Spread The Love - Making Connections

   I was going to start out this blog with the sentence, "How many ways can you make someone happy?" But then I realized that you can't make anyone happy - only they can make themselves happy. So, let's rephrase this; "How many ways can you make yourself happy?" In other words, how do you spread the love? In the book, Peace In Every Step, written by Thich Nhat Hanh, the author states it can as simple as a smile or a friendly greeting in passing. Another personal way I try to spread the love is by writing my husband a short love letter (which he does with me as well). On a daily basis, I try to be aware and notice others as well as my surroundings. My husband is amazing when it comes to noticing details and almost always he finds something memorable and/or humorous about what we saw. I also attempt to make an effort to spend time chatting with someone, even if it's just for a few minutes. In that time, I try to find the balance of what's going on with them as well as myself. And I always tell them, "... it's good to see you."

   Everything is connected to everything else. A change in one part changes everything else. Live life consciously, in harmony with life, showing reverence for it to sustain life. Creativity, celebration, and being in touch with nature as well as with your Higher Power (whom I call God). This is a life with soul; the soul can then be awaken.

   To begin, we need to clear space in order to get rid of the chaos and clutter, sometimes physical and definitely mental / spiritual. We need a new vision; to see clearly. What usually gets in the way of living fully is all the "stuff" we think we have to plan for, actually do, and keep score of how well we've done. It also entails the physical accumulated inanimate objects - all the junk we end up buying. One thing I learned from our camping excursion several years ago, was that my most pleasurable experience was when I was outside - in nature, with people I loved, and actually doing things.

   My husband Dave and I ditched the cable TV decades ago and haven't owned a television for approximately seven years when we also gave away our DVD player. We're both early risers, (Dave more than I am), and we meditate as well as connect with our Higher Power before we tackle our day-to-day activities. I also take a few hours for myself in the afternoon to engage in something I enjoy. I don't wish to, nor cannot get caught up in other people's drama and negative frenzy. Living deliberately is thinking through my actions to see how they affect the well being of others and the Earth. Living consciously means assessing my choice; Do I really enjoy my job? Did I marry for love or for money and status? Is my house solely a status symbol?

   In other words, I have to know who I am as a person and discover how I want to live. We learn from life experiences. When I went on our camping excursion down to the Southeastern US, that was a real life changing time for us. I've probed what we've learned from that experience - it wasn't because either of us failed, it was a soul journey. In our society-measured "poverty", we rediscovered just how rich we really are! People came to love us quickly and helped us along the way, because we were being genuine; we were being ourselves. We became fully alive then and we are continuing that discovery today as we plot out ways to continue to live fully alive. We're learning to live by our inner light.

   You may be wondering why I've included a painting I did a number of years ago of two cows. I've always liked this work, although I rarely painted animals or wildlife. They remind me that they are doing what they were born to do and they do it with no drama. A very good life lesson...

   Next week, I'll continue on this subject.
   Until next time, stay focused!
   Jill

Spread The Love - Changing Focus

   So - what happened to the "Painting Spectrum"? We've all heard before that life is all about changes. Over the past two months, for one reason or another, my painting just wasn't doing it for me at this juncture. Maybe it was the eye surgery and lengthy recovery. Perhaps the fact that I'm starting to run out of storage space in my studio. On the other hand, maybe it's because I've thrown myself into the book I'm writing. My works were backing up and sales were very slow. Painting only for paintings sake leaves me feeling empty. It is a time of changing my focus.

   * Good Homes Wanted - Orphan paintings desperate to hang around. Email me for details! *

   One of the most noticeable changes we have in Maine are the seasons: Spring, Summer, Road Construction, Autumn, Winter, and Mud season. Now that the wet Spring is finally giving way to Summer, signs from various businesses seem to getting a little punchy; "Don't just stand there - plant today!" or "We're so excited Summer is here, we wet our plants!" See what I mean?

    I've taking walks much more frequently, and several times this week I've taken notice at what is blooming. I got the gardening bug and was itching to dig in the dirt. I started slowly, and one day I divided a large Variegated Hosta and planted the two new plants beside my patio near a birdbath. I felt alive; as if I were waking from a long winter slumber. I hadn't felt this rejuvenated in quite a while. As much as I love art and love to paint, I guess deep-down I needed a break from it.

    The picture I've included in today's post was painted by my youngest daughter Catherine. Currently, I am "painting sitting" until her move from one residence to another is complete. My daughter painted this work in the Summer of 2013. She wanted to see if she liked to oil paint and asked if I could teach her. Of course, I obliged.

