My Prayer

Listening
Without the need to hear

Questioning
Without the need for answers

Learning
Without the need to know

Seeking
Without the need to find

~

Remaining
Open to possibility

Expecting
The perfect solution to all problems

Maximizing
The flow of good things coming to me

Accepting
God's plan for my life and all those who are in it

That is my prayer.

Letting Go

Yesterday we had a DELUGE (6-plus hours) of heavy rain, flooding, gusty winds and thunderstorms that may have caused power outages/downed trees. As our little "cabin in the woods" is surrounded on all sides by 80-100 foot oaks, we tend to be prepared! (candles lit, our lights flickered twice, but it wasn't to be!)

Listening to the constant downpour reminded me of the long list of weather extremes we've been experiencing lately. Brown winters, cold springs, ridiculously cool summers, therefore... as much i love you fall... I worry that I'm not prepared to move on from the way that the warm summer sun on my bare shoulders relaxes me, the meditative joy and sense of calm that washes over me while tending my flowers and the peace I've discovered while listening to the night sounds of crickets, Barred Owls and "peepers" from the candle-lit screened porch.

But, alas, it's time to let go!   



One of the reasons I'm able to concede, is that I am learning to live in the present, not worrying about what tomorrow will bring. Open, willing, trusting and letting go. And enjoying the rain!

"I should like to enjoy

this summer

flower by flower

as if it were to be 

the last one for me." 

~ André Gide

This favorite quotation describes it to a "T!"

happy hands

are busy hands!

Hands that LOVE to make the world a better (and prettier) place! Doctors, Gardeners, Songwriters, Artists, Dog Groomers, Photographers, Caregivers, Massage Therapists, Midwives, Authors, Musicians, House Painters, Hair Stylists, Architects.. there are millions of ways we C.R.E.A.T.E. and give back with our hands.

I started to see and feel the signs of arthritis, most notably in my hands, right around the time I rediscovered my artistic nature. Like many, I am a self-taught artist and over the past few years, it has come to define me. Whenever I find myself projecting to a time in the future when they may no longer work for me, it also serves to heighten awareness of all those that work with their hands and do it through PAIN and I decide to focus instead on the health that I have today ~ right now.

Spanning a four-decade career, I've worked mainly in sales yet there was a time when I had the chance to work with my hands! You can read about it in an earlier post.

The idea to write this "homage to hands" came from that aching feeling I get following a photo restoration project, perfecting line, color, exposure and possibly DUST on the original negative and therefore making about a million MOUSE CLICKS to preserve this lovely photo of my lovely (now 88 year-old) mother. And I wanted to share it with you!

Pinching Myself ~ I Get To Live Here!

MY VALHALLA! The first three photos were taken in New Milford, CT around mid-day yesterday, on a "birthday road trip" with a very dear friend. The last shot was taken at an old favorite fishin hole at Hatch Pond in Kent, CT just before sundown on june 25th. All are less than 6 miles from home.

a message just for me!

a message just for me!, a photo by cookievf on Flickr.

Last week I took a short drive with my mother while visiting her in Vermont (following some garage sale signs, actually), came around the bend to a very special "spot" that I shared with my dad in the late 1990's and was greeted by this beautiful tree!

It's located at the base of a long, dirt driveway and at the top is a VERY old, stately home, usually vacant, with a wrap-around porch, orchards, fields of wildflowers, a 180 degree view... and sunsets that would take your BREATH AWAY.

...thanks, dad. xo

Art Journal page 10Jun11

From an earlier blog post about counting my blessings with 3 of my flower photos, I was inspired to write a little "poem" in my written journal. Next, a prompt from Tee Thompson of green isles crafts inspired me to re-create this on a page in my ART journal and it felt like a FULL CIRCLE moment to me! Maybe YOU'LL be inspired by a word or an image here so that I can "pay it forward."

refreshed & renewed

Sitting here today I had a growing feeling that I needed to take a moment to reflect on what's behind me and what's ahead of me.

