Promises to Keep

I don't know if any of you are promise keepers. When I was a child Mama would tell me she wanted me to be sure to remember such and such and I would always assure her I would.

Then she would ask? "Promise?" "Oh yes, momma, I promise" This promise had the same solemness to it as a sacred oath.

I don't find that a promise carries the same weight in today's world as it did when I was a child. It is now akin to a new year's resolution. Something said, often with sincerity, but seldom kept. Life is busy and people fill their days with all sorts of activities and thoughts and the promise falls by the wayside in the flurry. Heaven forbid that you remind anyone of their "promise".

The look we get is: If I forgot,you have no right to remember, much less remind me!"



But I am finding I am not as good a promise keeper as I have thought. Oh don't get me wrong, if I promise a friend, family member or even a total stranger something I make sure it is done.

But I have come to realize that I don't do well when it comes to the promises I make to myself.



I promise I will make more time for my creative side. I promise I will get enough rest. I promise that I will not make "paper messies" with the mail that comes into the house, I promise....... But then something comes up and I forget the promises in the blink of an eye.

And it isn't until I feel I will scream, if I don't get some time to myself, or I see a stack of papers tumble to the floor from my desk, that I remember the promise.



But somehow I still think a promise is a wonderful thing. I think a big part of promise keeping is taking the time to sit down and really look at my life and decide what has priority vs what really NEEDS to be my priority in order for me to have a happy, more balanced life.

But the more times I have to pick of the pieces of a broken promise to myself, the more determined I become to say no to things lower on my priority list.

After I finished cleaning and reorganizing the art studio, it became quite apparent to me that my tiny home office in its horrible condition was going to niggle at my brain until I dealt with it.

I realize that I am so blessed to have two separate rooms. So many creative people do not have that luxury. Their artistic space has to share with the computer, bill paying and sometimes even the eating area.

So I spent the better part of this week cleaning, sorting, filing and pitching clutter in my office. During that time, I realized that cleaning is a very creative act. It can take something that is of little use because of the clutter and mess and turn it into a thing of beauty that can be used to make even more creative things. Something wonderful and unheard of has happened. Both the art studio and the office are clean at the same time!

Having said all that it brings me back to promises. First of all I am promising myself that I will take the time it takes to maintain these rooms so they can continue to be "creative" places.
And I promise in the next couple of days I will take pictures of the art room for those of you that wanted to see it. I don't expect raves of approval. But perhaps the lady that said she has too much stuff and can't even conceive how she can make it work at all, will get a little bit of help.
I know that I wish the space I have was larger and I wish I did not have times when I have to move one thing to get to another. But I am thankful for all my "toys" and wonderful tools and most of all I am so thankful for more than a 6inch square space to work on.

So, I will get the pictures up sometime this coming week.
Hoping all of you are enjoying this season, and making time to create whether is is art or cooking or decorating.
Enjoy
S.

Moving into Creativity.

Nothing succeeds like success!!
I finished the major cleaning and reorganization of my art studio last evening. I can't express the joy I felt as I took a last look around before turning off the light. Nor the excitement I felt when I went to the art studio this morning, pulled out my moleskine journal and allowed my creative spirit creep out of hiding.
It felt somewhat akin to the first day of school with brand new pencils, crayons and notebook. I have the knowledge now that making my "space" workable for me is as important as the right pencils or paints. I am sure to make some clutter as I work on something but now when I am finished the things have a place to be If I am diligent in clearing my work space after each session I will have the guarantee of always having a place to be creative.

I thought about taking some pictures of the art studio and posting here. But I realize everyone's place to work is different and there supplies vary widely and what works for me is unlikely to work for anyone else.
And then too there is the fact that what is one man's organization may make no sense to another.
My room is small, my supplies are huge. But this works for me until something better comes along.
So... Having said all that I believe the time for words will be shorter in the future and the time for pictures will hopefully be increased greatly.

Hope you all have a creative day.
S

Light at the end of the Tunnel

I have been spending an hour a day in the art studio and had gotten to a point where it seemed all I had left were bits and pieces that didn't have a "classified" home to be in. None were things I wanted to part with but still they needed to find their own "home". I think that is the most frustrating part of the whole thing.



