Inspiration Wednesday..

I have found so much inspiration the last week that I want to share my"Inspirations " with you.
1. Jamie for the idea of Inspiration Wednesday.
2.Melissa Haslam, An Australian artist , her artwork is so amazing to me. She inspires me to want to learn to draw and she sent me the nicest email with suggestions for learning. I am in love with the faces she draws and the way she combines bontanicals. I hope someday to at least own a print. Visit her blog .
3. Fatima Ronquillo , an artist from San Fernando, Philippines, I first discovered her on twitter , she inspires me because she opens herself up so warmly. On her blog she shares works in progress, peeks into her studio and more. She is a "self taught" artist, which amazes me . I find inspiration in her work because if it's possible for her she opens up the possibility for you and I . One of the things I love about her was this statement "I paint because of the naive desire to see an idea transform into a pictorial poem. Ideas hail from dreams or visual flashes inspired by memory, artwork, music or literature - all the things I live and love. With a painter's language of color, tone and form, I express lyric poems of joy, love, wonderment and nostalgia". How beautiful is that? That is exactly why I want to draw. Read more about her here .
4. Mondo Beyondo a 5 week class that I am going to be taking about "Dreaming Big" because thats what life is all about right??

What do you find Inspirational right now?

The Art of "Nothing...

Who knew that doing "nothing " could be so hard! My mind didn't like doing nothing one bit . I sat in silence and my body hated being still. I used this little kneaded eraser( kinda like putty) to keep my hands busy while I sat. I pretended to be in the only seat in the room and I watched my thoughts come in and I acknowledged them as visitors. Oh , the endless chatter and nagging.Has it been 15 minutes yet? Did you hear that bird? Shouldnt you be tweeting and on and on .. So , I'm sorry I dont have any wonderful news to report because there is "nothing" . I plan to keep practicing because it seemed I kept hearing these words " BE STILL". So on to truth !!
here is a poem I found on being still.
Thou art? -- I am? -- Why argue? -- Being is.Keep still and be. Death will not still the mind.Nor argument, nor hopes of after-death.This world the battle-ground, yourself the foeYourself must master. Eager the mind to seek.Yet oft astray, causing its own distressThen crying for relief, as though some GodBarred from it jealously the Bliss it soughtBut would not face.

Till in the end,All battles fought, all earthly loves abjured,Dawn in the East, there is no other wayBut to be still. In stillness then to findThe giants all were windmills, all the strifeSelf-made, unreal; even he that stroveA fancied being, as when that good knightWoke from delirium and with a loud cryRendered his soul to God.

Mind, then, or soul?Break free from subtle words. Only be still,Lay down the mind, submit, and Being thenIs Bliss, Bliss Consciousness: and That you are.
-Arthur Osborne

What is bringing me joy in this moment...

As you know I am embarking on a "Joy Diet" . As part of the process , I am noting the little things that bring me joy. I thought today I would share a few of the things that bring me joy at this moment.
1. Twitter friends ( I am lucky to have some uplifting people on twitter, I really didn't intend to love it but I do!)
2.Suzi Blu's Les Petit Academy ( I love learning with her)
3.Hands and Heart (Monica Zuniga), Sept 25 Halloween Party ,I love Monica
4.Haute Doll ( the faces are amazing ,I am going to get some magazines to use as inspiration for my faces)
5.Treasure Hunt with Heather Plett ( Twitter Friend ) . Amazing idea !!
6. Pop tarts
7.My Keurig, I love it!!
8.India Arie , ready for love, My favorite part of the lyrics is :
"If you give me half a chance,I'll prove this to you, I will be patient, kind, faithful and true To a man who loves music ,A man who loves art,Respect's the spirit world,And thinks with his heart."
All of her music is so positive .
9.Pumpkin Spiced Latte ( shared by a twitterer)
10. Vintage poetry book I bought, here's one I marked:
Music I heard
Music I heard with you was more than music,
and bread I broke with you was more than bread,
Now that I am not with you, all is desolate,
All that was once beautiful is dead.

Your hands once touched this table and this silver,
And I have seen your fingers hold this glass,
These things do not remember you ,beloved
And yet your touch upon them will not pass.

