Feeling the Love

A year ago this month I took Kelly Rae Robert's Taking Flight art business course and my life has changed so much in that one year.  Not just because of the great creative business ideas I've gained, but the amazing and supportive creative women I've become good friends with.  Believe it or not, we have shared, (some in person, mostly on-line), divorces, moves, licensing deals, disappointing art shows, great art shows, surgeries and then some.  We are on-line for each other almost 24 hours a day because a few are even in Europe and Australia.  I know that I can go to them when I'm doubting myself or super excited about something with my art or even my family. These women have given me more encouragement and confidence than I ever imagined could happen just from taking an on-line course and meeting through a Facebook group.   

One of the friends Linda who lives about two hours south of me and whom I've actually got to meet and have lunch with in-person did a really great blogpost about me and I'd love if you would stop by her blog and check it out.  I'm honored that she wrote such great things about me and my creative life.  

http://lindakaysart.com/blog/2012/08/12/mixed-media-mondays-aug-13th/

Thanks Linda!

We are Connected

We got some horrible news yesterday that a gunman went into a Sikh Temple in Oak Creek yesterday and killed six people inside.  My husband and I grew up in Oak Creek--I lived there till we were married.  My mom and my husband's whole family still live there. We pass this area every time we visit.

My heart just feels heavy for our world and this Sikh community.  Why is this happening?  It seems to be a hate crime...what can we do differently to raise our children to be accepting?  Do we need to raise our boys differently?  I just feel like I have to post something about it here because it's so close to home and it's so heart-wrenching for this community of peaceful people.  Tonight there will be a candle-light vigil near the temple in my hometown.  I'm sure there will be many people there praying together, hoping for a change.

I hope for a change.  I pray for comfort for these families though I'm not sure how that's going to happen.  It's hard to find peace in times like these.  I'm not sure how to stay positive when these events happen.  I'd love to hear how people of faith find a way to deal with this and still believe in our kindness and humanity.

You are My Sunshine - New Painting

When Bella was a little baby we used to sing "you are my sunshine" to her as well as other songs, but this one tends to be almost a universal one that many people know and have great memories about.  Bella's four-year-old preschool teacher Miss Starr (no the teacher wasn't a four-year-old) used to take each little kid one-by-one and put them on her lap and sing this song to them...she still remembers that special time at the end of the day while waiting for their parents to pick them up.  Another funny memory of this song for me was when I was a teenager my dad would take me to his Lions Club meetings for a father/daughter dinner and all the dads sang this song at every meeting.  I thought it was such a hoot to hear all these "old" men singing this sweet song as we got ready to eat dinner.

I just finished this painting and I'm really happy with how it turned out.  Bella's getting older and her room decor is Paris-themed with dark pink and black, so she no longer has this type of art in her room, so I made it for my etsy shop.  It makes me think back to her sweet, chubby little baby days.

I hope you like this new painting of mine as I really feel good about how it turned out.  I'm hoping a sweet girl will get to hang this on her wall.  Do you have any sweet memories of songs from your childhood or your children's childhood?

Look to the Sky

Connie of Dirty Footprints Studio lost an amazing friend in June and asked her readers to go outside and take a picture of the sky.  She was making a memorial to her friend John.  I immediately went outside with my i-phone--I'm a daydreamer who loves to just gaze at the sky--I wanted to participate in her project.  My daughter's name is Isabella Sky, so you know how I feel about the sky. It mesmerizes me, relaxes me, makes me feel grateful...so much I can't even put into words.

She has put together this sky-filled and moving memorial that I just watched with awe.  326 readers submitted their sky photos for her memorial - she put it together with music, her painting and a tribute to this man in her life.  I feel subdued and wowed after watching it.  She's asking that we blog about someone in our life we've lost and also share a picture of the sky here.   Five years ago I lost my dad to lung cancer.  We found out he had cancer and lost him three weeks later.  Too fast, too quick to process.  I do look up at the sky sometimes and talk to him and wonder if he's with us in spirit.  I ask for a sign.  I usually don't notice any except the day we planted a tree for him on the land near his beloved up-north cottage in St. Germain.

