Yet another week has swiftly gone by and I am grateful for the weekend. Hoping all of you experience bits of peace where you can find them…
“After yesterday’s rather abstract interpretation steeped in personal meaning, my mind seems to be on a bit of boycott with this circle. I was able to start by choosing a color I love, violet, and worked out from there, combining hues I rarely put in the same space. No surprise, then, that a title did not leap out at me, except to remind myself to just let it be. Sometimes too much effort is spent on things that do not matter in the grand scheme of things. Tis often work for me to just to let things rest as they are...”
“We have been talking a lot around here about things we envision for the future as our boys continue to grow and make their own lives and we continue to cultivate our own. It is always a mix of being in the present and balancing this with hope for what is still to come. Wishing you all a positive start for the week ahead as I hop out the door...”
“This morning, music filled the room that was written by a woman (Hildegard von Bingen) almost 900 years ago— that I could sit and have it fill my ears, crystal clear as I paint, is profound. What is beyond words is feeling certain that the questions we grapple with now, are some of the same that surely were grappled with then, and for all of time. I am grateful for the space of stillness that allows me to connect to this wider history of being...”
“As each morning brings not only sunrise, but news of ongoing tragedy and devastation here and across the world, it can be hard to breathe. Words do not easily come that can begin to touch what countless beings are experiencing. There are many directly working to alleviate the suffering that comes from acts of violence, global warming effects, and natural diasasters, and deep gratitude for their courage, determination, and selflessness is held for them all; also needed is ongoing deep reflection on what each of us can do to relieve suffering in the small circles we inhabit, which radiate out into our one large shared circle.”
“I was thinking about how many things go around as I painted these elipses this morning, affecting those they touch, sometimes by only an edge— germs, news, ideas, emotional states, weather fronts... I am grateful that positive things like hope, love, and compassion also circulate in waves, holding the ability to bring a smidge of change to any given day, for both the giver and for the receiver. Wishing you all positivity in your flow today.”
“There is nothing like the first snow— although only an inch blankets the ground outside my window, it is fresh and pure white as it gently covers the branches and the blades of grass still poking through. The sense of anticipation as rain turns to chunky flakes of snow still brings me excited wonderment as it falls from the sky. Even the cats were mesmerized, clamoring for the best viewing spots on the window’s ledge, their heads twitching as they watched one after the other fall from the sky... No matter what is going on in the day, taking a few moments to be refreshed by our primal connection to nature lifts the spirits.”
“As I deemed this circle to be “finished” (coffee awaits) and turned it on it’s side (I can never quite figure out which way to orient them), it struck me how the days turn over so quickly, one into the other. Showing up to paint every morning brings me into contact with this awareness even more, not quite believing that the days and months keep progressing so rapidly, and that I am sitting here yet again, hoping something comes out. I continue to be grateful for this practice and the connection with all of you who share in this process by following along. Wishing you joy and the slowing of time as your weekend unfolds...”