For it was in my heart you moved among them,
And blessed them with your hands and with your eyes,
And in my heart they will remember always,-
They knew you once,O beautiful and wise.
-Conrad Aiken

Spill it !! with Carmen Torbus

Straight Talk with Carmen from Carmen Torbus on Vimeo.

A new workshop all about finding your style as an artist and spilling yourself onto canvas. Sound fun? Class begins October 1. You can even win the class! Check out the details here .

Beginning the "Joy diet" with "Nothing"...

I had this book on my bookshelf for a while now . I had forgotten I even had it until I saw that it was going to be a blog along at Jamie Riddler Studios . I tweeted that if I had the book I would join in . When I pulled the book off the bookshelf I saw where I had bookmarked into it a few chapters but I never finished it. I wondered why? so last night I opened it and started to read the first chapter and my first thoughts were oh no , I remember , this is the book that started with wanting me to do "Nothing". Right away I remembered the anxiety I felt with the idea of being still and doing nothing.As I read the chapter again I still felt the anxiety but the message is much clearer to me now. I actually chuckled along with Martha . I do not have a full time job . I have plenty of time to do "Nothing" but I am always surrounded with books, blogging, twittering , projects, and art. My mind is always racing like a rabid squirrel ( as Martha says). For some reason being still , really still , frightens me. So we will see how I make out this week. I am looking forward to following along with all of you on this journey . I am hoping to get some insight from some of you . I loved that Jamie suggests that we look for the little things that bring us joy , so that we start to notice it. I also love the idea of the little art cards. I am hoping to bring more joy into my life on this journey and maybe quiet myself enough to hear the real me. I am very happy to be sharing this with all of you. Finally a diet where gaining is the GOAL!

Treasures and Spell Bottles

Saturday I went with my husband to Berkley Springs Wv . Its a little town rich in history not far from where i live. We visited little shops and I brought home some things to use in my art . So I created a slideshow so you can see.

Also... Are you ready for some Halloween FUN!! Monica is having some super fun workshops and to top off all the fun and prizes and free classes she is featuring Cristina Zinnia ,who is doing some free stuff as well as having a paid workshop. Cristinia is doing a free spell bottle class .Now who wouldn't want to make a spell bottle ? FUN !!!! Also I say this in the sincerest way Monica and Cristina are really wonderful people.So kind and encouraging.So come have fun with us . It would be scary if you said NO!!

Remembering Debbie...

Today has been 4 years since my Aunt Debbie ( Debra Overbaugh Adams) passed away from breast cancer . I thought as a way of sharing her with you and as a way for me to memorialize her I would make a list of some things about her so you can share in her memory too.
1.She had auburn hair
2. When you got a letter from her it was 10 - 12 pages long( front and back)
3. She didn't have a loud laugh it was more a grin where her eyes twinkled.
4. She loved to talk and was very open
5.She was a dreamer
6.She lived in Germany for a little while
7. She was married 4 times.
8. She was the picture taker in our family
9. She had one brother ( my father ) who we lost at 41 ( suddenly of a heart attack )
10.When she found out she had terminal breast cancer , a tear slid down her cheek and she said" At least I don't have to worry about dying of heart disease"
11. She planned her own funeral
12. She is buried next to her brother
13. She believed she would be a survivor and beat odds many times ,she was given months to live and she battled for 5
14. She loved defying the odds
15, She wrote a letter to be read at her funeral
16. Her favorite color was blue
17. She hated getting rid of anything , she was a pack rat
18. She has 3 children
19.She was creative < she crocheted , painted and did ceramics, macrame , she had many interest 20.People liked her 21. we used to take walks at night in the snow 22. When I was younger , I stayed with her alot , we would sit up at night eating and talking. 23.When I was scared about her illness and I called her she always made me feel better . 24.She was still childlike , During chemo she ate lots of icecream, I bought her a musical santa and it played we wish you a merry xmas and I brought it to her hospital room and she stared at it in amazement.. 24. She loved animals 25. She bounced me hours on end when I was a baby, so I wouldn't cry. This is just a touch of who she was . I love her and miss her and she lives on in me. The above Blackhawk video " sailing on the ships of heaven " was chosen by her to be played at her funeral . She is not in it but I thought it would be nice to share it here.

Wanna have some halloween fun?