This major reorganization started innocently enough. The art studio had been my own private place to create. But then I got the wild hair in my brain that if I put in a gate/leg table in the room so that I would be able to lift the leaf when my friend came and we could work in there together. Well the truth is the room is just too small for two people and it was hard to get anything done. I soon found that we were carrying things to the dinning room table where there was more room and the light was better. Now why I didn't think of that in the first place is beyond me!!!

So this summer my friend helped me to move the table out of the room. That was a good idea but somewhat like trying to get the bottom pickle out of a full pickle jar. ( if you can picture that in your mind!!) The whole room was thrown into havoc with things stacked all over the floor and even spilling out into other rooms. But once started there was no turning back.



Then so many of life's happenings happened and I just didn't get back to the room to set things right again. Oh I am sure I could have gotten it done sooner but just stepping into the room made me feel so overwhelmed it verged on fainting. LOL



You have to understand my room will never look terrible orderly just because there is so much there, in too small a space, but it is coming together well enough now that I hope to be able to work in there in peace and find things too. The finding should be a lot easier because I have been labeling anything that sits still long enough to have something stuck to it.

I am looking forward to having the art studio all to myself once again. As I began the hard work of sorting and putting things in order I felt it was grunge work that I dreaded, but in the last couple of days I have become to see it as a form of creative work, a gift I am giving myself. And what a joy that is!!!

What fun it will be to share with you my creations soon rather than all these words on "creative
cleaning"

Oh yes, I did do some leaf drawings one day and also some sketches of sail boats. But won't it be grand when I can spend even more time creating art because I will not be organizing the art studio?

S

Staying the Course

I am only on my third day of cleaning and organizing my art studio and I find myself wondering why it is not finished by now. There is an old saying "the devil is in the details". I don't know what the original meaning of this phrase is but it certainly seems to apply to the work in the art studio.
Now that I have the largest part of the work done I am finding it much harder to get all the bits and pieces that are left to find "homes" for themselves. It helps me to see that I have way more tools and supplies than I will ever have "finished" art work. It makes me wonder how much of it is necessary and how much was bought because of advertising.

I am having to learn what supplies have the highest priority in my work so that they can be readily accessible whereas the Christmas ribbon or the Valentine rubber stamps can be placed in a less strategic place than my colored pencils, paints and paintbrushes, etc, which I use almost every day.

As I am working in the art studio, I am thinking in the back of my mind that I need to do the same sort of thing in the bathroom cabinets, when I am done with this room. Then the light bulb comes on and I realize that if I really want to DO ART that I must give it the priority and special place that I give my paint brushes. I can be cleaning and organizing something in my house the rest of my life!!!! is that what will give me pleasure and fulfillment? Hardly.

Jessica Wosolek of Cre8it.com mentioned in her blog how she took time out of her busy schedule to draw and paint one of the leaves that fell from her shrimp plant. It made me understand that we do not FIND time to do art we choose to GIVE time for our art.
I am thinking that if I can set aside and make it a priority to clean in my art room one hour a day I can certainly do the same or more for time for doing art. After all it is MY LIFE and I can choose.

So today I am choosing to do some art. Hope you will all find a way to follow your bliss as well
S.

Fragments part 3

I decided that one of the reasons I am having to drag my creativity out of hiding is because my art room is in such disarray that it is hard to focus. Best solution to that is to give the room some extra attention to bring about some sort of order once again.

So this morning right after breakfast, I went into the art studio and began the process. I don't know about you, but for me, if the "clutter" is bad enough it often takes me a bit to get started. I pick up one thing only to lay it down somewhere else. That is so frustrating and counter productive!! I don't know how many times I did that this morning before I finally broke the spell and put something away. I decided that I would set a timer and make myself work in the studio for 1 hour. I knew that would not get the job done but one hour is better than nothing, right?
Well at the end of the hour my mind was really into the task but I knew I needed a short break so I rested for 15 minutes and then went back to the task at hand, setting my timer for another hour. My goodness, how time flies when you are making progress!!!
Part of the time was spent labeling drawers and storage containers. One of my artistic friends had told me what a wonderful investment her label "machine" was. That now she did not have to pull out drawers and lift lids in order to know what was inside. It is a time consuming job but once it is done you realize how well the time was spent. She is so right!
But of course in the middle of my cleaning, sorting and labeling I ran out of labels!!