Currently in the US our flowers are in bloom and the change of seasons seem to make me want to quietly count my blessings one-by-one and, almost like a stopwatch, hit the RESET button. If I don't stop for a few precious minutes to focus on all of the positives in my life, then I find it's all too easy to get caught up in all of the million little tasks at hand and ultimately, I begin to feel frustrated... believing there's ever ENOUGH!!

Time
Money
Projects Completed
Trips Taken
Goals Met
People Seen
Emails Sent
Phone calls Made

~ you fill in the blank.

And I was inspired to jot this down on a piece of paper..

"There is healing found in the cycles of the natural world and I'm certain it was here that God intended we discover the lesson of renewal. Ebb and Flow. Sunrise and Sunset. Wax and Wane. Summer's Warmth and Winter's Cold. Give and Take. Birth and Death. Tides, Sun, Moon, Seasons, Life. When we take the time to contemplate the mysteries that surround us… questions are answered. And we emerge refreshed... renewed."

Happy Spring into Summer!

Art Journal Page: 29Apr11

Recently having been bitten by the art journaling "bug," I took my book on our first trip to boston this year for a Red Sox game in april. The first pic shows this page in its RAW FORM having doodled in bed for two hours around 1 AM!! Later at home, I carefully taped over the writing with painter's (no-stick) tape and went crazy with my acrylic craft paints, using a homemade stamp around the border. The most fun? removing the tape!!

TEXT: "I trust my own perceptions. I receive your good willingly. This is my prayer. Believing in myslef and my abilities, finding strength internally, not depending on others for validation. I am worth taking the time and making the effort."

"Gettin Dirty" Again

...my CODE for having paint/ink/glue all over my hands... which is when I'm the happiest! I've taken about a year and half break from mixed media art while focusing on creating and selling my artisan OOAK jewelry in local shops, craft fairs and on Etsy.

I decided the timing was perfect, to take a mini-break this winter, when I heard that Melody Ross was bringing Brave Girls Camp online with a workshop called Soul Restoration in January. That was the turning point for me! I signed up in early december and considered it a christmas present to myself.. a chance to set aside time for some soul searching and what she calls "soul crafting." It didn't disappoint because it has lit an Art Fire within that just won't quit! I am making art and continuing to really "buckle down and do the work" in my journal by keeping in touch with my TRUTH and mapping all of the journeys that my dreams will take me. And I am rejoicing because I know that my art is here to stay!

Basically, the camp is a 5-day retreat held in Idaho offering life-changing fun for women that you can read more about here. Melody says, "do you need healing...do you need help getting back on track? Do you need help remembering exactly who you are and what your dreams are....come join us...this stuff works....xoxox" The online workshop is a fabulous addition due to the overwhelming popularity of BGC, as the first 2 years of the retreat (2010 & 2011) have quickly sold out! Incredibly, 818 women from all over the world, are currently taking the first session of Soul Restoration 1 along with me... which ends on March 31.
I highly recommend this 6-week course and it begins again in 2 weeks!! Info here.

• Soul Restoration 1 - "finding your truth" - April 5th - $99

Recently expanded!!

• Soul Restoration 2 - "living your truth" - June 7 - $99

Check the youtube video to hear several students share their experience!

My art journal cover, above, was the very first project I tackled in SR (on Jan 11, 2011) and the first time I re-connected with my first love, mixed media art. I honestly feel as if I've been "broken open!" Thank you Melody and your entire team for a beautiful course and a job well done - XO. See you in June!

Begin Again

"Don’t ask what the world needs.

Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it.

Because what the world needs

is people

who have come alive."

-Howard Thurman

So I'm back, bottle of glue in hand.. ready and willing to share my gifts with the world! In other words, although I haven't posted in nearly 2 months, I assure you I've been:

TAKING A LOCAL BOOK ALTERING CLASS, Going to Redsox games, MAKING MORE ART, Tending my roses, EXPERIMENTING WITH NEW TECHNIQUES, Making new friends, SIGNING UP FOR A LOCAL ART JOURNAL WORKSHOP, Lots of photograpy, STRETCHING MY ARTISTIC WINGS. Basically I have been loving my life and counting each and every blessing.

Pics to follow... stay tuned, dear friends!

