I Really Surprised Myself Today...

So, this lazy Sunday morning, i went back to Connie's FEARLESS painting site and watched the second video, "Balance".

She told me to think about Balance.  Inner Balance.
So i started thinking.

I think i'm a fairly balanced person.
I have a pretty peaceful life.
I'm fairly balanced physically, mentally, emotionally.
(This, of course, is only MY opinion...)  =-)
Anyway.

So then i started thinking, "Okay, so what do i think of when i think of someone with Inner Balance?"
Well... 

I think of a woman with a Fire in her Belly.
I think of someone with a BIG Heart.
I think of someone who tries to use her Third Eye (Inner Sight).

So then i started painting.
(Sorry, but i didn't take Process pictures.  I was too in the Zone!)

First i painted the Belly.
Then i painted the Heart.
Then i painted the outlines of the Head, the neck, shoulders, arms, and then the Body.

I am SO TICKLED with the outcome that i am almost in TEARS!
Have a look for yourself:



It took me about FIVE HOURS to do this!

When i told Kitty that, she said something like, "What the hell?!  Why?!?"

I'm sure it took so long because of the *way* i did it; first the belly, then the heart, then the body outline, then filling in the body color, then the black outline of the boobs and body, then the hair, and i did the background last, so it took a long time.

But i'm THRILLED with it!!!

Which is kinda funny, 'cause Connie says it's not about the *picture*, but about doing the painting without worrying about the outcome.  To paint like a 5-year old.  =-)  I like that. 

You know how a 5 year old will make a picture at school, and then run home with it to show it to Mom or Dad, and then leave the picture with Mom or Dad and just run to something else?  That's how we should approach our painting (the Verb) with Connie's "course".

I'll be back...

=-)



And I Did It Again!

A few weeks ago, i was "piddling" in my notebook, and i cut strips of pages of a magazine, and glued them side-by-side into my notebook.   I didn't know what i was going to do with it after that, so i just let it "sit" and ruminate/marinate.

Yesterday, i was watching Connie again, and i decided to go back into my kitchen and see what would "speak" to me in my notebooks and paints...

Well, here's what i did:



First i gesso-ed my pages (a white sort-of-watery paint).

Then i pulled my metallic purple paint and made the heart.

Then i added the back.

Then i suddenly wanted RED.

I had originally thought i'd add some white on top of the black, but the redpulled me too hard first, so i went with it.

Again, i felt REALLY GOOD while i was doing this!

I felt "free".

I felt young.

I felt somehow Empowered.

I was playing a classic Rock station too, so i was Rockin' OUT!

But yesterday was a VERY GOOD DAY for me! 

=-)

And i was having so much fun that i didn't want to stop, so the metallic gold caught my eye and i started the next page:

First i painted the gold heart, and then the black, and then i added the white.

I thought i was finished, but then the metallic green "called" me and i added the swirls in the corners.

Then i pronounced it "Done".

And i was STILL so HAPPY and feelin' GREAT!

It was a wonderful day!

=-)



And that's the double-page spread, though i really consider them two different pictures, kinda like the one from the day before.



Do i consider myself a painter?

No.

But am i happy while painting?

HELL YEAH!

Thank You Connie!

And No i haven't forgotten the rest of the pix from the Keys!  I'll get 'em up...

SOON!

=-)

My Latest Thrill (Which Surprised Me)

I  know i need to get some more pictures up from our trip to the Keys and finish telling you about that, but first i just have to let you know about something i've found.  I belong to a group called "Wild Precious", which is really cool all by itself, but i got an e-mail from Effy (she's the one who started "Wild Precious") and she linked to this site, Dirty Footprints Studio.
First, allow me to tell you emphatically that i've never been a painter.
I've never really considered myself to be a very creative or artistic person, but i've certainly never really tried to paint (other than "messin' around" with mixed media "journals").
But this lady!
This lady makes me feel like i can paint!
Actually, after watching the firsts video yesterday, i went in my kitchen and started "messin' around" with some paint in a couple of my journals, and then!
Then, today after yoga, i watched another of her videos and i got out some colors that "spoke to me", and i made this:



Let me first say  i am not a painter!
But This Lady!
This lady made me feel like i CAN go for it!
And while i was "going for it", FEARLESSly, i might add  =-)
While i was painting, i felt Fabulous!!!

And it doesn't really matter what the painting (the noun) looks like.
What truly matters is how i feel doing the painting (the verb)!

Anyway, since so many colors "spoke to me" while i was looking in my paint tube drawer, i had to do another one.  =-)

I had absolutely NO pre-conceived notions a bout what this one was going to look like when i started it.  It was just important that i use different blues.  The waters from my trip to the Keys is still on my mind...

Anyway, i'm fine with the outcome.

I'm not a Painter, and i'm totally okay with that.

BUT!

I like what came out of my hands and my heart.  =-)





I painted them in one of my "art journals".

Seriously?  I really don't know what to call these "bound mixed-media paper" things...  I seriously hesitate calling them journals, because to me, a  journal is something in which you write your words about how you feel and what you do and what's happening in your life.  So to me, this really isn't "A Journal".