   Little did I realize how much we differ in painting styles! Where I'm quick with my brush, Catherine is meticulous, dainty, and goes at a much slower pace. Where I express my emotions, she elected to go with almost a photo-like realism to her work. The canvas was quite large and the barn she was painting a lots of detail. The summer was coming to a close and she was still in the process of putting very small details in the painting. "I'd put in every shingle if I had more time!"

   In addition to different painting styles, we also differ in our patience levels. It took every ounce of patience I had not to try and "fix" her painting. Allowing her to be herself has been a learning experience for me as well. I accept her for who she is, and as you can see - the end results are beautiful!

   I also have to accept myself as well as my process. I'm still growing and changing. My focus and creative process is currently being channeled into the book I'm co-writing with my husband. The book is a memoir of our trip from Maine down to southern Georgia during the winter of 2013-14. While we blogged about our experiences and journey, the book will tell the true story behind the story. It will contain facts and details that never could've been written about in our blog. In hindsight, however, our trip south was a diving board to our new life. At that time, we were down-sizing from a large 2-bedroom apartment to a 25 foot RV. My husband was forcibly downsized from a 40-hour work week to zero. I'll let you know when the book gets published.

   Our new life is one of simplicity. Since returning from the southeast, we rent a small one bedroom residence where I have a small studio. My husband Dave is working a different 40+ hour a week job that he enjoys mostly, as well as freelance writing and photographing in his free time. Our next goal is to build our own 800-900 square foot home in the neighboring ocean-side town of Owls Head.

   Dave and I are changing focus. Bigger is not always better. Many times it's not a question of what you want, but what you need. And the fact that you do indeed have enough. At the moment, I'm reading a book entitled, The Circle Of Simplicity - Return To The Good Life by Cecile Andrews. Contained in this book are all sorts of ideas we will be incorporating into our daily rounds. I will be sharing some of these ideas in future blogs.

   "The art of life is to live in the present moment, and to make that moment as perfect as we can by the realization that we are the expression of God himself. The best way to prepare for tomorrow is to make today all that it should be." - Emmett Fox.

   Do you want to live a better life? For starters, let's make this an interactive blog - talk to me. Did you like this blog? What parts did you like? What didn't you like about it? What you like to see written here (within reason)?

   Until next time,
   The Focused Writer,
   Jill

The Painting Spectrum - Stored Away

   Over the past few days, my emotions have been running at fever pitch. Memories of days gone by flooded my mind as I walked into my youngest daughter's apartment and I saw stacks of boxes that were packed with her children's books and toys. She is moving to a new residence by the end of June. The mission that my husband and I were on was to ease her burden by retrieving the very last of our stuff from one of her closets. She was storing certain things for us when we journeyed down South for a while and we were RV'ing with other people a few years ago. I thought we had more than just three boxes and an old trunk, which I call my treasure chest. This particular "chest" is two feet high, three feet long, and two feet wide. It's made of durable wood, has a decorative metal band around it, and is at least 100 years old. The locks have long since busted, and the hinges along the back are long gone as well. I obtained the trunk from a friend in Massachusetts well over 20 years ago. As rough as it is, this family piece of nostalgia has stayed with us and I still love it.

   When we opened it for the first time in over three years, I found paintings I did back in college, as well as ceramic vases. There are only three salvaged from a series of seven. I can still vividly remember painfully working on them - putting spikes on them one by one. Those ceramic works were representational of my defenses. I began with a blow fish and it's spikes. These vases morphed into water plants with spikes. Yeah - they were interesting...

   Over the years, through the numerous moves we've made, some the spikes have slow but surely broken off. My life parallels the life of those vases - my defensive walls have come down. I'm not as afraid of life as I was afraid of being hurt when I was younger. Experience and time has taught me not to fear. Everything always works out the way it's supposed to in the end. No matter how much we plan or strive with a situation - life dictates the outcomes. God is in charge, not me.

   As for the paintings in my treasure chest, one is of a model. I liked her and especially her hat. At the time, I was much younger and I didn't have the full grasp of how to paint her facial features in 3-D yet, so she's horribly flat with no expression. Other paintings were pieces from multiple decades; from realism to abstract. I have two photo journals of paintings and our family photos entwined. My treasure chest once again has a permanent place in my studio now. It's home where it belongs. One last surprise was finding eight blank boards, already with Gesso applied, ready to be painted on.

