doodling . . . .

First some stamping. Then some marker. Then more marker. Then dots and more marker. Scan, print, play some more. Why Not?

"I think of life itself now as a wonderful play that I've written for myself... and so my purpose is to have the utmost fun playing my part."   --Shirley MacClain

the gift of beauty

"Real beauty is found in oneself. That's the tranquil beach. The beautiful sunset. It's not a location, the location is you. To travel is to travel inward. That's the ultimate vacation." --Miles Patrick Yohnke

go there

"If I knew where the songs came from, I would go there more often."  
--Leonard Cohen

Get moving.

I am teaching journaling today -- a makeup for some folks who missed the last journaling workshop I gave so it will be a mini-version.  And I sit here at my desk, totally in procrastination mode. . . trying to make myself at least go over my previous teaching notes.
I teach in an HOUR, yes, an hour.
From now.
SO instead of preparing, I wander over to Facebook like it's a crackpipe, while telling myself once again KEEP THAT BROWSER closed. . . .
and then onto Ze Frank's site, to see what he's up to, and LO and BEHOLD, he has started up his video show and the first episode is about procrastination and fear in the face of creating.
Thank You, Ze!
So I will share here a few of his ideas, then I will go prepare super quick for that workshop:
**being stuck between zero and one, afraid to start, let the heat of those past starts and stops be the fire under you that keeps you going.
**when the energy in your body tells you to go the the fridge and make a cheese sandwhich, that's the cheese monster talking and it will never be satisfied except with the cheese of accomplishment.
**you give the people you love chances even when they fail, extend that generosity to yourself.

and so much more -- watch this intro to his show - then go work in your journal.

"I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues."
--Duke Ellington

Bliss, balance.

“There is an Indian proverb that says that everyone is a house with four rooms, a physical, a mental, an emotional, and a spiritual. Most of us tend to live in one room most of the time but unless we go into every room every day, even if only to keep it aired, we are not a complete person.”  --Rumer Godden

being an artist . . .

 

"As artists, we are free to abandon society’s directions for “correct” living. We are free to define ourselves. So when market forces threaten our image of who we are as artists (we can’t sell our novel, our poems are rejected repeatedly, our friends are forging ahead while we languish in rejection), we can abide by our culture’s estimation of our gifts, decide we are not worthy and suffer envy, or we can refocus the lens, redefine the terms. Define success for yourself. Recognize your talent, without placing it on a ladder of worst to best. You are where you are, and that’s OK. Visualize creativity as a river that flows to the sea, lifts to the sky in clouds, falls to earth in rain, and down to the sea again in rivers. An endless and nourishing cycle that we flow with- not a pile of rocks that gets handed out one by one until there is nothing left for those still standing in line. You are not in line for your chance at happiness- you are a part of the cycle of creative spirit, already immersed."     --Sara Stockden

color

"Color affects our life. Color is physical... we see it. Color communicates... we receive information from the language of color. Color is emotional... it evokes our feelings."    --Bride M. Wheelan

Some new prints for sale:

New at Etsy -- Bright happy Spring bird:  http://www.etsy.com/listing/96654210/mixed-media-art-print