But then, i don't know what to call it.  I use the word "journal" because i forget to simpy call it a notebook, and i don't know what to call it.

Anyway!

There's that.  =-)

Love it.  Hate it.  Whatever.

It makes me feel GOOD!  =-)

I'll be back "shortly" (whatever that means in my little World) to add the rest of our Keys trip pictures. 

Sending you Light and Love and Good Feelings.

=-)

And Now I Wanna Move to the Keys!

Boyfriend and i went on a vacation with some friends.  We left on July 29th and returned on August 3rd. 
We had a Blast!
We went with our neighbors, W & C, our good friend E, and a couple of his friends, Anne & Paul.  It all started at the Wine Room when Anne said she was gonna be "free" of her boys and wanted to go on vacation somewhere tropical, and we all said "We're in!"
She booked us rooms at the Lime Tree Bay Resort in Long Key, Florida.  We flew from Charlotte to Ft Lauderdale, took a 15 passenger van from Ft Lauderdale to the Keys.

First we stopped at a winery in Homestead, Fl

called Schnebleys.

The winery was a really beautiful place, seemingly in the middle of nowhere i might add.  They do weddings there and stuff.  It's *really* beautiful.
(Just as an aside, i didn't like any of their wines, but everybody else did.  They don't make *grape* wine; they use fruit such as guava, coconut, lychee, etc, and they also make an avocado wine that Boyfriend really liked.  It was interesting, but not my style...)

We got to our hotel, got checked in, and hung out at the pool for a bit, and then it was time for the sunset.

The sunset over the bay outside our room

The next day, we headed to Key West.
"The Keys" are made up of over 1000 islands at the southern tip of Florida.
I loved them all!  =-)

A tiny island we passed on our way to Key West  

We stopped at a place called "No Name Key" 'cause Anne had read about this small bar called "No Name Pub".

 No Name Key

No Name Key wasn't directly on US 1.  We had to go "off the beaten path", so to speak.  But we found it!  =-)

 No Name Pub on No Name Key

Once we got inside and sat down, and my eyes adjusted to the darkness, i was *astounded*.  The entire pub, all the ceiling, and every square inch of walls, was COVERED in dollar bills! 
I couldn't talk for looking in wonder at alllllll the dollar bills!

Dollar bills hanging from the ceiling

(Boyfriend used an SLR without a flash for this one)

It was unbelievable!

Paul and Anne pondering how they can get some of that money. 

Eric, C & W are actually paying attention to Boyfriend

for the photo.

I, however, was off-camera with my mouth wide open in disbelief.

I finally managed to pay attention for a minute;

Here's Boyfriend & me

with more dollars than i've ever seen at one time

Just in case you missed it

it's called the

No Name Pub 

It's small, and it's old, but

it's Amazing!

We finally made it to Key West!
Hard to believe, i know.  =-)
But we *were* on vacation, so some in our group had a "checklist".
E wanted to go to "every bar Hemingway went to", so that was our first goal.
(I think, technically, that was his "minimum".  I think he *really* wanted to go to *every* bar in Key West...  We didn't quite make it.  But he wasn't really disappointed.  =-)  )

Captain Tony's Saloon

It *used* to be Sloppy Joe's, where Ernest Hemingway used to hang out

but then the rent went up, so Hemingway and the bar "owner" moved

to a place around the corner.

 (Sorry, don't know why this one loaded sideways, but i can't get it to turn.)

Taken inside Capt. Tony's

This place apparently collected bras from (in my opinion)

heavily inebriated women.

Not sure why, but Boyfriend really wanted me to "donate" mine.

HA!  As if!  I had on my Good Bra!

=-)

I  also liked all the old license plates from various states hanging everywhere.

 And here is the "new" Sloppy Joe's Bar

For some reason, there are "wild" chickens everywhere in Key West.

We saw this one in the backyard of "The oldest house in Key West".

He was a beauty! 

We had lunch at Willie T's .

(Anne & Paul wandered off on their own...)

They had dollar bills *and* license plates all over the place. 

(Again, i couldn't get this one to turn right-side-up. Sorry.)

Here's E and Anne at the Hog's Breath Saloon.

Here's the "porch" of Hog's Breath.

There was a lady in there with her dog

in a baby stroller!

Mallory Square... before the sunset.

Then we sat on the balcony at The Whistle bar.

Niiice views.

Nice buzz, too.  =-) 

That's me, E, Paul, Anne, C & W.

Boyfriend was the camera man.  =-)

And here's the whole gang

at Mallory Square

just before sunset. 

Boyfriend & me at  Fogarty's

where we had supper that night.

Good times, good times.  =-)

And that was the first 2 days!
We didn't get back to our rooms 'til around midnight, and then Bunny texted me.  She was the first to wish me a Happy Birthday.  =-)  (It's the same as Harry Potter's, and she thinks that is so cool.  =-)  )

Back in a couple days to show you some *more* pictures from our vacation.
=-)