Thursday, June 26, 2014

Chaos and Calm

"Art, in itself, is an attempt to bring order out of chaos."
- Stephen Sondheim

Chaos In Progress

A musician I used to know once told me that for him playing the guitar was like meditating. I wanted to reply that it was the same for me and painting but I realized that wasn't entirely accurate. The truth is that painting, for me, is more like an exorcism!

More Chaos

Things get a little chaotic in the studio sometimes when I am painting. I take a lot of my emotions out on my poor canvases. The other night I even flung one of my paintings in progress across the room, by accident, of course.

Chaos and Calm - Acrylic on 11x14 Canvas

However, there is always a calm after the storm - a point where the colors of whatever I'm feeling begin to take shape on the canvas and start to make sense. It's then that I can get down to the more quiet, focused work that is in fact meditative for me. Though I have to admit that sometimes I enjoy the chaotic part just a tiny bit more.






Friday, June 6, 2014

Top Eleven Pins

It's always amazing when I see that someone has pinned or repinned something from this blog on Pinterest. It makes me feel a little less alone in this vast universe to know that someone else shares my tastes or is inspired in even the smallest way by something I did. That just makes me smile.

I felt I could use a couple of extra smiles today so I decided to make a list of my top eleven pins from pinterest.  I hope you find it "pinteresting"!

#11 From Gardening With Claude and Frank




#10 From Chasing Butterflies




#9 From Art Quote: Trust




#8 From The Cabbage Gallery




#7 From Once Upon A Time In My Garden




#6 From Garden In Progress: June and July




#5 From Creative Organization




#4 From Bathroom Metamorphosis



#3 From My Perfectly Imperfect Art Studio




#2 From The Cabbage Gallery




#1 From Christmas Time At The Cabbage




Click here to see more pins from this blog.

Monday, June 2, 2014

Garden Views: Spring

"All gardening is landscape painting." -William Kent

Working for my muse has not involved a lot of painting, drawing or designing lately. Instead I have been spending most of my time digging, planting, pulling weeds, cursing, pulling more weeds, pruning, trimming, mulching and watering - then resting, admiring and daydreaming - before getting back to digging, planting, etc. This exhausting, often frustrating, sometimes tedious but extremely rewarding creative process is also known as gardening and I think I might be addicted to it.

I hope you enjoy these photos of the labor of love that is my garden:


View from the garden entrance.

View from the back of the garden.

Every day is a party in my garden. :)

The Good Fairy Garden

This Saint Francis Statue is a new addition to the garden
Rambling Red Roses