Happy Day of the Heart

May you seek to give love more than to get,

 

 

May your heart be full from the giving of love and kindness,

 

May we celebrate our unity with and love for all of life,

 

Happy Day of the Heart

Inspired by Kindness

I received an e-mail from Robyn Gordon  her blog: Art Propelled and her art are a deep source of inspiration and 'awe' for me.  There are times when someone reaches out and it is just at the time a 'lifesaver' is needed.  I was needing a 'hand' when Robyn's kind e-mail arrived letting me know that she too had addressed dealing with arthritis.   
Look at one of Robyn's amazing Niche Carvings:

Here is a stunning Tribal Door that she carved:

 

I encourage you to look at both her website (attached to her name above) and her blog. 

I am a bit embarrassed to share the art I made for myself to remind me how important words of kindness are and yet here is my work sparked by Robyn titled: Inspired by Kindness

 

 

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. ~Leo Buscaglia

 

What will our children do in the morning if they do not see us fly? - Rumi

 

These are some pages from one of my art journals.  This is a new approach for me inspired by  

 Matisse who described his paper cut out process as "drawing with scissors" explaining: "Paper cutouts allow me to draw in color, I see it as a simplification. Instead of drawing the contour and putting color into it--one modifying the other--I draw directly in color." 

 I used loose watercolors in the background and then cut out past drawings and glued them on.  This was wonderfully fun! 

 

 

"Creativity takes Courage"  H. Matisse

A Change in Perspective

 

 

During this past November I had to address the arthritis in my hands and how it affected my ability to draw.  After spiraling down into a dark hole and visiting there for awhile I picked myself up and began to explore what I was able to do.  I could sew, work with clay, paint, collage, and do a bit of drawing.  While drawing is a deep love of mine, allowing expression of the mysterious creative process that seems to flow through all of us was more important than drawing I discovered.  This has been a journey that I am beginning to undertand enough to share.  Some of my current pieces: 

 

Here is a quote I find very inspiring:

The planet does not need more 'successful people'. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of all kinds. It needs people to live well in their places. It needs people with moral courage willing to join the struggle to make the world habitable and humane and these qualities have little to do with success as our culture has set. " - H.H.The Dalai Lama