I stopped cleaning at lunch time and decided that I had earned a sandwich at one of the fast food places on my way to pick up more labels and a couple more storage containers.

I really did not realize just how much progress I had made in the art studio until I got back home and walked back into the room! It was amazing and I could feel my creative juices beginning to come out of hiding. Now here was a room that I would soon be able find solace in.

Not being able to find things or not being able to find more than an 8 inch surface to work on makes it very difficult to be creative. Having a small art studio means I have to be even more creative with the space that I have.
Doing my "homework" in the studio today means I will have one more thing to be grateful for this coming holiday season.
S.

Fragments part 2

I have had a new product called "Flower Soft"
for a while. I am not sure what they are made of but they are like tiny little spurred flowers. They come in a variety of colors. I wanted to do something with them for some time.
Then Martha Stewart came out with this little pickett fence punch and my mind went into a whirl again.
So the flowers and the little bushes in front of the fence are the new Flower Soft.
The fence is the MS punch. The little blue birds are a rubber stamp.
I used the cuttlebug to cut out the oval with a spellbinders nestabilities.

I made a total of 8 cards and some went out in the morning mail. What a good feeling that is.


I realize the Flower Soft has a lot of possibilities and they are whirling around on my head but I am not giving in to the tempation. I have written the ideas down and now want to move on to finishing another of the UFO's that I set aside. BUT FIRST I am going to put away all the supplies from this project.

I realize that there are many variables that have contributed to my feelings of being fragmented.
I know you have heard the phrase "Too Much Information". Well in a way I think that is part of my problem. I do have so many wonderful ideas ( many come from all the artists I have met on the groups via the web) and I also have access to all the latest supplies.
But there are still only 24 hours in the day and only one me. :O)
More to come.
S

Fragments

So many times I just wish for smooth sailing. I make wonderful plans for my week, my day or even a few hours. And then the winds of my life change and I am blown off course. I looked at my art workspace this morning and find it is an outward picture of my inward mind. There are several projects in process but none is finished. I look at my moleskine journal and find it has half finished pages and thoughts on the pages. Nothing seems to have any rhyme or reason, just bits and pieces: fragments (Oh no, that gives me yet another idea! A page titled fragments)And I find myself wondering how to bring the fragments together one by one until they form some sort of picture I can live with. That's the crux of it all. I feel so unbalanced. I have a need for more order. I need to be able to be more focused. I wonder how other artists find that still small place within themselves to create in peace. Or do they also find themselves restless and fragmented? I have decided for today to pick up just one of the unfinished projects and pick up all the others and place them on a tray and set them aside. With my work space clear, I will attempt to work on this single project and bring it to completion. I will place a small notepad beside my work and if new ideas or thoughts come I will write them there briefly and then return to the work at hand. Hopefully that will make things a bit easier. I don't know if anyone is reading this So many times I just wish for smooth sailing. I make wonderful plans for my week, my day or even a few hours. And then the winds of my life change and I am blown off course. I looked at my art workspace this morning and find it is an outward picture of my inward mind. There are several projects in process but none is finished. I look at my moleskine journal and find it has half finished pages and thoughts on the pages. Nothing seems to have any rhyme or reason, just bits and pieces: fragments (Oh no, that gives me yet another idea! A page titled fragments) And I find myself wondering how to bring the fragments together one by one until they form some sort of picture I can live with. That's the crux of it all. I feel so unbalanced. I have a need for more order. I need to be able to be more focused. I wonder how other artists find that still small place within themselves to create in peace. Or do they also find themselves restless and fragmented? I have decided for today to pick up just one of the unfinished projects and pick up all the others and place them on a tray and set them aside. With my work space clear, I will attempt to work on this single project and bring it to completion. I will place a small notepad beside my work and if new ideas or thoughts come I will write them there briefly and then return to the work at hand. Hopefully that will make things a bit easier. I don't know if anyone is reading this that would have good suggestions, but I am open to ideas. I have decided to try out my idea and will stop back this evening to let you know it if helped

Golden seasons and Golden years

I have always loved everything about Autumn. It just seems to me that it is a calm season. It is a time when everything seems to move at just a bit slower pace. Spring is frantic with sprouts and buds, the return of birds and new life in every way.

Summer is a wonderful "happening" of all sorts of activities. It is full of all sorts of possibilities and a joyous celebration of life.

