the last bit of January

The right answer of any import to the question what would you do if you had all the money in the world is the same thing I am doing now. If you are not doing exactly the same thing then that is a sign that your life should go another direction. Money is not something that should hold anyone back. Ask any successful person when they were the happiest, they will invariably say"when I first started out on my quest for my dream. It is not the end. It is the dream. Dreams are soon reality when you walk toward them. And you are either walking toward them or away from them. 

what you can do

In light of my last blog and getting out of comfort zone, I had a revelation last night, Comfort zone is only a state of mind. Who cares if you never did something before. What are we afraid of failure. 

Failure is the flip side of success At least you are in the right place. The alternative of failure is doing nothing new ever and  and then you die. If you are failing at least you are trying and if you are trying some thing then you are alive. otherwise dead dead dead. 

I have a new question for my creative group. what would you do if you had all the money in the world?? there is only one answer that is good for this question. see you tomorrow

out of my comfort zone

Thursday morning. A fun way to get out of a rut it to move into an area that you are totally uncomfortable. I think this is why we get antsy. No challenge , so fun. What do I hate to do most(besides taxes) I hate drawing in front of someone. So today I am having a friend over to be with me in the studio while I work . Not only is this another artist but it is one that can draw really well and that is my weak point. I have to draw over and over to get it right and then it is still sort of distorted. Funny I chose art as a career. I think a lot of artists dont draw well. Just a hunch.  My husband can draw and he is not an artist. Go figure. 

creative group

January 25th. Creative group last friday was so interesting. I am going to start sharing what we are doing . If anyone outh there has been doing creative groups feel free to jump in. 

Our group is a small one just seven people with the desire to move out into the realm of reality the things we are thinking about in our heads. 

thought without action is useless.So here is the big idea. what if you could do anything what would you do?

 I mean pleasure only goes so far. The best part of life is making something new . We each have a unique thing to offer. What is it?? How important is it to do what only we can do the way only we can do it. Tres Important! 

tuesday morning. and cold outside warm inside

Yesterday I had a great day in the studio. After six hours of  pure agony, the painting finally revealed itself to me and it was a joy to finish. Getting through the goo to you. 

Being a painter is like being in kindergarden all the time.  I never get to be a grown up that knows what is going to happen next. It is a mystery to  me. You would think it would get easier after doing this all day every day for years and years now. You would think. But each new painting is just as hard as the first because it has to be better than the last one. Constantly upping the anti. It never stops. That is why it is never not scary. When I finish one I always think" I cannot come up with something different" Not only am I painting the same subject for years , I am also coming at it from the same place. It is hard. 

I love it. 

Friday morning

I find that the morning is the best time to think creatively. It is the best time to problem solve and think of new directions to explore. I am not afraid in the morning of what might happen. 

Its during the day that those thoughts creep in and start to weigh me down.

But the morning is the free time to fly into the realms of bliss that make it a delight to go to the studio and start anew.

In the process of painting the washing and scrubbing and repainting over and over is the most interesting place to find new roads and ideas. My initial idea might be ok but it is only by working on a piece for a long time that the painting starts painting itself. That is when it is perfect, I am gone and what I am painting tells me what to do. 

I suppose it is like that for any creative process you leave your awareness of yourself. 

September 12,2008

Saturday morning August 16th,2008

This week went well. I finished a painting I worked on for three weeks. That is a long time for me. Usually I can get a painting done in a week. 

Going to the studio is such a wonderful experience. You never know what will happen that day. It is just me and God working on these paintings. I feel so lucky to have this time in my life where I can do this all day. 

Sometimes it is like flying.My studio is perfect. Over the years I have had several studios and my husband also built me one. None of them was even close to this one. It is on the third floor of a hundred year old brick building on the University of Washington campus.  It has 20 foot high ceilings and huge space. The windows look right down on the glass art museum. 

It has all that but mostly it has air. I like the way it smells up there. It smells old and full of  history and time. It smells like life. As soon as I get the add picture thing figured out I will post pics of everything.