Inspiration

I was away at our summer place this weekend.  Of course, I had to pack an enormous bag of art supplies to take with me.  Somehow, I don't feel complete unless I'm carrying my journal around with me everywhere -- even if I don't write in it.  I just have to have it near...

The Run With Scissor's prompt for Friday, June 23 was "free choice."  On Thursday, I was at our town pool and watched a bunch of little girls playing mermaid.  This was one of my favorite games as a kid.  I had really long hair, and loved to swish it around under water and pretend that my two legs were one fish tail.  My friend Margie and I used to have contests to see who could stay under water longest. (Margie was the best!)  So I decided to paint up this mermaid in honor of all the girls out there, swishing their hair and pretending to have fish tails!  I'm going to link her up to Paint Party Friday and Creative Everyday as well because I like this gal. Her saying:  Don't wait for your ship to come in.  Swim out to it!

Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's post today was about 5 things you know are true.  Her 5 things were all about art, but they made me think about what I know to be true in life.  And then, as the universe would have it, RWS's day 24 prompt was to make a top 10 list.  Janel made a beautiful journal entry about Gandhi.  I reacted to this by thinking more about all the wisdom I know to be true. Some of it is from my parents, some of it is from books I've read and teachings from wise people.  But here's a list -- in no particular order:

1.  you can always find something beautiful to see and nice to say. 
2.  things seem very different after a good night's sleep.
3.  even the most difficult soil can yield a beautiful garden if you cultivate it.  (this is directly inspired by my mother, who refuses to let rocky, hilly soil intimidate her.  It's also a really nice metaphor.)
4.  everything you learn, and every effort you make, has a purpose.  (this is inspired by "The Phantom Tollbooth" -- one of my all time favorite books.)
5.  kindness really matters.
6.  if you can do something about it, why get upset?  and if you can't do anything about it, why get upset?
7.  you will be happy if you can forgive for the past and be grateful for the present. 
8.  whatever you decide to do in life, find a way to make the world a kinder, more beautiful place.  (Inspired by a great children's book - Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney.)
9.  Every person wants to be loved and happy.  In this way, we all have something in common.
10.  Sooner or later, you will reap what you sow.

After making this list, I wasn't sure what the art should be.  Luckily, today's Diva challenge was to be inspired by your home.  What I love best about my home is my garden, and so I tried to be inspired by my roses and other flowers in this piece.  I colored it with the beautiful palate inspired by the ice cream flavor "Baseball Nut" -- rasberry, vanilla and cashew nut.  (I'm not sure what this has to do with baseball -- perhaps only Baskin & Robbins knows for sure -- but thank you to Summer of Color for suggesting the color scheme.)  Then I journaled my list around it, and am linking it up there and at Inspire Me Monday as well.  

Thank you for visiting! If you are so moved, please leave a comment. Hearing from you means the world to me.

So Much to Feel Good About

Dad and Freddie on Father's Day

This weekend was father's day.  My parents make a point of not celebrating what they call "Hallmark holidays," but, truth be told, my dad loves when we "recognize" him on this day.  And there is so much to recognize about him!  He was the child of Polish Jewish immigrants who came to the US (illegally I might add) in between the two world wars, with nothing in their pockets.  Moving in with relatives in Brooklyn, NY, they watched from afar while their village in Lodz, Poland, was decimated by the Nazis.  My dad raised pigeons on his roof, and was somewhat of a high school delinquent.  (He and his 4 best friends had a contest to see who could graduate high school with the lowest GPA!) But then, after working on the docks, he decided to turn his life around, and ended up graduating from Brooklyn Law School at the top of his class, as editor in chief of the law review.  He also, in his late teens, learned how to play tennis, starting a lifelong passion that has led him to successive Maccabi games in Israel as captain of the men's senior tennis team.  In July 2013, he will be inducted into the Jewish Athletes' Hall of Fame in Tel Aviv!  He has always seen life as full of possibilities. 

One of his greatest gifts to me is teaching me about the power of forgiveness -- view life's trials as lessons to learn from, and then let them go and move on.  To quote from a wonderful book, "A Spiritual Renegade's Guide to the Good Life," "We cannot be happy in the here and now if we continue to harbor grudges and remain full of bitterness, sadness, and anger about what others have done to us in the past."  My dad has lived this, and has always focused on what is good in life.  And we have so much to feel good about.

This phrase is in the song "It's a Good Life," by One Republic,  the subject of Scrapping the Music's challenge this week.  "We have so much to feel good about."  It's so true and I wish everyone would remember how much we have to be grateful for.  On this page, I altered 3 pictures of my beautiful daughters (my older one is not going to like the fact that it looks like she's wearing a burkha...), added lyrics from the song, and filled the background with "cadent," the Zentangle® that is the prompt for the Diva challenge this week.   Looking at this page makes me so happy that I am going to enter it in the Try it On Tuesday challenge too!  My girls are such a blessing in my life.  And not to leave out my mom, I doodled this over the weekend! I realized that "mom" upside down is "wow."  And my mom wows me all the time.

Albert Einstein said: "There are only two ways to live your life.  One is as though nothing is a miracle.  The other is as though everything is a miracle."   I choose the latter!

Thank you so much for visiting and, hopefully, commenting. It means the world to me!

Waste Not Want Not

I hate to waste paint - so I made this from wet acrylic paint left over from "Shine."  As a mask for the "leaper," I used the form I had cut out to make the jumping girl stencil, and sprayed around it with Adirondack color wash.  I used Balzer Designs punchinella stencil for some texture on the left, and painted swirls with watered down gesso.  The lettering is a mix of my hand and stamps.  I painted shadow around the form (right side and under is the mantra I repeat to myself) and I love how it looks like it's popping out of the page!   


 Yesterday, I had a lovely tea with Jennifer Levine, a friend and an amazing visual and performance artist.  Check her out!

Also today, a design for Mother's Day.  There's nothing like being a mom to give you perspective on you own mother.  Thanks Mom - for raising me to be a creative, caring person, just like you!