonite, etc.  But these Round Robin journals and the one-hour project for the Sawdust Art Festival have pushed me in the direction of paper.  Being me, I just naturally migrated to, "Now what can I do with this?" 

Turns out, I can create one piece of art a day.  For how long?  Well, I don't know yet.  Seven days in.  We shall see.  They are all 9 x 12 and I matted and bagged cause why not? 

Don't you just love where the creative muse takes you sometimes?

The first six, ready to go !