Who doesn't need a bit of inspiration and advice now and then? I know I do.
Especially when it is from well known and respected artists from my home state who were past professors at the univerisities I attended in California. It feels like a personal connection once again with my past creative journey At this time of year when a brief break of rest and renewal is badly needed, I look to these great masters of color, composition and subject in the form of coffee table books.
As part of my Christmas Traditions, receiving these beautifully illustrated books of art are amazing to glean inspiration from while setting intentions for the new year. I anticipate this time of year as part of a renewal sitting in a quiet space peeling back each page in anticipation of the next, eyes scanning the shapes and colors, deeply immersed in visual delight. Sipping a cup of hot tea with Christmas jazz music playing low in the background surrounded in my own studio of artworks in various states of creation. If you’re nodding along to this so far, then you’ll be as intrigued as I was with these two, new books I received by Joseph Raffael and Carolyn Brady. Two of my favorite watercolorists. Joseph Raffael's expansive and stunning watercolors and a professor at my univeristy in CA along with Carolyn Brady's still life works of every day, quaint scenes of captured moments when the sun's rays dappled across house plants in a window sill or the lavish table scapes filled with luscious food you only wish you were an invited guest. In Carolyn Brady's work, it is as though we bare witness into private moments where we, the audience, have unknowingly interrupted lunch or dinner in her miraculously large, detailed watercolors. In Joseph Raffael's work, there is a symphony of light and color orchestrating its way across the expansive watercolor paper's surface filled with stains brilliantly mingling--alive and detailed! These exceptional compositions and use of color and light make both of these watercolorists the most inspirational for me recently. I guarantee you, taking time out for renewing your vision and goals will be like a reset of your creative vision. I also recommend visiting a gallery during the holidays if you can. Squeeze in the time and allow the energy of other artists vision to bring you closer to your own. Create and re-do your working space so it strengthens your production for the new year. Set your intentions for a clear and creative year ahead. Transform your life once again using the new year to close the gap of where you are today and where you want to be. Everyone needs a reset now and then and the time for transformations is the new year!
My deepest wishes are for a Happy New Year to each and everyone of you who have chosen to be a part of my journey following along on my Blog! The overwhelming interest you have shown in wanting to increase your skills with me in my Online Watercolor and Oil painting Courses has amazed me!
Go after your visions with gusto! Let me inspire you and provide you with the skills you seek to arrive at your destination! Thank you for choosing my online "Beauty of Watercolors Courses" as part of your creative journey!
TRANSITIONS - I LOVE YOU MOM
On a deeply personal note, many of you know my Mom passed away after a long illness the day after Christmas. I am back here in my home state of California ironically writing about inspiration where everything has become unfamiliar and non home like--the most oddest of feelings to rectify in my mixed state of heavy emotions not really inspired. It is a time of transitions.
This week, I will lay to rest my beautiful Mom in the cemetery where all of my family is now buried. My brother, sister, grand parents all here as I carry out the last wishes of my Mom to be buried near her children. I feel like I am standing on the edge of a mountain I laboriously climbed. Each breath more difficult than the last as the air becomes thicker and oxygen almost non-existent. Reaching the pinnacle alone overlooking a vista so vast with no human in site and a blanket of clouds hovering with just the tips of other mountains peeking through in the distance--perhaps signaling the pathway for the journey ahead as I carry on alone. My chest ripped open as I stand in the bitter cold and snow covered earth beneath me with emotions bleeding out from the finality of it all. Here is where I say goodbye to the last of my family, resurrect the feelings that I am my own family and lay to rest the last of my tribe. Relationships that have run their course and the deep knowing and trusting in this process of purging and releasing was for my highest good and those I held dear as well. A releasing from this mountainous pinnacle so I can make room for new journeys ahead. To allow inspiration, planning and the act of creating with vision consume me once again to further this life ahead with a grateful and open heart thankful for all I have been given.
Thank you Mom. It is with love and gratitude for my life you fill my heart.
A special thank you to all the single Mom's (particularly disabled) who carry on alone. You are the strongest among us.
WATERCOLOR CLASSES -
Thank you to everyone who reached out too me with kindness, grace and sharing your stories during this difficult time. Without your kind words and patience I am not sure I could have made it through losing a Mom as well as coming to terms with losing all of my earthly family.
After some healing, I look forward to this amazing New Year exploring with you and helping you to increase your skills by using my methods and techniques with the splendid "Beauty of Watercolors Courses" when they become available soon in this New Year of 2018!
Did you know it is the Chinese New Year of the Dog?
Dog is the eleventh in the 12-year cycle of Chinese zodiac sign. The Years of the Dog include 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030, 2042... Dog is man's good friend who can understand the human's spirit and obey its master, whether he is wealthy or not. The Chinese regard it as an auspicious animal. If a dog happens to come to a house, it symbolizes the coming of fortune. The invincible God Erlang in Chinese legend used a loyal wolfhound to help him capture monsters. Earthly Branch of Birth Year: Xu Wu Xing (The Five Elements): Tu (Earth) Yin Yang: Yang
In the vein of
thankfulness and gratitude for this Chinese New Year of the Dog, I am so thankful for this little furry family member I share space with named Gidget!
Happy 8th Birthday little one!
I love you my furry companion!
She has been their to kiss away my tears, make me laugh out loud with her gentle yet spunky spirit that co exists beautifully with mine--that was not by accident! I said goodbye to my Lily of 16 years ( Toy Fox Terrier) and want to honor her in my life as well. Her presence is deeply missed by Gidget and I. Perhaps Gidget needs a new friend inspired by the New Year of the Dog!
NEVER GIVE UP! KEEP REACHING FOR YOUR DREAMS!
"She was unstoppable not because she did not have failures or doubts, but because she continues on despite them." — Beau Taplin