Sacred Moments Meets Real Life DO-DO

Little did I know that once I actually applied the concepts of my last post , Chaos to Colorful, to real life that it would be such a wrenching experience. You see, I thought by letting something come forward, come to life, by taking a chaotic experience and seeing the beauty in it- that it would be some sacred experiment..a peaceful, beautiful thing. But instead, the experience ended up being me and Sweet Farmer cleaning out the garage. UGH.

Now there was more than chaos out there. There was my stuff and his "crap" as we fondly call the other's saved treasures. We have two, completely different organizational approaches. Of course, we tried to impress our own upon the other and there was not much giving in either way. We argued which is rare, honestly. It wasn't pretty or peaceful. It was hot. It was dirty - downright nasty in places. You gotta be asking, "why do you do these projects in the middle of summer???"

But we didn't walk away from it. And we kept talking it through.

And you know what? We did it. And it really looks great. Sweet Farmer isn't finished with his stuff yet (because his organizational approach includes not handling the worst stuff first, shuffling the stuff back and forth before putting it up, a more relaxed (translated sloooower)approach... need I say more).

All sarcasm aside (it's never helpful, by the way). Actually, he bought some shelves and put them together and arranged them and without that "big picture" detail- nothing would have happened to improve the whole situation. Something great came out of something very messy and dirty and miserable. We actually worked as a team to organize which may be a first! I saw real progress that went deeper than just a clean garage.

So be careful about applying your art concepts to real life. Sometimes it can get very REAL.

And the sacred moments can be drenched in sweat and dirt and tears.

Chaos to Colorful

I'm on the last pages of my 6th art journal. I have another moleskin ordered and in the mail.

I love to drop serious watercolor on the pages, make a colorful mess of washes and blends, and then find a face. Found faces are so fascinating to me because they just seem to emerge from the page like a spirit that says, "Draw me. Bring me forward into existence". They are always so much more interesting than my preconceived ideas.

And then I got to thinking about the idea of applying this concept to my daily reality and walks. Say I come upon a mess of activity and energy. I will really look at the thing and really see what is trying to emerge to the surface? What can I see that's beautiful? How can I take the mess and chaos and see something more creative? How can I just LET something come forward without manipulating too much - loving what is there, as it is. How can I be more present in the moment and actually find joy in simple images and find the complex and the exquisite? Can I add a touch of artistry of character or speech, and help someone, something come full bloom?

I think I shall tuck that little secret in my heart and go about my regular day and see how I can make it extraordinary.

Slippery Slope

Behold
the slippery slope.
you know the one.....

The one that let slips one little tight word of anger and out pours the resentment in the caged heart.

The one that takes in too much poison in the body, food or drink, and months later cringes at the collateral damage in the mirror.

The one that quits taking risk and scaring one self a little and finds itself in the padded room..safe & bored.

The one that lets a friend, any special someone, slip away and then waits so long... too long.

The one that lets a thank -you note pass.... until the giver of good gifts is thankless.

The one that forgets kindness and generosity toward its mate one too many times.

The one that lets time slip away-

The one that lets creativity slip away-

The one that lets dreams slip away-

The one that lets YOU slip, slip, slide.... away.

-peggy krantz

art: ink & watercolor

Two Good Reasons

I'll give you two guesses as to why I've been absent from my blog lately.

I had a week with my two grandsons. I tried to talk them into letting me take them to Six Flags or a water-park and stay in a nice motel- but all they wanted to do was go to the farm. So we farmed and played in the park and swam in the little pool in my little town and they (and i) were perfectly content.

I did get to sketch a little and work on different expressions.

But, hey, it's hard to watercolor in 109 degree heat sitting at the swimming pool so these are a little rough.

I'm getting a little bored with these and would really like to be working on canvas or watercoloring on Yupo but these will have to be my art fix for right now.

(she's got serious complexion problems, but she'll get over it- maybe on the next page)

I've enjoyed some serious inspiration from the blog world and hope to share some of that with you soon.

I hope you're enjoying your summer.

There are some days when I think I am going to die from an overdose of satisfaction. -Salvador Dali

Girlfriends and Blog Friends

Today I had lunch with a girlfriend and we talked straight for 3 hours about our family, our marriages, our kids, our dreams. Some of those tender things brought quick tears to our eyes, but we didn't miss a beat.. we kept right on talking. I couldn't believe when we looked down at our watches and time had slipped by so quickly.

I treasure those times sharing my heart-strings with another, bouncing off ideas about how to improve our lives and relationships and reach for our dreams.

Sometimes I wish I could just have a nice, relaxing lunch with some of my blog-friends. I would like to hear your voice. Do you use your hands when you talk? Do you have an accent? Do you snort when you laugh? Do you do funny things with your eyebrows? It's funny because I know your kids/grandkids, I've seen pictures of your favorite rooms, your front-door views, I've heard your dreams and read about your struggles. I've met your soul - I would love to see what that soul is encased in and how it interacts with the world and with me.

Those I've met, I can almost hear your voice in your writing and I love that....

But those I haven't, you're such a sweet mystery to me.

And I guess... in a way... I love that too.

Planting Seeds and Planting Ideas

This is Sweet Farmer bringing the planter to me so that we can tag team and plant corn every daylight hour.