   Over the past few weeks, my left eye has been slowly healing from the major surgery I had at the beginning of the month. I wrote from time to time, about the gas bubble (yes - a real gas bubble) that was inserted into my eye to help close the hole that was in my macular. As I write this, that bubble has pretty much totally disappeared. My eyesight has healed. Therefore, I have no more excuses... I have to begin working again.

   I plan to alternate between writing, painting, and polishing over some older abstracts. There is freedom in passionate self-expression. My inner life is no longer stored away. I can see and appreciate the journey I've been on;
 - Learning my skill.
 - Honing my talents over the years by observing and copying other artists.
 - Then discovering myself - who I am really and what does painting mean to me.
 - Being set free from society and restrictions I put on myself.
 - Painting abstractly; playing with line, forms, and color.

   An older friend, (wiser too), said once, "Keep painting. It's what you were born to do. The world needs all the artists it can get."

   On that note,
   The Happy Painter,
   Jill

The Painting Spectrum - One Eye Painting

   I ran into an old friend at a local plant store yesterday and, even though she was extremely busy, we had a chance to briefly discuss my recent eye surgery (which has been quite successful thus far). She asked if I was able to paint again? Have I regained sight in my left eye? I informed her that about one-third  of my eyesight had returned, and there is still a small gas bubble in the macular region that is helping to heal my eye. It will still be a few more weeks before that bubble dissolves along with the stitches the doctor put are gone - my apologies if I just grossed you out. I told her it is rather difficult getting in the mood to paint, as the bubble bounces around and I can see it. She realized that, as a painter, one's eyes are a window in creating. She knows I love to paint and that I've been doing it almost my entire life. She gave me a consoling hug and said she could not imagine how difficult it is not to exercise my creative muse.

   In between customers and calls on her walkie-talkie, we chatted about the shows my husband and I have coming up this summer and fall. She extended the invitation to me to paint inside the greenhouse, which she showed me, easel and all. However, due to a lack of space, (and the fact I wouldn't want to disrupt their business), most likely I would have my husband take photographs and then reproduce them later for me to paint. But while we were there, I did notice the greenhouse was bursting with blooms and intoxicating scents. I could tell my friend was in love with her job. She was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic as she rattled off the names of the plants as we strolled by them. I knew it would be a while before I would paint flowers again - I truly need both eyes to catch the details an colors accurately.

   My friend got called away by more customers. We said our goodbyes. My husband Dave and I picked up my two house plants (an orange geranium and another flowering plant called Nemesia) and paid for them. I've been hankering for flowers / house plants after the eye surgery center gave me a beautiful Kalanchoe plant with pink flowers for "putting up with them during this ordeal." Who put up with whom??

   As I write this, my plant stand is full of lively colorful new plants. Some of my older paintings are also being done over in lively new colors. I managed to touch up two different works this week. Just some basics - nothing crazy. I can barely work one hour at a time or I pay the price with a headache. Progress not perfection. Time will take it's time.

   Until next time,
   The one-eyed painter,
   Jill

The Painting Spectrum - What If?

   You're a painter. You've been painting for approximately 90% of your lifetime, ever since you were a kid. You attended classes and workshops. You've taught classes and workshops. You've displayed your works in fairs, businesses, and galleries. You've sold work on-line as well as at art markets and said art galleries. But what if, out of nowhere, you were a painter (or an artist of any genre) who suddenly couldn't see? Or a painter who entered a funky depression? The previous eight sentences have just described me.

   A little over a month ago, I noticed vision problems in my left eye. I was unsure if I needed new glasses or had a foreign object in my eye. I knew something was really wrong and needed this situation checked out, was when I was reading a book while drinking a cup of tea. When I lifted my cup with my right hand and pretty much blocked my right eye, all the letters on the books page moved and suddenly slanted downward much to my surprise. I went to see my optometrist and after a lengthy appointment, I found that I have a macular hole in my left eye. I didn't do anything out of the ordinary to my eye, no unusual strain, or injure it in any way. These things just happen sometimes, mostly due to age.

   In the depths of winter, I often get depressed. While I love where I live along the coast of Maine, the winters can seem to drag, even if they're not that brutal. March can be a difficult month for me, but I take the necessary steps to wade through it. However, it's now late April - the weather has been wetter and colder than normal for the most part and with this news about my eye, (and the upcoming surgery), I can openly admit, I'm tanking.

