On Gratitude and Wonder
In this first week of summer, I am cultivating gratitude and wonder.
It’s the second official day of summer for me. The school year wrapped up last Friday, with a few more days on campus to tidy up loose ends. I am grateful for the year behind, and grateful for the summer ahead!
I am already all too aware that the summer can fly by in a flash, leaving me wondering if it even happened. In fact, in the past two days, I have set out to conquer a list including but certainly not limited to:
Tidying up our landscaping (kids will help! Right? Oh, only for a little bit)
Ruthlessly purging unnecessary belongs (with joy and gratitude, of course!)
Cooking and baking, at least once each, per day
Playing with my kids
Reading for fun!
Reading to learn
Peacefully creating art in the morning before my kids wake up, cup of hot coffee close at hand…
Well, it turns out, I need a lot of time for these things, and rushing like a mad woman to squeeze them all in doesn’t leave me (or anyone) feeling particularly grateful or full of wonder for the season in which we find ourselves.
In 2022, I painted a mural as part of the Esco Alley Art project. “What the Trees Know” is a meditation on the passing of seasons - all life flows in a cycle of tender growth into abundance before falling away into the winter of ending. This thought has returned to me frequently in this season. While the passing of seasons is unavoidable, our response to it is ours to choose. We can embrace the changes, growing and bring others up with us.
Or, we can do the opposite.
I find I am somewhere in between - how about you?
In this summer season, I am embracing a more mindful approach than in the past. For me, that means more frequent, shorter journaling moments. It means more time getting to know God. It means more planning ahead - what do I want to build with my family, and at what pace? (And don’t forget to include them in that conversation!)
I hope to see an increase in gratitude and wonder; a decrease in hurriedness and that feeling of “if only…”
After all, though it’s cliche, each moment is a gift. And if you’re fortunate enough to find yourself in a moment full of abundance, it’s not to be wasted. Fill up, and give back to those around you.
And now, time to see what my kids are up to - and what kind of wonder we will find!
Cafe Etudes
It’s the weekend. The warm smell of Steady State coffee fills my kitchen, sitting in my favorite stamped Totoro mug. My second (or third?) hand table is set with a stack of fresh paper, watercolors, pencils, and a collection of photos from which to paint. I can hear my kids playing some new invented game, or planning their next elaborate creations.
Art teaches us so much about who we are. These moments are restorative. It’s like meeting a friend- yes, for coffee - and reminiscing on old times, while catching up on who you have become.
These Cafe Etudes, studies with coffee, have revitalized a love of drawing and detail; they have also shown me how impatient I have become with my work! In the search for quiet, restorative moments, I have to remind myself to breathe and enjoy the process.
Breathe.
Enjoy the process.
Life will catch up soon enough with its demands that need answering. We must protect our creative moments and embrace all of their peace, their joy!
What does that look like for you, today?
Life Cycles
The last few months, I’ve spent more time exploring my art and creating new work than I’ve probably spent since high school.
I’m a little alarmed to realize that high school ended 11 years ago!
Lately, I’ve been thinking about cycles in life. Something ends, but it begins something new. A season of hard times shifts into a season of abundance. Framing life in this way, it is easier to soak up the beauty of the present moment. And a little easier to have faith that no trial lasts forever.
I recently finished this piece for the Ways of Seeing show at Thumbprint Gallery in La Jolla, CA.
Cycles
Pyrography and India Ink on Birch Board
12”x12”
2021
Truthfully, I started it quite some time ago, and shelved it. Snakes are really not my thing! It feels significant that at this time in my life, as I am pushing through discomfort, this piece would call out again. Push through the discomfort of learning how to illustrate an animal that is frightening. Make it beautiful.
It is humbling and thrilling to know that this piece found its new home on opening night of the show. I’ve spent this season of life diving deeply into my dream of building a life where art is a blessing to my family and those around me. For the first time, I’m not going it alone.
I can’t wait to share more about the community that this season has made possible.
This next cycle is rebirth.
New Beginnings…
I’ve been waiting for the perfect message, the perfect art collection, the perfect words to come to me. “If I’m going to take the time to write and share with others, it needs to be profound! I must have everything in order before I can begin, or no one will take me seriously or be helped by what I have to say.”
Oof, that’s heavy.
This probably isn’t surprising: the perfect time hasn’t come, and it isn’t coming. I’m home raising my beautiful (nearly) four year old twin daughters, and delightful 18 month old son. They are all kinds of magic and light and…chaos! Our days are filled with learning and growing.
I have learned and grown more than I could have imagined in the last four years. Transitioning into motherhood was not easy.
One of the lessons learned is that there never will be a perfect day. But any day that I learn something good and helpful and don’t share…is a day that I may be depriving someone else of the chance to learn and be helped. Or just a chance to be seen.
So, here we go. Making art is how I connect to myself and others. I look forward to sharing my process and learning with you. I hope to create a space for connection and conversation.
May we learn and grow together!
