The Road's Envy

As I sat in my studio painting today, I listened to cars passing on the road below my window.  The sound they made passing sounded like the road could have been yawning in its mundane role, just lying there, as I reveled in the thrill and fulfillment of mine, constantly creating.  Made me think that if it could, the road might just envy me...

WHY

is it SO friggin' cold in the southeast?!?!?!  I can't say I don't like snow.  But I don't like cold.  Cold wind cutting through my pantlegs and whipping around my neck makes me cranky.  I've learned, even since I left behind my childhood in the colder northern states, to be prepared and bundled up well so it wouldn't matter what shenanigans the weather got up to.  But sometimes I'm still caught off guard.

I scoffed when they predicted a light "dusting" of snow on Christmas day (in metro Atlanta??).  Then I found myself opening the door after Christmas dinner to see flakes drifting through the sky.

  

In short, the weather has been up and down here, with more chilly lows than I've been accustomed to in recent years.  Cold fingers have to work harder to be creative :o(.  So I've unearthed my old fashioned hand warmer and several space heaters to use in addition to the usual layers.  Think I'm ready to brave this odd cold spell.  Wish me warmth!

p.s. Merry Christmas/ Happy Hanukkah/ Happy Kwanzaa/ Happy New Year!

A Sweet, Simple Joy

Okay, I just had to write this to share something that has been a profound part of my life, initially afforded to me at a very young age by my very wise mother.  Years ago, when my brother and I were kids, we had a beloved ritual with my mother that still affects me to this day.  Every so often, she would drive us to the huge public library, and allow us time to pick out arms full of books.  This was often followed by a trip to the grocery store, where she would get the groceries for the week, to include treats such as licorice for us.  We would then go home and disappear into our rooms, to chew on sweets while we were absorbed for hours in whatever adventure could be found in the pages of our borrowed books.

To this day, there is a
special joy for me in the
free knowledge, adventure, inspiration, opportunities, and ideas that can be found at my local libraries.  Yes, the internet is a great place to do some research, and ebooks are a fine idea in some instances, but there's still something about curling up with a great book with actual pages.  A story that you cannot put down to eat or sleep.  Or a how-to that helps you teach yourself to do something new and fun or useful.  Or try something historical with amazing facts you never knew.

People seem to gravitate to coffee shops for a quiet place to read, work, or study, but the library is the originator of the quiet space, perfect for these activities.  The last bastion of respect enough for one's neighbors to be quiiiiiieeeet (no coffee shop music or posers).  You can't even get that in church anymore, because people seem to constantly forget to put their mobile devices on silent.

Because of my love for books and libraries, one of my dreams was always to have a big, beautiful library of my own, in my home, full of lots of beautiful books, especially plenty of art books.  I imagined that by the time I was a wrinkled little old lady, my library would be massive, and would be turned into a public library (with lots of reading nooks and art on the walls, of course) named after me once I was gone.  I hit Ikea a few years ago and started on that dream.  It's evolved beautifully and I enjoy it.  I still, however, love to go to the public library, and hope others do, too.   

Gimme a Moment

Okay, I must just take a couple of seconds to take issue with a phrase that's been in rotation since who knows when.  The other day I was talking to someone who threw it out and it struck a chord in me.  She said "I just have an hour to kill, so... yada yada yada".  Okay, anyone who knows me knows how ruthlessly I try to guard my time.

I can't stand waste in any arena of my life.  Don't like wasted money, food, supplies, energy, etc., but most of it I can get back or comp out on the other end somehow.  But since a day or an hour is a commodity that one cannot ever get back, why try to kill it, so to speak?!  I agree with whomever said that time is our most valuable commodity, because once lost, it can never be regained.  Don't get me wrong, I realize that the way I say it seems too literal for everyday application, and that one can save time here and there, but the concept of trying to rid oneself of a segment of time seems ludicrous to me, since I'm one of the freaks who'd love to get a 36 hour day once in a while.  Just saying.

