IT'S COMPLICATED

It's Complicated

      I have been indoors quite a bit lately because the weather has been so darn awful.  But it has also allowed me the much needed time to work in my studio creating all sorts of things.  Like the Zendalla to the left.  I became so involved that I lost all track of time and my spirit just soared.  When  I was finished I was amazed at how complicated I had made it.  It became clear that I wasn't done until I was done!

         Lately that is how my life has been.  Work has taken a bizarre turn which made me question my abilities as well as how effective I have been at it.  Somehow though, when I was finished with my piece I smiled realizing that once again I proved myself wrong.  I am capable and I am creative.  And that inner voice is getting stronger every day.

ZENTANGLE CLASS AT THE END OF MAY

I will be giving another Zentangle class at the end of May.  As I write this I am still negotiating where I will be giving the class.  Since Zentangle has come into my life so much has changed for me. It has become my favorite form of meditation.  The peace, the quiet, the creating speaks to me in such a deep way.  It allows me the freedom of how not to think with an intense, dedicated concentration.  It is beyond a shadow of a doubt, a beautiful meditation and grounding experience for me.  It also helps to open u my creative juices in other forms of my artwork.  I know that if you participate in a class you will find it a wonderful amazing experience.  For those who don't live in the Catskill Mountains you can find a CZT at www.zentangle.com.  I will be posting the time and place in a future post.  Until then.....try to enjoy the day.

OH WHITE COULD BE BEAUTIFUL......

I don't know about anyone else......Actually, I do because everywhere I go the topic of conversation is the long damn winter and where the hey is spring!!!!!  Remember the cabin?  I long for the day when we can open it and spend long lazy weekends up there.  So simple and I am sooo craving simple.

Right about now I am singing a Melany tune in my head...in it there is a line "oh white could be beautiful but mostly it's not".......It is a vegetarian song really but honestly, have you looked outside lately?  The snow is anything but white.  It is dirty, crusty, depressingly gray.  The road is so sanded and salted that I hate to to drive by anyone who is taking a walk on these warmer days because I leave them in a dust bowl unless I go one mile an hour past them.  And then I get dirty (no pun intended) looks because the impression is that I am scrutinizing who it is when really all I am doing is cringing because I am still leaving them in a dust bowl.  Oh well. ........I have had enough of this and if I could I would knock knock knock on heavens door  (another song?) and when God opened it I would whine like only a child can.  Please, please, please, I want spring!!!! Give me spring!!!! No!  I don't want any more snow!!!  I want spring and I want it NOW!!!!!! Wwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaa..........and I would stomp my feet and clench my fists and hold my breath until I got spring!!!  I swear I would.  Even God wouldn't be able to stand it.

But alas, all I can do is bide my time like everyone else and wait and hope and pray that the weather guy is so wrong and that it isn't going to snow and that we are going to have warmer temps to help the grass grow.

MARCH COMES IN LIKE A LION

Newest Zentangle

March 1st.  I am sitting in my office contemplating the day and if I can believe my rhododendrons right outside my window it doesn't look very cold out there.  I am excited that it is March.  A new month "marching" closer to spring.  The sun is shining and I may go to Woodstock today 'cause I have the fever.

I am back to quilting again.  It has been awhile.  In fact, I have begun to work on several UFO's that should have been finished quite some time ago. But for some unknown reason I have the energy now.  February was tough and all I wanted to do was sleep which has made me feel incredibly lazy.  This week I will go  back to my quilting group and see what has been going on with them.

I haven't forgotten my promise to let you know when I am teaching a Zentangle (r) class.  As soon as I work out the final details I will post here.  Right now I am going to read some of my favorite art blogs.

NANGLE TANGLES

No mistakes

Anyone who is a CZT or has taken a class with one knows that there are no mistakes when creating a tangle.  The Zentangle (R) on the left is one such non-mistake.  I had started this a couple of weeks ago and decided to put it down because I was not happy with what I was putting down on paper.  It was one of those moments that didn't feel very "Zen" like.  After awhile I realized that I had fallen into the very trap many fall into.......and that is having a preconceived notion of what I am going to draw.  That is the complete opposite of the Zentangle (R) method.  The process is designed to be free of judgement and the only intent is the focus and the flow.

With that in mind I picked up the tile again and quietly began to create.  The meditative process came more easily this time where time stood still yet my pen did not.  I like it but I am not sure of the artistic twist I added.  But isn't that what experimenting is about?  It won't be long before I take some of this process to the sewing machine where I can add tangles in one form or another.  

Stay tuned for the announcement of my new class list.  Once I secure the venue I will be posting the dates for the classes here.  

THIS MONTH HAS BEEN A RUSH!!!!!

The month of January has taken me all over the place.  I have been to Atlantic City and back, then to New Hampshire and back with lots of small trips in between.  Wow!!!! What a rush.  I returned from New Hampshire late afternoon yesterday, had dinner, tried to read a little, watch TV a little and by 7:30 pm I was done.  Then I woke up at 2:30 am and started cleaning the house.  I am so overtired that I couldn't even take a nap.

Even though the NH trip was work related it was a nice break from the crazy neighbor situation.  The warmer weather is also a big help to giving me the motivation I need to clean and get things done.  And it is tax time.....my favorite time of year.

Despite all of this however, I have found time to knit, draw and tangle.  My newest tangles are all about trees.  I love trees and when I was a child you were most likely to find me in any one of the trees close to the house.  I wonder if that is why I like that show about adult tree houses.  I would live in one in a heartbeat.  This is a sample of what I have to share today......


It won't be long before the trees are in full bloom.
Until then I will draw my own and plant them all around me.
Perhaps I will even make an art quilt with them.

BEGINNINGS GRANT US SO MUCH HOPE

Today we will be reading many comments about the past year and the year to come.  We will make promises to ourselves and others concerning so many areas of personal failure we believe we have.  I am not going to do that.  Instead I am going to build on the accomplishments I have made in 2013 however small, and be grateful of all of the gifts that have been granted me this past year.

Good friends and family surround me.  I have enjoyed an incredible year with my partner who is also my high school sweetheart.  This is the year that Dream Designs was born and the year that I experienced many Creative Meditations.  I started out calling this post IN THE BEGINNING but I think I will change it to BEGINNINGS GRANT US SO MUCH HOPE.  

• Hope for the future
• Hope for friends and family
• Hope for Humanity
• Hope for me

Hope my friends.  Have high hopes.  Dream with your mind and your heart. Release it into the universe. Shout it out silently. Listen to the silence.  It is speaking volumes and believe.  I believe.