NEW YEAR
A beautiful brand new year. Just greatful to still be alive & for all of the abundance that manifests itself everyday in my life. This year will bring great challenges into my life and I have been daily practicing acceptance. Acceptance brings peace of mind when it is heartfelt, but it is not always easy to embrace. Just about when I think I might be getting it down, something or someone throws a wrench into the works & there I go again.....
OPENING TO THE MUSE
Lately I have been exploring new tools & techniques in Photoshop & am so excited I can hardly breathe! Honestly, I am a very technically challenged individual & making my way through the maze of techno instructions is not always easy for me. But I have persisted and am very pleased with the nuggets of inspiration that keep emerging from those cobwebbed nooks & crannies in Photoshop. Now, if I can only remember what it was I used on that certain image........Hmmmm
PHOTOSHOP
I have been using Photoshop for quite a while now in various ways but recently have begun exploring some new tools & techniques. For example I was unaware that I had a whole other oodle of brushes at my disposal. So like a kid I have been experimenting with them. Yesterday I also learned that I can increase or decrease the size of a brush by clicking on the brackets key on the keyboard! Now this may sound like nothing to get excited about but I have been a bit frustrated at times at not being able to get the right size brush I needed. So, you see it's not true that you can't teach an old dog new tricks! LOL. This is one of my exercises in painting flowers with some of the new techniques I've learned. I used a plastic wrap filter on this one which gives it a very hard plastic appearance. Hmmm
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Wishing all my AW friends & supporters a wonderful Christmas Day! Thank you for visiting my gallery & encouraging me to keep making art!
CONTROL
It is very humbling to realize that we have very little control over the events that unfold in our lives. For better or for worse the universe presents us with challenges that sometimes shake us to the core. We are left confounded that no matter what we do or how we scheme to make things go our way, unknown forces may push us gently or harshly in a different direction. It is only our willingness to bend & sway that keeps us sane.
NASHVILLE
Just returned from the big city of Nashville. The moment we enter the city I am anxious to return home to the peace & quiet of our woods & wild but friendly critters. Their was a time when I thrived in the high pitched energy of big cities. I liked the anonymity & impersonal nature of living somewhere where everyone I passed on the street was a total stranger. Now, total strangers are just that, total strangers. Now, I love the idea that someone will call if they haven't heard from me in a while and I can no longer shop at Wal-Mart (don't tell anyone I shop there), without running into a neighbor or a friend. Their is nurturing & comfort in the tapestry of this little rural town.
WINTER BLAHS
Still trying to settle into the cold, wet, winter blues. This is a sunny kaleidoscope with promise of another warm summer day ahead.
BATTLE OF THE WAISTLINE
My wonderful husband cooked us a fabulous turkey & fixins dinner & pants are fitting a bit snug, especially after continuing to eat leftovers for a couple of days still coming! Just about when I think I'm gaining ground on the Battlefield of the Girth something like Thanksgiving throws me over the edge again. I guess that's why they call it a battle. Guess I'm just feeling a bit high on pumpkin pie today!
WINTER IN THE SOUTH
Before I moved to the South I had it in my mind that it was warm here year 'round. Well that just goes to show how totally wrong I was! What was I thinking???? We are heading into winter and the wet cold here is the kind that creeps deeply into your bones and settles in for the season. To compensate for this however, their is a stark beauty that permeates the countryside; bare fields where corn has been harvested, trees revealing themselves unabashedly, and a peaceful calm that settles over the land. This is the rural south I have grown to love. But of course, I look forward sometimes impatiently for Spring to show itself once again!