   I haven't had the energy or the where-with-all to pick up a brush. I'm finding I don't have any fresh ideas. In a way, I'm grateful I finished my oil slick series, but on the flip side of the coin, I'm saddened that it is finished. I'm ready to take all my painting supplies and hurl them out my studio windows. I did have an after-thought; what kind of abstract would that create?

   Over the past six weeks I've amerced myself with writing a book with my husband and I've embraced a great deal of reading despite my vision challenge. One book I'm currently reading states to get rid of clutter, whether personal or professional. I guess I can call this my Spring cleaning.

   Unfortunately, my mind is mostly focused on the upcoming surgery. The doctors are confident that I will regain sight in my left eye. I wish I had their confidence. Being an artist and a tad on the sensitive side, I can easily go and orbit this little planet called "worst case scenario". I want to see again. I want to paint again. I want to do more than just paint my finger and toe nails. However, as my husband puts it, if I have the right attitude and mindset, there is hope!

   Until next time, in at least a month,
   The "Left Eye Blind" Painter
   Jill

The Painting Spectrum - Sick And Tired Of Being Sick And Tired

   Mark this week as a rarity; for the second time in six weeks, I've come down with this flu thing that's been making the rounds. The first time wasn't so bad - I pretty much got over it in about 5-6 days. I think the fact that I passed it lovingly on to my husband helped.

   But this go-round has me beaten pretty bad. I can put up with the stuffy nose, the somewhat sore throat, and the fact that my head feels like a brick has been implanted into it. But it's the exhaustion. I've been too tired to paint, polish, or more or less be creative. Even the writing of my latest book has almost ground to a halt. I've only written about eight pages this week and I've done some very basic sketching - about two papers worth. Oh, and I finished a short book I was reading. The item that has been on my agenda mostly is sleep.

   I'll put creative thoughts and waves out into the artistic universe. Perhaps you can pick up on some extra creativity, since I'm sure as heck not using mine at the moment

   Until next time,
   The Under-the-Weather Painter,
   Jill

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The Painting Spectrum - Is Art For Everyone?

   I have a theory - many people suffer from a silent feeling of inadequacy when they view a painting or a piece of art they do not "understand". Do they feel confused? Do they feel dumb? Or is it a case that no one has clued them in on what they are looking at? And the title of "Untitled" is not helping. The viewer remains baffled.

   I had a neighbor come into my studio the other day where she liked and commented on the floral paintings I had hanging on a wall. "When are you having your shows?", she inquired. "At this point, late July through October. I'll be showing my abstracts with my husbands photographic work.", was my response.
"What's an abstract?", she asked.
I pointed to an 11x14 I had done a few months back that was also hanging on a wall. "This one, for example."
"That mess? Now why would you want to paint that?" she asked.
Responding as graciously as possible, I said, "For starters, I had fun creating the work. Secondly, it looks like a flower garden if you look at these points. It depends on your perspective."
"Oh now I see! Wow! You're right!", she cooed. "And this one looks like city streets. And that one looks kinds like a salad."
"It could be...", I answered. She continued moving around my studio and noticed several sunflower paintings and art works.
"You like sunflowers. I can tell.", she stated.
"Yes - they are my favorite flower.", I commented.
"Did you paint this one?", she questioned.
Pointing to the work, I replied, "No, my youngest daughter orchestrated this work. Here's her foot, the hands and feet of my four grandchildren, and the foot of my oldest daughter."
"That's awesome." One could tell she relished the painting / work.
"It's definitely a family treasure that I'm keeping." After that, she mentioned she had to get going and I thanked her for the frame she brought by which was the original intent for the brief visit.

   Now, from the artist's point of view - take my youngest daughters painting / work, for example - using the tools of hands and feet along with paint to create a work of art. There was a group of people involved, mainly children aged from 7 years down to 5 months old. There was also an idea - to create two images of sunflowers. There is the creative process as well as an element of fun involved. Lastly, the giving and receiving of the gift into its new home.

   Emotions, energy, and excitement are some of the primary reasons why we create art. Sometimes we may have to explain the process or symbolism within the work for it to be understood and appreciated. On numerous occasions, especially with my abstracts, have told viewers that are having a difficult time "understanding" my paintings, to stop trying to "figure out what the subject is". Instead, I ask them what they see, what drew them to the painting, what do they like about it? I tell them there is no right or wrong, especially with abstracts. Enjoy the work, don't try to solve a mystery that's in some other person's head.

   Art IS for everyone. With love, appreciation, and honest questions, we can all engage, live, learn and grow. We, and the art world, will benefit greatly.

   Until next time,
   The Happy Painter,
   Jill