Authenticity

Truthfully, no two of us are alike!



Whether you've attended Art School, are self-taught or consider yourself an "outsider artist," each one of us has come from a very VERY different place. And because we come from totally different places it is natural to produce totally different art.



Creating art, in any form, is also an act of trust. It takes a "leap of faith" since making art is the act of BARING YOUR SOUL!

There truly are - NO RULES - that define where art can or should come from. The important part is that we express our own authentic individual experience.

Release the bird from your caged mind. Let your art (and your heart) S.O.A.R.

You have a story to tell!

art journey, refreshed

It wasn't until I heard myself saying.. out loud.. how much I missed making art, that I realized I needed an emergency ART INTERVENTION! So often we turn without for inspiration, but this time it felt different. It came from within.

My heart spoke ~ and I listened.

About 2.5 weeks ago, I was describing to a friend that not expressing myself through my art was making me feel all bottled up! Shocked to hear myself uttering those words, and I promise you it was TANGIBLE.. there was a connection taking place inside.. leaving no doubt, whatsover, that the time to "purge" was n.o.w.

The easy part was locating a few half-started projects to pick back up again - LOL - and (no surprise) I came up with some new ones, as well. I'll be busy posting and sharing them with you, but first, here's what I've been working on since March 3rd:

• blank card for someone to GIVE (below)
• 3 ATC's - 1 very special one for a special friend
• an altered book Poetry Journal with a teenage friend
• finished my first handbound journal (a la Kelly Kilmer) with 3, 20-page signatures
• started the cover design
• learned to use a Color Negative attachment to my scanner and retouched 2 of my all-time best photographs from two 26 year old negatives
• Book of Me journal
• Sentimental Journey journal

... happy arting!

every day is a new beginning

upland farm - sherman, CT 02.25.08

Let there be respect for the earth,

Peace for its people,

Love in our lives,

Delight in the good,

Forgiveness for past wrongs

And from now on, a new start.

millennium resolution - rev. peter trow - 1999

2009 Outlook: Delve Deep!

Art Journal Page - "the time is now"

November 2008

(made for an Artist's-Way-style challenge on NING)

As we turn the page on 2008 and prepare to begin anew,
~ allow me to share an uplifting thought ~

The economic downturn has effected each and every one of us, if not personally then it has most assuredly impacted someone that we love. Housing foreclosures, unemployment, sacrifice and loss. Life lessons have been learned and we will be forever changed. And that is not always a bad thing.

We are reminded that it is our relationships, not things, that are important.

Now is the PERFECT TIME for:

~ reflection
~ learning
~ delving deep

~ self love

~ patience
~ finding creativity
~ adaptability

~ resourcefulness
~ discovering strengths

and most of all,

~ reaching out to uplift a friend because
a trouble shared is a trouble halved

I have earned an MBA and a PHD in the "school of hard knocks" over the course of my lifetime. Looking back, I wouldn't change a thing since it has shaped me into the person I am today.

If you have major obstacles in your life right now, I want you to know that I care. You are in my thoughts and I believe in you!

“Every moment of your life is infinitely creative and the universe is endlessly bountiful. Just put forth a clear enough request, and everything your heart desires must come to you." - Mahatma Gandhi

Mom Wisdom

I came across this little piece the other day, especially good advice for this time of year:

"Be quiet.

Quiet, not only for the ears, but for the eyes.

Quiet for the mind and heart and soul.

There are shelves of books all about de-cluttering our lives. It is simply this; we can have the thing or we can have the time it takes to do it. We cannot have both. Quiet makes possible the higher human activities:

Prayer

Learning

Music

Art

Writing

Thought

Genuine conversation

Sleep

Walking

Water

Dining

Quiet.

Why do we prefer the complex and expensive solutions to our ailments over the simpler Mom Wisdom that is free and readily available? Why not start today with a nap and a good meal? And then take a walk."

Giving Back - Our Future Depends On It!