Hands and heart is opening registration September 24 with lots of prizes and FREE stuff!! Be sure and check it out:)

Focus and The Joy diet..

The other day when I was surfing the internet I read this by Melly Hocking and it came at a time when I was already thinking about what I was going to do to gain some focus.Right now I am involved in alot of online art classes and I haven't been giving them the focus they need because sometimes there is so much noise around me . I mean sometimes we are on information overload. As a person I am like that anyway. I am always several steps ahead of myself. I surround myself so much sometimes I can't concentrate.I at most times will have books beside me, my twitter open, checking myspace, reading blogs, blogging myself, downloading art classes, chatting on yahoo,texting on my cell.. ok , you get the point and I love it but I was thinking lately I have been spending more time collecting thoughts and dreams then the actual process of learning and living. As Suzi Blu told me " less jabbering more sketching" lol.. You gotta love her!! So, after reading Melly's post,I asked myself whats important to you in this moment and the answer was I am excited about the classes I am taking and I don't just wanna surround myself with wonderful supplies and classes and dreams .I wanna make art and see how I feel about it and what I can do and guess what? That takes practice and focus especially when it involves learning several things at once. So I will need to eliminate for now some of the things that aren't as important to me until I give myself a chance to grow with this new venture. I wanna see where it leads. I mean if I was sitting in a college class trying to learn ,i'm sure my professor wouldn't want me twittering,blogging, texting, and trying to learn. So I am going to give myself to this, in this moment.I am going to spend less time dreaming and more time living the dream .
No, i am not disappearing , just quieting the noise becoming more involved in the process of learning. I have decided to follow along on a book blogging journey starting Sept 18 ,We will be working our way through "The Joy Diet", discussing and blogging about the journey.If you wish to read along go here .Other than that ,I plan to "make art".Sometimes ,it is OK to step away from people or things in order to put your focus where it needs to be. So I am here. I will be checking email and my blog , but as Suzi says, I will be spending less time jabbering and more time sketching and maybe once I get some focus there i will have something great to share:)
I leave you with this quote , which describes where I am right now.

I want you to get excited about who you are, what you are, what you have, and what can still be for you. I want to inspire you to see that you can go far beyond where you are right now.
--Warren G. Bennis

Live the questions....

Sometimes messages come across my twitter like synchronized swimmers.Today the theme seems to be "beginnings" . I will be 40 next week and I am looking forward to it and have decided that it will mark a new beginning in my life. I plan to begin to take better care of myself and begin to nurture my inner self as well . I am not sure exactly what direction this will lead and with new beginnings comes disorder and anxiety for many of us . We as humans ,like answers and knowing . We like to have an order and like to know where our paths may lead. We search for answers to who we are , what we want, is this the right path for us,is it worth the risk . We pry in search of our inner selves always looking for the answers to our personal quests .So today I am reminded of this by poet Rainer Marie Rilke...
I beg you ... to be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tounge.Do not now seek the answers,which cannot be given to you because you would not be able to live them.And the point is,to live everything.Live the questions now.Perhaps you will then gradually,without noticing it,live along some distant day into the answer.
I know its a difficult thing to do. When someone close gave me this little poem I don't think I was ready to even understand it and I wasnt very comfortable with that as an answer but I practice sometimes being still and just sitting with not knowing . I let the uncomfortableness of living the questions just Be and trust that as I am living them that one day the answer will appear when I am ready to live it , after all living the questions is part of the journey ,is it not?

Some things to share..

Every day when I am surfing the internet or twittering (oh yes, I twitter) I come across some amazing people. I am also taking some art classes online ,as I mentioned before ,and I have met some there as well. SO I want to share a few places to visit with you . Maybe you will find some inspiration as well.
The Chocolate Chip Waffle , not only is the name yummy but the blog is as well.
Pam T's Art Loft , Her art inspires me. ( I wanna draw like her when I grow up ) lol
Melly Hocking, She always leaves me thinking and inspires me to dig deeper (thank you)
Create something today (aka. Crafty Tassy) she inspires me to create , and she is the warmest person.She will be doing an art journal class soon and she has a passion for art and teaching that shows. Thank you Tassy!!
I don't have alot to show in the way of art right now because I am learning and practicing my grey scale. I do have lots of new supplies coming . Whoo hoo!!
ENJOY!