A Heart Right Under Her Nose...

 

 

I'm always amazed at the interesting places I find hearts when I take the time to look around and see them. I never noticed that my dog, Maggie, has a heart-shaped nose until my son, Scotty, took a super close-up shot of her face and there on the computer monitor was her heart-shaped nose staring right at me. And my super-duper heart scouting daughter, Paige, found the heart-shaped dirt spot on the end of the DuraFlame log package (if you squint your eyes, you can really see the heart). Finally, I learned how to make origami hearts at our last Girl Scout Meeting. So Cute!

Random Hearts Find a Home

Paige bit into the center of her bun and left this cute little heart cut-out. She ALWAYS insists that I
take a picture when she discovers a heart, and many times if it's a man-made heart I don't
really want to bother. Thanks to her persistence, I'm ALWAYS glad I did!

Found the above two rock hearts on a trail in Cuyamuca Rancho State Park,
Paseo Picacho Campground in October 2011.

Found this shadow heart on the road after a hike in Julian.
Gotta be quick to catch hearts like this...still waiting for that
cloud heart to make itself known!

My son Scott brought this rock back from Boy Scout Camp
at the Outdoor Education Center where he was a volunteer...
sssshhhh....don't tell!

Makena found this blob of paint one day while her and Paige were painting.
Even the kids friends are on the lookout for hearts. I love this hobby!

New Hearts + Blogging Excuses

OMG!...it's been so long since I posted anything on my blog and it's been driving me absolutely mad. I don't like to write a post without a photo, and I haven't been very good about photographing the things I've been doing or working on. The end of the school year and the beginning of summer has kept me busier than ever! I was painting like mad in May and June, but never really finished anything or got around to photographing my work. I've been playing catch-up on life and trying to get things done that have been staring me down for months...filing, good housecleaning, cleaning out kids rooms and bookshelves, clutter busting and such. I would like to bring this blog up to speed and I'll start with these heart photos. The heart above is from the sidewalk in front of my house...I can't believe I've lived here five years and never really noticed it. The heart below is a water spot on the patio from our impromptu Memorial Day gathering after a fun game of Frisbee golf. Paige noticed this one...she is an awesome heart finder, always searching and point them out for me. And finally, the heart rock below that Scott found while at Cub Scout Day Camp as a Youth Volunteer at the Orange County Outdoor Education Center. I always know when he comes home and says, "Mom, I have something for you!" that it's some kind of heart. I'm never disappointed!

There's Nothing Wrong with Cute...Right?

Many artists that I have recently discovered, create art that I would describe as "cute," "sweet" or even "fun." I love and admire their work. They blanket the pages of mixed media publications, book, and blogs, so obviously they are loved by many. Yet, when I create art that looks "cute" somehow it just seems juvenile to me. The gremlins in my head tell me that I have to paint landscapes, portraits or something serious to be an artist. I know that's not true, but have you ever tried to reason with a gremlin? I'm not going to rule out "cute" as a word that describes my style, but I do think it's too soon to tell.

The paintings above were created on 12x12 inch panels of plywood. I played with light modeling paste over decorative papers, but when the modeling paste dried, the papers looked foggy underneath. So I just played with acrylic paints, little paper, glitter, ink and charcoal. These were more of the random pieces I created for my calendar project that I scrapped.

Happiness is a Choice

"Choose Happy" is a 16x20" mixed media painting I created to remind myself everyday that I need to choose to be happy. The text at the bottom reads "The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart." A verse from The Dhammapada, a Buddhist scripture.

Happiness is a choice. I can choose to be happy or I can choose to be something else (sad, bitter, grouchy, unhappy, or insert your own emotion here). I can dwell on the misfortunes in my life or I can focus on the good in my life. I cannot expect someone else's words or actions to make me happy. I need to be happy on the inside, for myself, because of myself, in spite of myself. I need to purposefully "Choose Happy." We only have this one life to experience, so...Choose Happy!

I've thought a lot about this happy thing...trying to figure out if I was happy. I had forgotten what even made me happy while I was busy living each day as it was dished out to me. Busy doing everything for everyone else. Busy running a household while everyone else did thing they liked to do, knowing all the necessities in life would be taken care of for them. I knew I was the one who let this happen and I was the only one who could change it. So I set out on a journey to find the things that make me happy...a topic for another day.

When I finished this painting, I was looking around my home for a place of prominence to hang it. I wanted to see it on a regular basis as a little mood reminder to myself. I found a location, held it up to the wall and realized it was too small. It needed other stuff around it. That's when the light bulb went on for a Words of Wisdom Wall. I'll create more paintings, in various sizes, highlighting words of wisdom to remind me (and hopefully my family) how important it is to live our lives according to the values we cherish. I can't wait to get started.

What the heart gives away is never gone...
It is kept in the hearts of others

-- Robin St. John

TeamWork

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.

~ Helen Keller

While I'm waiting for the sun to come out in order to photograph a little art piece I made for my next post, I thought I would share this cute photo I took at my daughter's soccer game Saturday. They did not win the game, but their team spirit won my heart.

Daisy Heart Revisited

A before shot (left) and after shot (right) of a painting I started almost a year ago for my 7 year old daughter's room. I wanted to bring in the colors of her room and I decided to go big (24"x30"). The before photo shows how far I got and then simply shut down. I learned that painting big is hard and time consuming and it wasn't turning out how I envisioned. That happens a lot with me...I'm too quick to judge and too impatient to wait until it's done before criticizing my work. Since I wasn't really liking it, other projects got my attention and this one got stuck in the corner. Over the summer I decided to finally finish up her room and finish this darn painting, good or bad! Originally I had planned on strictly painting with acrylics, but over the course of that year I have grown to love mixed media and all the different techniques and mediums you can apply to a single painting. So I played around by adding torn paper, sheet music, rubber stamps, oil pastels, chalk pastels, charcoal, and anything else I thought would make it more interesting. Interesting it is and I love it. A far cry from the original. Every night, when I lay down with Paige in her bed and she says she "hates" the torn paper on the petals and wants me to change it back the way it was, I just smile and maturely say "Too bad, it's my painting and I like it that way. You can't make me change it!"

The photo below shows the painting hanging in it's new home, Paige's room.