Identity Crisis

Okay, gotta get something off my creative chest.  I mean, it's an innocent enough question, but it's a bit of a thorn in the side of someone like me who is trying to use her work to relate to various subjects and hopes to prompt thought, imagination, and creativity on the part of whomever her audience may be.  It is, I think, a result of societal conditioning, which demands we look for ways to define, understand, and relate to other people.  But I will admit to some teeth gritting when folks look at those of my paintings which happen to feature people and ask, "so who is that?".  I guess it gives me the impression that they are focusing more on insignificant aspects than on the emotion or idea I'm trying to express.  I feel like an artistic ogre because I expect folks to understand that, with

the prayer - work in progress   

the exception of special portraits, most of the faces in my paintings are just faces I created from my own imagination to express something in the painting.  I should remind myself that people who do not create and may

muses: #'s 1, 2, & 3, work in progress

not relate to my motivation to do so, may also have a very "black and white" approach to understanding the work.

Sister's Selah - work in progress

 Anyway, for anyone who ever wonders, most of the people in my work are, yes, figments of my imagination, sometimes influenced by features and mannerisms of real people I meet or know, but mostly made up to suit the sentiment in the painting or the conversation I'm attempting to start with audiences through my work.
Okay, now that that's off my chest, it's back to the dungeon for this ogre (or orgrette, whatever) - more figments to paint...

lately...

just a few of many colors, shapes and textures I see and glean inspiration from daily...

 ... these were even prettier after I tossed them in with banana slices and flaxseed.  And soooo good!

 fall has officially arrived in Georgia

 candy buttons - a childhood favorite

I'm always amazed at how the trees never give up reaching for the sky, no matter how many storms and seasons they've weathered.  Could they exist as a beautiful example?

Anyway, my deep thought for the day: if I could spend all day everyday striving to mirror all the wondrous things I see and echo all the amazing experiences of life, as though I'm constantly turning to the world and saying "hey, look at that!", then I would truly, fully, finally consider myself an artist.  

(Does that mean people who post great videos on youtube are artists? ;o))

The Great Chase

So, not long ago, as I was rummaging through some old stuff, I found a tiny object of origin years ago that I had forgotten existed.  I turned the little glazed ceramic object in my hand, trying to sharpen the vague, fuzzy pictures in my memory of my elementary school art class.  The kiln that stood stoic in a corner of its own little room, separate from our colorful classroom, the tables, one after the other scattered with messy gray piles of clay, little fingers shaping and playing.  I remembered how I had rolled and rerolled the handle until I was finally satisfied with it.  I laughed, remembering how I struggled to decide on glaze colors because the teacher had told us that the liquid glaze was not the color that it would appear after firing (I still agonize over details sometimes).  But I mostly remembered how much I loved the act of creating, and then holding the completed creation in my hands then and now (funny, it seemed bigger then!).  I love this little cup all over again, and the free, uninhibited spirit that created it.  I was my audience and the only person I needed to please with my work.  It's a little different now, because I often have to take into consideration what will speak to my customers, especially with commissioned work, but I have to admit I enjoy that, too.

For so many years I've pursued my love of art and creating, fortunately capturing it over and over again.  And then there were some years when I just wanted to put it down and be free of it, but art and creating pursued me.  Lucky for me, it continued to capture me over and over. 

juuussst staaaaarrrrt!!!! Sheesh!

Okay, here I am, slinking back to try to get this thing pulled together once and for all...
Lol, I've been busy, but now, because I've been busy, I need to come clean house a little before company starts showing up.
I keep telling myself (like I sometimes tell people about my website) that it doesn't match my vision, but unless I hire some psychic web design person, it won't overnight. Best approach, as I say about a lot of things is just to start, focus, and watch it gradually become what I need it to be.
For starters, it is not entirely accidental that the post space is a compact little window, lol.
If I log on one time and see a big blank box to fill, well, that'll kill the motivation and we'll go another 9 months before the next advance. Anyway, this is it. Here we go. Uh, I mean, later. I'll do more later. Not two months or anything. But, next week or something ;o).

moving in

Okay, so it's a sort of new year, and I'm trying to follow through with my promise to myself that I would move to a new and improved blogspace, and do a better job of keeping house once I moved in. So here I am, getting started. Already missing the old, established place, but when it's time to move on...

by the way, here's the link to the old spot - if you've stumbled onto me here, please bear with me while I figure this new way out!
http://heart.reneezanceart.com/