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CONGRATULATIONS SCOTT BUSHNELL, happy winner of the "FAITH" ATC!! Make a comment now and win an Artist Trading Card with an original artwork!

 

DECOMPRESS AND GET REFURBISHED

I know, I know, it’s not exactly artwork this time.  These are my brushes that have been put through the ringer.  They tirelessly worked their bristles to the bone for me… for years!  Somehow, I never thought about these brushes as the vital part of what I create.  So, today and for the next several days, they’re going to sit in a bath of brush solution to free them from the corrosion that have accumulated all these years in assisting me to create and put into paper all these pictures in my head.

As the years go by, life happens.  We work hard to live comfortably.  However, if you pick that word apart, does it really serve up what we intended for it to do for us?  What does comfort really mean anyway?  I can attest that all those years I gave up my all for a job day to day, feeling guilty if I was giving it my 100% just to find out in the end that I was really expendable and/or I get a watch with the company’s logo on it.  Wait, it has a gold face! 

Like these brushes, every year, corrosion accumulates.  We never find enough time in our very busy day to take a deep breath, decompress, to take the time to love ourselves.  I tell you, now that I am nearing the age “up there” it is not worth it.  If I can do it all over again, I would have said NO more often, given myself time to do art at least 2 hours a day, not worrying about the big mess I would have to leave on the workspace while I go back to work or tend to the kids. 

Before you can truly say you love someone, you have to love yourself first.  Stay balanced.  Give yourself to others but not before giving yourself to YOU.  Take time to read a book, spend 30 minutes to an hour per day with your eyes closed just listening to your favorite music.  Go see a movie alone, if you dare!  You’re so much worth than you realize and you will be happier for it!  Just like these brushes will thank me after they’ve been de-corroded (it’s a word now!) and reconditioned to serve me for more years to come. 

Have a beautiful week, God bless you and love one another!!!! OK! I CAN'T STAND IT!  I HAD TO ADD ARTWORK :)

TOUR OF THE LITTLE HAPPY COCOON

SINISTER - APPROACH LIFE WITH EYES WIDE OPEN

We all come across people whom we trust but only to find out about the deceit later.  Be wary of them.  This artwork depicts the man as looking very nomal but is he?  Look closely.

The background music is Sinister by my daughter Tara Alesia feat Don Prahfit (all rights reserved).  For more info, email her at taraawalker@gmail.com

SERENDIPITY

Serendipity means a happy accident.  I call it the "OMG! I forgot I had this" moment when you find that something you've been looking for all this time, or that one that you had forgotten you had.  I am a pack rat for memories.  I don't keep clothes, or old mags, etc. but I do hold on to my past paintings, memorabilias, photos, favorite art project tools. 

Last Saturday, I was organizing my art studio when I found this painting I had done in 2004.

It was the time when I had a few hours of quiet so I revisited painting again since I have 2 kids and a full time job which pretty much took all of my time.  I had dreams of one day owning a white horse, lol!  Since I couldn't at the time, I poured my impulsiveness of maybe going out and getting a horse to keep in my little bitty backyard.  Then after the painting was done, it was stowed away between the pages of my canvas sheets to be rediscovered today, almost 10 years later.  It was serendipitous. 

Every now and then God gives us serendipitous moments.  For me, it's His reminder that sadness, pain, sickness, or any other negative events that we are faced with is not the end.  It isn't over.  Why? Because HE already said so.

Have a great day and love one another....

FORGIVENESS

How many of us, while in a conversation say, “I’ve forgiven so and so,” knowing we haven’t?  I have… many times.  How many of us really know what it means to forgive?  I do.  I won’t hash out ever dirty laundry that has happened to me resulting from one particular person in the past.  This person was a special someone to me.  We had a wonderful and wholesome daughter we share.  But like some relationships, this didn't succeed.

My experience with this man shaped a part of who I am today.  Although it was not always rosy, looking back, had events not happened, I wouldn’t know how to forgive today.  He is stricken with the worst cancer ever, pancreatic.  He is a very young 52 years old.  Any type of cancer is awful, but one that cannot be removed because it can kill other major organs is hopeless.  I don't believe he is ready to die and I don’t blame him, who does?   The uncertainty of life after death is debilitating.  So one of the things left to do is to accept the inevitable and ask to be forgiven for past transgressions. 

While sitting next to his hospital bed, he told me, “You were a good woman to me and I’m sorry for everything.”  Instantly, I blurted out, it’s ok, we all make mistakes, don’t worry about it.  But thinking about it later, I asked myself, did I really mean that or did I just say it because I knew it would make him feel better?  Even if the answer was instant, reflecting on it, and seeing this man sick and in the hospital, sincerely asking for forgiveness, I did.  I sincerely did forgive him.  Suddenly, all the tears, frustration, and anger I felt for him in the past seemed futile.  You mean I could’ve skipped all those negative emotions had I known that he would ask to be forgiven?  That can only be done by someone with special powers, I'm only human after all!  Or can it? Maybe we could actually do it, if we could only visualize an apology 25 years from now.  But what if I never saw him again because we didn’t’ have a child and avoided him just to find out later that he had passed away?  How could I have truly forgiven him? Now I realize that it doesn’t matter if anyone has asked you face to face to forgive him/her.  If you know deep inside you only hurt yourself when you carried all of this dark negative energy for another, why not just truly forgive all who had wronged us?  Who cares?  Vengeance is God’s job, not for ours to carry out.  After all, God forgives so who are we to be less than forgiving?  Can we really challenge ourselves with this?  Just sayin...

Be blessed and love each other and enjoy your week...

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