A big group of us, my family and his up-north friends decided that planting a tree near the lake would be an ever-lasting memory of him.  As we stood around quietly looking at the tree, some of us adding water to it and some adding beer (my dad loved his beer before he got sick), a beautiful bald eagle came soaring around us above the tree.  It seemed like a sign to me.  It had to be.  It was at the perfect moment and the eagles usually stayed closer to the water and to their nests in the evergreens, not near us on land.  To this day I keep that moment with me as a sign that he was watching us celebrate him that day.

Thanks for doing this Connie--it is a reminder to remember our loved ones and to notice this beautiful sky that we are connected under.

Goals, Dreams and Starting a Fire

It's been a few weeks since I've written a post.  We just got back from a week-long vacation "up north" as we say it in Wisconsin to Lost Lake in St. Germain.  It's beautiful, peaceful, full of trees, bald eagles and right on the water which is the best part of being there.

The day I got back I picked up a book that I had on hold from our local library called The Firestarter Sessions by Danielle Laporte.  Wow.  She's feisty, vibrant, enthusiastic, sarcastic and I'm loving her approach to creating "success on your own terms." I'm not even done reading it yet, but it sure is leaving an imprint on me.  It really feels like a fire is started under me...I've been painting with a fever for the last two days ever since I started reading it.  No way can you read this and just sit there.  Her attitude and personality really are motivating to me.  She is unconventional which is inviting because I don't feel like I have to take the "normal" route to create the life I want.  Here are a few of her statements that resonate with me and get me really moving:


"Being your true self is the most effective formula for success there is."  Hmmmm...how's that for eye-opening?!


"Your desires reflect what's truest about you."  Makes me want to focus solely on this so my true self shines through; surely this equals joy, right?

She also boldly asks:  "Would you rather be sufficient or masterful?
                                      Would you rather be bright or a freaking supernova?
                                      Would you rather be well-rounded or on your own leading edge?"

See, I told you she's feisty and motivating!  This one she quoted by Thomas Moore I'm going to share is soooooo spot on it blew me away:  "The need to be normal is the predominant anxiety in modern life."  Wow.
I hope these few words I've shared might light a little spark for you or maybe just get you thinking today.  Thanks for stopping by!

Some New Girly Art

Those of you who know me well, know I tend to make art that leans toward the girly side.  Not that I'm overly feminine by any means...I probably wear maybe one dress a year to be honest.  But I do love girly, pretty things.  Here are a few of my newest creations that could definitely be classified as girly, for little girls and even big girls like me who love whimsy, pretty and color!

These sweet birdies were so fun to paint...I really enjoyed the creating the background -- it was very freeing!

Here's another one that I really loved doing the background too...hmmmm...seeing a pattern here in enjoying making these free and whimsical backgrounds.  The "dream big" flower above is actually a long narrow painting; I love painting on these oblong canvases though I can't always find them in the store.

I hope you enjoy seeing my girly creations and they put a smile on your face!  Thanks for visiting today.

Sweet Summertime - ATC Swap

Last year about this time if I saw the letters ATC I had no idea what they meant.  No clue.  Well, now they have been part of my life and my vocabulary for over 6 months I think.  An amazing group of artists whom I now call friends and I pick a theme each month and create little ATC's or artist trading cards and swap them with each other. Here are the four I created for the month of May "May flowers."  We typically create three to be traded and one extra for the sweet hostess.

Here are just a few from some past swaps that I've received from these friends from around the whole country.  They are sweet, inspirational and full of the heart of the person who made them - it's nice to have little keepsakes from these people who share a love of creating with me.

For July I'm the hostess and I picked the theme "sweet summertime" - I just love how those two words go together.  They make me think of lazy afternoons reading in a hammock under a shade tree...humid nights sitting outside in the dark watching the fireflies and the full moon...juicy watermelon...splashing in a pool...ice cold lemonade out on the patio...hearing the cicadas buzzing in the afternoon heat.  What is something that makes summer sweet to you?

I hope you're finding little ways to enjoy this season and have a sweet summertime too.