And then comes glorious Autumn. It is full of sounds and smells that only Autumn knows. It is brilliant colors, wonderful mellow sunrises and sunsets. It the sound of dry leaves beneath your feet. It is the smell of dust and dry foliage. It is a time of preparation before winter is upon us. It is a time when my mind turns to baking cookies, leisurely walks with my dog, Sebrina. It is a more relaxed time for me when I am willing to make time for a good book, a long chat over coffee with a friend or so many of those other simple things that make life worthwhile.

I find I am in the Autumn of my life also. Some call it the Golden years. I am not always sure they are so "golden" because I attach the word perfect to the word golden. And nothing in life is perfect. I move a little slower, I seem to have more aches and pains and my eyes , along with the rest of my body tire more easily. It is a fact of life, a fact of one woman's autumn of life. But it is also a time when I want to take time to do some of the things I have put on hold all my life. It is a time when I don't have to go to bed at a certain time, get up at a certain time. It is a time when I no longer feel the need to make huge commitments nor meet everyone's needs. A time when I can enjoy each day for what it offers. I do not have to follow a rigid schedule. I can read a book into the wee hours of the morning. I can chat with a friend for an hour without guilt, I can sit and watch the golden leaves fall from the beautiful Norwegian Maple outside my window.

I no longer have to prove anything. I can be, just like that tree. I can be a splendor of color in just being. As the days pass I can shed things that no longer benefit me, just as that tree will let its golden leaves tumble to the ground. And as I shed them I will take on a new beauty. My strengths will be more vi sable.

Last night after the house became quiet. I took out my sketch pad and began to sketch trees. In my mind I could see that some had knots where they had lost a limb or been wounded. I realized that these knots were things that gave the tree beauty and character . And I wonder if the same is true for me. Do all the life "woundings" help to make me a person of beauty and character? Am I growing stronger and becoming a more beautiful person because of them or am I becoming bitter and diminished and possibly cutting my lifespan shorter because of the trials?. I hope I am not becoming bitter but instead only better.

Today I am going to take those sketches and lay in some water color to allow them to have rich color and beauty. And while I do it I am going to dwell on the rich "color" of the autumn of my life and rejoice!

S.

Inspirations of Autumn

Today I went to visit a park. I had saved a clipping from our local newspaper early in July with full intentions of going there soon. But as you know life has a way of getting in the way sometimes. I was not familiar with where it was so I plugged in my trusty GPS aka "Sassy" and off we went. Even when Sassy said we had arrived I was not so sure. The park was built on the slope of a hill and was not easy to see from the street. There was a path leading to the park. On each side of the path was a low stone wall. It did not take me long to realize that this park had not seen any loving, care in a long, long time. Yet it still held on to a degree of charm and beauty.

In the online art class I am taking we have been talking about seasons. So this trip of course fell right in line with what we were sharing. Some of the trees in this park were in their glorious colorful coats, others were now showing that life had come to a true end for them.

I realized that humans and trees are much alike. We too have seasons of our souls. We too are battered by the winds of life and sometimes those storms bring things into us that causes us to lose our lives.

But even so, life or death we leave some beauty. Some memory of better days. We all have a cycle, some shorter than others but no less important. But it would seem even though this walk in the park gave me insight into the future it was also a wonderful walk down a memory lane.

New beginnings from old dreams

Ever since I was old enough to hold a pencil, stories have made a playground of my mind.
My favorite pastime was reading and my second most favorite pastime was drawing and coloring.
But of course like so many of us, life took over and I felt that creative ventures were to be delegated to my free time. Of course few of us have much free time.

In the last few years I have experienced so many life changing things and it has brought me to a place of realizing that none of us has unlimited time on this earth. If there is something we really want to do then we need to make new priorities for ourselves.

One of the things I want to find out for myself is where my creative talents lie. I want to give myself the priority that I need to find out what that is.

So I have signed up for a couple of art classes and have decided to share my "journey" with anyone that wants to walk this path along with me. I am hoping that forming the blog will be the catalyst that will light the fire of creativity and keep it burning.

Come along and perhaps we will both enjoy the view.

Making it official

This is a snap shot taken a couple of years ago of me with the famous Dewey Read More Books cat of Spencer Iowa. I was thrilled to meet him before he went to the Rainbow bridge.