This is me (Odd Chick), checking the seed boxes to see how long I can run before I call our service guys to help fill me up again. This is the John Deere tractor I drive with no hands! A GPS system guides my tractor around the field until I get to the end and then I manually turn it around, reset the seed boxes and let the tractor drive itself to the end of the next row. Amazing, huh??

This is how our May has gone. I have done some drawing but no painting, but I've had lots of time for imagining. Someday, you'll see the new things I have been planting in the fertile soil of my mind's eye while I'm planting corn. Either way, I'm creating and that makes me happy.

What are you planting these days?

New Expressions from Old Paintings

I have to show you something fun. Do you remember when I showed you this mixed-media painting (those are watercolor papers that I tore and then collaged back into a pattern.) It's never looked finished to me but I sent the image over to Spoonflower which is a company that will take your own personal art and turn it into fabric!!

Many of you know about this great company but it was new stuff to me.

This is a yard of my own custom fabric. Isn't that fun?? I mirrored the image and that's why it's a little different but I was just trying this company out to see what kind of quality they produced. I was very pleased with their quality. Now I just have to improve on my photographs and design ideas!
(close up)

Check this out. Do you remember my cow painting? It's funny but it has been a favorite of mine.





It is an acrylic piece that I did in my 5th journal after cutting hay around a dairy farm.

This is it as a printed fabric!















Do you see the cows? I'm not sure what I'll do with the fabric yet. I'm seeing so many new collage ideas with fabric and I thought it would be fun to have some of my own. I quilted years ago and would have loved to design some of my own fabric then. I would love to hear your ideas.
This is just another fun way to express your art!

Working My Way Into a Funk

Today was my first day off in a long time. I was so hungry for my art. Admittedly, she looks a little too thoughtful, like she's very weary in her soul. And she is.

Well, it's her own fault.

I get very involved in my work on the farm. I get up really early and get out in the fields and in whatever machine is serviced first, and then I am driven like the machine by some demon child within to work until I am completely exhausted. Sweet Farmer tries to get me to come in but I want to do one more thing.. one more row...and then, maybe one more. It's like I'm trying to break some kind of record. I won't quit for lunch or socialize with the other farmers like my Sweet Farmer who is not wound as tight as I, thank goodness. I just go further into this dark cave of intensity until splatttt- I can't go any further. I swear I'm not going to do it the next day and I do.

I'm too keyed up to go to sleep very well or very long. I hate to take sleeping pills because of the after-effects.

It's only later that I realize how very isolating and lonely, and hard on my psyche it is to work like that, not to mention the tole it takes on my body.

And then, Sweet Farmer says I'm too far ahead of everybody and I have to wait a few days for things to balance out.

And then, he takes me out to eat for a nice lunch. We visit and talk to other friends. I create some new art. I look at your art on the blogs, and soon beauty is again restored to my soul and I re-set and begin to feel refreshed.

I have this cute little ditty in my office to remind me when I'm paying a price for my passionate nature, when that bulldog tenacity isn't serving me well:

If your nose is down to the grindstone rough,

And you hold it down there long enough,

Soon you will say there is no such thing

As brooks that babble and birds that sing.

Three things will all your world compose:

Just you,

the grindstone,

and your darned old nose. - unknown

Now if I can just remember this tomorrow.

One of the things that happens around here besides Odd Chick painting flowers in her journal is that I have to get back to work. For those who don't know it already, I cut and plant crops this time of year on our farm and other contracts. Sweet Farmer and I only pass each other on the country road once or twice a day, and we fall in bed together awake just long enough to tell each other quick stories, and work out tomorrow's schedule. There are no complaints. We are glad to have the work and it will be steady until the end of October. I've had a wonderful winter hibernation with my art and classes, trips and family. Now I will listen to art lectures on my IPOD.

I have more good news! My daughter has started a blog called Crazy Consuela! Please check it out and comment to let her know you've visited. We all know how it feels to start a blog and think that nobody sees or hears at the beginning and that we are just visiting with the universe for awhile. You will get to hear funny stories and see her art which she has just begun and it is already awesome!

I offer up some Spring blossoms to you in hopes that your hands finds something useful to do and that your heart is in it and that you have someone to love who loves you and that your soul is in bloom.

"If you've never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in Spring bloom,

maybe your soul has never been in bloom". Audra Foveo

Art and Pain

Artist don't get down to work until the pain of working is exceeded by the pain of not working. - Stephen DeStaebler

Does anyone feel my pain?

I am struggling with the 3/4 face. I make faces with big noses, crooked noses, woompie eyes, crazy shapes on the chin- they look like apes half the time. I start and then work and work and, throw it away because my eraser won't even erase the bad lines anymore. Just when I think I have something down like the eyes- oh my- here comes the ear or the nostril......

But the book I'm reading "Art & Fear" says : "Basically, those who continue to make art are those who have learned to continue- or more precisely, have learned not to quit".

Basically, it's a test. A test of my will. Something has to give here and it won't be me. I have an expectation that I WILL MEET. But I have to realize that that expectation is always ahead of me, just ahead and all I can do is go back to Journal (1) and realize that Journal (6) is miles ahead. That I have made progress and I will make more progress in time.

I hope you feel progress in your life, your writing, your art. I hope you won't quit and I hope we will stumble over the finish line, together, completely devoid of any talent that we were ever given because we used up every ounce of it while we had the opportunity.

But there is some pain involved in the pouring out of it, don't you agree?