I have been a part of this amazing organization for more than 10 years and am anxious to tell you a little bit about it. I am THRILLED to see the many ways in which Animal Therapy plays such an important role on this NY campus, for young students and residents alike. It includes such wonderful programs as: "ECAD" (link below & photo above) where some of the students get the opportunity to train Assistance Dogs, "Farm on the Moo-ve" where there's an opportunity to bring animals and their student care-givers to local schools, both wildlife & farm animal rescue where children can learn "if they can heal, so can I!," as well as participating and winning awards for 4H and Equine Therapy for the handicapped. The list GOES ON!

(Please note--> Because there is such a WIDE scope of campus & community outreach programs, portions of this post are excerpted from their official website. Please follow any of the links I've included to learn more - I promise that you will be amazed!)

"Green Chimneys is a nationally renowned, non-profit organization with a mission of restoring possibilities and creating futures for children with emotional, behavioral and learning challenges through educational, therapeutic and outreach services, while providing care for animals and nature, thereby promoting a philosophy of dignity and worth for all living things.

Each year, Green Chimneys' restoration system gives children and their families the tools that enable them to positively experience their youth, regain a sense of self-worth and create hope for the future as independent, positive and productive adults.

Founded in 1947 and headquartered in Patterson, NY it is recognized as the worldwide leader in animal-assisted therapy and activities. Green Chimneys operates

• a residential treatment center for children,
• a farm and wildlife rehabilitation center,
• a certified organic farm and horticulture therapy,
• a therapeutic riding program,
• community based services in NY and CT including
• a runaway shelter and community outreach center,
• Clearpool Education Center,
• Nature’s Nursery and Hillside Summer Camp,
• the Good Friend youth mentoring program (learn more), <--- where it all started
• group homes,
• LGBTQ programs in New York City (learn more),
• ECAD or East Coast Assistance Dogs (learn more),
• programs and special events for the public and
• adult services programs in Connecticut.
  
  

  Green Chimneys Farm now encompasses 160 acres, almost 400 animals, and over 40 varieties of rare birds. The school has both residential programs and day treatment programs attended mostly by boys, half of them from New York City. The others come from the surrounding area including Connecticut as well as from other states. Doctors, veterinarians, and social workers from around the globe have visited Green Chimneys to learn about its amazing work!
  
  

  View a list of over 15 Upcoming Events.
  
  

  Each year, Green Chimneys serves more than 3,500 children and their families. There's a permanent link if you scroll down on my sidebar under "Please Visit," or click HERE!
  

  
  

  

  I'll be posting (soon) about my personal involvement!

Art As Therapy

Bennington, VT

Oh that glorious feeling that comes from creative expression ~ both in the giving and in the receiving!

It opens the heart, mind and soul to beautiful things and beautiful people then simply multiplies tenfold when we S.H.A.R.E.!

I want to give a heartfelt THANK YOU to all of my internet friends (and some strangers, too) for the utterly amazing talent you give to the WORLD. I am filled to overflowing today with your words, quotes, poems, stories, collage, photography, paintings, weavings, sculpture, assemblage... each and every form of creation from your soul to mine!

Thank you,

from the bottom of my heART!

Listen with your heart

"Never Too Late"

For where your treasure is,

there will your heart be also.

~ Luke 12:34

Have you shared a similar experience? Several years ago I began to notice an odd pattern. Digital clocks would often be at 12:34 when I glanced to check the time!

About two years ago, the subject came up with a few of my close friends. We were sharing odd or unique experiences and I mentioned my "relationship" with 12:34. Immediately, those instances began to increase. Normally I would consider it to be what I call "selective perception" however, I have a favorite aunt (90 years young) who firmly believes "There are NO COINCIDENCES!"

Anxious to understand more, I turned to a dear friend to see what she thought of all this! Her pearl of wisdom: lets look up the chapter and verse in the Bible. The one I wrote above is the line I selected WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT. It has held a special meaning for me, ever since.....

and I'm listening to my heart!

You're only here for a short visit.

Stop to smell the flowers along the way. - Walter Hagan



Show me your garden and I shall tell you what you are. - Alfred Austin



Bloom where you're planted. - Mary Englebreit




I should like to enjoy this summer flower by flower, as if it were to be the last one for me. - Andre Gide



Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience. - Ralph Waldo Emerson