Paperclip...a meditation

The theme is 'free and easy'.  Not sure this has anything to do with theme...I gave myself the task of meditating on a paperclip for 15 minutes.  I thought something would easily 'come to me' if I stayed long enough, relaxed enough being with this ordinary paperclip.  My mind never shut up..."how long can i stay with this, this is so stupid, i can't do this, oh forget it, why did i even pick a paperclip its so boring, there is nothing here, nothing is happening, i cant stand this, this is ridiculous, my nose is running, i should just stop" I noted this is IMPATIENCE, DOUBT, FEAR, RESISTANCE, JUDGMENT. My more positive mind continued" allow IT to come to you, stop insisting, demanding, imposing your will. stop demanding to know, to get somewhere, to connect, just shut up, breathe, stay, relax..."
Allowing my thoughts to 'spin out of control' WITHOUT ACTING ON THEM (I wanted to quit, throw the paperclip against the wall) opened my heart, softened me, got me closer to myself, more present and LESS AFRAID.  It wasn't really about the paperclip...it was about STAYING with my intention.  I am deeply grateful for this great gift of meditation...to watch my fear and suffering melt away seems a miracle to me.

watercolor scribble

restarting blog again with andrea and michele...theme this week...'watercolor'. played around with scribbles with colored pencil and because the paper is SO NICE, it took watercolor easily...love the 'nobigdealness' of this exploration.

steve in chair

The drawing class structure this week was to focus on drawing a chair, from memory, imagination or real life.  I loved seeing everyone sitting their own unique way in their own unique chairs...I didnt get to draw them all, just steve in the yellow wicker chair.  I love the relationship of people to prop. I started out with blind contour drawing, and was so taken with the odd proportions that I continued drawing steve and chair using blind contour...then i colored the drawings in...so loving that he was wearing solid red hat, solid green shirt, bluejeans, sitting in yellow wicker chair...i could draw people in chairs forever  i thought...STeve's postion of feet caught my attention all morning...and rubbing his hands together as he viewed his drawing.

letters for iwow

the theme for november iwow is 'letters'.  so i made 26 letters and hung them as backdrop.
i thought about painting them colors, but first just wanted to see/feel them in black and white.  and its easier, i dont have to decide what colors...

then i used photoshop and decided...just for this blog, not in real life. real life stays black and white for now.

never ending journey

i like reminding myself that moving in and out of feeling states/mind states is never ending.  sometimes i find myself content, sometimes in pain, sometimes confused, sometimes in the unknown.  noticing where i am in any moment, or throughout my day is truly a journey...
i tried 2 different 'techniques'.

red pencil. 3 things. 3 things differently.

So i drew 3 things on my table. didnt think about it. they were just there. red pencil. white eraser. yellow post-its.  then, make them different.  i naturally found each one has its 'gifts', its 'purpose' and its 'power'.

now they are different.

3 things. 3 things differently.

Prompt for this week...3 things.  3 things differently.  I got into it!!!

or maybe this one is 3 things
empathizing...

or maybe 3 things thinking of other things

Artist Bio for Magic Lamp

I'm working on the final page layout for Magic Lamp.   Every page in the book has the lamp imagining itself in some place or feeling.  

This is my artist bio page.