Tag: #familytime

REFLECTIONS

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C0215 30x30

Reflecting Home  30″ X 30″ Acrylic on Gallery Wrap Canvas

Today I am feeling quite melancholy, I think I am coming off the high of a great Open Studio Tour, some unexpected sales and a successful talk.  Exhaustion has settled in and I am sharing my vulnerable self.  The studio has become a working place more than a creative space. I have several pet portraits in various stages of development for customers, but I have not found time to create for me.

When I begin to feel overloaded like I do today I turn toward reflection. A time to look back and ponder how I got to this place. It is not always easy to consistently be up to the task of growing a business. Especially at my age, people say why haven’t you retired. The answer to that is simply, I like what I do. I find purpose in my mission of spreading joy and happiness to those who stumble upon my work. I love spreading positive energy through my workshops, talks, and paintings.  I love collaborating with other positive people and bringing something new and different into the world. I thrive on that spark of creativity.

It becomes more difficult each year as my energy drains faster than my ideas. So I have learned to pace myself, say NO when I have to, and pick what is important and let the rest slide.  Now is the time to nurture my soul and talk to my kids and let them know how much I love them and go on a much-needed date with my husband.

Journeying  through the ups and downs of life one painting at a time…

Christmas Week

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master-6x8-for-cards“Watchman Tell Us Of The Star”

The week before Christmas is always a rush, in the best possible way.  Most of the community Christmas activities are over and it is time to concentrate on family. Last minute gifts to purchase and wrapping them just right.  Around our house the guest bedroom becomes Christmas Central and it is off limits to everyone but the chief elf herself, moi.  Gifts have dwindled down to just grand kids, all seven of them, so piles of toys and a few pieces of clothing scatter atop the bed. Now to pick just the right wrapping paper depicting Jolly Santa, and Happy Snowmen to spur anticipation from each expectant child.

Next stop is the kitchen to make the longed for Christmas Cookies to bring to the family celebration.  My hubby’s favorite are raisin filled cookies that I make into star shapes and decorate with colored sugar. My daughters favorite are ribbon cookies chocked with nuts and cherries and chocolate.  My husband asked just this morning when are the cookies getting baked?  It takes two days to create both of these sumptuous creations so I better start in the morning.  I like them fresh for Christmas eve.

Christmas cards are out and on their way to loved ones across the country, due to arrive this week.  I always take time the week before Christmas to sit down to read all the letters and notes that people write.  I catch up on each and every life.

In Prescott the Christmas parades are over, so is the Cantata at Church, and the Pop’s Christmas concert.  Acker Night has come and gone, the Court House lighting was beautiful. The tree is up and the lights are lit.  Now the real meaning of the holiday starts; traveling to Phoenix. Christmas Eve with the family doing our thing, hugs and kisses all around.  After all, isn’t that what it is really about, a birth, a family, and love.